Celebrate America
Brother Jones Notes
Tally/Pack/Total Service Available
Show Notes
Next: Prizes and Case Barcodes
New and/or Improved at QDP
Are You an Innovative Fundraiser?
January PRIORITY News

Our custom brochure for Fall 2002 is ready. We have sample brochures now and will have our first production run in a couple weeks.

Designed from the Distributor's perspective. This thing about having to have 200 items on a brochure to be successful is a myth put out by the vendors and swallowed hook, line and sinker by distributors. They'll tell you the biggest brochure is the most popular and will imply that if YOU don't walk into the school with the largest brochure, your competitor will. Baloney.

When YOU buy a mega book, you have to order more product, add packing room space, hire additional help to pack, etc….

Think about it this way. What's your normal participation level, 30% … 40%? Let's say 40. You kick off an 800 member middle school and hand out $800 in paper only to have over $500 worth of the brochures trash and burn. That's YOUR money. Consider these aspects of our brochure design.

The Best from The Best. Instead of taking the junk with the good stuff, we select the best products from the best vendors.

Passes the Time at the Door Test. Take one of those large shoppers and pretend to be the customer at the door while the kid is waiting. Start your stopwatch and start looking through the brochure. How far did you get? How long did it take? My point exactly. Someone can quickly look through "Celebrate America".

Efficient use of space. 105 items on 12 pages. How? When people see our 2-page, 24-item food shot, they love it. We use the front and back covers to sell product. By eliminating the paragraphs of worthless gibberish found on most brochures (you didn't read it, did you? - I rest my case), we get more pictures on a page.

Target the right people. Pages aren't labeled, but as you flip through them, you'll see a page focusing on men and the office, on kitchen and home, on kids, etc.

We can offer exclusivity for a relatively modest commitment to brochures. We can provide total service, including tallying and pre-pack services for those who don't have facilities or who want to use our services on this as your back-up shopper brochure.

Click here to learn more.

Early Buy Brochure Price:

Celebrate America - $.50 until March 1
Brother Jones Insert - call

Earlier this week, artist Dennis Jones told me he's currently putting in 18-20hr days to keep up with demand. He has completed the illustrations for the second edition of a Children's Bible published by Zondervan. He recently completed a project for Focus on the Family.

Our first release of greeting cards is but the beginning of something we're very excited about. We'll be looking at new designs for next year, new types of products and new avenues for marketing their products.

An example of some future ideas include possible upcoming introduction of the "Presidential" or "Founding Fathers" series. Dennis has a drawing of George Washington, kneeling in prayer before crossing the Delaware. We're trying to decide whether the next in that series should be a Thomas Jefferson or an Abe Lincoln at Gettysburg.

This week I went to visit my mother-in-law in the hospital and gave her a "Yipes" card from the Critter Collection. When she opened it, she laughed . . . and that is EXACTLY what Dennis Jones wants!

www.BrotherJonesArtWorks.com
www.dj-art.com

We can Tally any brochure. So, whether you're looking to outsource all your work or just the overflow, note that we print YOUR company name on your printouts. Don't get caught in a software license violation if your service provider is not using properly licensed software.

We Will Tally AND Pack the Following Programs

• Celebrate America from QDP. Have an exclusive in your area, or use it as your backup shopper.
• Brother Jones ArtWorks Greeting Cards from QDP. If you like our MIGHTY FINE ART, you can use our single sheet card brochure as a tag.
• Americana from Scott's of Wisconsin. Also, their single sheet wrap flier. We use it as a tag.
• United We Stand from Cathedral and Richer Marketing.

We had nine people at the show, but not all were working the booth. It felt like a sloooow show to us, as normally we tend to be overwhelmed. At the end of the week, just as I suspected, the official AFRDS numbers were going to show this to be almost as good as last year, within about half a dozen distributor companies.

