Case Study
Office Outlet
What was going on
Situation
Office Outlet is an outsource partner of Herman Miller. When we first met Office Outlet they had been wholsaling aftermarket Herman Miller office furniture nationwide for over 15 years, and also had an established retail showroom in the Grand Rapids area.
Office Outlet was also right in the middle of working through a new partnership contract with Herman Miller. This contract made Office Outlet the partner-operator of their employee store, in addition, it provided another flow of product for Office Outlet to sell.
While this opportunity was very exciting it also meant Office Outlet would be taking on new employees, have a new series of operational and staff responsibilities as well as adhering to the additional requirements and regulations put in place by the management of Herman Miller.
What we did
Solutions
We helped Office Outlet take a look at their contracts to see how they could best serve Herman Miller. We then used our analysis to provide a common internal framework for talking about the Office Outlet product and service offerings.
By defining the various audiences of Herman Miller and its constituents, as well as the current and future Office Outlet customer base we were able to develop a variety of communications systems and processes to share Office Outlet product inventory and its message with each audience in a tailored way.
We unified the product inventory systems gaining ‘ownership’ of all the data. Then we were able to create reporting mechanisms to ensure that Herman Miller management was satisfied and potential and existing Office Outlet customers were aware of the most up to date information.
What happened
Successes
- Established communications systems, frameworks and processes to unify the organization’s employees and messages. The results of which positioned Office Outlet above its competition in all respective areas.
- Defined and developed a system for real-time awareness of inventory. This sytem was used internally to ensure the best use of the product, and reduce inventory overhead. It is also used as a real-time sales and promotional communications system. Both helped increase product sales significantly in the first year.
- Implemented a uniform identity bringing cohesion to all visual communications both online, in print, on vehicles and inside and outside retail stores and offices.