The family's sense of humor is just one way Eagle Printing keeps business running smoothly. Today, the distributorship includes five people: John and Laura O'Melia, George and Jan Herrmann, and Dianne Miner. As president and co-owner, John oversees operations. Laura serves as co-owner, handling typesetting, business card orders and trade shows. As sales consultant, Jan Hermann prices large orders and nurtures accounts with governments and school systems. George, who retired as head of payroll for an Oscar Mayer plant, arranges order entry and billing and delivers local orders himself. Miner serves as the firm's secretary.
Housed in a 1940s grocery store in a residential area, Eagle Printing specializes in traditional forms (up to 50,000), tags and labels, promotional products, commercial printing, and wedding products. The distributorship doesn't print products in house, instead sending even short run jobs to print shops. Small but proud, Eagle Printing has achieved success by delivering excellent customer service, exploring new markets and appreciating the value of family.
Soaring With Customer Service
Good customer service is the wind beneath Eagle Printing's wings. In order to maintain face-to-face relationships, the distributorship limits its client base to companies within (or headquartered within) a 60-mile radius. "We like to pride ourselves on our service," John O'Melia says. "If there's a problem, we're on the scene."
Approximately two years ago, a doctor was playing host to an association seminar. He wanted custom binders and reference tabs to hold lessons and procedures. The physical therapy center he worked for was an Eagle Printing customer, and it recommended the distributorship. "This was not a huge print job or anything, but [the doctor] needed them immediately," O'Melia says.
Eagle Printing's manufacturer shipped the tabs, and O'Melia tracked the packages online. As the packages slowly traversed the country, he was on pins and needles. O'Melia concluded they wouldn't arrive on time. Eagle Printing risked disappointing the seminar attendees, losing the doctor's business and embarrassing the physical therapy center.
O'Melia called the client, explained the problem and proposed buying similar products from an office supply store. John, Laura and George came to the client's office and stuffed the binders themselves. "It worked out well. They had a birthday party for someone that day and we all got some pizza," John says with modest deadpan. It did work out well: The physical therapy business has remained a loyal Eagle Printing customer, ordering nearly all of its printed products from the distributorship.
A grocery store chain based in Milan, Ill., bought its custom-window envelopes from Eagle Printing but outsourced its checks to a major direct-seller. Several months ago, the client became dissatisfied with the prices of the direct-seller's payroll checks and gave Eagle Printing a chance to bid on them. The distributorship offered checks with comparable security features and paper, but at a less-expensive price.
Alarmed that Eagle Printing might gain all of the chain's check business, the direct-seller sent out a sales representative with a test kit to prove its checks were better--and failed. Eagle Printing recently filled the order for 200,000 payroll checks for the chain and plans to target the client's other checks. The distributorship also supplies the chain with edge-glued forms for deli orders, envelopes, office supplies and cut sheets. "We're kind of a jack-of-all-trades," John O'Melia says. "Jan always teases that everybody sends their weirdo forms to us."
Saying 'I Do' to Documents
Some of Eagle Printing's products might be "weirdos," but there's nothing strange about the firm's success. The distributorship looks for ways it can help others and profit at the same time.
For years, North Mankato, Minn.-based manufacturer Carlson Craft sent Eagle Printing albums advertising its wedding invitations. Whenever friends or family planned weddings, the Herrmanns let them borrow albums for a few days, select several products and purchase them at cost.
When the O'Melias planned their own wedding, they realized that although Quad Cities (Moline and Rock Island, Ill.; Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa; and nearby communities) boasted a population of more than 400,000, few local stores concentrated on providing wedding invitations and products. Of those that did, John O'Melia says, "it was always a sideline for them...nobody could help you with etiquette and wording." Here was a niche just waiting for savvy entrepreneurs.
When Eagle Printing moved into its current building, the O'Melias placed wedding supplies in its front-room showcase, dubbed it "Wedding Corner," and distributed promotional fliers. They specialized in providing complete wedding sets, including matching invitations, ring bearer pillows, unity candles and more, at both economic and high-end prices. "A lot of brides like that," John O'Melia says. "They'll come in and say, 'I want all of it.'"
To the O'Melias' delight, secretary Dianne Miner showed skill at encouraging brides to buy. "When the brides come in about their wedding, she's as excited as they are," John O'Melia says. "Within five minutes, she knows their themes and colors." Miner's sincere enthusiasm makes shopping at Wedding Corner feel less stressful and more like a special event, O'Melia says.
Promotional efforts for Wedding Corner don't stop at the shop. Eagle Printing also attends local bridal expositions, advertises in bridal guides and relies on word of mouth. Brides often refer the business to their bridesmaids and female relatives. Wedding Corner accounts for 5 percent of Eagle Printing's sales--and that percentage is growing.
Keeping an Eagle Eye on New Markets
Eagle Printing's wedding products sometimes overlap with another new capability at the firm--promotional products. The distributorship has targeted this niche for five years. The overlap began when a bride-to-be ordered custom printed Koozie® insulated beverage can holders for her reception. Eagle Printing placed a sample of her Koozie on display at Wedding Corner, and the next bride-to-be who walked in asked about it. Now the O'Melias fill many orders for them.
Another couple, which enjoyed playing bridge, requested custom printed card decks to give away at its anniversary celebration. Eagle Printing discovered it was more cost-effective to order the cards through its printing contacts than through its wedding contacts. Customers at Wedding Corner also have asked about pens, pencils and even 50-cent holders for a 50th anniversary party.
Eagle Printing tries to maintain the distinction between its printing and wedding businesses so that customers trust the firm's expertise in both areas. So far, it's working: "Our sales have increased rapidly," John O'Melia says. As of June 2002, Wedding Corner already had surpassed sales from its previous year.
Guarding the Family Nest
The O'Melias don't want sales to climb too high, though. Sean, 4, and Kevin, 1, take up most of their parents' time and attention these days, and that's exactly the way the O'Melias planned it. Actually, the O'Melias are busy making sure the children don't climb too high. John O'Melia affectionately calls the boys his little "monkeys." "[Sean] goes out in the yard and within five seconds he's up in a tree and he can't climb down," he says. And Kevin is never far behind. "They're not scared of anything," he says, laughing.
For now, John works at the office, while Laura works at home. She plans to return to the office and work on a flex-time schedule after the boys have entered school full-time. Until then, the O'Melias work to maintain a balance. "It's great to have big business aspirations," John O'Melia says, "but we always put family first."
Rita Tiefert is a former assistant editor of Print Solutions. Email us your comments at bholt@printsolutionsmag.com.
The Feather in a Health Care Provider's Cap
Community Health Care Inc. says doing business with Moline, Ill., distributorship Eagle Printing is a smart choice. The Davenport, Iowa-based health care provider has purchased its printed products from Eagle Printing for 15 years. Eagle Printing supplies the firm's letterhead, envelopes, business cards, 2 and 3-part patient forms, lab forms, prescription pads, brochures, insurance claim forms and more.
Lynda Cronkleton, a purchasing specialist at Community Health Care, says Eagle Printing works hard to offer the lowest prices and best service. She especially appreciates that the firm tracks her inventory and picks up project materials in person. "They take more time [with me] than a larger company would," she says.
Community Health Care recently changed its logo. "It was a nightmare for me because I had so many things to change," Cronkleton says. Fortunately, Eagle Printing "bent over backward" to assist her, she says. The distributorship helped her to organize all the products requiring logo changes, including business cards, envelopes, letterhead, prescriptions and brochures, and to tailor many products to the health care provider's various locations and services. Eagle Printing worked with an independent designer, sending artwork back and forth until final approval by the client.