Not alone in our "slow show" assessment, a frustrated vendor neighbor said that she often went to shows where there were 1000's of people a day and with AFRDS she has to spend 3 ½ days to have the potential to see about 200 people, many of whom aren't the decision-maker and who are really stopping by for the free samples.

We met more "new" people this year than in the past few. I'm encouraged with new blood coming into the industry, especially since our primary niche over the years has been the smaller distributor.

The idea of the Gala was good, but the facilities were too small for the number of people there. In preparation for the "wedding" on the third floor, several of us had to get chairs out of storage. We had to be violating fire codes with that crowd. The actors were good in their "pre-show" activities. The food was ok, but the plates were super-small in size, so when you combine small plates with long lines and no seats, it wasn't exactly a gala dinner experience.

Booths were much simpler this year. No semis or cars in any booths. No ivory baby grands with live music. Several went for smaller, less spectacular and more functional displays.

Cookie Dough was king of the show with 17 vendors.

A chocolate vendor from Colombia was there as was a distributor from France. Wow. Think freight.

Largest brochure I saw was from Scott's with 207. The highest mark reported was at a 10x mark. And then there was one brochure that came with CD music for the pre-kick-off daily announcements at the school and the start-up theme music for the distributor's kick-off introduction.

Someone came by our booth, knowing that I sometimes do "show awards" and nominated someone for "dorkiest outfit". I don't do the negatives here, although the nominated person's response was, "I'll take it!"

Giftco had the largest booth space, represented the most companies and had the highest number of people working in the booth area. My two college sons enjoyed the "game cube" in the booth and one was really hoping they'd part with it at the end of the week so he could set it up in his frat house at college. Giftco also had the heaviest brochure box. If you got a box of brochures in the mail, that was the abbreviated version.

Noticed some people with new name badges. The last time I saw Allen Shaffer he was with Wangs. And I know I did a double-take when I saw Jeff Briers in the Olympia booth. Greg Purcival was an IIA rep at the last show but working in Fanny May's booth this year. A couple others I won't mention as I understand legal wranglings may be involved.

THANKS TO AFRDS for allowing a couple of my people to get special set up badges to get our booth ready when the rest of us were playing the "get through Atlanta" game.

Scanning Prizes on the Pre-Pack Line

With over 100 distributors using our UltraScan and WinScan program for verifying accuracy on the pre-pack line, there can be no doubt of two important facts:

1. QDP is the undisputed leader and
2. Our distributors WANT to scan prizes too

For those people who run pre-pay sales, the seller has already earned the prize and you pack the prize with the product and it is time that you be able to scan the prize(s) going into the package. The ONLY reason we haven't added that capability is because there are still far too many prizes that are NOT bar coded.

However, in a very recent conversation, a distributor told me that one of the major prize vendors is 100% bar coded. That's great, because we'll proceed with our programming changes and those prize vendors who lag behind will be left behind by those distributors using WinScan to scan product AND prizes. Watch for updates on this in PRIORITY News, in our e-Notes newsletter and on our web site.

New Version: WinUltra 2.0

We are looking for 1-2 more "beta" testers for Spring 2002. This group will receive special pricing, but they will have earned it as they fill out our detailed analysis report. Check our web site for new features.

I-Scan Is Ready When Your Vendors Are

There are only two ways you won't agree that checking product off the truck and getting it into inventory is a pain:

1. You're big enough that your big numbers get you pallets of same product, which would be easy to count and check in . . . OR
2. You're not checking product in, in which case you may be getting ripped off (well, at least shorted) more than you might think.

IScan uses a remote scanner (not connected to the computer) to scan the product off the truck. In one step, you've got the box count for the driver AND the actual list of product received. In a nutshell, you place the scanner in the cradle connected to your inventory computer and upload the results.

WinUltra shows you a double list - what was ordered and what was scanned. You make any adjustments necessary and/or approve the list. All product is then removed from On Order and placed On Hand.

