Printing Survivor 2011
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On Thursday, October 13th, I’ll have the chance to speak on a topic that I am quite passionate about — how printers can find ways to grow their business!
The event, themed “Printing Survivor 2011“, is being held at the Le Jardin Conference & Event Centre in Vaughan, Ontario. The event is being put on by the great folks at Graphic Arts Magazine.
On the official website, the event is being promoted as a place where “attendees will get practical, workable, no BS strategies from industry leaders who have not only weathered the economic storm, but are prospering.”
I am quite excited to have the opportunity to deliver on that promise along with the other speakers. That list includes Peter Muir of Bizucate, Jay Mandarino of C.J. Graphics, Inc., and Arjun Basu of Spafax.
If you can attend on 10/13, I’d love to see you there!
Please click here for more information and to register >>
Image used courtesy of Graphic Arts Magazine
Tags Fantastic Story on Pace’s Shift to a Marketing Support Provider
I just wanted to share a story/video from What They Think that I greatly enjoyed seeing.
In the video, Mike Kyle took some time to share how Pace transformed from a 36-year old print shop into a Marketing Support Provider.
Mike listed steps such as:
- Invest in hardware and softwawe
- Bring specific operations in-house
- Find and hire new resources (including developers and email specialists)
- Utilize cross-media marketing solutions, including QR Codes and more
It really is a great story! Please click here to watch the video or read the transcript >>
(Full disclosure: Pace is an interlinkONE customer.)
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Tips for Selling Marketing Services
One of the major challenges faced by a printer that wants to offer marketing services involves changing their sales strategies and tactics. There really is a big transition from commodity-based sales to solution sales. In my book Business Tranformation: A New Path to Profit for the Printing Industry, you will not find a how-to-guide on how to sell. Rather, you will find a chapter that focuses on the changes that you may need to make to your sales process. Here are a few of the items that you may need to change.
Identifying Other Opportunities
One of the biggest changes will involve taking the time to investigate what other sales opportunities may be available. Let’s think of the the example of a seminar.
A seminar requires promotional planning, production, and follow-up. Registering attendees, mail and email notifications, collection of registration fees via e-commerce, creating informational items, and much more, are all a part of putting on an event of this sort. In the past, your business may have only received a small portion of the work involved in those items; perhaps you were printing the postcards that invited people to the seminar. But as a marketing services provider, you will absolutely want to find ways to get more of that business.
How can you go about doing this? One thing that may help is to simply ask more questions. Find out how the company plans to promote their seminar besides the printed piece that you are doing. Also, share tips and advice with them to position yourself as a partner. Suggest that they can improve the success of their registration efforts with personalized URLs or QR Codes. Share statistics that demonstrate the lift some campaigns get by including emails and social networks in their promotions. Then, find ways to demonstrate how you can help them with those items too.
Formalize Your Sales Process
If your company has had the same sales reps for many years, there may be some folks that are used to doing the majority of their work on their own. However, the transformation into a marketing services provider requires a team approach.
To get everyone on board, you may need to put forth efforts to standardize your sales process, to hold weekly meetings to share ideas, problems, concerns, and successes, and to develop that tools that will help people forecast sales opportunities.
Find Ways to Automate!
Next, let’s look at sales force automation. SFA records all of the stages in a sales process. It also allows you to track all of your contacts. SFA systems are also capable of sales lead tracking systems, sales forecasting, order management and product knowledge. This creates a streamlined, productive environment for your sales reps.
This is not limited to your sales reps, however. Your marketing department will also benefit from SFA. As your customer database grows, your marketing department can do a few things with this. For example, they may be able to identify who your most profitable customers are. There are obvious benefits to this. This will enable them create a market of similar companies to target.
Also, SFA will help in understanding the competition. Any lost sales opportunities should be documented in the system. Marketers can examine trends and cycles among sales reps and help develop a stronger competitive strategy. Also, this helps marketers and sales reps work in tandem. If you are conducting a self-promotional campaign, that information should be included in the SFA system, including who was contacted and what their responses were.
There is also marketing automation. This allows you to send out consistent and relevant messages efficiently. Marketing automation enables you to automate marketing functions, including campaign creation, market segmentation, and response analysis. Simply the gathering of data that can be used to target your audience in a valued way.
Technology is your friend. Use it to make your sales and marketing processes more efficient and effective. You will see results.
