Trusting Your 3PL Partner to Pivot with Your Business Strategy
iOgrapher makes accessories to turn your phone or tablet into a full blown filmmaking camera: cases that will help steady your shot, lighting equipment, and stands to prop up your device up anywhere. When the pandemic really hit in the US and social functions started to close or be postponed, iOgrapher founder David Basulto realized he needed to pivot his products and marketing toward a different audience to stay afloat as a business.
It’s the close relationship he has with DCL Logistics that enabled him to trust that his end-customers will get the same quality service day-in and day-out, no matter what. He explained that through the years of working together he knows DCL will keep up their 99% accuracy promise and ship the right products to the right customers—no matter the audience.
“The customer experience working with DCL, from the getting products to the warehouse, how easy it is to store it all, to the fact that everything gets out on time and the system works really fluidly.”
Adjusting Your Focus
iOgrapher’s top clients, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic were schools and people attending sporting events, which because of social-distancing measures have all been cancelled or postponed. Yet the burgeoning video and live streaming market caught David’s eye. He saw a need and was quickly able provide a solution for it.
He says, “It dawned on me that I needed to come up with a bundle of products to help people do live streaming, Zoom calls, Google Meet, and Facebook Live. So I did a big turn to provide a low-cost entry-level kit, to get people just up and running when all they had to bring was their phone or their ipad or tablet or whatever, their computer even. And it took off like gangbusters.”
DCL understands the importance of pivoting during a time like this, and our systems are set up to move quickly and efficiently to accommodate changes for our customers. David says, “I send in new products, to set up with a SKU in DCL’s system. It’s already on Shopify, and there’s usually a couple of days before it can go live—but just having our account manager around, if I need to go live immediately because we are backordered, she’s been able to pull magic and get them going, so that’s been fantastic.”
While many companies came across hurdles they didn’t expect, DCL is a committed partner who helps innovative brands solve problems quickly. David continues, “It was a terrifying moment for us for a minute, especially when Amazon basically shut down any new orders coming into their facilities. It could have been disastrous had we not refocused toward live streaming. Actually we had a really amazing quarter and it’s sad to say it during this time, but business has been really incredibly good for us, we are very thankful.”
An Extension of Your Brand
Before working with DCL, David and his team saw first hand how the partners they choose can really affect their brand perception. They struggled through many missed orders and wrong products sent to customers. But they realized how truly detrimental bad service could be when one Christmas season, David got a call from a priest who had ordered from iOgapher, only to open his package to find adult sex toys instead. David was mortified and quickly searched for a 3PL who he could trust would take better care of his end-customers.
Most founders don’t have the experience or time to dig into the many details that go into operating a smooth shipping service. Working with a dedicated team like DCL, our customers always have experts optimizing those details. For example, after trial and error David was frustrated trying to pick the right shipping carrier that was cost-effective but also the most accurate.
“Selling overseas was always kind of a problem, because we were using UPS and it was pretty expensive to go overseas considering the product,” David says. He and his team made the internal decision to try something else, they switched to USPS because it was more affordable. That change caused more hiccups than before—items weren’t getting to the final destination and David saw his numbers starting to drop. He explains, “our DCL account manager gave me a comparison of different shipping rates, between DHL and UPS mostly. She presented me with a cost analysis about the two and the savings that we could have if we used specifically a UPS worldwide expedited. It was just a godsend and I can’t give you enough praise about it all.”
Picking the Right Crew
In the end, the partnership has to fit. Working with a 3PL is a collaboration that will flourish when it’s the right fit. Companies may not have the bandwidth to cost-compare all the various options on the table and working with a dedicated 3PL can really make a difference.
David’s advice to small businesses looking to outsource fulfillment support is “Look at the pricing structure and make sure it makes sense within your margins. After that, pick a company like DCL that you know your future is going to be fine, because they are in this for the long haul.”
More About iOgrapher
iOgrapher was started by David Basulto, a film industry veteran, turned high school media arts and animation teacher. He was frustrated by the limited supply of easy-to-use cameras, and while allowing his students to use iPhones and tablets, he knew he could make improvements. He made the first two-handled tablet holder with a home 3D printer, and it worked! It was the beginning of his journey as the inventor of many more filmmaking accessories to come. His business is thriving in this pandemic environment, because he has pivoted his marketing efforts to a new target audience. With most of his regular clients being sidelined during this time he decided his new target is people who need to stream and create videos at home—and it’s working! A true entrepreneur and inventor, iOgrapher’s business has been booming with dentists, teachers, doctors, and many more professionals who need help getting their videos to a now all-online community. iOgrapher has plenty of starter kits for those trying to do video at home for the first time.
