Canvas Magazine | Entrepreneurial Insights

P10 Landing the Big One

CANVAS SUPPORTING THE PRINT SALES & MARKETING PROFESSIONAL

P24 Stop Driving Your Customers Crazy P30 One of a Kind P36 As Seen on TV

AUGUST 2009

Entrepreneurial Insights When the going got tough, these turned it into success

Sponsored by

See page 14

AUGUST 2009

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Publisher’s Thoughts Taking Matters into Your Own Hands

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A SEO, SMO, and SMM launch pad P5

The NAPL’s Mike Philie answers your print sales questions P6

Hot Technologies Game changers at the Print Show

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People News Johnson & Quin acquires InteliMail Massachusetts printer supports new technology with manroland printcom® solvent wash and blankets

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Landing the Big One Cultivating a large account takes patience

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Entrepreneurial Insights When the going got tough, these turned it into success

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Product Spotlight Sappi The Sales Meeting POV

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PUBLISHER

EDITORIAL BOARD

mark potter

lisa arsenault McArdle Printing Co.

MANAGING EDITOR

gary cone Litho Craft, Inc.

graham garrison

peter douglas Lake County Press

ART DIRECTOR brent cashman

aaron grohs Consolidated Graphics, Inc.

CONTRIBUTORS

ron lanio Geographics, Inc.

Linda Bishop, Michelle Bracali and Brian Sullivan

randy parkes Lithographix, Inc.

Stop Driving Your Customers Crazy How print buyers can get fed up with vendors

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One of a Kind How to approach the different social styles of your customers

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As seen on TV How Billy Mays taught us to be proud to be a pitchman

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A Whole New Mind

CANVAS magazine for more information: 678.473.6131, 2180 Satellite Blvd., Suite 400, Duluth, Georgia 30097 CANVAS, Volume 3, Issue 4. Published bi-monthly, copyright 2009 CANVAS, All rights reserved. Subscriptions: $39.00 per year for individuals.

If you would like to subscribe or notify us of address changes, please contact us at 2180 Satellite Blvd., Suite 400, Duluth, Georgia 30097.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to CANVAS, 2180 Satellite Blvd., Suite 400, Duluth, Georgia 30097. Please note: The acceptance of advertising or products mentioned by contributing authors does not constitute endorsement by the publisher. Publisher cannot accept responsibility for the correctness of an opinion expressed by contributing authors. Periodicals Postage Paid at Duluth, GA and at additional mailing offices. Pending periodical #32.

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CANVAS

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Taking Matters into Your Own Hands

A

A friend of mine was a pretty high powered executive at a big software company. He managed a large number of people, grew sales and was considered an idea generator. He was pretty excited about his

CANVAS

gig and had great enthusiasm for his work.

My friend called me the other day. Guess what? He got canned! Seems that times are tough, and after

they asked him to cut several people within the organization, they decided that his significant salary should go too.

Another friend of mine had worked for 20-plus years for a major manufacturing company. She called to

PUBLISHER’S THOUGHTS

let me know that they sent her packing. She said, “It bums me out because I survived so many layoffs.”

What conclusions do you draw from those stories? Are you saying, “Thank god I have my job” or “Yeah, tough times man”? Does it pull at your heart strings that they have lost their jobs? Do you wish that everybody had a job and that we weren’t going through such challenges?

Small business, like printers, will lead the way in the new day. The most creative and empathetic people will drive growth.

I have some news for you. Those two people above are going to rip your heart out! They are blessed; not cursed. They were cast aside from companies that are full of anxiety and are far from any type of creativity. In other words, meet your new competition.

This group of “misfits”, who have been discarded, will be the incubators of the new world. They realize that surviving cuts is no way to go through life. They want to create like they were unable to do before. What else are they going to do?

What would you do if you were laid off? Would you sit idly by and do nothing? Would you desperately try to find another J-O-B and bet on a company’s grand loyalty? Or would you take what you know, who you know, and parlay it into creating true value and serving others?

