Paper Express

Rank: 1 Company: WorkflowOne, Dayton, Ohio Sales $(000): 1,000,000 Principal Officer(s): Greg Mosher, Chairman, CEO Locations: 150 Rank: 2 Company: Proforma, Cleveland Sales $(000): 293,000 Principal Officer(s): Greg Muzzillo, Founder, Co-CEO; Vera Muzzillo, Co-CEO Locations: 650 Rank: 3 Company: American Solutions for Business, Glenwood, Minn. Sales $(000): 239,776 Principal Officer(s): Larry Zavadil, President Locations: 410 Rank: 4 Company: GBS, North Canton, Ohio Sales $(000): 90,143 Principal Officer(s): Eugene Calabria, President, CEO Locations: 12 Rank: 5 Company: Merrill Corp., Monroe, Wash. Sales $(000): 83,950 Principal Officer(s): Mark Rossi, President Locations: 6 Rank: 6 Company: The Shamrock Companies, Westlake, Ohio Sales

Increased demand for other products and services reveals an industry transition. Though products and services other than forms, such as warehousing, document management, e-commerce and software, may not appear to be a major part of distributor sales—they ranked fifth in percentage and total sales among BFL&S's Top 100 Distributors—they are certainly a vital part of distributor business. So much so that without such products and services, many distributors believe their businesses would depreciate. The reason, they say, is because more clients are requesting sophisticated networking systems, thus diminishing the need for so many forms and increasing the demand for other products. That is the

Though the market is a tough nut to crack, it's well worth the trouble. Spurred on by the rapid growth of community banks, credit unions and savings and loans companies, many distributors have recently redoubled their efforts to pick up accounts in the lucrative financial market—and they've been well rewarded. The question is, how did they do it? "Distributors need a lot of patience to get an account with a financial institution," said Randall Hake, president and CEO, Diamond Business Graphics, Sheboygan, Wis. "It boils down to making sure the account executives soliciting these banks have the internal fortitude to keep after

Close working relationships between distributors and manufacturers can improve sales for both. Selling solutions involves more than just finding the right form in a catalog. These days, it often requires teamwork, with the distributor involving experts in software, production equipment and technology—all from a manufacturing partner. But it doesn't have to stop there. Today, manufacturers also provide printed marketing collateral, product education, plant tours and joint sales calls to boost marketing efforts. For instance, Highland Computer Forms, Hillsboro, Ohio, offers sample packs and welcomes distributors and their customers on plant tours. "It provides an additional level of comfort if they see