Quick Printing

Everything in business seems to be changing so quickly. And I’m not just talking about the printing industry because these changes are being felt by almost everyone. Most people cite the beginning of the recession as the ignition point where the real sea change began, but it was coming even before that.

Social media appears to be the driving force because it has changed the way people, in general, communicate with one another. That includes the way businesses communicate with their customers and prospects. Let me get this off my chest before going any further; personally, I don’t like social media. But that doesn’t mean that I have the option of not using it. Quick Printing and its sister publications in the Cygnus Graphics Media group all have discussion groups on Linkedin, we tweet, and now there are Facebook pages for each title. The simple fact is, if you want to keep growing in today’s business environment, you must be connected.

For printers, that means getting connected to your customers and helping them connect to their customers. If you’re still not sure how to get started, be sure to check out Tawyna Starr’s column from the July issue of QP “The Nitty Gritty of Social Media.” And as soon as the September issue is available (later this week), read her follow-up column “The Facts About Facebook.”

On a related issue, be sure to read John Giles’ column from the August issue, “QR Codes Drive New Print Opportunities.” With all of the talk about the Internet taking jobs away from printers, it’s refreshing to see an instance in which it actually drives work into the print shop.

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.

In a recent conversation with QP columnist Nancy DeDiemar she mentioned all the excitement about printers becoming marketing service providers (MSP). Nancy observed that some people will jump on any boat that floats down the river if they think it will get them out of having to actually go out and sell something to someone. The funny thing about the whole MSP concept is that it requires printers to take selling to a whole new level.

Later it occurred to me that this whole MSP concept is reminiscent of the on demand printing frenzy that passed through the industry a few years ago. All of a sudden, everyone had to be an on demand printer. The funny thing was, if you really stopped to think about it, they already were. Bob used to say in his seminars that quick printers invented on demand printing. People needed jobs turned around in a hurry—often “while you wait”—and quick printers delivered. It was the concept our industry segment was founded upon. The only thing that had changed was that digital equipment had finally reached a level of sophistication that allowed printers and their customers to kick it up a notch.

So now everyone is going to be an MSP. Well, you know what? You probably already are. Quick and small commercial printers have been turning out high-end marketing materials ever since it became feasible to bring full-color work in-house. The only difference is that, once again, we’ve kicked it up a notch. Now, we have to add VDP, PURLs, QR codes, and a lot of other bits of alphabet soup into the mix.

Success in MSP-land will require printers to stay one step ahead of their customers in technology. It will require in depth conversations to learn about the customers needs. And it will require turn-on-a-dime adaptation to an increasingly sophisticated marketplace. Just like it did when DTP came along, and digital printing, and affordable color, and rudimentary variable data, and a hundred other innovations.

Believe it or not, quick printers have a much better chance of success than large commercial printers. And the reason for that is also the same as it has been all along: You can turn around a speed boat a heck of a lot easier and faster than you can turn a battleship. One word of warning, though, if you’re still just rowing along in a canoe, you’d better get out of the way!

It is always interesting to watch the ongoing debate between owners on which new widget to buy or how to get their existing widget serviced properly. As I look at the different opinions, it seems to be more a question of who they are dealing with rather than the quality of the widget itself. Sure, sometimes there are some lemons out there, but by and large, most complaints are because they don’t like the dealer or the techs.

Do you ever wonder if your ability to draw customers has nothing to do with the equipment that you have, but rather how you and your staff are interacting with your customers or how you are interacting with your employees. Do your customers complain about how they are treated at your store or do your employees complain about how they are treated by you and their fellow employees?

Think about the answers to those questions. It could be very interesting.

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.

This morning another printer asked me the question, “How can social networks such as Facebook and Twitter help my business?” That’s a good question because without a plan or focus, the printer may only be adding to the noise and clutter on the Internet. Social media tools need to be part of a complete selling program or they will just waste printers’ (and their customers’) time.

Facebook and Twitter are great tools to keep your face in front of the customer and develop a dialog about what the customer’s printing needs are and how you can fulfill them. Printers can use social media to promote their expertise and become a source for print information in their local cyber-community. With this viral marketing, you can solidify your relationship with current customers who will spread the word about your company. The payoff on social media is when prospects become interested in your service.

Social media fails most printers because they just do it and hope for results. Getting out your message via social media can be like putting your shop at a busy intersection and hoping customers will just drop in so you can try to sell them something. Just because you are there doesn’t mean people will come in and buy. You have to be proactive and be out in front of your customers, asking for the order. You have to have a purpose for your use of Facebook and Twitter. It has to compliment the other sales activities you do. That purpose should be to either get the customer to contact you or to let the customer know who you are when you make the sales call.

To get started, I recommend that you use Facebook and Twitter to drive customers to your website and your blog. You should have an interactive website that has information to make print buying and ordering easier. You should have a blog that has information to help your customers and explain the benefits of printing. You should also be trying to capture information about your site’s visitors so you can begin a dialog with them. You want to give the impression to the customer that you are the printer from whom they should be buying.

Combining social media with direct mail, outgoing telephone sales calls, and face-to-face sales opportunities will increase the sales activities that will generate new sales. Even in printing, selling is a numbers game, and the more times you touch a customer and ask for the sale, the more successful you will become.

