Sales & Marketing

Maximizing Website Impact on Sales Funnel, Recruiting Processes

March 18, 2024

By Sara Melefsky, digital marketing director, WayPoint Marketing Communications

Regardless of what type of business, a website should bring in and convert prospective customers and attract new employees. In a world where nearly everything is going digital, a website is more critical than ever. It acts as the hub for all marketing and communications efforts, so it needs to succinctly and effectively tell audiences why they want to work with and for the company. However, before adding troves of content to the website, a business needs to analyze the various steps of its sales funnel and recruiting processes.

What are the stages of a sales funnel?

In a typical sales funnel, prospective customers enter the funnel by learning about products or services and then slowly move through the qualification and nurturing phases before making a purchase.

1. Awareness: This first step of the funnel is initiated when someone learns about a business through advertisements, social media, visiting a booth, online search results or word of mouth.

2. Engagement: This is considered to be the true start of the funnel. Awareness is nothing more than someone acknowledging that a business exists. Engagement is that same person interacting and showing signs of interest. In this phase, a business begins to see the value of a prospect and the prospect begins to see value in the business. The goal is to have these interested prospects exit this stage by submitting a contact form, following a social media account, subscribing to a newsletter or contacting the business.

During this phase, consider how to categorize prospects who engage. Will a business note how they first engaged (e.g., tradeshow, website, social media or newsletter)? Will a business categorize them with others based on similar interests? A business also should consider the best way to return the interaction. Do sales representatives personally reach out, visit their facilities or call them? Do marketing managers enter contact information into a newsletter campaign or customer relationship manager (CRM)? Does the marketing team target digital advertisements to the companies or industries? Once the initial engagement begins, the prospect sees potential for a partnership. The contact hopefully will interact more frequently, at which time the contact can be moved further into the funnel, as either a marketing qualified lead (MQL) or a sales qualified lead (SQL).

3. MQL: A marketing qualified lead is a contact who repeatedly is engaged, shows interest and has been reviewed by the marketing team. This may be a contact who repeatedly opens and engages with a newsletter, submits a contact form or engages on social media. An MQL often is watched more closely as the level of purchasing interest increases.

4. SQL: A sales qualified lead is a contact who was an MQL and shows growing interest in the business. SQLs are reviewed by the sales team and identified to be true, potential customers – meaning the business’ capabilities align with their needs. In this stage, the sales team will provide quotes and negotiate. If an SQL becomes uninterested, it makes the most sense to hand it back to the marketing team for more nurturing with content. This allows the marketing team to further analyze interest so the sales team can focus its time on more valuable prospects.

5. Closed: After a customer accepts a proposal or quote, the lead moves into the ‘Closed’ phase.

How can a website impact the sales funnel?

A website should be structured and filled with content that delivers value to all visitors – regardless of where they fall within the sales funnel. Gone are the days when a business could control the buyer’s journey and push a prospect through the steps of the sales process. Prospects think differently now and control their buyer journey. A business can, however, supply content so that wherever or however prospects move through the funnel, information they want and need is provided. This will keep them engaged and coming back to the site until they decide to make a purchase.

1. Awareness: When someone first discovers a business, it’s important to present information about the product and services, business overview, mission and value statements and leadership summaries. Display this information so it is easy to find and understand. Website visitors in this phase haven’t engaged yet, so they won’t hesitate to quickly leave the site if they can’t find or understand what a company does.

2. Engagement: Once prospects see value in a business, they will begin to engage with the content. This is a great phase of the funnel to introduce a content strategy full of thought-leadership material that is relevant and intriguing – informational-type resources, such as how-to guides, videos, audio/podcast files and answers to frequently asked questions. It’s important to show a company has the answers and expertise, but not push its solution. Successful thought leadership provides a safe place to find answers, not push a product or service. Remember, a trusting relationship still is being built with the prospective customer.

3. MQL: Once prospects engage with a business, it can implement more technical marketing techniques so they keep coming back. Depending on their behavior on the site and the resources they accessed, a business can launch a retargeting campaign to keep the business in front of them. A business can send them specific, personalized emails with links to more content that is similar to what they previously viewed. The purpose of content in this phase is to capture data and keep visitors engaged.

4. SQL: By this point, a prospect is interested, so it’s up to the sales team to take it from here with quoting, negotiating and closing the deal. The marketing team supports sales efforts, perhaps with an online resource center of case studies, client testimonials or technical sheets for the sales team to reference.

5. Closed: The prospect now is a customer. But that doesn’t mean the website’s job is done. It can house a portal where customers access the onboarding documents, project-specific files and communications. Also, the prospect’s business logo can be added to a ‘Customer’ section of the website and maybe a testimonial can be provided about working with the business. This would showcase the breadth of experience to a new round of prospects.

How can a website improve recruiting?

Beyond supporting the sales processes, a website also should support recruiting activities. Potential employees look at a company’s website for information prior to applying for an open position. They want to know the history of the company, leadership team, company culture and values, employee benefits, testimonials and more. Applicants even may look for pictures that showcase the facilities and staff. If possible, don’t use stock photos. Use pictures of staff, team gatherings and production facilities to give a true representation of the company and help fulfill the applicants’ need to trust the business. They want to begin building a relationship with the company – even before the business knows they want a career. A website can accomplish all these goals with a ‘Career’ or ‘About Us’ page.

Additionally, applicants should be able to access job opportunities at the facility and apply via the website. The application process should be streamlined and not require significant steps or complicated forms. Once applicants realize they can trust the business, they research open jobs and, hopefully, begin applying.

In conclusion

A website has the potential to be a powerhouse for attracting new customers and employees. It’s the place that houses all strategic activities through a diverse library of resources. It should track visitor behavior and data, store and report contact or subscription forms, attract new employees, repeatedly engage prospects until they become customers and, perhaps, house a customer portal.

When a company fills its website with content that covers the sales and recruiting processes and structures it so information easily is accessible, the company will begin to see the value. There is a reason many manufacturers are investing in strategic, well-rounded websites – they realize that without them, they won’t remain competitive and can’t capture the attention of modern-day customers.

Sara Melefsky is the digital marketing director at WayPoint Marketing Communications, a marketing agency that partners with small- to medium-sized businesses to help them reach their goals through strategic marketing and communications programs. Melefsky boasts a background with over 20 years of B2B digital and traditional marketing experience. Her diverse skill set includes campaign strategy, project management and execution, graphic design, print and digital marketing, community relations and advertising. A firm believer that a solid marketing approach is the cornerstone of any successful business, Melefsky emphasizes the importance of constant evaluation and tweaking to adapt to the ever-changing industry environment.

More information: www.waypointmc.com
Reprinted with permission from The American Mold Builder.

Finding & Keeping Good Salespeople, Part 2

September 16, 2022

By David M. Fellman

This is the second part in a two-part series. Part one, in the May/June 2022 issue of PostPress, focused on hiring salespeople. Part two focuses on retention.

Having (hopefully) found yourself a good salesperson, how do you keep that person with you? It’s pretty simple, really. First and foremost, you make sure your expectations and your salesperson’s expectations are in sync, and then you keep your side of the bargain. (And if your salesperson doesn’t keep his/her side of the bargain, we’re not talking about a good salesperson, right?)

