John Giles: Printing, Technology and Being Social

When Did You Make Your Last Sales Call?

2011-11-15T11:55:00.000-05:00

You notice a pattern when you ask successful printers why they are having success in this down economy. Almost every one of them attributes their success to making sales calls. They get out from behind their front counter and go out and see customers on a daily basis.

In most cases, the owner is the sales person and he or she is the one who is visiting their top 25 customers and top prospects. They may have sales people working for them, but they have those sales people doing the same sales activities.

Why are successful printers out selling? It is because they know they will eventually lose some of their top customers so they are always working to replace them. Sure they call on their top customers to keep that business, but the majority of the successful printer’s efforts is in calling on prospects. They are looking for prospects who can become significant customers providing them with at least $1,000 a month in sales.

Some not so successful owners complain they don’t have time to get outside the shop and sell because they are too busy producing the work for customers who walk in the door. Where would time be better served? Producing a $50 copier order or making a sales call on a prospect with $50,000 in printing per year?

CPrint President Todd Nuckols always says that most printers don’t have a sales problem. He says they have a production problem. They haven’t organized to get the work out so they are stuck doing production rather than selling.

The first step in correcting this problem is putting someone in charge of production and getting out and making sales calls. An owner should be spending the majority of his or her day telling customers about the benefits of using them and then asking for the sale.

The industry has changed. If you aren’t out asking for the business you won’t survive. People don’t walk into print shops any more with big accounts. You have to go where the printing is and that is at the customer’s office.

If you are a print owner, you need to stop what you are doing in the shop and turn it over to one of your employees and go make a call on a potential customer. It could be the first step in insuring you have a future in this industry.

CPrint Affiliates Beating National Sales Growth Averages

2011-11-10T11:50:00.004-05:00

CPrint International affiliates’ 2011 sales growth over 2010 is beating the national average when compared to the latest NAPL report.. According to Todd Nuckols, president of CPrint, 64% of CPrinters in the national board program are turning in an average sales gain of 16% this year. Previously NAPL reported that sales for quick and small commercial printers overall are expected to be relatively flat (-0.3%) for all of 2011.

“CPrint affiliates are affected by the downturn in the economy,” said Nuckols, “but they are adding new services and increasing sales activities to drive more sales. Many have shifted their sales efforts from commodity-type printing to marketing and printing and have integrated web services to increase their sales of collateral printing.

Because of CPrint’s emphasis on current financial information, the affiliates can manage their financial strength to take advantage of new opportunities. The sales growth is tied to the company’s overall profitability. We are not only seeing increases in sales numbers, but increases in company profits.”

According to the NAPL report, less than 40% of those quick and small commercial printers surveyed now expect their business to grow this year, still higher than the 31.6% who expect sales to decline, but down sharply from a few months ago.

“We’re seeing optimism within CPrint,” said Nuckols. “By keeping a close eye on the financial situation, CPrint affiliates are better prepared to deal with the outside influences that affect costs. This allows them to concentrate on learning about new products and services to sell and getting in front of customers and selling.
“By no means has 2011 been an easy year for our affiliates,” said Nuckols. “The affiliates have the same pressures of direct material, payroll and overhead costs others have, but they are actively managing these areas. The combination of financial management and selling activities are the main reason for having growth while competitors falter.”

If you are a printer and want to find out more about joining the CPrint organization, visit www.cprint.com.

QR Codes Do Work

2011-11-08T10:38:00.002-05:00

There are a number of discussions online among printers that QR codes don’t work. Some say they are just a fad. Among the reasons these printers believe QR “fail” give are, “None of my customers know what QR codes are” and “My customer used it once and they didn’t get any additional business.” Another argument for QR failing is, “My customers have never asked for them.”

I can only conclude that the printers who are promoting the failure of QR codes have never made a sales call to explain QR codes to their customers and they are ignoring the QR codes popping up all around them. Pick up any national magazine or paper and you see QR codes. Go to the local grocery story, restaurant chain or national home repair store such as Home Depot and look at the QR codes scattered throughout. It is hard to believe that some printers don’t think QR codes are gaining traction in the marketplace.

QR code projects do fail because the person using the code used it incorrectly. QR codes need to send viewers to web sites where the customer can be interactive with the customer. Just sending a person to a desktop site that is reduced down to 2 point type on a smartphone isn’t going to lead to a good buying experience. QR codes need to send viewers to videos that educate and inform. The viewers need to go to sites where they can get coupons, directions, or easily make contact with the QR code creators. There are infinite uses. It is up to the printer to explain those uses to a customer so they will be used correctly.

But that requires the printer getting out from behind their counter and making a sales call. It requires a printer to have a smartphone and demonstrate the different ways QR codes can be used. It also requires a printer to understand mobile sites and be able to provide the technical support needed for a customer to have a mobile presence.

QR codes are successful. The QR codes don’t fail to take a viewer to a site. The failure is that the QR code creator sends the viewer to the wrong site where there isn’t any value for the user.

Want to increase your sales? Make a sales call and tell your customers about QR codes. This gives the print buyer the reason to reprint their marketing print collateral with QR codes today. Think of how many leads the customer might be losing without the QR code sending the viewer to additional information to help turn the prospect into a customer.

Printers Need To Evolve

2011-11-03T11:19:00.002-04:00

There are a lot of printers going out of business or about to go out of business because they can’t change their business model. Customers no longer walk in and ask for something to be duplicated. The day of commodity printing is over. People no longer need forms to collect information. It is now done on a computer. What print customers now need is help in finding the best way to communicate their message with their customer. The answer isn’t always ink on paper.

A recent report by John Stewart for the National Association of Quick Printers found that the average age of a print shop owner was in the mid-50s. They opened their business when making a copy required expensive equipment. Today, everyone has a copier attached to their home and business computer. The print services people are buying have changed. Those services aren’t best served by having a walk-in location in a high traffic area.

Printers need to add new services that take advantage of the Internet. One area would be content development for electronic media. Adobe and Quark have released new software will help printers and designers turn their InDesign and Quark files into documents and apps that can be read on iPads, tablets and smartphones. If the major page layout software developers are taking their businesses into a new electronic direction, printers might want to follow. Adobe has also introduced a line of apps to create content on tablets including a Photoshop type of app. If printers are going to survive and compete they must now learn how to create content that will work in environments other than on paper.

Website development, mobile marketing, QR codes and other Internet related products can be integrated with print to make a message stronger. Printers will have to learn about and provide these services in some way if they expect to compete in the new electronic communications world.

Printers don’t have to go out of business. They need to evolve their business. That evolution needs to begin today.

Printer Need To Change The Discussion

2011-10-11T10:34:00.002-04:00

The most powerful selling tool for printers is still face-to-face contact with the customer. Mailings and social media are need to soften the customer and turn a cold call into a warm sales call. They help build a relationship with the customer so he is more open to discussing moving his business. The technology tools are used to build a relationship. The personal call is used to discuss specific benefits of using the printer and close the deal.

To be successful, a printer must change the face-to-face discussion from being about the cost of the printing to being about the value of the printing’s results to the customer. Printers can learn a lot about a customer’s needs if they just start having a conversation about the customer’s business.

The real issue in the relationship between the printer and the customer isn’t how cheap then printer can sell the customer a product. It is about how much revenue can the customer gain from using the right communication tools. Printers must get the discussion away from pennies per impression to dollars gained in sales from using the printed material. If a new customer means thousands of dollars additional revenue to the printing buyer that price of the printing becomes less of an objection. Printers have to focus on the results of the printing rather than the costs.

When printers start having a conversation about a customer's sales needs, they can uncover hundreds of print and communication opportunities. Does a customer have the print collateral to support the web site? Are QR codes used to drive customers to the Internet? Is mobile marketing available? Is mailing being done to push customers to the web? Each of those questions should lead to answers that include print solutions. A customer doesn't know what he needs until the printer explains the possibilities.

The benefit a printer offers a prospect shouldn't be how much money the prospect will save. It should be that the printed material and distribution will help a customer get more leads that can result in additional sales. Talk to your customers about how they get their leads and how they are attempting to increase sales and you will find a number of products and services they need to buy from you.

Email and Text Replacing Telephones

2011-10-03T14:08:00.001-04:00

The way people communicate in business is changing and one big change is how people react to email. In today’s business world, people are responding faster to email inquiries as opposed to telephone voice messages. Printers need to review how they are communicating with their current customers and prospects and whether or not they need to change their procedures.

Several LinkedIn discussion groups have discussed how email is changing how the sales people are reaching customers. You may want to consider email as part of your approach to gaining leads and follow ups on estimates and quotes. Because of email, customers are expecting estimates in hours. Printers should be following up on estimates within hours since decisions are now being made faster because of email.

One procedure every printer should practice is getting the customer’s email address when getting contact information. Not only will you want email addresses to contact customers about their orders, but you will also want the address so you can start emailing newsletters and other important information. Email newsletters should complement the printed newsletter because different customers will want the information in different ways. You will want to make sure that you have permission to use a customer’s email address for your newsletter and other marketing material.

Texting is fast becoming a common way to reach customers. Experts predict businesses can soon expect the majority of contact with customers be via text messaging. Younger customers already response quicker to a text message than an email or a telephone call. Printers will have to start learning more about Short Message Service (SMS). SMS is a text messaging service component of phone, web, or mobile communication systems that allow the exchange of short text messages between fixed line or mobile phone devices. You can text message from your phone or from a computer.

You may want to start asking customers what is the best way to reach them: telephone, email or text message. It will be cumbersome in the beginning, but as more younger print buyers start using your services, you will need to be able to easily contact them.

QR Codes and Wide Format

2011-08-30T09:55:00.001-04:00

If you are a printer doing wide format and signs, you might want to think about the different ways businesses are using QR codes. I have seen a number of point-of-purchase displays featuring QR codes to direct customers to online information. It could be a money maker for you.

Not sure what the value is for this type of service? You will want to visit http://www.Mobilinkpro.com. The online service creates signs with QR codes for customers. One of their major markets is real estate. The website offers a set of three generic real estate rider sign for $39 for a set and a set of 10 for $99. It also offers generic window cling signs for the same price. For an additional price, a person can order relinkable QR codes.

Just think about the number of businesses that need a QR code to send customers to sign up to follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

Teach Customers About QR Codes

2011-08-23T10:47:00.002-04:00

If you are having trouble explaining the power of QR codes to your customers, you will want to add this video to your presentation and your YouTube site.

This video shows the big growth in QR code use and why it is important in today’s culture. You will want to promote the video on your website, Facebook page as well as tweet about it to your followers. To view the video, click here.

PDF Editing Help Online

2011-08-19T09:10:00.000-04:00

Ever have a questions about how to do something with a PDF file? A new web-based resource from Planet PDF will answer specific question about using PDF files.

The website provides answers about how to perform certain tasks, how to fix annoying problems or even which tools your peers recommend for your PDF-related projects. According to the creators, the primary goal behind the Planet PDF Q&A platform is to get the best possible answers to every answerable PDF question out there.

