Good Money in Discount Cards
Celebrate America 2003
Software News
WebUltra Will Book You Sales
Web Design that Works
The Super Heroes Bible
What If . . .
Priority News
YES You CAN Scan Order Forms
Thank You, Mr. President
Your Total Service Provider

I was finishing a clarinet lesson with a high school student and as he paid for his lesson, he whipped out a $10 discount card that the athletic department was selling. They pay $5 per card, retail for $10 and profit 50%.

An area band sells MY discount card at $5 RETAIL, with higher profit than the athletic dept gets. And since the locals know that the same pizza ad is on the band card at half the price, which do you think sells better. Exactly!

On the other hand, I'm gaining a new perspective on those $10 cards. There is a difference between my $2 (wholesale) and their $5 (wholesale) card. First, for $2, the band parents solicit the advertisers. The athletic department pays the card company (a lot) to do that for them.

If I solicit the ads for your card, I'll get the phone book and call name brand places; pizza, fast food, an oil change place, a gas station and maybe a flower shop.

What I won't know is that the popular teenage hang-out is the mom/pop xyz shop and you'll have missed a great opportunity to boost your sales.

Not only that, but the other company is going to charge you twice my price to get the ads for you. So, you want 2000 cards and are willing to pay me an extra $3 per card if I make those calls? I'll take it!!

They almost always decide to go ahead and do their own thing. But I recently interviewed a guy who spent some time working for one of those companies and when I combine what HE was doing with pricing I already have, I can gain a whole new insight on discount cards.

When I explained that we didn't charge the advertisers, he was surprised, because he charged them $50 each. So, check out this math . . .

You put 23 line ads on the back of a discount card. 23 ads x $50 that I'm not charging is $1150 for YOU! Sell 1000, pay me @ $1ea and sell for $5. That's $4000 - or over $5511 YOUR PROFIT on a 1000 card ($5000) sale. If you didn't get a card with this letter, or for details, visit www.qdpcorp.com/products/discountcards.htm

Made in the USA
Home Delivery Friendly

The outside layer (a 4-page brochure) has all domestic product AND is Home Delivery Friendly. Home Delivery Friendly means it is small and/or light weight, non-breakable and non-perishable product that can be economically mailed.

It is also very CHILD ORIENTED, which makes it a terrific Day Care brochure. Ask this question:

Would you be interested in a brochure that offers all product that is made in the USA - and you never have to touch the product?

Everything on this page Made in the USA

The outside TWO layers (an 8-page brochure), has product that is all domestic. Every page has a "Made in the USA" identification.

We use some of the best domestic vendors and are proud to Celebrate American made product. Candles from Langley, stationery and other products from Olympia, Krown and Brother Jones ArtWorks. Jewelry from Cathedral and cheese and chocolates from Scott's. (Note: Actually, we show our food pages with NO trademarked or company identifications.

Domestic and Import

The middle pages include domestic and imported product. Domestic items are identified with a small Made in USA icon.

Removable Holiday Insert

All holiday items are on the center 4 pages (including the industry's best 2-page snowman spread) which are placed so that at the end of the Fall, you remove those pages and carry the rest into the Spring.

That means you can order product more liberally this Fall without worrying about having some leftover inventory and THEN . . . buy other distributors' "discounted overstocks".

Brother Jones Art Works

Dennis, Doug and Donald Jones are the artistic brotherly trio who make up Brother Jones ArtWorks.

Dennis illustrated our greeting cards. His artwork appears regularly in training materials focusing on "youth" in over 40,000 churches. He painted huge murals on the outside walls of a boy's home in Morocco as part of a 'World Changers' mission. Last summer his artwork was utilized in a national church denomination's Vacation Bible School program. In 2003, his second illustrated Bible was published by Zondervan (See Super Heroes Bible).

Because of the volume of cards we have printed, we've lowered the retails. And, instead of showing only mixed sets, people can also order sets of individual designs.

In addition to Celebrate America, we offer a single sheet program enabling price flexibility for even higher markup. AND . . . if you want to consider alternate packaging, we can really show you an impressive mark.

To see the cards and link to Dennis' personal site where you can see more artwork we hope to utilize in the future, visit www.BrotherJonesArtWorks.com.

Roll Wrap Insert

In my mind, roll wrap doesn't increase the sale as much as it raises your cost (larger bags/boxes). But if you need it, insert (or offer) Scott's single sheet wrap program. We do.

Internet Sales Included

If we are your total service provider for the group, i.e. we're supplying product, tallying and packing, or if you're purchasing a reasonable quantity of brochures, then you can offer our patent-pending WebUltra™ process to any group using Celebrate America. (See WebUltra).

Did you get a brochure with this newsletter? If not, see it at www.qdpcorp.com/brochure.

