Print
Solutions May 2006
Industry
Coverage
SMall
Distributor Summit
IMAGES
Candid
Exchanges Dominate
Small Distributor Summit
IN
BRIEF
At
the DMIA’s Small Distributor
Summit, more than 80 participants
networked, saw new products from
manufacturers and discussed
print industry trends, highlighting,
e-commerce, the shifting procurement
styles of the Xbox generation
and making the leap from a small
to
a large distributorship.
It
was another record-setting year
for DMIA’s Small Distributor
Summit, with more than 80 attendees,
a third of whom were first-timers.
At the March 17-19 meeting, owners
of smaller distributorships (less
than $2.5 million in annual sales)
learned about new trends within
the ever-evolving printing industry,
and they created new networks
of business advisers and friends.
The
meeting format provided lots of
opportunities to ask practical
and candid questions such as “How
do you tackle health care insurance
for employees?” and “How
do you limit how much access CSRs
have to company information?”
The summit also took place in
St. Louis, near where it was conceived
four years ago by Paul Edwards,
CDC, president of FormStore Incorporated,
Fenton, Mo.
“The
summit’s been good, very
good,” said Jim Ellis, CFC,
during a break from one of the
distributor presentations. Ellis
is the owner of Sun Business Systems
Inc., Largo, Fla., and was one
of many first-time attendees at
the summit. “I’ve
gotten a lot out of it so far
and it’s not even a day
and a half.”
“There’s
a lot of energy here,” said
Joe Webb of Formsystems Inc. and
an SDS veteran. “You can
tell that the people here are
very passionate. What I got from
this wasn’t necessarily
new ideas but it definitely cemented
things that we had been considering
especially with e-commerce,”
said the vice president of sales
and marketing at the Pensacola,
Fla.-based company. “We
keep saying that we need to get
into this but we haven’t.
Now I’m certain this is
what we need to do.”
Among
the many subjects discussed were
distributor partnerships, disaster
preparedness plans, e-commerce
and using the internet to find
more prospects and sales among
the “Xbox generation.”
“That
was definitely one of the big
feedbacks we got from last year’s
Small Distributor Summit,”
said Bill Lampe, manager of Lampe
Graphics LLC, St. Louis. “‘Tell
us more about e-commerce.’”
Lampe
and Brian Governor, president
of P&W Marketing Incorporated,
Youngstown, Ohio, coordinated
this year’s SDS.
“I
cannot explain the satisfaction
I feel,” Governor said about
the meeting in an email to DMIA
principals. “Imagine that
you can attend an industry event
and walk away with LIFE-changing
experiences! A new direction for
your business and new friends
that are in the same shoes as
you!”
Ivars
Sarkans of Sarkans & Associates,
Los Angeles, gave a presentation
on industry trends and noted the
gradual shift to more traditional
print products offered on the
web, from government documents
to newspaper advertising. Sarkans
said this could mean more sales
opportunities for distributors
who use the internet in their
businesses.
Distributors
who embrace e-commerce will stand
a better chance of being successful
in the long term. “Because
we are now dealing with the Xbox
generation where buyers are doing
more purchasing over the internet,
this will put new emphasis on
building relationships and doing
program sales,” Sarkans
said.
Gradually,
sales reps will have to phase
into doing more transactions and
prospecting over the internet
rather than in person.
Sarkans
also noted the bright side for
small distributors who decide
to embrace e-commerce solutions.
“It is really an advantage
to a group like this, because
it can make you look a lot bigger
than you are,” he said.
Two
other presentations reinforced
the power and growing trend of
e-commerce solutions for print
providers.
Mark
Rockefeller, owner of Carolina
Print Consultants, presented “E-Commerce
101: How to Get Started in the
World of E-Commerce.” He
began by asking how many people
in the room offered online solutions.
About half said no. “I guarantee
you that number will be cut in
half by next year,” Rockefeller
said. “And it may be two
to three hands a few years after
that.”
Rockefeller
described how his Laurens, S.C.-based
distributorship began offering
print products over the web with
the online catalog ordering program
designed by Four51, an e-commerce
software provider. At the time,
Carolina Print Consultants had
only one customer for its online
service but “because I was
that confident and because I knew
the strength of the online solution,
I went ahead and did it,”
he said. The company has since
expanded its customer list and
now uses other software such as
Printers Presence for its web
site and FTP server, and Peachtree
software by SAGE for its accounting.
He advised that small distributors
who are considering e-commerce
solutions should:
Have
an e-commerce system that is easy
for both your customers and your
staff to use.
Look
at the stability and success of
the software provider. “See
if you can count on them being
around a couple of years from
now,” he said.
The
power of e-commerce was underscored
in a presentation by Joel Chyke,
co-owner and CFO of FSi, during
“E-Commerce: Small to Large
– The Sky is the Limit with
E-Commerce.” Though the
Nashville-based company is by
no means a small distributorship
now that it has 60 employees,
Chyke, a DMIA Board member, said
that one of the keys to his company’s
growth in five years from $2 million
in sales to $20 million was FSi’s
ability to provide e-commerce
solutions. “The point when
we implemented e-commerce is when
our growth really expanded. We
could go to prospects and bill
ourselves as having a national
presence,” Chyke said. He
offered several helpful hints
for small distributors who want
to expand:
Change
your company mindset from small
to large. “That was one
of our biggest hurdles to overcome
as a distributor,” Chyke
said. “We saw ourselves
as small distributors, too. The
sales reps were the ones who were
killing us. We sold ourselves
as small. We sold ourselves as
the guys down the street that
would take care of you.”
