Print
Solutions May 2005
Cover Story
E-Commerce
Excitement
Smart
e-commerce solutions thrill end
users, continued.
Company:
Intraform Inc.
Location:
Reno, Nev., with offices in Las
Vegas; Phoenix; and Tucson, Ariz.
Founded:
1988
Principal:
Mickey Lucas, president
Employees:
32
Business
in Brief: Intraform is a full-service
distributor offering print management,
promotional products, electronic
print and mail services, digital
document storage, and one-to-one
and email marketing. Its customers
include local and state governments,
health care and manufacturing
plants, and financial firms.
At
a marketing meeting last month
at Intraform Inc.'s headquarters
in Reno, Nev., President Mickey Lucas told his
team, "We don't want
to talk about the peanut butter,
and we don't want to talk
about the chocolate. We want to
talk about the Reese's peanut
butter cup. We want customers
to think of us and say, 'Wow,
you guys have it all.'"
The
distributorship has numerous offerings,
including print management, promotional
products, electronic print and
mail services, digital document
storage, and one-to-one and email
marketing solutions. Lucas'
quote exemplifies a conceptual
change he says Intraform undertook
in 2003. "We now want to
be known as an 'outside-in'
company," he says. Our approach
is, 'Mister Customer, what
do you need? We'll work
hard to fulfill it,' instead
of, 'This is what we sell—hope
you like it.'"
One
thing Lucas says his customers
like is the ability to order online
through the Quantum Net® e-commerce
module from Forms Management Data
Systems (FMDS), Reno, Nev. (Some
of the distributorship's
clients use Palm Beach, Fla.-based
Workflow Management Inc.'s
iGetSmart™ system.) The Quantum
Net platform allows end users
to place online orders; run usage
reports; request proofs; select
shipping destinations; and custom-imprint
business cards, promotional products,
letterhead, computer consumables
and other items. The system includes
administrative tools that allow
end users' purchasing departments
to add users, monitor orders company-wide,
control payment options, specify
maximum dollar amounts per order,
run customized reports, view estimated
run-out dates, limit which employees
or branches can order certain
items or view certain reports,
and more. FMDS doesn't charge
distributors user fees for each
transaction or dictate which manufacturers
they must use. "We're
having great success selling to
companies with multiple locations
that want to maintain or improve
their name branding and standardization,"
Lucas says.
In
April 2002, an Intraform account
executive called on a large regional
bank with multiple locations.
"The systems in place for
a small bank were being stretched
to the breaking point by rapid
expansion to approximately 40
branches in two states,"
Lucas says. The bank's purchasing
manager was responsible for ordering,
receiving, packing and distributing
many internal print and promotional
items. "The bank was trimming
their vendor base, trying to enforce
graphic standards, eliminate random
purchases by various departments,
get out of the distribution business
and successfully implement a new
MICR system," Lucas says.
In
July 2002, the bank asked Intraform
for information on MICR documents,
which led to an informal demo
of Quantum Net. The bank soon
began ordering MICR products through
the system, enabling it to eliminate
approximately $200,000 worth of
inventory, Lucas says. The client
soon added shirts, desk pads,
name badges and other products
to the list of products it viewed
and purchased through Quantum
Net. In April 2003, the bank authorized
Intraform to build a customized
imprint-on-demand program and
a corporate store for business
cards, stationery, envelopes and
announcement cards. "The
bank's vice president of
operations determined warehousing
of any future item would be eliminated,"
Lucas says. "This became
a directive from the president
to all departments regarding all
products."
Lucas' directive to the Intraform team
during the meeting—show customers that we have it all—has been
easier to follow since Jan. 1, 2005. That's when the
distributorship began a partnership with Phoenix-based New
Angle Media to provide web development and internet services
such as behavioral marketing, 3D animation, audio/video
production, web seminar production, copywriting, web design
and search-engine marketing. "If you look at web development
as a 10-story building and dynamic web sites live on the first
floor, this company goes up nine floors higher—they really do
some amazing things," Lucas says. Combined, the companies act
as one source for clients that need creative web development
services plus traditional printing, promotional products and
fulfillment. Intraform and New Angle Media jointly market the
partnership as IntraMedia. (For more details, visit www.intra-media.net.)
Intraform
and New Angle Media haven't
completed a project, but several
have begun, including one for
a large real estate company. The
company currently sends direct
mail to homeowners on its mailing
lists; the pieces showcase up
to 20 houses per mailing. Now,
the company plans to data-mine
email addresses for targeted ZIP
codes. Email recipients will be
driven to the firm's web
site, where they'll choose
house criteria such as price range
and number of bedrooms, then gain
access to photos and information
about all available houses that
match the criteria. The best part:
As users click on links and view
pages, a contextual marketing
profile of each person will be
built, thanks to technology similar
to Amazon.com's when the
online retailer suggests products
based on previously viewed items.
"Weekly and monthly, the
real estate company will receive
back-end reporting that shows
who visited the site and what
they were interested in, so it
can follow up with targeted print
campaigns," Lucas says.
"This partnership is an
example of how traditional offline
applications have met their online
solution, and why technology should
matter to companies in the printing
industry."
Investing
in E-Commerce? 3 Tips
1. Prepare for a learning
curve.
When Intraform began offering
e-commerce in 1999, the company
had to pull samples of a client's
printed products, determine how
much of each product the client
used monthly, set up a pricing
structure, and identify which
items were used company-wide and
which were used by specific branches.
For a client with 50 branches
that wanted three login codes
for each branch, the Reno, Nev.-based
distributorship had to check all
150 logins to make sure they worked
and that all necessary products
were available. "It was
painful at times," says
Mickey Lucas, Intraform's
president. "But
after we got the first client
on, the second one was easier
and the third one was a breeze.
Now, we have a set of guidelines."
2. Interface with your
distributor management system.
In addition
to the Quantum Net e-commerce
platform from Forms Management
Data Systems (FMDS), Reno, Nev.,
Intraform uses FMDS' Quantum
2000 distributor operations management
system. It includes inventory
management, order entry and accounting
capabilities that allow distributors
to handle accounts payable, accounts
receivable, invoicing, general
ledger, contact management and
forms management functions.
3. Hire or consult with IT
pros.
E-commerce isn't plug-and-play.
It can be a great selling tool
if used properly, but you can't
do it without understanding technology,
internet and databases. That requires
employing trained IT people in
house or working with IT contractors.
"What
we really do is orchestrate workflow
solutions. ... The key is listening
to what clients need."
Mickey
Lucas
President
Intraform
Inc., Reno, Nev.
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