• Get the Best without the Rest (junk)
• 3 Brochures in 1
  • 4-pg USA and Home Delivery Friendly
  • 8-pg All Made in USA
  • Full-Size Shopper
• Holiday insert comes out for 2-season advantage
• Internet Sales for any group
• No to-the-piece surcharge
• Tally & Pre-Pack Available
• Early Buy Brochure Pricing

New Backorder Report

WinUltra version 2.0 only. Just added.

For a long time, if you knew about a product shortage or substitution, you've been able to have that automatically indicated on collection envelopes and pack slips and to then print backorder labels to go on the packages to those sellers when you fill the backorder.

But now you can print a list of who is missing what, organized: 1) By Seller, 2) By Class, 3) By Item.

FREE upgrade if you're already on WinUltra 2.0. And if you're not, here's another reason to get there. Download the update here.

QuickBooks / WinUltra Integration

Most distributors use some form of accounting software. Most accounting software programs do a good job of detailed statements, aging, and keeping up with your business as a whole. As we've checked with our users, QuickBooks is the one we hear most. We've integrated two portions of our WinUltra tally program with QuickBooks Accounting

First is the Purchase Order. You can already use the WinUltra Purchase Order to fax to vendors. But now, if you want to maintain inventory in QuickBooks, you can transfer that WinUltra Purchase Order information automatically into the QuickBooks program. This gives you the best of both worlds. You can take advantage of WinUltra's ability to help you know how much of what to order and then use QuickBooks' inventory management capability.

Then, transfer tally totals automatically to print a QB Invoice. Utilize QB for statements and other accounting reports and the Sales Order capabilities for late orders. This new feature is FREE to all WinUltra 2.0 users.

Incidents and Tech Support

Our goal is to design our incident and tech support program so that those who stay on the latest versions of our software and who take advantage of our manual and web site, should not need to purchase additional tech support.

New programs and updates come with a period of unlimited start-up support plus a number of never-expiring incidents. Plus we post most common issues to our easy to follow 24/7 web support site.

If you're using an older version and/or intend to hire new data entry operators for Fall, consider purchasing an "incident pack", where the cost per incident is lower than incidents invoiced individually.

Recently, an almost embarrassing email came in from a parent asking for EXACTLY what WebUltra™ is designed for because the rep didn't think Day Cares would use it.

"Is there somewhere on your website where you show the entire brochure? I'd like to email some out of town friends so they can help in our sale."

On the flip side, here's an email forwarded to us from a web customer who received it from a school customer - about their internet site, which includes WebUltra™.

"This is EXTREMELY cool and very exciting! I'll definitely be promoting it at [school name] next fall. Congratulations to your web design people. The site is quick, well organized, quick, easy, quick, good looking, and did I say quick? Nicely done!" - Jo

Presentation to the decision-maker

We offer Remote Internet Ordering. Instead of encouraging children to call "Cross-Country Grandma", our patent-pending WebUltra™ process enables you to expand your sale from the neighborhood to the nation using the Internet.

We set up the on-line store showing your brochure(s) and provide you with a log-on code. Sellers and parents are encouraged to visit the on-line registration page where sellers can send a personal note and email invitation to up to twenty email addresses (at a time) to encourage family and friends to support the sale.

Grandma receives a personal email note from someone she knows and can click on a link to your personalized web page. She enters your school code, goes shopping, pays for her items online and receives them shipped directly to her. At the end of the order-taking period, those orders are downloaded into our computer reports so that the seller gets prize credit and the group realizes profit from online orders.

Additional points to make:

• A new way to show your brochure.
• Students experience real Internet commerce as well as learn some good sales and marketing techniques.
• Students who don't have Internet access at home probably do at school and the library.

In your kick-off presentation

How many of you have friends or relatives who live out of town or out of state? Terrific!

How many of you have Internet access at home or school? Fantastic!

And how many of you have access to the Internet at home or school? Cool!

We used to tell you to use the telephone to get orders from far away relatives and friends. That still works, and if they don't have Internet access, then you can still use the telephone to describe what you're selling and ask for help.

But now you can sell on the Internet. Be sure to check out the instructions on the cover letter so you can register at our cool web site and send a personal note to friends and relatives inviting them to visit [school]'s personalized web page and order your products on-line. Cross-Country Grandma will receive your email invitation, follow the link to look at your items, and place an order. She pays online, the item will be shipped directly to her AND YOU GET THE CREDIT FOR THE SALE. This is a great new way to sell more products and earn a bigger prize.

We can work with other Online stores.

WinUltra users who works with Genesis: Get their online sales into your reports.

What else could you do with WebUltra™?

Offer FREE "perpetual fundraiser" for any group.

Work with some adult or long distance groups who want an on-line only fundraiser. (No brochure expense.)

