TIPS AND TRICKS: Online Stationery and Marketing Fulfillment Programs

What are the benefits of online stationery and marketing print and fulfillment program?  Often times for companies with multiple locations or an independent sales-force, an online stationery and marketing supplies fulfillment program is the most efficient and least expensive way to get the stationery needs of their distant offices met while balancing the needs of the company for consistent branding, budget, and process management.

How it works:  With multiple print-production and order-management tools available to us, understanding the company's specific needs for brand control, budget and order management, and distribution are imperative.  The discussion will start with these questions: 

• How many locations and staff will ultimately need product?  What are the locations and will translation services be required?  Many corporations with international locations print their cards 2 sided with 2 different languages these days!
• What sort of control, independence, and gate-keeping needs to be in place?  One of the huge benefits of a fulfillment program is the control the company has over managing it's branding guidelines and ordering process...no more independent sales reps printing at the nearby printer who is almost certainly not familiar with the company's branding guidelines.
• Do proofs need to go through a compliance department?  Financial institutions and others have certain legal requirements for what they can and cannot put on their stationery and marketing materials.
• Billing: How best to manage the functionality and tracking of payment?
• How many different SKUs and versions of each item?  It's not just stationery, it can be anything... marketing materials, training materials, promotional items, etc.
• Inventory vs. just-in-time:  digital print vs. shell-and-imprint

Then we set up a system that is fast and easy for your people to use, manage, and track, using any number of custom tools we have at our disposal for on-line order placement, inventory tracking, and production options.  It's sort of a custom "company store"... on steroids.  Who it works for: 

• Companies with multiple locations
• Companies with distant sales offices
• Companies with kiosks or micro-offices
• Advertising initiatives with different offers, information, or expiration dates
• And sometimes we can even set up a simple system for a company with just a few employees

What it works on: 

• All Business Stationery (business cards, letterhead, envelopes, note-cards, note-pads)
• Brochures (personalize the info, the location or the offer)
• Coupons (perhaps an A/B split to test which offer gets the most hits)
• Training materials (can make more of an impact if they are personalized in some way)
• Certificates and Awards (with variable data with the winner's name)
• Forms (again...multiple locations??)

In closing:  It costs nothing to give us a call if you think your company may benefit from this type of program...and is often FREE to set up.  We have saved our clients untold amounts of time, money, and worry by implementing programs such as these:  from 5 person offices to huge corporations with many national and international location.  Our contact info is below if you think this warrants at least a conversation: Highlight Printing is a well-respected Minneapolis printer that focuses on the complete needs of the client from creative to offset printing and digital printing, 3M Post-It notes, bindery, warehousing, fulfillment, mailing, and distribution.  Please contact us @ 612.522.7600,  info@highlightprinting.com or www.highlightprinting.com