Small business, like printers, will lead the way in the new day. The most creative and empathetic people will drive growth. In other words, we are at the beginning of a new time in our collective history.

Welcome to the dawning of “the conceptual age”. As Daniel Pink states in the watershed book, “A Whole New Mind”, “the first group of people who develop a whole new mind, who master high-concept and high-touch abilities, will do extremely well. The rest – those who move slowly or not at all – may miss out or, worse, suffer.”

Incubate the dreams of the creative. Support a cause. Take the first steps now. If you don’t, my friends and a half a million others that look just like them, will. The window of change is open, but it ain’t going to be open for long.

Mark Potter Publisher

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X-Ray Vision

A SEO, SMO, and SMM launch pad

by Cyndie Shaffstall

A

Are you planning SEO? Did you do any SMO today? Do you regularly engage in SMM? Unless you have entered the chase for the ever-elusive top spot of Google, you might think I’m asking about some obscure rating system. The fact is if you have a business today, SEO, SMO, and SMM should be common expressions in your day-to-day vocabulary.

To better understand the eWorld, X-Ray Magazine is launching a campaign titled

Today’s POV (http://www.todayspov.com). If you would like to follow our efforts, successes, and failures, I will be providing regular updates to our blog site (http://blog. todayspov.com). We will share our experiences and, with any luck, you will find ways to apply these lessons to your individual project. Here is a blueprint of what we did: 1. Choose a campaign — We also chose polling for Today’s POV because opinions

Cyndie Shaffstall has worked in the marketing and publishing industries for more than three decades. She is director of QuarkAlliance at Quark, Inc., and in her spare time she is editor and publisher of X-Ray Magazine, managing member and inventor at StrappyArt, LLC, SEO/SMO advisor at Spider Trainers, LLC, and the founder of ThePowerXChange, LLC.

are popular — everyone has one.

2. Clear purpose — When you visit our site, you are clear on our purpose. You are there to provide your opinion.

3. Define the approach — With polling decided, we needed to be sure that we carefully defined our approach. You might call this our 21st century mission statement. It goes like this: Collect opinions.

4. Set expectations — With our purpose and approach decided, our expectations are even easier: collect opinions.

5. Marketing rules — Anything and everything goes with Today’s POV. For us, it’s no holds barred; but depending upon your project you may need to go with conventional wisdom.

6. Press vs. news — For our project, press announcements are hey-look-at-ourgreat-accomplishment notices; news announcements are a bit more low-key and designed for the blogging community.

7. Pre-release — We have decided to announce our pre-release. This is contrary to many marketing professionals’ advice.

8. Social media — In order to be effective, we had to first identify all social media sites, then determine their focus and how we would interact with them.

9. Engage visitors — As important as social media is, it’s not enough on its own.

The edgy questions at our site are designed to engage the visitors.

10. SEO — SEO is the optimizing of the content of a Web site. Use relevant, consistent text liberally sprinkled with your key words and phrases.

11. Meta tags — Create a collection of key words and phrases that are relevant and validated by the actual content of the page.

12. Site maps — Site maps pass instructions to the search spiders about which pages to index and which should be skipped.

13. Meta descriptions — Meta descriptions are about 150 characters that are displayed in the search results when someone does a search on one of your key words or phrases.

14. Analytics — Keep an eye on every visitor by installing Google analytics (or choose your own favorite visitor-tracking software).

Ready to launch Our campaign is now ready to launch. We’re ready with our meta data and analytics. We’re prepared to turn on a dime and change direction. We are eager to try new things. Most of all, we’re ready to be social. We hope you’ll follow along.

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NAPL The NAPL’s Mike Philie answers your print sales questions Sorting through prospects Dear Mike, I seem to be spending a lot of time following up on the prospects that I’ve uncovered over the past few months. While I see some good potential with these companies I don’t have much to show for it yet. In addition, because of all this follow-up activity I have not really added many new prospects to my list over the last 30 to 45 days. How can I prioritize my time to provide the proper follow up, as well as continue to uncover fresh opportunities?

