Postwire Seals the Sales Process for StandUpPouches.net
StandUpPouches.net manufactures—you guessed it—the stand-up pouches that have lately been taking up an increasing amount of space on grocery shelves. The brands using them range from ones as well-known as Oral-B to those sold by mom-and-pop firms in farmers' markets and specialty stores.
As simple as the pouches appear, businesses that use such packaging must make dozens of decisions. What materials will keep food fresh? Can I have a view-through window? How do I match the colors in my design? To help manage these complex sales, StandUpPouches.net founder David Marinac brought in Postwire.
The sales enablement tool creates a single Web page with all the information a customer needs to make these decisions. Items such as videos and PDFs can be viewed within Postwire, instead of customers having to click on one external link after another. According to Postwire founder Cliff Pollan, it's this simple, user-friendly interface that separates Postwire from other content sharing solutions. "We started with the buyer[s] and what they need, and then worked up to the salespeople," he states.
The pages can also be customized for each potential customer's needs. For the prospect Sarah's Granola, StandUpPouches.net has a specific mix of content that addresses the needs of the customer, down to the best ways to package granola. Postwire "stopped us from having to constantly answer those questions," Marinac says. "We created videos specific to commonly asked questions. We have a whole Postwire collection on artwork, material choices, shipping and handling, color matching."
StandUpPouches.net is built using the marketing platform HubSpot, and filling out information on the Web site is one of several ways to trigger an email with a link to a Postwire collection. The fact that it's automated is often hidden from the viewer.
"The customer actually believes that material was put together just for them. That for me is gold. We created this collection of information, name it 'Sarah's Granola,' send it with a personal message, and it looks like we spent an hour and a half putting it together," Marinac says. "That's the knockout punch."
Based in Cleveland, StandUpPouches.net is a small company with big dreams. "Our goal is to get to twenty-five million dollars within five years, and we're well on our way," Marinac says. "Right now we're nearing four million in sales. Postwire has helped us get there. Without it we couldn't have covered this much ground."
StandUpPouches.net first started using Postwire during its private beta in April 2012 and since then has seen its revenue grow 45 percent.
Marinac has also shored up content offerings, adding videos as new customer questions come up. He stars in many of the company's 300 YouTube videos, answering questions on everything from chocolate packaging in a printed stand-up pouch to styles of bottom gussets. "People would rather watch a video than read something," Marinac says, especially for complex questions that are aided by visuals. Because Postwire will show if a customer actually watches the content sent, "it helps us prequalify the client by seeing if someone has consumed any of the content."
The content also helps the buyer educate herself, shortening the sales process. "Sales cycles shrink because people can read and take action in between meetings," observes Pollan of Postwire clients. "People are dramatically reducing their sales cycles, and close rates are going up, because they're making it easier for people to make a decision."
Postwire enables Marinac's sales team to handle a high volume of clients easily and efficiently. He has 13 sales associates, and estimates that at any time, each has 500 to 1,000 customers at different stages of the sales process. StandUpPouches.net gets 400 to 500 leads a month.
The company is innovative among Postwire's clients because it is using it for more than just the usual sales touchpoints. "[They're] using it from the first time they sort of engage with the prospect, through that sales process to close. Then [they've] taken it that full life cycle all the way through to delivery, project management, and managing customer relationships. [They've] been a leader using it across that entire spectrum," Pollan says.
"This is all about engagement and connecting with the client," Marinac says, summing up his Postwire experience. "Our customers say to us, 'Wow, this is great. I never knew so much, and I can't believe you took so much time with me.'"
SINCE STANDUPPOUCHES.NET IMPLEMENTED POSTWIRE TO SHARE CONTENT:
- efficiency with prospects and clients has increased by more than 50 percent;
- sales have increased by 45 percent; and
- a sales team of 13 can handle 500 leads a month and 500 to 1,000 customers.