2009 Canada National Winner
RIGHTSLEEVE
Canadian winner RIGHTSLEEVE delivers differentiated technology-enabled services in the traditional promotional products industry
Based in Toronto, Ontario, RIGHTSLEEVE develops a wide range of custom-branded merchandise and promotional products for leading corporations across North America. RIGHTSLEEVE was born in 2000 when founder and president, Mark Graham (pictured left), launched a promotional design company that immediately differentiated itself by infusing technology into its day-to-day operations.
In an industry that is traditionally driven by age-old direct sales methods, RIGHTSLEEVE catapulted its business dramatically by continually developing and implementing smart technology solutions. Technology enabled RIGHTSLEEVE to establish a robust business model that is dynamic, scalable, collaborative and profitable – attributes that set it apart from thousands of other suppliers in the promotional products industry in Canada.
The right technology solutions have enabled RIGHTSLEEVE to deliver a unique experience that its clients value. Through feedback generated by its intelligent web based customer and vendor relationship system, RIGHTSLEEVE recognized that it had two distinct set of customers – Corporate and Retail– with distinct needs. Hence, it developed two separate web stores catering to each customer segment offering customized services. Moreover, RIGHTSLEEVE’s web presence has allowed the company to expand its business and serve clients across North America.
Vendors now extend better pricing terms to RIGHTSLEEVE because of its automated purchase order system which relieves the workload of their customer service personnel and has helped RIGHTSLEEVE reduce cost of goods sold by 10 per cent. In addition, RIGHTSLEEVE’s ability to manage its global supply chain and source cost-effectively has enabled the company to pass savings along to customers, all the while remaining profitable.
Leveraging technology, RIGHTSLEEVE has transformed itself into a data rich environment where decisions are made based on metrics that are updated in real time. RIGHTSLEEVE built an internal newsfeed system that documents transactions and client-facing activity done by staff members. This enables informed decision making, as well as an immediate response when customers post an online request or complaint. Moreover, detailed real-time reporting provides greater insight into individual and company performance. This has allowed for better goal-setting and accountability, which in turn increases sales performance and reduces turn-over.
Scalability of the technology system has allowed RIGHTSLEEVE to double the company staff within the last 12 months. Moreover, the technology infrastructure enables every employee to achieve more with less resources and the overall productivity per staff member has increased by 25 per cent. The new-hire on-boarding process has been vastly simplified as all product and pricing information is in one central place as opposed to being scattered throughout hundreds of catalogues.
It was this strong focus on hands-on customer service and employee engagement that set RIGHTSLEEVE apart from the other applicants for the 2009 Dell Small Business Excellence Award.
