ArrowPress’
success is straight to the heart of customer service
It’s Monday, but Nackoul has a Friday afternoon, end-of-week demeanor that belies a particular business acumen, one that has grown his company in 21 years from a small one-client operation to a full-service, four-color printing and mailing operation, with a spectrum of clients in and around the Berkshires. Last year, he counted sales of $2 million, placing ArrowPress in the “medium-sized” category for the region. His operation in the red brick building produces everything from business cards and personalized fundraising letters to short-run digital color printing and specialized direct mailings. ArrowPress has the unique ability to track mailings from originating to destination post offices through the use of Planet Barcodes. “On time,” and “it’s in the-mail,” are his business buzzwords, with customer service at the top of his list of business priorities. Like his competitors, he’s operating in a digital age where online, do-it-yourself printing is a mouse-click away, nipping at the edges of the printing industry. But there will always be market for high-quality, color printed materials that need to be turned out quickly, and mailed en masse, with an attendant high level of personal service. This is the niche of ArrowPress. Making sure there is a market “I am not one to say, ‘build it, and they will come,” Nackoul says. “With the cost of these presses, you have to make sure you have a market before you go buy one.”
But the cautious business instincts, small-town reputation and word-of-mouth referrals that got him this far are no longer enough: Examining his mid-spot in the region’s printing industry, Nackoul is now up against the need for 21st century growth, competition and marketing savvy. The cozy geographical east-west borders that define many Berkshire-based businesses such as his need prodding, and Nackoul has just hired a marketing professional, for the first time, to explore the limits and fill a role he himself has yet to perfect on his own. Pamela Scott-Smith, a local marketing consultant, is about a month into her work with ArrowPress, and sees nothing but opportunity, and a sweet spot for Nackoul in the “creative economy.” “Bob’s a really well-kept secret, he built his business by word of mouth and reputation, and he’s a guy who is out there in the shop looking at every single job with a critical eye,” she said. “He doesn’t let anything go out unless it meets his standards. “And he’s well suited for the venues we have here, in culture and education, and while some people go to two different places for printing and mailing, he can do it all. Scott-Smith is at work focusing on potential products that might tap deeper into the area’s industry, among other markets in the area.
Berkshire leaders in business, industry, arts and education have examined how their commercial interests intersect, overlap with and depend upon each other. This new regional pitch has become an internal and external marketing campaign that breaks barriers between once-isolated business clusters. Nackoul would be a less visible example, as the print master behind the cultural community’s need for tasteful programs, brochures and fundraising materials. In 2007, ArrowPress won three awards from the Printing Industries of New England’s Award of Excellence competition which showcases the best printing in New England. They received two Pinnacle Awards: the Williams College Department of Music program in the category of brochures, four-colors or more, Division 1, and for the Think Color brochure for self-promotion of the same. In addition, they received an Award of Recognition in the category of catalogs, four-colors or more, for This Week at Canyon Ranch. He understands his business strengths: exemplary service, professional ethics, respect for both his customers and employees, along with appreciation for the environment. Although he has the equipment to accommodate any scenario involving variable or larger print runs that require folding and mailing, his unique niche in the county is short-run, four-color, fast turnaround jobs such as stationary, postcards, direct mailers and weekly newsletters. Finding his niche “They needed it quickly, in color and affordable,” said Nackoul. We didn’t have the machine we needed for that at the time, but we determined the estimated costs, logistics and turnaround time.” Canyon Ranch liked the idea, so about seven years ago ArrowPress invested $500,000 for the Heidelberg DI, ideal for fast setups, short-run, high quality jobs at a relatively low cost. That was also ArrowPress’ graduation from a two-color to a four-color shop. “That jump started my little niche,” he said. “And I am pretty good at finding out what customers’ needs are and producing it at a cost that fits their budget.”
