april independent dealer

Are You Readyfor the Next

Hiring CrunchSP Richards president andCOO Rick Toppin has a

terrific ldquoLast Wordrdquo column in this monthrsquos issuein which he makes a compelling argument fordealers to focus increased efforts on attractingyounger talent to their organizations to keep thebusiness strong and healthyRickrsquos arguments on their own are more thanenough to warrant attention But there are someimportant additional points you might want

to keep in mind Hard as it may be to believe ata time of 10 unemployment therersquos a demo-graphic time bomb thatrsquos ticking away andsooner or later it is going to create majorproblems for just about all of usBetween now and 2018mdashand thatrsquos just 8 yearsawaymdashresearchers at Bostonrsquos NortheasternUniversity estimate therersquos going to besomewhere between 33 million and 4 millionnew jobs created without people to fill them Herersquos the math They expect to see the creationof some 146 million new nonfarm payroll jobsas the economy emerges from recession andstarts moving again in a more positive directionDuring that same time frame however theypredict only about 91 million additional workerswill be entering the economy to fill those new jobslots And even taking into account an increasein multiple job holders and expectations thataging baby boomers will start staying in theworkforce longer there still wonrsquot be enough new

workers to cover the gap

What can we do about it First of all take aserious look at Rick Toppinrsquos suggestions andstart putting them to work in your dealershipSecondly start looking outside the box forpossible sources of new hires and figure out howto begin tapping into them now Whether itrsquos work-at-home moms businessmajors at local colleges in search of internshipsor recent retirees trying to avoid boredom goodhelp is out there and they need to know aboutyour dealership and what it can offerFinallymdashand please donrsquot stop me if yoursquoveheard thismdashnowrsquos the time to invest intechnology upgrades and training for yourpeople so that the resources you have areoperating as productively as possible Even if the researchers at Northeastern turn outonly to be half right the competition forworkforce talent is going to be tougher than itrsquosever been And the time to start getting readyto win that competition is now

Sufrin SuppliesPittsburgh DealerCelebrates 75th Anniversary

In Pittsburgh the hard-working team at Sufrin Supplies have gotsomething special to celebrate this year as the dealership marksits 75th year of service to the local business community

The company was founded by Adolph Sufrin back in 1935though his grandfather had been involved in the office supplybusiness even before then Ownership passed to sons DavidAdam and Michael before the company was acquired by fellowindependent Eaton Office Supply in Buffalo New York in 2006

The new owners kept the Sufrin name though and it continuesto operate on the same ldquoworld class service and valuerdquo modelthat the original owners put in place and that serves so manyother independents well today

Like many dealers the Sufrin team has not exactly seen businesspouring in through the door recently but an innovative partnershipwith a local small business membership organization as an en-dorsed supplier has provided a welcome boost

ldquoThe partnership has been in place for about eight months nowand wersquove already picked up 18 new accounts and it continuesto open doors for usrdquo reports general manager Joe Kushner

Our congratulations go to Joe and his team and herersquos to the next75 years

Malone Office Environments Georgia Dealer WinsLocal Chamber of Commerce AwardCongratulations are also in order for Sam Buracker and his team atMalone Office Environments in Columbus Georgia who last monthearned honors from their local chamber of commerce with a SmallBusiness Giant Award

Locally owned and operated since 1934 Sam joined his fatherrsquoscompany in 1993 as a furniture installer and learned the businessfrom the ground up before taking over as president in 2000

Today the business which started out as a typewriter repair shopoffers a full range of office supplies furniture commercial flooringand business machines

And like so many independents a fierce commitment to communityinvolvement is hard-wired into the company DNA Community activ-ities include a toner cartridge recycling program that supports thelocal United Way and Cell Phones for Soldiers (serving as a collectionpoint for used cell phones to be recycled and donated to soldiers)as well as ongoing programs in support of the St Jude ChildrensHospital American Cancer Society and more

Malone was selected for the award by a committee of volunteers inrecognition not only of its business success but also for the contri-butions the company its local ownership and its employees make tothe community at large Job creation economic value and contribu-tions to overall quality of life are primary considerations accordingto the chamber and based on that wersquod say itrsquos an award thatrsquosrichly deserved

continued on page 4

APRIL 2010 INDEPENDENT DEALER PAGE 2

THE

WINNERSrsquoCircle


Irene Fraga of Tejas Office Products Houston DealerHonored by Local United Cerebral Palsy Organization

Itrsquos been a busy couple of months for the Fraga family owners andoperators of Tejas Office Products in Houston

Last month we reported on president Stephen Fragarsquos appointmentto the board of the cityrsquos local sports authority which is responsiblefor managing just about all of Houstonrsquos major sports and communityfacilities

Now comes word of special honors for Tejas vice president IreneFraga who was one of only 10 local ladies recognized by UnitedCerebral Palsy of Greater Houston at their annual ldquoHats off to Moth-ersrdquo Luncheon last month

ldquoMrs Fraga represents what is so good and unique about this city Sheis a wonderful mother role model and entrepreneur who uses her tal-

ents and gifts for the benefit of our communityrdquo UCP CEO Elise Houghsaid ldquoHer impact on Houston is truly worthy of being honoredrdquo

Top Team at Latschrsquos Inc Nebraska Dealer NamedLocal lsquoBusiness Owner of the Yearrsquo

The management team at Latschrsquos (left to right) John Costin vice president Mike Deckerpresident and COO and Gary Jones secretarytreasurer

Herersquos to another outstanding independent with reason to celebrateas the team of John Costin Mike Decker and Gary Jones at LatschrsquosInc in Lincoln Nebraska was named 2010 ldquoBusiness Owner of theYearrdquo by the Lincoln Independent Business Association

The organization bestows the award to recognize owners who ldquoex-emplify the best of what it takes to create and sustain a successful

STORY continued from page 2

continued on page 5

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enterprise serving as a prime example ofbusiness excellencerdquo

Latschrsquos has been doing just that since thedealership first opened for business with justfive employees in 1916 Today a staff of 30-plus hard-working industry professionalsmaintains the companyrsquos proud traditionsldquoWe are extremely proud and honored tohave received this award on behalf of ouremployees clients and business partnersrdquosaid president and COO Mike Decker Ourcongratulations go to him John and Garyand the entire Latschrsquos team

Gonzalez Office Products TexasDealer Awarded Contract withNational Purchasing Cooperative

Also celebrating last month was GonzalezOffice Products following the announcementthat the Austin Texas-based dealership hasbeen awarded a national contract from TheCooperative Purchasing Network (TCPN)That means some 5100 school districtsnon-profits and governmental agencies in all

50 states will now have access to the out-standing service and value that only an inde-pendent dealer can provide The Gonzalezteam was awarded a five-year contract be-ginning in February

We are a Texas HUB and we are very proudto be an awarded TCPN vendor said com-pany founder Wayne Gonzalez TCPNawards contracts based on quality provenperformance and pricing This contractaward recognizes our commitment to offercustomers competitive pricing while alsoproviding them with superior customer serv-ice We look forward to the opportunity toserve the school districts non profits andother governmental agencies who trustTCPN to help them operate economically

Got Newsemail Simon

Gholkars Inc Rochester NY DealerMakes Local Top 100 List

Congratulations are in order for ShashiGholkar and his team at Gholkars Inc inRochester New York The dealership re-cently made the Top 100 list of fastest-grow-ing privately-held companies in theRochester area and garnered some verypositive media coverage in the process

In an interview published in the localRochester Democrat and Chronicle newspa-per weekly circulation over 600000 Shashitalked about how his dealership has beenable to adapt successfully to changing mar-ket conditions and keep growing with thehelp of a top notch staff and a loyal customerbase

Itrsquos an approach thatrsquos clearly been workingvery well since the company first opened forbusiness back in 1988 and if Shashi and histeam have anything to do with it it will keepbusiness healthy and growing for many yearsto come


continued on page 6


Skags Office Products MiamiDealer Hosts Annual ConsumerShow

Brothers Tim and Dennis McDermott and Charlotte de laFuente get ready to welcome boarders at their recent con-sumer show Grog and pieces of eight were optional

The order was ldquoStand by to welcome allboardersrdquo in Miami recently as Tim McDer-mott and his trusty crew at Skags OfficeProducts welcomed some 375 customersand prospects to their pirate-themed 2010New Products Show

The business climate in South Florida hasbeen challenging to say the least but thatdidnrsquot stop the Skags team rolling out the redcarpet for what was their 20th annual con-sumer show

ldquoEveryone enjoyed this yearrsquos theme andwhile it was not billed as a costume partymany of our guests came in their favoritecostumesrdquo Tim reports

Grand sponsor for the event was The HONCompany who gave away an Ignition brandchair as the grand prize

Printerrsquos Island OK DealershipOpens New Furniture Showroom

The office furniture industry might still befacing some of the most challenging condi-tions itrsquos seen in years but donrsquot tell that toRandy Sullivan and his team at Printerrsquos Is-land Office Products and Divine Office De-signs in Duncan Oklahoma

Earlier this year the dealership opened abrand new showroom for its Divine OfficeDesigns furniture businessmdashfully 13000 sqft and featuring a broad array of value-basedproducts from manufacturers such as TheHON Company DMI Office Source andBoss Chair

Supplies business has been good the pastfew years reports Printerrsquos Islandrsquos JulieBruce and the new showroom is aimed atgenerating a similar pattern for office furni-ture

So far says Julie things are trending verymuch in the right direction After a grandopening in January where local chamber ofcommerce officials did the honors on the rib-bon cutting customer response has beenwell divine with the dealership picking up amajor new project from the Duncan Board ofEducation

ldquoWersquore very optimistic about 2010rdquo saysJulie ldquoand are already engaged in a numberof similar opportunities that we feel verygood aboutrdquo


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eer

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Rec

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Office ExpressCanoga Park Californian Michael Helou

Founder and General Managern Supplies Furniture Printingn Founded 2003n Sales $5 Millionn Employees 18n Partners TriMega United Stationersn Online Sales 50n Web wwwoxproscom


ldquoPlease thank your readers for all the helptheyrsquove given us ever since we started inbusiness a few years ago and for contin-uing to help us todayrdquo Those were the firstwords spoken by Michael Helou at OfficeExpress when I called him for an interview

ldquoI never would have made it if it had notbeen for other independents buyinggroups and wholesalers who offered theiradvice and counselrdquo he explained

ldquoI was working for a company that soldtoner cartridges and wanted to start myown business so I went with what I knewselling cartridges online After a while cus-tomers would ask lsquoCan I order paperrsquoand I said lsquoyesrsquo not knowing where to getthe paper Soon they were asking for otherproducts Can you believe it Thatrsquos howI got to be a dealerrdquo

Today Office Express reps do both insideand outside selling and their local busi-ness territory has expanded to cover all ofLos Angeles and the surrounding area

Like many other independents Office Ex-press puts a lot of resources into makingsure it is known for extraordinary cus-tomer service ldquoWhat the customer wantsthe customer getsrdquo says Helou ldquoWenever say no One day a customer askedif we could put their logo on the pens theywere buying Of course we said lsquoyesrsquo andthen figured out how to do it Now wersquorein the promotional products business in abig way with a full time graphic designeron staffrdquo

The company has done well in this pooreconomy with a 16 sales increase in2009 over the previous year ldquoThere aregreat opportunities out there for inde-pendentsrdquo Helou contends ldquoCustomersare streamlining their operations workingmore efficiently and doing everything pos-sible to improve their bottom line As in-dependents we can be nimble customizeour approach and provide a level of serv-ice that the big boys canrsquot matchrdquo

Even after seven fast-moving years Heloustresses the need to continually be findingout more about the industry ldquoWe are stillvery much in a learning mode right nowrdquohe emphasizes ldquoWe encourage our peo-ple to improve their education and tomake recommendations criticize experi-ment and to be open to all ideasrdquo

ldquoWe are still a local businessrdquo he saysldquoand we focus on our community All of usat Office Express work with local charitieswith special attention given to womenrsquoscauses and drug and alcohol recoveryprogramsrdquo

At the end of our discussion Helou againsaid to thank all the dealers and other in-dustry people that have been so helpful tohim and his people ldquoBe sure to tell themto contact me if I can be helpful in anywayrdquo he concluded ldquoGive them my e-mailand phone numberrdquo

