No More Paper Files


How often do you multi-task?
All the time, it's the only way I get things done. Sometimes, I try not to but sometimes I can't help it. Never, I just can't do more than one thing at a time.

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No More Paper Files
By: Tama Swan, Associate Editor
Issue: 2009oct

RIGHTSLEEVE.com shuns paper trails typical of the industry in favor of a high-tech online database and client community.

The promotional products business is not necessarily known for technological innovation—until now. RIGHTSLEEVE (UPIC: RIGHT795), a Toronto, Ontario-based distributor, knew early on that its mission was to use technology in ways no other promotional products business could muster.

“I embraced technology right off the bat because I knew I would have very little chance of standing out against other people if I was just out there handing out catalogs and distributing products,” says Mark Graham, who founded the company in 2000. So he set out building a web platform that grants customers, employees and suppliers easy access to the company’s products, sales data, purchase order information and client activity.

“We created this ecosystem that is completely owned by us, and none of the data is externally owned by a white-label provider like DistributorCentral or LogoMall. We use a range of different suppliers for it, but we are responsible for adding that to our site.”

The site abounds with Amazon.com-like tools such as end-user comments and product ratings, purchase history, also-viewed items and wish lists. And it earned RIGHTSLEEVE a spot as a finalist for the Dell/NFIB Small Business Excellence Award, which honors small companies in 13 countries for using technology in innovative ways.

“The idea of an ecosystem is that we’re creating this online community of our customers where their feedback and product comments are informing the purchasing decisions of other people,” Graham says. But the system also informs the work decisions of RIGHTSLEEVE’s staff. The site’s Facebook-inspired news feed for employees automatically posts real-time announcements whenever an important company event occurs, such as a new-account set-up or client follow-up.

Site maintenance is done entirely by staff, which only includes one web developer. However, because the site works in conjunction with the company’s custom CRM tool, bids, purchase orders and shipments are automatically updated for employees to see once the paperwork is generated online. “Since everything is done online and input in our note system, the account person doesn’t have to go to production and say, ‘When’s my order shipping?’ They can see it right on our internal system.”

Graham says tracking orders online decreases processing times five fold over Microsoft Word or Excel, which often evolve into paper files covered with updates scrawled on sticky notes. “When you’re trying to grow your business, there are only so many orders covered in sticky notes that you can handle at once.”

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