An ALLPRO® Publication VOL. 23, ISSUE 10 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014

By: Joe Poliseo

provide them with the 810 specs [instructions] onsetting up their respective EDI maps. We expect thisportion to take approximately 60 to 90 days. Ourgoal is to have 100% of our invoice and credittransactions to be sent via EDI, Comma SeparatedValue (.CSV) format, or through our Inet Invoicingfunction on the website.

MembersFor our members the only real change will be thereceipt of invoices via the new web portal (pictured

here), which will beaccessible via a new“Invoice Portal” tab on theALLPRO website controlpanel (also pictured here).

Essentially, the web portalis a password protectedsite where members willbe able to view, print, anddownload invoices andreal-time statements. Bynow each member shouldhave received andimplemented instructionson setting up theirrespective web portalaccount. Once setup theweb portal will providemembers an easy meansof accessing their invoicesin real-time. Real-timemeaning invoices will beaccessible as soon asthey’re keyed into thesystem here at theALLPRO office. Memberswill no longer have to waituntil the end of day toreview posted invoices.

While this feature certainly provides a convenience itmay also potentially be confusing. Since invoicesare being added continually, the web portal only

Any Port(al) in a StormWell, it’s not quite a storm but the forecast for theaccounting conversion here at ALLPRO has beenrevised from partly cloudy to clear!

As you know from previous issue of The ScoutingReport, we have been working diligently to finalizethe transition from our old accounting system to thenew SAP Business One system. At the writing ofthis article we are pleased to announce that we’ll belive on the new systemby September. The oldSBT, along with the AIMprogram for invoicetransmissions, willofficially be retired.

For many change istaboo, especially whenreferring to a longestablished processinvolving critical systemslike payment processing.In this instance; however,change is a good thingbecause it does awaywith certain limitationsand simplifies the overallprocess. Even still, muchof how we handle invoicetransactions, billing, andpayments will betransparent for bothmembers and supplierpartners alike.

SuppliersThe only real change forour supplier partners willbe realigning EDItransmissions for someof our existing partners. “Some” because we’vealready realigned the vast majority. We will bereaching out to the remainder, to include our newersupplier partners, during the month of September to (continued on page 4)

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By Al Kinnear, Bigeye Productions

In February2007, andOctober 2009,I wrote articlesaboutprotectingyour domainname fromdomain piracyor loss. Aportion ofthese articlesis re-printedbelow. I feel itis important torepeat thisinformation

due to another scenario one of my clients raninto while trying to launch their new website.The name of the client and website is notimportant, what is important is that as the owneror manager of a business you need to ensure youhave control of your domain name or have itsafely managed by someone you trust. This is avery common problem - Take Action!

The Gory DetailsWe had just finished a brand new 15 pagewebsite for our client, they had reviewed it, wemade our final edits and everyone was happy.Bigeye was called on to work on this new websiteas the old webmaster had become unresponsiveand very uncooperative with regards tomaintaining the client website, and the clientchose to sever all ties. As we went to launch thenew site, the owner told me he was havingtrouble contacting the REGISTRANT of record for his domain name. The domain name is theURL or Uniform Resource Locator for yourwebsite…simply put, your domain name is the internet’s address for your website(e.g. www.allprocorp.com). The registrant was infact the old webmaster who refused any requestto transfer the domain ownership to my client.

The registrar company (network solutions)refused to work with my client who had lots ofproof that the domain name (which matched hiscompany name letter for letter) was his. Despitehaving business documents, registration, articlesof incorporation and much more, NetworkSolutions simply would not release his domainname to him. This matter was resolved after the

proper domain owner had his lawyer contact theNetwork Solutions legal department, and workedwith them to have the domain name returned toits rightful owner. This process required almost90 days and hundreds of dollars in legal fees toremedy. Meanwhile, the new website sat on ourproduction hard-drive waiting to launch for wellover 120 days.

Take Action Now1. If possible, pick up this copy of The

Scouting Report and head to your laptop or PC.