The prepress department in your shop will want to bookmark http://qa.planetpdf.com/.

The Cure For Summertime Blues

2011-08-15T15:33:00.001-04:00

Is the summer a bad time for printers? Over the years I have heard that July and December were down months. Printers could expect to see their sales plummet twice a year as print buyers took vacation or enjoyed the holidays.

That sounds logical, but the more printers I meet the more I begin to think this is just an urban myth. I am finding there are printers have smoothed out the roller coaster sales ride by constantly working on increasing sales. They don’t stop their sales activities when they get busy with printing. They keep making sales calls. They use the same tools and technology they are selling to customers to improve their own sales.

The new products and services driving successful print companies relate to helping customers get more leads. QR codes, websites, variable data printing, mobile marketing, mailing, Personal URLs, ebroadcasts, and social media are tools that help send a targeted message meant to improve a brand and create interest in a company. The successful printers use these tools to get more of their own leads and to demonstrate how the tools can help their customers.

Buying doesn’t stop in the summer and neither should selling activities. Most printing customers don’t shut their businesses down in the summer. The reality is that it isn’t customers who stop buying in the summer. The printer stops selling. Vacations, longer days and warm weather can change a company’s focus and lazy summer days become lazy selling days.

Print companies must continue their selling activities every day. They need to be touching customers in some way constantly so they will be the first printer a customer thinks about when they want to order something.

For a print shop to be successful, they have to develop a sales funnel to keep touching the customers. With websites, e-newsletters, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc., printers can easily keep an ongoing dialog with their customers year round. They just got to do it.

No printer should be slow in the summer. They should be busy touching customers, making sales calls and asking for the order.

Mobile Web Site Opportunities

2011-07-20T11:00:00.003-04:00

Ever use your smartphone to visit and website and find it is difficult to read and navigate? That is because the site is optimized for a computer screen and not a smartphone. If you have a website or sell websites, you will want to make sure you are selling the additional service of creating a mobile site that is easily read online.

One service you might want to check out is http://iflymobi.com/. It allows you to build and launch mobile-optimized web pages quickly. The site says that you don’t need HML knowledge to create a site. It allows you to upload a logo, create pages, enter text and setup links.

There is a monthly fee. The company has a 14-day free trial so you may want to download it and try it out. It could be another web-based service to add your arsenal.

If you are selling QR codes, you will also want to make sure that your customer’s website is optimized for smartphones. Mobile marketing projects that link QR codes to specific web pages have opportunity to generate a lot of collateral printing.

Don't Forget QR Codes

2011-07-14T10:09:00.003-04:00

If you are a printer, one of the first questions you should ask your customer when he gives you a job is if they need a QR code on the printed piece. Quick Response (QR) codes are becoming very common in the U.S. to drive prospects to mobile websites. With the growth of smartphone use, more people can quickly access

CNN reports a February survey of U.S. smartphone users by MGH, a Baltimore social-media marketing company, said 32% of respondents said they have scanned a QR code. Of those, 53% said they used the code to get a coupon or discount. And 72% said they were more likely to remember an advertisement with a QR code.

Another big bump will be for QR code use is coming from the US Postal Service. They are running a discount promotion if you use QR codes in the mailing. Visibility will also be increased when Valpak, the advertising envelope starts putting QR codes on the outside of the envelope and on individual inserts. Over the next two months Valpak will mail more than 80 million households with the QR Codes resolving to mobile pages providing additional information and sweepstake entry.

People now know what QR codes are. The smartphone is the most popular phone in the US now and the tool you need to read them. Printers should be jumping on this opportunity to get people to throw away their old marketing material and reprint new ones with QR codes include. And when a customer asks why should they throw away the old material, just ask them how many leads are they missing because they don’t have the QR code on their material now? The value is that high.

Don’t Ignore the Web

2011-07-11T09:42:00.000-04:00

As printers search for new revenue, selling and supporting websites is becoming an exciting new product to sell. Websites integrate easily with printing companies since many printers are already working closely with customers to manage their message.

But there are some printers who do not want to get into web services. Printes don’t have to sell web services, but they must realize that it is important to understand the web if they want to continue printing for a company. Printers will have to become “web experts” because they need to help customers integrate their print collateral with the current web site information even if they don’t maintain the websites.

Combining the power of the web with print is proving to be a powerful vehicle for getting out a message. Any response generated by the web needs some sort of printed information. It might be in the form of brochures mailed to the customer. It could be leave-behinds from a personal sales call. Print is still an important part of the communication process.

Customers need help making sure the printed material matches the web-based material. Is information available both in print and online? Do the logos and colors match helping build the brand? Do the messages from both mediums match? In the rush of business, many customers haven’t really looked at how they have integrated their message and need help. Printers can help the customer be assured that the look and feel of the web and printed material are the same and the customer’s “brand” is protected.

At the same time, printers can be looking at the web to see what mobile marketing and QR code opportunities are available. Has the customer added QR codes to their printed material to drive customers to websites? Does the customer have online video that can use more clicks?

If print owners ignore the web, they are just putting another nail in their coffin. Printing and the web play well together. Neither can be as powerful separately as they can be together. No sales call should be done without a review of the customer’s current website. Printers must understand how a customer is using their web site and what they want to accomplish with it so they can provide the printing support that is needed.

Where did June go?

2011-07-08T10:08:00.000-04:00

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.

It Is Hard To Believe: Customers Lie

2011-05-24T09:33:00.001-04:00

Rising fuel costs are pushing prices up for everything we buy. Printers are seeing jumps in paper and every other thing they buy. The rising costs mean lower profit margins if a printer doesn’t react quickly, but we aren’t seeing a jump in print prices because customers tell the printer it isn’t happening.

Every day I talk to printers who are concerned about raising their prices. They tell me that they can’t raise prices because their customer told them they could get the job cheaper somewhere else. When we drill down in the conversation, I find that usually the printer doesn’t have any facts to what the prices really are. He is just going on what he was told by the customer.

Printers lose jobs every day because of price. A certain percentage of customers requesting a price will make their buying decision on price, but that doesn’t mean everyone buys on price. There is usually one other factor besides pricing that affects the decision.

I think a printer would be hard pressed to find a top 25 customer who buy from them based solely on price. Usually top 25 customers have a history with the printer where the printer has proven it can meet the customer’s needs with a fair price. The printer delivers the job on time. The printer assures the quality is high. The printer will work with the customer’s budget and his emergencies. There are a lot of intangibles that can’t be obtained from the low-priced printer.

Yet printers don’t listen to their top 25 customers when it comes to price. They listen to the person who walked in off the street and is buying his first printing order. He is shocked when the price is high. The printer is listening to the person who just saw a price on the Internet that was low, but doesn’t realize the specifications for the low cost job are limiting. Does he really want the Internet printer’s name and web address on the back of his business card?

Printing isn’t a charity. You can’t give people special prices because they can’t afford the printing. You are allowed to make a fair profit on your products and services. You need to make a fair profit so you can pay your employees and purchase the equipment that gives customers better and faster service.

And the average invoice for most quick printers is in the $300 to $500 range. If you added $25 to the $500 order, would you lose the customer? That is a five percent increase? Would a customer leave you because the bill last time was $300 and now it is $315 to cover your rising costs?

Next time you hear that walk in customer or price shopper complain about your price, just think of your top 25 customers. Did they complain when you stayed late to meet their required delivery date and you charged them the normal price? Your top 25 customers buy from you and your staff because they like you and you give great service at a fair price. Know the facts before you start cutting your prices just because a customer couldn’t afford what you sell.

Now You Can Prove It Is Ugly

2011-05-17T09:39:00.000-04:00

Science may have gone too far. You can now have quantified that print design is ugly. 3M has added automatic face and text detection to its Visual Attention Service, a web-based scanning tool that digitally evaluates the impact of creative and graphic designs. Users simply upload images to 3M’s Web portal and within seconds, the Visual Attention Service (VAS) tool analyzes and reveals the results. The suite of enhancements for the 3M tool also include a mobile application for the Apple iPhone, a plug-in for Adobe Photoshop, an ability to test key areas within a creative design, and new pricing options.

The tool is supposed to help designers identify problems during the creative process.

The tool will indicate which design elements the human eye will react to in the first three to five seconds, providing the accurate, fact-based scientific feedback needed to speed up the revision and approval processes. Websites, photos, creative content, packaging concepts, advertisements and all manner of creative media can be evaluated in different scenes or contexts. For a free trial of VAS, visit http://www.3M.com/vas.

Is Your Website Ugly? The Critics Will Tell you

2011-05-10T11:32:00.001-04:00

Looking at bad design can help you create good design. As more printers start getting into website design, the opportunity to either impress prospects or embarrass yourself with your design skills looms large. Since web design is new to most graphic designers, the site http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com can help you learn what to avoid when design your next website.

The website also includes several lists that outline major or fatal flaws to web design. Some of the flaws include too much Flash navigation, a splash page, taking longer than four seconds for the site to load, and hard to find focal points. Give webpagesthatsuck.com a visit before you start designing a web site and see how your design ideas are going to stack up.

There are good websites out there. Time Magazine has listed the 50 best websites for 2010 at http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,2012721,00.htm.

A printer's experience with good print design will help when it comes to designing a page. You know what looks good and works in print. The same rules apply in design on the web. If you have good designer on staff, let them learn the website creation tools so you can have a new product to sell your customers. Your print customers need websites too.

Don't Forget Designing for Mobile Phones

2011-05-05T09:27:00.000-04:00

Your Internet site isn’t just for the computer anymore. More people are accessing websites through their mobile phones. This means you and your customers will need to create a mobile-friendly alternative to your primary website so the smartphone user can have a better experience.

You may need to get together with your website developer and create a mobile website. It does require changes in layout, design and construction. This means the most important information will have to be at the top of the page. You will want to minimize left/right navigation and arrange content in a single column.

Content will have to be easy to read and navigate. You can select what information you want from your regular website to be displayed on your mobile site. You want to help the user keep from zooming around.

Coding really isn’t that different but most mobile websites are created in either XML or XHTML code. Images are using jpeg, gif or png since they are usually smaller files. Some sites let the user browse with the images turned off. Page size for a mobile page is only Kb, You should keep the Kb small since some users are charned per KB of mobile web data. The maximum page size is 20 Kb, but you should shoot for 10 Kb. Experts say a good mobile website design provides back buttons and links. It is difficult to get around on a mobile phone so avoid dead ends. Make sure all pages are linked to other pages.

QR Codes and Microsoft Tags are a great way of pushing eyes to your new mobile site. Make sure you are printing QR Codes or Microsoft Tags on all of your marketing material so customers can easily find your mobile phone site.

Where Are The Young Guns in Quick Printing?

2011-05-02T09:20:00.001-04:00

Industry consultant John Stewart recently released the 2011-2012 Quick Printing Industry Pricing Study. The document is packed with interesting pricing information, but to me one of the most striking observations was not in pricing, but in the Basic Company Data section. According to the report, the average age of the 350 printers participating in the report was 55 years old. The average age of the company was 28 years.

