inside - Indoff

INSIDE 11816 Lackland Rd. St. Louis, MO 63146

May 2012

“Indoff Provides Product and Services for Everything from Floor to Ceiling” President’s Prose by Jim Malkus, Indoff President and CEO CONTENTS Page 2 Whirlpool Case Study Page 3 Recruiting Page 4 New Faces Page 5 Partners of the Month Page 6 Human Resources Page 7 AVTS Case Study Page 8 Indoff Meet & Greet Page 9 Social Media Coordinator Page 10 Vendor Spotlight Page 11 Partner Anniversaries Page 13 Marketing Page 14 C.B. Sullivan Case Study Page 15 Techie Talk

Happy Memorial Day! To Indoff’s veterans and parents of soldiers and sons and daughters of veterans, I say thank you for your service and sacrifices to keep our country safe and afford all of us the opportunity to live in this great land. This holiday gives us a chance to thank all of our military heroes, and most especially to remember those who made the greatest sacrifice so that all may be free. Do take a moment this holiday weekend to give thanks to those who have protected our liberties. This edition of Inside Indoff is a little different; we highlight three different case studies to hopefully inspire some creative thinking on your parts. There is no one way to succeed with Indoff; each of us makes our own opportunity and our own way each day. From lighting to promotional products to lobby furniture, there is an Indoff Partner somewhere who is very successful with that product. We push the Indoff “opportunity” in recruiting now, and I think the case studies in here help showcase that exact phrase. One of the challenges for all of us is to stay current. I have now been at Indoff for over twenty-four years, and I assure you I have had to learn many, many, many new skills in order to continue to be reasonably effective at my job. We all have very busy lives, but reinvesting in ourselves needs to be a priority. Read a book (or even a blog), become proficient with a new product or service, challenge yourself to acquire a new skill. Part of the benefit comes from the journey, and hopefully part of the benefit comes from the results of your efforts. While I occasionally long for the days of the multi-column ledger paper (Shari, Georgine – you know what I mean), I spend more time learning about social media than I do pining for the simpler times. Every day is an opportunity to grow; seize yours. The year is approaching the half-way mark; take a minute to review your plan for 2012. Course correct if necessary, but recommit to a strategy for the balance of the year. Maybe try something new – who knows, it just might work! Thank you all for all you do for Indoff throughout the year.

E S Y A D C U T S Customer:

Type of Business: Appliance Manufacturer Location: Amana, Iowa Products: Improved security within lobby, decor and furnishings, restroom upgrade and model display

PROBLEM The lobby of Whirlpool’s Amana Appliance plant was in need of numerous updates including the incorporation of improved security, fresh décor and furnishings, upgraded restrooms to meet ADA guidelines and display fixtures were needed to highlight models manufactured at this facility.

OBJECTIVE Reception Area: Increase security while eliminating receptionist position. Décor/Furnishings: Refresh interior with updated aesthetics and accessories. Restrooms: Create a low maintenance environment incorporating energy saving products and meet all ADA regulations. Appliance Display: Provide sleek and attractive displays to feature each appliance.

SOLUTION Reception Area: Add doors with card control access to secure the area, enclose the open stairway and add a phone for visitors to notify contacts of their arrival. Décor/Furnishings: Supply new furnishings from floor to ceiling including a new color scheme, new waiting area furniture, new carpet and ceramic tile, high efficiency sensor operated lighting, a slim line ceiling grid and a custom updated handrail/baluster system. Restrooms: Revise the stall size, add grab bars, and provide a lavatory height and floor plan to meet ADA guidelines. Sensors were added to faucets, flush valves and lights to increase efficiencies. A glass and stone pattern in ceramic tile was installed on the walls and porcelain tile on the floors for a contemporary, easy to maintain area. Appliance Display: Custom display columns were constructed to allow a backdrop for six refrigerators.

BENEFITS Reception Area: Provides positive security within lobby while reducing employee overhead. Décor/Furnishings: Supports the successful image of this location and their ability to participate in a style driven industry, while adding higher efficiency aspects to their facility. Restrooms: Accomplish compliance with code as well as an attractive and low maintenance/low overhead facility. Appliance Display: Highlights products manufactured at this facility, raising supplier awareness and employee pride.

INSIDE Recruiting by Angela Suntrup, National Marketing Manager When I think of the souls who sacrificed their happiness for our security, I realize how much I have to be grateful for this Memorial Day! Speaking of gratitude, I am grateful for our Partners! I am excited to say once again the majority of our 2012 hires came from you!!! Through the first quarter we started twentyfour Partners! These twenty-four Partners have generated over $229K in sales in the short time they have been with us! Twelve of the twenty-four hires this quarter came from Partner Referrals! Thank you for constantly referring prospects!

“I am grateful for our Partners! Once again the majority of our 2012 hires have come from you!”

