Repositioning a Printing Company

I met Gary Garner, president/CEO of The GLS Companies, in 1993 at an MFSA Fulfillment Conference in Dallas. He and several of his peer-group buddies attended the conference with the thought in mind of learning what the mailing and fulfillment business had to offer their printing businesses. We have kept in touch, both personally and professionally, over the past 13 years.

Garner was gracious enough to open the doors to his 160,000-sq.ft. plant as a part of the MFSA production seminar held in Minneapolis in early September. The tour was a hit with the members, primarily because Garner is an early innovator and has repositioned his company by adding mailing, fulfillment and other services.

He started in the printing business in 1969 with a summer job prior to his senior year in high school. General Litho Services (GLS) was founded in 1984 as a sheetfed house. It started with a 2-color press and grew from there. Now with nearly 300 employees, he expects the company's revenues to be in the low to mid-$40 million range this year. (Sales in 2005 were $36 million.) He has grown the company both organically and with three acquisitions, including a direct-mail lettershop.

Garner decided to offer additional services to complement printing during the late 1980s' economic downturn, when competitive pressure forced him to look at separating his company from its competitors. He added mailing in 1989, data processing in 1992 and fulfillment in 1995. In addition, GLS supplies creative services, digital variable printing in both black & white and color formats, Website development and warehousing and distribution. He has also added an IT department, complete with a chief technology officer.

Since adding mailing and fulfillment services, GLS has seen improved print volumes, improved margins and decreased turnover compared to print-only customers. “Printing is a commodity business,” Garner says. “The additional services keep clients out of trouble. We are not the cheapest printer and maintain our margins by tying printing to additional services.”

And, as Garner also notes, “You can lose a $20,000 print job over $200; if there is a $500 mailing tied to it, we will win.”

All sales personnel sell all services in the GLS organization. Sales personnel call on internal experts in mailing, fulfillment, creative and other services to accompany them on calls as necessary. This approach seems to be the most successful sales model implemented by printing companies.

Garner offers printers investigating mailing and fulfillment the following advice: “Talk to your customers and understand their needs. Then work with peers in the industry who have been successful in offering additional services.”