Transcript COMPETITION - Original Works

COMPETITION 2012
Lori Cotillo
Spring 2012
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TRAINING OUTLINE
• Introduce key competitors
• Outline their backgrounds
• Discuss strengths and weaknesses
• Review Original Works strengths and unique
selling proposition
• Present methods of reducing competition impact
on your business
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Competitive Profile: Art To Remember
 Established player, in business for approximately 15 years
 Based in Indianapolis, IN. Always had a strong presence in the mid-west
but have expanded their geographic reach
 Mimics Original Works. Programs are an exact knockoff of ours
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OP program – theirs is called Preview Art
SBYB program – theirs is called Preview Magnet
Tile Wall
Magnet Wall - OWY will be discontinuing this program effective FA12 but ATR
still advertises it
 Sales Model: Direct mail, telemarketing & trade shows
www.arttoremember.com
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Art To Remember: Strengths
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Paper provided. Size for both programs is
the same: 8 x 10.5”
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Free S/H on wholesale orders of $300 or
more
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SRP provides 33% profit margin; also
offers custom pricing option
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Identification labels for artwork/order
packets
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Free sample products, posters and flyers
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Pre-stuffed parent envelope – preprinted
to write name, teacher, order deadline
date.
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Appealing features with some products:
– Placemat
– For horizontal artwork, one
large picture
– For vertical artwork, 2 sideby-side images
– Ceramic tile – comes w/display stand
– Mug – larger image with year
– Magnet – although not laminated,
theirs is a thicker mil
– Choice of 3 ornaments
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Provides $25 gift certificate
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Says direct billing – no money up front.
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Extensive Product Line – 33 products
Lesson plans
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Art To Remember: Weaknesses
 Product Quality
 Magnet is not laminated
 Placemat is simply laminated artwork
 Artwork does need to be sent back in for the order phase with their
magnet program.
 Longer turnaround time
 Do not know if they actually scan artwork. If so, how long they keep
scanned images?
 They don’t have you!
 Limited field sales, service or support. This is a tremendous competitive
advantage for us.
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Competitive Profile: Square 1 Art
• Based in Atlanta, GA, this competitor was formed in 1999 by
two former Original Works employees. Their current
programs include:
• Free Product program with free page of ‘squickers’
• Great Wall of Art - tile wall
• Great Quilt Wall – quilt blocks – “a mobile option”
• Their sales model is direct mail, telemarketing, trade shows.
Limited sales force, though attempting to expand.
www.Square1art.com
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Square 1 Art: Strengths
 Market knowledge & experience
 Prepaid UPS shipping labels
 Well developed selling
proposition:
 Offered free s/h of products to
school this Spring if school had a
minimum of 150 pieces of
artwork (normally, they charge
to ship products to school)
 Free product with each child’s order
 Squickers – page of stickers
 Free personalization on select products
 Custom catalog with child’s name and
artwork
 Broad product line - 33 products
 Provide 20% overage on art
paper
 Offer 33% profit margins on all products
 Achieve 45% participation and earn 38%
profit margin
 Offers custom pricing option
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Square 1 Art: Weaknesses
 Free product hurts overall program participation & profits
 The customer generally pays all freight charges (SQ1 did run a special this
Spring to offset that)
 Program reservation form ask school if they want to charge parent a small amount
to their orders to defray shipping costs of their products. State that most schools
ask from $1 - $3; any amount over actual shipping costs is additional profit
 Paper size (8.5” x 8.5”) limits creativity
 Open-ended delivery dates. Dates to receive take home packets and
products are noted as ‘approximate’ dates.
 Turnaround time is almost double OWY
 Limited field representation and customer service support
 Product quality
 Does not allow additional/late orders
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Competitive Profile: Silver Graphics
• Established in 1995, Silver Graphics is a regional
competitor based in upstate New York
• Women-owned. Believe they operate with a
small staff.
• Significantly increased their selling efforts in the
school marketplace in the last few years
• Company literature states they donate portion of
profits to The Conservation Fund
www.silvergraphics.com
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Silver Graphics: Strengths
• Large product line –
approximately 34 products in all.
• SRP offers 33% profit margin
• Provides free shipping on
programs with 100+ students
(required)
• Individualized order form with
student’s name and artwork
• Accept artwork in sizes up to 12” x
16”
• Teacher receives free CD of
student’s art
• Scanned artwork back to 2005
• Online Gallery – password
protected
• Tile Walls have a variety of tile
finishes and sizes to choose
from
• Offers school two free 3.5” x 4”
prints of each child’s artwork
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Silver Graphics: Weaknesses
• Paper is not provided
• Accepting multiple sized artworks likely may not be
producing the best quality image
• Product quality has been an issue
• No local sales representation
• Limited customer service staff
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Original Works: Competitive
Advantages
• Leadership Position
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Most experienced
Largest provider
Proven track record
First rate customer service
High level of product quality
Nationwide presence
• Strong infrastructure - seasoned team of sales,
marketing, customer service, manufacturing and
finance professionals
• Product satisfaction guarantee
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Original Works: Competitive Advantages
 Two large scale manufacturing facilities to efficiently handle the volume of
business we receive
 12-day processing! Fastest turnaround time in the industry with no
‘approximate’ ship dates
 Local representation
 Product line that is wanted and popular – no fillers
 Competitive profit margins
 Free materials, samples, paper, lesson plans, pre-stuffed parent packs
 Industry knowledge
 The Art Room
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Beating the Competition Starts with You
• Appreciate your schools
• A note, a phone call, $5 gift card
• Follow-up
• Email, newsletter, what’s new
• Sign repeat schools quickly
• Sign early, secure your business!
• Stay in touch
• Don’t let the competition get there first!
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Know Your Customer & What Makes Them Buy
 ASK QUESTIONS! – open-ended questions
 What is going on in their school?
 You are on the front lines
 Who are the current contacts?
 Keep in touch, follow-up, district/in-service meetings
 What are their needs? Have they changed? Pay
attention to clues!
 Just a little bit of effort!
 Reveals changes, needs, competitors that have surfaced
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Learn Your Business Well
• Knowledge is a competitive edge
• Know your products and programs
• Understand how they apply to your prospect’s needs
• Collect as much information as you can on your
competition:
- Programs
- Products
- Service
- Price
- Location
- Promotion
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SUMMARY
• Competition is part of our business. It justifies the market and
makes us stronger
• You have more control over competition than you think. Know
your customer and understand what makes them buy
• Leverage the competition and make the presence of competition
work for you
• Understand your competitor’s strengths and weaknesses. Look at
them objectively – through the eyes of a customer
• Exploit weakness in a strategic fashion
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