Chyke said. You must communicate
your plan throughout your organization.
As
you expand or plan to expand,
ask yourself where you want your
company to be in the future and
how long you want to continue
to expand. “You have to
have an idea of what end is in
sight for you,” Chyke said.
Many
attendees said they were motivated
by the advice they received at
the summit. “What I really
want to take away from this is
refocusing our marketing plan
and re-picking our niche,”
said Samuel B. Wheeler, president
of ABS Print Management, Wayne,
Pa. “Now we want to do more
1-to-1 marketing and statement
processing.”
“I
feel re-energized,” said
John Barry, president of The Innovative
Print Group Inc., Eugene, Ore.
“One of the things I’ll
leave here with is thinking of
ways to reinvigorate my company.
None of my competitors are here.
This is definitely to my advantage.”
Distributors
got a chance to view several e-commerce
software programs during the opening
reception sponsored by TopForm
Software Inc., Norcross, Ga.;
Xetex Business Systems Inc., Elverson,
Pa.; SAGE-Quick Technologies Inc.,
Dallas; e-Quantum Inc., Reno,
Nev.; and ChangingInc., Chillicothe,
Ohio.
In
addition to distributor-led presentations
and panel discussions, the meeting
included manufacturer-education
sessions by sponsors Data Management
Center, Schaumburg, Ill.; Independent
Printing Co., DePere, Wis.; Pilgrim
Plastics Products Co., Brockton,
Mass.; Victor Printing Inc., Sharon,
Pa.; and Ward/Kraft Inc., based
in Fort Scott, Kan.
Discussion
Highlights
“The
majors have consolidated greatly,
and independent distributors have
developed as a result of these
consolidations. One of the major
advantages of being an independent
distributor is that we can pivot
on a dime.”
—
Distributor
Partnerships, Bob Penn, The Ampersand
Group, Akron, Ohio
“When
you consider buying another
company, go to a business broker,
network with associations like
DMIA, and even talk to your
vendors. Talk to your customers.
Find out if they know companies
that are willing to sell.”
—
Purchasing Another Distributorship,
Dave Vener, Impress Printing and
Graphics, Albany, N.Y.
“I
recommend Enfocus Pitstop Professional
for distributors to edit customer
files. This tool has advanced
editing capabilities that are
unavailable in Adobe Acrobat Professional.”
—
Graphics
and Clients: Don’t You Love
it When a Client Hands You a Disk
and Says ‘Print This?,’
Robb Tipton, Star Business Products,
Kemah, Texas
“Our
focus is building around the Xbox
generation. Our customers are
becoming more comfortable
making purchases over the web.
Now small can compete with big.”
—
E-Commerce
101: How to Get Started in the
World of E-Commerce, Mark Rockefeller,
Carolina Print Consultants, Laurens,
S.C.
Sending
gifts, birthday cards and keepsakes
to customers “is another
way to keep in touch with them.
They remember who we are. Often
times, it will go on their desks
and other people will see it.”
—
Promoting
Yourself: What Are Some Distributors
Doing to Stand Out From
the Competition?,
Ray Goodson, The Landmark Image,
Vacaville, Calif.
“Your
clients are buying these office
products anyway. If they don’t
go to you, they’re going
to go to someone else. We’re
trying to be a single source.
We want the whole enchilada.”
—
The New Frontier: I Told Myself
I Would NEVER Sell Office Products,
Brian MonBarren,
aprisa enterprises llc, Gilbert,
Ariz.
“Only
3 percent of businesses are better
prepared today for a natural disaster
than the 1901 earthquake in San
Francisco… As business owners
you’ve invested a significant
amount of time and resources into
making your business work. Now
manage your risk.”
—
Disaster
Preparedness: What Plans Do You
Have in Place to Stay in Business
if a Natural Disaster Strikes?,
Dick Gray, CDC, Xtension Technologies,
Laguna Hills, Calif.
“Speed
will be the future competitive
advantage, but it is already an
area in which distributors are
doing very well.”
—
Emerging
Industry Trends, Ivars Sarkans,
Sarkans & Associates, Los
Angeles
“I
chose to hire customer service
people for selfish reasons. Occasionally,
I wanted to be able to leave the
office. CS teams can be your best
selling tool or your biggest disaster.”
—
Customer
Service Teams Can Make or Break
Your Success with a Client,
Bill
Lampe, Lampe Graphics LLC, St.
Louis.
“A
lot of our customers didn’t
initially believe we could do
it, and the competition kept
insisting that they were too small…We
saw ourselves as small distributors,
too. The sales reps were the ones
who were killing us. We sold ourselves
as small. We sold ourselves as
the guys down the street that
would take care of you.”
—
Small to
Large: The Sky is the Limit with
E-Commerce, Joel Chyke, FSi,
Nashville,
Tenn.