I said I would so here they are

Phone 877-281-0000E-mail mikeoxproscom

For Helping Us Succeed

By Jim Rapp

Thank You


If you have news to share - email it toSimonIDealerCentralcom

WB Mason Staffer Charged with Rifling Competitors Van

Depot Digs In on FloridaContract InvestigationLocal government officials in Florida whoare investigating allegations of over-charges and other irregularities on the partof Office Depot relative to the office supplycontract it holds with them are complain-ing that lack of cooperation and allegedcontract violations by the Florida-basedbig box are preventing them from complet-ing their work

Last December auditors for HillsboroughCounty Floridarsquos fourth most populouscounty and home to the city of Tampacontacted Office Depot and requestedusage reports of county accounts from2006 through 2009

The request followed numerous reports bystate and local government officials inFlorida Georgia California Nebraska andelsewhere of overcharges by Office Depoton office supply contracts and settlementpayments of as much as $25 million

County officials however are still waitingfor the data and according to a memoran-

dum from internal performance auditorJames Barnes to the countyrsquos board ofcommissioners Office Depot initially re-fused to provide usage reports until countyofficials signed a confidentiality agree-ment a demand Office Depot has alsomade of auditors investigating similarovercharges allegations in Tampa and StPetersburg Florida

Subsequently they told Barnes some ofthe documentation requested is no longerstored electronically or in a format easilyretrievable

Barnes told the board of commissionersOffice Depotrsquos actions are in violation ofcontract provisions relating to release ofdata for audit purposes and a contract re-quirement that the company must main-tain supporting documentation for fouryears

Barnes also told the board Office Depotrsquostrade secrets and proprietary informationare protected by existing state laws and

pointed out Office Depot has provided theinformation his office is requesting to otherjurisdictions without requiring a confiden-tiality agreement

In light of Office Depotrsquos lack of coopera-tion Barnes said his office is developingits report on the basis of data provided tothe county clerk in 2009 and manuallycomparing contract or catalog prices withactual prices charged

ldquoOur preliminary comparisons of prices ofa limited number of items in the OD cata-logs with OD usage data and charges indi-cate that the vendor possibly overchargedthe County as much as 8-10rdquo Barnes re-ported to the board of county commission-ers

For more on Office Depotrsquos problems withits state and local government contractsvisit the Depot State Contract Watch sectionof the INDEPENDENT DEALER web sitewwwidealercentralcomid_watchhtml

A deliveryman for WB Mason wascharged earlier this month by police inNorwalk Connecticut with rifling througha local independent dealerrsquos van while itwas parked downtown according to a re-port published in The Hour a newspaperin the area

According to the report the driver wascharged with criminal trespass and re-leased on a summons to appear in court

Police said the incident took place March24 while the van which was operated byBridgeport Connecticut-based UniversalBusiness Equipment was parked at theloading dock at Norwalk City Hall

The WB Mason employee allegedly en-

tered his competitorrsquos vehicle while theUniversal employee was making a deliverypolice told reporter Steve Kobak

When the Universal employee returnedfrom making his delivery Kobak wrote hesaw the WB Mason employee riflingthrough a stack of inventory slips accord-ing to police The intruder saw the Univer-sal employee and ran police said

Police were able to obtain surveillancefootage of the incident and they madecontact with the WB Mason employeesoon after identifying him as the suspect

Rob Nizielski vice president of Universalsaid WB Mason has been using question-able tactics to spy on Universal and under-

cut their prices according to the report

Nizielski a former WB Mason employeetold the reporter that the WB Mason de-liveryman is not a rogue employee andsaid WB Mason has been conducting acampaign of intimidation and espionageagainst its competitors for years

ldquoTheyve really been targeting our com-panyrdquo said Nizielski ldquoTheyre a big com-pany trying to squash a little companyrdquo

Kobak said The Hour placed three calls toWB Masons corporate office and thecalls were forwarded by operators to amedia representative whose answeringmachine was full

continued on page 11

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INDUSTRY NEWS continued from page 9


BSA Survey Sees Signs ofGrowing Industry OptimismIndustry members are feeling more opti-mistic about the overall outlook if a recentsurvey by the Business Solutions Associ-ation (BSA) offers any indication

ldquoIndependent dealers are starting to re-bound from the recession and are showingsome moderate success in securing con-tracts and improving their margins andprofits through the relationships with theirwholesalers and buying groupsrdquo com-mented one survey respondent

In the survey 90 of respondents saidtheir business is better than expected oras expected since the start of the yearOnly 10 said business was worse thanexpected

Asked about their overall attitude towardscurrent economic conditions 27 of sur-vey respondents said they are optimisticand believe business will improve Sixtypercent indicated that they were neitheroptimistic nor pessimistic and believe busi-ness will just continue at its current pace

Survey respondents were asked to fore-cast when the industryrsquos economy will re-turn to pre-recession levels

Over 55 said that the current state of theeconomy will continue fully another twoyears until the end of 2011 and then wewill regain the ground lost in the recession

Twenty-two percent expressed a bleakeroutlook saying it would take until the endof 2012 to reach the previous levels Justover 18 think the recession will be overby the end of this year

BSA asked about the ldquostate of the inde-pendent dealer communityrdquo today com-pared to six months ago More than 27believe the independent dealer is in bettershape than in September 2009 comparedto another 27 who think the independentdealer is in worse shape Forty-one percentof respondents believe the dealerrsquos condi-tion has not changed at all

Asked if the independent dealer commu-nityrsquos business will have improved by Sep-tember 2010 26 of respondents saidthey believe business will be better 60saw no improvement and said they felt

economic conditions for the dealer will beabout the same as they have been

BSA also asked respondents what theysee as the key strengths of the independ-ent dealer In summary there were fouridentifiable strengths service flexibility re-lationships and response to customers

One respondent commented ldquoThe inde-pendent dealer is smaller than the big boxplayers and can be more nimble they canoffer a more local response and attituderdquo

Another stated ldquoIndependent dealers arequick to respond to opportunities Theyactually talk about product and just donrsquotsell out of catalogsrdquo

BSA also asked respondents to commenton the big-box chains and how they havenavigated the recent rough economic wa-ters Fully 100 said that Staples is in bet-ter shape today than it was six monthsago This compares to the 64 who feelthat Office Max is about the same and73 who think Office Depot is worsetoday than in September 2009

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When asked about the future for the big-boxes in the next six months Staplesleads the way again with 90 of respon-dents believing their business will be bet-ter by September 2010 In an interestingturn Office Depot is seen by 63 of therespondents as staying about the same asthey are now but Office Maxrsquos businesswill be worse as judged by 733

The survey also had some encouragingnews for BSA and its upcoming 2010 AnnualForum Seventy-three percent stated thatthey positively will attend the event sched-uled for October 25-28 in Phoenix with an-other 14 saying ldquomayberdquo depending onbusiness conditions later in the year

The BSA survey was conducted in earlyMarch using an electronic survey websiteThe survey was completed by manufactur-ers (43) wholesalers (14) manufac-turer representatives (39) and buyinggroups (4)

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New Programs Year-Over-Year Sales Gains HighlightAOPD Annual Meeting

AOPD executive director Bud Mundt (left) and pres-ident Bill Jones had plenty to smile about at theirgrouprsquos annual meeting recently AOPD posted a13 growth in contract volume in 2009 and addedsix new dealer members and one new businesspartner

AOPD executive director Bud Mundt presents thegrouprsquos second $10000 contribution to City ofHope this year to David Williamson executive vicepresident and general manager of MWV ndash Mead-Westvacorsquos office products group and this yearrsquosCity of Hope Spirit of Life award honoree

Introduction of state of the art contract RFP and pricing services for its dealers an ex-clusive new partnership with sales intelligence service providers Acsellerate Solutionsand the makeover of its web site with a completely new look and added functionalitywere among the highlights of the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Office ProductsDistributors organization (AOPD) in Florida last month



The meeting drew record attendance as representatives from 56AOPD dealers and 24 business partners and rep groups gatheredfor the traditional one-on-one planning sessions an educationalprogram that featured three separate panel discussions on keyindustry topicsmdashnational accounts government sales opportu-nities and the state of the industry todaymdashas well as a broad arrayof networking opportunities

And despite all the challenges of the current recession AOPDpresident Bill Jones of THE Office City was able to report on sig-nificant forward progress by the group as AOPD posted a 13growth in contract volume in 2009 and added six new dealermembers and one new business partner

Micheal Mathews of Dealer Pricing Services providers of the newbid support program for AOPD told the group dealers have aunique opportunity when it comes to winning large contracts intodayrsquos market

He said contract customers are more open to considering newsuppliers and that the dealerrsquos big box competition is vulnerablegiven Office Depotrsquos ongoing problems with its state and localgovernment contracts Staplesrsquo lack of flexibility and continuingcustomer service issues at OfficeMax

ldquoNowrsquos the time to be out looking for new contract business andtaking advantage of big box weaknesses he urged

Also at the meeting AOPD presented two Presidentrsquos Awardsspecial honors in recognition of outstanding support for the or-ganization and the dealer community

The dealer award went to Pat Crowley of SampT Office Products inSt Paul Minnesota while two business partners wholesalers SPRichards and United Stationers were both honored with thisaward

Also at the meeting the group heard from David Williamson ex-ecutive vice president and general manager of MWV ndash MeadWest-vacorsquos office products group and this yearrsquos City of Hope Spiritof Life award honoree

Williamson who was keynote speaker at AOPDrsquos closing dinnerurged independents to add their support to the industryrsquos effortson behalf of City of Hope one of the nationrsquos leading cancer re-search and treatment centers

ldquoIndependents played a key role over 30 years ago in the earlyyears of the City of Hopersquos National Office Products Council andyour support is just as critical todayrdquo said Williamson who is ask-ing all independent dealers to make it a goal to donate andorraise a minimum of $1000 each for the organization this year

To express its own support for City of Hope AOPD executive di-rector Bud Mundt presented a $10000 check to Williamson atthe meeting the second such contribution from AOPD for thisyearrsquos campaign

ldquoThe economy overall might still be weak but you would neverknow that from this yearsrsquos AOPD meetingrdquo commented execu-tive director Bud Mundt ldquoOur focus was very much on newgrowth opportunities and the mood throughout was very upbeatand positive This is a great time to be an independent and AOPDis committed to helping our members make the most of it allrdquo

Focus is on Growth and Opportunities at 2010 WorkPlace Furnishings Conference

WPF VP of marketing Vic Maffe Mark St Clair of Creative Office Pavilion Dealer of theYear Nathan M Loth Award winner Irv Katzman Kevin Jordan of Safco Products Supplier of the Year WPF president and CEO Greg Nemchick and Terry Wilson and RonRedding both of Safco

The office furniture industry may be going through some of itsmost challenging times in recent history but there are still oppor-tunities out there and powerful new resources available to helpdealers weather the storm and start gearing up to make the mostof the recovery when it comes

That was the message that came through loud and clear lastmonth at the 2010 National Conference of the WorkPlace Furnishings dealer organization (WPF)

ldquoThese are tough times and we certainly should not underesti-mate the difficulties we face but there is still much to be thankfulfor and many ways we can strengthen our dealerships and moveforward to find new opportunitiesrdquo WPF president and CEO GregNemchick told the group

In addition to a much-expanded educational program and the tra-ditional one-on-one meetings between WPF dealers and theirsupplier partners this yearrsquos conference saw the introduction ofseveral new programs and services from WPF They included

u A new business development program by which WPF hassent its members over 830 new leads during the past sixmonths

u A new online hiring tool that tests the aptitude of potentialjob candidates in key areas of dealer operations such assales design and project management

u New strategic alliances with PoweredByOI an innovativetechnology company that offers a new approach to manag-ing key dealer business processes and Corporate Work-place Services a nationwide network of service providersfor out of market installation and other furniture-relatedservices

u An expanded selection of vertical market and specialtyproduct marketing pieces targeting the most importantgrowth areas in the market today





Also at the meeting WPF members hon-ored their Dealer and Manufacturer of theYear The Dealer of the Year Award namedin honor of former WPF president Dennis JInsogna went to Creative Office PavilionPortland Maine while Manufacturer of theYear honors went to Safco Products Com-pany New Hope Minnesota