Your expectations start with the job description – developing new customers vs. servicing established customers, quote machine vs. missionary, etc. – and continue with more tangible action standards and objectives. Your overall objective (and the salesperson’s quota) might be $500,000 in sales, and one of the action standards to support that might be 20 “prospecting starts” each week. (That’s my term, by the way, for a process which begins with the identification of “suspect” companies and ends with the qualification of real prospects.)

Your salesperson’s expectations probably start with an income goal but may also include support and “working conditions” expectations. Let’s deal with those first. Part of your side of the bargain is to ensure that the promises your salesperson has to make are being kept; promises of quality, service, reliability, etc. Now, the salesperson shouldn’t be making unreasonable promises – again, one who does that would not be a good salesperson, right? – but you have to understand that those promises are a critical part of the selling process. If the promises aren’t kept, the customer may not buy from you again, and that affects the salesperson’s income. Put yourself in a salesperson’s shoes. If you do your job – developing customers, winning orders, etc. – but your “promise keepers” don’t do their job, you’re probably going to look for a better group of promise keepers before too long.

Income expectations

Now let’s talk about income goals and expectations. I’ve seen many situations that were doomed from the start because the printer either created or allowed an unreasonable earnings expectation. Here’s an example: A candidate earned $65,000 the previous year selling office products. The printer told him he could earn a lot more than that selling printing. “I’ll pay you 10% of everything you sell,” the printer said, “and for the first 3 months, I’ll let you draw $5,000 per month so you won’t be taking a huge pay cut while you’re getting things rolling.”

In the first month, the salesperson worked hard, but sold basically nothing. In the second month, he continued to work hard and landed a few small jobs and one good-sized (by this company’s standards) job. The small jobs were in the $300-$500 range. The good-sized job billed at $3,500, and his total sales for the month were a little less than $5,000. In the third month, he landed several new customers, six small jobs and three good-sized jobs, for total sales of approximately $11,000.

I asked the owner how the new guy was doing. “Great,” he said. “I couldn’t be happier!” I asked the salesperson how he was doing. “I’m dying here,” he said. “Everyone tells me I’m doing great, but I’m not even close to covering my draw. I must do $650,000 in sales to equal what I earned last year, and I can’t see any way that’s going to happen.”

Here’s the problem. The printer hired a $65,000 guy for a $30,000-$45,000 job. The first question you should always ask yourself before hiring a salesperson is how much sales volume you can reasonably expect. I ask my clients to produce three figures: a solid performance, an exceptional performance and a minimum level of performance. The second question you should ask yourself is how much you’re willing to pay for each level of performance.

When I did this “after the fact” with this particular printer, we came up with $300,000 as a solid performance and $450,000 as a really outstanding performance, all of that based on his equipment and capacity and market dynamics. His answer to the second question was the same 10% of sales he’d offered to the salesperson, with the expectation that benefits and expenses and taxes would increase that to a total “compensation load” of about 15%. “With anything more than a 15% load,” he said, “the work he brings in won’t be profitable.”

Here’s a hard fact. The arithmetic of the situation tells you exactly how much salesperson you can afford, and it may very well disqualify the kind of candidate you would really like to hire. The trap that many printers have fallen into is to think that a more talented and experienced – and therefore more expensive – salesperson will automatically bring in enough business to make everybody happy. It doesn’t work that way. If the printer paid $65,000 for $450,000 in sales – which we agreed, remember, would represent an outstanding performance – the salesperson might be happy in the short term, but please also remember that the printer promised him he could earn “lots more” selling printing. And the printer wouldn’t be happy at all with a wages-plus-benefits-plus-expenses-plus-taxes compensation load up around 20%. The most likely scenario is the loss of a talented salesperson because the job was not all it was cranked up to be.

The moral of this part of the story is don’t oversell the job. Remember, this all starts with reasonable performance expectations. If it would take a beyond-reasonable sales performance to get to the salesperson’s desired or required income level, the relationship is almost certain to fail.

Affordable salespeople

All of this begs a question: What do you do if you can’t afford to hire – or if the job won’t support – a proven professional? My best advice is to hire someone who’s going to be a proven professional someday. Let’s take another look at that quote from Caliper’s promotional material: “The Caliper Profile is a personality assessment instrument that objectively quantifies an individual’s competencies and identifies candidates with the strongest potential.” In other words, you have tools available to help you identify young/inexperienced people who are likely to grow into the job. You’ll have to train them, and manage them effectively, but the “opportunity equation” is pretty clear-cut: good candidate + solid training + solid management = great salesperson.

Here’s something else to consider: Attaining an income level is no guarantee of performance. There are plenty of “hacks” earning $65,000 or more in sales, some of whom inherited great territories or compensation plans that benefit the salesperson far more than the company. I believe, though, that the top 25% of people who will start with you at $35,000-$40,000 will outperform the bottom 50% of people currently earning $65,000 or more, and the top 10% of those $35,000-$40,000 people will outperform the bottom 80% of those earning $65,000 or more. Like any other investment, the best strategy with salespeople is to buy early in the value cycle; in other words, to invest in relatively inexpensive things which will appreciate in value.

Appreciation

Appreciation, by the way, is another part of the formula for keeping good salespeople, and you show your appreciation in both tangible and intangible ways. The intangibles may be the most important consideration here, and the moral of this part of the story is to treat your valued salespeople with at least the same respect you show a valued customer. (That’s good strategy, of course, with any valued employee.)

The tangibles provide you with opportunity too. Here’s an example. One of my clients had determined that she was willing to pay a new salesperson $45,000 to bring in $350,000 in sales in her first year, and we both agreed that $350,000 was a reasonable expectation. We told the candidate that this position had “low 40’s” potential in the first year, and that met her income requirements and expectations. The salesperson’s compensation plan started with a salary of $2000 per month, and my client’s original plan was to pay 6% commissions on top of that, which would add up to exactly $45,000 on $350,000 in sales. My recommendation was to reduce the commission rate to 5% and add two incentives to the plan. The first was a $2,500 bonus to be paid if the salesperson reached her quota of $350,000. The remaining $1,000 was budgeted for “random acts of appreciation.”

About five months into the first year, the owner and salesperson went on a sales call together, and on their way back to the office, the salesperson remarked on a watch that the client was wearing. “I really want one of those,” she said. “I can’t really afford one yet, but it’s definitely on my list.” That led the owner to call the client to inquire about the watch, and that afternoon, she ordered one (about $400) from Amazon. As she gave it to the salesperson, she said, “This is just because I appreciate the way you do your job and represent the whole company. Keep up the good work!”

I’m sure you see the motivational and loyalty-building value of that act of appreciation. Please also note that there was still $600 in the budget for additional “random” acts.

Danger!

Let’s go back to the subject of income expectations for a moment. For most salespeople, part of the expectation is the opportunity to increase sales and earnings from year to year. That holds true right up to the point where many salespeople settle into a comfort zone.

What do you do in that situation? Here’s what you don’t do. You don’t arbitrarily decide that since the salesperson isn’t working as hard, you won’t pay him/her as much.

