Sharper Communications Ltd.

Region : Alberta
Category : B2B
http://www.sharpercards.com

Sharper Cards is a successful catalogue marketer of personalized communication products to businesses in the United States and Canada. Key customer segments include dentists, chiropractors, optometrists, veterinarians and financial professionals.

Located in Calgary, Alberta Sharper Cards was started over 17 years ago by Greg and Helen Kolodziejzyk. In February, 2000 the company was purchased by a private group of investors from the US who also own Smart Practice, Smart Scrubs and other entities in Japan. Sharper Cards continues to operate independently - with marketing, sales, operations and administration all housed at its office in the city at 2175 29th Street NE.

Sharper Cards offers its customers a number of unique, licensed products. Licenses include For Better Or For Worse (Lynn Johnston), Adam, Red & Rover (Brian Basset), Pickles (Brian Crane), Baby Blues (Rick Kirkman/Jerry Scott), The Better Half (Randy Glasbergen) - and its newest Toy Story and A Bug's Life (Disney/Pixar). Amongst its competitive base, the business differentiates itself by producing the highest quality product - with world class customer service.

Its web site, www.sharpercards.com, is an intregal sales channel - servicing the needs of existing customers and prospective clients.

How the business benefited from e-business?
The Sharper Cards web site's primary purpose is to successfully market the products and services that we sell to our customers. Its secondary goal is to acquaint prospective clients with our company and stimulate an inquiry.

Sharper Cards has historically sold "imprinted cards". But to leverage our core competencies - and differentiate ourselves from the competition - we are working on repositioning ourselves as a "premium supplier of personalized communication tools".

Premium supplier legitimized by:
o Superior product quality.
o 100% guarantee.
o Quick, reliable turnaround.
o Friendly, knowledgeable product consultants.
o Variety of service options.

Personalized communication tools legitimized by:
o Our vast library of unique designs - humorous, contemporary and traditional.
o Depth and breadth of our product offering, geared to "communicating" with customers/clients.
o Customization capabilities - logo, message, design.

We view our web site as an extension of our catalogues and our Contact Center, serving as an alternative contact method for those customers who prefer to browse and shop online. As such, it provides online shoppers with the same customer service experience as they would receive inquiring/purchasing through traditional methods.

So, how have we benefited from the use of e-business technique? Lots of ways...

1 . Increased sales (new site generating 3 fold increase over old site) 2 . More customers (new site has increased conversion rates by 35%) 3 . Increased customer satisfaction (no more negative emails/telephone calls from customers frustrated by their shopping experience on the site)

4 . Increased product consultant satisfaction (our reps find the new site
GREAT!!!)

5 . A more cost affordable solultion to providing our customers with service related information (example art work specifications)

How does this business support the Alberta economy?
Sharper Cards has operated in Calgary for 17 years. We employ over 40 people full time, working on two shifts. Many of our key suppliers are located in Alberta - Ronalds (Quebecor World); Sun Dog; Paul's Properties, Relizon, etc.

Our strong sales base makes for a good level of profitability...so we pay lots in provincial taxes. We also support local organizations like Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Salvation Army, Calgary Firefighters, etc.