Introduction:
Strategic thinking, marketplace comprehension, product
expertise and technological
proficiencies are attributes that will help TrinityGroup
Senior Consultant Bob Steele develop exciting new concepts
and programs within your organization. He can help bring
resolution to issues your organization faces as it
experiences the rapid channel shift from the familiar CBA
marketplace into the wider trade marketplace.
Background:
Business Development/Marketing/Strategic
Planning
Visioning, creating and developing are they key
tools employed by founder Bob Steele. Since entering the
Christian products marketplace in 1971 as a retailer, Bob has
focused on building and applying those foundational skills
both within the Christian marketplace and in the general
market through his parallel career. One of the Trinity Group's
driving forces is Bob's understanding for the need for change
management. Good enough is no longer good enough in our fast
paced market. Let TG help you anticipate the changes that are
coming, plan for them, execute your plan and measure your
results.
Technology - As a retailer, Bob recognized the
need to leverage technology to help him run his store more
efficiently. Problem was, there wasn’t a whole lot of technology
available then. Bob grew up with, around and in technology. Pursuing this passion led him to leave
Christian retail 9 years later - only to serve it from a
broader platform! Joining Spring Arbor during the early
start-up stage, Bob oversaw the Retail Systems group -
responsible to all services the distributor provided to
retailers. He was
the innovator behind the thousands of small hand held ART terminals
that flooded the market in the 80's and launched electronic order entry in
the Christian marketplace. Bob also researched and initiated
Spring Arbor's alliance with POS vendor
IBID in 1984. IBID became the leading POS vendor in both
the trade and Christian retail markets.
Standards - Other areas of
industry specific expertise range from the early involvement
in standards groups such as serving on the BISAC (Book
Industry Standards Advisory Committee) in the mid 1980’s. Bob
was an active member of the subcommittee that recommended the
current EAN/ISBN bar-coding standard. During the same time
period, he was responsible for initiating and chairing the CBA
Subject Category committee in 1986 before leaving Spring Arbor
in 1987. When returning to Spring Arbor in 2000, ironically,
Bob was placed on the industry subject category committee.
What might that say about our industry?
eCommerce - Again in the 90’s, technology was
the driving factor in bringing Steele back into actively
serving the Christian marketplace. In 1994, he put a team
together to bid on the ECPA RFP to build and maintain an
industry standard Christian products database. However the
project was awarded to RR Bowker. Continuing to find ways to
leverage technology, the effort was not wasted as that led to
the conceptualization, development and
launch of TrinityZone.com, the Internets first full-line
Christian bookstore. Bob operated the store for several years
and
sold it to crosswalk.com in 1999.
Technology won’t solve and can’t solve all of your problems, but with our
skill set covering both technology and management practices,
we know we can make a difference in your organization.
Key Benefits
Capabilities
Strategic Planning/Business Development
Since 1981, Bob Steele has developed a hands on
style in leading
Strategic Planning for many types of organizations - both as a
senior manager and as a consultant. This process is designed to help management
recognize and address change and provide for the systematic development. It
is designed to create a new future by
re-focusing or re-emphasizing your basic purpose (mission)
and utilizing available or repositioned resources to achieve a preferable future (vision).
Business development project creation and implementation have
become the common outcome of such planning.
Industry Standards
Need help either from a technical
or strategic perspective on the use of the many industry
standard issues facing suppliers today? Are you ready for
ONIX? Do you know what ONIX is? How about the next biggest
retail revolution - epc’s. Will you be ready? Can your systems handle
the new EAN/ISBN numbering standards in 2007? Did you know CBA
Gift & Apparel standards went into effect in March 2003. Let us
help sort out the issue for your organization.
Training & Education
Since 1981, Bob Steele has been
making presentations to thousands or Christian retailers in
hundred of cities across the country. Is Christian retail a
business or a ministry? Does your organization want to sponsor
a series of the popular retail seminars to help your key
accounts operate more effectively and be more successful? A
better managed store means more sales for the kingdom, better
selection for the customer, more profits to support the store and increased sales for the supplier.
Database Functionality
Information sells! – more so than
ever before. Is your organization positioned to be able to
respond to the supply chains increased demand for information
that will help sell your products? Are you ready for meta
data? Do you know what kind of information on-line shoppers
are after when they look at your products? What’s important to
them? Find out and be ready…..
Industry
Standard/Committee involvement :
2000
to current – Member of ECPA Christian Products Standards
Group (CPSG)
serving on the Christian Product Code committee and chairing
the Future Technologies group.
2000
to current – Member of CBA Gift & Apparel Committee
2000
to 2001 –
CMTA
(Christian Music Trade Association) Board of Directors
2000
to 2001 – Oversaw collection and processing of all
industry
SoundScan data
1986
to 1987 – Initialized and Chaired the first
CBA
Subject Category Committee
1984
to 1987 – Served
BISAC
Committee and several subcommittees
