ATLANTA, Georgia (Feb. 6, 2001) - As “clicks-and-mortar” e-commerce stores closed up virtual shop left and right during the late 2000 dot com shakedown, EPM, Inc. (http://www.epm.com), a privately-held company specializing in hard-to-find and metric seals and gaskets, not only survived intact but actually flourished - to the tune of over 100,000 hits per week with a projected 40% increase in sales for 2001.
The company’s secret, says EPM President Jerry Whitlock, a.k.a. “The Seal Man,” lies in thoroughly understanding its customer base and continually improving product selection and services to give the customers what they want. A no-brainer? Maybe - but in the fast-paced frenzy of pre-IPO dot com start-up activity over the past couple of years, says Whitlock, good old-fashioned customer service has fallen by the wayside in CEOs’ quests to become overnight millionaires.
“I didn’t just decide to start selling parts yesterday,” says Whitlock, who was profiled in Thomas Petzinger, Jr.’s The New Pioneers, third on the list of top ten bestsellers at Amazon.com in 1999. “I’ve been in the seal and gasket business for almost 30 years, and in that time I’ve learned the industry inside and out. But when I set up shop on the Internet over five years ago, the most important lesson I took from the offline world was simply this: if I don’t meet my customers’ needs, someone else will.”
A recipe for overnight millions? No. But then The Seal Man’s site is still going strong, while others are choking on red ink.
In keeping with his commitment to customer service, The Seal Man has just added a 59-minute fast quote service to his 2,500-page site. EPM has also recently installed a new machine that makes seals up to 60 inches without the use of molds. “Before we added our Mega Turbo Seals Machine, customers typically had to wait six to eight weeks for molded seals in this size range,” explains Whitlock. “But now EPM is able to produce seals in a matter of minutes, without the use of molds.”
The Seal Man plans to stick to his customer-service philosophy as the Internet continues to evolve. The face of e-commerce may change, he reasons, but there will always be customers with specific needs. And if the last five years are any indication, The Seal Man will surely be the one to meet them.
CONTACT:
Jerry Whitlock, “The Seal Man”
EPM, Inc.
Tel: 770-389-0501
Fax: 770-389-0652
seals@epm.com
http://www.epm.com
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