In addition the group presented its highesthonor the Nathan M Loth Award to WPFlegal counsel Irv Katzman who is retiringthis year after over 35 years of service tothe organization

AzertyUnited Stationers NamedCanon Distributor for LargeFormat Printers

AzertyUnited Stationers has been nameda distributor of large format printers byCanon USA As an authorized Canon dis-tributor Azerty and the United Supply Divi-sion will stock and distribute Canonrsquos lineof imagePROGRAF large-format printers

and supplies through United Stationersrsquo na-tionwide network of resellers

The Canon imagePROGRAF line-up in-cludes 19 models ranging in size from 17inches to 60 inches including 12-colormodels for the photography and graphicarts industries 8-color models for produc-tion signage and high-speed printing mar-kets and precision 5-color models fortechnical documents such as blue printsand architectural designs as well as otherdocuments utilized in the advertising gov-ernment utilities and facility managementmarkets

SP Richards Honors Its LosAngeles Distribution Center

Wholesaler SP Richards recently pre-sented its 2009 Distribution Center of theYear award to its Los Angeles location

This honor is awarded each year to theSP Richards distribution center thatachieves the highest combined results in

a number of key performance measure-ments including service levels order accu-racy inventory accuracy inventory turnsales profits and employee productivity

Distribution center general manager JayBrooks who accepted the award at thecompanyrsquos recent national sales meetingcommented Wersquove got a great group ofemployees dedicated to delivering a supe-rior level of customer support I couldnrsquotbe more proud of the entire Los AngelesDistribution Center teamrdquo

Rick Toppin SP Richards Company pres-ident and COO added ldquoThe Los AngelesDistribution Center team set the standardfor excellence in 2009 and exemplifiedwhat is attainable when everyone main-tains an absolute focus on continuous im-provement and providing the highest levelof customer satisfaction We congratulateall of our employees at the Los AngelesDistribution Center on earning the com-panyrsquos most prestigious awardrdquo

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MMF Industries continues to lead the way with a wide selection of products made in the USA Our metal products are produced from over 50 post-consumer material

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ith id l ti fMF Industries continues to lea

d tad the

M

dcomthe lear mo

onre

maa

American Iron and Steel mdash loss oof strengthr - steeel products can be recycled repeatedly w

most 669 of all steel is recycled in North Ame

nsumer materiale produced from over 50 poade in the USA Our metal proy wwith a wide selection of pro

l Institute

without erica each

ost-oductsoducts


isgroup provides its members with a variety of benefits includingbull Leadership that collaborates with key industry partners for the betterment and success ofthe independent dealer

bull Dealer-owned -operated and -controlled cooperative

bull Low monthly membership fees

bull Manufacturer rebates paid quarterly

bull Direct buy mixed pallet program to lower cost of goods and improve operational efficiencies

bull Dealer sales-growth programs including a no-cost National Accounts Program GSAContracts BPA Programs and Mid-Market Furniture Program

bull Marketing tools that support the items members buy best and sell most

bullWorld-class ecommerce system isD-Force

bull hellipand more

Wersquove paved the way toYOUR SUCCESS

isgrouprsquos NEW RDC program through United Stationers offers a greater assortment of stocked items and quicker leadtimesWersquove added new vendors and an extensive 5400 industry-leading item selection delivered in 2 to 3 days at thesame low costs


isgrouprsquos Collaborate 2010 annual meeting in Denver offers you many opportunities to network with other dealers and hearmore about how isgroup members have driven the road to success

To learn more about our upcoming annual event and our innovative programs and services contact an isgroup MembershipDevelopment Manager

TomAshburnashburnisgrouporg 317-579-1117Bob Nimmonimmoisgrouporg 706-490-9290

wwwisgrouporg



United Stationers Publishes 2010 Green Catalog CreatesNew Furniture Division and InksDistribution Deal for CoscoBridgeport Furniture ProductsUnited Stationers recently released its2010 Green Catalog The catalog containssome 2700 items an 8 increase on lastyearrsquos green product offering and featureslarger selections in a number of differentcategories including paper SKUrsquos with re-cycled content sustainable binders andwriting instruments light bulbs recyclingreceptacles ink and toner cartridges andfully biodegradable and compostable foodservice items

In addition the 2010 Green Catalog offerstips for sustainable purchasing a guide togreener offices and a glossary of sustain-able terminology

Separately United announced it has cre-ated a new United Stationers Furniture Di-vision which will operate as a part ofUnited Stationers Supply Co United vet-eran Jim Fahey has been named presidentof the new division which will have its ownchannel marketing and category manage-ment team as well as a nationwide teamof dedicated furniture salespeople

Several key sales management appoint-ments have been made as part of thelaunch includingu Rich Aievoli vice president

amp general manager salesu Felton Jones region sales

director Westu Michael Pritchard area sales

manager Westu William Miller region sales

director Central

The new division will continue to providedistribution through the United Supply Di-visionrsquos network with the Furniture Cus-tomer Care group based in St Louis

Also United announced it has reached anagreement with CoscoBridgeport (for-merly Samsonite Brand) to become thesole US distributor of Coscorsquos Bridgeportbranded furniture products to resellers

United will now carry Coscorsquos office furni-ture inventory with qualifying manufac-turer-direct orders shipping from UnitedrsquosAtlanta distribution center After the tran-sition orders will be placed directly with

United for any Cosco item included in theprogram

Supplies Network Expands NextDay Service in the Midwest

Wholesaler Supplies Network is expandingnext-day ground delivery capabilities inthe Midwest with Spee-Dee Delivery Serv-ice Inc a regional delivery companyheadquartered in St Cloud Minnesota

Beginning this month Supplies Networkrsquosenhanced next-day regions will includeIowa northern Illinois eastern Nebraskaparts of Minnesota and Wisconsin

Beginning May 1 next-day service willalso expand to include Minneapolis andmost of Minnesota and all of WisconsinSecond-day regions will include all ofNorth Dakota and a greater portion ofSouth Dakota

Orders will be shipped from Supplies Net-workrsquos distribution center in St Louis

Britannia Adds Variable DataPrinting SolutionDealer technology provider ECi SoftwareSolutions last month announced the re-lease of the variable data printing solutionPlanetPress Suite to Britannia customers

PlanetPress Suite enables creation print-ing emailing and faxing of customer-fac-ing documents in house eliminating theneed for preprinted forms Documents canbe produced using any printer so there isno need to dedicate a printer just forforms

ECi Britannia said it will offer customiza-tion of up to six forms including invoicesstatements quotes packing lists orderconfirmations and purchase orders

All documents can be generated from thesame data file used to create orders andinvoices so information is entered onlyonce Conditional text such as ldquothank youfor your businessrdquo images and companylogos can also be incorporated

ldquoWith PlanetPress we offer our customersa way to create professional documents inhouse This will save them money on print-ing and mailing costs help speed up theirwork processes and enhance their brandimagerdquo said Anshul Choudhry general

manager of ECi Britannia

ldquoIt also enables dealers to print documentsin color supports emailing in Adobe PDFformat prints barcodes and allows docu-ments to be faxed from a computer elim-inating the need for additional hardwarerdquo

To learn more contact infoecisolutionscomor call (866) 374-3221

Acsellerate Expands Marketing and Sales Teams

Sales intelligence service provider Ac-sellerate Solutions has appointed two in-dustry veterans to lead its sales andmarketing initiatives

Amy Brown (left) was named director ofsales and will drive the overall salesprocess and growth plan for the organiza-tion while Allyson Szablewski (right) hasjoined the company as director of market-ing and communications responsible foroverall marketing and public relations

ldquoWe are excited to add Amy and Allysonto the Acsellerate teamrdquo said Jen John-son vice president and founder of Ac-sellerate ldquoTheir industry knowledge andhands-on experience using Acselleratesanalytic and reporting tools will be anasset as we provide new valuable solu-tions for our customers to reach theirsales margin and growth goals

Brown brings more than 15 years of expe-rience to Acsellerate most recently serv-ing as a consultant for independent officeproducts dealers implementing salesprocesses and enhancing margins with or-ganizations across the country She wasalso a successful sales manager for alarge distributor in Ohio where she was anavid user of Acsellerate

Szablewski recently was responsible forsales and marketing for an independentdealer in the New York area and prior tothat was Northeast Division sales andmarketing director for SP Richards


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SalesRabbit from Longbow Adds Serialized InventoryThe Longbow Consulting Group has announced what it describesas ldquoa major enhancementrdquo to its SalesRabbit CRM business in-telligence solution Dealers using the DDMS Serialized Inventorymodule will now be able to bring this information into GoldMineCRMSales Force Automation software

ldquoThis new enhancement represents a sales and marketing break-through for office equipment dealersrdquo said Longbow presidentNeil Saviano ldquoHaving equipment sales and contract history in afull CRM and Sales Force Automation program offers dealers adistinct competitive advantage Being able to take action on thisinformation increases both future equipment sales and servicecontract renewalsrdquo

The Serialized Inventory integration was developed by LongbowrsquosVP of information technology and software development PaulRogers ldquoItrsquos all part of the growing versatility of SalesRabbitrsquosSystemPlugInrdquo said Rogers ldquoWe can now integrate with virtuallyany back-end systemrdquo he said

Thalerus Integrates HP PurchasEdge with Vibe Business Software Software provider Thalerus Group has announced it will supportHewlett-Packardrsquos PurchasEdge rewards program through an in-tegrated version of its Vibe business management solution

Participating resellers with Vibe software can now electronically sub-mit the required purchase data to HPmdashhelping PurchasEdge mem-bers earn their free HP products faster while helping resellersincrease supplies sales with a key customer base

For general information on Thalerus Group visit wwwthaleruscom orcall 8662999947 To explore HP PurchasEdge please visitwwwpurchasedgecom

Industry Vets Form Stratus New Company to OfferWeb Sites Internet Marketing Services Andy Ballard and Kurt Kegans two industry veterans with exten-sive experience on the technology side of the industry haveteamed up to launch Stratus Business Solutions a new companythat will provide web sites e-mail marketing and other technologyservices to small businesses in a variety of industries includingoffice products contract office furniture business equipment jan-itorial and sanitary supplies and LBM and hardlines

Ballard began his industry career with wholesaler Stationers Dis-tributing Company Later as marketing manager for United Sta-tioners he worked with industry software providers to improvepurchasing automation for independent office products dealersBallard also served as manager for a large office supply and fur-niture dealer Most recently he was sales manager for ECi Soft-ware Solutions where he worked with jansan distributors retailhardware stores and LBM dealers as well as independent officeproducts furniture and equipment dealers

Kegans also began his career in the office products industry andhas worked for both independent dealerships and wholesalers

He also worked for several industry technology suppliers includ-ing Silver Plus DDMS and ECi Software Solutions and as an in-dependent technology consultant providing implementation andpersonalized training on business software systems

In addition to helping dealers create a professional online pres-ence Stratus said it can provide site hosting cloud-based e-mailand other technology services and help dealers establish Internetmarketing programs such as online newsletters For more infor-mation contact Stratus at infoStratusBusinessSolutionscom or(866) 298-1998

WebLink integrates Unitedrsquos Smart SearchTechnology from United StationersE-commerce systems provider WebLink announced last month ithas integrated United Stationersrsquo Smart Search technology intoits WebWare online ordering platform

ldquoWebLinkrsquos integration of United Smart Search represents anotherstep in our continued drive to improve the end-consumer shop-ping experience and to help resellers increase their web salesand improve customer servicerdquo said Laura Gale VP of marketingfor United

JD Meints president of WebLink Solutions commented ldquoTheUnited Smart Search integration has added exceptional value toour e-store solutions The reseller benefits by their customersfinding the products they want quickly and easily as well as hav-ing access to detailed product attributes improved photographspersuasive selling copy and additional data to facilitate thematching of supplies with equipmentrdquo

3M to Acquire A-One Office and Consumer Label Business in JapanIn a deal that provides a major boost to its recent move into thelabel business 3M has announced a definitive agreement bywhich it will acquire a majority stake in the A-One branded con-sumer and office label business and related operations Terms ofthe transaction were not disclosed

A-One is the number one office and consumer label brand in Asiaand the second largest worldwide Its label products have beenmanufactured for office and consumer customers throughoutJapan for over 50 years

