Want Proof That Customer-Centric Selling Works? Bundle Up and Visit Port Huron

If you never heard of Port Huron, Michigan (population 32,000), you probably are not alone. If you located it on a map and thought that it might be a cold place to live, you are right. The average winter temperature is in the 20s. If you think this might be an unlikely place to find a world class, client-centric sales organization and emerging global sales leader, though, you would be wrong. But, then again, you've probably never heard of Dunn Paper. Because if you had heard of Dunn Paper, Port Huron might be your new Mecca.

After emerging from bankruptcy in 2004, executives at Dunn Paper knew it was time to take stock of their company and become more customer-centric. It would be the key to their survival and future success. Dunn Paper emerged from bankruptcy with new investment from Meriturn Partners (a well-respected private equity sponsor and investor) and led by industry veterans Brent Earnshaw, president, and Rick Voss, VP of sales.

They knew that changing the name from Curtis Paper to Dunn Paper was just a first necessary cosmetic step that was emblematic of the changes that where about to take place at a much deeper and more meaningful level.

The paper industry has often been though of as a commodity business, with low margins, low customer loyalty, price wars and little communication from clients to suppliers (other than to beat them up on price). The folks at Dunn Paper knew they needed to change that dynamic.

They took a three-pronged approach to building a client-centric organization:

1. Identify the needs of marketplace.
2. Identify, target and focus on those accounts they could satisfy.
3. Go full out to service those customer and prospects and become a trusted advisor.

The first step they took was to take stock and understand the needs of the marketplace. They engaged their best customers to understand their needs and why and how it would benefit from working with Dunn. Dunn engaged its clients to understand them more deeply and become more intimate with them. By working with clients, company leaders could identify the most important needs these clients had.

It turned out that their best customers had some common needs. Namely, they were looking for on-time delivery, flexibility in placing orders, great technical support and cost-efficiency when using the paper. They, in fact, enjoyed and benefited from the fact that Dunn was excellent in providing those qualities. They were not looking for the lowest cost paper, but, rather, they needed paper that was most efficient to use when on their presses. Therefore, quality of paper and technical support where much more important than the price to these customers.

The next step was to focus their efforts. For this, Dunn Paper created an ideal sales fingerprint and an unacceptable client profile. People at Dunn used this method to rank and score clients and prospects in relationship to Dunn's ability to properly service them. This allowed Dunn to focus on companies that it could satisfy and clients and prospects that would recognize the benefit of working with Dunn. Those that fit the profile well were pursued. Those that did not were dropped.

Know thy customer
Once a company fit the ideal sales fingerprint, Dunn made sure to go all out and know that customer. Senior business and technical executives made in-person visits to understand their prospects and clients better than any vendor in the business. They formed close relationships with all levels of the client's organization (from operational, technical, financial and management perspectives). In this way, Dunn moved from a level of commodity provider to trusted advisor. Its paper expertise and quality became instrumental in helping clients win business and be profitable. Dunn expanded its ability to service customers and offered a level of customer care and support that is unmatched in the industry. Dunn paper made this part of its successful sales process.

The results from moving to such a client-centric model have been great: In just more than two years, the company has increased revenue more than 25 percent—in contrast to the paper industry, which has a negative growth rate and has declined anywhere from negative 1 percent to negative 4 percent as an industry. Dunn has added more clients to its books. In fact, it has increased its client base by more than 30 percent.

When you consider that the industry has a ramp-up time of several months to a year, this is a leading indicator of continued success and continued revenue growth. The company has brought new machines online to increase production to meet demand. In fact, Dunn just bought another paper company (Valentine Paper) to increase production capacity 50 percent. More importantly, its customers are enamored with Dunn, are loyal and have enjoyed great success with Dunn products.

So if you're in Port Huron, stop on by the plant. But be sure to bring some earplugs. The plant and the machines are running full out. And clients are raving about Dunn.