This goes all the way back to the question of reasonable sales expectations and what you’re willing to pay for that level of performance. After asking my clients to define first year objectives and compensation tolerances, I always ask them to think ahead. This process, combined with the interview process, ultimately yields seven data points: (1 & 2) first year sales expectations and what the printer is willing to pay for a reasonable performance, (3 & 4) future sales expectations and what the printer is willing to pay for a reasonable performance, (5) what the salesperson needs to earn in the first year, (6) what the salesperson wants to earn in the first year and (7) what the salesperson wants to earn by some future year. With those seven data points, it is usually possible to craft a compensation plan that will work for both parties in both the short term and the long term, and that’s important because changing a compensation plan is by far the most dangerous element of sales management.

Please note that there’s usually a difference between what a salesperson wants to make and needs to make, especially in the first year. The need figure may have to cover hard, fixed expenses or it may reflect the value the salesperson places on his/her own talent and experience. Either way, you have to guarantee that need figure, or else the salesperson won’t come with you or stay with you.

You don’t have to guarantee the want figure, but you do have to provide a reasonable opportunity to reach it. If not, the salesperson is probably not going to stay with you. Again, don’t oversell the job!

Closing thought

Here’s a closing thought for today. It is certainly worth the time and effort it takes to find good salespeople, but ultimately, you don’t need to keep salespeople – you need to keep customers!

In addition to the expectations and appreciation issues, it’s important that you never let a customer be your salesperson’s customer, as opposed to being your company’s customer. You prevent that by broadening the interface between your company and your customers, involving designers and customer service personnel and maybe even production people in the relationship. You also make sure that you have a personal relationship with the most important customers.

Most printing companies seem to abdicate “ownership” of the customer, which makes it easy for a salesperson to take a customer along if he/she leaves to go to work for a competitor. I want you to be able to go out and say: “I’m sure ‘Fred’ has talked to you about continuing to buy from him at his new company. We just want you to know that ‘Fred’ was only one of the people at our company who’s been responsible for your level of satisfaction, and the rest of us want to keep your business!”

Dave Fellman is the president of David Fellman & Associates, based in Raleigh, NC, a sales and marketing consulting firm serving numerous segments of the graphic arts industry. Contact him by phone at 919.606.9714, or by e-mail at [email protected].

Recruiting the Next-Generation Workforce

September 10, 2020

By Brittany Willes, editor, PostPress

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, one of the key issues facing leadership across nearly every industry was that of recruiting and retaining the next generation of employees. For the print finishing and binding industry, workforce development is especially crucial as the older generation – often with decades of specialized knowledge and skill sets – begins to retire. So, how do businesses find the right people to fill the necessary roles in their facilities? During the FSEA Online Learning Experience this past June, marketing and communications expert Shelly Otenbaker, president and founder of WayPoint Marketing Communications, shared current human resources marketing trends and best practices for recruiting the next-generation workforce.

Marketing for employees

There is a common myth that marketing is solely for business development. In reality, a company’s marketing resources and strategies are incredible assets when it comes to attracting and retaining the best employees.

“Marketing plays an important role in the hiring process,” said Otenbaker. “It creates awareness of your company, as well as engaging the right people to move them through the different phases of the hiring process.”

Consider the sales funnel – the process of attracting leads and moving them through the funnel to the intent to purchase. This is similar to how employers should consider their workforce. “Think about your workforces as an audience and the funnel is an employee acquisition funnel,” explained Otenbaker. In this acquisition funnel, employers should make use of their marketing resources to attract potential new hires. Similar to the sales funnel, the acquisition funnel begins with creating awareness, followed by consideration and interest. In this case, the intent to purchase becomes the application, selection and hiring process.

As Otenbaker noted, marketing is a key component in moving potential employees through the tunnel by attracting just the right candidates. “If someone searches for your company online, what do they find?” she questioned. If the next-generation workforce is the audience, what message are they receiving about a given company?

“In 2020, 50% of the workforce is made up of millennials, who look at things very differently than previous generations,” said Otenbaker. “These folks know all about your company before they even submit an application or resume. They’re qualifying you and your company without a single conversation. Seventy-five percent have researched the company’s reputation before applying for the job. They’re using social media, job boards and other sources to determine what your company offers, how you operate and what your commitment is to your team.”

A company needs to look at all of its marketing and recruiting materials – read them, analyze them and see what they say. What picture is being created about the company? Is it easy for people to access the materials? Are they up to date? Do they reflect the company’s culture? Is the website inviting? “It’s time to really be honest with yourself,” said Otenbaker. “Take a step back and look at what it is you’re sharing with the world.”

Which, again, begs the question: How are companies marketing themselves to this new audience? What messaging are they passing along to potential hires? Now, more than ever, it is just as important to sell the company to potential employees as it is to sell products and services to clients.

Evolving needs and processes

“A lot has changed in the last two decades when it comes to talent acquisition,” said Otenbaker. “The process has evolved and so have the needs and wants of the next-generation workforce. This is the generation that grew up with smart technology, that is known to challenge hierarchical structures. They want the flexibility to work when and where they want. They are open to change, and they want to build relationships with managers that deliver constant feedback and recognition. They’re looking for a place where they can continue to advance, as well as someplace where they can have a social and enjoyable workplace.”

This is in stark contrast to previous generations for whom flexible schedules and work/life balance were rarely on leadership’s radar. As a result, a large portion of today’s leadership is resistant to the evolving needs of the current workforce, something Otenbaker has encountered all too often.

“Unfortunately, a lot of companies’ leadership are not open to some of these characteristics or changes in the workplace that are appealing to the younger generation of workers,” she stated. “There’s work to be done,” Otenbaker noted. “As the current workforce continues to age and more people are going to be retiring, leadership is going to have to embrace these younger generations. Adjustments will need to be made.”

For companies to continue to grow and succeed in the current and future marketplace, it is vital that leadership support the needs of the next generation workforce.

Talent management

According to Otenbaker, to effectively recruit a workforce, companies need to develop a talent management strategy. “Statistics show that people change jobs 12 times during their career,” she stated. “While it could be a little longer or shorter in the print industry, the average employee tenure is roughly 4.3 years. This means you will need to continuously replenish your workforce.”

A typical talent management strategy includes the establishment of a talent pipeline – a pool of candidates available before a position is even open. This, in turn, means a reduction in the amount of time required to hire candidates, access to better-qualified candidates and reduction in recruiting costs.

So, how do companies go about establishing a talent pipeline? There are several steps that can be taken, but first and foremost, Otenbaker said, companies need to identify their long-term needs. “What are the employee characteristics – the types of people – you need in the long run to continue to meet your business’ goals?” she asked. “Once you have that, you can work on attracting and engaging candidates.”

Candidates in the talent pool should be assessed to determine which of them are the right fit. Who are those candidates who will best align with the business’ goals? Those are the candidates to nurture.

“It’s not something that can be done overnight,” said Otenbaker. “It takes time, and there are a lot of resources that have to be put into place. However, once all of the strategy and work has been put into it, and it finally is up and going, it is a lot easier to maintain.”

