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TRANSITIONING Steve Lipic knew the key to long term

success was to focus on the goals his

TO clients were trying to achieve, not just
the underlying products that are part

of the process…

ENGAGEMENT teve Lipic, Principal of Lipic’s Engagement (formerly known as

Lipic’s Recognition) says he had an epiphany of sorts at the first
SEnterprise Engagement Alliance conference four years ago in
Westchester County, NY, where the original framework for Enterprise
Engagement was launched.
His frm, which he purchased from his father, was founded in 1863 as
a writng instrument manufacturer. Over the decades, many companies
like Lipic came to discover that there was also a signifcant market for their
products in the promotonal products and gif marketplaces. It was out of
that trend that Lipic’s Recogniton emerged about 15 years ago.
SERVICE AND ACCESSIBILITY
While Lipic’s annual sales run into seven fgures and the frm handles
many natonal accounts, it tends to focus on companies based near its St.
Louis headquarters because, as Steve Lipic puts it, “It’s all about customer
service and accessibility. The more involved we become with our clients’
business, the more they appreciate the fact that we can easily get over
to their ofces to brainstorm in person.” Consequently, most of the frm’s
clients are good-sized organizatons you’ve likely never heard of unless
you’re from St. Louis or the surrounding area.
Lipic, a Cornell graduate who become involved with the family
business 18 years ago, says he has always believed the key to long
term success is to focus on the goals his clients are trying to achieve,
not just the underlying products that are part of the process. At that
first Enterprise Engagement Alliance conference, Lipic says he clearly
saw the broader context in which his products were being used and
realized that he could offer his clients a formal framework for applying a
broader range of services.
THE SHIFT TO ENGAGEMENT
About two years ago, the company began making some fundamental
changes. While not taking his eye of the ball of the core business, Lipic
began to actvely prepare himself and key members of his staf to ofer
a broader range of products and services. The new focus was to apply
a formal framework to help them develop and implement strategies
to achieve specifc sales, marketng, human resources and community-
building goals with the support of all of the people critcal to success.

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engagement strategies Vol.17 Issue 4 25
engagement strategies Vol.17 Issue 4 25