Bryant University ›› Microsoft ›› Sonopress ››
How Progress Software serves a world of different customers.
Challenge:
Progress Software sells their products worldwide through a distribution channel of Value-Added Resellers (VARs). Progress was responsible for the design and printing of all marketing materials these VARs used. The main problem was that Progress' software is flexible enough to be deployed in many different industries, and no single piece could ever be targeted enough to satisfy the various businesses and countries VARs sold in. So Progress would design industry-specific pieces for their partners' top markets. But creating and printing short-runs versions of each piece, for each market, in each country they serviced was expensive! And to make matters worse, forecasting how many brochures would be needed grew more difficult by the day, with much of the company's inventory obsolete before it was ever used.
So with costs becoming prohibitive and partners starting to do it on their own, Progress looked for help.
Solution:
Progress called in LaVigne Inc. after hearing how their printing solutions helped other companies. Working closely with Progress, LaVigne established a Web-to-Print system -- a secure, easy-to-use online portal that employees and partners worldwide could access 24 hours a day. The site, completely run and hosted by LaVigne, contains a virtual menu of digital templates for all Progress' marketing materials.
It allows Progress employees and VARs to select from a wide range of collateral and customize them based on their customers' unique needs. Using a mix of interchangeable imagery and copy blocks, VARs can easily and quickly create pieces that speak to their clients' specific problems. On top of it all, the VARs are able to add their own information to the piece, from their contact information to their logo. Even mailing lists can be uploaded for direct campaigns that are facilitated entirely by LaVigne.
Every template is also available in five languages. And international orders are electronically routed worldwide to the closest print service provider in LaVigne's global partnership. They print and ship locally, saving time and money.
Results:
Today partners everywhere are creating their own sales literature and launching entire campaigns right from their own desktops. What once took weeks to accomplish now takes hours. And with the partners in control, they always get exactly what they want in the quantities they need. This makes their job as Progress salespeople much, much easier. And of course, with their VARs more successful, Progress is too.
Add the increase in worldwide sales to the money saved in printing costs each quarter, and it's clear that investing in Web-to-Print Collateral Management was a business decision worth every cent.