2. Look up your registration information at www.internic.net/whois.html

3. Type in your domain name without the www, so for example, Hirshfield’s would type in hirshfields.com to look up their domain registry info.

The most important information to review is theRegistrant, Administrative Contact, TechnicalContact, and the Expiry Date for the domain.Ensure that your company name or a trustedindividual is entered in the Registrant Detail.Check the email addresses entered foradministrative and technical contact and makesure they are valid. Lastly, look at the expiry date, if it’s within a year, renew your domain forthe maximum time length possible (usually 10 years).

Control your domain and its expiry and you willbe able to avoid the painful process of provingthe domain is rightfully yours. What follows is anexcerpt from the February 2007, warning of someadditional domain risks and/or piracy. Sadly thissong remains the same in 2014.

(continued on page 7)

Protect Your Website Domain Name! Now! I MEAN IT!

www.internic.net/whois.html

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Importance of Goals - although the previous goalstatement about running a profitable operation orselling more paint does not say specifically how yourcompany can reach it, it does serve an importantpurpose. Setting goals helps define the direction thatyour business will take. Goals should align with bothyour mission and vision statements.

Objectives

Objectives are the exact steps your company musttake to reach its goals. They are written withoutemotion, are typically measurable and quantifiable.They also are realistic and attainable and have anassociated timeline. For example, an objective forthe goal statement of running a profitable retaillocation, or one that sells the most paint might be -we will increase our annual sales by 8-10 percent,while decreasing expenses by 10 percent. Anotherobjective might be - we will open another location bythe 4th quarter of this year. Importance of Objectives –

successfulbusinessesuseobjectivesto measuretheirsuccessandprogresstowardtheir goals.

Without them, goals seem out of reach. Objectivesare often motivational to business owners andemployees, as attaining provides a sense ofaccomplishment.

So if we take the primary objective of running aprofitable retail operation, means that you wouldintend to maximize profitability. Thus your businessshould identify methods toward gaining incrementalsales, in addition to the primary purchase/sale.Simply put, an incremental sale is a sale in which thecustomer buys more than originally intended, ideallyspending money on more expensive and profitableproducts. Increasing incremental sales is not thatdifficult to do. Some common methods towardgenerating and driving incremental sales includethe following:

Customer Relationships

Taking time to establish customer relationships,creates the potential to increase incremental salesamong your existing customers. A very simple wayis to thank them for their business. This can go along way toward increasing customer loyalty, is mostoften overlooked and typically leads to them buyingmore products from you in the future.

By: Matt Docherty, VP of Sales HERO Products

Previously we discussed why ALLPRO membersneed a plan to market their business, and why thisbusiness plan should include; Defining a marketingstrategy or roadmap that creates a path towardImplementing the plan, then establishing a timelinethat measures the Execution against your objectives.Without these three critical components, yourcompanywill notsurvive &D.I.E. in thebusinessworld. Wereviewedcreatingyourroadmaptowardsuccess, beginning with a Brand Assessment ofyour business, and then defining where yourcompany ‘fits’ in the marketplace. Theimplementation phase referenced how you caninform your customers about the products &services you offer, including your CommunicationObjective, Strategy, & Core Messaging Points towardgetting people to buy more of your productsand services.

The final step in the process is Execution of yourobjectives, or roadmap of how to get there. Everyyear when planning the future of your business, youcreate list of potential achievements you want toreach. These are commonly referred to as yourGOALS, whereas the specific steps taken towardthese achievements are your OBJECTIVES.

Goals

Goals are statements you make about the future foryour business, representing your aspirations. Youmight say - I want to run a profitable retail location,or one that sells the most paint in the area. Thisstatement demonstrates that you have an overallplan for your business, but it does not sayspecifically how you can meet your goal.