Searching for prospects can be easy: • Ask your customer who sells them their MH, CI, BP, PP, or CP needs • Talk to your vendors, designers or installers to see if they know of a sales person or owner who is looking to make a change or who might be a good fit for Indoff • Check out industry social media platforms or publications for possible prospects 1st Quarter Hires by Division 6 MH 7 BP 5 CI 4 PP 2 CP 24 Partners Continue to help Indoff grow by referring prospects and win a trip! For every *qualified prospect you submit that joins Indoff by January 31st, 2013, you will win a trip to Naples, FL for the 2013 Champions’ Circle Sales Meeting! Referring is easy! Simply e-mail your prospect's information to [email protected]. We already have two Partners who qualify for the free trip! Good Luck! Qualifications • 3+ years of outside sales experience in one of our divisions • A transferable customer base • Experience selling similar products to what Indoff markets • Yearly sales of $350K ($200K or more in the Promotional Products/Printing) • The ability to work independently

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Welcome to Indoff! Roger Lucas Material Handling Dayton, OH

Doug Silva Material Handling Livermore, CA

Andrea Lawson Material Handling Coatesville, IN

Alex Canas Material Handling Anaheim, CA

Jay Melcher Material Handling Fort Wayne, IN

Sammy Stephens Business Products Chestnut Mountain, GA

Brandon Stout Business Products Weaverville, NC

Courtney Lytle Business Products Orange City, IA

Russ Delseni Commercial Printing Wheat Ridge, CO Not Pictured: Michael Stout Business Products Asheville, NC

Jack Welz Business Products Peabody, MA

Lance Dombroski Promotional Products Milpitas, CA

Craig Greene Business Products Asheville, NC

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Indoff Sales Partners of the Month

Congratulations to our top Partners of each division! FEBRUARY Material Handling: Mark McCullough $253,151 Commercial Interiors: Mike Siegel $356,388 Business Products: Sarah Brooks $76,254 Promotional Products: Pam O’Rourke $46,207

MARCH Material Handling: Scott Paisley $164,243 Commercial Interiors: Tom Vanhoozer $246,031 Business Products: Darrell Reed $80,956 Promotional Products: Mike Hollern $77,672 5

INSIDE INSIDE Human Resources by Robin Migdal, Indoff VP Human Resources Hello everyone and welcome to Spring!! Every year at this time we have our “401k Retirement Savings Plan Annual Review”. JoLynn Davis and Rick Schulitz of MassMutual met with us to review our plan. Our plan remains healthy with an 87% participation rate, and our other macro-level numbers are in line with expectations. Our total plan assets were down slightly year over year, but that is attributed to a very flat investment income year combined with a net increase in withdrawals of $65,000 or so. Nothing in our plan statistics created any red flags in the eyes of either Indoff or MassMutual. Our plan had movement from equity investments to the guaranteed fund, but that was mirrored in MassMutual’s book of business in total. Our fund selection continues to cover the Morningstar style boxes (large cap to small cap, value to growth), and none of the funds merit replacement or serious monitoring at this time in the opinion of MassMutual’s investment advisors. From this annual review we will be making the following changes to our 401k plan effective 7/1/2012:

“Are you on pace to join us in Naples in 2013?”

• Increase automatic enrollment to 6% from our current 3% for all new employees eligible to join the plan as of this date. • All employees with a salary deferral less than 6% will automatically increase to 6%. • Effective 1/1/2013 the Automatic Deferral Increase will go from a ceiling of 6% to 10%. You will receive communication from MassMutual and Indoff next month regarding these changes and your options if you do not want the increase to your salary deferral and opt out of the Automatic Deferral Increase. Please keep the following in mind as you review your 401(k): • Contribute as much as you possibly can. We all have needs and financial pressures, but paying yourself first remains solid advice. If at all possible, contribute at least 6% of your pre-tax income in order to maximize the “free” company dollars that we pay. • Review your contributions and your investment selections regularly; make sure they still match up with your risk tolerance, your age and your goals. No one else is going to care as much about your future and your retirement as you do. National Sales Meeting – October 2012 The National Sales Meeting will be here in St. Louis at the Embassy Suites Hotel/St. Charles Convention Center on October 25th through October 28th. Invites have been sent via e-mail to Partners that have qualified to attend (sales volume of $20,000 per month was the cut-off) and most new Partners who have started since our last meeting. Please get your reservations back to me as soon as you can.

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Indoff Sales Partner Meet & Greet! This month we are doing something new! Each Sales Partner below has taken time to provide us with some information about themselves in order to help us get to know them better! You might just learn something new that could help lead to more sales opportunities for you and them!