Additional steps for establishing a pipeline include conducting an audit of the business – i.e., going back to those marketing and recruiting materials. Once those have been reviewed, it is vital to secure the support of leadership. “Company leadership needs to agree that talent and the future workforce is important for the company’s success, and that building a pipeline will help the company perform better,” noted Otenbaker.

Next, connect with HR and/or marketing departments and make sure they are aligned and working in tandem, leveraging their tools and resources to build the talent pipeline. Once HR and marketing are aligned, focus should be turned to determining metrics for what success looks like for the company and establishing a budget for meeting those metrics.

“What are you trying to accomplish and how will you measure the effectiveness of your strategy?” asked Otenbaker. “Some of your metrics might look at reduced time to replace an employee or filling all talent gaps within a certain time frame. Whatever those success metrics look like, they need to be in place so that you understand what you’re trying to accomplish and can plan accordingly. And you need to understand what kind of budget you have to work with so you can prioritize tasks and determine what can be accomplished within that budget.”

Finally, companies must build an “employer brand tool box” that will help in attracting talent. “The most important tool is your website,” said Otenbaker. “It is the foundation for all of your recruiting activities, not to mention business development activities. Whether it is a customer or a potential candidate, people are looking at your website every day and making decisions on whether or not to engage with you. If your desired brand identity doesn’t match with your website, you may lose potential candidates.”

Recruiting during COVID-19

As COVID-19 continues to spread across the US and the world, many companies are experiencing a hiring freeze – or even layoffs. Depending on their individual situations, continuing to develop a talent pipeline may be the last thing they’re worried about. However, Otenbaker advised not to let efforts with the talent pipeline fall by the wayside.

“Continue working on your pipeline through the hiring freeze,” she stated. “If you stop now, it will put you behind when we get on the other side or are dealing with the new normal. You want to continue to work on it and make sure you are communicating what’s going on with your company to ensure you are appropriately staffed and ready to react throughout the crisis.”

With nearly 20 years of marketing communications experience under her belt, Shelly Otenbaker has the experience, knowledge and determination to help companies develop and implement strategic communications strategies focused on improving their business’ bottom line. For more information, visit www.waypointmc.com.

Are Your Profits in a Bind? Samples Sell Capabilities

September 12, 2019

by Deborah Corn, Intergalactic Ambassador to the Printerverse
PrintMediaCentr

Earlier this year, I was invited to present a keynote at the FSEA Binding Summit, which was held the day before the 2019 Odyssey Expo in Atlanta, Georgia. Now, sometimes when I am asked to speak, I scratch my head because I am just not sure what I could offer that would be a fair exchange in value for attendees’ time. Quite honestly, being asked to speak at the Binding Summit was one of those moments, and I respectfully declined. The folks from FSEA talked me off the “no” ledge and convinced me I was the right woman for the keynote job … They wanted to shake things up a bit. That was something I could deliver! Deborah The Disruptor was going to Georgia. Now, I just needed to formulate a presentation.

Understanding the print service provider

My experience with “bindery” comes from my 25-plus years buying print for ad agencies and global brands. It was limited to knowing that bindery included all the finishing I needed for my work, and that bindery processes had to be accounted for in an estimate. I would know I needed something trimmed, scored, folded, glued, diecut, varnished and so on – but, I didn’t always know how or where that happened. That was not my concern; it was my printer’s problem to work out. That is how the system works.

It also is “the system” that print buyers – even those with giant global brand budgets – cannot dictate or influence the choice of bindery partners for their print service providers (PSPs). We only can ask for what we want achieved, and printers either can find a way to offer it or pass on the job. It either will be cost effective or it won’t. The more bindery services that PSPs send out (rather than performing in-house), the higher the cost for the job. Work can be won or lost based on this line item in the request for proposal.

While that information is not new, what is important is the in-house vs. outsource pricing advantage for PSPs. And, the printers need that advantage, so they are buying equipment. The finishing manufacturers are answering the call by making machines smaller, easier to use, adaptable to needs and affordable.

Sending finishing work out of a print business now is an act of desperation, not a business strategy. So, what is a trade finisher or trade binder to do?

Show the buyer what exists

For the past two and a half years, I have been traveling with industry partners on a mission to share new opportunities and innovations for print marketing with print customers at agencies, brands and corporations through my program, Project Peacock. We have met with more than 1,100 buyers, designers and students to date. In March of this year, I took the program out of conference rooms and into event spaces by launching the Project Peacock Print Fair. Now – with more Peacock partners to show off their stuff and more room – PSPs have been invited to attend along with the print customers.

In every city we have visited, Project Peacock has generated print business. The attendees see things they didn’t know existed, or were even possible, and they are working with new service providers to execute these print innovations in their own companies’ promotional and packaging designs. That fact got me thinking that the trade finishers need to step up their education and marketing game in order to generate new business from new and existing customers. So, that was my message at the Binding Summit, and to my surprise, it really energized the room.

The concept is relatively simple. Trade binders and finishers should create meaningful, topical samples of their capabilities for their PSP partners to show to their customers. The finishers can create and distribute customized sample kits to their PSP customers, only sending materials for the capabilities each PSP doesn’t have in-house. Using the Project Peacock model, PSPs can use those kits to show off a wide variety of finishing and bindery options to their customers and educate them on the possibilities available for future projects.

Based on the results from Project Peacock, the print customers will be enlightened and perhaps inspired to try something new they didn’t know existed. When that happens, everyone wins – customer, PSP and finisher.

The presentation was well received (for the most part). The concept I outlined takes time, effort and money, and that had an influence on the reaction I received since those three items are sometimes in short supply. In addition, some in the room would prefer the finishing manufacturers to stop selling directly to PSPs to keep food on their plate rather than go through any reinvention of their business model, but – psssst – that is not going to happen. The manufacturers have to eat too, and they have more mouths to feed. After I spoke, a few attendees came up to me with wide, panicked eyes and blood-drained faces … these were the people I reached! They heard my message and were ready to look beyond the cost, time and effort needed. They heard “do something or die.”

Subtlety has never been my forté.

Building a sample center

The Sample and Resource Center and conference room at Art Laminating and Finishing in Atlanta allows print service providers
to bring clients to a centralized location to view samples.

One of those attendees was Phil Blalock from Art Laminating and Finishing in Atlanta. He told me he was inspired, and he was going to assess his ability to create a new sample program when he returned from the conference. A few days after I returned, I received an email from Phil. Not only did he assess, he ACTED! He decided to create a Sample and Resource Center, and the company was beginning construction to accommodate it. The sample center would allow PSPs to bring their customers to a dedicated showroom and for meetings to take place in new conference rooms.

“We’re showing more than 200 finished samples,” Phil told me. “These are samples showing what the Bindagraphics family of companies can do – things we can do at our facility in Atlanta or those we could do in our Baltimore facility.”

Art Laminating also has displays set up from vendors, such as a foil stamping supplier that has dies on display along with foil options. With more vendors on tap, customers will be able to stop by the sample center to see the entire spectrum of materials and processes available when they’re designing a print project. And, to get PSPs in the door, Phil is asking printers to use Art Laminating as the location for their customer meetings – and even buying their lunch!