Branding Your Business,Part 3: Execution

Add-On Sales

Whenever a customer comes into your store to buya product, provide them with an incentive to buyboth the original product they intended topurchase, plus additional products at an added orbundled incentive. Set up your displays so thatcomplementary products are located near oneanother and use this as a path to increaseadditional sales. For instance, a customer buying apaint brush might be enticed to also purchase rollercover, tape or drop cloth when all items are placedtogether. If you offered an additional savings onadditional items purchased as a bundle after buyingtwo gallons of paint, you could increase the amountof paint purchased while simultaneously sellingadditional related sundry items.

Branded Products

You can increase incremental sales by offeringALLPRO branded products. In having productsavailable with the ALLPRO label, it creates a specificproduct & brand image that supports the logotoward driving more profitable sales. Use thismethod to increase sales of products similar towhat your customer may already be purchasing.

Increased Focus

Another way to increase incremental sales is to finda product that sets you apart from competitors. Insimply finding a niche product that you can gainthe exclusive rights to sell in your area, thisaccomplishes two things. First, it drives additionalcustomers to your business if they are seeking topurchase the product in the first place. Secondly, itincreases in-store sales with new customers whomay be unaware of your niche. Create signage withlarge letters pointing customers to your exclusiveproduct, so they are aware of what makes yourbusiness different than others.

Customer Service

Take the time to briefly ask them about theirshopping experience. Leave the question at that, asyou don't want to dilute their response during yourthank-you question. Some examples of customerservice goals are to develop a perception that yourcompany is easy to do business with or to improveyour response time to customer complaints.Objectives to help meet these goals could beincreasing your customer service staff orimplementing a policy where customers areguaranteed to receive a return phone call beforethe end of the business day.

So in summary, remember that every business;whether an individual retail location, multiple outlet

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provides a live statement – not a month-endstatement. While a month-end statement will still begenerated (beginning with the September billingcycle) it’s important not to confuse the web portal“statement” with the month-end statement you’llreceive. Otherwise, you [the member] may thinkyour balance is greater than what is actually owed.

The big plus to the web portal feature is that it’s acloud based system. Members will no longer needto install customized software that may or may not be compatible with a given version of Microsoft Windows.

We realize that any system migration is fertileground for unanticipated issues and questions. Forthat reason Jonathan Garrett and JohnShingledecker will host a joint Q&A session at theupcoming Stockholder Meeting in Chicago. Duringthis session both Johns will be available to fieldquestions and provide individual support as needed.This will be an optional session, which will be heldimmediately after the conclusion of the StockholderGeneral Session on Friday at 3pm. Please refer tothe agenda posted online for more details.

In conclusion, we’re confident this new system willbe a welcome change for members and vendorsalike. If at any time during this process you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact youraccount representative at the ALLPRO office.

retailer or a large corporation, needs a plan tomarket its business. This plan should include;Defining your marketing strategy, creating aroadmap or path toward Implementing, andExecuting your objectives via timeline that ismeasurable. This strategy will allow you to achieveyour main objective of informing your communityabout all of the products & services that you offer &that you have available for them. Now it’s time toput your strategy to work toward generatingincremental sales to both existing and newcustomers.

Matt Docherty is Vice President of Sales at HEROProducts and has over 25 years serving theindependent paint retailer. If you have anyquestions regarding this series of articles, orHERO’s line of products please contact Matt atmdocherty@hero.ca or phone (803) 979-5808.HERO Products will also be exhibiting at theupcoming Stockholder Meeting in Chicago, andinvite you to visit our booth.

Any Port(al) in a Storm(continued from cover)

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Fisherman’s Wharf, the Port of Los Angeles, and countless other private and municipal projects.

• The Encore product line has expanded to include an acrylic rust converter & primer; a direct-to-rust, water-based coating; a salt-based concrete cleaner; a clear, nano-particle sealer/sealer base; and a paint additive that significantly improves the performance and service life of acrylic paints.

ENCORE COATINGS

• Founded: 2010

• Location: Cartersville, GA

• Telephone: (888) 776-2242

• Website: www.encorecoatings.com

• Current President: Jeff Moreau, Sr.