“I have been in the office products industry for over 26 years and have been with Indoff since January 2010. Selling supplies to small and mid-size businesses is the key for me. When selling furniture, it is mainly transactional furniture sales. My customers know that I really know the product lines and "know where to get stuff". Various people have stated that I must have the catalog memorized because I will say things like, "that's in the desk accessories section of the catalog and it's at the bottom of the page" even when I don't have a catalog near me.”

- Lori Beck, Business Products & Commercial Interiors, Altoona, PA “I was born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina where I still reside. I am proud to say that I have been married for 37 years and I have two daughters and four wonderful grandchildren. On the 23rd of this month I will be celebrating my seventh anniversary with Indoff. Over the past 39 years I have sold a little bit of everything, including commercial, retail, wholesale, and OEM. Primarily I have done distributor sales including bearings, power transmission, conveyor belts and chains, industrial chemicals and finally office supplies. All of my previous experience has brought me to where I am today with Indoff. My time with Indoff has been interesting and gratifying – especially with the support of the whole Indoff team. Many thanks for the past and the future to come.”

- Wayne Hampton, Commercial Interiors & Business Products , Greenville, SC “Hello from St. Pete, FL! It’s been almost 13 years that I’ve been blessed to work with Indoff. I started as a Business Products Partner, which is still my main division, but with Indoff I have been able to branch out and sell Promotional Products. My largest client is one that I sell Promotional Products to and they have multiple locations which unfortunately I don’t sell office supplies to. A few years ago I started doing consumer shows for employee purchases of embroidered garments and am now known as the shirt lady in these other locations. Although I’ve tried for years to get their office supply contract, these shirt orders keep me busy. Love those repeat orders!”

- Barb Radice, Business Products & Promotional Products , St. Petersburg, FL “I am a thirty year veteran of the MH industry and have worked for both manufacturers and distributors. I tended to stay in the shelving, rack, workstation type of business (with ancillary items like bins, etc. when I could add them). My greatest asset is my ability to start and carry-on relationships with both my customers and vendors.”

- Bob Ikola, Material Handling, Fullerton, CA

Krista Fisher, Social Media Coordinator Wonder how having a Facebook Page can benefit your business? Read below! In February of 2012 Facebook had 850 Million users. Facebook is rivaling the large search engines like Google and Bing. Facebook is in the news every day and accounts for approx 26% of all referral traffic. There are 250 Million Photos Uploaded Daily and Facebook made $1 billion in 2011.

Top 10 Reasons You Should Use Facebook: 1. It's FREE! 2. Popularity amongst Internet users! 3. Hello Google! - Google is indexing Facebook pages. That means that Google users will potentially find your business through a search result linking to your Facebook site depending on the search term used. 4. Free SEO & link building! 5. Viral Capability! 6. FREE feedback from your customers! 7. To see what your competition is doing! 8. New advertising platform! 9. One-stop-shop! 10. Integration with mobile services! Don’t forget to attend the Facebook Webinar on May 29th at 3:00 pm Central time! Have a safe Memorial Day Holiday! “Each man is a hero and an oracle to somebody.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

May Vendor Spotlight In today’s marketplace Office Star has established themselves as a leading importer and distributor of mid-market commercial office furniture. With thirty-three years of experience Office Star has grown to be a recognized name in the commercial office furniture industry which includes mid-market ergonomic seating, contract furniture, accent seating, commercial case goods, metal files, system (panel) furniture, and conference and training tables. Based out of California, Office Star is a privately held company with five distribution centers throughout the US and Canada. Since Office Star’s set up in 1979 they have expanded greatly now employing nearly 200 people across all facilities. Through innovation and expansion of their product lines and the continued desire to grow and offer an assortment of products Office Star has become what it is today. A main reason for Office Star’s success is the fact that the products they supply across all brands are design inspired and value priced. In the thirteen years that Office Star and Indoff have worked together we have always had a very positive and open relationship. Office Star has always been very proactive about promoting and informing Indoff’s sales force about their new product lines. “Office Star has experienced many years of success working with Indoff and looks forward to many more. Providing opportunities to communicate directly with their sales force is a proven winner.” said George Mansicalso, Office Star’s Midwest Regional Manager. Indoff appreciates Office Star’s past support and looks forward to growing our business together in the future!

Happy Anniversary Partners! Mark Snider 15 years - June 23rd Material Handling Dennis Brubaker 10 years - May 1st Commercial Interiors

Richard Orr 15 years - May 1st Business Products

John Kaiser 10 years - June 1st Commercial Interiors Bruce Morton 10 years - May 10th Business Products

Meet Us In St. Louis!

2012 National Sales Meeting! St. Charles Embassy Suites & Convention Center Please look for your invitations via e-mail in May.