If this report is representative of the industry, then quick printing is going to go through some major changes in the next 10 years. The age factor raises more questions than answers.

Are younger people not coming into the industry? The baby boomers who started the quick printing industry are still here, but where are their replacements? Are their children going into other industries and forsaking the businesses their fathers and mothers built?

Why aren’t younger people attracted to owning a quick printing business? The industry has become more high tech over that past decade. Profitable shops are computer driven and integrated with the Internet. Don’t younger entrepreneurs see opportunity for their future in printing?

Has the core business changed and older owners just not recognized it? Much of the work that was once the bread and butter of print shops has disappeared. Today’s printing growth is in marketing related printing. This type of printing is integrated with Internet-based services such as social media. It includes variable data printing and data base management. Are younger owners attracted to a new business model where printing is only a minor component in the array of services offered?

Are younger owners just not attracted to associations that do these types of studies? Do the younger owners not see themselves as businesses that put ink on paper, but as more of a communications partner to help customers sell their products and services? Association membership in the printing industry is dwindling. Is it because there are fewer print shops or is it that there are fewer owners who see themselves as traditional printers?

Has the age of quick print owners hampered the advancements in the industry? Does the age of printers cause them to overlook the changes in the way people communicate? Have older owners been too slow to adapt to business and cultural changes to keep their businesses viable for the future?

And the biggest question of all: if young entrepreneurs aren’t coming into the quick printing industry, who will be buying these quick print shops from the soon-to-be retiring owners? Many of the 55 year old owners can probably make some money over the next few years, but can they sell their shop for enough to support their retirement? Have they modernized their business so it will sell? Do they have the trained people on staff? Are they selling the products and services that customers need and want?

There is always going to be printing, but how much printing will there be? I’m hoping the 55-year-old printers are concentrating on making their business something they can sell in the next few years because it doesn’t look like there are going to be many buyers available.

The Post Office Really Can Help

2011-04-26T10:22:00.003-04:00

Mailing is a profit center for many printers and the U.S. Postal Service really is trying to make mailing easier and more profitable for printers. To help, USPS has revamped its online magazine for marketers Website to Deliver. The new “how-to” website at www.delivermagazine.com offers all the direct mail and multichannel marketing strategy content of Deliver.

Delivermagazine.com provides direct marketers and agency professionals with scores of articles, case studies, white papers and online marketing tools to help them grow their businesses through acquisition, retention and brand-building. Delivermagazine.com features the latest research, news and commentary for the direct marketing industry. Article topics include brand marketing, prospecting and green marketing, among other direct marketing strategies.

The site also includes an array of online marketing tools, including a “Direct Marketing 101” series that teaches the basics of an effective marketing strategy, helping marketers make smart use of their resources. “Resource Wizard” helps users search for articles based on business size and marketing needs and includes information on using the Intelligent Mail Barcode.

If you want to make mailing more profitable, check out what the USPS has to offer. They really do seem to be trying to help.

Price Pressures Continue To Grow

2011-04-19T13:02:00.000-04:00

A visit to the grocery store or gas pumps lets us know how quickly prices can change. Pricing are going up quickly and not just for consumers. Printing companies are seeing their costs rise. The question is whether or not printers will react and raise prices or eat the rising costs and suffer the consequences.

I'm continuing to get calls from printers who are complaining that their competitors are “giving work away.” They say they are forced into price wars because a few low-ball printers are messing up the market for everyone and making customers expect to get lower prices.

I can’t agree. Printers are notorious for being poor sales people. Most just wait for customers to call and then react by giving a price. Since studies show that most customers don’t have more than three vendors for any product or service, it is hard to believe that customers are getting that much pricing information to put pressure on a specific market. I can’t believe that print prices are the topic of conversation between business people over lunch or that some printer is actively calling on customers promising the lowest market price.

What I believe is happening is that all customers are looking for the best deal possible and are asking “is this your best price?” Price is only one of the considerations a customer has when selecting a printer, but printers think that since the customer asked the question, then price must be foremost in the decision.
There is always going to be a customer who only goes for the cheapest prices. There are always going to be printers who will do the job below costs just to have work for their employees. The best way to combat this is to get out of the shop, make sales calls, and build a customer base that will pay a fair price for your products and services.

Tom Crouser recently posted a video at his website at www.crouser.com that discusses how lowering your price doesn’t get you additional business or profits. The 18-minute video will help expose some of the myths about pricing and perhaps, keep printers from cutting their price just to get the job.

Printers have to raise prices. The cost pressures are increasing and to delay passing on price increases is unfair to printers and their employees. Printers are in business to make money. There is nothing wrong with asking customers to pay a fair price.

Finding PDF Answers Is Getting Easier

2011-04-06T13:01:00.001-04:00

Ever have a questions about how to do something with a PDF file? A new web-based resource from Planet PDF will answer specific question about using PDF files.

The prepress department in your shop will want to bookmark http://qa.planetpdf.com/.

Learning Bindery Online

2011-03-30T15:46:00.000-04:00

Every single facet of the printing industry is affected by the Internet – even bindery. Bindery is still a semi-automatic and manual function in most shops and the skill sets needed by an employee are specific. For most shops, training bindery workers is a time consuming task.

The Internet is making it easier. YouTube.com has a number of online videos that demonstrate different bindery tasks and offer the best practices. One in particular that caught my attention was FoldFactory.com.

Trish Witkowski, a graphic designer who says she has “a passion for folding,’ has created a website that offers video instructions about different folds, how to create and produce them in a production environment. Trish has a specialized expertise in the area of folding and finishing and is the creator of the FOLDRite brochure folding system.

Visit her site at http://www.foldfactory.com/ and learn about the best practices in folding and finishing. She even provides a free weekly email with a video on the “60-second Super-cool Fold of the Week.”

YouTube is a great source of training for the quick and small commercial printer and should be a regular stop when trying to find answers to production questions.

Are Printers Going To Lose Out Again?

2011-03-12T09:00:00.001-05:00

Are printers going to let someone else make money off a cool communication idea and just sit around waiting to compete for the printing? It seems so as we see new social media support companies popping up around the country to handle the social media mechanics for businesses. These companies are charging premium fees and handling the print buying for their clients because print is important to use when creating followers and fans.

Why can’t printers offer social media services too? They already work with customers in creating and distributing the customer’s message with print. They know how to manage a customer’s printed brand. Why not use those same skills to help customers with their social media?
The printing industry has let this happen before. Graphic designers and ad agencies sell the print buying customer the perceived value part of a project (idea, design, concept, etc.) and leave printers to compete on price and service for the printing portion. Printers can do just as good work, but customers don’t think about printers when getting graphic design.

The same thing happened with PURLs. PODi, the organization that helps set strategic direction in the digital print industry, reported that on many PURL (personal URL) projects, printing costs made up only 10% of the total selling price. The people selling the idea to the customer took the other 90%. Printing became the commodity product in the mix. Someone else sold the value of the project to the customer and left the printer to compete for what was left.

The same thing could happen with social media unless printers get in front of the curve. Printers need to learn and use social media to increase their own sales as well as learn the mechanics so they can do social media services for their customers. It isn’t hard. It doesn’t require a major equipment investment. It is an opportunity that the printing industry shouldn’t let slip through its fingers.

Beyond QR Codes

2011-02-14T11:27:00.000-05:00

You may have started noticing more and more QR (Quick Response) codes popping up around you. Since I started talking about QR codes more than two years ago, the little squares have gone mainstream in the U.S. This trend is expected to continue as more people purchase smart phones with the ability to read the codes. Many printers are reporting that the topic of QR codes helps them get past the gatekeeper and get in front of a different type of print buyer.

Now that you can recognize a QR code, you need start watching for the new AR codes. AR code or Augmented Reality code allows a viewer to see a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are augmented by virtual computer-generated sensory input such as sound or graphics. As a result, the technology functions by enhancing one’s current perception of reality.

If the AR code is viewed through a smart phone or computer-connected camera, the viewer sees something different. A business card becomes a three-dimensional object. A street can have an overlay of digital information over the scene that allows the user to find out more about what he is seeing. Characters and scenes can rise out of the pages of a children’s story book and dance across the pages. The possibilities are endless.

Youtube.com has hundreds of visual examples of AR code applications. Just search for Augmented Reality. For some quick examples of iPhone applications for AR, visit http://www.iphoneness.com/iphone-apps/best-augmented-reality-iphone-applications/. You may even have seen the new Hallmark card television ads for their new AR cards.

AR codes aren't as common as QR codes, but printers should start learning how to create them. They require special software, but they could be another way to make a printer different from his competitors.

If you are a printer or designer and haven't exposed your customers to QR codes, you are doing them a disservice. Any business with an Internet presence needs to be linking the Internet world with the print world. QR codes are easy to create. Printers should also be linking their own web information to any printed material they use to promote the printing company.

If you want to be the printing known for his technological know-how, then make sure you are getting customers to use QR codes on their printed marketing material.

Communication Stereotypes Must Be Broken

2011-01-25T12:14:00.001-05:00

Printers need to think about breaking down their stereotype thinking about the best way to communicate. As a "communications expert," you are going to have to help customers decide what is the best way to broadcast their message. Printers must be able to integrate print, Internet and social media message if they want to help their customer get the greatest message reach.

No one generation limits their communication opportunities. Young or old, people are adapting to the media that best serves their needs. This means a 20-something may prefer print and a 60-something may want emails. It just depends on the individual.

Statistics are backing up that age is the primary factor. If you think it is all about the Internet with young people, you are wrong. North American consumers aged 18-34 year-old prefer to learn about marketing offers via postal mail and newspapers rather than online sources such as social media platforms, according to survey from ICOM, a division of Epsilon Targeting.

Young adults say they prefer direct mail and newspaper advertising over online marketing in every instance except travel. Postal mail has a higher degree of trust for respondents in all age brackets: 36% of respondents in 2010 said information is more private if sent through the mail vs. email or online, up from 29% in 2008.

If you think social media is for the young, then you will be surprised to learn that one of the fastest growing segments of Facebook is women over the age of 55.

What this points out is that when you have a message to communicate you will want to use several different methods to get it out. Today's printing companies will have to focus on the message. Social media and the Internet become just another output device similiar to a press or digital printer. It allows you to duplicate the message and transmit to many.

Printers will need to embrace the new media or find themselves fighting for a smaller portion of the communication market.

Can You Create an Ebook?

2011-01-15T11:53:00.001-05:00

If you are a printer, do you know all the ways a customer will be using the information you print for them? There are more communication channels that print and you might be able to reformat and repurpose the same information for other uses and make more money on the job.

If you use InDesign 4 or above, you can save files so they can be read by ebook readers. Adobe offers step-by-step instructions for setting up ebook documents and exporting the file into the open EPUB ebook format. This format can be read on desktop reading applications, smartphones, and dedicated reading devices. You can learn how to do the formatting by visiting http://www.adobe.com/products/indesign/epub/howto/.

