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Solutions June 2006
Cover
Story
TOP100distributors
Going
the Extra Mile for Clients
Creative
retention of one client landed
a national account for Suncoast
Marketing.
In
Brief
One
of Suncoast’s clients was
bought by a national firm which
tried to move all its printing
business to a major direct, but
the South Florida distributorship
saved the original business and
found a way to gain the entire
account.
Company:
Suncoast Marketing Inc. #47
Headquarters:
Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Founded:
1977
Principal:
Bob Scala, president
Employees:
48
Sales
increase from FY 2004-05:
17.8%
It’s
the kind of miraculous turnaround
every distributor dreams of. You
lose a local retail chain client
when it’s bought by a national
firm with a contract with a major,
then you win back the client—and
the entire national account, too.
That’s
what happened to Suncoast Marketing
of Ft. Lauderdale after it had
been selling forms to a small
consumer electronics chain for
almost 20 years, explains Norm
Cantelm, VP of marketing and the
account’s lead salesman.
When the client was purchased
by a national electronics retailer,
he got a call requesting a sample
of everything Suncoast had produced
for the chain.
 |
“When
they say, ‘Put together
a binder of everything
you’ve ever done
for me,’ you know
that’s the beginning
of the end. Because that
binder is going right
to the other vendor, and
someone else is going
to make your work.”
Norm
Cantelm, VP of marketing
Suncoast
Marketing Inc.
Ft.
Lauderdale, Fla.
|
“Everyone
in the business knows what that
call means,” Cantelm says.
“When they say, ‘Put
together a binder of everything
you’ve ever done for me,’
you know that’s the beginning
of the end. Because that binder
is going right to the other vendor,
and someone else is going to make
your work.”
But
he didn’t give up, Cantelm
says cheerfully. He assembled
the binder and shipped it off
promptly. “I think that’s
one of the things that impressed
our client the most. We were responsive
in spite of the dire circumstances,
and we do nice work.”
Then,
he explains, the purchasing department
at the client’s national
headquarters called Suncoast President
Bob Scala and said it was transferring
the business to a competitor.
 |
| Bob
Scala, president of Suncoast
Marketing Inc. |
“We
were all sitting around bummed
out,” Cantelm says. “This
is a large account for us and
it was just terrible news.”
The client told Suncoast it chose
the major direct seller for three
reasons: national distribution,
an online ordering portal and
a signing bonus.
“I
said, ‘Hey, wait a minute!’”
Cantelm says. “I told them,
‘We do have an internet
ordering system, and frankly,
your company is using it right
now! Not only do we ship nationally
but also internationally.’”
Still, the client wanted to centralize
all of its printing needs with
one company.
“We
needed something that was going
to make us look better than them,”
says Randy Eubanks, VP of sales
at Suncoast. “That’s
when Norm came up with the idea
of a prebate.” A prebate,
he explained, is a percentage
rebate, paid in advance, based
on volume. The more the client
buys within a year, the bigger
the check. “That term really
caught their ear,” Eubanks
says.
Even
though Suncoast wrote a check
up front, Cantelm says, the six-figure
volume of the account meant profitability.
Cantelm
flew the client’s representative
to Florida, he says, to “open
his eyes a little bit.”
He showed the client a map of
the country, indicating where
the products would be produced
and shipped from. He took the
client on a tour of the warehouse,
explaining Suncoast’s business.
Now, the distributorship produces
invoices, forms, bags, commercial
printing, labels and envelopes
for the client’s nationwide
business.
“I
just sold 5,000 pens to their
HR department and gusseted merchandise
bags for the stores,” he
says. “There’s a lot
more business here than we ever
dreamed.”
“I
really believe that our system
is as good as anybody’s,”
Cantelm continues. “I believe
we can compete against the majors.”
The company’s technological
assets, he says, lauding Quantum
Net, have allowed small to mid-size
companies act big. Suncoast’s
capabilities could easily match
or exceed larger distributors’,
Cantelm says, and after catching
the client’s attention and
explaining the business, he was
able to make that happen.
—Rebecca
Trela