• ALLPRO Contacts: Taylor Zaganas, Peggy Cross, andJeff Moreau II

• # Full-Time Employees: varies on season

• Encore Coatings is a boutique coatings company that produces unique, one-of-a-kind coatings for wood, concrete, and steel. The company founders have over80 years of combined experience in formulatingpolyurethane, polyuria, and water-based acrylic coating products. The company is now 100% focused on water-based, environmentally-friendly coatings. Ourcoatings can be found on the Statue of Liberty Pier,

ALLPRO®Company ProfilesALLPRO has had the good fortune to add the highest qualitycompanies in the industry to the group. We are pleased toprofile some of our member companies and supplier partners.

PAINT DISTRIBUTORS, INC.

• Founded: 1996

• Location: Evansville, IN

• Telephone: (812) 471-7070

• Website: www.paintdistributors.com

• Current President: Brian McCain

• ALLPRO Contact: Brian McCain

• # Full-Time Employees: 3

• Paint Distributors is a single line, Benjamin Moore,full service retail paint store. With over 84 years of combined experience, the staff specializes in customer service. We also offer in-home and in-store interior design services.

• Paint Distributors was founded in the 1970’s as Koressel Wallpaper and Paint. In 1996, Brian McCainpurchased the store and changed the name to Paint Distributors, Inc. In October of 1999, Brian opened asecond store across town. The original location wasclosed in January of 2009.

FRESH AMERICAN

• Founded: 2013

• Location: Pittsfield, MA

• Telephone: (413) 629-2300

• Website: www.ascowholesale.com

• Current President: Annie Selke

• ALLPRO Contact: Kim Cobb

• We believe your home should make you happy. For 20 years, we’ve applied our spirited, design-driven approach to creating bedding, rugs, sleepwear, and home furnishings for you to love – stylish pieces thatstand out and stand the test of time. We’re committedto quality – from the design and choice of materials to our exceptional customer service and fast delivery. We take pride in each step of the process and the people who make it happen.

• Color, comfort, and approachable elegance – these are the hallmarks of visionary designer Annie Selke. A consummate traveler, Annie gathers inspiration wherever she goes. She distills her ideas into fabulousand functional products for the home, available through her acclaimed companies Pine Cone Hill (founded 1994), Dash & Albert Rug Company (founded 2003) and Fresh American (founded 2013). Annie’s designs are featured in dozens of magazines, blog posts, and TV segments per year. The 2010 Small Business Administration’s Massachusetts Small Business Person of the Year, Annie is the founder of the informative and irreverent design and lifestyles blog Fresh American Style.

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Member Happenings

Congratulations to CanPro who recently added Balance Paint & Décor and Colour Explosions DecoratingCentre 2 to its roster of member retailers. Johnson Paint Company also recently added a new location toits growing number of stores. The new store is located in Yarmouth, Maine and is Johnson Paint’s seventh location.

ALLPRO “U” is officially on the calendar for another round of Outside Sales training, scheduled for January2015. The training will once again feature Kelly Riggs as our keynote speaker. Unlike this year; however,Kelly’s session entitled “Quit Whining and Start Selling” will be expanded from four hours to a full day. Aswith this year, the training will be limited to 40 attendees and be on a first come first served basis. We’llrelease more information in the weeks ahead once we finalize the event agenda.

Supplier Happenings

HERO – recently announced the appointment of Carlos de Melo to the position of VP and General Manager,HERO Products Group, North America and Terry Newton as Sr. VP of Global Sales. Carlos has been involvedin the automated dispenser industry for over 35 years and for the past 15 with HERO as VP, Customer Service.Terry has been involved in the delivery of custom colour, most recently with X-Rite as their VP of Sales &Business Development.

PPG – recently announced a definitive agreement to acquire Consorcio Comex, an architectural and industrialcoatings company headquartered in Mexico City, Mexico. Comex sells its products through regional retailers,wholesalers and direct sales to customers, reaching approximately 3,600 independently owned storesthroughout Mexico and Central America.

