Last year, distributorship Winbrook concentrated heavily on strategic marketing, a key component of business that sometimes isn't crossed off from printing companies' to-do lists.

This commitment sparked the Billerica, Mass., company's impressive growth rate of 40.5 percent in fiscal 2004. The distributorship offers business printing, promotional products, commercial printing, warehousing, fulfillment, creative design and forms analysis, and inventory management systems. It owns and operates offices and a 50,000-square-foot warehouse outside Boston.

"We did market and competitive research, and invested in doing surveys and analysis," says Vincent T. Carriuolo, director of marketing at Winbrook. "We really wanted to examine growth in potential markets. Too many companies are product-centric; they don't really read the market well. Sometimes, the market isn't ready for the product, even if it's dynamic." Winbrook's research helped the firm diversify, targeting new vertical markets, products, services and technologies.

One technology Winbrook focused on is customer relationship management software, which helps the distributorship deliver products to clients more efficiently, Carriuolo says. Winbrook recently integrated its three online ordering systems. The solution works for clients of all sizes and requirements-from single-office clients to larger firms with locations nationwide.

Winbrook also took steps to strengthen its marketing. The company had worked with ad agencies and marketing consultants in the past, but last year it hired Carriuolo as the director of marketing because "they [the management] saw a need to bring the knowledge in house," he says. "It allows them to have expertise at their fingertips." Among other marketing moves, Carriuolo is revamping the company's web site (www.winbrook.com) and is making available several marketing tools, collateral and sales letters to its staff.

High account penetration and experienced employees also fueled Winbrook's sales growth, Carriuolo says. The firm gained additional services from existing clients and has a "high retention rate that comes because it's a family-owned business," he says. "We recruit good people. We give autonomy, a structure and support to the employees. We compensate people well and have a good rewards program. We have grown and managed to retain people. Sometimes, a company grows, but can't retain its people."

The company strives to maintain a balance between work and reinvigorating activities for its employees. "We're a very humanistic company and very personable," Carriuolo says. Every Wednesday in the summer, an ice cream truck shows up at Winbrook's offices. The company has a softball team, and some employees participate in a golf league. "This opens communication and builds camaraderie," Carriuolo says. "We have fun and work smart."

It's never been business as usual at Winbrook, Carriuolo says. "We couldn't have grown the way we have by being complacent." The distributorship is managing growth through staffing. It's improving inter-departmental communication, and training employees to improve their knowledge of vertical markets and technology. "We're optimistic," Carriuolo says. "We have a solid plan for the next 10 years.