2020 Top 50 Suppliers: How OneTouchPoint Is Solving Real Market Needs

David Holland, CEO, OneTouchPoint

By the fourth quarter, C-suite executives have finalized their goals for the year ahead. But for the first time in our lives, we can’t predict much of anything. In fact, “I just don’t know” now completes the trifecta of 2020 corporate speak that already includes “pivot” and “unprecedented.” When the first wave of coronavirus cases crashed into the U.S., businesses across all industries took drastic measures to preserve jobs and keep doors open as state governors enforced stay-at-home orders. Some were successful; others were not as fortunate.

Throughout this uncertainty, printers have kept the presses running. Part of a critical infrastructure industry as defined by the Department of Homeland Security, these professionals play a crucial role in protecting the nation’s food, medical and health care supply chains, to name a few. That being said, hard decisions surrounding salary cuts, furloughs and permanent layoffs still affected members of our community.

Leaders are human, forced to grieve lost routines, social connections, family structure and a sense of security like the rest of us. On the other hand, they are paid to provide assurances, direction, hope and actionable information. While we don’t know what’s next, we do know leaders are only as good as their employees. When interviewing the principals of the top-ranked companies listed in Print+Promo’s 2020 Top 50 Suppliers chart, there was a common theme of empathy throughout the discussions. In fact, several of these executives cited employee well-being and safety as their primary concerns, and were most proud of meeting those needs. They also acknowledged that any wins were the result of an incredible team effort.

To provide additional context, we spoke to David Holland, CEO of OneTouchPoint, No. 3 on the list.

What was your company’s biggest accomplishment over the last year?

David Holland: I think our biggest accomplishment may be how well our team has handled the COVID-19 crisis, quite frankly. We were deemed an essential business very early in the pandemic, and while navigating multiple state and city mandates, working to keep our employees, partners and clients healthy, instituting new procedures, and juggling work schedules, we had to remain maniacally focused on delivering for our clients who were themselves struggling to pivot and reset priorities in response to their own business challenges. Our teams stepped up, got creative, put in the time needed and continued to deliver for our clients. In fact, we recently completed our annual Voice of the Customer survey and our Net Promoter Score (“would you recommend us?”) improved from a 77 to an 85, which put us even higher in the “exceptional” category. I’d say that’s a huge accomplishment. I am very proud of that.

In early February, we also finalized the acquisition of a digital marketing agency that specializes in local marketing for distributed marketing teams and multi-unit organizations. We added new digital capabilities, robust brand management technology and a dedicated team of highly skilled local marketing experts who bring more than 20 years of experience. These new additions round out our end-to-end, integrated marketing solutions, which allow our clients across various industries to easily manage complex, cross-channel engagement strategies, including branded asset management, digital marketing execution, traditional print, mail and signage–all through one vendor. This is what our customers are looking for–to have the highest customer impact, while reducing the cost and complexity and their marketing engagements.

As a follow up, did you pause 2020 plans for expanding your multichannel local marketing capabilities in light of the coronavirus? How have the verticals you serve been affected?

DH: We did not pause our plans for expanding our multichannel local marketing capabilities. Since integrating the acquisition mentioned above at the beginning of February, a lot has changed, to be sure. Many in the franchise/multi-unit sector have suffered and are only just slowly starting to restart marketing efforts, but as the “new normal” began to evolve, true to our deep customer service focus, we worked to help our customers pivot to respond to changing requirements–from creating signage kits for franchises, distance learning packets for school districts, designing desk shields to help schools make plans to safely reopen, getting takeout and delivery information and offers out via EDDM programs, to amping up the local digital marketing presence for businesses who were not sure how to get in front of potential customers who were now staying home and spending more time online.

Our manufacturing, health care and financial services clients were also affected, of course. Discretionary programs and big marketing campaigns were paused, in-person events were cancelled, and employees were furloughed or sent home to work, making even day-to-day contact a challenge.

Businesses in these sectors have also realized the importance of engaging with clients across all brand channels, particularly now that social distancing and digital engagements have become the norm. It’s no longer a “nice to have.” Competing online has become mission critical.

How is your company positioning itself to stand out in 2021?

DH: We continue to execute against our strategy of building technology-enabled solutions that solve real market needs. Our clients are looking to reduce complexity and save costs, but they also have aggressive revenue goals to meet. With our end-to-end capabilities, we can support both sides of their business: We help them simplify their marketing supply chain and gain efficiencies and drive incremental revenues through multichannel marketing effectiveness—digital and physical—all under one roof.

To support these efforts, we continue to acquire and build the right people, processes and technologies—both via acquisition and organically. We are working directly with our clients to make sure that our solutions are streamlined, intuitive and solve their most pressing needs.

How has the COVID-19 climate impacted OneTouchPoint?

DH: When the pandemic hit and we started talking to our clients and learned of budgets stalling and projects being delayed, we realized we were going to need to make quick changes. We slowed discretionary spending and put bigger projects on hold where we could. In spite of our essential business status, we did have to temporarily and, in some cases, permanently furlough team members. This is, of course, something you never want to have to do.

Through it all, our teams stepped up and continued to deliver for our clients. We had—and still have—a lot of COVID-related projects. We were responsible for getting ventilator manuals in the hands of folks on the front lines, we sourced PPE supplies for many clients so they could keep their employees safe while they continued to serve as essential businesses, we worked with school districts on distanced learning packets for children who didn’t have access to the internet, we designed student desk and cashier shields, and countless floor and wall graphics of COVID and CDC-related materials. We launched a “digital starter kit” offer for customers who needed to increase their presence online, and we waived our platform fee for our newly launched EDDM module so clients could quickly and effectively get updated dine-in and delivery information and new offers in front of local customers.

How do you motivate and inspire teams to achieve big goals, especially when things feel so heavy right now?

DH: We try to focus on transparency and communication. I think teams react more positively when they understand the whole scope of what is happening across a company, so they understand where leadership is focused and the role they themselves play and the difference they can make. The pandemic created a lot of uncertainty, especially at first when no one knew exactly what was going to happen and we were all worried about friends, families and loved ones. It was hard to stay focused on work. We addressed it as best we could, as directly as we could. We let our team know that we didn’t have all of the answers. We didn’t know what was going to happen either, but the best we all could do was to keep showing up every day, doing our best and asking for help if we needed it. We also continued our quarterly “Make a Difference” award program where employees nominate their peers who exemplify our core values or go above and beyond in their roles. It’s been really great to be able to tell those stories internally and remind everyone of the amazingly talented team we get to work with.

What is the biggest professional risk you’ve ever taken?

DH: Standing alone in the belief of a winning strategy when others followed blind leadership for the sake of a paycheck. Your reputation is worth more than money.

Knowing what you do today about leading, what advice would you give to your past self?

DH: Don’t sweat the small stuff and keep focused on the strategy. Hire great people and let them do the work you hired them to do.

What is the greatest lesson that 2020 has taught you?

DH: I learned that it’s important to focus on the friendships you’ve forged inside and outside of business, and that your family and health are life’s greatest assets.

How are you decompressing during these unprecedented times?

DH: I turn off the news, cook, exercise, read, watch comedy and spend time with those closest to me.

Is there anything you would like to add to give our readers a better sense of your business approach and the industry at large?

DH: The best of times are ahead of us, but only the most capable captains can navigate troubled waters. As an industry, we need to find a way to attract great, young talent to help with the unprecedented business transition ahead of us.

View the full 2020 Top 50 Suppliers list here.

Click here for stats, trends and analysis from the list.