3M entered the US consumer and office label market in 2009under the flagship Post-it and 3M brands The acquisition of A-One will accelerate 3Mrsquos growth in this important category andprovide valuable technical expertise the company said

ldquoA-One will significantly enhance our ability to create a globallabel platform that services our customers and delights our loyal3M end-usersrdquo said Bill Smith vice president 3M Office SuppliesDivision ldquoA-One not only provides immediate critical mass inJapan and valuable know-how for label production it acceleratesour penetration throughout the Asia region and underscores 3Mrsquoscommitment to be a global leader in the consumer and office labelbusinessrdquo


ECi Britannia V5 Helping the Independent Office ProductsDealer Prosper in a Tough Economy

vendor profile

To be successful in todayrsquos market a dealer must in-vest in superior technology to compete and reduce ex-penses ECi Britannia V5 was designed to do just that

How ldquoThrough several avenuesrdquo replies AnshulChoudhry general manager of ECi Britannia ldquoOne ofthose avenues is its multitasking capabilities As an ex-ample a user can be working in Accounts Receivableand then switch over to Order Entry and process cus-tomer orders without having to close any screens An-other example is where users can view stock checkfrom multiple vendors thereby allowing for faster andmore informed purchasing decisions These featuresnot only cut costs but also increase employee effi-ciency and customer satisfaction

ldquoOne of the biggest advantages with Britannia V5 isthe control it gives you over managing your pricing andbrandingrdquo says Choudhry ldquoDealers now have moreways to customize pricing for their customers to get abigger margin

ldquoIn todayrsquos competitive environment margins are razorthin and therefore pricing right makes senserdquo Choudhrycontinues ldquoIf you price too low you leave money on thetable and if you price too high then competition nudgesyou out of a deal The key is to have the right tools tomanage your pricing strategy Take for instance Bri-tanniarsquos Competitive Cross Reference capability it takesthe guesswork out and automates your pricing againstthe big box stores thus enabling more effective com-petition and maximizing your revenue

ldquoAlso the right e-commerce package gives the smallerdealers an edge over the big box storesrdquo saysChoudhry ldquoThe website is fully customizable and not

relegated to a template Customization allows dealersto represent their brand and to feature content that isimportant for their business Itrsquos a complete solutionfrom new account creation for guest users to integratedcredit card processing to accepting big box cross ref-erence part numbersrdquo

The feature set of Britannia V5 was developed basedon years of customersrsquo requests and feedback ldquoWeare constantly in touch with our dealer baserdquo saysChoudhry ldquoWe personally reach out to each customerevery three-to-four months and we offer a lot ofhands-on training with new systems We also conductperiodic surveys to assess needs As a result of theirfeedback we have launched hundreds of features injust the past year alone

ldquoBritannia is a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution butour investment is not limited to software Wersquove recentlyinvested more than $1 million to upgrade existing hard-ware to state-of-the-art technology such as Microsoft64-bit server which improves the website performanceand leads to a better online buying experiencerdquo

Choudhry continues ldquoHowever what sets us apart isour customer care We are here to help you from 8 amto 9 pm Eastern time If you call us there is a 98chance that you will be greeted by a knowledgeableBritannia support representative within 3 minutesrdquo

Britannia is also continually forging new partnershipsthat provide more value for independent dealersldquoThatrsquos our focusrdquo says Choudhry ldquoWhat kind of valuewill this add for our dealersrdquo

One of the newest partnerships is with Educators Re-source This partnership will deliver educational con-tent to a dealerrsquos website increasing the SKU selectionthey can display effectively expanding their productassortment to include school supplies and other edu-cational items ldquoItrsquos a perfect fitrdquo says Choudhry ldquoBe-cause schools also need lots of regular office suppliesincluding furniturerdquo

Another partnership is with Objectif Lune to offer theirvariable printing software PlanetPress ldquoNow our dealerswill be able to print fax and email their own brandedprofessional-looking documents in-house All of thissaves them money on printing costs and postagerdquo

Britannia continues to move forward with other part-nerships and technological enhancements that providedealers more flexibility and efficiency Tighter integra-tion with GSA and DoD EMALL portals are only two re-cent examples ldquoWe have many customers who areinterested in thisrdquo replies Choudhry ldquoWe will also pro-vide website content in Spanish through vendor part-nerships new website themes product reviewscustomer reward program and even more customiza-tion capabilities including interfacing with FacebookTwitter and Google Analytics

ldquoItrsquos an exciting time at Britanniardquo concludesChoudhry ldquoWe are really lucky in that we are a stablecompany wersquove been around for more than 21 yearsnow and we have almost 1000 dealers We will behere to partner with our dealers for many many yearsto comerdquo

Anshul ChoudhryGeneral Manager of ECi Britannia



3M said it expects the transaction to becompleted in the second quarter subjectto customary closing conditions includingany necessary regulatory approvals

New Licensing Agreement forShachihata ProductsShachihata Inc makers of XstamperClassiX and Artline products has an-nounced a licensing agreement with ASG(Associated Sourcing Group) by whichASG will assume responsibility for supply-ing Shachihata branded products to UScommercial office products customers

Shachihata has been a supplier to the USoffice products market for over 40 yearsand said it expects continued growththrough this new strategic alliance

The ASG organization includes several for-mer key Shachihata staff members In ad-dition to president Mike Wilbur the ASGteam includes Paul Ventimiglia director ofsales Martin Clemente field sales man-ager Chris Wiederkehr marketing man-ager and Dawn Leclerc customer servicemanager

ldquoThe new partnership will allow ShachihataUSA to focus on its core competency ofsupply chain excellencerdquo said ShachihataUSA president Terry Minato ldquoWe will con-tinue to supply Xstamper parts to all of ourexisting and future manufacturing partnersand we will also continue to focus on newproduct development for all of our cus-tomersrdquo

Shachihata said it will be business asusual during the transition and orders willcontinue to be processed with no interrup-tion

ldquoWe look forward to the opportunity of cre-ating a profitable future for our cus-tomersrdquo commented Wilbur ldquoWe will workhard to ensure that this venture is a suc-cess for allrdquo

Nukote Files $100 Million LawsuitAgainst Clover TechnologiesImaging supplies manufacturers Nukoteand Clover Technologies Group have beenfighting it out for many years in the mar-ketplace and now the battle is moving tothe courts with the recent filing by Nukoteof a lawsuit alleging Clover pursued a

coordinated plan to drive it out of businessand sought to build a monopoly in the re-manufactured ink jet and laser toner car-tridge market

Nukote says it suffered damages in excessof $100 million and alleges Clover stoletrade secrets raided its key employeesand induced its business partners mostnotably Office Depot to breach agree-ments they had with Nukote

In response Clover said in a statement ldquoItis abundantly clear that once againNukote is abusing the court system in atransparent and desperate effort to raisecapital for a business that is on the vergeof collapserdquo

Nukote is seeking a jury trial of the suit butno timeline has yet been set for a trial

PaperPro Files Patent SuitAgainst AccoSwingline

Accentra Inc makers of the PaperPro lineof desktop staplers has filed a patent in-fringement lawsuit against Acco BrandsCorporation and Acco Brands USA man-ufacturers of Swingline staplers alleginginfringement of a number of patents itholds

In dispute are the Swingline PowerEaseOptima PowerEase and Compact Pow-erEase models which PaperPro assertsare in violation of its patented technology

PaperPro is seeking an injunction againstcontinued sales of these products andcompensatory and enhanced damages

The filing against Acco follows a similar in-fringement suit filed by Accentra in 2007against Staples Inc for its unauthorizedsale of staplers sold under the ldquoOneTouchrdquo brand The suit against Staplesalso includes Accentrarsquos assertion of own-ership rights in the ldquoOne Touchrdquo brand forstaplers The suit against Staples is ex-pected to go to trial this year PaperProsaid

The HON Company Adds NewEnhancements to SmartLinkEducation Furniture

The HON Company has announced a num-ber of extensions to its SmartLink line ofeducation furniture They include a com-pact teacher station sit-to-stand and fixedstudent desks and several accessory items

SmartLinkrsquos new compact teacher station(24Prime x 60Prime) is designed for teachers whoprefer a smaller desk and can be used asa computer station or as a workspace forassistants student teachers or volunteers

The new sit-to-stand student desk adjustsfrom 30 to 43 inches in one-inch incre-ments while the desk is now also availablein a fixed-height leg option at 30rdquohigh

In the accessories area HON has also in-troduced new whiteboard cabinet brack-ets and a rail kit for use with its SmartLinkstorage system

Godfrey Group and Meucci ampAssociates West Coast RepFirms Announce MergerTwo independent manufacturerrsquos rep firmscovering the West have merged The God-frey Group and Meucci amp Associates joinedforces March 1 Both groups will retain theirnames for their respective territories but willbe owned by a parent corporation with NickAronis Pat Forte Nancy Lingane GeneMeucci and Bob Meucci serving as officers

The combined companies will maintainsales offices and an administrative staff inBurlingame and Seal Beach Californiaand Renton Washington


With the original Senate healthcare billpassed in the House signed by the Presi-dent and then quickly amended through areconciliation bill small businesses cannow shift their focus toward understandinghow this new legislation will impact them

NOPA will continue to provide memberswith insights into just how the new health-care law is likely to impact small businessesin our industry as implementation detailsemerge

As business community and other blogsare noting many provisions of the newhealthcare law will only move forward afterimplementing regulations are developedand approved within the executive branch

However some of the small business taxcredits and other provisions have more im-mediate impact and NOPA members canexpect these changes to be implementedstarting this year

Insurance market changes will be spreadout between 2010 and 2014 Revenuemeasures designed to offset expanded in-surance coverage and subsidies will bephased in with several delayed until 2018-20 Here are several provisions in the billthat NOPA believes will have particular sig-nificance for small businesses their em-ployees and families

Preexisting conditions protection Thenew law will offer quick protection for unin-sured children and adults with preexistingconditions as a bridge to the comprehen-sive ban on denial of insurance coverage toindividuals with preexisting conditions thatwill take effect in 2014 Within 90 days (byJune 21 2010) all states must establish ahigh-risk insurance pool for such individu-als Dependent children up to age 26 withpreexisting conditions may be coveredunder their parentsrsquo insurance policies

Starting in 2014 the new law also will pro-hibit insurance companies from charginghigher rates to different insured groups for

reasons other than differences in age resi-dence location and family size and willplace maximum limits on agegender andcertain other factors that influence rate vari-ations

Compliance-related tax provisions Thenew law is structured with separate provi-sions aimed at employers of different sizesto promote increased employer-basedhealth insurance coverage Small busi-nesses are defined as those with 50 orfewer full-time employees although taxcredit provisions are aimed at those with 25or fewer employees that contribute at least50 of total policy premiums

All employers with fewer than 50 full-timeemployees will be exempt from tax penal-ties for not providing insurance and suchemployers will not be required to contributetoward payment of premiums if they dooffer insurance However since most deal-ers and other small businesses in the officeproducts industry offer some form of healthinsurance or certainly would if it were moreaffordable the new tax credit may be of in-terest

Starting in 2014 employers with more than50 full-time employees (including part-timeemployees whose hours have been aggre-gated into full-time equivalents) must gen-erally pay a penalty if at least one full-timeemployee requires a public subsidy for in-surance

Employers that do not offer insurance willbe subject to a $2000 tax penalty for eachfull-time employee in the company How-ever there is a 30-employee deduction thatapplies before calculating the penaltyamount due

Employers who offer coverage that is de-termined to be ldquounaffordablerdquo (employerpays less than 60 of the total premiumand employee share represents more thana defined level of hisher earned income)will be subject to a $3000 tax penalty for

each employee who receives a federal sub-sidy This penalty is capped at the level oftotal penalties that the employer would payif it did not offer any health insurance toemployees

Employers who offer insurance coverageand have 25 or fewer full-time employeeswhose average annual salary is $50000 orless will be eligible for a tax credit that maybe carried back one year or forward up to20 years

For 2010 through 2013 eligible employerswill receive a small business credit for up to35 of their contribution toward employ-eesrsquo health insurance premiums Thosewith 10 or fewer employees with averagepay of $25000 per year or less are eligiblefor the full 35 tax credit The credit isphased out once the firm has 25 employeesand their average pay reaches $50000 peryear