Even the big printers know they have to deal with other communication channels by reformatting their work. Quad/Graphics just announced it is getting into the Apple software business. With the Quad/Graphics Digital Edition platform magazines, catalogs and retail advertising can now be published for the Apple iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. According to the company, the solution gives Quad/Graphics' clients the ability to distribute content by print and mail, digital edition and branded Apple apps.

Quad/Graphics will provide its customers with a client-branded iPad application, developed by ePublishing partner YUDU Media. These apps are made available online at the Apple store, where the printer's clients can offer them for free or set their own sale price.

I expect to see these type of services available for quick and small commercial printers in the future.

Charity Begins at Home

2011-01-06T12:31:00.004-05:00

A recent printer’s email was lamenting the fact that non-profit organizations were always beating on him to lower his prices. He was complaining that because they were “non-profit” he felt obligated to provide a lower price because they weren’t in the business to make money.

I have to disagree. Being a non-profit organization means that an organization does not distribute its surplus funds to owners or shareholders, but instead uses them to help pursue its goals. The organization is also exempt from paying some local, state and federal taxes. It doesn’t mean the organization is poor or that its employees work for free.

In a new book entitled Death to the BCS, the author studied tax records of bowl organization for college football’s end of the season wrap up and found that nearly two dozen bowl directors earned more that $300,000 a year. Most of these organizations are non-profit organizations. I wonder how many printers “donated” printing to their local bowl game?

Of course, there are some organizations that work with volunteers and need the community support from local businesses to do their good deeds, but too many printers believe that any organization that is non-profit has to get a special deal.

It is easy to find out if a non-profit organization really needs help. Most state governments keep records about non-profit groups that show how much money and services really make it to the cause in need. You can also check out legitimate organizations at http://www.guidestar.org./ The Guidestar site gathers and publicizes information about nonprofit organizations. Visitors to the site can even access an organization’s IRS Form 990. This is an annual reporting return that certain federally tax-exempt organizations must file with the IRS. It provides information on the filing organization's mission, programs, and finances. You can even find out how much the organization spent on printing for that tax year.

Discounting is just another way to avoid having to do the hard work of getting out and talking to customers and asking for the order. Discounting might be a selling strategy if the printer was making money and could afford it.

One of the main reasons that printers are going out of business is that they don’t charge enough. I see print owners working 60 to 70 hours a week and still not making any money. They use price as their selling tool and figure the only way to get new business is to be the cheapest vendor.

Non-profit organizations can be top customers for printers. If you are going to discount to a non-profit organization, make sure you still make a profit. A non-profit organization can provide enough printing on a regular basis that a printer could adjust prices because of the large volume of steady work.

If you are going to discount to a non-profit organization, make sure there is something in it for you. You can offer a lower price if the non-profit organization will guarantee a certain sales volume or a certain volume of work.. Don’t lower your price unless the customers is going to give you something in return.

I recommend that every printer be a good neighbor and help sharable organizations when they can. But remember, charity begins at home and we can’t help our neighbors if our house isn’t in order.

The Truth About Print and the Environment

2011-01-04T11:48:00.001-05:00

Printers are battling the misconceptions that printing is bad for the environment. A Youtube.com video from Millcraft Paper provides some very powerful information to raise awareness about the business and environmental benefits of print as an effective marketing communications channel. The campaign aims to dispel the myths and misperceptions that paper and print marketing campaigns are harmful to the environment. Paper and print provide a sustainable means of communication and are an effective medium in a multi-channel marketing campaign.

Besides using the facts raised in the video in your sales presentations, you can also combine the video with a QR code to promote the fact you are “green.” We’re learning that videos have a tremendous impact with used with mobile marketing. The QR code could be included in your newsletter and on post cards.

You can find out more about the “Do you know the facts?” campaign at http://doyouknowthefacts.com/. You can view the Youtube video at http://tinyurl.com/23e4w86.

The topic would also be a good excuse to contact your local environment reporter for the local newspaper. The video raises interesting facts that would make for an interesting news story for the general public. The local reporter could use the facts and interview you for the local angle.

Printers Should Let Light Shine Socially

2010-12-21T11:44:00.001-05:00

Keeping up with social media is tough. Between onsite visits to help printing companies prosper and use the new technology, researching how to use all the new tools, and writing about them, I try to keep up with my blogs, twitter posts, LinkedIn discussions, and Facebook visits. If you are sticking your toe into the social media pool, then you know what I mean when I say that “it is hard.”

My problem is time, but for most printers I talk to, their problem is content. Printers continually tell me they don’t know what to post on the various social media vehicles. A number of printers think that just posting on social media will make them look “needy” and like they are “begging” for work. They cannot separate sales messages from valuable information.

I tell them to keep it simple. What would you want to say to your customers if you were face to face? What information would you want to put in a customer’s hand that would make print buying easier for them? What would you want to train a customer to do correctly to make production easier?

I think any printer who can come up with answers to those questions will have hundreds of topics. Got a link that tells the difference between CMYK and RGB? Have a link that tells a person how to get the best photo from their digital camera? Have a source for online training for Publisher or InDesign that you would like to share? Any of these topics would be of interest to customer s and make you look like the printing expert you are if you would only share them through social media.

But too many printers hide their light under a basket. They don’t realize that sharing information will create a bond with customers that will lead to more sales. They think that offering unsolicited advice is too much like asking for a sale. They rather customers come to them and ask questions.

Customers aren’t going to buy from you unless you ask for the order. Customers won’t order unless they feel comfortable that they are dealing with a professional. You can become the local expert by using social media tools and your website properly.

If you can’t come up with content, it is because you are not out talking to customers. Once you find out what customers need by making a sales calls, you will have enough content to keep your blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts active for months.

Printers Need To Raise Prices

2010-12-15T11:43:00.000-05:00

It is amazing the pricing strategies that some printing companies use to gain new business. One strategy that has been around for ages is to offer discounts for first time buyers to show prospects the quality and service they can receive if they were to become a regular customer. The discount might get the job the first time, but it doesn’t guarantee you will get the next job at the higher price. You just trained your customer that you are willing to give lower prices.

I suggest another tactic you can use with a new customer, especially if creative design is involved, is to raise your regular price 10 to 15 percent. This allows you to test your pricing structure and make sure you aren’t leaving money on the table. Printers create custom work. In the case of most custom manufacturing, the price goes up when the customer selects a manufacturer that provides better service and quality.

The primary reason that most printers are attracted to discounts and low price selling is that it replaces the best way to sell printing. The best way to sell is to get in front of the customer and ask for an order. The reason aso many printers are failing is that they hope that customers will call, ask for a price, and then buy because it is the lowest price they have found. There is too much competition to just sit back and wait for customers to call and then hope a low price will attract them to buy.
The only printers being really successful with that strategy are the low cost producers who maintain their margins by using production efficiencies and keeping sales costs low by selling over the Internet. The typical printer is still a job shop that custom produces every order to the customer’s specifications. Producing custom work has a higher cost and has to be sold at a higher price.

If printers are contacting customers, making sales calls, finding out what customers need, and asking for the order, they won’t have to use discounting and low prices to build sales. Printing customers, especially those who need creative services, are willing to pay to get the high quality and service that only a profitable printer can provide.

So when the next new customer asks for a price, take your regular price and raise it. You may find that the only one really concerned about low prices is you.

Stop Chasing the Money

2010-11-30T10:00:00.001-05:00

As printers expand their services and start competing with other content creators such as ad agencies and PR firms for managed marketing services, they will have to start pricing like their competitors do. The biggest change isn't going to be getting the higher prices, but getting paid up front for the work.

Today in printing, printers are always chasing the money. We work on getting the proof back so we can get the printing done so we can deliver the job so we can wait 45 days for our money. No other industry creates custom work and then charges for it.

The printer who gets involved in managed marketing will get their money faster. Ad agencies, web designers, copywriters, etc., get at least 50 percent of their money up front. Web companies don't even turn on a web site before they are paid in full for their work. Printers who start selling these types of services will be able to do the same thing and get their money up front.

Why get paid before the work is completed? Many of the services will be marketing related. If the idea doesn't work, the blame shouldn't fall on the printer and the penalty be not to be paid. Sometimes the best marketing program can fail, not because of the tools or materials used, but the follow through by the end user. Leads can be generated, but if the customer doesn't follow up on the leads, it isn't going to be successful. Printers don't want to have their money held back because the customer didn't take action.

As successful printers get away from commodity work and move into the higher value managed marketing services, they need to do it right and use the same billing procedures as their competitors. Just think how much more responsive a customer will be if you already have their money and they want their services.

New Direction for Quick Printing

2010-11-18T10:00:00.006-05:00

The future of printing is exciting! I work for CPrint International and we are ending a year where our affiliates have started evolving into what print shops must become if they are to survive. From mobile marketing to web development to social media management, CPrinters are adding services that help their customers get new leads and businesses.

Print is a strong and proven communication tool, but in today's clutter you have to have more. CPrint is showing people how to use the new technology and to integrate it with printing. The exciting thing is that having new strategies for the customers to use puts CPrinters in a completely different catagory than the printer down the street.

Printers are not usually strong sales people, but the new services are making it easy for CPrinters to get in front of hard-to-reach customers and sell. Instead of talking about how low prices and fast delivery times, CPrinters are starting conversations with customers are how to help grow their business with the new services.

CPrinters are getting excited about printing again. We have products and services that customers want and will pay for. Twenty years ago NAQP had an ad campaign for printers that said "We're more than printing." Today CPrinters are just that.

QR Codes Getting Bigger

2010-11-09T10:00:00.001-05:00

If you are looking for something to give you a little credibility with the customer about how big QR codes and mobile marketing is becoming then you will want to check out Google and YouTube.
Google began using QR codes to promote its Local Business service. Google mailed out window stickers with two-dimensional QR codes to the most-searched for or clicked-on businesses in its local business directory. These stickers were sent to more than 100,000 local businesses around the country. Anyone passing by is able to scan the code and get the Google Mobile local directory page for the Favorite Places. The directory pages generally include a map, a phone number, directions, the address, reviews, and a link to the business’ Web site. Local businesses can also set up coupon offers through their Google directory page, which would turn the QR code into a mobile coupon. Google hopes that consumers who are standing at a store window might be enticed to come in and take advantage of a special offer.

QR codes are going mainstream. A QR code was one of the clues on an episode of CSI New York. The actual scene where the QR code is found and scanned is available on YouTube.com. Just search for "CSI New York QR code." The actor explains what a QR code and demonstrates how to use it with a smartphone. You'll see a little TV magic when the website immediately displays on the smartphone screen, but it does get the point across.

You may not get a lot of customers to bite at using QR codes on their printed material, but it sure does give you a good reason to get out and make a sales call.

History of PDF

2010-10-29T10:18:00.000-04:00

For almost two decades I have been promoting the use of PDFs when dealing with customer files. Today most customers know what a PDF file is and successful printers use a PDF workflow to save time and money.