If you are printer, you need to invest in a smartphone. A smartphone is a cell phone with an Internet browser and a camera. What it does is open a new service opportunity for printers called mobile marketing.

Mobile marketing links the print world with the Internet. By scanning a QR code that is on a printed piece, a smartphone user can be instantly directed to an Internet page on their smartphone’s browser. Mobile marketing is big in Europe and the Far East and it is just hitting the US. Printers should see any company that sells a product and has a website asking about including a QR code on their printed marketing material.

Haven’t heard about QR codes? A recent episode of CSI New York featured a QR code as a clue in an investigation. The National Basketball Association used a QR code for a promotion during half time at this year’s All-Star game. HBO ran a special QR code in a television ad during the final episode of Lost. QR codes are quickly going mainstream in North America.

If you are a printer, buy a smartphone and make sure you have a QR code reader application downloaded. You need the application to read the QR code. Then you will need to learn how to create QR codes for your customer. It is a simple process that is explained through hundreds of YouTube videos online.

What is exciting is that mobile marketing will drive printing as more customers try to drive eyes to their websites. The QR code uses are unlimited and can make printed material even more powerful when linked to the Internet.

Now printers will ready need to get a functional website to promote mobile marketing.

Hopefully, you have seen some of our announcements and press releases about our new book, “No More Rotten Eggs – A Dozen Steps to Grade AA Talent Management,” just published by McGraw-Hill and available in book stores everywhere and online.
We have been asked why we would suggest a book on hiring now when, in fact, many companies are still in the downsizing mode. Well, the fact of the matter is that this is the right time to hire. Not to add staff, but rather to upgrade staff. Given all the discussion of a structural change in the industry, it is only logical that business owners recognize the need to restructure to cope with these structural changes. And when they restructure, they need to be sure that their current staff will fit their new vision. There may be better people out there and now is the time to get them. If you wait until the recovery is underway then you will be competing again for the top performers and you could lose.
So don’t wait – start now. And if you want to know how to do it right, buy our book!

So simple it is deceptive, so basic we don’t do it, yet it has increased sales in shop after shop. The old Army bromide said, “Things that get done are what the Commander looks at.” That’s true with your total sales as well.
Sales go up when the team measures where they are in relation to the goal today; not tomorrow nor at the end of the month – but today, while we still have a chance to do something about it.
And it doesn’t do any good to just know total sales; total sales have to be related to the budget and goal.
But if you are like most shops, you simply measure your progress by comparing this month’s total with this month last year or last month. That’s a waste, for things have changed. You could have reduced staff or overhead or, conversely, added staff and overhead since last year.
So, all progress must be measured against a budget that provides positive cash flow on today’s costs: forget about last year. We’ll tell you more about how we can mess up setting a monthly sales budget next month – so be sure to look for us.
Now we assume we have a monthly budget. That’s the B in your morning PBG. Now, let’s set a goal. Huh? Thought the budget was the goal? No, the budget is not the goal – meet the budget in most places and you get to keep your job for another month. Big deal.
Your job is to beat your budget decisively, and we define that as being 20%. So, if your budget is $100k for the month, your goal is $120k. When you and your team bring sales of $105k in; well, adequate job, but not great job. Don’t expect anyone to get excited for doing what you are supposed to do.
However, pop a $135k on a goal of $120k (and thus a $100k budget), then you are going to make some serious money and that’s calls for a “Great job. Attaboy!”
Anyway, the Goal is the G in your PBG report. Now you need to calculate the P, or Projection. How do you do it? Basically, divide sales through last night by the number of days you have been open this month, and multiply by the number of days you are going to be open. Running out of space here, but if you want full specifics of a daily PBG click on over to: http://www.crouser.com/twitter/pbg.pdf.

One of my first books was The Forgotten Customer. I wrote it to address the fact that your customers have expectations for a product or service that will make them say, “I Love It.” I learned long ago that in order to get that result it is necessary to hire the right employees, provide training, rewards and recognition. But that is not sufficient for business success. It is essential that we create a culture where we take care of the internal customer first. I call that a culture of Total Customer Satisfaction. When each employee of the company sets out to satisfy his or her internal customers first, the end result is the external customer will automatically be satisfied.

The internal customer, whom I refer to as “The Forgotten Customer,” is everyone who works in the company. They are involved not only in the creation of the product or service but also in every aspect of the business operation. Successful companies such as Federal Express and Southwest Airlines understand this concept and have developed a culture that seeks to satisfy all of the fellow employees and managers first. This culture of success requires each employee to understand his or her obligation to every other employee.

I’ve noted an example recently that perhaps sheds some light on this concept. While standing in line at Bruegger’s Bagels I observed the baker bringing out a fresh batch of bagels. As the baker brought them out, he announced the arrival of the particular flavor and then loaded them into the waiting baskets. In response to his announcement, one or more of the salespersons at the counter called out “Thank you, Baker”.

The baker was just doing his job, but that “Thank You” acknowledged that the baker was bringing to them something they needed so they could satisfy the people on the other side of the counter. They won’t say “I Love It” about the bagel sandwich if the bagel is bad.

What is your culture?