Sell Solutions, Not Products Although office products account for 75 percent of distributorship S&T Office Products Inc.'s sales, Vice President Patrick Crowley talks more about selling productive solutions than selling ink cartridges and pens. In June, a sales representative from the distributorship suggested to a law firm that it could increase productivity by improving its filing system. The law firm agreed, and S&T Office Products won a $35,000 order. Many companies use static filing systems where the floor-to-ceiling shelves are fixed. St. Paul, Minn.-based S&T Office Products introduced the law firm to a track filing system in which shelves move back and forth. The system allows the customer to store more folders in less space. Also, the folders are color-coded to ensure files are stored correctly. S&T Office Products also offers technology-based solutions. "We have spent and invested heavily in our internet capabilities," Crowley says. Approximately 200 of the distributorship's 6,000 customers use its bar code scanning technology, provided by Eagan, Minn.-based Jump Technologies Inc.. When a customer needs to replenish an office product, he uses a hand-held scanner the size of a matchbox to scan a bar code located on a product, on a label, on a contract or in a catalog. The scanner holds all necessary ordering information. The customer then connects the scanner to his computer with a USB port. Using software provided by S&T Office Products (originating from Jump Technologies), customers then upload the data from the scanner directly into a shopping cart located on S&T Office Products' web site. This limits the need to search for a specific office product on the distributorship's web site, which offers thousands of office products. Crowley says the technology, which S&T Office Products launched a year ago, has been successful and triples the speed of customers' online ordering time. S&T Office Products is one of the largest independent contract office supplies dealers in the United States. The distributorship has 140 employees and four offices in Minnesota. Its 40 sales representatives have two primary responsibilities: account management and new-account development. Contract office furniture accounts for 25 percent of the firm's sales. Law firms, which make up a large segment of its business, require custom products such as legal pads and promotional items. The distributorship supplies office products efficiently because it's part of the TriMega Purchasing Association, which enables the distributorship to combine purchasing resources with other firms. Crowley says major national retail stores such as Staples and Office Depot offer tough competition. To beat them, Crowley says the company offers a "total value proposition" to its customers. Instead of focusing on price, those clients consider S&T Office Products' services such as next-day delivery, free freight, 100-percent-order-filled success and account representation, he says. "As competitive as it is, there is still a tremendous amount of opportunity as long as [companies] are creative in how they approach their market," Crowley says.