Mike Philie

Dan in New York Mike: Dear Dan, Your situation is a common one. Reps go through this extensive “I’ve got to prospect” stage and uncover many new opportunities. They network, research, make the calls and deliver their presentations. The pipeline actually looks pretty decent and their new business plate gets full. Then they stop the activities that filled the pipeline to do follow up and the new business efforts tail off. I would recommend that you work on your qualification criteria and your time

Have a Question?

Send it to DearMike@napl.org

management skills. Have a set of criteria that you can use to sort out the prospects that fit what you’re after and be disciplined with it. Most reps don’t walk away from bad prospects fast enough and keep them on the list “just in case.” As far as time management you’ll need to schedule your follow up and new opportunities time into your calendar. Set the appointments

About the Author

with yourself and be disciplined enough to keep them and get the work done.

Mike Philie is a vice president and consultant

A hands-on marketing manager

with NAPL (www.napl.org).

Dear Mike,

With 28 years of sales,

One of my best clients just hired a new marketing manager. While I knew the old one, we

management and

didn’t have much direct interaction. My main contacts are the communications coordinator

executive leadership in

and three people in purchasing. Now this new marketing manager wants to get involved

the printing industry,

in the print portion and is asking me to help justify the amount they are paying for their

he helps companies

projects. I’m not really sure how I can help but I don’t want to not help for fear of losing the

optimize their business

business. What should I do?

and increase shareholder value. He advises clients

Mary in San Diego

on market and business strategy, sales and

Mike: Dear Mary,

business development,

As part of the new norm, many more marketing people are being asked to justify their expen-

sales and executive

ditures and show the ROI on the marketing initiative. View this as a great new opportunity to

coaching, leading

increase your level of involvement with your clients. I believe that what they are asking is to

organizational change,

help them justify the entire project. Companies don’t buy print to have print. They buy print to

business turnarounds, and

help increase revenue, fill seats in schools, fill hospital beds, raise money for a non-profit, etc.

providing interim C-level

You’ll need to walk them through the goals of the project, the total project costs and have them

management services.

spell out what success looks like for this project. Based on this information that you assemble

He can be reached at

together you’ll be prepared to work on the ROI on the project. Now, would you like to get in-

mphilie@napl.org or at

volved with the marketing manager in this new way or wait to bid on the next job?

(410) 489-7188.

CANVAS

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Technology Corner

Hot Technologies Game changers at the Print Show

by Howie Fenton

Editor’s Note: In order to stay ahead of the latest technological trends in the print industry, CANVAS asked the NAPL’s Howie Fenton to give his insight into what he considers hot technologies, and how it will impact your value.

A

As the Print Show approaches, many people are wondering how to best take advantage of it.

In the simplest of terms, there is no better way to research new equipment, money saving and money making technologies than by seeing it up close, and hearing from the industry experts at the Print Show.

Two compelling reasons to attend this year are to see the latest inkjet presses and learn about the opportunities to sell more marketing services.

Marketing services Although discussion about shifting from a PSP (print service provider) to a MSP (marketing service provider) has been around for a while, the technology to offer variable data printing, PURLs and email marketing is more widespread. Regardless of who you are or what you do, it’s not to

At Drupa it became clear that some big name manufacturers were making large investments, including: HP, Océ, Screen and Kodak.

late to learn the advantages and technologies available to sell more value-added services. More and more companies are making the shift. If you have not considered offering more marketing services, frankly, you should.

Inkjet presses Although already demo’ed at Drupa, for many the Print Show will be the first glimpse of Inkjet Web presses. The Inkjet Web presses are the most significant new pro-

About the Author Howie Fenton is an author, trainer

presses debuted at IPEX 1993.

and consultant with NAPL. For two

For over a year there has been ongoing debate about the quality, costs, markets

decades, he has trained sales and

and applications. At Drupa it became clear that some big name manufacturers were

customer service people on the

making large investments, including: HP, Océ, Screen and Kodak. More importantly,

value of new technology, and helps

since Drupa it has become clear that some well-known printers are buying them. All

companies reduce manufacturing

you have to do is look at the announcements HP made at their open house at O’Neill

costs and turnaround times.

showing that book printers feel there is a place for high speed Inkjet.

