The Traits of High-Performing Companies

By Kat McDaniel, Principal at MEDiAHEAD

The Traits of High-Performing CompaniesOne of the things that we have been talking about in my continuation of our Scale Up group is what distinguishes your company from others.

What sets high-performing companies apart?

  1. A Foundation Built on Purpose and Values. High preforming companies operate with a clear purpose that drives their strategy. Your vision, mission and core values should be demonstrated at every level of your organization.
  2. The Employee Experience Advantage. Talent is what drives a business forward and high-preforming companies treat their employee like their most valuable assets, because they are.
  3. Be a Customer Advocate as a Growth Engine. I have written about this before and why customer satisfaction is so important. Data from a global management consulting company shows that fluctuations in a company’s Net Promoter Score (NPS) can explain 20%-60% of its organic growth. This statistic alone highlights why top companies prioritize customer experiences – it directly impacts revenue.
  4. Quality as a Culture. A top preforming company must integrate quality into every process, make sure it is not a final checkpoint, but a guiding principle form the start.
  5. Adaptability is Key. Disruption happens quickly – high-reforming companies don’t resist change, they embrace it. You must anticipate market shits, monitor industry trends and then pivot. It’s the reason we switched to building portals and switching all our equipment to digital.
  6. Excellent Operational Simplification. High performers know how to focus on making operations lean and clean. If we didn’t have our workflow automated – there is no way that we could produce hundreds of jobs off the press daily.

There are many books on this subject that are must reads for high-performers – or you can invest the time in a Scale Up class like I did!

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MEDiAHEAD Welcomes Tepa as Newest Marketing Portal Customer

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By LeRay Warrior, Principal at MEDiAHEAD

As we prepare for operations to ramp up again after the coronavirus lockdown is lifted, we thought we should kick the month of May off with some more positive news. We would like to officially welcome the Tepa companies to the MEDiAHEAD family of clients. For those of you unfamiliar, it’s worth giving you a touch of background on this wonderful group of companies.

Who Are the Tepa Companies?

Tepa Companies LogoThe Tepa companies are wholly-owned independent subsidiaries of the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians. They have companies that are based across the country in California, Colorado, Georgia, Missouri, and Texas. The companies operate across a wide variety of business sectors, including construction, environmental services, technology, industrial services, and engineering. They serve federal, state, local, and private-sector clients.

How Are the Tepa Companies Using Their MEDiHEAD Marketing Portal?

The team at MEDiAHEAD had to design a portal solution to ensure that the needs and requirements of the company were met. While the logo is the same, there are several different companies contained with the group, so each company requires its own set of marketing materials.

As a result of them implementing a custom MEDiAHEAD solution, each company can now order their respective business cards, note pads, and much more through one centralized portal. Not only does this make their turnaround time a fraction of what they once were, they can also reduce the costs involved with replenishing marketing supplies.

Tepa Director of Corporate Marketing Thanks MEDiAHEAD

After onboarding with MEDiAHEAD, Kerry Patterson said,

“Tepa came to MEDiAHEAD from an underperforming vendor and WOW have they exceeded our expectations. They went into direct drive to get our Business Portal setup not only offering better service for our staff, but faster turnaround times. Not to mention amazing staff that we love working with.”

How MEDiAHEAD Can Help Your Business with a Customized Marketing Portal

The example of the Tepa companies perfectly illustrates the benefits that can be gained from moving your company over to a centralized online marketing portal.

Firstly, your company will save perhaps the most significant asset you have; time.

By streamlining all marketing assets into one online repository, undertakings such as customizations or updating of information can all be handled in a matter of a few clicks. What’s more, they will instantaneously take effect across the whole organization. Allocated print runs can be turned around in a matter of hours with an order taking a mere matter of seconds to place.

Secondly, you can cut costs by an enormous margin by only printing what you need, when you need it. There’s no need to authorize colossal print runs of marketing materials that are going to be obsolete a few weeks later.

Finally, our browser-based marketing portals allow employees to log in from anywhere in the world to access company marketing materials. Sales reps who’ve secured a last-minute meeting, or a heavily-discounted short-notice spot at a trade show, can log in, view, and download up-to-date marketing materials within minutes.

These are just a few of the benefits the Tepa companies are now able to take advantage of, and it could be the same for your company. If you would like to learn more about how a bespoke MEDiAHEAD online marketing portal could help your business, then don’t hesitate to contact us today.

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Customer Spotlight: Unique Business Cards for Populous

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By Michele Stilwell, Director of Marketing and Accounting at MEDiAHEAD

Populous LogoPopulous is an architectural design firm here in Kansas City. They are well respected and have done projects all over the world. We appreciate one of the statements on their home page, “We design the places where people love to be together.” They have a passion for their work, and we really enjoy working with them.

When we first met with the Chief Marketing Officer of Populous, one of their designers was in the room. We asked him for a business card. The designer said that unfortunately, it had been four weeks, and he still didn’t have a business card. We told them we could fix that. And that’s how the relationship started!