The PDF file format not only changed the print world but it has become one of the reasons that printed material can now be easily transferred over the Internet. PDF has been around since 1991 but wasn’t embraced by the prepress world until 1996. If you want to trace the history of PDF and how it has evolved over the past 20 years, visit Prepressure.com and read the history of PDFs. It is also a good tool to help train sales people as to why PDF is important. http://www.prepressure.com/pdf/basics/history.

Just because a customer knows what a PDF is doesn't mean that the PDF a printer receives from the customer will print properly. Printers still need to educate their customers about how to create a PDF file that means print industry standards. The easiest way is to have the customer use a software system such as Adobe Job Ready, PagePath's PDF2U, Global Graphic's Jaws or Prismatek's PrintThat. If customers want to create their own PDF files, printers should be supplying a custom Job Option for Acrobat.

It is hard to believe, but there are still printing companies that don't have a PDF workflow or use PDF files to help them cut costs and time. As the print world gets more competitive, the company's that have embraced this 20 year old technology will succeed.

Top 10 Errors in Design Files

2010-10-19T09:47:00.002-04:00

If your CSR staff is checking customer files,you might want them to look for the top 10 mistakes Adobe reports are usually made in a graphic design file.

1. The resolution of images is too low.

2. Fonts are not embedded in the PDF.

3. The wrong color space is used.

4. The information about trim or bleed are incorrect.

5. There is an inconsistency with the native file. The original page, as viewed in QuarkXPress or InDesign or whatever other application looks different from the PDF. Hairlines might be different or gradients have changed.

6. A spot color is misnamed or it is accidentally converted to a process color.

7. Images are compressed too much. This causes a quality loss and in some cases artifacts appear inside or around the images.

8. The page size is incorrect.

9. There are problems with transparent objects.

10. ICC profiles are missing or incorrect.

One of the reasons why many of these problems go undetected is that users will make proofs from their lay-out, check the proofs and then create PDF files. The PDF files don't get reviewed. It would be far better if designers created PDF files and then made a proof of these files. This way the consistency between supplied file and proof is much better.

All printing companies should be preflighting PDF files with Acrobat, Enfocus Pitstop, Markzware and other similar programs.

It takes time to check files to assure they will print properly. Rushing jobs through and skipping preflighting procedures won't save any time if you have to reprint the job.

Is A Black Hole Sucking Away Your Future

2010-10-12T09:25:00.000-04:00

Is your prepress department ready for the future? The role of the prepress department will expand and evolve as more services are added to the arsenal of products sold by printers. But before any printing company can add services, it has to be sure that the prepress department can handle the services now being sold.

Typesetting, design and file output are the standard services now offered by most printing companies. If you look closely at most financial statements, you’ll see that the prepress department is losing money because the printer isn’t charging enough to cover the department’s cost. As John Stewart says, prepress is a black hole.

To survive the future, the typical printers will have to attempt to reinvent themselves and offer more cross media services. Most of these services will be computer and Internet based so the logical department to produce the services is the current prepress department.

Print owners need to make sure their prepress department is making money today. Typesetting, design and customer file output should be profitable and not considered loss leaders. Printers can do this by using outside design and typesetting services to supplement the work produced in house. Printers can set standards for customer files and use the automation and workflow tools that come with most digital presses and direct-to-plate systems to cut production costs and increase profits.

It will be very difficult for a printing company to add additional services if the prepress departments are already losing money. If a prepress department is inefficient now or the prices charged for the service too low, then there will be no way to add other services to offset the current losses. If it isn’t profitable now it is never going to be.

You have to get ready for the future today. Make sure your sales people are charging fair and profitable prices for design and typesetting. Printers shouldn’t be giving away design work just to get the printing job. If you can’t produce it profitably in house, then use an outside vendor.

Automate now. Require customers to provide PDF files that are constructed according to your specifications. Use the hot folders and workflow systems that come with your equipment. Make the prepress staff learn how to use the tools properly.

It is up to the owner to make sure the changes happen. The owner needs to lead and make sure pricing for prepress tasks is correct and profitable. The owner has to make sure the staff is using the tools available to be more efficient. Printing is more competitive and as printing evolves it will be harder for the typical print shop to survive. You can no longer afford to live with a “black hole” in prepress sucking away profits. Unless you plug the profit leaks now, you won’t be able to add the new services that will be required to stay in business. The black hole may not just suck away prepress profits. It just might suck away your future.

Will Graph Expo Hold The Future?

2010-10-04T09:00:00.000-04:00

How relevant will this year’s Graph Expo be to most quick and small commercial printers? As printers prepare to descend on Chicago, they are pondering the questions about the evolution of printing and where it will be over the next decade. Will the trade show offer a “killer app” to drive customers to printing? Will there be a new development exhibited that will eliminate production problems and guarantee profits? Will printers see the future when they walk the floor of the expo?

Graph Expo will only be as relevant as the attending printer makes it to be. Everyone knows the industry is changing. The printing pie is shrinking and the shift of work from offset to digital is well documented. Printers shouldn’t expect to see solutions jump out and grab them as they walk by a booth, but if the printer has a plan, then he or she should begin to get an idea of where the industry is going.

You should see a lot of interest in booths featuring products that expand a printer’s role in the communication process. Web-based products that allow printers to integrate a customer’s printed message with the Internet should get a great deal of interest. Any booth that has anything to do with automating the order entry and prepress process should get a lot of traffic. Products that make it easier for a customer to order should also gain wide attention.

In reality, a lot of the industry-shattering booths will be overlooked. Printers will gravitate toward “big iron” and traditional print processes. The real action will be in the booths along the edges of the trade show floor where “the next big thing” will be trying to gain some attention.

I suggest you go to Graph Expo with a plan. Look for products and services you aren’t using now. Look for things that you don’t usually see on the trade show floor. The big innovations will be in the small booths. There is where you are going to find the future of printing.

Make A Call Today

2010-09-29T12:08:00.001-04:00

Many of the printers I work with on a daily basis are reporting increased customer activity as schools start around the country. It is always good to hear about a bump in business, but it doesn’t overshadow the news of the demise of other printers. Printers continue to close their doors because they just don’t have enough business. There is still printing to be had out there, but you have to work harder to get it.

One basic task that will help quick printers survive is having sales activities. Customers need to know where you are and what you do. The only way that will happen is if you tell them. Printers have to get on the telephone and out of their offices to ask customers for their printing business.

How many sales calls are you making a day? A printer could increase sales if he would just call customers about reprinting the jobs that the printer already has on file for the customer. Most printers use computerized pricing programs that have a built-in tickler file. When you enter the original order, the CSR puts in an expected repeat date. The printer can then run a weekly or monthly report about what jobs are due to be reprinted. Printers I work with report that almost 20% of their sales volume comes from repeating work from existing customers. The regular call also uncovers things about the customer that the printer needs to know to keep the business. Making regular calls can let a printer find out if a print buyer has changed or if any other changes have happened with the customer. Printers who are sitting back and waiting for the customer to call them are waiting and waiting.

The same thing holds true with estimates and quotes. Printers constantly provide customers and prospects with prices. Successful printers follow up on the estimates and quotes to find out if they have the job. The calls also allow a printer to find out why he didn’t get a job. How many estimates do you have sitting in your computer right now?

Not only are these tasks simple, they give you a reason to call the customer. Study after study shows that most companies lose customers to inattention. If you aren’t reaching out and touching your customers on a regular basis, they may end up taking their business somewhere else. You want to be the first printer a company thinks about when they have a printing job to order.

The computer also has other good sales information. Have you compared your top 25 customers this year to the top 25 customers last year? Have you looked at who is buying more? Have you looked to see who is buying less? This list will show you which customers you need to be talking to and with who you may have to rebuild a relationship.

Printers have a ton of information on their computer that will make them money. The only thing a computer can’t do is make the call to the customer. Owners who make the call are going to be the ones who are still standing when the economy turns around.

Listen before you sell

2010-06-14T15:39:00.002-04:00

Quick printers have a lot of technology at their fingertips, but it isn’t worth much unless customers need it. PDF files can automate the workflow, but printers don’t tell customers the benefits or how to use it. Online ordering is easy to provide customers, but how is a customer suppose to learn about it? Printers buy technology because they think it will increase their sales. When it doesn’t, the printer is disappointed and disenchanted with technology.

The problem is that printers aren't listening to their customers. Printers are just telling them about technology and hope the cutomer is interested. They should be trying to find out what their customers need and what they want. The printer must find out the benefits the customer is seeking from a printer.

To be successful, printers are going to have to improve their listening skills. I’ve been helping a number of quick printers dissect their sales call and the recurring problem is that the printer used the first sales call to talk about his company and not find out the needs of the customer. The printer is so afraid that he won’t get the chance to talk to the customer again he hits the customer with everything he has. This leaves the customer confused and the printer looking like, well, just another printer.

Cool technology will get you in the door. Statements such as “we can make your ordering easier using the internet” or “we can help you avoid problems submitting your files” can get you in the door. Once you get there, you need to just listen. Ask questions. Find out what the customer needs. Find out his pain. Asking questions and listening will help you build a solid foundation for the relationship.

The standard practice of many printing sales people is to list what they do and hope the customer has a need. If you will take time to learn about the customer, then you can begin using your experience to solve problems and offer benefits for using your company. Don’t start selling until the second appointment when you know something about the customer and really can help them with their printing needs.

Prospering Only A Mouse Click Away

2010-05-20T15:55:00.005-04:00

With all of the doom and gloom, it is nice to work with CPrint International and be with quick printers who are making money and moving forward. You need to click here at www.cprint.org to find out how a printer can prosper in these tough times.

As technology director and a consultant with the franchise, I get to see the work people are doing every day to make it through these tough economic times. The CPrint affiliates have their financial information in order so they know how they are doing. They have an organization in place so they can easily get the work through the shop. They are developing their selling machine so they can keep pouring leads into their sales funnel and build their business.

Printing is in the middle of an evolution. Print and the Internet are starting to merge as a new communication tool. The types of printing people buy and how they buy it is changing. Only a strong business will be able to evolve into whatever a printer will become in the next few years. CPrint is focusing on helping companies be able to withstand adversity and be ready to take advantage of new opportunities.

I'm just back from a speaking event where a CPrinter was training his customers and market about mobile marketing and the effect it will have on printed materials. I just visited another CPrinter who has married print with web technology that helps his customers get more sales leads. Printing has become more than just putting ink on paper.

If you are a printer you will want to know about CPrint International. You need to visit www.cprint.org and hear what CPrinters have to say about the organization and how it changed their life. You will want to sign up for CPrint Tips, an electronic newsletter that gives printers the information to make it through these tough economic times, at www.cprint.org/features/tips.html. It is free and can give you ideas to help make you money.

CPrint is a great way for an independent printer to join a franchise that provides a business model that works and will help a printer prosper. If you want to be successful and continue to grow, find out more about CPrint today.