For more information, call

I have been pretty vocal about the claims made before Drupa that Inkjet would displace

(800) 642-6275 ext. 6328, or

toner and offset printing technologies. But go see for yourself. Just an FYI, I was told by

email at hfenton@napl.org

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duction level printing equipment brought to market since the high speed digital

CANVAS AUGUST 2009

one of the premier book sellers, “This could change the way we make books.”

People News Johnson & Quin acquires InteliMail

Niles, Ill.-based Johnson & Quin announced the acquisition of certain assets, including customer relationships, of Kansas-based InteliMail, a division of Staples Print Solutions. InteliMail offers products and services associated with direct mail production. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“We are very pleased that the clients of InteliMail and Staples Print Solutions Group will have the opportunity to take advantage of Johnson & Quin’s exceptional capabilities through this acquisition,” said Mike Cate, VP and general manager, Staples Print Solutions. “Johnson & Quin

“Our portfolio of services put us in the perfect position to continue to fully support the needs of current InteliMail and Staples Print Solutions customers.”

– David Henkel, president, Johnson & Quin

and Staples share the same commitment to putting clients first and we are looking forward to a seamless transition.”

“The decision to acquire InteliMail is a logical move for Johnson & Quin,” said David Henkel, president, Johnson & Quin. “Our portfolio of services put us in the perfect position to continue to

fully support the needs of current InteliMail and Staples Print Solutions customers. We look forward to providing them with not only continuity of services, but also an exceptional customer experience for all their direct mail production needs.”

Massachusetts printer supports new technology with manroland printcom® solvent wash and blankets

North Adams, Mass.-based Excelsior Printing has seen almost immediate benefits following the acquisition of a ROLAND 706 press and using manroland consumable products. The company reported that after opting to switch to manroland’s printcom® 211P solvent wash and 106N blankets, the press bindery supervisor has managed to reduce pressroom consumption by 25 percent over the last three months. The printcom 211P wash is a powerful sheetfed solvent for blankets, impression cylinders and rollers. Highly economical, it can be used with all common brush, cloth, and blade wash-up devices as well as manual washing, and 211P qualifies as

After opting to switch to manroland’s printcom® 211P solvent wash and 106N blankets, pressroom consumption was reduced by 25 percent over the last three months.

a non-hazardous waste. It offers outstanding

cleaning

power,

excellent emulsion stability and is compatible with numerous types of CTP plates.

Four months after Excelsior turned on the switch, the performance of the ROLAND 706 is meeting or exceeding all expectations.

“From a customer viewpoint, we were looking for faster turnaround and less material waste

for each job we do,” said Excelsior owner and chairman, David Crane, whose company services a wide range of clients in education, seed packaging, cultural and arts, greeting card and consumer products. “The consistency and quality of our printing has improved with the latest color control and electronics on this press.”

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C.E.O A N V A S

D U C A T I O N

N L I N E

Delivering the tactical competitive advantage you need

Landing

big

the Cultivating a large account takes patience

By Michelle Bracali

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CANVAS AUGUST 2009

one

I

In Las Vegas the biggest gamblers are known as whales. They’re the high rollers who fly into town and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, sometimes even millions, at the tables. The casinos love them and all fight to earn their business.

Many salespeople dream of landing the big account; the elusive but highly profitable, large volume account. Like

the Vegas whales, though, they need to be cultivated over time, perhaps even for years. Landing one is never easy, but can be done with the right amount of savvy. Many years ago I witnessed such a story. Here is the tale and tips for landing a whale of an account.

