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Company: Dunn Paper, Port Huron, MI
Company Description: We are a leading manufacturer of specialty papers to the world and we have been producing quality paper since 1924. We have an international presence but are driven by local community values. We are proud to have extraordinary loyal customers and vendors. Our workforce is comprised of skilled craftsmen that have an average tenure with the company of over 23 years.
Nomination Category: Best Run Sales Organizations
Nomination Sub Category: Manufacturing Sales Organization of the Year
Nomination Title: Dunn Paper
How many people are in your organization's entire sales department?
23
What were your organization's sales during the eligibility period? If this figure is confidential, simply enter "Confidential" in this space:
$100 Million +
Describe the nominated sales organization's top 3 accomplishments during the eligibility period (up to 100 words):
1) Grew net sales over 22% vs. paper industry average of 0 to 1% in 2007.
2) Increased new customers by 28% (typical customer has a year ramp up period
so we have not realized the full benefit of growth and we have the strongest
pipeline in our company’s history )
3) Expanded global reach continues to grow with clients in South America,
Australia and China,
4) Plant is running at full capacity and now has a three month backlog of
business.
List the nominated sales organization's top 3 lessons learned during the eligibility period (up to 100 words):
Top lessons learned
1) Identify the needs of marketplace.
2) Target and focus on those accounts we can satisfy.
3) Go full out to service those customer and prospects and become a
trusted advisor and help our client’s win business
1) Understand the needs of the marketplace. We engaged our customers to
understand their needs and why and how they would benefit from working with
Dunn. We became more intimate with them and deeply engaged to understand key
needs.
It turned out that their best customers had some common needs. Namely, they
were looking for on-time delivery, flexibility in placing orders, great
technical support and cost-efficiency when using the paper. They were not
looking for the lowest cost paper, but, rather, they needed paper that was
most efficient to use when on their presses. Therefore, quality of paper and
technical support where much more important than the price to these customers.
2) Focus our effort. For this, we created an ideal sales fingerprint and an
unacceptable client profile. We used this method to rank and score clients and
prospects in relationship in our ability to properly service them. This
allowed us to focus on companies that we could satisfy and clients and
prospects that would recognize the benefit of working with us. Those that fit
the profile well were pursued. Those that did not were dropped.
3) Service the customer and become a trusted advisor
Once fingerprinted we made sure to go all out and know that customer. Senior
business and technical executives made in-person visits to understand their
prospects and clients better than any vendor in the business. We formed close
relationships with all levels of the client’s organization (from operational,
technical, financial and management perspectives and help our client’s win
business and become instrumental in their success.
Briefly describe the qualities that distinguish the nominated sales organization from other sales organizations in your industry (up to 100 words):
We strive to become trusted advisors to our clients and help them win business
and reduce costs. We engage our clients at all levels from the CEO on down the
technical plant operators and strive to understand their business as if it was
our own. From a cost perspective, we work with the technical people to make
their plant operationally efficient. To make sure they have the most up time,
their schedules are met and they run efficiently. From a sales perspective we
go on sales call and help our clients win new business. As an example, we
recently help a client win an account at major fast food restaurant by
leveraging our expertise and experience in that business.
Provide a brief biography of the leader(s) of the nominated sales organization (up to 100 words):
Mr. Voss has been with the Company as Vice President, Sales & Marketing since
2001. He has twenty-five years experience in product development and marketing
in the paper industry, having previously worked at Crown Vantage, James River,
Thilmany Pulp & Paper and Fort Howard. Mr. Voss received an MBA and BBA from
the University of Wisconsin.
Briefly describe your organization's customers, including the industry or demographics you sell to, the job titles you sell to (if applicable), and the products and/or services you sell (up to 100 words):
Our customer base is comprised of paper converters. These are companies that
take a roll of paper, print on it, cut it and deliver it to end customers to
use. Their clients are companies that leverage paper and paper based products
to create brand identity in the marketplace. Since we are part of a whole
product solution, it is vital that we think of our client’s clients as our
customers as well. Our paper is used by consumers’ everyday from the paper
that labels your favorite beverage bottle to the paper that wraps your
favorite sandwich at almost every fast food restaurant in the country.
Briefly describe how your sales department is aligned with your marketing department (up to 100 words):
We make sure our marketing, product development and sales are completely
aligned with ourselves and more importantly how they are aligned with our
clients and prospects. We interview our clients and prospects on what their
current needs are, what their future needs are, what is working well and what
needs improvement. We then look at the future opportunities and areas of
improvement. We work with our clients and prospects to develop new products
with new features and capabilities to lower their cost, run our paper more
efficiently and help them win more business with end clients. Our entire
organization including sales, marketing, customer service, technical support,
product development and Sr. Management take active roles in creation,
development, testing, marketing and sales of our complete product line.
If you want please come up to Port Huron anytime to tour our plant and
facility. We are a manufacturer of specialty papers to the world and we have
been producing quality paper since 1924. We have an international presence but
are driven by local community values. We are proud to have extraordinary
loyal customers and vendors. Our workforce is comprised of skilled craftsmen
that have an average tenure with the company of over 23 years. We love
visitors and would enjoy the opportunity to show you the art
and science of paper manufacturing.
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