In 2014 and after eligible employers whopurchase coverage through a state-spon-sored insurance exchange (see below) canreceive a tax credit for two consecutiveyears of up to 50 of their contribution

Individual and company insurance man-dates The new healthcare law requires allcitizens to have health insurance and to re-port it on their federal tax returns There willbe an annual tax penalty of $695 for indi-viduals and $2085 for families withouthealth insurance by 2016

Businesses with more than 50 full-time em-ployees also are required to provide ldquocred-ible and affordablerdquo (at least 60 of totalinsurance premiums) health insurance totheir employees

Starting in 2014 firms that do not offersuch coverage and have at least one em-ployee obtaining insurance through a stateexchange (available to individuals whentheir employer does not pay 60 or moreof the total insurance premium or those

Healthcare Bills Signed into Law ndash Now WhatNOPAnews


In honor of of this yearrsquos Spirit of Life Award Winner for theCity of Hope David Williamson of MeadWestvaco Paul

Ventimiglia and Martin Clemente of Shachihata are continuingtheir unique fundraising efforts to buy musical instruments to

help make life easier for the patients who come to the City ofHope for cancer treatment each year

Davidrsquos theme of ldquoSharing HopehellipUniting the Body and Soulrdquoreflects the important role music plays in the healing process

It enhances relaxation encourages positive thoughts decreasesmuscle tension and stress while increasing the bodyrsquos production of

endorphins It also helps reduce the anxiety depression anger and fatigueassociated with cancer treatment

Thatrsquos why your support of Paul and Martinrsquos efforts is so important

Thanks to your generosity the Piano Fund as it has come to be known hasalready provided the City of Hope with a baby grand piano and two portablepianos but much more still is needed

Please see the link below for the Sheri and Les Biller Patient and FamilyResource Center where the music therapy and art therapy rooms will be

housed and join Paul and Martin in supporting this noble cause

wwwcityofhopeorgpatient_careBiller-CenterPagesdefaultaspx

Any dollar amount is welcomed Please make your checkspayable to ldquoCity of Hope in care of the Art amp Music Ther-

apy Fundrdquo and send to the address listed below

Shachihata Inc

Attn Chris Wiederkehr

Sr Trade Mktg Mgr

1661 W 240th Street

Harbor City California 90710-1310

Add Your Voice to the Chorus of Hope

ldquoThere is no profit in curing the body if in the process we destroy the soul rdquo


premiums exceed 98 of their income)must pay a fine for every employeewhether or not other employees are usingan exchange

If that same employer offers ldquocrediblerdquo cov-erage but has at least one employee whoreceives insurance from an exchange thenthe employer must pay the lesser of $3000for each employee in the exchange or $750for every employee regardless of how theyreceive their insurance

Insurance exchanges By 2014 each statemust establish its own health insurance ex-change and the federal government willcreate one for those states that fail to doso The purpose of the exchange is to offerthe self-employed and small businessesthe same kind of healthcare system federalemployees receivemdashone in which manyhealthcare providers and plans are offeredThe definition of who would be eligible toparticipate would also be set by the individ-ual states

One option for the states would be the cre-ation of Small Business Health Option Pro-gram (SHOP) plans which would be opento small businesses with fewer than 100employees and the individually insured

All state exchanges however will havecommon requirements to promote compa-rability among information on competinghealthcare plans States may apply for awaiver to form ldquocompactsrdquo with otherstates to permit cross-state sale of healthinsurance essentially creating regional ex-changes

In addition the new law creates the ldquoCon-sumer Operated and Oriented Planrdquo pro-gram or Co-ops Co-ops would be stateand regional nonprofit organizations whosesole purpose would be to create a healthinsurance plan for members of the co-opThe nonprofit could not have been a healthinsurance provider before a specific dateand all surpluses generated would be usedto lower insurance premiums

Changes to pre-tax accounts The bill lim-its the maximum contribution to a flexiblespending account to $2500 annually (downfrom $5000) beginning in 2011

Revenue Raising ProvisionsThe new law includes several provisions in-tended to offset higher costs due to expan-sion and subsidization of insurancecoverage through several revenue raisers

The Medicare Hospital Insurance tax will beincreased by 09 for individuals makingover $200000 a year and couples makingover $250000 An additional Medicare taxwill be added on unearned income for suchindividuals and families

Starting in 2018 the law also calls for a newexcise tax of 40 on insurance companiesor plan administrators on insurance planswith an annual premium of over $10200 forsingle coverage and $27500 for family cov-erage These amounts will be indexed forinflation starting in 2020 and the premiumbase will exclude dental and vision benefitcosts

Without question the new healthcare lawwill have a major impact on the health in-surance system in the United States andregrettably insurance market reformsaimed at the small business group marketare not expected by most experts to signif-icantly retard premiums particularly in thenear-term

The costs of these changes have in manycases been deferred until late in thisdecade and the impact of many of thesechanges are difficult to predict at this time


UNIVIEW VISIONreg ndash SEE THE DIFFERENCE

Coverage as low as $745 per month per employee Annual coverage for routine eye examinations Annual allowance ($130) for frames lenses andor contacts Additional discounts of 15 to 40 on unlimited purchases of non-covered materials like extra pairs of glasses ndash even after covered benefits are used up Access to a broad convenient national network of more than 44000 providers and provider locations including independent optometrists ophthalmologists and national retail locations like

Kathy Manolas 8005426672 manolasiopfdaorg

Open Enrollment April 15th through May 15th

For more information about AD-Linkstrade or eMAP360email tcraigopmacom or visit wwwopmacom

build and testto optimize yourcampaign

our sales andmarketing results areonly as good as your strategyhellipand your opt-in list Beyond theaesthetics and functionality ofyour website having a goodclean email list regardless of

size may be one of the most importantelements of your e-marketing campaignaside from the content

Building Your ListIn order to build your list you have to ask foraddresses at every possible point of contactMaybe this is obvious but are you doing itMake it easy for customers and prospects tosign up for your newsletter or promotionaloffers upon visiting your website receiving anorder opening a direct mail brochure etc Thereare also other options to carefully considersuch as referral incentives renting lists co-registration double opt-in and Web analytics

Developing Your StrategyThink about providing value rather than justinformation through your email marketingcommunications Grab recipientsrsquo attentionand give them a reason an incentive to clickon the links directing them to your website Bebrief and concise with the most pertinentinformation near the top in your emailsyour website is where you can expound oninformation For a long-term campaigncreate a template design that allowsrecipients to easily associate your htmlemail with your website and other commu-nication media this helps reinforce yourbrand identity The frequency with whichyou contact your customers will vary basedon customer preferences and othercircumstances but you can plan the emailcontent based on types or levels ofcustomer activity To easily supplementyour email campaign check out AD-Linkstrade

for a selection of professionally designedmanufacturer flyers promotional offersand newsletters

Segmenting Your ListDividing your list of email addresses into multiplecategories allows you to better track targetcustomize and evaluate your customers and theinformation yoursquore sending them For example bysimply separating active and inactive addresses youhave the opportunity to recapture the interest of theinactive customers without sending an unnecessaryinapplicable message to your loyal customer baseFurther segmentation by product line average orderamount demographics preferences etc lets youhone your message thus increasing its relevancyOnce you start adding to your list from other sourcesitrsquos important to segment these so you can evaluatethe cost analysis of each source independentlySegmenting your email list should be an integral partof your e-marketing strategy

Testing Your StrategyIf you just do what worked in your previous email

marketing campaign your customers maybecome bored and start ignoring yourcommunication efforts One of the easiestways to test elements of your strategy isby sending html emails through a customerrelationship management (CRM) programsuch as Constant Contact ACT oreMAP360 which offers enhanced trackingfeatures such as graphical statistics Donrsquotbe afraid to take risks with your e-market-ing campaign just make sure theyrsquorecalculated risks by first testing to optimizeyour results

Y

Divide and

conquer by

testing and

adjusting your

e-marketing

strategy

Flexing youre-marketing

strategy


The big thick heavy print catalog is going the wayof the telephone book if not quite yet the buggywhip according to most of the dealers we talkedto for this story

As online ordering grows so does online commu-nications in all its forms and that includes adver-tising and promotion

The rate of growth is accelerating Dealers whotold me only a year ago that their website re-ceived little attention have now changed theirminds

What happened In the down economy customersare looking at all their costs They save money byeliminating purchasing positions and pushing buy-ing decisions down to the department level Thismeans that younger tech-savvy individuals arenow placing orders

If you have an appealing web site and an easy tonavigate online ordering system yoursquoll get thebusiness Integrating your promotional activity intothe system will be highly effective

The cost of communicating with customers and

prospects on the Internet is much lower than tra-ditional methodsmdashprint radio TV and the USPostal Service

As I talked with dealers around the country I findnot only that therersquos greater use of this mediumbut that theyrsquore learning how to use it more effec-tively

More and more dealers are adding sound and ac-tion to their web sites Itrsquos like a TV commercialover the Internet Jamin Arn owner of OfficeProin Janesville Wisconsin makes his own videosOne of the most popular spots shows Jaminstomping on an HP cartridge then holding up oneof his remanufactured ones explaining that it notonly costs a lot less but itrsquos made right here in thegood old USA

Cover Story


by Jim Rapp

Jamin says that he gets more comments onthis one-minute commercial than on anyother advertising hersquos ever done

Focus on the Short TermDuring the economic downturn of the pastseveral years most dealers have beenspending more advertising dollars in twoareas selling additional product lines to ex-isting customers such as jansan printingbeverages etc or going after new cus-tomers

Innovative Office Solutions Burnsville Min-nesota increased spending across theboard including adding more inside andoutside salespeople and going after newaccounts aggressively The result a 10sales increase last year

Gulf Coast Office Products PensacolaFlorida has found that buyers whowouldnrsquot give them the time of day beforethe recession are now willing to listen totheir story a story that tells them ldquoYou willsave money buying from a single sourceand we have everything you needrdquo

Gulf Coastrsquos Mark Wright explainsldquoWhether wersquore making an onsite presenta-tion or sending out a mailing or an e-mailwe do two things First we communicatewith as many people as possible at each lo-cation and secondly we talk about all theproduct categories we offer SP Richardshas been very helpful in putting our pro-gram together including the use of theConstant Contact e-marketing programrdquo

ldquoWe decided some time back that wewerenrsquot going to sit around and wait for theeconomy to improverdquo Wright said ldquoIn-stead we have ramped up all our promo-tional activity and it has paid off with niceincreases the past few monthsrdquo

Activities at Gulf Coast over the past yearinclude an expanded trade show that drewthe largest attendance ever for the dealer-ship a fundraiser for Haitian relief that gen-erated very positive coverage by the localmedia a concerted effort by the dealershipto differentiate itself from competitors bytalking up single source and buy local andrepeating it over and over again in all its ad-vertising and on personal visits

In addition the dealership tries to cus-tomize communications as much as possi-ble and asks customers and prospects fortheir preferences and whether they want tobe reached by e-mail fax phone mail orin-person

Contests andReward ProgramsldquoPremiums and contests work well for usand get people looking at our web siterdquo re-ports Chuck Inwood of Nickerson BusinessSupplies in Monroe Ohio ldquoFor a first orderof $100 or more customers get a free pizzafrom Dominorsquos Working with United Sta-tionersrsquo program we give out a tub ofcandy for a $150 order and a tool kit for$500 or more We code it so it goes out au-tomatically with the orderrdquo

The company also sends out a cover letterwith each catalog asking five questionsand entering correct answers in a drawingfor a high value prize currently a $300 SonyPlayStation

The questions ask the customer to locatethe page numbers of five items the ideabeing to not only get them to open the cat-alog but to remind them of items that theymight not have realized Nickersonrsquos carriessuch as hand sanitizers Participation isquite high Inwood says

In Ashland Virginia The Supply RoomCompanies has been offering reward pro-grams for some years ldquoItrsquos been very effec-tive in customer retentionrdquo states theSupply Roomrsquos Addison Jones ldquoIt gives usthat little extra edge Some customers willsave their points to get big ticket items like

a printer or copier Others use them as giftsto employees or to a charityrdquo

The Supply Room also participates in theVirginia Lottery Super Teacher Awards Pro-gram receiving state-wide publicity Eightwinners one from each of eight geographicregions of the state receive a cash prize of$2000 and an additional $2000 classroomcredit from the Supply Room CompaniesldquoThe expense is worth itrdquo says Jones ldquoWedo a lot of business with the state and withthe school systemsrdquo

