Wired About The Future

BY DARIN PAINTER

IN BRIEF
Guided by a slick internet ordering system and bold independence,
Webb/Mason Inc. has become one of the country's fastest-growing distributorships.

Warner Mason can speak intelligently about supply-chain management. He can wax philosophic about one-to-one marketing. When he feels like it, he can say the words corporate presidents like to say-core competency, best in class, value added.

"We're having a hell of a lot of fun," Mason says instead. He's sitting in Webb Mason Inc.'s largest conference room with Doug Traxler, the company's executive vice president of sales and marketing, and Paul Bailey, its marketing and communications manager. Mason leans back in his chair and grins. He seems as comfortable sitting at the mahogany table as he is playing on the company's Foosball table down the hall. "Business is just a blast right now," he says. "We know this excitement's not going to stop any time soon."

That's because the Baltimore-based distributorship has enjoyed eye-popping growth since Mason and partner Kip Webb launched the company in July 1989. Back then, the firm occupied 500 square feet and sold primarily business forms and data supplies. Today, Webb/Mason is a $35 million print management services company with 102 employees, nine regional offices and one spotless room where the firm's new servers blink, buzz and hum.

Webb/Mason, which has experienced 30-40 percent annual growth since 1997, offers a wide range of business printing, as well as promotional products, a proprietary internet ordering system, forms design consultation, warehousing, inventory management and other services. The company used to lack a coffeemaker; now it has six Java programmers.

One reason for Webb/Mason's success, Bailey says, is its unusual sales support structure. Instead of having many sales representatives and few support personnel, the distributorship has 23 sales reps and 40 CSRs. That means more than 60 percent of its staff communicates with clients daily. "Customers are the ones who lead us into new directions," Bailey says. "We've simply organized our resources so we can listen and react to what they say."

Listening to clients? Definitely. Listening to industry convention? No way. "We're fiercely independent and very proud of it," Traxler says. Mason and Bailey nod in agreement. Traxler lifts his right arm off the table and clenches his fist. "This is the kind of company that wants to slay the dragon on its own."

Prior to 1996, Webb/Mason prided itself on handling large orders by phone and fax. The company's strategy was simple-to become a premier print management company. When the internet revolution began, Webb/Mason's management team (called "founders") recognized the technology's potential to boost the firm's average client size and efficiency. "We knew that if companies did business with us online," Traxler says, "they would be less likely to exit as customers."

Enter the bevy of printing dot-coms that knocked on Webb/Mason's front door. Problem was, none of them could tie into the distributorship's back end. "No one could integrate with our distribution system," Traxler says. "No one could integrate completely with our vendors and clients."

Webb/Mason had been using a third party's e-commerce system to offer simple, online stationery ordering, but the distributorship wanted a more robust system to handle larger, customized orders. It decided a major technology upgrade was in order. After all, the company was storing its server in a closet. "You couldn't exactly call it a working data center," Traxler jokes.

During a quarterly meeting, principals at each of the distributorship's nine locations met to discuss technology options. Mason introduced the idea of investing in a proprietary system that could grow with the company. "Quite a few people said, 'That's crazy! We're going to budget over a million dollars and lots of time when we can buy something now for a few thousand bucks?'" he recalls. "It wasn't a popular choice, but we eventually saw it was the right one."

"It was a major move," says Ernest J. Vaile, Webb/Mason's CFO. "It certainly cost a lot more to take our own path, but we were never really close to taking the ASP route. That direction wouldn't have given us enough control. We wanted to become a national force. A strong, in-house system was the only way to get there."

Mason is proud of Webb/Mason's growth rate, but he's more proud of how the firm has grown-organically. "Our technology is home-grown, and so is our distribution capability. That's rare for distributors," he says. "We'll always look to remain independent."

End users typically manage their printing on a project-by-project basis, with each department in charge of its own vendors, inventory and budget. Webb/Mason's Enterprise Print Management (EPM) Online system connects each part of an end user's print strategy, including ordering, fulfillment, production, inventory management and cost control.

Mason says online sales account for approximately 30 percent of Webb/Mason's business. More importantly, he says, EPM Online has been responsible for approximately 95 percent of the company's new deals during the last two years.

Last year, Webb/Mason hired Brian Fritsche, a young, savvy technology guru who now leads a team of six full-time programmers. "We wrote EPM Online to be scalable," he says. "Because we own the system, it can be updated constantly, based on feedback we receive from users."

Those users have unique user names and passwords, giving them access to privately branded web sites. During their initial setups, users customize ordering templates and enter data the system remembers, such as company name and cost-center address. Users can preview product images, create "favorites" lists of frequently ordered products, check real-time inventory and order by the shopping-cart method. The system sends separate email confirmations when orders are placed and shipped.

