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Holier than thou
Father Bernard McCoy CEO, Lasermonks
We always try to give you
something a little different, and this year Father Bernard McCoy became
the first-ever monk to address an OFFICE PRODUCT conference.
Fr Bernard was not on hand to read grace before the gala dinner,
however, but rather to impart his wisdom as CEO of one of the fastest
growing OP companies in the US! Although monk first, OP CEO second, Fr
Bernard has still found time to grow LaserMonks into one of the most
talked-about resellers in the business. And peel back from the obvious
novelty factor involved, LaserMonks has a compelling model that is
rather difficult to compete with.
After covering its costs and supporting the monastery, all profits go
to charity. Couple this with highly competitive prices and keen
attention to customer service, and it has all gone down rather well
with customers, who have seen it balloon from a $2,000 cottage industry
in 2002 to projected sales of as much as $3 million in 2004!
Fr Bernard gave fascinated delegates the lowdown on how and why he and
his fellow Cistercian monks started the business up, as well as a few
tips on some of the finer points of customer service – like personally
delivering an inkjet cartridge 300 miles in the private monk plane!
LaserMonks does not fit in with the traditional concept of monks, but
Fr Bernard pointed out that all monasteries have to support themselves
somehow, and many of the old ways (farming etc) are no longer
practical. He said: “There are a couple of us throughout North America
that are obviously moving in slightly different directions. One of my
brother houses in Oregon does wine warehousing. So what did I do? I sat
down and I said, ‘OK boys, what resources do we have, and how can we
support ourselves? We don’t have a lot of people, we don’t have a lot
of land. It’s a new world. What do we do?'” So LaserMonks was born.
And the monks have some ambitious plans. Not only has Fr Bernard
expanded into full line office products, but plans are underway to
expand the concept globally! Hallelujah!
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