Multiplying your Success

Contracts, receipts, customer service documentation, and numerous other documents: The old tried-and-true carbonless paper continues to be indispensable in a large number of applications. And yet the market keeps getting smaller, and more and more manufacturers are withdrawing from it, making users nervously wonder how long they will be able to keep their carbonless paper processes going. Hussein Ismail is certainly no stranger to this question. After all, he is the Marketing Director for the United Kingdom and Ireland at the Premier Paper Group.

The company is one of the leading merchants for paper and paper products in the UK and has a nationwide network of branches. Its customers are chiefly print shops, including those that depend on a reliable supply of carbonless paper.

The company is conscientiously investing in the future of carbonless paper. An example of this is the fully automated high-bay warehouse and state-of-the-art equipment for roll and cut-size paper cutting at its site in Oberkirch. In order to make small and flexible print runs possible in line with current trends, Koehler has developed carbonless paper for dry toner digital printing presses. “We offer our business partners absolute dependability in both the near and distant futures, which is absolutely vital in a shrinking market.”

Koehler’s commitment to continue to reliably supply its customers “until the very last sheet” was what convinced Premier to switch their cut-size paper offerings to reacto® in order to avoid potential future bottlenecks when supplying its customers.

“This kind of change is not something you can do overnight,” Ismail explains. “Ask anyone and they’ll concede that once you get used to certain brands, it’s hard to let go of them. You need to put in the work and convince people to switch over.” Accordingly, the company has discreetly made the switch step by step, rather than in one fell swoop and with a big announcement: “We started with our northern branches and at first explained to our salespeople why the change was in our best interest strategically.” The next step was to convince customers.

In order to ensure that the Premier Paper sales team would be able to confidently answer technical questions, Koehler organized a roadshow that would visit the British company’s branches. “That was important,” Zanger recalls. Not just because it allowed everyone to have open discussions, but also because building relationships turned out to be extremely beneficial. Ultimately, Premier Paper’s team was able to meet and get to know Koehler’s contact people for technical issues. “We wanted to make it very clear that we were always happy to help and assist with the switchover,” Zanger explains. “That allowed us to convey a sense of dependability and boost the sales team’s self-confidence.”

“Changes are never easy when you’re working within a traditional market,” Ismail says. “But with a few exceptions, we were able to convince all our customers.” Needless to say, making customers feel good about the change was absolutely crucial: “We’re not in the business of simply selling a product and then leaving our customers to deal with it by themselves. Instead, we want to make sure they’re successful.” That is a creed that Zanger is more than happy to sign on to.