The Sample and Resource Center already is receiving rave reviews from printers, including Mark Stanko from New London Press. He told Phil, “The Resource Center was perfect for me and my customer to visit to work out details on a specific project. While there and viewing various samples, a new foil stamp box project came directly from this.”

Phil knows that education is an ongoing problem and the binding and finishing partners are being left out of the picture when a print project is in the works. When he heard me speak – as a representative of the buyers who are craving this knowledge and not finding it – he went on a quest to help print buyers see the possibilities.

I am so grateful to the FSEA for not taking my “no” for an answer. I am equally grateful to every attendee in that room. They took the time to get themselves to an event and participate for the future of their business and the industry. And then, there is Phil. He sat down for my keynote with one business model and stood up with a new idea to build upon – and build he did, literally and figuratively. There is no greater reward than his success!

Finish Long and Prosper!

Deborah Corn is the Intergalactic Ambassador to The Printerverse, providing printspiration and resources to print and marketing professionals through her website, PrintMediaCentr.com. She has 25+ years of experience working in advertising as a print producer and now works behind the scenes with printers, suppliers and industry organizations to help them create meaningful relationships with customers and achieve success with their social media and content marketing endeavors. For more information, visit www.printmediacentr.com.

Turning Problems into Positives

July 13, 2018

by Mark Porter, Dienamic MIS Software Inc.

As the old saying goes, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” Software helps document and record problems and provides several benefits that actually can turn problems around to strengthen relationships with customers, vendors and employees, as well as improves operating procedures.

Providing employees easy entry of information – such as job number, customer, vendor, employee, department, problem type (paper, MR, etc.), quantity effected, problem description, problem solution, etc. – allows companies to sort and analyze problems that can provide many benefits such as:

Prevents Companies from Making the Same Mistake Twice
Becomes a Database of Problems and Solutions
Improves Relationships with Customers/Vendors/Employees
Minimizes Damage by Documenting Problems

1. Prevents Companies from Making the Same Mistake Twice
Another old saying goes: “You’re not stupid for making a mistake, just for making the same mistake twice.”

By recording problems against jobs, immediate notification of the issues incurred last time is available when re-quoting or rerunning a job. This is helpful at the estimate stage because it allows for quotes based on the previous information. Similarly, at the order entry, there now is the option to not proceed with the job if the customer is not willing to incur the extra costs this time around.

2. Becomes a Database of Problems and Solutions
Recording problems and solutions builds a knowledge base that can be accessed by employees in the future. Learn from previous mistakes by adding images and/or video of the problems/solutions to the database.

3. Improves Relationships with Customers/Vendors/Employees
Generate a list of problems that came up with good customers each quarter. Discuss those issues and offer solutions with the customer. Continually refining the working relationship between the company and customer allows for production of higher quality, better priced and better serviced products. This strengthens the bond with that customer, ensuring it takes a bigger mistake or price difference for them to take their business elsewhere.

The same logic applies to vendors and employees. Discussing issues helps strengthen the working relationships. Trends can be seen with employees and certain operations. Say an employee is always having problems with a certain product. Additional training can be provided. Trends with vendor materials continually causing problems can be identified and rectified.

4. Minimizes Damage by Documenting Problems
If nothing else, documenting problems can save money and relationships in the event of disputes. The more documentation available, the more a company can reinforce its position to the other party in a constructive and articulate way. This can reduce or eliminate liability and open the possibility to future business.

Reprinted with permission.

Mark Porter is the president of Dienamic MIS Software, Inc. Dienamic offers a wide variety of software products and services designed specifically for trade binderies and print finishers. For more information, call 800.461.8114 or visit www.dienamicmis.com.

Leveraging Print to Complement eMarketing Omni-Channel Strategies for Profitability

June 12, 2018

Article courtesy of Canon Solutions America and NAPCO

A Print Service Provider (PSP) must modernize and analyze diversified channels such as database management, email, web to print, website development and hosting, wide format, social media, industrial print and new technologies such as AR, VR, QR and video.

When a PSP can integrate one or more of these technologies with print into a single, seamless marketing campaign, delivering a highly targeted, consistent message, it has earned customer respect and an ongoing business relationship. It’s essential to effectively deliver content by using all channels in a cohesive, unified fashion. These vital avenues of communication are always changing, but the 600-year-old form of content delivery continues to resonate – print.

Defining eMarketing and explaining the omni-channel

All marketers are challenged with presenting their message in a way that attracts the attention of their target audience. Since the introduction of the internet and mobile devices, methods that cut through the digital marketing abyss fall into the category of eMarketing. eMarketing, internet marketing and digital marketing are grouped together when searching for a definition. Is there a difference? Probably not; the difference is purely semantic. It is easiest to define eMarketing as online communications.

The term omni-channel is becoming pervasive in the marketing world. It first came to prominence in the retail sector where it denoted the integration of different shopping methods: online vs. store vs. phone. Now the term has expanded to mean a seamless integration of multimedia touches to create unified messaging and customer experience. To run a business with full omni-channel attributes teaches us many things. The marketplace must be the guiding principle. While print used to be one of the most dominant media in how to reach and touch a targeted audience, now digital is foremost. Digitization is everywhere.

While the omni-channel paradigm is important, a PSP must always focus on how to build trust in their customers’ minds. They must clearly demonstrate their mastery of the tools that will influence the actions of the ultimate end user. Trust then leads to developing a “sticky” business relationship between the PSP and its customer.

Internally, eMarketing is catalyzing organizational thought processes. A smart PSP must recognize and offer new types of services. Here are some of the components that most marketing and print professionals consider the essentials of successful omni-channel marketing.

Content management

Content needs to trigger an emotion or a desired action. A PSP who can partner with customers to maximize effective content delivery generally has a successful strategy in place.

Print

Print is an essential part of the omni-channel, but it must be used differently. It’s important not to underestimate the power of delivering powerful, engaging and creative content via a printed document. The challenge is how to leverage the power of print with other omni-channel media. Print is a great trigger medium for creating beautiful graphics, a compelling message and a call to action. The best print vehicles to do this with are: 1) personalized direct mail. Print – when personalized and customized – gets a 6.5 percent response rate compared to one to two percent for nonpersonalized direct mail, according to Melissa Data, 2) customized catalogs and sales materials, 3) Trans-promo.

Internet

Plain and simple, the internet is pervasive in all our lives.

Email

Personalized emails are a practical way to follow up to personalized direct mail, but it is difficult to do well with email alone. This vehicle can be an excellent way to replicate campaigns and reinforce the campaign message. Email marketing consistently outperforms other marketing channels, including social media, because it’s personal and direct – if it doesn’t get caught in the spam filter.

Social media

Social media trends are changing at a fast pace, which makes it difficult to define the best path for success. Many platforms come and go quickly, but one thing is certain: The social media instant message is dominating the marketing space for young people.

Mobile apps

With mobile becoming almost a connected part of lives, this omni-channel component cannot be ignored. Based on research done by Shopify, 53 percent of all eCommerce is done via mobile devices.

Wide format messaging

The dynamic expansion of wide format has positively impacted the eMarketing world. It is no longer just about posters or signage, but wall coverings, window treatments, textiles and other industrial uses as well.