Mobile Marketing Means Printing Dollars

2010-05-14T17:16:00.002-04:00

Mobile marketing is the new buzz word for marketing companies and it is one of the first new technologies to actually generate printing. In mobile marketing, a smartphone becomes a “third screen.” It joins a television and computer screen as a primary way for a user to access information. Experts predict that there will be more smartphone users access the Internet in the next 36 months than computer users. Printing will be the way that information is driving to smartphone users.

QR (Quick Response) codes make it easy for smartphone users to get to a particular web site or digital information source. The smartphone user simply scans a printed QR code and his web browser is directed to a web site. QR codes can also be used to send email messages or automatically update contact information. No matter what it is used for, it all starts with a QR code that is printed on something.

Quick printers need to know how to create and print QR codes. Any customer with a web site is a possible user. Since most businesses want more “eyes” on their web site, a business will want to print a QR code on every printed piece a customer might see.

The mobile marketing/QR concept is new to North America, but it is big in Asia and Europe. Printers who can bring this new technology to their customer should at least get to reprint all of the marketing and customer communication pieces a customer might have.

Finally, the Internet has given us a computer whizbang feature that will cause customers to buy more printing.

Quit complaining and sell something

2010-04-22T23:37:00.000-04:00

Does anyone have anything positive to say about the quick printing industry? Many of the quick printers I talk to have a negative attitude about quick printing industry. They lament the changes and talk about how their customer base is shrinking. They point fingers at competitors such as Staples and Office Max or FedEx and the UPS stores and say those businesses are taking their customers with cheap copies. They complain about lazy employees who won’t do anything or equipment suppliers who keep the costs high. Everyone is out to get them.

I can’t agree. Most of these complainers are business owners who are in charge of their own destinies. They just fail to do the basic business functions any business needs to do to survive. They don’t maintain adequate financial records to know how they are doing. They don’t make sales calls. They think making a delivery of a completed job and asking if there is any other printing is a sales activity. They don’t train their employees. They don’t take advantage of the technology they have.

You can still make money in quick printing and there are printers doing just that. Those printers get out and talk to customers and prospects. They use the technology they have available. They make it easier for customers to buy printing. The successful printers are proactive and get in front of customers with ideas and solutions that can be provided by a printed piece.

If you are a quick printer, I have one question: how many sales calls have you made this week? If you aren’t out asking for new business then you will probably be one of those people who is complaining about the printing industry. If you are talking to customers and learning what they need, you are going to have a better attitude because you will find out there are businesses buying printing. You just have to ask for make a sales call and ask for their business.

Print Industry Still Here

2010-04-19T10:50:00.001-04:00

Quick Printing Editor Bob Hall recent comments about offset being at the crossroads are correct. Printing is changing and the equipment used to produce the equipment is changing. But just because the amount of offset sales dropped doesn’t mean the end for the printing industry.

Many quick printers build their business on providing convenience printing for the printed material needed to run a business. The desktop computing revolution has eliminated that work. No longer does a business stop by to get copies. Almost anyone who owns a computer has a printer attached that can take care of those needs.

There is still money to be made in printing serving the small business customer. The printing shift is from functional forms to sales material. Printing is still the most powerful and cost effective way for small businesses to reach customers. With the new technology, especially in color, printers can produce high quality work that can be used to help a business sell something to someone.

I’m not talking about developing a marketing and advertising program for a business. I’m talking about reproducing the basic sales material customers need to sell their products and services. It doesn’t require a marketing degree or advertising savvy. All it requires is a printer talking to a customer and letting the customer know what a printer can do to help his business.

The printers who are going to success and grow their businesses are the ones who actually get out and talk to customers about printing and stop waiting for customers to call them because they mailed out a postcard a couple of months ago.

Why Print?

2010-03-31T13:54:00.002-04:00

Sometimes printers have a hard time trying to think about what to talk to customers about instead of "you don't need any printing today do you" sales calls. Printing is still one of the most effective and economical ways to reach customers, and if your customer sells something to someone, then they should be using print to touch their customers.

If you are looking for reasons print is important, look no further than the “Why Print” brochure available free from the Print Council. The Print Council produced a 24-page marketing brochure demonstrating the extraordinary value and effectiveness of print communications. Entitled "Why Print?, The Top Ten Ways Print Helps You Prosper", the full-color brochure is the first in a series of materials The Print Council makes available to printers to influence media decision makers' appreciation of the value of print.

Printers are encouraged to download and use any or all of the materials provided in their own marketing materials to underscore the power of print communications.

The Print Council is a business development alliance formed by leaders in the graphic arts industry whose goal is to influence and promote the greater use of print media. Download the artwork for the brochure at the Print Council's web site.

A 24-page brochure may be overkill, but the information is invaluable. You will find facts and ideas to support your blogging efforts, articles for your company newsletter, post cards and much more. You don't need to give all the information away at once. Each of the 10 reasons can be a separate discussion. The information in the "Why Print?" brochure should become part of the list of benefits you tell you customers about during a sales call.

Will QuarkPromote.com Help Printers?

2010-03-04T18:06:00.002-05:00

Quark has launched QuarkPromote.com (www.quarkpromote.com), a new online web-to-print service that hopes to send online customers to local printers. The special web-to-print service is aimed at small businesses so they can create their own marketing materials that can be picked up at a nearby neighborhood printer or received by mail in just a few days.

Customers go online and use a special online application to create the file. The customer’s order then goes to a commercial printer. Quark is saied to be partnering with franchises such as well as independent printers.

Quark isn't doing the printing and hopes to help printers get more business. The local printers can select to be either a "print by mail" or a "pick up at a neighborhood printer" provider. In both cases, the output provider is determined by the zip code the customer has provided.

According to Quark, if the customer wants the order delivered by mail, the zip code is used behind the scenes to find a prints-by-mail provider in the region. The customer is not provided the opportunity to choose the printer and there is no relationship between the provider and the customer. Packages are shipped blind to the customer.

In the case of neighborhood printing, the zip code is used to display a list of printers near the customer. Matching shops are displayed on a Bing map and in a list. The customer chooses a shop and then completes a typical online ordering process. Prices, included shipping, are set by Quark. The customer also has the option of choosing a printer at a location other than their own if it is more convenient.

Quark offers a webcast for output providers on how the Quark Promote programs work. Send an email request to enrollments@quarkalliance.com to see the webcast.

Is this a good program for printers? It is if you are a printer who doesn't want to don't want to talk to customers or try to sell anything. Pricing is controlled by Quark and orders by mail is transparent to the customer. The only real selling opportunity will come if the printer elects to pick up the job locally.

The program is still new, but I haven't seen any money being poured into marketing the program to consumers. Until that happens, it will just be a feel-good program to make printers think they are really part of the web2print world.

My advice is for printers to get out and actually talk to customers and be proactive in selling. Don't wait for a customer to go to a website to pick out templates. Get out there and find out the customers' printing needs.

I do recommend that you take advantage of the QuarkAlliance.com program. Former Adobe ASN members can get a free copy of QuarkXpress 8 when they sign up. The offer is good through June 2010.

QR Codes Next Big Thing

2010-02-24T08:52:00.000-05:00

A bar code called Quick Response or QR Code is expected to begin having an impact on business information in the coming year and printers will have to know how to print it properly on customer’s material.

Printers already print bar codes. The new QR Code (or 2D Code) contains information in both the vertical and horizontal directions, where a bar code contains data in one direction only. QR Code holds a considerably greater volume of information than a bar code. In Japan, most current Japanese mobile phones can read this code with their camera and access additional information about the product. Initially used for tracking parts in vehicle manufacturing, QR Codes are now used in a much broader context, including both commercial tracking applications and convenience-oriented applications aimed at mobile phone users (known as mobile tagging).

QR Codes storing addresses and URLs (web addresses) are expected to start appearing in magazines, on signs, buses, business cards or just about any object that users might need information about. Users with a camera phone equipped with the correct reader software can scan the image of the QR Code causing the phone's browser to launch and redirect to the programmed URL. This act of linking from physical world objects is known as a hardlink or physical world hyperlinks.

For instance, a menu may include a QR code that links to a page with nutritional information. A business card may include a QR code that links to a web-site, blog or social networking site. The ability to direct a consumer to specific information will tie printed material closer to the Internet.

The QR codes are expected to start popping up in North America in the coming year as mobile phone companies add the software to their cameras. Printers should expect to get inquiries from customers soon.

Automation Requires Standards

2009-11-30T17:27:00.003-05:00

It is impossible to automate any task without standards. In the printing industry, many smaller printers have been trapped in thinking they had to be a job shop and take any job that came in the door, no matter what. This type of thinking has allowed web-based printers such as Vistaprint and Printingforless to carve out a good business because their business model is built around standardization for automation.

The printing industry has a number of standards already in place, but it is up to individual companies to use the standards and require their customers to follow them. Two of the most important standards are GRACoL 7 and G7. These are standards that many printers are implementing to make sure that the printing meets the requirements of customer and the printing quality is consistent.

One good overview of the subject can be found at:

More specific information can be found at:
GRACoL: http://www.gracol.org
G7 Process: http://www.gracol.org
SWOP: http://www.swop.org
IDEAlliance: http://www.idealliance.org
ISO: http://www.iso.org

In addition to those standards, you also need to be aware of the PDF and JDF standards. The standards set by the Ghent Workflow Group (www.gwg.org/) are what are used by GRACoL and G7.

Interestingly, the GRACoL standards at basically the same standards relating to customer files and PDF files that CPrint® International (www.cprint.org) has been promoting for years. The “big” printers and those who work with high end color for agencies have been promoting these standards to customers for a number of years.

Printers who institute standards and then require their customers to follow them will be able to automate in the coming years and see their sales per employee rise dramatically.

Find Customers and Build a Brand with Search Engines

2009-11-16T17:51:00.005-05:00

Everyone is talking about having a "brand" for their company. A brand is the collective consumer perception of a company, product or service that is uniquely your own. This brand is shaped through the brand identity and its marketing execution as well as by personal or corporate experiences with the brand, by word of mouth and by the media.

The general public can get an impression of your company from a number of places. One area that many printers overlook is the Map areas of many search engines when they are branding their companies.

Successful quick printers use the various mapping programs provided by the different Internet search engines to find more customers. For example, you can go to www.maps.google.com and enter your address. Then use the Search Nearby to seek out businesses that need printing. Type in "Associations" and see how many are close to you. How about marketing companies? Training companies? Any type of business that might buy printing? You’ll get a list of businesses and can easily get contact information. There isn’t any excuse for a printer so say, “I don’t know who to call on.”

Your customers are also using the same search engine maps to find out information about you. You will also want to make sure you visit Google.com, Yahoo.com, Bing.com and others to post information about your business. For instance, Google gives businesses a free listing on Google Maps to make it easy for customers to find you. Any business can use the Local Business Center to create a free listing. When potential customers search Maps for local information, they'll find your business: your address, hours of operation, even photos of your storefront or products. It's easy, free, and you don't need a website of your own. Go to www.maps.google.com to sign up. Bing, Yahoo and other search engines offer a similar service.

