Lost in the Shuffle
Distributor: Michael Koepke, account executive at Teuteberg Inc., Neenah, Wis.
Client: Insurance company
Problem: Small magnets misplaced in packets of customer information
Solution: Cut sheet with an integrated magnet
With a little more than a year's experience in the printing industry, Michael Koepke penetrated an insurance company account by keeping his eyes open. While visiting his contact in the client's purchasing department, Koepke, account executive at Neenah, Wis., distributorship Teuteberg Inc., saw magnets glued to post cards in the customer's store room. When the distributor asked about the product, the customer explained that the post cards were placed in introductory packets handed out to new customers. The problem: The post cards, which promoted a 24-hour medical hotline, were lost amid other materials in the packets.
Koepke suggested the insurance company try an integrated magnet on an 81Ž2 x 11-inch cut sheet. He explained that the larger cut sheet wouldn't be misplaced as easily as a small post card. The client agreed to research the idea, but she aired several concerns during multiple meetings with Koepke. "She wanted it to be affordable, but also wanted a quality product that looked sharp," Koepke says. The cut sheet also had to fit in the existing package, and the magnet had to peel off easily.
Koepke obtained samples from almost a dozen manufacturers to learn about the product and find the best construction for the insurance company. After thorough research, Koepke and the insurance company opted for a 28#, 3-color sheet that includes information about the medical hotline on top. The bottom features a 31/4 x 11/2-inch magnet, which includes the hotline's name, logo and toll-free phone number. Recipients can remove the magnets and place them on their refrigerators.
Initially, the insurance company wanted a magnet that peeled from the front of the cut sheet. To save money, Koepke convinced the client to select one that peels from the back. The front of the cut sheet includes a laminate over the magnet, which is die cut from the back. The insurance company ordered 150,000 of the integrated magnets.
Mired in Mediocrity
Distributor: Ken Rodell, vice president of Data-Doc. Inc., Charlotte, N.C.
Client: Lock manufacturing firm
Problem: Cumbersome product-return system
Solution: Return authorization form with an integrated label
When a lock manufacturing firm had an inefficient product return system, it turned to distributorship Data-Doc. Inc., Charlotte, N.C. When one of the lock maker's distribution firms received incorrect or faulty products, it called the lock maker. The lock maker then would assign the distribution firm a return number and fax authorization for the firm to return those items. "Now everything is built into the shipping document that goes out with the product," says Ken Rodell, Data-Doc.'s vice president.
Rodell worked with the lock maker's IT department to design a software-compatible document. The firm recently had switched from continuous to laser printers and reconfigured its software. The IT department provided Rodell with the layout of information fields, so when the company personalized its new return authorization documents, data would appear in the correct locations on the labels and form.
Rodell supplied 5,000 8 1/2 x 11-inch cut sheets as a test run. The top of the 24# sheets include two labels each, measuring approximately 1 1/2 x 3 inches. Both labels are printed with the manufacturing firm's address, and lock distributors use the labels to ship defective products back to the firm. The lock maker opted for dual labels because most of its sales are pick-and-pack orders: There potentially could be more than one box of return products. The remainder of the document includes return instructions and a packing list. Rodell anticipates the company will order 50,000 documents for its six plants.
Stuck in a Jam
Distributor: Cristina Molinari, print consultant at ATEX Inc., Montreal
Client: Professional trade association
Problem: Affixed cards jamming in printer
Solution: Integrated membership cards
Cristina Molinari helped a professional trade association get rid of its dinosaur--a printer for continuous documents. "They had one large, archaic printer in a closed room," says Molinari, print consultant at distributorship ATEX Inc., Montreal. "All it printed was membership cards." All other forms had been converted to laser. The customer didn't realize a laser option existed until Molinari suggested the association use integrated cards. "It was the easiest sell of any product I offer with ATEX," she says. "The customer was relieved at the solution."
Previously, the association ordered plastic cards affixed to continuous forms. But the organization had problems with cards jamming in its printer. Molinari supplied an 8 1/2 x 11-inch cut sheet that's inserted into a #10 window envelope.
The sheet is divided into thirds: The top section includes a short welcome message from the association and its mailing address, which shows through the window envelope. The middle section, set off by two horizontal perfs and a partial vertical perf, features two receipts required by Canada--a federal and a provincial income tax receipt. A 10 mil vinyl integrated membership card appears on the bottom of the document.
In addition to pleasing her client, Molinari enjoys another benefit of providing integrated cards. "The professionals who belong to associations often are heads of other organizations that require cards for their members," she says. "We get a tremendous amount of referrals." Molinari estimates that referrals account for 30 percent of her new business overall.
Susan Keen Flynn, a freelance writer based in Cleveland, is a frequent contributor to Print Solutions. Email us your comments at bholt@printsolutionsmag.com.
Thanks to The Flesh Co., St. Louis, for assistance.