Integrating the system's web technology with Webb/Mason's back-end distribution system was a challenge, Fritsche says. His team wrote a middleware program called Agent in 1999 that essentially took data from TopForm's software system and converted it for use on the web. "That was probably the biggest obstacle we faced," Fritsche says.

EPM Online has changed significantly since its launch in 1997. (Five companies are currently performing beta tests on EPM's fourth version, which will be available later this year.) "One thing many customers said from the beginning was that they wanted more administrative tools," Traxler says. Webb/Mason listened to the request, enabling administrators to add and delete users, run customized reports, control payment options, and more without having to call the distributorship. Users can go to a setup screen and turn various functions on and off like switches. No reprogramming is necessary.

Webb/Mason also simplified EPM Online's display, moving from a button-based main screen to a dashboard-style one that allows users to manage profiles, change user names and passwords, see previous orders, view tracking numbers, add products to "favorites" lists, and more. Users also can group products and label them with recognizable names such as "HR Stuff."

The new version of EPM Online will include several new features. One is the ability for company administrators to email messages to users, generate surveys and set additional ordering parameters. But Webb/Mason is far more excited about a feature that will give users the ability to dynamically customize brochures, business cards and other documents. For example, if Joe Smith keys the letters "S-m-i" into a last-name field for a business card, he will see an image of the card with "S-m-i" appearing simultaneously as he types. If a financial advisor wants to create 50 custom brochures for a retirement-planning meeting, he can enter his user name and password and see a template with his name, address, picture and biography. Then, he can choose one of several messages he created previously, add it to other graphics or text, and have the documents digitally printed. "This will empower sales forces to build documents in the field and on the fly," Mason says.

Webb/Mason has set up EPM Online for approximately 80 companies. Setup times vary, but most firms go live in about a month. "We're developing a core competency of getting large organizations up and running with unprecedented efficiency," Traxler says. He says one of the distributorship's accounts had waited 14 months for a major to implement an e-commerce system. Webb/Mason took over the job, completing the task in 30 days, Traxler says.

Leading internet service provider America Online turned to Webb/Mason in 1999 for its online stationery printing needs. "It's simple enough that we don't have to train people how to use it, which is important in a company that grows as quickly as we do," says Carol Baccari, AOL's corporate purchasing manager. "You see exactly what you're going to get before you submit your order."

It's not easy to expand a sales force, add new distribution centers in Chicago and Greenville, S.C., invest more than a million dollars a year in technology-and do it all internally. "We work hard, and we play hard," Mason says. "It's a pleasure to go out and compete every day, win more than you lose, and really make a difference in the marketplace."

Much of the distributorship's strategic planning derives from its quarterly roundtable meetings, where the firm's founders introduce topics important to customers. "We'll close the door, maybe throw a ball around and do some brainstorming," Traxler says. Participants can discuss any issue they wish-as long as they bring at least one suggested solution. A little bickering is accepted as long as it's honest. The company might say "yes" to clients, but it's not a collection of yes men. Instead, its leaders believe the best ideas can come from left field.

Webb/Masons' founders have stayed solidly in place, and most are company shareholders. "If you have great people, you'll have a great company," Bailey says. "If you have average people, you'll have an average company, no matter what you sell. Everyone's ideas count here. There are no hidden agendas. No one says, 'This is my idea, and I'm not giving it up.'"

Webb/Mason believes that mistakes are OK, but not deciding-not trying to move forward-is intolerable. One reason the distributorship makes money is because it knows how to turn on a dime. "New hires are told, 'Get ready for change,'" Traxler says. "We're not about to live in a static business model. We're not afraid to take risks and realize eight months later that we were half right. We'll just ask where the other half needs to be."

While it's common for firms to dilly-dally with e-commerce decisions, Webb/Mason thinks deploy. The company's let's-move-it mentality is one reason it's releasing the fourth version of EPM Online in as many years. "When a customer says, 'This is where my business is going. Can you help me solve this problem?' we want to be able to say 'yes'-and mean it," Traxler says.

The Webb/Mason team exudes confidence without being cocky. It invites companies to evaluate their print providers and "look under the hood a little bit," Traxler says. "We say, 'You've got good potential vendors there, but at some point someone's going to have to roll up their sleeves and deliver on your high hopes. Who's going to come in on the weekend to deal with a situation and care enough to make it right by Monday morning? Who has done it enough times to know where potential land mines are hidden?'"

Mason hopes to avoid future land mines at Webb/Mason by building a quality sales force in new markets, including the West Coast. "We've already embraced the internet as a core competency," he says. "We already have the right tool. Now we have to sell it-with the right culture, the right message and the right support." Next year, the company plans to launch two more offices and hire about 10 additional sales reps. "Our goal will always be to make life better for customers," Mason says. "And we're going to keep having a great time on the way."

Darin Painter is managing editor of Print Solutions. Email him your comments at dpainter@PSDA.org.