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.

Not surprisingly, color continues to erode the black & white market and will account for 77% of revenue from equipment, supplies, and services by 2014. We often think of color printing as full coverage color printing, but in areas such as transactional printing color is light coverage. Somewhat surprising is that what InfoTrends calls “a significant number” of monochrome pages are being printed on color machines.

Overall, InfoTrends expects continued declines in the printing industry through 2014 with one exception. It forecasts growth in digital color printing because of shorter runs, personalization, and fast turnaround requirements. All in all, nothing much new, but another signpost on the way to the future of printing.

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!

Bill and I never know how people will react to our articles and publications. However, one recent response on our new book was totally unexpected. Our book “No More Rotten Eggs – A Dozen Steps to Grade AA Talent Management” got into the library of the federal prison just south of Tucson. As a result, we have been invited to spend a few hours at the prison on my birthday, August 11, meeting with inmates who are learning how to adapt to life upon release.

One of the classes being developed by an inmate will focus on how to be “A Good Egg.” They want us to come down and provide some guidance based on our book and our staffing experiences. I hope we do okay so they will let us back out.

The two franchise systems will wrap their annual conferences around the trade show with one before and one after the two-day event at Caesar’s Palace. The show is expected to attract some 150 vendors and around 600 attendees—double what was usually found at the individual trade shows in the past. Add to that the fact that Minuteman is having its own conference a week later at the same hotel and you should have a bunch of happy vendors.

It will be interesting to see how this all works out. I doubt if there will be fisticuffs should a franchisee from one system run into a franchise from the other system at the show, but there probably will be some grumbling. If this all pans out, look for continued pressure from vendors to get other systems to go the joint-venture route.

Back in 1990, printers were charging $2.61 for one copy of one original and $1.14 each for 500 copies of one original. Five years ago, that had dropped to $1.07 and 51 cents, respectively. Today, the average price of one copy of one original is 72 cents and the price of 500 copies of one original is 39 cents. The average cost per copy of all color copy jobs has fallen from $1.64 in 1990 to 41 cents today. That said, most printers report being relatively satisfied about their color copy business, perhaps because they are no longer depending on the one-offs and are concentrating on larger jobs that are suited for today’s more sophisticated equipment.

On the self-serve copy side, it appears that this small but once ubiquitous profit center has all but disappeared. For one thing, yesterday’s customers now have their own basic copying capabilities. Also, the annoyance and lost time associated with walk-in convenience copy customers has prompted printers to deemphasize the service or drop it all together. Some have kept it as a community service, but its days as a standard offering in modern print shops are certainly over.

Of those who are using social media, only 1.1% say it is already an important part of their marketing and communications practices, while 37.8% say social media are somewhat important now and will become more important over the next three years.

What are the most used social media choices by those printers who are getting social? LinkedIn is by far the tops at 44.7%. That is followed by 29.8% using Facebook, 14.4% using Twitter, and 10.1% using You Tube or other video. Another 10.1% are using blogs, while 8% rely on online forums.

There is no question that social media are becoming more a part of printers’ marketing and communications toolbox, but it’s clear that there remains a reluctance to get involved and a lack of knowledge about how social media can be used effectively. It will be interesting to see how all this shakes out over the next year or so.

• See how printing and other services are valued by print buyers.
• Learn about social media in a three-track program for the novice, the knowledgeable, and the expert.
• Find out how marketing is done right.
• Learn how to price integrated services.
• Discover how to communicate your green initiatives, be they large or small.
• Find the secrets to getting you best customers to buy more and buy more often.

This is only a partial roster of highlights that also include the annual Supplier Showcase featuring vendors who specifically market to this segment of the printing industry. The NAQP Owners Conference is the only industry event specifically for owners or general managers of quick, small commercial, or digital printing operations with 25 or fewer employees. Don’t miss this opportunity to fine tune your business and learn from both industry experts and your peers.