October 25th - 28th 2012 If you have any questions, contact Robin Migdal at: [email protected]

lakeside_MH_MAY2012_032612_v1_Layout 1 3/29/12 10:30 AM Page 1

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INSIDE Marketing by Jacque Etherton, Marketing Coordinator “For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue.” - James A. Garfield Memorial Day weekend represents several different things here in St. Louis and at the Indoff Corporate Office - it marks the unofficial start of summer, it’s the first three day weekend since New Year’s, and it is the beginning of boating and pool season! With that being said it could be easy for one to forget why we really celebrate Memorial Day. So this upcoming May 28th, take time to remember and be grateful for the men and women that have given their lives fighting for our country!

“Have a safe and fun Memorial Day weekend!”

At Indoff our Partners are given the freedom to choose what they sell, what products and vendors to work with, what customers to call on, what of Indoff’s marketing tools they use, and more. As an Indoff Partner you may be asking yourself right now, what marketing tools? As much as we try to inform Partners on what is available to them I still know that some Partners are unaware, so I just want to give everyone a little refresher. First, all of the marketing tools that are available to you can be found on the Intranet, within the Groups tab, under Marketing or at this link: http://my.indoff.com/Intranet/Groups/Marketing/. Once you arrive on the Marketing Group Page if you scroll down you will see a set up of buttons, if you click on these they will provide you with information concerning each topic. • E-Marketing - Here you will find an archive of e-marketing pieces that have been created for all of our divisions. • Partner Marketing Sites - This will provide you with information about and examples of Partner Marketing Sites and Company Store Sites. • Case Studies & Line Cards - Here you will find a link to a list of all of our Case Studies. You will also find all of the division’s line cards and product resource guides. • Divisional Slicks - A link to the PDF version of all of the divisional slicks can be found here. • Promo Program - This can provide you with information about our Promo Program. • Company Store - Buy Indoff logo’d merchandise at companystore.indoff.com • Presentations/How To - Here you can find e-marketing instructions, a general Indoff PowerPoint presentation, and more. • Supplies Direct - Here you can find marketing materials to encourage your Partners to use supplies.indoff.com. If you are looking for more information, to tailor a specific marketing piece to fit your needs, or to suggest something new please contact Nicole or I at [email protected] or Jacque. [email protected]. Have a safe and fun Memorial Day weekend!

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E S A C

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Customer:

Type of Business: Wholesale Beauty Supply Company Location: Manchester, NH Products: Free Standing Mezzanine C.B. Sullivan Company, out of space to store small items, was forced to fill pallet rack locations with multiple SKU’s. As a result, they were using high-reach lift trucks to pick their orders. Indoff proposed an 8,300 sq/ft Cogan Mezzanine, installed over their existing pick-line and small items storage area. Due to the size and complexity of this project a Cogan design engineer was sent to the job site to take the field measurements. From design to delivery, Cogan engineers each individual mezzanine they sell. C.B. Sullivan required columns placed in locations that minimized the loss of available picking locations. The columns were placed strategically between the sections of flow-rack, buried within existing shelving units and placed to the outside of the conveyor lines. Even with the complex nature of this project the Distribution Center did not suffer any downtime during the entire installation process. The Cogan mezzanine increased floor space without the high cost of building renovations or moving to a larger facility. It significantly increased storage space resulting in the clearing of pallet locations for full pallets, eliminating the use of several picking trucks, and creating a much more cost-effective and streamlined picking operation.

INSIDE Techie Talk by Shawn & Colin Faulkingham, IT Systems It’s hard to imagine that 2012 is nearly half over; it seems like only yesterday that we began ignoring our new year’s resolutions. Mid-year is a good time to update where we are on our various projects, so here it goes: • We are updating and redesigning Indoff Direct. Our supplies site needs a facelift, and we are adding some functionality. An ink and toner finder is the primary tool that will be added to Direct. • We will improve Indoff Direct’s search functionality through improved attribute data. • We are reworking all of Confluence to make it more mobile-friendly. Utilizing a framework developed by Twitter, we will make Confluence and Indoff Direct mobile friendly. The screen that you will see when logging into Confluence will automatically fit to the device you are using – it’s really pretty cool (in a nerdy sort of way…). This will flow through to marketing sites and Indoff Direct – think of a customer grabbing their tablet while walking around to build their supply order for the week.

“We expect to have Indoff Direct updated and functional by the end of June with the mobile platform changes to follow in the third quarter.”

We expect to have Indoff Direct updated and functional by the end of June with the mobile platform changes to follow in the third quarter. We are excited to be updating our tools to reflect the movement to mobile devices, and we believe these changes will help keep us ahead of the curve in our industries. Thank you all for all of your hard work and your help with these changes – we couldn’t make the progress we do without your thoughts and assistance. We hope everyone has a safe Memorial Day and a great summer to follow!

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Brad Armacost

www.ais-inc.com

Executive Vice President 978-460-7403 [email protected]

Amy Transue

Director of Inside Sales 978-567-5122 [email protected]

Serena Harrison

National Dealer CSR 978-567-5152 [email protected]