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Landing the Big One

Eliminate initial obstacles

Stay in touch

It started with a large, multi-national company

Barbra was smart enough to interpret the initial ‘no’ as a maybe.

who already had a well established vendor. Bar-

She continued on and kept her head in the game. Barbra remained

bra, the print sales rep, knew her competition

in contact with the whale and consistently offered new ideas and

well, and was familiar with the incumbent sup-

solutions for their print projects. On the inside she was relentless,

plier. She began the painstaking process of con-

but outwardly she remained elegant and respectful and continued

tacting the right people. She identified key deci-

to pursue the prospect in a non cloying manner.

sion makers and set about earning the business.

This lasted for well over a year. An atmosphere

Don’t get distracted

conducive to buying was created. Barbra offered

Barbra moved on to easier sales, but it didn’t sideline her from the

ideas for improvement and cost cutting. She

focus of landing the big account. It’s at this point that some sales-

eliminated barriers. The sales environment was

people lose courage altogether after working so hard to close a

respectful and elegant. Still, the company de-

large sale and failing. Some move on to the easier sales and never

murred. They were loyal to their current supplier.

again attempt to pursue the big one. They move to the kind of

The suggestions offered were compelling and

prospects that don’t hurt as much or aren’t as challenging. It can

worthwhile, but the company wasn’t ready yet to

be a mistake. The easier sale still takes time and energy. Plus, it

make a change.

keeps the concentration away from the big sale that will bear more

Here’s the pivotal point in any great sales story:

fruit in the end.

It’s what a salesperson decides to do at this

In actuality, the easy sale may not be that at all. Sometimes an ac-

point. It’s the critical step that makes the differ-

count that is easy to open may be because the company is always

ence between average and great. Barbra, being

switching to the next (perceived) best thing. They’re often never

a talented salesperson, decided to press on.

satisfied and are on the constant look out for the next salesperson that will jump through hoops. It takes a lot of attention to please

It’s at this point that some salespeople lose courage altogether after working so hard to close a large sale and failing. Some move on to the easier sales and never again attempt to pursue the big one

these types of organizations, and it drains the stamina of salespeople; stamina that could be used toward larger and more profitable business to earn. Yet a lot salespeople move from account to account like these because it’s less painful. Not all accounts are like this, but make sure time is well spent on people who will be loyal to you.

Demonstrate your loyalty first In his book, “The Dip”, Seth Godin writes, “If a salesperson is there for the long run, committed to making a sale because it benefits the other person, that signal is sent loud and clear.”

That’s exactly the signal that was sent to the large, multi-national company Barbra encountered. Instead of quitting, she persevered. She didn’t allow herself to become distracted. Her methodology was to continue because she believed that she and her company had the very best to offer. Her prospects knew it too, but they were feeling her out. They were testing her level of commitment to them. They didn’t want to deal with a salesperson or a company who quickly moves on to the next sale. Or, as Godin writes, “If a salesperson’s attitude is ‘Hey, if this person doesn’t buy, there’s someone right down the street I can call on,’ what’s projected is ‘Hey, I’m not serious about you having this product.’”

Customers sense this, and generally these customers are the most loyal. They’re usually the most valuable to a salesperson. Loyalty is a two-way street. You can’t earn it without first giving it. No company is loyal to a fickle and fleeting salesperson. The salespeople who stick with those who will stick with them are the most successful.

Have passion and belief in what you sell To be able to persuade those who buy, a salesperson needs passion and belief in what they’re enticing others to buy. And it’s not just passion; it’s also the knowledge that one is providing the best service and product at the right price. Barbra was adamant

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CANVAS AUGUST 2009

in her view that her whale could receive no better value other than what she and her company offered. It’s these beliefs, along with passion, that enable the truly talented to close and maintain the large account.