Video

A common denominator that seems to link all omni-channel platforms is video. YouTube has dramatically changed the course of marketing. People love to watch a short, engaging video.

Interactive media

QR codes have been around awhile but still have some life in retail and the packaging space.
Virtual reality (VR) is shaking up the online world. Ever since Oculus Rift hit the scene, the excitement about virtual reality has become very real and tangible. Although no statistics exist as to how this technology will change the eMarketing world, the possibilities are huge. VR helps create a unique sensory experience that can’t be found anyplace else.
Augmented reality (AR) is already a big part of the eMarketing scene. Many existing players have created some truly functional yet awesome apps and uses for this technology to help shoppers put their minds at ease by allowing them to literally visualize the look and feel of products from their digital devices. The future will see more companies riding this technology, offering customers a more immersive visual shopping experience.

Database management

The increasing demand for relevant data is one of the major drivers for marketers today. The growing requirement for PSPs to offer this service is vital to any eMarketing efforts within the omni-channel. Data analytics, which track the various marketing campaigns, determine success or failure and determine scalability mapping for future campaigns.

360-degree view of the changing marketing landscape

Each year, Content Marketing Institute (CMI) surveys thousands of marketers and publishes a comprehensive research report on content marketing trends and practices. And year after year, it’s the same story: The majority of marketers do not have documented content marketing strategies – and the absence of that strategy could be hurting their chances of measurable success.

In fact, CMI reported in its 2017 Benchmarks Report that 63 percent of B2B marketers do not have a documented content strategy, while 61 percent of the most successful ones do. Now, a documented strategy doesn’t necessarily mean your company will create an award-winning content marketing program, but research clearly shows a correlation between a documented strategy and successful content programs.

Ultimately a PSP’s business strategy must serve several different purposes and take a number of different forms. The key, however, is to have it align with what the customer needs to achieve their goals.

Revamping the print experience

When it comes to delivering content, one needs to think about the end user first and how they want to be engaged. If a PSP can demonstrate how successful an omni-channel, unified, positive message – starting with a captivating, creative, personalized printed piece – can be, then that strategy can be duplicated in many niche verticals and create a “sticky” business customer relationship.

The goal of a marketer is to learn which channel works best for which customers and reach them there. Personalized direct mail is an excellent initial engagement medium. It can set a brand apart. Personalized newsletters and promotional materials that deliver relevant content tend to send people to online media that then achieve the desired result of engaged customers. The digital printed piece becomes an essential element of this campaign strategy.

The underlying technology to any personalization campaign is database management. Data technology has paved the way to improved marketing efficiency and then measuring defined results with the capability to offer predictive add-ons. When a printed piece can be personalized to almost every extent, the chance of the targeted person positively reacting is much higher.

Role of data

Data is everywhere, and one of the best opportunities for profitable growth lies in mastering data analysis for print and omni-channel communications. If you’re making a push to change your business strategy, or want to prove that the omni-channel efforts you’ve already put in place have been beneficial to your company and your customers, you must be a viable database player. Data drives all personalized content delivery, no matter what media channel.

Data comes in two flavors: Big Data and Little Data. Big Data encompasses large volumes of data – structured and unstructured – that inundate a business on a day-to-day basis. Little Data describes data that relies on targeted data acquisition and data mining, such as what items individual customers purchased at a local retailer. Keep in mind, it’s not the amount of it that’s important, but what organizations do with the data that matters. And between print and other omni-channel uses, there is a lot that a print provider can do.

An important term that relates to defining data is “patternicity.” This word refers to the human tendency to find meaning in random events. Gathering Big Data or Little Data into useable forms is the cornerstone of patternicity. This sounds logical, and all marketing programs today hinge on knowing the vital information obtained on marketing targets and then leveraging it successfully. Good marketers look for partners who can assist in determining buying and event patterns, and things that can be used as a predictive model for future actions. If the printer can acquire basic data management skills, great value can be achieved for a customer. Printers who master data management are destined for success.

Mastering the digital transformation

The number one challenge facing today’s PSP management is digital disruption. Print is not going to disappear any time soon, but how the business world employs the ink-on-paper medium is dramatically changing.

Advancements in technology and the rapid proliferation of digital media, data analytics and mobile requires PSP executives to lead their companies by providing new service offerings and skills. A key element of this transformation is building new digital customer experiences. Underlying all this is a solid IT infrastructure. The PSP must look for software providers and outside vendor partners to support the eMarketing implementation. Established companies know they cant do this transformation alone. Partnering is the best way to bring talented, experienced people into the equation without breaking the bank and overcome the fear of making the wrong decisions.

Either new people must be hired, or existing employees must be trained to make this transformation successful. Infrastructure must be built with security measures in place and documented to protect customer data.

“Leveraging Print to Complement eMarketing Omni-Channel Strategies for Profitability” was commissioned by NAPCO and written by Steven Schnoll in 2017. It is run here in PostPress courtesy of Canon Solutions America. Edited for space by PostPress editors.

Key Steps in Mastering the Digital Transformation

Perform a SWOT analysis to determine company status.
Talk to key customers to get their insights into what is changing in their respective businesses to ensure your investment is not a waste of money.
Research software vendors and outside service partners to evaluate options and the price of success.
Determine employment requirements – training existing team vs. hiring new people.
Create a database infrastructure with proper security measures and analytics.
Install productive digital print engines.
Learn what it takes to become a trusted adviser to customers.

Two Little Words That Can Make or Break a Customer Relationship

December 18, 2017

by Joanne Gore, director of marketing, Avanti Systems

As children, we’re taught that it’s good manners to say “thank you.” In fact, we say thank you all the time: when we’re given a gift, when a favor is done for us, when we’re provided assistance or simply when someone passes the salt. But, how often do we say thank you in business beyond the sale?

Consider these statistics:

It is six to seven times more expensive to attract a new customer than it is to retain an existing one. – ThinkJar

The probability of selling to an existing customer is 60 to 70 percent, while the probability of selling to a new prospect is five to 20 percent – invespcro.com

Existing customers are 50 percent more likely to try new products and spend 31 percent more, when compared to new customers – invespcro.com

At the end of May, I had the privilege of helping host Avanti’s 2017 User Group Conference, which took place in Denver, Colorado. It’s a tremendous opportunity for customers (both new and longstanding) to learn about new products, share ideas and network with their peers. For us, it’s a great way to say, “thank you” and further strengthen the customer relationship.

Don’t get me wrong. There’s a LOT of work that goes into planning an event of this caliber. And, while a user group conference might not seem feasible for your business, there are many other types of customer appreciation events that you can hold to say, “thank you.” They range in size and scope, depending of course on the size of your customer base. I’ve produced (and attended) all sorts of customer events, including golf tournaments, open houses, holiday parties, sporting events, celebrations, etc.

But, what if that just isn’t your thing? What other opportunities are there to say “thank you?”

Use your CRM

Your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is a gold mine of information. In addition to storing contact and job information, you can use it to record things like the anniversary date of the first job produced or perhaps the last. Set up alerts that remind your sales team to say thank you – whether by email, snail mail or a good old-fashioned phone call – and be on the lookout for repeat business.

