WIZARD LABELS
www.wizardlabels.com

A relative newcomer to the “online” segment of the labels market is Wizard Labels. Formed in early 2013 by Steve Smith (former president and co-owner of Lightning Labels) and Jay Dollries (president/CEO of Innovative Labeling Solutions), Wizard Labels was specifically set up to address the growing tendency of many businesses to source their label needs online.

Smith obviously had the background for this venture, having previously led Lightning Labels into the online world with the industry’s first instant quoting function, feeding an all-digital production facility.  After selling that company in early 2008, he retired for a few years – but found that chasing a lower golf handicap was more elusive than he had anticipated, and recognized that the industry still had plenty of opportunity for a fleet-footed player.

Joining forces with Dollries was an easy decision for Smith, as they knew each other well from their early adoption of HP-Indigo equipment and were regular speakers at label conferences around the world. As Dollries puts it, “We were both devotees of the digital label printing model, and combining that with Steve’s background in online marketing, it was a no-brainer. The Internet lends itself to very fast turn-times and shorter run lengths, and that’s where digital has a significant edge.”

After 3.5 years of operation, Wizard is still experiencing exponential growth. Their original website served them well for the first three years but was recently redeveloped from the ground up and launched in late June 2016.

The primary focus of the web redevelopment project was the user experience. Wizard sought to make the entire label ordering (and re-ordering) process much simpler from the user’s perspective than anything else in the online segment, and feedback from the customer base has been universally positive. Development continues unabated and many new features are already in the pipeline for release throughout the coming months.

As Smith explains, “Buying product labels online is no longer a strange new thing. We proved the online model worked very well in my previous company. Today, there are certainly more online players than there were before – but they all seemed to adopt essentially the same approach to the buying experience that we’d pioneered all those years ago.

“I can understand why that happened – after all, if it ain’t broke why fix it, right? But I’m always looking for ways to improve, and hindsight is a wonderful teacher. We went back to the drawing board, re-thought the entire model and made some significant changes to make life easier for the customer.

“I have to admit, I had some trepidation about changing horses mid-stream, but the feedback from new and old customers alike has quickly put those fears to rest. Indeed, our growth curve didn’t slow at all with the new website launch, which is extremely unusual in my experience. It indicates that we must have done something right and not caused undue confusion in the customer base.”

Of course, just building a website is not a recipe for success, nor is the online model as simple as it may seem. Smith had a multi-decade career in the IT industry prior to entering the labels business, having specialized in search engine optimization for some years. Dollries was also a very experienced engineer and software developer and is a recognized expert in labels and packaging. This unusual combination of technical and industry experience is not something easily replicated.

The other significant part of the online puzzle is customer service, which sounds obvious but becomes even more important when transactions occur with minimal human interaction. As Smith explains, “Anyone who thinks the online labels business can be completely hands-off is asking for trouble.

“Quite the reverse is the case, and at Wizard Labels we put the highest emphasis on making sure the customer gets the very best attention possible to avoid costly mistakes. Our staff is deliberately chosen from people with label industry experience and ‘service’ as their mantra – no salespeople, no commissions, no up-selling, just expert advice and a total commitment to mutual benefit.

“We also invest a lot of time and effort in making the website content educational so customers can learn from our expertise at their own speed and make more informed decisions. The self-help model has become much more acceptable since the Internet became pervasive in our daily lives, and we’ve found that we now spend much less time answering the more basic questions.”

Dollries notes, “Steve has always had a unique approach to the labels business, based on a theme he calls ‘mutuality’ – which basically means he works hard toward achieving common goals with his customers, but he is also prepared to let some of them go if the relationship is not working in a sustainable way.

“We also had to master the art of very fast production times, and we’ve learned a lot from the exercise. In excess of 95% of jobs ship within two days of proof approval, and given the volume of orders we’re doing, that’s pretty amazing – even to me.”

Smith adds, “Jay’s dedication to remaining at the leading edge of technology is also a key factor in the Wizard model. We’ve recently added a custom-built finishing line into the mix that results in substantial time and cost savings – but we prefer to keep the details to ourselves for obvious reasons.”

The combined experience and constant focus on innovation that Smith and Dollries bring to the table makes Wizard Labels well worth watching.