We stopped by their office to have a chat with two of the team's key people, Graham Anderson (PromoServe Lite product manager) and Deborah Wilkinson (website product manager).

Q: It's quite a young, dynamic office environment. What made you want to come and work for PromoServe?

GA: I started working at PromoServe immediately after completing my Masters in Computer Studies, so you could say I've grown up with the company! Certainly things are very different now to when I started; since we started providing bespoke solutions for promotional goods it's been a steep and continuous learning curve to understand how it all works.

DW: I actually used to work for one of PromoServe's customers - One Stop Promotions - and so I have a decent insight into how our customers think and what they need to make their lives easier. What attracted me to working here is that you see so much more of the industry; decorators, importers, manufacturers, distributors - everyone works slightly differently and it's an enjoyable challenge to create solutions that meet most people's needs.

Q: Deborah, you're in charge of websites; why should someone buy one of your websites when they can get a skin site from a supplier for free?

DW: It all depends on what you want to achieve with your website. Sure, if all you want to do is provide an online catalogue to refer existing customers to, you probably don't need a QuickOrder Portal website. But if you want to attract new customers and potentially sell corporate gifts and clothing online, you'll need to invest in a fully customisable, search engine friendly website which is where we come in.

Q: You say that your websites have been developed specifically for the industry. In what way?

DW: Many ways, the most important of which is our handling of product data. Your customers don't want to see a separate product line for every colour and size option of a polo shirt; they want to see one ‘master' product, where it's available for branding, what decoration is offered and get an instant price based on the desired quantity. On QOP websites this is all built in as standard as long as the data you put into the website has the right amount of detail.

Q: What's ‘the right amount of detail'?

DW: Using a polo shirt as an example, you'll need a master product, and then option products for all of the variations available for that shirt. Plus additional cost information, origination charges, and in an ideal world the carton size so you can calculate postage. It sounds a bit complicated, but we work with a number of suppliers - importers and decorators - who've already formatted their data to work perfectly in our websites without you having to spend any time on it. You just have to select your mark up.

Q: Any household names?

DW: Yes! Specifically in the garment industry we deal with UKL, Carole Group, PF Concept, BTC activewear and PenCarrie, and decorators include Creative Apparel, Evolve Branding and Tradewinds. We're talking to lots of other suppliers too so watch this space.

Q: Graham, you're the PromoServe Lite product manager; could you explain what PromoServe Lite is?

GA: PromoServe Lite is a cut down version of PromoServe Pro; both are business management software packages designed for distributors. Lite is most suitable for smaller companies who don't hold stock; it will handle all of your quotes, sales orders and purchase orders. All of our packages have inbuilt Customer Relationship Management so you can anticipate your customers' needs based on their past contact with your company - their purchase history, their industry type, size, location - even their hobbies and interests!

Q: Most companies are feeling the pinch at the moment; what can PromoServe offer them in terms of a genuine return on investment?

GA: Truthfully, that depends on how effectively they use the software. Most of our customers experience far less time doing admin, improved quote to order win ratio, and a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of their company. For a two user licence Lite's just £99 per month; I absolutely guarantee that just in terms of time savings you'll make that back in one week.

Q: What about our readers with onsite printing and embroidery facilities? Can Lite handle their requirements?

GA: Yes and no; the standard Lite system doesn't have Overprint Management, but we do offer a customised version for companies who simply buy in plain stock on receipt of an order, decorate it and despatch it. I've just finished the first install of this ‘mini-ERP' system and it's gone incredibly smoothly!

Q: Not having worked in the industry yourself, how do you ensure that you're meeting the needs of your clientele?

GA: We rely heavily on the feedback of our customers, and our PromoServe User Group who meet quarterly to discuss just that. The User Group is as representative of the industry as a whole as possible, and we're hugely grateful to them for their input.

Q: OK, both of you: what's your favourite feature of your respective products?

DW: The QuickQuote Panel; it comes as standard with every QuickOrder Portal website and shows the customers all of their options for the product they're viewing, and gives them an accurate price. It looks professional and wins business, simple as that.

GA: What I'm most proud of is the PromoServe eAcademy, which is an online, modular training course designed to get new users up and running on PromoServe Lite with minimal expense incurred. It allows us to deploy PromoServe Lite more efficiently and gives control of the implementation process back to the user. It took a lot of work to get it up and running but the feedback I've been getting from customers has made it all worthwhile.

Q: Lastly, tell us something about you that no one knows...

DW: I'm a black belt in karate.

GA:  I've been to see my favourite band Slipknot six times!

Deborah and Graham have a huge amount of enthusiasm and belief that their products will change the face of the printwear and promotion industry.

In a world where everyone has a presence on the web, a website which comes ready customised for the complexities of our industry has obvious advantages. The template driven websites can be customised without web design skills, although the best looking ones are ‘freestyle' - that is to say they've been created from scratch which is a more expensive option.

The QuickOrder Portal range also includes Client Sub Sites, which are customisable eCommerce websites generally set up for blue chip clients. They're cheap, easy to roll out, and rapidly becoming a pre-requisite in any formal tender. Bear in mind that you'll need a full QuickOrder Portal eCommerce site as a starting point, however. The rapid growth of PromoServe certainly indicates that our industry was ready for a bespoke software package to replace the time-honoured Sage/Microsoft Office combination, and as long as the development team stay focused on the needs of their users, that growth will almost certainly continue.

So would a market place saturated with PromoServe users be a bad thing?  Probably not, as the software is a great leveller; smaller companies can use the same tools as the big boys, and benefit from the same increased efficiency and professionalism. Ultimately what will decide whether you're a success or a failure is only partly down how effectively you use software. How dedicated you are to understanding and fulfilling your customers' requirements remains key, and there's no substitute for well-trained and friendly staff.

Visit www.promoserve.co.uk

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