Powlsons
Vital statistics
Location Colwyn Bay, North Wales
Inspection host John Jones, managing director
Size Eight staff, £450,000 turnover
Established 1888 after Henry Powlson moved to this coastal resort from Salford
Products A wide range of commercial products, including business stationery, wedding stationery, posters, leaflets, pull-ups and exhibition displays
Kit Heidelberg MOZ press, Heidelberg GTO 52 press, HP Indigo 1050, Konica Minolta bizhub, HP and Roland inkjet printers, range of Morgana finishing equipment, Polar guillotine, Heidelberg Stahl folder
Key dates Late 1970s The firm is an early adopter of digital pre-press technology 1980s The town of Colwyn Bay undergoes significant regeneration, centering around a new shopping complex, which provides a boost to Powlsons
Inspection focus
Running a successful and expanding print business without a formal sales team
The challenge
That sales people are the lifeblood of any organisation is an oft-repeated phrase. And for many companies this maxim certainly holds true. Without a dedicated sales team, of at least a couple of cold-calling and closing-the-deal pros, these companies would quickly cease to turn a profit. Starved of new business and so cash, the organs of the firm would quickly pack up.
And yet there are plenty of firms that operate slightly differently, where life-giving cash is pumped through the business through a selling strategy that’s not quite what most would take from the term ‘sales’.
One such company is Welsh printer Powlsons. The company was founded in the seaside resort of Colwyn Bay way back in 1888 when printer Henry Powlson relocated from Salford. A printing company wasn’t the most obvious business to establish in the town. Back then the biggest employers in North Wales were the local limestone quarries, so demand for print was low.
The company’s prosperity was secured, however, when the Ministry of Food was relocated to Colwyn during the Second World War. More recently, the regeneration of the town and the purchase of the firm by design agency owner John Cordery have ensured that it continues to thrive. An early adoption of digital pre-press technology in the 1970s and, perhaps just as importantly, intelligent organisation of the business according to its geographical location and unique selling points, were also key to its development.
Managing director John Jones explains that this eight-staff firm has never employed anyone with the term ‘sales’ in their job description. The challenges Powlsons faces as a business just wouldn’t make this the best use of resources.
The business community surrounding Powlsons is made up of similarly small companies, he explains, and so cold calling to bring in business isn’t particularly effective. "We do a limited amount of cold calling; we have a staff-member on the marketing side who will do occasional ring-arounds. But what we find is that because a lot of the businesses in North Wales aren’t large businesses, like you’d get elsewhere, they don’t actually have the time to receive cold calls."
The answer to some might be to establish new business connections further afield. But the geography of the region just doesn’t lend itself to staff hopping in the car for new business meetings, explains Jones.
"You have to travel quite large distances here to get to people and often there’s a lot of rain to get through, and lots of hills and mountains," he says. "We haven’t got the manpower to do it so we’re better channelling our resources to other places."
Lack of extensive resources is of course the biggest challenge facing most businesses, and the reason why even those that inhabit less far-flung locations often don’t have anyone going by the title of ‘sales executive’. While Jones would of course love to have more manpower at his disposal, he has to stay competitive by keeping his business lean.
The method
Powlsons has to make sure, of course, that business still comes in from somewhere. Maintaining good relations with its existing local customers is crucial. "I think our strong point is that once you become a customer, you’re family. Our design department works with customers on a one-to-one basis and that’s always been our key to success," says Jones. "Even if the customer is using another printer, we’ll give them advice."
Whereas others might allocate resources to phoning new prospects, Powlsons prioritises this time to double check existing customers are happy. "We do a monthly ring-around, not the same customers every month. We check how they are, how business is, talk about developments happening in the town," says Jones.
To ensure Powlsons is the first printer local prospective customers think of, the company redirects resources they could admittedly use to fund a sales team, into playing a highly active role in community life. This has included founding a business network, hosting a two-day celebration and sponsoring local worthy causes.
Jones says: "We formed the Colwyn Bay Business network which links businesses together. That network has grown bigger and bigger and we now produce an annual event that we call the 1940s Event where we take over a street and decorate it. Nearly 25,000 people attended this year. It helps the local economy and gives us a chance to put something back into the community. It’s working with the community to make sure you’re perceived as a good company to work with."
Further initiatives include providing print for the local football and rugby teams. Jones explains that retaining an approachable, local feel is also important. "You still get the odd person in the town coming to us and saying ‘can you sell me 30 envelopes?’ We’re still there to do that," he says.
Not that all marketing efforts focus so close to home. Powlsons has found the advent of social media very handy for tackling long distances and mountains. "We do spend some money advertising on yell.com and in local newspapers but Facebook and Twitter are now really important. Social media helps us communicate with people further afield."
"We have morning discussions about what’s going on Facebook and Twitter and any promotions we want to do for large-format or digital we’ll put those on and monitor to see how customers are responding," explains Jones of the firm’s digital marketing strategy. "It’s a way to raise interest and ensure people are actually reading your Facebook page."
The result
In this way Powlsons has managed to position itself as the go-to printer in the local area, but also supplement its workload with jobs from further afield. All without expanding its staff-based beyond eight employees and without paying the attendant costs, such as bonuses and travel expenses, that sales teams typically entail.
This has put the company in good stead. "We are in a much stronger position than many other companies out there: we have no debts, we own our building and the equipment so are remarkably strong," he says. "Our turnover is pretty stable at the moment, we’re making money. And we’re just investing in more digital equipment from Konica Minolta. We’re upgrading our computers; we’ve got new Macs coming in. We’re constantly investing all the time."
Focusing on excellent existing client relations has in fact brought work in from further afield, reports Jones. This includes projects far more prestigious than you might expect.
"I would say about 80% of our work comes from a radius of around 25 miles. But we also have customers in Manchester, Chester, Liverpool and Brighton," says Jones. "We have printed for Dunhill and Asprey in our time. When you buy a Dunhill watch, most of those catalogues are printed here in North Wales."
"We do a big glossy brochure for a bridal company in the Wirral, 30-odd miles away, and they found us purely through word of mouth recommendations," he adds. "They came to us and stuck with us because they produce their own artwork and were having problems with printers. Everyone thinks it’s easy to make a PDF in Acrobat, but sometimes things can go wrong."
Powlsons is an inspiring example, then, of how good service can, in some circumstances, sell itself. "A sales team would be good," says Jones. "But I think our work is our sales."
DO IT YOURSELF
Following suit
Not all companies will be able to do without a sales force in the way Powlsons has, warns Jones. "I think if we were a bigger company, a sales force would be important because they’ve got to see that extra work is coming in and that it is constantly replenished, and a sales force can achieve that. Sales professionals know how to approach people and deal with customers – they have the skills to do that."
Potential pitfalls
Powlsons would have fallen by the wayside years ago if its offering wasn’t selling itself through keeping up with client demand. "The biggest danger in this climate is complacency," says Jones. "You can’t stand still. As a business we’ve had to adapt and change as life has changed. Technology changes, software changes, communications change; you’ve got to keep evolving all the time. You’ve got to be thinking about what might be the next thing around the corner."
Top tips for success
- Make sure you place strong emphasis on looking after existing customers
- Think carefully about how the spend of maintaining a sales team might be more usefully redirected to other less obviously sales-generating ventures, such as involvement in local events that can build community relations
- A strong advertising strategy can be a valid substitute for cold calling. Intelligent use of social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, can be particularly effective
Jones’ top tip
"You have to gain the trust of your customers. Anyone who is a potential new customer has to see how well other customers have been looked after."