But don’t forget to check the reviews for your business online to help protect your brand. Google, Yahoo and Bing allow visitors to post comments and reviews about local businesses online. You might be surprised what customers are saying about you online. Sadly it is usually a customer who had a problem who takes the time to post a poor review. You might want to suggest to your better customers that they can post a review for you at the different search sites. It might offset any bad reviews.

The Internet can give customers a perception of your company. You want to make sure the face you are showing to the world is the face you want them to see and you don't have people talking behind your back.

DO PRINTERS PRICE GOUGE?

2009-10-15T18:33:00.002-04:00

During several of my recent visits to printing companies, the issue of prepress pricing came up. Several CSRs were concerned about the prices they had to charge for design and prepress services. They believed the prices were too high and that the customer was being “gouged.” When I reviewed the prices I found them to be either good or below market value. I never found a job that had been priced "too high." The CSR just didn't know what the value was and was having "sticker shock." They had never sold printing before and they didn't know what went into creating the job.

Owners need to review the value of prepress services with their CSRs. If the CSR isn’t comfortable with the prepress price, he will tend to lower the price. Most prepress prices are arbitrary in most shops and sometimes CSRs will skip the charge in hopes of just getting the job.

Owners need to explain the value of prepress. Equipment costs and software applications are very expensive. Most customers don’t have the knowledge to properly prepare a file for print nor do they have the ability to design work with a professional look. This type of service is only available from a printer or graphic designer. Using the equipment and software is more than just typing. CSRs should remember the printing problems and additional costs caused by amateur designers submitting files. The customer is paying for professional help to assure the file is created properly.

The value of the work particularly increases when original design is involved. Part of the charge to the customer will include the value of getting something no one else has. It is an original creation that the printer is selling to the customer. Check the difference between the cost of an original work of art and a copy. The original is always going to cost a lot more.

The prices can also be compared to other sources. Check the online printing sites and see what they charge for typesetting and design. Talk to freelancing graphic designers and ad agencies and see what they charge for their work.

Of course, work that is just replicated and reproduced does have a lower value than an original design, but it still has value. In many cases where the CSR feels the prepress prices are too high, there is no base line of pricing. Every year, the Crouser Estimating Guide includes the John Giles DTP Pricelist that can give a CSR the value price for many of the types of work sold by printers.

Customers will pay when they feel like they are getting value for their money. If you sell printing and apologize for the price, then the customer will feel like they are getting over charged. You need to be proud of your work and the services you provide. It costs what it costs. Price gougers won't survive, but neither will printers who give away their work.

Color More Important to Quick Printers

2009-10-05T12:21:00.000-04:00

It use to that all a quick printer needed to worry about was black ink. As a quick printer matured, he might get fancy and be able to add a second color. Today almost every quick printer can produce digital color prints and some can print 4-color offset work. At the least, a quick printer has partnered with an outside vendor to do full color work for him.

To be competitive today, a quick printer must be able to understand and produce color correctly over a variety of output devices. Digital color printers have gotten good and it has become easier to control the color output. It is easier to control the color among different output devices. Print professionals want to ensure that the digital files they use produce the expected color results, so artwork is prepared using CMYK values intended for a specific output device. This approach ensures that CMYK color numbers specified anywhere in the workflow arrive unchanged at the final output device.

There are a number of resources on the Web that will help a printer understand the science of color. Adobe offers a very good tutorial on Color Workflow online at http://tinyurl.com/ydulgr4. It explains the industry standards as well as the steps used to assure color is consistent. It also provides information as to why Adobe Bridge, a special program used to manage digital assets, is important when bringing together assets created from a number of different sources.

Want to learn more about Adobe Bridge? Be sure to check out Epicedits’ blog for a complete guide to Adobe Bridge. Visit the site at http://blog.epicedits.com/2008/05/07/your-complete-guide-to-adobe-bridge/

CPrint® International affiliates are attacking the issues with color so they can maintain a competitive edge. The subject will be studied in detail at the upcoming Production Conference in Jacksonville in November. To find out more about CPrint, visit http://www.cprint.org.

Online Graphic Help Free

2009-09-21T11:18:00.003-04:00

There is no excuse for not learning how to use a graphic application properly. The Internet is providing thousands of sources for teaching people to use software program and to fix problems they run into during normal daily production. MacFixIt, an online source of information on Mac-related repair and troubleshooting advice is now available free to Internet users. CNET recently purchased MacFixIt and plan to expand the information available at the site. Mac users should bookmark this page because it will help them with upgrade issues for the new Mac OS. The URL for the new MacFixIt site is http://reviews.cnet.com/macfixit/.

And if you don't like to read there are always online videos. Enfocus has set up a whole range of helpful product movies, from quick overviews to short feature movies. Find an answer to those problems you face as a print professional every day. The videos deal with such topics as how to detect trim marks, how to use Profiles and Action Lists, how to detect and fix objects without bleeds, how to outline problem text, how to find unwanted spot colors, how to apply Pantone colors and more. To find out more visit Enfocus.com or http://tinyurl.com/mqegqp.

You will also want to check out www.youtube.com and search for InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator and other applications. You will usually find a number of short "how to" videos that can make you even more productive.

Print shop owners and production managers need to carve out time in the production schedule to let the prepress staff take advantage of these resources. The skills learned will help the printer profit, so most of the training should be done during the workday. Most prepress staffers want to be more productive, but getting jobs out gets in the way. Management needs to make sure that the prepress people get time to train.

What To Say To Printing Customers?

2009-09-08T12:01:00.003-04:00

Ever wonder what you should be saying to a printing customer? How do you start a dialog without sounding dry and boring? Are you tired of asking, "You don't have any printing today do you?"

Questions should generate conversation that is a two way street. You want to find out what your customer does and the customer wants to find out what you do. A good question to use would be "What printed material do you use to communicate to your customers?" That question would be quickly followed with "May I see samples?"

As the customer outlines what he uses to communicate, a printer will see what printing is done, how often it is done, and find out how effective it is. A savvy printer should be able to identify what printed communication products might be missing, how the current printed products can be improved, and how the printed products can be coordinated to provide a bigger impact on the customer.

What? No newsletter? That might be something that would help the customer sell more. All the customer's products described in one brochure? Perhaps a brochure should be created for single products so the reader is less confused and the product can be more targeted.

At the same time, the printer can be demonstrating his expertise. The printer should be able to provide the customer samples with what the printer is using to communicate with his customers. The printer can lead by example. If a printer is going to talk about printing marketing pieces for a customer, he should have his own marketing materials to use as examples.

Successful printers get out in front of their customers and drill down to get the information they need to make sales easier. It isn't a stilted speech. The information is found with a conversation that lets the customer know he is dealing with a profession.

Do You Know Marketing? Prove it!

2009-08-12T13:57:00.003-04:00

Printers are always saying that they have to expand their services if they are going to survive. Many want to drop printing from their name and become marketing or advertising firms. They want to offer "value" to their customer with ideas on how to sell.

The only problem that most printers have is they know nothing about marketing. Yes, some offer some printing services such as direct mail, variable data and PURL services, but these are just tools marketers use in marketing services. Does a printer understand ROI? Can they plan and predict the results of a marketing plan and then measure it along the way? Do they understand the other media used in marketing campaigns? Can they do the research necessary to develop the strategy and select the tactics to use to complete a successful marketing plan?

It isn't just printers that are suffering from the economy turndown. Advertising agencies are also cutting staff as sales drop. You'll want to read a recent newspaper account at http://tinyurl.com/r2ahkh of how advertising and PR firms are going to survive. It may make a printer have second thoughts about jumping into a brand new market.

If a printer wants to go into marketing, he needs to prove he can do it by selling for his own company. Has the printer used the tools he has to promote his own business? Can the printer show measurable results of marketing campaigns that were done to increase sales? Can the printer explain the ROI he had for the campaign and the sales increases?

Most printers are craftsmen and not sales people. Most printing companies would benefit from the owner giving just an hour of dedicated time each day for sales activities. Most printers haven't even had a face-to-face meeting with their top clients to assess their printing needs in the past 12 months. A delivery isn't a sales call.

No matter how much "marketing" a printer does, it isn't going to drive business through the door. To succeed in today's economy, the printer is going to have to get toe-to-toe with the customer and ask for new business.

Once printers can handle the simple task of calling on a customer, expanding the benefits of their services, and asking for the order, the printer can delve into more sophisticated marketing efforts.

If you want to be a marketing company, prove it. Marketing yourself and become a successful, profitable printing company.

Work Can Be Fun

2009-08-07T09:21:00.004-04:00

If you are too serious about life, it can wear on you. One source of "fun" is our customers and how some of them think. A recent Youtube video shows how funny pricing negotiations can be when looked at from a different perspective.

You will want to invest a couple of minutes in this video at http://tinyurl.com/rxvuxc.

One piece of advice: when printing customers ask for a lower price they are opening the door to negotiations. Negotiations are a tw0-way street so make sure you are asking for something in return for the lower price besides just the job. One example: You can offer a lower price if the customer guarantees a year's worth of work.

Life is short so enjoy it. Love your job and have fun doing it.

Are You Your Own Worst Enemy?

2009-07-31T15:04:00.003-04:00

A recent essay in the July issue of New England Printer & Publisher looked at why printers constantly self inflict damage on their business. Jack Epstein, a consultant, took the industry to task about not billing customers for valuable services.

According to Epstein, the industry is its “own worst enemy” when it comes to being treated fairly by customers. “Who else makes custom products under extreme deadlines and doesn’t collect full or partial payments along the way?” said Epstein. “We are more lackadaisical about getting paid than cobblers, dry cleaners, and the building trades.” Epstein believes there is a lack of respect for printing. He also thinks printers have low self esteem. He provided a number of rationalizations printers use when they are giving away their services. Do you recognize any?

• Rush delivery charges. “They’re not a house account, so we’re not paying a sales commission.”
• Additional RIP time. “That’s the nature of the beast.”
• What started off being a two-color job needs to be four colors. “We can print four-color. It made the job look better and maybe we’ll win an award.”
• Fronting postage. “Nobody charges extra for that.”
• The price of paper has gone up since the original estimate. “They can’t change their PO without sending it back out for competitive bids’
• Finance charges. “Nobody pays in 30 days”
• Press checks. "Chalk it up to relationship building”
• AA’s. “No way on that job. We were late and there were quality issues”

Among Epstein’s recommendations: instant notification to customers whenever specifications change or AAs occur; clear understandings with customers about services included in the base price vs. those that will incur additional charges; and tighter coordination of effort between estimating and sales.

Epstein argues a printer’s survival just might depend on being able to collect for justified expenses by applying them only when and where they belong.

Are you giving away services? Are you leaving money on the table? Do you overlook prepress costs because you are afraid of losing the printing job? It isn't any wonder that most printers don't make any money.

Printers only need 25 good customers to have a viable business. Usually the ones who get the deals and special treatment aren't even in a printer's Top 25. They hope that by showing "they're a good guy" with low prices and free services they will end up getting all the customer's business. Usually all they get is more work that the customer wants free.

