Print
Solutions May 2005
Cover Story
E-Commerce
Excitement
Smart
e-commerce solutions thrill end
users.
If
your e-commerce solution helps
your customers while it increases
your sales and makes you more
efficient, raise your hand. We
want to give you a high-five.
More
importantly, your clients want
to give you more business and
more loyalty. That’s the
payoff when you take the initiative,
invest, endure a longer sales
cycle and make clients’
lives easier. Their business goals
and your e-commerce capabilities
intertwine, and that makes your
firm a partner, not just a vendor.
The
four distributorships featured
here demonstrate how e-commerce
helps you gain access to regional
and national accounts, penetrate
existing print business, sell
solutions instead of products
and become a single source for
clients.
High-Fives to These Four:
Page/Distributorship/Software
Firm
44
Progressive Business Solutions
TopForm® Software Inc.
48
FSi Kramer-Smilko Inc.
56
Intraform Inc. Forms Management
Data Systems
61
Proforma Spectrum Print Graphics
Four51 Inc.
Company:
Progressive Business Solutions
Location:
Raleigh, N.C.
Founded:
1988
Principal:
Tim Catlett, president
Employees:
17
Business
in Brief: The distributorship
offers forms, commercial printing,
promotional products,e-commerce,
distribution, direct mail, and
warehouse and fulfillment services.
Six
years ago, Tim Catlett, president
of Raleigh, N.C.-based distributorship
Progressive Business Solutions,
wanted to sell to a large regional
bank that employs approximately
7,000 people and operates 800
locations. Catlett called the
bank and landed small printing
jobs. Gradually, the distributorship
gained the bank’s confidence
by producing cost-effective and
high-quality products on time.
E-commerce
wasn’t a top-selling item
then, but Catlett knew large clients
such as the bank ultimately would
seek technological solutions for
efficient, streamlined processes.
“Realistically, if you don’t
have the attitude of offering
value-added services, you’re
not going to succeed in the printing
industry today,” says Catlett,
who started the distributorship
in October 1988. Catlett, who
previously worked for NCR Corporation
as a district sales manager, and
his wife Sonya, launched the company
as a 2-person shop that sold all
types of forms and copier paper.
Today, the company has 17 employees
and offers forms, commercial printing,
promotional products, e-commerce,
distribution, direct mail, and
warehouse and fulfillment services.
Before
investing in e-commerce, Catlett
knew he needed a warehouse and
distribution facility where he
could store products that would
be offered online. Three years
ago, the company added a state-of-the-art,
30,000-square-foot warehouse and
distribution center, and then
chose Web.ec print distributor
software from Norcross, Ga.-based
supplier TopForm® Software
Inc.
Catlett
also knew that the purchasing
department at the bank’s
headquarters ordered print materials
for all 800 locations. The bank
wanted to reduce the purchasing
department’s responsibility,
but at the same time keep control
of what the branches could order.
Catlett
told the bank he had an easy,
effective solution. The bank could
use its distribution and warehouse
center to stock all the printed
materials its branches needed,
and use Web.ec to place orders,
view inventory and usage reports,
and more. The bank liked the idea,
but wanted to find out what other
printers were offering. Not willing
to give up, Catlett asked the
bank, “You tell us what
you want, and we will customize
the system.” The bank agreed
and “we gave them 99 percent
of the things they wanted,”
he says. The company also hired
IT employees, customer service
representatives and people with
experience in warehousing to ensure
the bank and other customers using
Web.ec were well-served.
Janie
Jackson, information systems manager
at Progressive Business Solutions,
says 800 users from all of the
bank’s locations use the
system to order print materials.
A user logs on to www.progform.com/webec/
index.asp, inputs the buyer ID
and password, and clicks on “Log
In.” Then, the user clicks
on “Product Catalog”
and views a list of customized
items the branch orders (different
branches order different items,
and a user from each branch only
views items that his or her branch
is authorized to order). The user
then inputs the item quantities
needed and clicks on “Add
Items to Order” to complete
the order (or “Clear Order
Form” to start again). The
user clicks on “Order Status”
to view the order number, date
and status. By clicking on “Shopping
Cart,” the user views details
such as item code, description,
quantity, unit, total quantity,
unit price and unit total. The
user can delete an order by clicking
on “Delete Order”
or continue shopping. Once the
user clicks on “Check Out
Items,” the purchasing department
at the bank’s headquarters
receives an email detailing the
order. Authorized employees at
the department review and approve
the order, and email it to the
distributorship’s warehouse
for processing.
Users
have a one-stop shop at their
fingertips, Catlett says. They
can order from more than 1,300
items such as checks, money orders,
envelopes, fliers and statements.
Headquarters also can view reports
such as status, usage trend, inventory
status and low-stock status, Jackson
says. “They can pull up
usage reports and know what was
ordered last week, last month
and last year,” she says.
“The reports help them track
which items need to be reordered
and if they even have a need for
a particular item. They get the
information at the click of a
button.”
Catlett
says another major benefit for
the bank is cost control. “Large
corporations tend to lose track
of data and money that’s
spent,” he says. “The
bank orders in bulk and that controls
costs.”
Also,
small- and medium-sized distributors
who sell e-commerce solutions
are better prepared to serve their
customers than large companies
such as Standard Register and
Relizon, Catlett says. “I
also think e-commerce is a way
to lock your customers to your
capabilities.” Once a customer
invests in the distributor’s
e-commerce solution, it’s
unlikely the customer will switch
to another company. “You’ve
got to mess up pretty bad to lose
them,” he says.
Investing
in E-Commerce? 3 Tips
1.
Gain knowledge. "We know
printing and not technology,"
says Tim Catlett, president of
Raleigh, N.C.-based distributorship
Progressive Business Solutions.
Analyze your customers' needs,
research the market's e-commerce
systems and find out what your
competitors offer.
2.
Look for a dynamic system. Find
out how frequently your e-commerce
software vendor updates its system.
"TopForm keeps on improving
and makes changes based on distributors'
recommendations," Catlett
says. "The changes are made
available to all distributors
who use the software. TopForm
is never obsolete and we all get
to reap the benefits."
3.
Look at the features, not just
the cost. "Don't shy away
from a good system because it's
costly," Catlett says. Consider
its features and benefits first,
then the price.
“Realistically,
if you don’t have the attitude
of offering value-added services,
you’re not going to succeed
in the printing industry today.”
Tim
Catlett, President
Progressive
Business Solutions, Raleigh, N.C.