Stay the course After a couple of years, Barbra landed the whale. To this day, she continues to provide them with the very best she and her company have to offer. Their initial ‘no’ wasn’t an ending, but instead a beginning. It was the beginning of a journey to prove to them that she was serious about providing the very best. She displayed the proper amount of passion with the proper amount of tenacity. The company recognized this and eventually awarded her their business. They did so because they knew she would have the same wherewithal to tackle the challenges they would face together. She would not be distracted by the needs of others who were far less loyal. They realized she had not only the commitment, but the time

Vegas is for gamblers. Smart salespeople don’t rely on luck. They look for the right opportunities and stick with them.

as well to help them grow. It was because she focused only on those who were truly loyal and committed to her. In other words, she earned the business of the right company, not just anyone who was a quick sale for her organization.

Vegas is for gamblers. Smart salespeople don’t rely on luck. They look for the right opportunities and stick with them. It’s tough but definitely worthwhile. As my father, a former salesperson, is fond of remarking; “If selling was easy, everyone would be doing it”.

Michelle Bracali is VP of sales at Macomb Printing, Inc. She has been in sales for over a decade and has sold more than $30 million in print. She continues to sell and is also a writer, speaker, and the founder of SeaShell Communications, a company dedicated to promoting excellency within the sales profession. Bracali may be reached at mbracali@seashellcommunications.com or at (586) 337-3148.

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%NTREPR )NSIGHTS When the going got tough, these turned it into success

By Graham Garrison

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CANVAS AUGUST 2009

ENEURIAL )T CAN´T BE DONE $ON´T TRY IT $ON´T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT Words that inspire conďŹ dence, right? Well, if everyone listened to those words, then nothing worthwhile would ever be accomplished. Ideal Printers president Larry Vaughn may never have reached for high proďŹ le accounts. PrintingForLess.com founder Andrew Field may never have started a commercial printer in Montana.

Sabine Lenz may never have created a database that’s turned into an industry standard. And Village Print Shop owners Gwyn and Neil Adams may never have stuck with a business model that turned revenues around.

The following are stories of print industry entrepreneurs who took challenging business models and concepts and turned them into success.

This article is sponsored by

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Entrepreneurial Insights

Battling for Giants Larry Vaughn, president of Houston, Texas-based Ideal Printers, didn’t see any harm in the call. He’d pick up the phone, get in touch with the right people, and pitch them on the services Ideal could provide. He was amazed at the resistance to the plan.

“Larry, you can’t do that,” naysayers told him.

“It can’t be done,” they said.

At the time, Ideal Printers was a $6 million printer (it’s $12 million today). At the time, Vaughn was about to call on Compact (now HP). And Compact was a global account. He’d be going up against national and worldwide companies, not local competition.

Well, Ideal Printers landed the account. And six years ago, it landed another giant – Halliburton.

“A lot of times people think that just because you’re a small printer that you’re not able to service some of the larger businesses/ enterprises that are out there,” Vaughn says. “Sometimes a smaller business can handle things better than a larger business that’s got a beauracracy. Sometimes I feel like I’m a speed boat. I’m able to make decisions quickly and do things versus some of those big companies that are more like aircraft carriers. They’ve got to talk about it, think about it … then they decide to turn.”

Ideal’s niche has been to deliver services that other printers may not have wanted to tackle. Vaughn calls it “garbage printing.”

“By that I mean, I always took what the other printers didn’t want such as the black and white, business cards, the short-run work,”

Larry Vaughn president

Ideal Printers

Vaughn got rid of a 22,000 square foot warehouse and instead focused on distribution, delivering to some customers two to three times a day. he says. “This was work that was not glamorous. This was work that was fairly high volume but it was a tremendous amount of orders.”

Ideal Printers invested early in short-run production, first with black and white, then with an Indigo press. Ideal works with a lot of healthcare companies, providing quick turnaround. Vaughn got rid of a 22,000 square foot warehouse and instead focused on distribution, delivering to some customers two to three times a day.

Think less storage, and more print on demand. The business strategy has paid big dividends.

“The competitors that I went up against, they didn’t want to try to go after that type of business,” Vaughn says. “Of course, they do now. They’re thrilled to go after the same type of business that I go after.”