Not all fundraising sites are created equal. As with this newsletter and with our brochure design, we go for functionality over flash. The question is, are they calling, applying, signing up and buying?

They are at our sites. Last week I had a potential sales rep walk through the front door because he found us through a search engine I didn't even know.

Yesterday, we received a $900 check from an inner city day care that found us on the Internet and asked for 20 brochures. Okay, so it's $900 and not $9000, but there was no rep, no kick-off, no returns and money up front. I'll take it. You would to, I hope.

I did turn down a $6000 candy bar order from a long distance group because I couldn't adequately establish credit. We're working on how to do that better and maybe I can share that in a future issue of PRIORITY News.

Anyway, if you don't have a site, then we need to talk. If you do, but it isn't making you money, then we need to talk.

Dennis Jones, who illustrated The Super Heroes Bible, published by Zondervan, is also the artist for the Brother Jones ArtWorks™ cards in "Celebrate America". You don't get published by Zondervan unless you're good. So why are we walking along the top of the separation wall between church and state?

A fantastic children's Bible, it comes with a super-decoder chart for the "Power Surges" inside.

The "heroes" are identified before each book. In Genesis, Noah is a hero and Adam & Eve - "not".

In our local fundraising efforts, we're DONATING The Super Heroes Bible to groups meeting moderate sales levels with our cards or with Celebrate America. Consider walking into a church day care, show the Bible and the cards, and offer to leave it on the spot.

• you could send data from your tallies and reservation system to your website so that reps and customers could check status online? Your national competitors are all offering variations of on-line order status checking for fundraising groups. (See Priority News).
• you could print your pack slip with a picture of the seller's order form on the back? (See scanning orders.) Use a 2pt vs 3pt order form AND avoid paying someone to get the order with the pack slip.
• you could take the "To Order" info from a combination of tallies and print an itemized QuickBooks PO without re-entering data?
• you could take the tally results and turn them into an itemized QuickBooks invoice? Then, use the QB Estimate/Sales Order program for direct sale programs and add-on orders.

March Issue - already mailed, but available.

March Marketing offers a variety of marketing tactics timed to reach decision-makers as they begin to make their Fall semester decisions.

An in-depth overview discussion of the concept of a Sales & Marketing DVD.

• Two scenarios for use
• DVD vs VHS
• Fundraising's two presentations
• Cost considerations compared to cost of dropping off and/or mailing brochures

April Issue - in progress. So far...

Using information from several sources, I share my conclusions on the value of reasonable risk taking and why now may be a good time.

Here's how some national companies are using the web and Internet sales and how you can compete.

Gat a discount offer better than anything in this letter. The discount exceeds the cost of the $49/yr newsletter. Get on our "Priority" list.

As technology improves and fundraising evolves, now may be a time to reconsider scanning orders vs typing. If you can go faster with fewer people becoming less fatigued, and without sacrificing accuracy, are you ready?

QDP has been a Platinum VAR (Value Added Reseller) for several years and is now a "Certified Cardiff OneSource Partner" for Cardiff Software. According to a Wood & Assoc. research report, Cardiff has more forms processing installations than all other vendors combined.

There have been two major hurdles for the smaller distributor. First has been price and the second is the fear of inadequate accuracy. I'll address both.

Price

Although the software price has not decreased, the startup configuration we're recommending makes it easier to justify the jump. Not cheap, but reasonable for what you get.

For example, at Cardiff's encouragement and advice, instead of recommending a multi-user start-up package and total conversion, we are now suggesting a single user start-up and a phased transition from manual to automated processing. The single-user start-up alone will save over $7500 in networking, installation and software expense. Scanning is not a "cheap" investment, but it may be more reasonable than you've heard us talk about the last few years.

Accuracy

Scanning technology continues to improve. One user described Cardiff's latest enhancement version as noticeably faster. But in addition to speed, the ability to "read" handwriting continues to improve, evidenced by the fewer number of verification decisions for the data entry operator.

Consider this partial list of some of Cardiff's nationally recognized corporate users:

That's just a partial list of some recognizable names. Here's a point to consider with the accuracy question. As you look over the list of businesses above, how many of them would be in big trouble if they were unable to scan accurately? Banks and financial institutions better get it right a high percentage of the time. And hospital accuracy really is a life and death thing.

An overview of the program and the process

TELEform™ comes with three modules; a designer, reader and verifier.

Although TELEform™ has the ability to work with already existing forms, there are some good reasons to use a form designed more specifically for the scanner and The Designer is an excellent tool for designing any form to maximize scanner-friendliness.

For example, having individual boxes for the designator numbers or for the letters of the seller's name makes it easier for the scanner to read and will save time in processing. We have some excellently developed and tested forms designed and provide those files as part of the package so that you can customize the form specifically for your preferences.