JR Freeman Company in San BernardinoCalifornia is a member of isgroup and thedealership has tried several reward pro-grams the Indianapolis-based co-op offersldquoWhile all have been effectiverdquo says Free-manrsquos Tim Derryberry ldquothe most impressivehas been the simplest ndash Freebee FridayWersquove been using it for several years It notonly smooths out orders for the entireweek but has increased average ordersizerdquo

Working off a model originally pioneered byChuckals Office Products in TacomaWashington and adopted by numerousdealers across the country Freemanrsquos pro-vides any Friday orders above a specificamount with a free sample

COVER continued from page 27



THANK YOU

Thank you to all our sales representatives for their activeparticipation in this yearrsquos ldquoSharing Hoperdquo campaign supportingCity of Hopersquos mission to find the cures to cancer and other life-threatening diseases

David WilliamsonExecutive Vice President and General Manager MWV - MeadWestvaco Office Products Group

Join us at these upcoming events June 7 Golden State Travelers Golf Outing(Mon) Sierra La Verne Country Club ndash La Verne Calif

July 19 The Office City amp The Godfrey Group Golf Outing(Mon) Peninsula Golf and Country Club ndash San Mateo Calif

September 2 Frey Gaede amp Company Golf Outing(Thurs) River Glen Country Club Fishers Ind

For more information visit wwwcityofhopeorgnopi


ldquoWe vary the order dollar amount to fit thevalue of the free item and change the itemregularlyrdquo Derryberry explains ldquoWe selectinexpensive items something that can beused in an officemdasha dozen pens highlighterscleaning products and similar productsThe best part is that it gets people lookingat our web siterdquo

Sandy Faber Eakes Office Plus Grand Is-land Nebraska reports great success witha similar program ldquoWersquove tried several dif-ferent reward and retention point programsbut nothing has created more buzz thangetting something free with an order Cus-tomers talk about it all the time When youplace an order of a certain dollar amountyoursquoll get either a food item or an office useitem Currently wersquore giving out locallymade kettlecorn Everyone knows aboutthis product and it helps us promote thelsquobuy localrsquo ideardquo

Covering All the BasesldquoWe throw everything at the customer be-lieving that something is sure to stickrdquo saysKen Henderson of Chicago Office ProductsCompany (COPCO) ldquoWe have to do all wecan to keep our name in front of them be-cause theyrsquore getting everyone elsersquos e-mails mailings phone calls and personalvisitsrdquo

Henderson says that much of their activity isan attempt to drive people to their web siteand itrsquos working with increases every

month They use quarterly flyers and minicatalogs from TriMega for account acquisi-tion in conjunction with wholesaler material

ldquoOur specials change weekly and we de-liver free candy with every order two dayseach weekrdquo he continues ldquoWersquove also hadvery good luck using Constant Contact Itrsquosinexpensive looks professional and givesus the opportunity to talk about our com-pany and our people We discuss newproducts and special offers and use it forcustomer surveys every few monthsrdquo

ldquoWhen Unitedrsquos new catalog comes outevery customer that orders $500 or moregets their name in a drawing and the winnerreceives a high value item This year it wasa HON Flagship filing cabinet a $500 valueWhen itrsquos delivered we take pictures andput the story in our newsletterrdquo

Looking to theFutureJack Ingram of Sierra Office Supply andPrinting in Sacramento says that their bestmarketing ploy has been jumping on thegreen bandwagon

ldquoMost of my customers are mandated to dosome kind of recyclingrdquo explains IngramldquoWe try to outdo all our competitors in thisregard pushing remanufactured cartridgespicking up empties and other recyclablesand promoting green products We put outour own green catalog and send green fly-ers out with every invoicerdquo

More and more independents are undertak-ing rebranding efforts for their operationsmdashbringing together all their strengths in asingle message that resonates with theircustomer community

Office Systems Inc in Watertown SouthDakota went so far as to change theirname to Office Peeps introduced a newlogo and repainted their trucks all to avoidhaving a name that sounds so much likemany of their competitors

ldquoOur new look has definitely raised the levelof professionalism for the company over-allrdquo reports president Joel Vockrodt ldquoItrsquosraising our profile and giving us an oppor-tunity to re-introduce ourselves to cus-tomers and prospectsrdquo

Also in the new advertising and promotionmix is increased use of social mediamdashFacebook Twitter LinkedIn blogs andmore Itrsquos early days for most dealers in thenew media space but most that we talkedto recognize social media offers yet anotherway to engage customers and is growing atlightning speed

Put all these trends togethermdashnew mediaincreasingly tough competition for cus-tomer mindshare the need for a strongbrand and moremdashand combine them allwith the pressures of a soft economy andthese become challenging times indeed forany dealer on the advertising and promo-tion front

The good news though is that with thehelp of their wholesalers buying and mar-keting groups and technology partnersdealers are finding ways to take on thechallenge and convert it successfully intonew sales and profit opportunities



Not many know but 20 years before the

great California gold rush of rsquo49 thousands

of ldquoTwenty-Ninersrdquo poured into Georgia

seeking their fortunes in the Georgia Gold

Rush Therersquos a lesson to learn from this

piece of history Gold is everywhere and

you can find it in unexpected places You

may have to dig a little deep and work hard

for it but itrsquos there and itrsquos GOLD

Tharrsquos Gold in Them Thar(Usage) Hills

By Rick Marlette



The first thing I tell anyone who asks mehow to audit check or compete with a pub-lic sector office supply contract is this ldquoGetthe usage reports They are GOLDrdquo

Practically every public sector contractspecifies that the vendor must provideusage reports to the contracting agencymdashand in electronic format Becoming increas-ingly common is the added bonus of thecontract specifying Excel CSV or Accessformats for the usage data

While PDF is technically an electronic for-mat it is actually a picture of the data andcan be problematic to convert to lsquorealrsquo dataformats such as Access or Excel

Open Records Sunshine Laws and PublicAccess are all names for laws on the booksof practically every state in the US Theselaws give the public (and your business) ac-cess to these government agency usagereports

Sometimes the right person can be difficultto find and sometimes there is a minimalcharge but it is usually well worth the effortto track that person down and pay the fee

As I mentioned some PDF files can be dif-ficult I am starting to see all kinds of tricksto keep anyone from converting this data toa usable format This should tell you justhow valuable this information is

Some of the latest attempts Irsquove seen in-volve creation of PDF files with an overlay-ing and diagonally printed watermark as anattempt to make character recognition ofthe PDF files impossible

Nice try with the watermark guys but hereis a link to a web site that will separate thewatermark from the data and convert thePDF into a Word documentmdashfor FREE Goto wwwzamzarcom and upload your wa-termarked PDF file It took about an hourand my file was e-mailed back to me as aWord document and the watermark con-verted to a Word text box that you can eas-ily delete I also have a macro that willdelete all text boxes from a Word documentif you have hundreds of pages to process

Where there is a will there is always a wayto get the data from PDF files I use theOmni5 text recognition programwhich will convert PDF files straight toExcel and an HP Scan Jet 5590 auto-feederfor paper copies Itrsquos no longer that expen-sive to buy top quality high-end OCR sys-tems to convert this data into a usableform

In Georgia Office Depotrsquos usage data con-tained the agency name address andstore andor warehouse the order waspulled from and every product the agencyordered and the price they paid Independ-ents found potential client agencies theynever knew existed

This was especially eye-opening becausethey then knew what the agency was buy-ing how much they were buying and whatthey were paying for it It just doesnrsquot getany better than that

Itrsquos what they are paying for it that has themost potential for independents Anyonewith a basic understanding of economics isfamiliar with the loss leader approach tomerchandising Give away some items andthen charge premium prices on everythingelse the customer buys Or put anotherway do whatever it takes to the businessand then work the account GP

The date your target client started doingbusiness with a chain can be directly re-lated to the opportunities you may find inthe usage data If the client is a long-timechain customer chances are you will seeevidence of price hikes You may also seecheap house branded products on the con-tract magically converted to nationalbrands and being sold at minimal dis-counts

Depending on the size and type of theagency you may also see large quantitiesof a single item sold at a 10 discount orless It is these big spends and bulk pur-chases where your business can competeand make a good margin The objective isto get your foot in the door and convincebuyers you are a reliable and competitive

source for these bulk items

Every agency is different and you shouldnot get discouraged if at first you donrsquot suc-ceed One tactic could be the approachused by so-called recovery companiesYour business is there to help public agen-cies cut costs by reviewing office supplyexpenses and then making suggestions onwhere the agency could save money bypurchasing SOME items through differentsourcesmdashyou You donrsquot charge for thisservice and you make nothing unless theagency saves money Itrsquos a real win-win

Irsquom not suggesting you should be happywith only part of the business Go for it all ifyou want but make it an informed attemptwhere you know all the details on what thecustomer is buying and what they are pay-ing The worst mistake some independentsmake is charging too little for products

Especially today by offering cost-cuttingplans to these public agencies with theright approach and with the right informa-tion you really can find Gold in Them TharHills

Rick Marlette is co-owner and director

of programming for GOPD LLC Prior to

GOPD he worked independently in

various facets of the office products

industry where he developed specialized

programs and databases for office

products dealers Prop Solutions POE

Systems and OPSoftware For more

information visit wwwgopdcom



The goal of a business products distributioncompany and any other type of for-profitenterprise is to

n Provide a product or service that gainsand retains loyal customers

n Create an environment where employ-ees can succeed and serve customers

n Grow company and personal profits

All of this sounds easier to accomplish thanit usually is especially in a soft economyConsequently when faced with shortagesof customers profits or both businessowners often employ various tactics toshore up the bottom line with the hope thattheir efforts will not have a deleterious ef-fect on the their overall enterprise

A popular method managers and ownersuse to boost profits in the absence of ac-companying sales growth is called ldquoload-ingrdquo

ldquoLoadingrdquo which I define as adding anextra percentage to the cost of an item be-fore it is listed in the data file (excluding re-bates) is a tactic that many dealers areusing today in the hope of ensuring com-pany profitability

However this strategy is fraught with periland in most cases will not help you reachany of the three goals listed above

Let me illustrate with a short ldquofairy talerdquo

Once upon a time there was a small officeproducts dealer in Colorado who stockedonly paper and ran at approximately a 28gross margin One day the dealer who wewill call Tom sold his company to a big bigmega-organization

When Tom sold his dealership he dreamedof the huge bonus he would receive if heand his reps retained all of the business forthe big company

Tom was sure that the big dealer must buysignificantly better than he did and wasshocked to find that the actual differencebetween his costs and the big companyrsquosldquocostsrdquo were less than 5

He even got in trouble one day when hepointed out to a company officer that thecopy paper that he bought from his whole-saler in skids was actually cheaper than theldquocostrdquo in the big companyrsquos system

One day Tom discovered that the big com-pany added up to 25 to its actual copypaper cost before rebates 5-8 to anyitems purchased from the wholesalers anda variable amount of ldquoloadrdquo to many otheritems

Consequently even though he retainedmost of his legacy business that he had be-fore he was acquired the size of Tomrsquos re-tention bonus was not what he thought it

would be and the reps who worked for Tomdid not get as large a raise as they had ex-pected

Over time the ldquoloadsrdquo became so enor-mous that the big company struggled to re-tain market share leading it to drasticallyreduce divisional head count and commis-sions

Even with those changes the big companydid not grow sales or margins Soon the de-cision was made that company salesneeded to move to 40 ldquoprivate labelrdquo inorder to survive against the other big com-panies

However by this time the big company alsohad added so much headquarters over-head that it needed to average a total of41 in loads and rebates on private labelbefore ldquocostrdquo in order to remain profitable

Reps had a hard time selling their privatelabel against other dealers in the market-place because the cost savings were neg-ligible and they were quite unhappy anywaybecause their pay had been cut while theloads went up

Our fairy tale ends with three unhappy con-sequences The reps couldnrsquot trust thecost the company didnrsquot grow and aftercutting every expense except those for theheadquarters the company went away


To Load or Not to Load That is the Question

By Tom Buxton


You might be asking what this fairy tale hasto do with your company You arenrsquot as bigas the big company was but some of thelessons are still true for your business

