Success Stories

Online Storefront Strengthens Safety Distributor's Market Presence

Robert Kingman, president of Safety Source of New England, knows that competition in his industry is fierce - and that he must do anything possible to differentiate his company from other regional and national safety suppliers.

That is why he trains his service and sales representatives to be safety specialists. They know the ins and outs of OSHA regulations, and know how to identify safety solutions - from gloves to glasses to respirators - to help keep workers safe.

Differentiation is also why Kingman invested in an Activant B2B Seller Web site. "The B2B Seller site really offers my company something most of my direct competitors don't have," Kingman says. "It's incredibly well done, and it gives us the same online presence as the big guys." In addition to the ability to check stock and place orders online, visitors to www.safetysourcenortheast.com can access shopping lists, sales histories, and customer-specific pricing.

B2B Seller is just one component of Trading Partner Connect, Activant's Internet trading network. Trading Partner Connect streamlines the commerce process between distributors and their manufacturers/suppliers and end-users, thereby increasing sales and improving customer service while reducing operating costs.

Safety First

Kingman founded Safety Source in Sturbridge, MA in 1984. Now three branches strong, the company has grown sevenfold in ten years. Kingman credits Safety Source's growth to strong tactical and strategic business planning, as well as powerful partnerships with the Safety Marketing Group (SMG) and Activant.

In an effort to continue that exponential growth, Kingman invested in B2B Seller to attract bigger, more Web-savvy customers. A few years ago, he noticed that a handful of customers requested the ability to place orders online. Today, many accounts demand, if not require online service. "You need it to even be a qualified bidder," Kingman reports.

One of the reasons Safety Source won two major national accounts - worth $800,000 annually - was because it offered the ability to check inventory and pricing and place orders on its Web site. "Those customers wanted a full range of safety equipment and people who could train them how to use the products," Kingman says. "But they also wanted an online marketplace. B2B Seller was critical in winning those two customers."

The Benefits

Dozens of Safety Source's customers regularly enter 30-40 line-item orders on the company's Web site, enabling company representatives to spend more time proactively making sales calls. Additionally, Kingman estimates that the Web site will enable Safety Source to handle at least 15 percent more business without hiring an additional sales representative - saving the company at least $50,000 per year.

Plus, B2B Seller has helped Safety Source expand beyond its New England roots. The company now has a large customer in Florida as well as several others up and down the East Coast, and fields orders from across the United States. "B2B Seller gives us a competitive advantage," Kingman concludes. "No one in the Northeast has anything approaching the quality we have."

For more information on Activant's enterprise software solutions, please fill out our Web Contact Form.

Back to Top

Back to Top