Promote and Prosper

When Nate Segall, current president of the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID), chose to become involved in leadership roles with NAID, he did so with a focus on the marketing and customer education goals of the association.

Segall, a co-owner of AccuShred, Toledo, Ohio, has a bachelor of science

The attention to marketing and customer knowledge is just one way in which AccuShred has helped distinguish itself as a regional secure destruction service provider after just five years in the business.

AccuShred may have launched in 2002, but the company was created from family business roots that trace back to the late 1930s.

In 1939, State Metal and Paper was founded by a great-great uncle of the company’s current president, Barry Gudelman. That company continues operations today as a recycler of scrap paper and ferrous and nonferrous scrap metal.

"To extend our focus on recycling, we formed AccuShred in 2002," says Gudelman. "It has become a growing part of our family-owned business."

Segall, who is also a vice president with State Metal and Paper, has helped spearhead that growth by taking a thorough approach to understanding customers and their needs. "When we first expanded into the shredding business, we spent a lot of time listening to business managers tell us what they wanted," says Segall. "This led us to specialize in four areas: scheduled container service, purge and file box cleanout services, a drop-off service and a witnessed destruction service."

In addition to this insight from prospective information destruction customers, Segall credits feedback and advice from potential suppliers, such as Mike Boehringer of EZ-Shred, Evelyn Jefferson of Allegheny Paper Shredders and the late John Bartell of Ameri-Shred.

"We decided it dovetailed nicely into what we were doing, but we also knew we wanted to keep the operation separate," says Segall. "We realized it needed to be in a separate building in order to provide the complete security our customers expected and deserved."

Their intention to do so was confirmed after making initial contact with NAID. "Evelyn at Allegheny helped introduce us to NAID and its certification, and we knew we wanted to be certified right out of the gate," says Segall.

Once Gudelman and Segall were convinced that confidential shredding was in their future, Segall determined that involvement with NAID offered him an ideal chance to gain knowledge rapidly.

"I wanted to get involved and learn as much as I could," recalls Segall. "I realized early on, by attending NAID events, that the people attending were extremely forthcoming about the business. The conferences were extremely valuable to our business."

But the relationship was not a one-way street for very long. Segall made the decision to run for a seat on NAID’s board of directors and also accepted the opportunity to lead NAID’s public relations committee. "I thought my marketing background could be helpful to the association," says Segall. "When I ran for the board, I wanted to pursue and to push to create more marketing materials, because I believe they greatly increase the association’s value to its members," he comments.

"The need for data destruction services has exploded," Segall says. "So when I ran for the board, I wanted to find more and better ways for members to tell our industry’s story."

Thanks to Segall’s support, NAID now has several brochures available for use by its members on topics ranging from the information destruction aspects of specific laws and regulations to one of the most recent ones on the benefits to consumers of outsourcing office shredding versus having employees perform the task in house. Segall’s involvement with NAID led to him becoming president-elect in 2006.

At the same time Segall was devoting time and energy to his NAID duties, he was the key person driving the growth of AccuShred in Toledo.

"We have been providing information destruction services for five years and have had double-digit growth each year," says Segall.

Both Segall and Gudelman cite attention to customer service and a flexible approach to providing service as keys to the company’s early success.

"There are two principles that guide our business philosophy," says Segall . "The first is customer service, which can sound like a cliché but truly is how we run our business. It is as simple and as important as always having a knowledgeable team member answering the phone. It is customizing our services to fit the needs of a single client. It is not ignoring the individual with a small bag of mail that needs to be destroyed. The way we live customer service makes it more than a cliché for us."

Behind the service, AccuShred must also live up to the level of security that it promises. "The second principle is our commitment to being informed on current and pending legislation and disseminating that information to our current and prospective customers," Segall says. "This business is largely based on trust and a comfort level with your information destruction partner. We believe to earn that trust we must be well educated and informed on the regulations and issues that impact our customers’ business—even more informed than our customers themselves. And we must accept the responsibility to be torchbearers, constantly educating the marketplace."

Adhering to these two principles helps AccuShred compete in what the company’s leaders acknowledge is a very competitive regional market.

"The market in our region remains a challenge," says Segall. "Business is very competitive throughout all the sectors we service, which means any expense item gets scrutinized closely. But it comes back to education. Our biggest competitor is still the organization that fails to recognize the value of outsourcing its information destruction and continues to handle it internally."

The tactic of marketing through providing knowledge has helped Segall’s NAID involvement tie in nicely with AccuShred’s own business plan.

"Customers need a comfort level from us that we do things the right way," says Segall. "Our AAA certification from NAID speaks to the fact that we take our business very seriously and can be that partner for education and compliance."

The company’s resulting annual double-digit growth has allowed it to expand its shredding capacity and widen its service offerings to include electronic information destruction and computer recycling. "Although there are many techniques available today for the destruction of electronic information, we felt that absolute physical destruction and complete recycling were the responsible choices to satisfy our clients’ needs," says Segall.

In addition to providing plant-based destruction with a 75-hp shredder manufactured by Allegheny Paper Shredders, the company has also purchased a mobile shredding truck. "We bought a pre-owned truck made by UltraShred from a company out in California," says Segall. "We had been getting enough calls asking about on-site shredding that we decided we needed to address that market."

AccuShred operates from an office and plant in a free-standing building located on the State Paper and Metal property. "We’re fortunate to have a separate secure building that is paid for and trailers we can use because of our State Paper and Metal roots," notes Segall. "We have always had a focus on maintaining low overhead, which has allowed us to be value priced without compromising our security or service levels."

AccuShred’s growth has allowed it to acquire its own additions to the fleet. "We now have a mixture of vehicles, including box trucks and a Dodge Sprinter van for the secure collection of materials as well as our mobile shredding truck for on-site destruction," says Gudelman. "When needed, we also have access to tractor-trailers through our parent company, which is a nice advantage."

The duo is pleased with the Dodge Sprinter van, which can be driven by any licensed driver, gets good fuel mileage and still has significant storage room. "We can put about 10 totes or 6,000 pounds of payload in there," says Segall.

AccuShred trucks also serve as "rolling billboards" to promote secure shredding. Its mobile shredding truck has a mural that displays file folders, a fierce looking crocodile and a pile of shredded paper combined with the wording, "Your documents. Our shredder. Any questions?"

The company’s growth has also meant the addition of people, not just trucks and equipment.

AccuShred has added Chuck Small in a sales management role to help drive

Like the company’s founder, he is dedicated to the marketing and education focus. "I would still say that 50 percent of the available market is not educated about our industry to any great degree," Small says.

AccuShred’s leaders are optimistic that more years of company growth lie ahead of them. The company’s location in Toledo near the crossroads of major north-south and east-west interstates provides one source of optimism. "I would say our fastest-growing market right now is Southeastern Michigan," says Segall.

Owning a mobile shredding truck has also opened up a whole new market, says Small, citing government agencies as particularly receptive to on-site shredding.

Segall cautions, though, that preparing for change remains a reason to stay vigilant. "Strategic planning is a continual process for us."

At the same time, the company turns away from fast growth for the sake of hitting a higher number. "We love growth and have very high expectations, but we will never let it compromise our level of dedication to customer service," says Segall.

Growing and evolving is important to AccuShred to the extent that some strategic planning must remain guarded. "Of course, we think we have some very innovative ways to add value, but we’ll keep those to ourselves for now," Segall concludes. n