Tradeshows

The number one question I get after attending a tradeshow is: how many leads did we get? While lead generation is typically a show’s primary objective, don’t lose sight of the tremendous opportunity it provides to (re)connect with your customers. Say “thank you” with a nice dinner or perhaps a private reception. We did this at Graph Expo, and it was a tremendous success.

Thank you/greeting cards (aka: snail mail)

In a digital world, receiving a handwritten thank you is no longer a common occurrence. As printers, you are at a distinct advantage over just about any other industry with access to designers, paper choices, unique finishes and more. What a great way to showcase your shops capabilities, simply by saying “thank you for your business.”

Announcements

Did you recently get some new equipment? Are you expanding your services? While press releases are a great way to get the word out to the masses, personalizing the message to your loyal customer base is sure to get the machines humming. Don’t be shy. Let them know what’s new and what’s coming. Better yet, invite them to an exclusive preview before you announce it to the public and/or post it to your website.

Loyalty/referral program

It’s common practice to offer discounts for new business. However, if you publicize special discounts to new customers only (i.e.: 10 percent off your first order), you risk alienating your existing customers. The solution? Why not say “thank you” publicly to your loyal customers by providing incentives for them as well. For example, receive 10 percent off their next order with any new referral (insert caveats, of course). Or draw inspiration from many loyalty programs – for every X amount of dollars spent, earn points/dollars towards future purchases.

Introductions

Referrals work both ways. Perhaps you have a customer who is in real estate and another who provides landscaping. Making an introduction costs little, but the value of a newly-forged, profitable relationship is not soon forgotten. Pretty soon, they’ll be saying thank you to you with even more repeat business.

Reprinted with permission from Print Media Centr

Joanne Gore is the director of marketing for Avanti, headquartered in Toronto, Canada, and a monthly contributor to Print Media Centr’s News from The Printerverse. She has nearly three decades of B2B marketing and communications experience, including corporate and small office environments.

Print Media Centr boasts a diversified bunch of print and print media enthusiasts who bring relevant and topical information and resources to the Print and Integrated Marketing Service community. Collectively, there is not much in print and integrated marketing Print Media Centr hasnt done and still is doing. Being in the trenches with its audience enables it to provide a current perspective on the industry, engaging from personal knowledge and experience. For more information, visit www.printmediacentr.com.

Finishing First: Changing Mindsets to Ensure Greater ROI

September 8, 2017

by Lance Martin, vice president of national accounts, MBO America

One of the things that end users can do for themselves is to think about finishing first. The printing part of the process is undeniably sexy – the vivid colors are beautiful and watching the print process is just cool – but as finishers like to say, you can’t sell a roll or a sheet until you actually do something to make it into what you want.

Having the mindset of “finishing first” will enable businesses to capitalize on greater return on investment (ROI) while making sure they are best able to serve their customers. Many times, the end user will go down the path of the press without fully considering the job they are doing or how that job will be finished. This often results in missed ROI opportunities and is not an infrequent occurrence. It’s partially a flexibility issue, and making sure end users educate themselves properly in the buying process is one of the most important things they can do. You have to go outside the box when you look at finishing.

From afterthought to forethought

Flexibility and education are key issues in today’s fast-paced and ever-evolving market. End users run the risk of putting themselves in a box – and out of business – when they fall into the rut of producing products in certain ways without opening themselves up to new ideas and new ways of doing things. Education can play a significant role in helping to avoid such instances, and it can begin with something as simple as learning to ask the right questions. If end users just ask more open and general questions of their suppliers, they might get different answers from a finishing expert than they would from non-experts. That can make all the difference.

Current end users are not the only ones we would like to see increasing their knowledge about the finishing side of the equation. Today’s college training programs are not typically geared toward finishing and focus more on the printing side. So, a great way to educate young people is for suppliers of finishing and binding equipment and supplies to get involved with local and regional colleges and technology schools. With this type of outreach, companies can get an idea of what’s going on, what students are learning about the industry and what that will mean for the printing/finishing business in the future. It is going to be very important to get programs like this in the education system involved with the finishing/binding side of graphic arts to help grow and educate the industry.

That doesn’t mean it will be easy, however. Many of those in the industry currently come from an environment that has long been characterized by self-maintenance and self-training. It’s still an offset world, and there are a lot of conventional printers out there. As a result, we have to do things differently than we used to. We’ve had to change to keep up with the times. Part of keeping up involves initiating new training programs.

Training programs that are closely tailored to the hands-on finishing experience are the most effective. When working with a customer, it is recommended that operators have the opportunity to work on the new equipment first-hand in a training facility or showroom. This will provide the best environment for pre-installation training, where operators can set up a few jobs with educated trainers to help.

This is especially useful for facilities looking to move from offset to the digital world since digital is a very different animal. You have to do things differently, so approaching customers differently is the best answer. The more flexibility you can build into the system, the more you can do what your customer needs you to do.

One size does not fit all

When flexibility is not built in, businesses have little choice but to drive their customers to existing solutions, which may or may not be the best fit for all customers. In my experience, the most successful businesses do it the other way around. Thriving businesses not only ask what the customer needs to be successful, they also are able to produce it for the customer. Relying on this premise, offering finishing/binding systems that are built to provide customers not just with what they need now, but also with the ability to change as the industry changes, is of utmost importance.

Building flexibility into a finishing system means decreasing the number of times pieces need to be touched during the finishing process. Fewer touches means fewer opportunities for error. In the old offset world, you would print the piece and sheet it, then take the sheet over to X unit to perform one function before going to another unit to do the next thing. Given the increase in customer demand for short lead times and cost reductions typical of digital inkjet printing and finishing, that approach is just not practical anymore. You have to touch the piece as little as possible.

The pressure to increase efficiency and reduce costs can be a compelling argument for printing and finishing in one pass wherever possible, especially where finishing requirements are relatively simple and straightforward. However, problems can arise when you put a series of complex finishing processes inline with a press that is able to run at 95 percent efficiency and above. In that case, what you’ve actually done is reduced the efficiency of the entire system by increasing the chance for error due to makeready delays, jams and other issues.

For example, if your finishing system applies glue, folds the piece four times, adds a Post-it note to the outside and then perforates and folds it over into a direct mail piece, the chance of something going wrong increases greatly. The resulting shutdown and cleanup even if it takes only a few minutes – can dramatically reduce both productivity and profit.

That’s when you do the math and realize you’ve just taken a $2 million production inkjet web capable of running at peak efficiency and turned it into a 70 percent production machine. Given the dynamic nature and progression of inkjet technologies, therefore, printers are often well-advised to choose fast, efficient offline finishing systems to complement their high-speed production inkjet webs.

When considering a finishing system, printers and finishers owe it to themselves to ask questions. How flexible is the equipment relative to the demands of the market? Can it be adapted to meet those demands if the printer’s product mix changes? Can it handle a wide range of substrates and formats? Questions like these are why MBO takes a modular approach to finishing, where every digital finishing unit is compatible with any other unit. This means that finishers can add onto existing systems as requirements change and new opportunities come along. Each unit rolls quickly and conveniently into or out of a given system so a finisher can reconfigure his finishing system at a moment’s notice.