When sellers turn in order forms, after some logical organizing of those forms to maximize scanner efficiency, those forms are scanned at 40-60 sheets per minute. To put that speed in perspective, your copier goes @15-20 pages per minute and your high speed laser printer prints at about 25 ppm. So, this scanning process is very fast. Our recommendation is that orders received during the day be scanned prior to the end of the day.

A school of 500 with 40% participation will give you 200 forms. At the slower speed above, that process, after a simple setup at the computer that takes a minute or two, will take about 5 minutes. How many forms do you receive in a day?

Immediately after orders are scanned TELEform's Reader processes those orders at about 1 every 8-10 seconds. The fact that the reader process does not require human involvement is another reason why we suggest scanning at the end of the day. Scan the orders and go home, and the reader can work into the evening and/or through the night so orders will be ready for verification the next morning.

Of course, if you need to start verifying orders for the school you just scanned, you can do that.

Once the reader processes the form you Verify Accuracy. During the verification process you see an actual graphic display of the order form on screen, so you would seldom need to reference the actual paper form. TELEform™ then highlights questionable data and even gives you its best guess at what it read, like a fancy spell check process. So, instead of typing, you're making judgment calls, periodically entering a number or changing a letter. If the person verifying orders has had experience manually entering data, you will hear that this process is much less tiring, which is another reason accuracy will increase.

You can set the system to show you every data field or only those it questions. You can enter a "dictionary" of designators so that it will automatically flag anything else, even if it is sure what it read. For example, the designator 1234 is entered on the form as 1243. The data may be clearly written, but if 1243 does not exist, it will be flagged.

Once you have verified accuracy, data is transferred from TELEform™ into WinUltra with our TallyScan module. With even another layer of checks, TallyScan will show you orders with no quantities and designators that are not on this group's brochure(s).

From there, the data is in our WinUltra tally system at the point you would have been after completing manual data entry. From here, you can enter late orders or those from non-scanable forms.

Now you can create printouts and purchase orders (in WinUltra or in Quickbooks).

And here's something new.

Now, you can print a picture of the order form(s) on the back of the Packing Slip.

If your process is like most, somewhere after the tallying and printing process, you have someone manually matching the order with the packing slip for insertion in the order.

Not only can you skip that step, but you can also print a 2-pt vs 3-pt form as you'll retain the images (your copy) on the computer. How many order forms do you print?

Other than the fact that it's a cool tool, why should you consider scanning?

It gets increasingly difficult to hire people of sufficient quality to come in and manually tally your orders for the short Fall peak season. Cardiff claims to triple data processing speed. QDP is more comfortable with telling you you'll double it. To triple, you'd have to be running the system at full bore all the time and few are large enough to do that. One distributor recently said he'd have to hire three additional data entry people to process what he is scanning. How much will you pay per person during the season?

Once you master your new capability, you could utilize it in a variety of ways. After all, fundraising is seasonal and some people want to be generating income year 'round. Here are but a few ideas:

Conduct surveys with your customers or as part of your direct mail campaigns.

Offer to design and process a questionnaire for a school. Visit www.qdpcorp.com/products/tallyscan to see how one school uses this capability. What if you could offer that as a service for those who conduct business with you - or as another profit center?

Become an outsource data processor for business and industry in your area or over the Internet.

Why now?

Now is the best time of the year because you'll soon have Easter behind you, but may have some (but not tons) of late spring or summer business. Enough, however, to train to be ready for the Fall season.

We have some excellent pricing on scanners at @$1000 less than we've quoted in the past.

Dan Doerfling, our new AFRDS President, has asked me to co-chair the Technology Committee with Brian Templeton.

We're supposed to be looking for ideas; for uses of technology that would be beneficial to YOU. One particular request is to discover the level of interest in a "bulletin board" where distributors could post messages, needs, overstocks, etc. What do you think and what do you need? What technology would make your job easier? Jot down ideas and send them my way. Thanks.

It is with permission that we share a prayer request from Steve and Denise Martinelli whose daughter, Leigha, who is fighting cancer at Duke University Medical Center.

Our sympathy to Phyllis Ackerman and family in Warren's passing. He was a local competitor with integrity, active in AFRDS and well respected.

• Tally Software now includes WinUltra LITE for $1000 less. Great for frozen food distributors.
• Tally Service. We've been tallying order since mid-1980's. Grids or Catalog forms - we do both! We can do overflow work for WinUltra users too!
• Tally/Pre-pack Service available for any brochure we carry.
• Internet fundraising. Add to your existing sales or enable brochure-less fundraising.
• Custom Brochures. Need some exclusivity?
• Custom Brochure Design. We can change ours for you or design one from scratch.
• Web Design, including Internet Commerce.
• Automated Data Capture and storage.
• Computer consulting. Want to talk to someone who can talk back in English?

Last Modified:& 06/18/2003