THINKING DIFFERENTLY - Ussco.com

SEPT/OCT 2008Wist Office ProductsBrings A New Focus OnTechnologyAnd SuccessTalk to Heather Rodriguez about the new technology promotionbeing launched by Wist Office Products and you’llunderstand that this is a company that overlooks no detailsin implementing its marketing and sales programs. While somebusinesses may put together an e-mail or flyer and call it a salespromotion, Wist employs a fine-tuned approach that engages theentire distribution channel.Wist has always been an aggressive marketer, says Rodriguez,business development director for the Tempe, Ariz.-based dealer.“In previous years, manufacturers would come to us and want usto promote their products,” she says. “And it could be challengingto accommodate all of those diverse products. This year, as acompany, we decided to make our promotions more focused — toconcentrate on the key segments of the business that we wantedto grow.” One of those areas was technology, and the companydevoted an entire quarter to it.Rather than tackle the broad category of technology, Wist identifiedbusiness security as a theme that would have more relevanceand resonance in the marketplace. “We developed a program thatwe called ‘Who’s Securing Your Business?’” says Rodriguez. “Wethought we could build a bridge to customers and prospects bylooking at their security, and the technology products that are essentialin creating it.”The first step was to enlist the support of manufacturers. “Felloweshad already expressed an interest in doing a promotion with usand they became our primary partner,” says Rodriguez. “Then,we reached out to different manufacturers that we thought couldbring some products to the table. So we picked 10 items as lead-insfor the program and priced them pretty aggressively.” Consistingprimarily of technology items such as surge protectors, shredders,32OFFICELINE | www.ussco.comcomputer privacy screens and laptop locks, promotional itemsalso included security envelopes from Quality Park as well as theuni-ball 207 check-writing pen.Wist put a flyer promoting the lead-in items together with theUnited Technology Flyer, the company’s Hot Items sheets andsample products into a nicely packaged portfolio titled “Who’sSecuring Your Business?” These portfolios were then hand-deliveredby Wist’s salespeople to their top 25 accounts; the balance of theircustomers received promotional materials through an e-mail blast.building relations“At the same time, Fellowes has a telemarketing group calling onall of our accounts and asking that same question: Who’s securingyour business?” says Rodriguez. “They send their telemarketingresults to us, and we forward that information on to our sales repsso they can follow up on any of the key points that were broughtup in those conversations.”The program has been designed not only to generate immediateincremental sales, but also to provide Wist’s sales staff with opportunitiesto build relationships with both customers and prospects.The reps are able to add value to their current customers by comingin with a solutions-based promotion that builds awareness ofthe need for security products. It takes technology beyond the consumablesthat they’re ordering all the time, says Rodriguez, andreminds them that Wist also carries privacy screens, shredders,laptop locks and all of their other security needs.“We’re also finding that there are different buyers for differentcategories,” says Rodriguez. “The buyer of office supplies is notnecessarily the buyer of JanSan who is not the person who makes