Finishing first

In either an inline or offline finishing environment, the need for a skilled finishing operator cannot be overstated. When the finishing process is simple (incorporating few or no extra functions), all the finishing operator may need to know is how to cut a sheet. On the other hand, when the finishing process is more complex, as in the example above, an operator must learn both how to print and how to be a good finisher. However, the talent pool for finishers is not especially large, and it can be difficult to find knowledgeable, experienced operators. Among other things, the “finishing first” mindset requires a practical understanding that finishing is not a matter of simply pushing a button and being able to guarantee that a beautiful, complex piece comes out the other end.

Again, this is where training programs come into play. Providing customers with the opportunity to train on new machines – even before those machines have been installed in their individual facilities – and encouraging end users to educate themselves in the buying process, are necessary steps toward encouraging a shift in mindset whereby finishing becomes a primary consideration instead of an afterthought.

As noted earlier, quality finishing requires thinking outside the box. Printers and finishers have to do things very differently now. Conventional practitioners already know what it means to go from prepress to the final product. As the industry has evolved, however, printers and finishers have had to change their mindsets and learn how to incorporate more flexibility into their systems to achieve greater efficiency.

Lance Martin is the vice president of national accounts for MBO America. MBO America, Marlton, New Jersey, offers a broad array of cutting-edge, high-performance finishing solutions for conventional, digital and hybrid print operations and fulfills specialized needs upon request for pharmaceutical, commercial finishing, packaging, diecutting and digital finishing sectors in the Americas. From intricate folds and diecuts to niche packaging with special standards, MBO gives printers the edge over the competition with next-generation achievements in digital finishing, high-speed systems and workflow flexibility. For more information, visit www.mboamerica.com> or call 800.336.1164.

In Tough Conversations, Seek to COMPLETE, Not COMPETE

June 14, 2017

by Lynne Cunningham, MPA, Studer Group

At some point, you will have to have a difficult conversation at work. There’s just no way around it. Whether you’re giving not-so-positive feedback to an employee, broaching a sensitive issue with a coworker or even confronting a moody employee, there will come a time when you need to bite the proverbial bullet and just say what needs saying.

Holding a tough conversation is not a task for the timid. There’s an art to doing it well (i.e., in a way that doesn’t make the other person cry, explode or tune out what you’re saying). But if you haven’t yet mastered that art, you’ll likely do OK if you focus on this key phrase: Seek to complete, not compete.

People tend to enter tough conversations from a place of competing – they’re dead-set on proving themselves right and the other person wrong. The other person will focus on your tone and demeanor, not your message, and you end up harming the relationship. But approach the conversation from a place of “I’m seeking more information to complete my understanding,” and it will go much more smoothly, and it is much more likely that what you need to happen will happen.

Instead of setting up a blame/defensiveness cycle, you want to help the other person. You’re looking for a win/win outcome, not a situation in which someone must lose if you win.

You’re not looking to punish, embarrass, or put the person “in their place.” If this is your mindset, the conversation absolutely will fail.

Here are three tips to help you complete, not compete:

1. Ease into it. When you need to have a difficult conversation, it’s often wise to ease into the tough topic. Talk about something positive or neutral so that the other person feels at ease and is not immediately put on the defensive. When people feel that they have been attacked out of nowhere, they don’t do their best listening or thinking, which will impair your efforts to “complete.”

At Studer Group, we start our rounding by asking a relationship question like, “How was your weekend?” or, “Do you have new pictures of your grandchildren?” or, “How about that ball team?” Questions like these can pave the way for a more productive, less contentious discussion.

2. Say, “Yes, and…” instead of, “Yes, but…” You will find it is much more productive to have a tough conversation if you use the Yes, and syntax. Consider, “Suzy, you’re doing a great job learning that new task, BUT you would finish more quickly if you changed the sequence of steps a little.” The BUT diminishes the compliment with which the sentence started.

Doesn’t this sound more positive? “Suzy, you’re doing a great job learning that new task, AND I think you would be even more successful if you change the sequence of steps a little.” When training leaders on how to master tough conversations, remind them to keep the BUTs out of the conversation.

3. Speak respectfully, especially when disagreeing. Trust is essential in navigating difficult conversations (not to mention creating the kind of culture that leads to business success). Trust and respect are closely tied, and both are necessary for “completion” to take place. It is important to hold up the mirror during difficult conversations and, if necessary, adjust your behavior to create a safe, respectful environment.

Let the Golden Rule be your guide. Ask yourself, “How would I feel if someone else talked to me this way? Would I be motivated to work toward resolution, or would I feel the need to defend myself?”

It can be especially tricky to keep the conversation respectful if you find that you must disagree with the other person. In this case, say, “I hear what you’re saying. I would like to respectfully disagree with your conclusion or the process you are suggesting.” That is so much more positive than attacking, yelling, screaming or stomping out of a meeting…or even simply sitting and seething.

These three tips will help you create a safe environment. If you can create a safe environment, you can talk with almost anyone about almost anything. People will feel safe when they think you respect them and care about them. Not coincidentally, when respect and care are present, you have the raw materials for a vibrant, growth-oriented culture and an incredibly successful company.

Lynne Cunningham, MPA, is a coach for Studer Group® and author of Taking Conversations from Difficult to Doable: 3 Models to Master Tough Conversations. A leader in healthcare communication, she has more than four decades in the industry. She works with hospitals, health systems and medical groups all over the country to define, measure and evaluate the perception of quality among patients, employees, physicians and the community.

Five Tasks a Company Website Should Accomplish

April 13, 2017

By Marc Gordon

According to a study commissioned by GoDaddy, 60 percent of small businesses don’t have a website. Factor in that, according to Google, 97 percent of consumers search online for businesses and products before making a purchase, and it could be argued that having a professional website is essential for success.

Regardless of its industry, a company’s website needs to accomplish some key objectives. Here are five tasks a company’s website should accomplish.

Build your brand. Your visitors should be wowed by a website that is professional, easy to understand and quick to navigate. It also should complement your other marketing efforts through continuity in style and messaging.
Remind them you’re the best. Your website is the best forum to showcase your accomplishments and the accolades of your peers and customers. Reviews, video testimonials and industry awards are just a few of the things you can share to remind visitors they came to the right place.
Be a source of information. Anticipate what questions visitors might have. Are they looking for technical information, sales literature, or product and industry information? The more you are a source of reliable and accurate information, the more you will be viewed as a reliable and dependable supplier.
Be reachable. In many cases, visitors already have decided they want to deal with you. All they need is a way to reach you. Be sure to make all contact information accessible. A phone number is not always enough. So be sure to include email links and a map, along with links to your social media pages.
Achieve a goal. Are you trying to sell products online, get people to join your email list, visit your business in person or just pick up the phone and call you? Understanding the goals you want your website to achieve will impact greatly on the visual design, features and cost. Setting realistic goals also will help manage expectations and make it easier to measure success.

Marc Gordon is a recognized marketing expert who regularly appears on TV and radio, and his articles appear in over 200 publications worldwide. For more information, visit marcgordon.ca.