Friday, July 8, 2011

Where did June go?


I just realized that I didn’t post a blog the entire month of June! It has been a crazy month. Onsite visits to CPrint International affiliates, a week-long sales summit in Chicago for printers from around North America, and a week of R & R in Mexico made the month fly by.

It has just been hard to keep up because of all the positive changes in the print industry and keeping up with success stories and changes. I have been sharing regularly online with my Twitter posts. You can find me on Twitter at JohnG247. As I find cool information I try to get it out immediately. I also keep up with my Facebook comments.

The news I’m hearing from the printers I work with is good. For most of them, sales are up. The reason is that they are embracing new technology and getting in front of their customer and introducing it to them. They are getting into customers who would never see them before because they have a new message: “Let us help you get more leads and increase your business.” Customers who want new business are willing to give time to vendors who might have ideas to help them get it.

Usually I hear that the summer months are slow times for most printers. Yet the printers who I work with who are actively selling to their customers aren’t seeing the sales peaks and valley from month to month. They have steady work that is growing because they are consistently calling on their top customers and new prospects. The owners are out selling and spending at least 50 percent of their day communicating with customers about new jobs.

By the way, selling isn’t making a delivery and then asking if they have any more work. These printers are identifying the customers who need their services and then getting appointments to tell the customers about the benefits of using their services. They are developing a sales funnel that keeps their name in front of customers and generating leads to follow. They aren’t just sitting back and waiting for someone to call.

What type of work are they getting? They are reporting that customers are throwing away their old print collateral and reprinting it with QR codes. They are redesigning print collateral to match the look-and-feel of the website information. They are selling website services and mobile marketing programs. The sales are all related to getting a customer more leads so they can sell more.

I hope June went as fast for you as it did for me. July and August are going to be just as busy. I don’t know if the economic engine is speeding up or if the printers I work with have found the magic formula to get more sales, but it is keeping me busy. It makes for an exciting ride when you are focused on growing your company.

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