Today, Populous employees have the ability to go to their online, customized portal to order business cards.

Populous - Unique Business CardsSomething unique we are doing for them… they can choose any one of the photos of Populous projects for the back of their business cards! If they upload a hundred project photos, they can have one hundred different business card backs in their 250 business card order. It’s a fun way for their employees to give a personal touch to the sales and marketing process. And all they have to do is log into their portal to order. It’s that simple.

Once ordered, their new business cards will get to them within 2 – 3 days after they approve them in our system. What an improvement over the 4+ weeks it used to take to get business cards!

We love what we do at MEDiAHEAD and no project is too big or too small.

When faced with a challenge, we tackle it head on and always come up with a solution. Often, it’s a customized solution that ends up being the right answer for each and every client. Let us help you streamline and standardize your processes, get faster turn times, and manage your brand consistency and content. Most of all save, you can save your organization time and money.

At MEDiAHEAD, the customer comes first. Give us a chance to show you. Find out more about us in more stories on our blog: https://mymediahead.com/blog

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The Very Successful Rockhurst High School Annual Appeal

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By Kat McDaniel, Principal at MEDiAHEAD

Direct mail can be a highly effective way to solicit alumni gifts, the key is to make the package feel special. First and foremost, it should stand out from the often used letter and business sized envelope. It may cost more to produce, but the return on investment will pay off.

Rockhurst High School made their appeal much more personal by placing a variable class image and copy on the cover of the mailer that represented the alumni’s year of graduation. They appealed to the alumni and their classmates, because they knew first hand the benefit of a Rockhurst education, to help them give that same gift to the next generation.

The mailer was sent in a clear envelope so that the recipient could immediately see the variable image and copy, making it more likely to be opened. A personalized letter and return envelope were also included in the mailing.

The quality of the package was so high that when prospects received it they knew that they were part of an exclusive and important group, it made them feel special.

Rockhurst Direct Mail Project Rockhurst Direct Mail Project

The mailing raised over $100,000 the first week.

Leadership gift donors are some of higher education’s most important constituents, and the way you go about asking them to increase or renew their support can be a delicate process.

No doubt, the most effective way to solicit a leadership gift is through a face-to-face conversation. But, when that’s not possible, customizing your direct mail appeals with personal touches can go a long way toward making those donors feel important and helping to guarantee that your message stands out and generates your desired response.

Rockhurst Direct Mail Project Rockhurst Direct Mail Project

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HNTB loves their MEDiAHEAD portal. Learn more from a client’s perspective.

By Michele Stilwell, Director of Marketing and Accounting at MEDiAHEAD

MEDiAHEAD and HNTBI recently sat down with Amy Wilkinson, National Program Manager at HNTB to discuss the long-term relationship HNTB has had with MEDiAHEAD. I wanted to know all the specifics, as I was curious about several things. Kat, the owner of MEDiAHEAD established this relationship over 25 years ago, and it’s been going strong ever since.

What makes MEDiAHEAD stand out as a provider of services to HNTB?

“The differentiator is quality, customer service and brand compliance. Kat knows her stuff; she knows equipment, paper and the process. MEDiAHEAD is always willing to go the extra mile.”

What was life at HNTB like prior to using your MEDiAHEAD portal?

Amy said, “It was very unorganized. Each division was doing their own thing; everyone was on their own.” (One thing MEDiAHEAD knew going into the relationship was that they had trouble with brand continuity and brand control.)

What problems were you looking to solve with the portal?

HNTB: Amy Wilkinson

HNTB: Amy Wilkinson

“HNTB wanted to put everything in one spot to save time and produce consistent quality materials. We wanted people to know where to go to get the assets they needed. With the portal, not as many hands were touching the various processes, and as a result, we didn’t need as many vendors. Streamlining. It’s a beautiful thing.”

When asked if we helped solve the HNTB problems, she said without hesitation – “yes, 100%!”

What does HNTB like most about the portal?

Amy replied, “It’s easy to use, the new look is streamlined and turnkey and people don’t have to ask where to go. The portal is very user friendly.” When I asked if there was anything they don’t like… the answer was, “No. You should never stop treating the client like they’re the only one that matters… and MEDiAHEAD does that extremely well.”

When I asked Amy if she would recommend us to other companies on a scale of 1 – 10, 10 being the best, she said, “10+, no hesitation. When someone has made an error on an order, they typically call in and we always have a can do attitude. Fix it and get the order out the door. You guys get it! It’s never an imposition, and you make people feel special.”

At MEDiAHEAD, our customers come first. We always answer the phone (you won’t get an automated answering system here) and you will always get a “can do attitude” like the one Amy experiences.

To learn more about MEDiAHEAD, be sure to learn more about what our custom portals can do, check out some of the other stories on our blog, or review our work. We would love to help you!