Last year, he acquired the Komori Spica and the Dart 4300 computer to plate system another $500,000 investment, to double his capacity for larger higher-quality print runs; the makereadies are fast and accurate with Komori. “For a little guy, I have the big company technology, so I’m poised for a growth spurt,” he said. “Now if the economy would only cooperate.” In particular, he’d like more jobs to keep that new Komori press running. Coming East to study music “I was always good with my hands, and accurate with my work, so it seemed like the right thing at the time to ditch English class to go do some work,” he said. “I was considered kind of cool.” He honed that skill, and in high school he found a job at a printing company, cleaning the presses and doing other dirty work. In his senior year, he did a work-study job at a printing company in South Gate, Calif. Behind his love of music was the assurance that, if music didn’t work out, he would always have a fallback job in the printing world. So off he went to the Berklee School of Music in Boston, one of the country’s finest, and to his delight, he graduated with honors with a professional diploma in arranging and composing. “I spent weeks and hours writing a song in the style of Duke Ellington, for Herb Pomeroy, a teacher who had played trumpet for the great Charlie Parker, and he pointed his finger at me and said, ‘You got it kid, that’s the style!” After college, Nackoul relocated to the Berkshires near his sister Mary Ann, in the small town of Tyringham, Ma. Performing as part of a musical duo with his best friend, Barry Sternlieb on nights and weekends he found his day job at a local family-owned printing company in Pittsfield, now one of the county’s largest, and one of his competitors today. He worked there as a press man, a pre-press supervisor and then as a production manager. There was a thread between his detailed graphic art skills, his musical talent, and his ability to build a printing company. Just what was that thread? Nackoul ponders that. Perhaps it was a natural aesthetic attention to detail, a visual ability to translate ideas onto paper, as musicians do in composing music. Like reading or making music, he can assess the margins, contours, color and written details of a four-color print project. Over a nine-year period, he honed those skills, and got to know the clientele by giving good customer service. But eventually he opted for a break from the printing business. Leaving printing behind; or so he thought The former publisher of Ski America in Lenox, Mass., offered him both business space and the funds to buy whatever he needed to get started. Nackoul set up his first shop there, found an old printing press in North Adams, and borrowed some money from his parents.
With more work came more equipment, and the eventual move to Pittsfield, a 16,000-square-foot space he now leases. All employees are key All employees are key to Bob’s operation, but two prominent players in the business are Tina Anello, who supervises the all-important mailing operations, and Judy Sayers, head of sales. “Tina knows the entire operation,” said Nackoul. “She’s in charge of the mailing department and the millions of dollars in customers postage. She knows the management systems, scheduling and estimating programs. She is very dedicated.” Sayers is developing customers, working with them to assure that their printing projects have the correct specs and that the delivery dates are met. “What makes this work is that everybody knows the importance of every little aspect of the job, and they do their best with it,” he said of his entire staff. In the back room, three men tend to four presses, and each can jump to any machine. And since he’s worked his way up through the technological innovations, Nackoul can operate most of the equipment in the building. Nackoul has a rule of thumb in hiring pressmen: In closing an interview, take a stroll to the parking lot, and check out the fellow’s car or truck. “If it’s meticulous, I know he will treat my machines meticulously,” he said. “And 95 percent of the time it works. If you see a sloppy car, good luck.” Operators Patrick Hall, Dick Larrow and Aaron Namislo have passed the car inspection test. His key business concerns are the rising cost of energy, which are biting businesses throughout the region. The business has also been hard at work complying with the new health care reform law in Massachusetts; health insurance costs went up $25,000 last year, said Nackoul. As a smaller business, with the amount of hats he has to wear, he doesn’t have a lot of time to go knock on doors, wining and dining potential clients. “I admire companies that can grow like that,” he said. “I fell into this business due to a need back then for customer service, and finding new ways to grow is a new challenge.” For that, he now has Scott-Smith. Customer service is still at the heart of the business, said Nackoul, “and you can’t go online and get that.” “A new customer came in here the other day and when I asked him why he chose us, he told me the reason was that the people here were so helpful over the phone,” he said. “Some companies might not be as helpful, but my people are.” About the author: Ellen Lahr
is a freelance writer living in the Pittsfield, Mass. area. She can
be reached at |
“I
thought I would play a song, but unfortunately I have a broken string,”
he says, and soon the discussion is about music, a fluent topic for
Nackoul, who is equally deft in the language and lingo of the ever-changing
printing world, where he’s operated his business for 21 years.
“Sometimes when I’m reading e-mail I play a bit. Maybe a
little James Taylor. Simon and Garfunkel?”
Nackoul,
53, is something of an offbeat businessman: The father, musician, golfer,
gym enthusiast and downhill skier began his shop with a single client
and now has a roster that includes some of the county’s biggest
names in Berkshire business, education, culture and the arts.
After
all, Nackoul fits neatly into what is now becoming a central business
theme taking hold in the region: The Berkshire Creative Economy. The
Creative Economy, brainchild of area leaders who are making peace with
the shrinking of the region’s declining manufacturing base by
coming up with out-of-the-box business development concepts.
Nackoul’s
ArrowPress is not the biggest game in town, but he’s a player.
He’s got the technology, equipment and people to grow his business,
he said.
Soon,
some clients of his former employer were calling. His next success was
a weekly newsletter for the former General Electric plant in Pittsfield,
which catapulted ArrowPress to the next level
.