New Radio Frequency Scanner

For those interested on scanning on the packing line, and also for those already using UltraScan or WinScan, we have a new scanner to recommend. Have you noticed at Wal-mart and several other stores, that the scanner used at checkout may not have a cable going to the back of the computer? 

Radio frequency scanners have been available, but prices have been coming down and we're now ready to recommend one. List price is only about $100 higher than the cable scanner we've been recommending and if you'd be interested on buying NOW - we intend to place a bulk order, which means we can get you a better price. (See "Show Specials").

New and Updated Software

UCollect enables you to provide a data disk to the school sponsor that includes sellers, items sold, retail due, amount paid and balance due. Even sponsors in pre-pay sales might appreciate having such a record.

Laser Labels enables you to print seller or roster labels on standard 30-up sheets of labels.

WinUltra 2.0 Beta is being tested during Spring 2002. 

WinScan. If you're still using the DOS version of UltraScan, you should upgrade. In addition to more colors on screen, you can get a short list of items not scanned (helps when you're working with backorders and want to ensure what isn't scanned is what you know is missing). Of course, the Windows version allows use of sound cards and speakers. The overall concept, however, ("It doesn't get past you without a green light") remains the same.

Transferring Data to Accounting Programs

WinUltra was never intended to be a complete Accounting program. Several years ago, we added some basic invoicing and statement capabilities to be used by those who didn't want to buy an accounting program. Increasingly, however, distributors are wanting to use an accounting package.

Advantage for using accounting include:

• Order Entry and invoicing for after delivery additional orders.
• Credit Memos for returned product.
• Statements and Aging Reports

The problem has been:

• Not wanting to re-enter the totals from the Tally system into the accounting system as an invoice
• Avoiding duplicate entry for Purchase Orders, receiving merchandise, etc.

QDP has been successful in getting data from tallies into different accounting packages. For, example:

• After completion of the tally, a "bridge" routine takes those quantities and gets them into your accounting program so you can generate an accounting system invoice. Avoid entering 200-item invoices.
• Exporting WinUltra's Purchase Order list into your accounting package to generate a Purchase Order from that system.

Scanning Order Forms

The technology exists and is being used to various degrees of success in fundraising. Here's a description of how we see it happening and the scenarios where we think it is worth the investment.
The order form is designed for the scanner. The software we use claims to be able to read any form, but to get the level of efficiency and accuracy we need in fundraising, you really need a form designed for the scanner. What's different?

Scanners are looking for specific types of data in exact locations. Numeric designators are better than alpha designators and much better than alpha-numeric. When the software knows it must be a zero, then a circle is interpreted as a zero and not as a letter 'O'. A vertical line must be a number one and cannot be an upper case I, lower case L. Instead of one box into which you write the 4-digit designator, there are individual data boxes for each of the designator digits. Boxes with drop-out ink (invisible to the scanner) will prevent confusion with the black outline of the box being interpreted as part of a number. The quality of the top copy of the multi-part form should be designed to survive the student and the scanner, rather than to save a penny or two in the cost of the form.

How They Work - An Overview.

First, the orders are scanned into a high speed document scanner. The middle of the road scanners will take 40 pages per minute. That's about 3x faster than your copier. So a school of 800 sellers, with 400 forms turned in will take only about 10 minutes at the end of a day to scan.

After forms are scanned, they are "read". This does not require human involvement, which is why we recommend scanning at the end of the day and then letting the system "read" forms overnight. The reading process, where the software attempts to interpret the handwriting, takes about 8-10 seconds on a moderately fast computer. That's a little over an hour. It is possible to have more than one "reader" running at a time.

After forms are read, you are asked to verify questionable data. Here's where some of the national companies that have attempted to use this technology (not our program) have faltered. These programs enable you to set the threshold of when data is placed for verification. You can have it show you everything for example - or you can let it accept what it thinks it knows.

Even that is not as risky as it sounds, if done properly. For example, you can have all the acceptable designators in the system so that anything it doesn't recognize (transposed numbers, for example) will automatically be put up for verification.

