Brad Dorsen

The insurance market offers distributors opportunities to think outside the box. Digital printing, e-forms, the Internet, you name it—the electronic age has settled into the business forms industry and is here to stay. As a result, distributors find themselves in a position where services, creativity and attention to detail are the keys to high profits. And while the insurance market used to rely on a series of steady and unchanging reorders, in more recent years, it has become a market where distributors can be imaginative, expand their product offerings and build relationships. All it requires is the foresight to anticipate a company's wants

Survey says strong investments result in solid retention. Last April, BFL&S sent out surveys to more than 200 distributors asking for information about how salespeople in the forms industry are compensated. While the results were somewhat varied, they revealed that most companies invest significant time and energy toward keeping sales staffs satisfied, an attribute that is especially important during an era when many workers perceive the grass, and the money, to be greener on the other side. The Initial Investment It's this new work philosophy that has employers carefully profiling potential new hires, while also presenting an attractive compensation package from

Distributors find increased profits through service programs. Distributors can add to their sales of printed products by offering other services to meet the changing needs of their clients. Advances in technology, downsizing and tightening office space provide distributors with the opportunity to offer lucrative services such as warehousing, graphics design, distribution and Internet business solutions. One distributorship that has taken advantage of this opportunity is the Atlanta-based FIA Corporation. The company's major products include forms, envelopes and commercial printing, but customers have also a multitude of services to choose from. In addition to printed products, FIA offers warehousing, on-demand print and supply,

Whether it's general products or market-specific forms, ingenuity is the best policy. Even in a conservative marketplace, setting yourself apart from the crowd is critical for success. Case in point: More than a dozen years ago Hart Information Services in Austin, Texas, wanted to penetrate the insurance market on a national level. "We were latecomers to the national marketplace," said Sherrell Kidd, vice president, "and our chances of penetrating it weren't great. In most cases, the insurance industry is very conservative, and if these companies are being provided services through a reliable and dependable vendor, they're slow to change." Adding to