Rust-Oleum – announced the acquisition of Krud Kutter, Inc., manufacturers of environmentally friendlycleaners and removers for home and industry. Krud Kutter is also a supplier partner to ALLPRO. Rust-Oleumand Krud Kutter’s respective ALLPRO programs will continue as-is for the foreseeable future.

In Memoriam

We would like to express our condolences to the family and friends of Haig Kasparian, who passed away onJuly 29th at the age of 80. Haig’s career in the paint industry spanned 55 years. He began his career in 1959when he took a job in a PPG Industries warehouse. He worked his way up to Outside Sales before hefounded Kasparian’s Paint, an independent PPG retailer, in 1986. Haig regularly attended the ALLPRO showswhere you could always find him playing, and usually winning, table tennis matches. He was a longtimefriend and colleague to many in our industry and will be sorely missed.

2014 Stockholder MeetingThe Westin Michigan Ave.Chicago, IL, Oct 23rd – 25th

2015 ALLPRO “U”Benjamin Moore Facility

Flanders, NJ Jan 20th – 22nd

2015 Spring Show & Sales MeetingRosen Shingle Creek

Orlando, FL, Mar 18th – 22nd

2015 Stockholder MeetingGrand Hyatt Atlanta in Buckhead

Atlanta, GA, Nov 4th –7th

2016 Spring Show & Sales MeetingJW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa

Palm Desert, CA, Mar 16th – 20th

2016 Stockholder MeetingThe Westin Michigan Ave.Chicago, IL, Nov 3rd – 6th

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3 Easy Steps to Avoid Domain Piracy• Renew Your Domain For 10 Years ASAP

• Ensure Your Domain Contact Information Is Accurate & Complete

• Place A Transfer Lock On Your Domain

The biggest problem with domain piracy, apartfrom the fact that your website is down or hasunwanted material posted on it, is the fact thateven though you may be within your legal rightsto reverse the domain expiry or transfer, it willtake both time and money to do so. Often thepirates will not respond to any inquiry, and justsend you to a domain auction where they priceout the purchase to meet their ransomdemands. Simply put, domain piracy is to beavoided at all costs.

Loss of Domain Control and/or PiracyOne of the biggest issues relating to internetscams is the inadvertent loss or piracy of websitedomain names. There is no question, protectingyour domain name is the single most importantthing you can do for your website, and this is anaction you should consider taking TODAY.

Just think of the consequences of domain piracy.You come to work one day and a staff membertells you they cannot access the companywebsite. After some brief investigation you oryour computer consultant determine that you nolonger control your domain, all email accountsare permanently down, and some internet piratehas posted a message where your website wasdemanding payment of $5000 US to return yourdomain name to you or worse, they have postedobscene materials in an attempt to extort areturn fee.

The main causes of domain piracy are as follows:

Domain ExpiryOnce a domain expires, it is open for registrationby any individual following a hold period of 30 to90 days depending on the registrar policy. Oncethe domain is available, the internet pirates canbackorder the domain and then take over controlshould the owner not notice the expiry. To avoiddomain expiry, ensure the contact information onfile with your domain registrar is up to date. Ifyour email account listed is incorrect, you will notreceive notice of the pending expiration of yourdomain name. The best way to avoid domainexpiry is to register your website for themaximum 10 Year period. Also, make sure thatas the owner of your business, that your name orthe name of a trusted consultant is listed as theregistrant of your domain.

Look up your registration information atwww.internic.net/whois.html

Fraudulent Transfer RequestInternet Pirates will send out legitimate lookingemails and letters to your place of businessrequesting your authorization to transfer yourdomain to another domain registrar offeringyearly discounts on re-registering or otherenticing offers. If you authorize the transfer, youwill lose control of your domain. Do not reply totransfer requests of any kind, unless you arepositive you have requested that action. Avoidthese false requests and ensure that yourregistrar has placed a domain lock on youraccount to prevent transfer requests.