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Kashi Plantable Book: The Coolest Job We’ve Ever Produced

By Kat McDaniel, Principal at MEDiAHEAD

Kashi Plantable Wooden BookA few years ago, VML asked us to help them produce the Kashi Plantable Book. The book not only told the story of new Kashi products — it literally became them.

Everything you needed to grow their ingredients in their products was contained in the book.

“A book about plants that becomes plants that become fuel for your active life.”

The organic text pages had seeds embedded in them, and the client was encouraged to rip out a piece of seed paper and plant it somewhere where they could watch it thrive. (Singing it love songs was optional, but encouraged.)

The tool to plant the seed was also included, the book had a thick wooden cover. The back cover was a planting spade that could be punched out and assembled.

Kashi Plantable Wooden BookNeed a pot? A sheet of coconut fiber was included that could fold up into a nifty little vessel to start the seedlings. When they were ready the whole planter could then be planted in the ground.

Next, a dirt page was included – just crumble and go.

Garden markers could also be punched out to identify the plants.

Even instant water was included!

After coming under fire for mislabeling its foods as “natural,” Kashi lost the trust of some of their biggest fans. So the company had to completely reinvent its products with more natural, plant-based ingredients. And with the Kashi plantable book, VML successfully helped Kashi re-establish trust with consumers as a brand with real, natural and completely plant-based ingredients.

Brilliant!

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Case Study: How MEDiAHEAD Survived the Print Apocalypse

Kat 600x450Post written by Kat McDaniel, Chief Innovator at MEDiAHEAD | Marketing Portal Guru | Variable Data Promoter | Analytics Advocate | Explorer

In 2000 the Printing Industry of America announced that, over the next ten years, 50% of all the printing companies in the United States would disappear.

It was a very sobering thought at the time, to say the least, considering I owned a large, successful commercial printer that employed 65 people.

Our largest client at the time was Grundfos Pump Company.

They were based in the Netherlands but had multiple offices, distributors and thousands of employees in the United States.

They needed a solution to communicate with their customers more efficiently, reduce their printing and warehousing costs and get marketing materials to their sales force faster.

The solution we proposed, a marketing portal, not only made sense from a cost standpoint, but also from a sustainability perspective, which was important to them.

GrundfosThe marketing portal we built merged on-demand with conventional print to minimize waste and provide the sales department, along with distributors, the tools to efficiently distribute marketing materials to their customers.

In addition, our solution allowed them to maintain brand control in all marketing communications and significantly decreased their time to market.

They were able to reduce inventory costs and waste and keep technical information current by streamlining the production process.

Their estimated annual savings were $95,820 the first year!

With the success of this solution, MEDiAHEAD continued to evolve.

We bought software and digital presses, retrained our workforce and drastically increased our fulfillment and distribution capabilities.

Ironically, print is only a small part of what we do now.

Even better, today some of the most recognizable companies in Kansas City use our solution to save time, money and brand standards!

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CASE STUDY: An Awesome Solution to the Annual Holiday Card Headache

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Kat 600x450Post written by Kat McDaniel, Chief Innovator at MEDiAHEAD | Marketing Portal Guru | Variable Data Promoter | Analytics Advocate | Explorer

I never realized what a headache holiday cards, calendars and emails were for the marketing departments of large companies with multiple locations (and multiple senders) until we built MEDiAHEAD’s first holiday portal.

Picture this. Some poor employee printing stacks of cards, guessing on the quantity needed, getting each of them signed, distributing them to other offices within the organization, and then hoping they got mailed before the holidays. Dial 1-800-INEFFICIENCY.

This was the situation when a local advertising agency asked us to build a solution for their client, a large law firm based in Minneapolis, MN.

The agency was dealing with multiple offices, attorneys and administrators and several different holiday card designs.

The portal we built allowed the attorney or administrator to pick the holiday card design, the message, and upload their signature and mailing list…and then they were DONE!

We printed, stuffed and mailed the cards. Even better, because they were produced via print on demand, there was no waste to deal with.

The attorneys were happy! The administrators were happy! And most of all, the person who used to have to manually organize all of this was VERY happy!

holiday cardThe law firm was also able to reduce costs by eliminating pre-printed inventory and by substantially reducing the labor associated with managing the print.

We also significantly reduced time shipped and the risk of fulfillment error by kitting each individual order – most orders shipped in 24 to 48 hours.

Even better, MEDiAHEAD has repurposed this solution for many companies and even added calendars and gifts to the site to make the solution even better.

Here’s what the client had to say:

“MEDiAHEAD literally saved us with their customizable web platform and printing capabilities. We had an unsuccessful experience with another company and I wasn’t sure who could help create a site that actually worked the way we needed it to. After meeting with MEDiAHEAD, I instantly felt like not only were they an extension of our team, but also like people I’ve known for years. They are a solutions-oriented team who use their expertise to develop the right system or site for you. The turnaround and pricing were great and the end product had our client (and us) very happy. Now I am confident in presenting this solution to our clients in the future, since I know I have a partner who can execute and deliver.”

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