Marketing and Sales strategies must be built on a fact based foundation. We are often asked to help companies build marketing and sales plans. We find that "Gut feels" and "Field war stories" too often are the basis for decisions involving sales coverage, manpower assignments, quota setting, advertising approaches and even new product development. This needed foundation, built on facts, is a clear understanding of a company's target market.
The target market in its' final form, is a list (or Excel file) of the companies that are most likely to need your products or services. These companies must be in a geography that is reachable by your sales channels. If you rely on drawing potential customers to your location or you have a small direct sales force that rely on face to face interactions, your geography will be limited.
Stop Me When You See Some #Printing You Like
Gaining an appointment with a customer and first showing them endless samples and examples of your printing products is a prescription for a failed sales call. It is still a common crutch for many printing salespeople to carry a brief case full of print samples. This is known as a “pitch book”.
Gaining an appointment with a prospective customer who can actually make a decision to buy is the hope and dream of every sales person who sells complex products or services. No new customer is gained unless a customer’s curiosity is elevated to interest and a call to action. The surest way to lose a golden opportunity is to misuse precious face to face time with a customer by sharing information and samples that the customer does not need or care about.
#Printing After All Is a Personal Service
Most print providers get most of their new business from existing customers. With so many commercial printers trying to compete in a price sensitive and commoditized world, customer service is often the only differentiator among competitors. Providing outstanding customer service is a critical necessity.
I recently ran across an old 1922 ad for a large NY Printer, Charles Francis Press in Printer’s Ink Magazine. The title of the advertisement was “Is the Charles Francis Press Too Big?”
The gist of the ad was that this large printing company was easy to do business with. The copy of the ad written by owner, Gus Oakes, emphasized that any customer was welcome to come to the plant and ask any employee what was the status of their job. The promise was that the Charles Francis Press will treat every job and every customer special.
Social Media and Commercial #Printing
At Graph Expo 2012, I participated in two education events where the topic of social media was discussed vigorously. Essentially the question came down to two key points. Should Commercial Printers be using social media in their sales and marketing strategies? The answer is YES.
In a July, 2012 poll conducted by Social Science Research Solutions (SSRS) published by the AARP Bulletin, 69% of ages 18 to 49% and 38% of ages 50-plus use some type of Social Media. These represent big numbers that will likely get even bigger.
At the very least, just like with any communications media, Printers must know how to integrate social media and print.
Here are two important to do’s for every Printer.