Glue Dots International Uses VerticalResponse As An Effective Way To Follow Up With Leads And Turn Them Into Sales

Background

Founded in 1995, Glue Dots International has revolutionized the adhesives industry with pressure sensitive Glue Dots Brand Adhesive Products. The products are used in a variety of industries, including: packaging, printing, material handling, manufacturing and assembly, gift baskets, greeting cards and balloon decorating.

Located in New Berlin, Wisconsin, the company holds several patents and continues to develop new, efficient, adhesive products for industrial, specialty and consumer markets. With manufacturing facilities in the U.S, UK, and Asia, Glue Dots International is committed to providing superior adhesive products, application equipment and exemplary customer service.

Problem

After attending tradeshow after tradeshow, Glue Dots realized that it lacked a system to help follow up with all of the potential clients the team met on the road. In addition, the client list was as diverse as the product offerings, ranging from gift-shops and specialty stores to large manufacturing companies.

And the far-reaching list of prospective and existing clients wasn’t the only challenge. Glue Dots International’s management was finding it difficult to maintain communication with their large outside sales staff. With a huge range of audiences, including established customers and new prospects; internal and external contacts; and business-to-business and consumers, Glue Dots International knew its email marketing needs exceeded its in-house capabilities and went looking for an Email Service Provider who could handle its complex needs at a price it could afford.

Discovery

Glue Dots International already distributed two different newsletters: one for staff and another for existing customers. It was hesitant to add a third for prospects because trying to manage the various lists would be too overwhelming. While it was clear it wanted to bring a company on board, maintaining creative autonomy was essential to Glue Dots. After meeting with VerticalResponse, it was immediately evident that it was the perfect match.

VerticalResponse’s email templates afford flexibility in design, making customization easy. Also, already existing formatting and code could be easily integrated into VerticalResponse’s systems, without any loss of integrity.

"We set off with the goal of remaining in front of both our distributors and end users," said Jennie Stagliano, Marketing Executive of Glue Dots. "In the past, we would work hard to make new contacts at tradeshows, but once we were back in the office, the leads wouldn’t turn into anything because we didn’t have an effective system of follow-up. Since we’ve been using VerticalResponse’s versatile marketing tools we have seen a dramatic increase in our list size and have watched leads turn into sales – over and over again."

Solution

VerticalResponse became an instant hit for both business and consumer customers, and made the prospecting process much easier. "VerticalResponse is the resource we can’t live without because it helps us effectively implement marketing campaigns that are in line with our philosophy", said Stagliano.

Results

Once Glue Dots International started using VerticalResponse, requests immediately started to pour in from existing and prospective customers and change quickly went into effect. Newsletters went from quarterly to monthly, and they were inspired to create their own publication: DotSpot, which has increased the communications between the manufacturers and distributors.

With the help of VerticalResponse, Glue Dots International was able to execute a successful sweepstakes where 80% of the people who signed up also registered to receive the new monthly newsletter that linked back to the site.

Additionally, VerticalResponse met Glue Dots International’s primary goal of streamlining post-tradeshow outreach. The outreach has grown the Glue Dots database from 900 to 4,000 subscribers, with open and read rates ranging from 28 – 36%.

Finally, when all is said and done, profit is what counts, and in that regard Glue Dots International could not be more pleased. After breaking down the numbers, Glue Dots International has calculated that it costs about $2 for each of the 180 leads received on average from post-trade show outreach. The average trade show order is about $50, resulting in a $48 dollar profit per order. Both VerticalResponse and Glue Dots International have discovered that together they have created a relationship that sticks.