If you load your costs especially on some-thing as price-sensitive as HP toner or copypaper your reps will be at a disadvantagein the market place

If they actually try to do their job and raisemargins in their current accounts they runa greater chance of losing them when theycompete against companies that donrsquot loadtheir costs

Within the past three months I have seenthis scenario play out with copy paper Fora short period of time I was assisting withthe sale of off shore paper to west coastdealerships

Those dealerships that did not load theirpaper sold substantially more then thosethat decided to significantly inflate the cost

Dealers who kept only $100 or $150 in re-bates for the house and controlled the pric-

ing levels that the reps quoted from also ex-panded their overall market share whilegaining bottom line profitability

Many of you add 1-5 to many or all ofyour products as a load either to cover ex-cessive overhead or because you believeyour reps canrsquot or wonrsquot raise prices Thispractice is extremely perilous for you and inmost cases will significantly impair yourability to grow sales Also loads likedrugs can be addictive and the temptationto raise them a bit can often overwhelmeven the strongest dealer

So what do I recommend Go ldquoColdTurkeyrdquo Cut your overhead costs to around25 overall for stockless dealers and 28for stocking dealers If you use loads loweryour commission rate to be commensuratewith actual cost before rebates change thefile back to actual cost and give your repsthe opportunity to raise margin the properway

If you have reps that wonrsquot raise the margintake over the process as a management

team and consider firing any rep that wonrsquotsupport the changes

Right now you need all sales people to befocused and ready to compete Your com-pany needs to grow and it is my firm beliefthat loads will impair that growth

One last thing Remember the story wasjust a fairy tale any resemblance to anycompany living or acquired is purely coin-cidental

Tom Buxton is founder and CEO of Inter-

BizGroup a consulting firm that works

with independent office products dealers

to help increase sales and profitability For

more information visit wwwinterbiz-

groupcom



By Krista Moore

We have all heard the expression ldquoTake

care of your customers or someone else

willrdquo And most of us certainly believe it

For the most part office products inde-

pendents believe that they have strength in

customer service and often use it as a sell-

ing feature and advantage when prospect-

ing for new business

They emphasize the benefits of providing

local customer service rather than having

to dial into an 800 number a call center

Or perhaps the customer has a dedicated

customer service rep for his account And

they tell prospective customers that when

they call the company they will get to

speak to a live person rather than an auto-

mated system or recordinghellip a variety of

personal touches that distinguishes the in-

dependentrsquos customer service

But herersquos an important question Are you

providing world-class customer care to

your customers What has changed in your

customer service department with the

onset of online ordering social media and

the down economy

I like to ask dealer principals to reflect on

these questions so they can begin to think

more strategically about the role customer

service can have on their business growth

In our industry competition and customersrsquo

needs are ever-changing and it is time to

proactively address these changes to en-

sure customer retention and sustainable

business growth

Everyone in your company is responsible

for ensuring high quality professional out-

standing customer service The stakes are

too high for it to be otherwise

Looking under the lidWe can all agree that the quality of your

customer service can make or break your

business So lets look under the lid

Independents have asked us at KCoaching

to create some customer service training

modules they can use to help support the

growth of customer care

In order to meet their request effectively we

needed to experience their customer serv-

ice behavior and approach for ourselves

and not just take the dealers word that they

have ldquogreat local customer servicerdquo

We began by playing the secret shopper

contacting independents and looking to set

up accounts inquire about products and

purchase office supplies I am sorry to re-

port that collectively and for the most part

it was not even close to a great customer

experience

So we began creating customer service

training specifically for office products in-

dependents designed to inspire loyalty im-

prove retention rates develop skills and

expand the responsibility of the traditional

customer service departments

We do this to achieve the following

n Create awareness about the importance

of customer care in our industry and for the

growth of the independent

n Provide skill development and refinement

to offer higher-quality customer care to

customers and prospects

n Offer strategies ideas and best prac-

tices for enhanced customer service and

ultimately grow the business

Many independents have already taken the

necessary steps to retrain retool and fur-

ther engage their customer service depart-

ment

Many are now including customer service

as part of the sales process to ensure that

their prospects feel the difference of what

that independent has to offer to help them

with their decision-making

Many companies have their customer serv-

ice department making outbound warm

calls to current customers with words of

thanks and appreciation

Others may be requiring that with every

phone call their customer service team is

up-selling and offering additional product

categories

With the increase of online ordering many

independents still want to stay close to that

relationship The customer service depart-

ment may not be spending time taking and

keying orders but rather now using that

time in other ways to proactively enhance


Are You WOWing the Customer


the customer relationship and overall expe-

rience

The number one reason customers leave is

not because of price but because they feel

undervalued or ignored

Companies may need to make a significant

cultural shift while working together inter-

nally to ensure each customer has an out-

standing customer experience every time

and every day

Any new direction or cultural shift starts at

the top of the organization with leadership

and effective management

Herersquos a great example I received a phone

call from a customer service rep asking me

if I would like to receive a new catalog

Of course I said yes but I was also inter-

ested in observing anything else that she

would say during that phone conversation

But there was nothing further

I couldnt believe that she had me live and

my full attention and didnt take the oppor-

tunity to tell me anything new and exciting

about their company that I might find valu-

able or talk about a product I might be in-

terested in let alone ask me if I needed to

order anything

But Im not going to fault her alone She

may have been instructed by her manager

to call a list of customers and see if they

want a catalog

With further direction she might have said

ldquoIt looks like you havent purchased from us

in the past month is there anything that you

might need that I could add to this order

when I send out the catalogrdquo

Or ldquoI understand that you use our coffee

machine how do you like itrdquo (Begin having

a warm conversation) ldquoWe have a new fla-

vored Chai Tea many of our customers are

buying that you might enjoy itrsquos really good

over ice toordquo

Or maybe she could have said ldquoI wanted

to take a moment and thank you for the

business that you gave us in 2009 As a

small local family-owned business we

truly appreciate it We are always looking to

improve our service and your opinion mat-

ters Can I ask you a question What is the

one thing that we could do better or differ-

ent to improve our service to you

Imagine the impact on your business if

every customer service phone call sounded

like that What would we learn and what

would we gain

This really is all about being intentional in

establishing rapport creating a personal

emotional connection building loyalty up

selling being appreciative and WOWing

the customer

Krista Moore is president of K CoachingLLC an executive coaching and consult-ing practice that has helped literally hun-dreds of independent dealers maximizetheir full potential through enhancing theirsales strategies sales training and lead-ership development For more informa-tion visit the K Coaching web site atwwwkcoachingcom


Bill Leinweber is the founder and president of Landmark Experience Consulting and brings over 30 years of leadership and customer service experience in retail distribution operations and services

For one price just $247 your entire team of customer service

representatives and managers can participate in this live 60-minute

KCoaching webinar

9195544505 | wwwkcoachingcom

The quality of your customer service can make or break your business

Customer Service Training for Resultswith special guest Bill LeinweberThursday April 22nd 20101230 - 130 PM ET

Click Here to Register NOW

Gather your team and join us for this valuable webinar and learn how you can provide world-class service to your customers

Yoursquoll learnwhy customer services is the key to retention and business growthprofessional customer service skillsideas on what your customer service department can do to separate your company from the competitionhow customer service has changed and what you can do about it

your business

M1230 - 130 PPpri AsdayyhurT

with special guestCustomer Se

breakkThe quality of your cu

M ETl 22nd 2010Bill Leinwebert

rainingervice T

maustomer service can

or

Results for

ake

Tae Kwon Do is the worlds most popular martial art with over 70million practitioners in 190 countries Korean in originmdashthe wordtranslates roughly as the way of the foot and the fistmdashitrsquos a sportthat calls for strength speed flexibility and stamina And with itsemphasis on aggressive kicking techniques itrsquos certainly not forthe faint-hearted

Just ask Karen Bogart of Convenience Office Supply and Interiorsin Austin Texas Karen first took up Tae Kwon Do five years agoand shersquos been fine-tuning her kicking and punching skills eversince So much so that last month she earned the prestigiousBlack Belt status in the sport

For someone who has to contend with all the pressures involvedin running an independent office products dealership Tae KwonDo appeals on several levels says Karen

ldquoItrsquos a terrific stress reliever and the sport puts a lot of emphasison positive thinking and maintaining a lsquocan-dorsquo attitude which canbe very helpful if yoursquore a small business in a competitive marketlike Austinrdquo she points out

That can-do attitude certainly seems to be working to good effectat Convenience When Karen and her husband Dwight bought thedealership back in 1986 staff consisted of just the two of them andone other person and annual sales stood at little more than$100000 Fast forward to today and sales have increased expo-nentially and the headcount stands at 18 and growing

Neither Karen or Dwight had any kind of office products back-ground before entering the industrymdashKaren was in data processingand Dwight worked in construction salesmdashbut they liked the ideaof a business-to-business operation and were confident in theirability to grow sales on the basis of exceptional customer serviceand competitive pricing

Almost from Day One they also drew heavily on key strategic part-nerships and alliancesmdashConvenience today is a member of AOPDand TriMega and Karen herself is a former NOPA board member

It doesnrsquot hurt either of course that she brings the same kind ofintense competitive spirit to running the dealership that enabledher to win a coveted Tae Kwon Do Black Belt in just five years

Fortunately though she manages to keep her martial arts hobbyand her business life separate most of the time If yoursquore a rep inthe Southwest and go calling on Convenience itrsquos not impossiblethat you might get beat up a little for better pricing or for supportwith a new marketing campaign But fortunately for all concernedkicking and punching will be off the agenda hellip at least most of thetime

The Other Side of Karen BogartConvenience Office Supply

Martial Arts Fuels the Competitive Spirit for Texas Independent



One of the most challenging issues facing ourindustry today is how to attract recruit and re-tain new talent within the independent dealerchannel

How do we make selling marketing and deliv-ering office products relevant to someone bornin 1989 (Yep thatrsquos when this yearrsquos class ofcollege graduates was born)

One interesting way to look at this challenge isto view it through the eyes of the multiple gen-erations working together in todayrsquos officeThese generations include

The ldquoSilent Generationrdquo born between 1924and 1942 This generation led the Civil Rightsmovement and created great wealth for them-selves and for our country Many founders ofindividual office products dealerships comefrom this generation and are now approachingretirement

The ldquoBaby Boomerrdquo generation born between1943 and 1960 This generation fought in andprotested the Vietnam war and their attitude ofchallenging authority redefined our culture Onecan often see these values in the experiencedsales people and management within thedealer channel

The ldquoGen Xrdquo generation born between 1961and 1981 Often generalized as a generation ofldquoslackersrdquo with a free agent mentality they ac-tually display sharp business savvy and entre-preneurial thinking You will find this generationkey to succession planning within many inde-pendent dealerships

The ldquoMillennialsrdquo generation born between1982 and 2001 This generation grew up in apre- and post-911 world They have a need tobe wanted to be protected and like many gen-erations that came before them they are deter-mined to build a better world

Are these unfair stereotypes of the generations

working together in todayrsquos workforce Thatwas my initial thinking But after attending sev-eral workshops on the subject Irsquove come to therealization that there is much truth and per-spective to be gained from studying these gen-erations

As a ldquoBaby Boomerrdquo raising four ldquoMillennialsrdquo Ican assure you that we need to change how wemarket our industry to attract todayrsquos top talent

So how do we make the office products indus-try attractive to someone who has never livedin a world without the Internet who interactsheavily with friends and family through socialmedia who wants a prestigious job title Day 1and who believes that being in the same jobrole for more than a year means that their ca-reer has plateaued

Several key thoughts come to mind One wehave to redefine and reposition our job rolesand responsibilities

Ask any college senior today if theyrsquore interestedin a career selling note pads writing instru-ments copy paper etc and you know the re-sponse you will get But ask that same collegestudent if he or she might be interested in a con-sultative career where they can help their clientssave money improve productivity and improveworkflow and yoursquoll have their attention

Emphasize the variety of responsibilities andclients the freedom and the flexibility of hoursand they will start to get excited

In addition to the value it creates for your busi-ness and your customers make sure that allyour technology (Internet access companyweb site order management systems mobiletelecommunications etc) is current as thesewill also make your dealership an attractivedestination for your candidate

Second define a realistic career path and oppor-tunity for the candidate Research suggests that