5 Tips for Standing out from the Competition
Note: This is Part 5 of a 9-part series on Becoming a Marketing Services Provider
When you take the plunge into transforming your business, you owe it to yourself to give it your all. The transformation to a marketing services provider is not always easy. There have been a lot of printers who have started going down the path, but then changed course when things did not go as smoothly as they may have hoped.
In chapter 5 of my book, Business Transformation: A New Path to Profit for the Printing Industry, I have outlined five simple steps to help you successfully make the transformation into a marketing services provider.
1. Stay well-read and educated.
There is a lot of material out there. New technologies are constantly being rolled out. The world of marketing is being changed every day by mobile platforms, social networks, and more — look at how quickly the tablet is changing our daily activities! While you may not feel that easy an every new technology will have an impact on your business, it is worth it to at least have a handle on these things. For example, your customers will perhaps think of you as more than a printer when they start discussing those channels and technologies with you. Being able to have a knowledgeable conversation across a variety of marketing and technology topics with your customers will bring benefits.
2. Be forward-thinking.
It’s one thing to read about the latest trends. It’s another to apply what you learn. We should all constantly be thinking about how we can incorporate your new findings into our business. When consuming new information, aggressively take notes. Mark down what you think is interesting or potentially useful. Mark down topics that you do not understand! Having an open mind can lead to the spark of innovation that will lead your company to greater success.
3. Be aggressive.
Once you have made the transformation, your natural ambition has to take over. Always be actively thinking about how you can further your business. Constantly find ways to attract new clients. Be determined to continually find new ways to impress customers with your service. By getting your entire staff on board with putting in the work, the transformation will certainly go a lot smoother.
4. Be prepared.
I mention in the book that “you need to prepare for the day when you truly become a one-stop marketing services shop.” In order for this to happen, you need to be prepared. As time goes on, you will need to offer more services. You cannot exist on providing personalized URLs alone or QR Codes for that matter. In a sense, you are preparing for a necessary expansion.
5. “Walk the talk.”
You will need to certainly be willing to bring your very best Sales skills to get clients on board with your new venture. Promising quality service and helpful products is part of the game, but you need to make sure that your service and products really are as good as you say. Also, you should be able to prove that the marketing channels you are selling have worked for you and your company. Not only will that help you to sell your expanded services, but it should also make it easier for your staff to implement them for clients.
Next week, we will be examining how to promote the heck out of your new business.
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Assembling a Roster to Become a Marketing Services Provider
Note: This is Part 4 of a 9-part series on Becoming a Marketing Services Provider
We have gone over all of the strategy you need to make your transformation to a marketing services provider work. There are steps in place, a marketing and a business plan, now you need to fill in the puzzle. And the only way to do that is with the right people. The most well thought out plan will not succeed if it is not executed by capable and eager employees. When transitioning your business, it is very important to pick people who can fill in your roster and get the job done.
The Marketing Pro
It has already been mentioned, but it is worth repetition. Having a bona fide marketing professional on your team is completely necessary. Having someone who understands the ins and outs of your new industry is just too valuable to neglect.
Your Sales Team
Next, your sales team needs to be attended to. Selling your new product is an animal you have never really dealt with. Selling a solution is entirely different from any product or service you have ever sold. However, it is also wise to keep your print salesman on board. They have valuable contacts that will certainly be mined. Sustainability cannot be overlooked. But a new solutions salesman will be tasked with calling marketing personnel at new accounts. There is a certain level of expertise required by these salesmen, and you may need to bring in new blood for this.
The Folks in IT
Also, with the increasing speed of technology and software, your new company will need an IT department. IT professionals are highly important, on numerous fronts. They can be very helpful on sales calls, offering a quick solution to a problem that a traditional salesman may not be able to answer. And in this business, almost every customer will have unique needs and issues they need fixed. A savvy, experienced information technology pro can navigate these problems. And just as a rule, you will have plenty of networks and systems that you need to have maintained and tuned up. All of this falls under the umbrella of IT.
And Do Not Forget These
Then we come more to normal business functions, such as HR, accounting, and others. Finally, there are a group of folks I call “bench people.” Much like in sports, you need a strong bench to round out your team. I consider these people to be talented, and able to be groomed for future positions. Normally, these people will probably be in the form of interns, or recent graduates.
Finding the right people to bring your company into its new role is crucial for the success of your transformation into a marketing services provider.
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