Business of Print

It's About Choices: Risks

I'm told that we control our own destiny. I believe that the paths our careers and our lives travel are made up of the many choices we've made throughout the journey. Now looking back for a minute, how many of those choices were on purpose? As we face these uncertain economic times, my guess is that it's more important than ever to be focused on the decisions or choices that we make.

For print sales folks these decisions can revolve around doing the same thing over and over and hope that the results improve, or perhaps you're one of the few willing to try something new that will test your selling and business skills or may make you a bit nervous. That's OK. Maybe things like:

• Learn something new about business, about how companies (your clients') make money
• Become the "go to person" for mailing or on-line job submission... pick something!
• Try to get an appointment with a C-Level executive at your next 2-3 prospects (for those who don't already try this)
• Learn something or try something that can benefit your business that can make you a better sales executive and is a real stretch for you. Work hard at it.

I don't see enough sales people trying new things, learning new skills, putting themselves at risk in order to really change the game. I don't mean physical or monetary risk, I mean intellectual challenges that really push you to the next level of business success. Come on, let's make the choices that will lead you out of the pack and help you on your journey to the top.

P.S. Now is a good time to start...

Selling Systems: What's Your Story?

I'm looking to hear about company's that have embraced a particular selling system and have made it the standard for their company. At the upcoming Top Management Conference in March 2009, I'd like to highlight 2-3 of these companies and hold a panel discussion discussing their success.

If you've got a good story to tell, or for more information please contact me at mphilie@napl.org.

Sales Effectiveness Gap

If you Google "Sales training" you'll get over 23,000,000 hits. If you enter "Become a better sales person" you'll get 3,500,000 hits...wow! There are some wonderful sales training organizations out there that can provide you with a wealth of information and help you with the skills necessary to become an effective sales person. With all that information out there I really get ticked when I run into print sales people who haven't taken advantage of any of it.

Many in the print world view solution selling and consultative selling as new ways to sell. Well, while they may be new to print, they've been around for a long time. One of the challenges for our industry is to make the leap from selling jobs to providing solutions that'll grow into solid relationships over time. One of the impediments to becoming a good "solutions provider" though is the lack of basic selling skills to start. How can you tackle the hard stuff when you struggle with managing a prospect list? Or writing a good letter? Or being creative in getting appointments?

Finally, selling print and print related services is difficult today. It's even more difficult without the basic skills necesary to be effective. I encourage all reps to work on their self improvement. How? Buy a book, take a class, do something! Owners, provide an environment where self improvement is encouraged and supported. Incorporate it into your regular meetings. Doing nothing is not an option...good luck!

What You Make vs. What You Do

In helping companies to differentiate themselves in the marketplace we often hear this question:

"What is more important, what you make or what you do? Is there a difference?"

What you make are brochures, direct mail, annual reports, etc.

What you do is to help companies become more successful in using print to go to market. You help them to fill seats or beds. You help them to sell stuff. While both are important, the difference between the two can be the difference between being a vendor and being a trusted advisor.

Just a thought...

Setting Expectations

The French Canadian goalie in the Paul Newman movie Slap Shot repeatedly asked: "Who owns the team?" In your printing business, you "own the team." That means that the expectations set for the team need to begin with you.

As the leader of your organization, or as the sales manager of your company:

1. What expectations do you have of your reps?
2. How do you effectively communicate those to them?
3. Is the comp plan aligned with your expectations?
4. How do you track their progress and hold them accountable?

I see huge problems in our ability (or lack thereof) to get consistent results from the sales force. I also see many mixed signals from the leadership ranks. This is an industry-wide problem that'll get worse before it gets better especially as we continue to transition how we sell.

I'd like to get some feedback on this. Let me know what you may have tried, what's working and where you see impediments in this area. Operators are standing by...

Is Your Sales Pipeline Working?

Pipeline, what pipeline? You mean the Alaskan pipeline? No, no, no. Your sales pipeline. You know, you've got a group of suspects and prospects as well as existing customers that are at various stages of your sales cycle and that you spend your time moving them along the pipeline in hopes that they become customers and repeat customers. That pipeline!

Well the pipeline works for most reps but I'm not sure that it's working for them strategically or just through sheer will. I mentioned "your sales cycle" in the first paragraph. Can everyone define their sales cycle to me? What are the steps, the average time between stages and the critical success factors of each stage? Not being able to define these stages is basically the difference between getting customers and getting customers with a plan.