Millennials are a very career-minded work force

One of the main attractions for them about join-ing a large company as opposed to a smallcompany is the multiple career path optionsthat they hope to enjoy

Make sure to communicate the opportunity foryour candidate to grow within your companyConsider a structured job rotation program tohelp your candidate learn the entire businessSome of SP Richardsrsquo top management talentwas recruited as part of a management devel-opment program where the candidate spendsstructured time in sales in operations and inother business functions

Most importantly be sure to stress your com-panyrsquos commitment to the environment and en-vironmental products on local charities and itsinvolvement in national campaigns such as Cityof Hope This latest generation wants to makea difference in the world and our industry cer-tainly provides multiple opportunities for themto do so

Last offer a market-competitive salary andbenefits program This may sound obvious butwersquore locked in a competition with other indus-tries for talent This generation will trade moneyfor additional vacation days increased job va-riety and overall flexibility

A recent survey indicated that 78 of Millenni-als believe that in seeking a job personal ful-fillment is more important than money Makesure that your job offer clearly articulates theopportunity for personal fulfillment that comesfrom joining your dealership

These recommendations are probably quite dif-ferent from the way you and I joined the officeproducts industry But great talent is great tal-ent in any generation Best of luck in your re-cruitment efforts

T H E L A S T W O R DAttracting Talent

to the Independent

Office ProductsChannel

Rick ToppinPresident and COO

SP Richards Company


Irene Fraga of Tejas Office Products Houston DealerHonored by Local United Cerebral Palsy Organization

Itrsquos been a busy couple of months for the Fraga family owners andoperators of Tejas Office Products in Houston

Last month we reported on president Stephen Fragarsquos appointmentto the board of the cityrsquos local sports authority which is responsiblefor managing just about all of Houstonrsquos major sports and communityfacilities

Now comes word of special honors for Tejas vice president IreneFraga who was one of only 10 local ladies recognized by UnitedCerebral Palsy of Greater Houston at their annual ldquoHats off to Moth-ersrdquo Luncheon last month

ldquoMrs Fraga represents what is so good and unique about this city Sheis a wonderful mother role model and entrepreneur who uses her tal-

ents and gifts for the benefit of our communityrdquo UCP CEO Elise Houghsaid ldquoHer impact on Houston is truly worthy of being honoredrdquo

Top Team at Latschrsquos Inc Nebraska Dealer NamedLocal lsquoBusiness Owner of the Yearrsquo

The management team at Latschrsquos (left to right) John Costin vice president Mike Deckerpresident and COO and Gary Jones secretarytreasurer

Herersquos to another outstanding independent with reason to celebrateas the team of John Costin Mike Decker and Gary Jones at LatschrsquosInc in Lincoln Nebraska was named 2010 ldquoBusiness Owner of theYearrdquo by the Lincoln Independent Business Association

The organization bestows the award to recognize owners who ldquoex-emplify the best of what it takes to create and sustain a successful


continued on page 5

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bull Butter Flavored (6) 24pktscase (K)

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bull Extra Butter Flavored (6) 24pktscase (K)








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By Rick Marlette











Where there is a will there is always a wayto get the data from PDF files I use theOmniPage 15 text recognition programwhich will convert PDF files straight toExcel and an HP Scan Jet 5590 auto-feederfor paper copies Itrsquos no longer that expen-sive to buy top quality high-end OCR sys-tems to convert this data into a usableform












































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Got Newsemail Simon






continued on page 6





















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Rec

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By Jim Rapp

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Made

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Y

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Cover Story


by Jim Rapp




















THANK YOU



































By Rick Marlette























































By Tom Buxton




















groupcom



By Krista Moore

























the down economy









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rience








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the customer






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ake






































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SP Richards Company





















buy one plant one




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Rec

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By Jim Rapp

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8003238181mmfindcom


Made

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Y

Divide and

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Cover Story


by Jim Rapp




















THANK YOU



































By Rick Marlette























































By Tom Buxton




















groupcom



By Krista Moore

























the down economy









business growth























experience




















ment













categories











rience








and every day

















order anything




want a catalog











over ice toordquo













would we gain





the customer






KCoaching webinar







your business





rainingervice T


or

Results for

ake






































to the Independent



SP Richards Company
















By Jim Rapp

Thank You














































Perfect for use on




















































































8003238181mmfindcom


Made

in

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without erica each

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Y

Divide and

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Cover Story


by Jim Rapp




















THANK YOU



































By Rick Marlette























































By Tom Buxton




















groupcom



By Krista Moore

























the down economy









business growth























experience




















ment













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rience








and every day

















order anything




want a catalog











over ice toordquo













would we gain





the customer






KCoaching webinar







your business





rainingervice T


or

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ake






































to the Independent



SP Richards Company














































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8003238181mmfindcom


Made

in

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CompWhat a

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onre

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l Institute

without erica each

ost-oductsoducts










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Shachihata Inc


Sr Trade Mktg Mgr

1661 W 240th Street
































Y

Divide and

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e-marketing

strategy


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Cover Story


by Jim Rapp




















THANK YOU



































By Rick Marlette























































By Tom Buxton




















groupcom



By Krista Moore

























the down economy









business growth























experience




















ment













categories











rience








and every day

















order anything




want a catalog











over ice toordquo













would we gain





the customer






KCoaching webinar







your business





rainingervice T


or

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ake






































to the Independent



SP Richards Company


















































































8003238181mmfindcom


Made

in

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andResponsible

Minimum 58 total

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with over 50




Organi

withoize

ut

CompWhat a

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d tad the

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dcomthe lear mo

onre

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l Institute

without erica each

ost-oductsoducts










bull hellipand more







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Minimal investment

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Options 29or email

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Shachihata Inc


Sr Trade Mktg Mgr

1661 W 240th Street
































Y

Divide and

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e-marketing

strategy


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Cover Story


by Jim Rapp




















THANK YOU



































By Rick Marlette























































By Tom Buxton




















groupcom



By Krista Moore

























the down economy









business growth























experience




















ment













categories











rience








and every day

















order anything




want a catalog











over ice toordquo













would we gain





the customer






KCoaching webinar







your business





rainingervice T


or

Results for

ake






































to the Independent



SP Richards Company









bull hellipand more







wwwisgrouporg










director Central






























Increase margins

Minimal investment

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Options 29or email

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i l

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Shachihata Inc


Sr Trade Mktg Mgr

1661 W 240th Street
































Y

Divide and

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testing and

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e-marketing

strategy


strategy











Cover Story


by Jim Rapp




















THANK YOU



































By Rick Marlette























































By Tom Buxton




















groupcom



By Krista Moore

























the down economy









business growth























experience




















ment













categories











rience








and every day

















order anything




want a catalog











over ice toordquo













would we gain





the customer






KCoaching webinar







your business





rainingervice T


or

Results for

ake






































to the Independent



SP Richards Company










director Central






























Increase margins

Minimal investment

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Options 29or email

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OD

i l

om stamps

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Shachihata Inc


Sr Trade Mktg Mgr

1661 W 240th Street
































Y

Divide and

conquer by

testing and

adjusting your

e-marketing

strategy


strategy











Cover Story


by Jim Rapp




















THANK YOU



































By Rick Marlette











Where there is a will there is always a wayto get the data from PDF files I use theOmni text recognition programwhich will convert PDF files straight toExcel and an HP Scan Jet 5590 auto-feederfor paper copies Itrsquos no longer that expen-sive to buy top quality high-end OCR sys-tems to convert this data into a usableform












































By Tom Buxton




















groupcom



By Krista Moore

























the down economy









business growth























experience




















ment













categories











rience








and every day

















order anything




want a catalog











over ice toordquo













would we gain





the customer






KCoaching webinar







your business





rainingervice T


or

Results for

ake






































to the Independent



SP Richards Company






Increase margins

Minimal investment

CONTACT


Options 29or email

dealersusstampcom

FSOD

OD

i l

om stamps

ogoh stamp with

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esrors

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usstampcomemail

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vendor profile














































































Shachihata Inc


Sr Trade Mktg Mgr

1661 W 240th Street
































Y

Divide and

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testing and

adjusting your

e-marketing

strategy


strategy











Cover Story


by Jim Rapp




















THANK YOU



































By Rick Marlette























































By Tom Buxton




















groupcom



By Krista Moore

























the down economy









business growth























experience




















ment













categories











rience








and every day

















order anything




want a catalog











over ice toordquo













would we gain





the customer






KCoaching webinar







your business





rainingervice T


or

Results for

ake






































to the Independent



SP Richards Company























vendor profile














































































Shachihata Inc


Sr Trade Mktg Mgr

1661 W 240th Street
































Y

Divide and

conquer by

testing and

adjusting your

e-marketing

strategy


strategy











Cover Story


by Jim Rapp




















THANK YOU



































By Rick Marlette























































By Tom Buxton




















groupcom



By Krista Moore

























the down economy









business growth























experience




















ment













categories











rience








and every day

















order anything




want a catalog











over ice toordquo













would we gain





the customer






KCoaching webinar







your business





rainingervice T


or

Results for

ake






































to the Independent



SP Richards Company































































Shachihata Inc


Sr Trade Mktg Mgr

1661 W 240th Street
































Y

Divide and

conquer by

testing and

adjusting your

e-marketing

strategy


strategy











Cover Story


by Jim Rapp




















THANK YOU



































By Rick Marlette























































By Tom Buxton




















groupcom



By Krista Moore

























the down economy









business growth























experience




















ment













categories











rience








and every day

















order anything




want a catalog











over ice toordquo













would we gain





the customer






KCoaching webinar







your business





rainingervice T


or

Results for

ake






































to the Independent



SP Richards Company





























Y

Divide and

conquer by

testing and

adjusting your

e-marketing

strategy


strategy











Cover Story


by Jim Rapp




















THANK YOU



































By Rick Marlette























































By Tom Buxton




















groupcom



By Krista Moore

























the down economy









business growth























experience




















ment













categories











rience








and every day

















order anything




want a catalog











over ice toordquo













would we gain





the customer






KCoaching webinar







your business





rainingervice T


or

Results for

ake






































to the Independent



SP Richards Company











Cover Story


by Jim Rapp




















THANK YOU



































By Rick Marlette























































By Tom Buxton




















groupcom



By Krista Moore

























the down economy









business growth























experience




















ment













categories











rience








and every day

















order anything




want a catalog











over ice toordquo













would we gain





the customer






KCoaching webinar







your business





rainingervice T


or

Results for

ake






































to the Independent



SP Richards Company




















THANK YOU



































By Rick Marlette























































By Tom Buxton




















groupcom



By Krista Moore

























the down economy









business growth























experience




















ment













categories











rience








and every day

















order anything




want a catalog











over ice toordquo













would we gain





the customer






KCoaching webinar







your business





rainingervice T


or

Results for

ake






































to the Independent



SP Richards Company





























By Rick Marlette























































By Tom Buxton




















groupcom



By Krista Moore

























the down economy









business growth























experience




















ment













categories











rience








and every day

















order anything




want a catalog











over ice toordquo













would we gain





the customer






KCoaching webinar







your business





rainingervice T


or

Results for

ake






































to the Independent



SP Richards Company






















































By Tom Buxton




















groupcom



By Krista Moore

























the down economy









business growth























experience




















ment













categories











rience








and every day

















order anything




want a catalog











over ice toordquo













would we gain





the customer






KCoaching webinar







your business





rainingervice T


or

Results for

ake






































to the Independent



SP Richards Company




















groupcom



By Krista Moore

























the down economy









business growth























experience




















ment













categories











rience








and every day

















order anything




want a catalog











over ice toordquo













would we gain





the customer






KCoaching webinar







your business





rainingervice T


or

Results for

ake






































to the Independent



SP Richards Company


By Krista Moore

























the down economy









business growth























experience




















ment













categories











rience








and every day

















order anything




want a catalog











over ice toordquo













would we gain





the customer






KCoaching webinar







your business





rainingervice T


or

Results for

ake






































to the Independent



SP Richards Company



rience








and every day

















order anything




want a catalog











over ice toordquo













would we gain





the customer






KCoaching webinar







your business





rainingervice T


or

Results for

ake






































to the Independent



SP Richards Company






































to the Independent



SP Richards Company

april independent dealer

Documents

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