If you are a good printer with good service and quality and who brings extra value to the table, then you ought to charge for it. Let the cheap customers go to your competitors and drive them out of business. Your Top 25 customers usually appreciate what you do and will pay for it.

Going Green Getting Easier for Printers

2009-07-29T10:51:00.004-04:00

Everyone wants to be "green." For printers, it is a constant battle to get the message out that a printer can be green and that the work being done doesn't contribute to the loss of trees.

There are a number of high dollar groups you can join who are suppose to "certify" that you, after paying a large fee, are a green printer. Even if you decide to go that way, most of the certifiers are only looking a paper use and nothing else. Is this really being green?

There is help for small printers without a large budget. The DMA (Direct Marketing Association) offers an online “Environmental Policy and Vision Statement Generator” that can be used to not only help you write your own statement, but it is also a checklist for sustainability activities. It can make it easy for a company to go green.

While the DMA is a trade organization for companies who use a variety of media including direct mail to sell their products, the online statement generator is useful for any company using or producing printed materials. It covers five areas:
• List Hygiene and Data Management
• Design
• Paper Procurement and Usage
• Printing and Packaging
• Recycling and Pollution Reduction
According to DMA officials, because this checklist/statement generator is used by print buyers/users, as well as print producers, printers can also use it to understand how direct marketers are thinking about sustainability.

When you’ve completed the checklist and customized the statement to fit your operation, have a copy emailed to you. In a matter of minutes you have created a formal environmental policy statement that you can put into your own format and publish. Get the checklist at http://www.the-dma.org/envgen/.

International Paper has published a “Down to Earth” series to help printers explain some of the printing industry environmental practices to customers. The latest is “Pixels vs. Paper,” which compares print with electronic media in terms of their respective “greenness.” Among the advantages of paper are that it comes from trees, a renewable resource, and it is biodegradable, with some 60% of all paper being recycled vs. 18% of all electronic devices. Others in the series cover certification, recycled vs. virgin paper, and carbon footprints.

There are three other brochures in the “Down to Earth” series including “Certification: Where does your paper come from?”; “Recycled vs. Virgin: Is recycled paper the best you can do?” and “Carbon Footprint: How big is your carbon footprint?”

You can find the PDFs or order brochures at www.ipsustainability.com. It is listed under Sustainability information in the left column.

Every printer should be doing his or her part in helping the environment and every printer should be telling the customer about it.

Just Do It!

2009-07-23T10:21:00.004-04:00

Many printers spend hours and dollars trying to come up with the best solution to drive business to their company. Too often it doesn't work because they left out one component: what they do once you get the lead.

Today printers have a multitude of ways to get customers interested in using their company. Digital technology makes it easier for the customer to buy. Web sites offer customers many advantages. Run lengths can be shorter. Color is more affordable. This is going to interest some customers.

But what happens after the customer gets interested? What do printers do with the leads they have? Printers have to develop a plan to close the sale and open a new account, not just get a lead. It means getting out and getting in front of the customer.

Getting leads is a lot easier today. Sign up on Linkedin.com and visit the different online communities right in your own backyard to find prospects. Follow Twitter.com and see what local business leaders and owners are interested in this week. Visit local blogs and learn who is doing what. You can generate more leads than you can visit.

You have the lead. Are you ready to get in front of the customer? Can you probe and ask questions to find out the real needs of the customer? Do you know how to qualify a customer and know if they are worth your time? Do you have a procedure to open a new account? Can you tell the customer what you do?

Printers need to quit planning and get out and make a sales call. Will you visit your Top 25 customers this month and try to get new business out of them? A push of the button of your print management system will give you that list. Do a Google search for specific types of businesses and find prospects you've never heard about in your town. There are leads all around you.

Want to be a successful printer? Get out of the shop and make a sales call. The print owner needs to be out asking for business. He or she wants new business from old customers and new business from new customers. You got the leads: Just Do It!

Great Sales Lead Idea

2009-07-13T17:40:00.003-04:00

If you sell to non-profit organizations, don’t forget to use the website www.guidestar.org. Want to find out about how much printing a non-profit organization buys? The website includes a statement of the organizations purpose, contacts names and how much they spend on printing for every non-profit customer in your area. Visitors to the site can find a block that says “Find non-profits” and then enter their city or zip code. You will be redirected to a page listing all the non-profits in your area.

When you find an organization you are interested in, you can review their Form 990 of its tax return. This form is required by law and includes full information about the organization showing their income and expenses, net worth and also will have names of the people that serve on the board of directors and more. The report also lists the expenses of the organization which includes a separate line for printing and publications.

With this information, you don't have any excuse not to make a sales call.

Printers Flying Blind Will Crash

2009-07-08T09:42:00.000-04:00

Bob Hall made an interesting observation in the July issue of Quick Printing about printers and estimating programs. He reported Eastern Kentucky University technology professor Dr. Marlow Marchant, recently published a paper that said the inability or unwillingness to track and understand financial data is a sometimes fatal flaw in the quick and small commercial printing industry. “Sadly, business failure in printing, particularly in small printing companies, has been linked to top management who are unable to understand their own financial statements and are therefore unable to take timely and appropriate action,” he writes.

As the nation continues to ride out the economic slowdown, more and more printers will be closing their doors because they didn’t stay on top of their business. The simple act of learning how to read a financial statement could have helped print owners make decisions that would have kept their businesses viable. Too many printers forgo the cost of monthly financials complied by a professional accountant as a cost cutting measure. They try to do it themselves even when they don’t know what it really means.

All printers should take time to learn what their financials mean and how they can be used to guide decisions. Some will learn that they need to raise prices to stay in business. Others will learn that they should shut their doors and quit losing money.

This isn’t the time to fly by the seat of your pants and be blind to your financial realities. Its finally going to bite you.

Printshop Automation Real

2009-06-27T09:12:00.002-04:00

Printshop automation was the theme at the CPrint(r) International World Conference in Indianapolis. With experts such as Julie Shaffer of Printing Industries of America's Digital Print Council and Patrick Ruebensaal of Xpedx, CPrinters learned that automation is a reality right now and even the smallest shop can take advantage of the technology out there.

Joe Urback, production manager, PressTech, Des Plains, IL, described how his company is doing more than $2 million in sales with 9 employees -- all because of automation.

Any printer can start automating his or her print shop today. Most digital printers have hot folders and imposition programs to automate common tasks. Enfocus and Adobe provide software to automatically correct PDF files with a push of the button so they will print properly. Workflow systems link all the tasks together for a seamless workflow.

What do you have to do? Learn about PDF files. Know the common problems and how to fix them. Delve deeper in the software you have and learn how to use it. Look at your work and identify what your standard work is. Automate your shop to produce standard work more easily.

It takes time to learn and owners will have make time for their employees to learn it. You can't just say "Automate my workflow." You have to commit time and a few dollars, but it will work. The time you save will translate into higher margins and more wiggle room when negotiating price.

It is Wednesday: Have you looked at your website lately?

2009-06-24T08:18:00.003-04:00

Printing companies are being left behind by the Internet. You may find a lot of printing companies have websites, but you would be surprised by how many printers actually use them.

Websites offer a powerful tool to help printers make print buying easier. A good website can serve as a cyber CSR. A bad website can turn off customers and lose business for the printer. Too many sites are just an Yellow Page ad.

When was the last time that you looked at your company’s website? In too many cases, the owner is the “webmaster,” but he or she has too many other responsibilities to keep the site current. Someone in the organization needs to be on top the site and make sure it reflects what is really happening with the client.

With all the inexpensive print-specific website providers, a printer doesn't have any excuse not to have a fully-functional website. Even in these tough times, a website should have a positive effect on sales and make it easier for customers to buy from you.

All you have to do is invest time in learning how to use it and then keep it updated and responsive. Refresh your site today.

New Position: Same Objective

2009-06-02T09:53:00.002-04:00

As most people know, I accepted a position with CPrint® International, a franchise that works with existing printing companies and helps them prosper. The printer retains his or her company name but uses the business and marketing model Tom Crouser has developed over the past 30 years. Crouser & Associates were one of my biggest clients over the years. They always adopted my suggestions that enabled their clients to stay on the cutting edge, so it is fun to be working as a consultant and technology director for an organization that is forward thinking.

The move has allowed me to expand my knowledge and I'm getting an education in the financial side of the business. Now I'm able to put financial information together with sales, marketing and production. To me, this is an exciting time to be in business.

What is unique about CPrint® International is that it monitors the success of the individual shops. The affiliates are working toward a 2:1 current ratio, sales growth of 15 percent over a 3 year period and 20 percent income before owners compensation. Those are tough goals to meet, but when a company does hit those numbers they really begin to make money and enjoy life.

As technology director, I'll be working with the affliates on new techniques and procedures to improve production and sales. From websites to workflows, I'll be helping to make the printing buying experience easier for the customer and more profitable for the printer.

I'll still be writing for Quick Printing magazine and other publications. I'll still be writing and selling books such as 12 Secrets for Digital Success and The DTP Pricelist to help printers undertand the changing print environment. I'll also be available to select speaking engagements and customized digital audits. I'll be sharing the knowledge I'm getting with CPrint through this site and other outlets.

But all in all, I made the change because it is fun. The CPrint staff is excellent to work with and the CPrint affiliates are typically market leaders in their local community. It is great to see printers succeed and meet their goals. As an independent consultant, it was disheartening when a client doesn't implement your suggestions. With CPrint®, I am developing a deeper, long-term relationship that shows how the industry is changing....for the good.

So if you do have questions, comments or concerns, just contact me at john@cprint.org or john@johngiles.com. I'll be looking forward to hearing from you.

Economic Turndown?

2009-05-30T15:49:00.000-04:00

Is the economy as bad as the press says it is? I've been talking to printers who say business is down, but when asked, none of them report doing any sales activities. The amount of business walking in the door is down, but they really don't know how there customers are fairing in this recession.

The cure here is to get out and talk to your top 25 customers and find out what is happening in your market. When was the last time you did a mailing? When was the last time you got a new mailing list? When was the last time you vertified the mailing list you have with a telephone call?

No one needs to be sitting around idle in the shop. Talking to customers and asking for the order is going to be the best way to get out of any sales slump.

By the way, I am finding there are a number of printers making money during these hard times. They are getting out and calling on customers, especially new customers, and asking for new business. There are others who are taking the time to use the technology they have to streamline production. It isn't all doom and gloom. I think it is a good time to be in printing.

Getting My Feet Wet

2009-05-29T11:35:00.001-04:00

Information keeps coming at us faster and faster and it seems a blog is a good way to get the news out to my readers. As a consultant and journalist, I am constantly researching and writing and I'll be using this blog. This will be another way to share information. You can also follow me on Twitter.com as I blast out interesting tibits I find to help quick printers prosper and be productivity. I will post news at www.johngiles.com on a regular basis.

I hope you'll find some of my news helpful and profitable.

John Giles