Verification involves seeing a graphic display of the order form, or the field, or the individual character (your choice) so it is not necessary to check back with the actual order taker because you are seeing a picture of it. Questionable data is highlighted and the system tells you what it thinks it is. If correct, you press enter to accept. Otherwise, you correct it and press enter.

Speed increases because the verifier is not typing in all the data. Also, it is less stressful because the operator is simply making judgment calls, instead of high volume typing. So your data entry person goes longer without getting as tired, and tired equals errors.

The price tag. There are so many variables; software or hardware you already have, number of forms you want to process, network setup that you have, etc., that I will not attempt to give you an itemized quote. Although I can beat this number in most cases, if a number like $20,000 is scary, then don't ask me to take a lot of time telling you how it works.

On the other hand, if you:

• Can't find good help - at any price
• Don't have time to hire and train for 2-months work
• Simply can't get all the forms processed
• Are experiencing too many errors from your manual data entry process

 . . . then maybe its time to take a good look. If you want to go down that road, we will ask for a reasonable up front commitment from you to justify the time we will spend in the education process. Of course, that money will go toward the cost of the system and its only purpose is to discourage the information-only seeker.

QDP is a platinum reseller for Cardiff software, makers of TELEform, which has about 70% of the market. The price we will sell you their software is the same price you'll pay if you contact them directly. I can give you names of some people who have done that and have been less than satisfied with the results. If you're ready, we are too. Watch for news of upcoming training and information-seminars. And, if you'd be interested in hosting or helping sponsor one, let us know.

Web development

I'm getting daily requests for fundraising and employment info. If you're not getting responses to your web site, or if you want to get some on-line exposure, talk to Sara. She can register your domain name, develop your site and host it for less than you might think. The goal is to be reasonably priced, not cheap. If you want cheap, use a free site. Just remember, you'll get what you pay for.

Having done this for 20 years, one of the biggest ruts I find for myself is when I want to continue doing something the way I have been just because that's the way it has always been. I enjoy hearing some of the new and different things that are going on.

70% Profit on the Internet. Sounds scary? But, by the time the customer buys the brochures at a super-inflated price AND the freight AND for any additional services like tallying or packing… they're not too far ahead of where they would be working with a full service provider.

Video kick-off. Great idea for telemarketing, direct mail, internet sales - or for those small groups too far away. Anyone interested in a co-op?

Order form on the back of the pack slip. Cool. Don't get too excited, tho. This is part of a higher-ticket approach. Scanning order forms, actually, and then using a duplex laser printer and some fancier programming to put a picture of the scanned order form on the back of the packing slip. In that scenario, you keep the original form and don't have to match the order form with the packing slip - and yet, the seller gets a copy of his order form.

"The item you ordered doesn't exist". For those invented numbers on the order forms, right? Instead of making a good guess, one company puts that message on the report instead of sending the wrong thing.

Pre-kick-off promotional ideas. CD soundtrack with music for the school to use as they make announcements for the upcoming kick-off - along with posters and goal charts…..designed to inspire.

Software dominoes. You play, don't you. It is the game where you have a need to make a minor change to a software program that requires a change to another program, to a piece of equipment, etc. I bet you have a war story to compete with mine. You'll enjoy that it can happen here.

Internet recruiting. I've seen headings that include "Work from Home", "Business Opportunity", "Need a Job", "Sell for Yourself".

• Editorial: Why Cookie Dough is taking over the industry (17 at Tampa) and what is going to happen to the import vendors who keep doing what they're doing?
• Editorial: "What's wrong with the January show?"
• Introductory exploration: How much does product from China cost and why aren't we importing ourselves?

QDP is out of the banking business

Effective for 2002, we will begin applying finance changes to past due accounts. In addition to added cost, past due balances will affect all aspects of service at QDP.

New Area Code - 260

QDP's local area code is 260.
Please update your records.

Last Modified: 06/18/2003