This is the reality of office life using Robert Bernier's business model: Fantasy football leagues evolve into 17 head-to-head competitions between the same two teams. One box of Krispy Kreme donuts lasts an entire week. And you always know who gave you the pen-with-digital-clock come Secret Santa time.
Life can get pretty lonely around the water cooler at distributorships such as Bernier's Signature Media Group, which sells efficient e-commerce services. But there is a handsome upside. "I can handle $2.5 million in sales using just three full-time employees," Bernier says.
Automation is a Signature Strategy
Signature Media Group, Eden Prairie, Minn., provides clients with custom online print services. The company employs one full-time employee and two interns. It will generate almost $1 million in sales this year, Bernier says.
The distributorship's strategy gives clients centralized control of a decentralized purchasing system. The company sells a procurement service, developed by Eden Prairie neighbor Four51, that enables distributors, customers and vendors to place, process and manage orders for printed products using the internet.
Bernier helped found Four51 in 1996 and sold his share of the company in 2001. "I knew that this was how I would make my business grow and how I could make more money compared to any other way," he says.
Bernier's operation is so automated that he currently employs one full-time customer service representative and two interns who handle marketing and assist with customer service. In an economy in which scalability equals survival, Bernier estimates that one employee alone, such as himself, could manage more than $600,000 a year in sales. Three full-timers plus two interns can take on about $2.5 million in sales, he says.
"We gave the power back to consumers in 2000," Bernier said. "I increased my profits by basically taking myself out of the loop between the buyers and the vendors."
Selling a Streamlined Process
Chong Lee is one of those buyers. She's the facilities manager at Merchant & Gould, an intellectual property law firm in Minneapolis. When she was told that a majority of distributors still use faxes and catalogs, she responded, "I thought that was the way people ordered a long time ago."
Signature Media Group, Eden Prairie, Minn., provides clients with custom online print services. The distributorship's e-commerce system, powered by Eden Prairie neighbor Four51, enables Signature Media Group and its customers to place, process and manage orders for printed products using the internet.
Lee has used Signature's procurement service since she began working at Merchant & Gould in 2002. She says the interface is organized logically, and the decentralized ordering system and centralized management make her job easier.
Orders for print products and other office supplies are completed by personnel from various departments. When an order is complete, Lee receives an email. In the body of that email is a link that takes her into an interface where she can either approve or reject the order.
"It's real simple to use," Lee says. "When I go in, I'm not browsing through four or five pages to get to what I need. Online ordering makes life a lot simpler." She says she learned to use Signature's ordering system in five minutes. "We can get people up and running after a 15-minute tutorial," Bernier says.
Individual employees and business owners no longer are intimidated by technology, Bernier says. He says the biggest change through the years has been clients' attitudes. Four years ago, it took Bernier eight to 10 meetings to close a deal because he spent so much time teaching clients how e-commerce works. It now takes him four to five meetings to close.
Case in point: Bernier was able to woo a large Minneapolis mortgage bank in just four meetings over the course of two weeks. After five weeks, Signature was supplying the bank with $4,000 a month in business cards and is gearing up to offer an additional 130 products through its newest feature, an online company store.
"Four years ago when I began selling business cards this way, I was asked if I was going to offer a discount because the buyer was entering the order and doing all of the work," Bernier says. "'No,' I told them, 'They've been asking for this for years.' The customers always say, 'I don't have time to be going back and forth between the catalog and making calls and getting faxes. I want this off my plate as fast as possible.'"
Signature Media Group's system is built for speed, Lee says. "You can tell they really work with us to get a feel for what makes sense."
Growing With Automation
Firms such as Signature Media Group are eager to tackle new technologies. Bernier says one advantage of working with a software developer such as Four51 is that it's constantly innovating. Bernier contrasts that approach with companies that develop systems in house. Those companies build useful products, he says, but often are slow to innovate.
In addition to finding new ways to integrate procurement software into client networks, Bernier sees growth potential in integrating his procurement system into the buyer's corporate culture. Signature has taken on the role of company store for many firms, offering promotional items such as custom shirts and pens. "When I found out the margin on the premium side was better than the margin on the print side, it blew me away," Bernier says. "Now, we tell our clients we can get them whatever they want."
Asked if he had anything to add regarding the future of e-commerce, Bernier said, "In the half hour we spoke, I received six new orders by email." His message was clear: The future is now.
