The first priority of advertising is establishing need. Even product lines offering unlimited market potential and movement require a little push to maintain sales quotas. The good news is, the function of some products enables them to sneak their way into virtually any market. Form/label combinations, for instance, can be sold to almost every business sector. And, while traditional forms business has hit a plateau in recent years, form/label combinations still indicate room for product growth. Any business with high-volume shipping; any company dealing heavily in consistent consumer response or one requiring the services of a two-in-one product can be targeted to expand form/label combination customer bases. In fact, as commerce changes, relying more heavily on direct mail products and services—and as consumers become better adjusted to the ways and means of e-commerce—form/label combinations can “sell themselves,” according to John McKillip, CMO and partner at USAdocufinish, which has facilities in Chicago and Anaheim, Calif.
Here, USAdocufinish; Ace Forms, Pittsburg, Kan.; Ward/Kraft, Fort Scott, Kan.; and Phoenix Data, Montgomery, Pa., weighed in on the most important aspects of keeping form/label combination product lines viable.
All of these companies offer a full product line for form/label combinations. USAdocufinish carries piggyback and triggyback form/label combinations, integrated label-form combinations and has recently added address label-form combinations to its product line. “Ace started offering integrated labels to the customer base in the mid ’90s,” said Lindeye Webb, sales and marketing coordinator at Ace Forms. “The label portion[s] of these forms were subcontracted to industry converters who specialized in that area. .... We upgraded our equipment in 2005 and again in 2006. We currently offer a full line of integrated cards and labels, plus dual-web and blown-on labels.”
“The basic premise of our product line is to create a medium to move information from the form to another location, which saves time and increases accuracy,” noted Rita Fry, marketing and sales coordinator for Phoenix Data. And Gina Holt, Ward/Kraft’s VP of business development and sales, contended the company got in on the game early, and has provided products such as “Add-A-Labels, Form-N-Label, joined web, integrated labels, Uniwebs and full plastic integrated.”
The main way to highlight the product’s necessity is to seek out creative and continuing applications for it. Any potential client handling shipping, for example, can up a company’s form/label combination sales. Fry indicated the breadth of possibilities for the product’s usefulness. “Anytime you need information transferred from the form to another location, the form/label combination is the perfect way to go,” she advised. McKillip was more specific. He ticked off the product’s most common uses, including “inventory documents, medical forms, lab forms, chain-of-custody forms, prescription forms, mail order, return merchandise and direct-mail address labels.” Webb pointed to mailing and shipping labels as being the most common applications, with sectors such as healthcare, manufacturing and advertising as the target markets in which form/label combinations are in highest demand.
“This product still has great growth potential,” Webb noted. “Salespeople need to study their customers’ systems [and] look for applications that save time and effort.” In today’s hectic market, where multitasking and juggling require the same catchall service as today’s do-it-all employees, Webb said the most important aspect of form/label sales is timesaving. “The purpose of the form/label combination is to serve multiple tasks with one execution. Time is money,” she stressed.
McKillip’s advice was similar. “[The most important thing is] to present the entire package while focusing on the enhanced function which label-form combinations create,” he said. Furthermore, he noted, selling form/label combinations as value-added products can incentivize salespeople to increase their profit margins because the final product sells two products simultaneously. Fry agreed. “They add value dollar-wise to the forms distributor, while at the same time add[ing] value to the user of the forms in cost savings,” she pointed out.
Holt asserted a form/label combination is really a sell about changing the processes of a company and maximizing efficiency, and she advised delving into the customer’s workflow. “It is important not to focus only on the cost of the form/label, but the overall cost saving[s] to change their systems,” she said. “This is really a system sell.”
Industry-wide, form/label combinations still promise growth, including bar-coded product[s] and numbered form/label combination volume, according to McKillip. Both products are in demand—most notably in the medical and pharmaceutical arenas. Even so, the growth strategy for the industry boils down to four key sales elements. “Product, price, place and promotion. It’s that basic,” he asserted.
Gina Holt said Ward/Kraft has witnessed an interesting trend in the medical industry recently. “There seems to be more of a push to go back to the old style of form and label being separate from each other,” she said. “This may partly be due to the influx of new label printers and low cost[s] to consumers.” But, she added, there’s still a push to revolutionize form/label combinations further, offering more variety throughout product lines.
Technological innovation has naturally impacted business, as well. “Piggyback label-form combinations have given way to integrated label-form combinations, due largely to the ease of imaging—a product of the flush die cut and the ultra-lightweight adhesive liners,” McKillip said. “This has had a very positive impact, as the integrated converting equipment utilized by USAdocufinish is ideal for high speeds and long runs, which further makes integrated label-form combinations a perfect marriage with laser imaging.” Fry agreed. “Laser imaging, both sheet-fed and high-speed continuous, has created unlimited opportunities for selling integrated labels and cards,” she continued.
McKillip also suggested promoting the addition of form/label combinations to clients who buy laser-imaging products. “Integrated label-form combinations are a cost-effective, all-in-one, superior way to provide a laser-friendly integrated label-form solution,” he suggested.
Ward/Kraft has opted to add more variety to its adhesives, material and form/label constructions this year. “Listening to [what] our distributors ... need and adapting has been crucial in our growth,” Holt noted. The company has seen an increase in demand for durable and moisture-resistant materials, leading them to introduce their integrated plastic line. “This product provides an all-in-one laser, die-cut plastic sheet with an integrated adhesive patch on the back side,” she reported.
Whether it’s through additions to product lines or additions to the call list, the key is to join variety with efficiency. Just as integrated forms and labels have forged new product lines, a smoothly integrated sales pitch can provide a similar winning combination.
- Companies:
- Ace Forms
- USA/docufinish
- Ward/Kraft