Consumer Confidence Continues its Upward Trend

According to The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Indexconsumer confidence continues to increase. In July the index rose to90.9, up from 86.4 in June. This marks the third consecutive month ofconsumer confidence increase, which is now at its highest level sinceOctober of 2007 when it measured 95.2. Lynn Franco, Director ofEconomic Indicators at the board, attributes much of the upward trendto strong job growth and brighter short-term outlooks for the economyand jobs. To a lesser extent personal income has also driven the gainin consumer expectations. Almost two-thirds (64%) of those surveyedby Nielsen said their personal finances are in good order. This reflectsa 5% increase from the first quarter of 2014. Per the report, thissuggests the recent strengthening in growth is likely to continue intothe 2nd half of this year.

Jobs and Wages

The Kiplinger Letter substantiates part of Nielsen’s findings in itsAugust 1st issue. It reported the US economy added another 209,000jobs during the month of July. While this is a smaller increase than themonth of June, it nonetheless “confirms the durability of the strongeruptrend this year.” According to Kiplinger, since February the monthlygains have exceeded 200,000, averaging 244,000. This is comparedwith just 187,000 a month in the previous 36 months. Additionally, thegains in jobs are widespread across industries. Kiplinger also forecaststhis trend will continue through the 2nd half of this year.

Where do New Home Sales and Remodeling Fall?

Unfortunately, new homes sales declined again in June, falling 8.1%from a revised May rate to a seasonally adjusted pace of 406,000. Thisis according to data from the Census Bureau and HUD. While this isthe second consecutive monthly decline, construction spending is upyear-over-year by 7.4%. Single family construction spending is up8.5% and multi-family construction spending is up 33.2%. Conversely,the NAHB Remodeling Market Index (RMI) jumped from 53 in the 1st

Quarter to 56 in the second. The RMI is scaled so that 50 means moreremodelers reported market activity was higher (compared to the firstquarter) than reported it was lower. In general, gains are expected forboth new home sales and remodeling in the months ahead as the labormarket and the overall economy improve.

Facebook Ads Fall Short on ROI

In the last issue of The Scouting Report we discussed how Facebook’sorganic reach for business pages was getting shorter and shorter. Itwould seem this diminished reach extends to the website’s advertisingfeature as well, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. In anearnings statement from the social-networking site it disclosed that theaverage price per ad has increased 123% in the most recent quarter compared to a year ago. Unfortunately,ad impressions declined by 25%. The diminished effectiveness at the higher cost hasn’t gone unnoticed. Asurvey of 728 small business owners revealed that 83% expected to spend nothing this year on Facebook ads.Only 14% indicated they would continue advertising through the social media site. Additionally, of those whopreviously paid for ads, 55% did not see a quantifiable increase in sales, revenue or brand awareness fromthose ads. 26% weren’t sure and only 19% indicated they had seen an increase in sales. In a separate butrelated survey of 1,008 firms with fewer than 500 employees, only 27% of respondents indicated Facebookand/or other social media sites were the most effective marketing method for them. 50% indicated theircompany website was their most effective marketing method. Food for thought when preparing yourmarketing budget for 2015.

Editor/ProductionScott Morath

ProofersJulia ThomasSusan NicholsSusanne Fontana

Contributing WritersJoe Poliseo, - ALLPRO

Al Kinnear, Bigeye Productions

Matt Docherty, - HERO Products

ALLPRO® PresidentMichael Gleason

Exec. Vice PresidentJoe Poliseo

SUGGESTIONS WELCOMEYour suggestions, ideas, articles and

comments are encouraged.

The Scouting Report is an important communications media for ALLPRO®.

Mail all correspondence to:The Scouting Reportc /o ALLPRO® Corporation

4946 Joanne Kearney Blvd.Tampa, FL 33619 • (813) 628-4800Website: www.allprocorp.com

The Scouting Report is a bimonthly publicationof the ALLPRO® Corporation.

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