Geo-Mapping Technologies Help Target Sales Prospects

>> Tim: So which are your favorite pieces so far?

>> I like the top left and the bottom right.

>> Tim: Okay

>> Sumi: Tim Watson assumed spelling is the Vice President of Sales at the Tea Collection.

>> Tim: Really vivid colors.

>> Sumi: A small wholesaler that specializes in children's' clothing.

>> What's the price point?

>> Tim: This will be $45.00.

>> Sumi: Today he's pitching one of his retailers, their new spring line for girls.

>> Tim: And here you start to really feel spring just lots of liveliness.

>> Yeah, that's cute.

>> Tim: If you want to put together --

>> Sumi: And he's using IT's software to help close the deal.

>> Tim: We have this new website that we put up just for retailers.

>> So I don't have to call my sales rep I can just do it online?

>> Tim: Yup, exactly.

>> Sumi: The Tea Collection was started in 2002 by Lee Roudin assumed spelling and Emily Meyer assumed spelling early on they had a

unique vision.

>> Emily: It's kind of a reaction to no ducks and bunnies that was going on in the kid's market and that there could be a -- I also had a vision

to make something a little more sophisticated.

>> Lee: This was one of the best sellers.

>> Sumi: Both are experienced business women but with very different skills, Roudin is the entrepreneur, Meyer the creative force. Both

dreamed of starting a small business at an early age.

>> Emily: We have the saying that Lee's father taught her to spell the word entrepreneur when she was 2 years old, it's been in her blood and

soul to start and operate her own business.

>> Lee: Yes I've always wanted to be an entrepreneur but Emily's been sewing since she was 3 years old so she's been clearly in the right

career this whole time but I certainly would never be in fashion design on my own nor would she probably be an entrepreneurship.

>> Sumi: The inspiration for their company and clothing line comes from various countries and cultures.

>> Emily: We made a trip to Brazil and visited the most famous Cathedral Metropolitana and we were completely captivated by this stained

glass. We've taken the pattern and interpreted it into print that we can create on a dress.

>> Sumi: Meyer and her team use design software to make the dress come to life.

>> Emily: It's this garment that turns into this precious little look.

>> Sumi: Clothes are designed at a rapid pace from shirts and sweaters to dresses, but having beautiful garments is only the first step

Tea Collection has implemented software to sell their line across the country.

>> Tim: Okay, yeah, I think we should take a look over here on the north shore of Long Island it seems like there's a lot of uncovered

territory there.

>> Sumi: The executives at Tea Collection use the software to target new prospects.

>> Tim: So it looks like there's a good opportunity pouring in just outside of Salt Lake City.

>> Sumi: And find regions that aren't over-saturated with children's clothing.

>> Tim: Essentially this is a geographic data mapping software and so we identify the zip codes that match what we think are the right

demographics for a Tea store then we layer on top of that so we can see this is the landscape where we think the best places for

Tea stores are and this is where we already have Tea stores. Then we layer on to that leads or prospects that we have in those areas.

A yellow dot and the green area that signifies sales rep this is somebody we ought to pursue.

>> Sumi: The Tea Collection has also created a back-end tool for their retailers that makes it easier to place orders over the Web. But even

with all these new tools growing pains remain.

>> Lee: The biggest challenges with technology is integration so that you have multiple systems and when they don't integrate automatically

then you're depending on people to make those connections and that could take a lot of time.

>> Sumi: Today the company is profitable growing at more than 50% a year, 1% of sales is spent on IT and they believe technology is the perfect

fit.

>> Lee: The business wouldn't be possible without technology because you'd have to have so many more people getting the work done and

the business couldn't support that and nothing would be on time and there'd be a lot more mistakes.

>> Sumi: For BNET I'm Sumi Das.