Case Study: West — Reducing printing costs increased sales

West, a Thomson Reuters business is a leader in both print and online products for legal professionals. The company helps large law firm librarians obtain a large number of electronic catalogs. These catalogs give libraries an efficient way to share legal and regulatory material.

Cincy Stearns is the Senior Account Executive in the Marketing Services Department at West. She works with response marketing like direct marketing, e-mails to link the sales team with potential clients.

West recognized librarians needed a tool to aid in purchasing process of their legal catalogs.  The tool needed to be an efficient, easy-to-update process because the catalogs have a relatively short shelf life due to ever-changing laws.

The company decided to create a resource tool so clients could access the catalogs on the Internet.

The company knew going digital would accomplish three goals: It would save on printing costs, give librarians a unique way to share information to potential clients and aid in the sales process.

Though a partnership with Nxtbook Media, the company was able to create online catalogs for librarians and potential clients. The partnership enabled the company to reduce printing costs while creating a more efficient way for clients to view the products within the online catalogs.

Catalogs were prepared the same way as a regular printing process. Instead of sending the .PDFs to the printer, it was uploaded to Nxtbook Media. Within seven to 14 days, an e-mail was sent back to West, A Thomas Reuters so the company could ensure the accuracy of the links. Even with large catalogs with nearly 1,000 listings, Nxtbook Media was able to accomplish the task within two weeks.

Then West tested the links to ensure the accuracy of the links. Once the links were tested, the company was able to e-mail their links to external clients to reveal their catalog.

West not only e-mailed clients but also made the catalog accessible via a custom URL on their Web site and posted it on the company’s Intranet.

Results

• The sales team found it was a great tool because they could e-mail the link to potential clients as opposed to bogging down clients’ e-mail with bulk .PDFs.
• National librarian meetings became more efficient because librarians had access to the catalog anywhere and did not need to carry a catalog with them to check for new reference material.
• Sales increased because potential clients were able to page through the catalog, navigate the contents and could purchase products for libraries or individual use.
• The links helped potential clients find information for their services and in turn, they were more apt to purchase products.
• West saved on printing and postage costs.

• Check URLs from the start so broken links wouldn’t be distributed to clients.
• Pre-check processes ensure link quality.
• It is best to provide additional support when there are a lot of products within a catalog.
• Educate clients that they’ll need to allow pop-ups on their computer to view the catalog if they’re using a firewall.

• The decision to publish an online catalog accomplished six goals.
• It saved on printing costs.
• The decision gave librarians a unique way to share information to potential clients
• It aided in the sales process.
• Additionally, the online catalog caused meetings to become more efficient.
• The decision also eliminated the need to bog down clients’ e-mail with bulk .PDFs and brought in more clients because the catalog was simple to use.
• Even with larger catalog requests, Nxtbook Media ensured a rapid turn around which means the catalog could be distributed to potential clients quickly.

Editor’s Note: This study was excerpted from a 2008 Webinar featuring digital catalogs success stories. Click here to view the Webinar.