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Go-to Resource For years, Sabine Lenz and other designers lamented – if only there was a database for speced paper that designers could use, to compare and contrast, and at the very least, to stay current on whether a paper line was available or discontinued. Finally, Lenz decided to do something about it. So about eight years ago, she put together a plan for an online database and pitched it to paper mills.

“Nobody believed that this was an option,” Lenz says of the initial response. “You look at it today and think ‘What do you mean they didn’t believe in it?’”

Indeed, the industry has come a long way in its acceptance of the Internet as a resource. So has Lenz’s PaperSpecs, of which she is the founder. While planning the database, she had to change the business model a number of times to accommodate the market, and also technology. At the time of the startup, Internet speed was iffy and a database like PaperSpecs might not run smoothly. One idea for the business model included whether or not to use the Internet or do CD-ROM updates.

Today, designers and print buyers can search from over 4,300 papers from more than 70 mills by brand name, color, weight, FSCcertification (to name a few) making the evaluation process that much easier. The database has information on price ranges, envelope availability, digital press compatibility and sizes. There’s also a color simulation feature that provides the closest PMS number as well as LAB and RGB percentages allowing designers to visualize an approximation of the paper color.

“People are so overpowered with the amount of information they receive these days, it’s very hard to know which one is the right one and which one is not.”

Sabine Lenz founder

PaperSpecs

Building the database and finding the right technology was one thing. Getting the mills to trust the idea, and buy in to the format, took a little bit of convincing, Lenz says. Some mills were skeptical, wanting designers to come to them for everything, while others may have had 10 lines, but wanted one emphasized more than another in the database.

Lenz says that most mills have “really embraced the concept so they’re happy to keep us up to date with the content.” The database gets paper products out to a national audience. With paper companies having fewer spec reps to cover larger territories, they may not have the reach they once had with customers, so an online presence is paramount.

“People are so overpowered with the amount of information they receive these days, it’s very hard to know which one is the right one and which one is not,” Lenz says. “And no one has the spare time to go back and check everything – that’s where we come in.”

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Entrepreneurial Insights

Location, Location, Location By census numbers, the town of Livingston, Mont., has just under 7,000 residents. It’s 50 miles from Yellowstone National Park – and about as far as you can get from a major hub like Los Angeles or New York City.

Instead of traffic jams, you get scenic views of four mountain ranges and the Yellowstone River. As traditional business models go, it wouldn’t be on the short list of locations to start a commercial printer.

Yet one of the print industry’s most successful online commercial printers happens to be based in Livingston – PrintingForLess.com.

“Although some might consider our location a disadvantage, the challenges of starting a business in a remote location – from hiring and retaining workers to providing a value proposition strong enough to attract customers nationwide – has forced us to be creative and innovative in our thinking,” says PrintingForLess.com founder Andrew Field.

PrintingForLess.com, which employees more than 150, brings e-commerce dollars into Livingston from out-of-state sources on a large scale. Well, large in scope anyway. Field says that PrintingForLess.com takes an unorthodox approach to its sales strategy in that it doesn’t go after big businesses. The print provider’s goal is to provide high quality commercial color printing in the short to medium run color printing market, primarily for small and medium businesses, rather than large print buyers.

“PrintingForLess.com’s approach is radically different in that we’ve grown into a sizeable, world-class printing organization by servicing tens of thousands of small customers,” Field says. “While a typical big printer might have 20-30 customers who account

Andrew Field founder

PrintingForLess.com

PrintingForLess.com manages its customer base with threeperson teams devoted to customer service. for 80 percent of revenues, the average returning PFL customer spends under $5,000 per year. For PFL, this customer base provides extreme diversification and business stability.”

PrintingForLess.com manages its customer base with three-person teams devoted to customer service. They receive lots of training and have flexibility to handle customer projects and concerns on their own. The approach has paid off – the printer won the Best Customer Service Organization in the Business Services category from the American Business Awards a few years ago, and the print provider is consistently listed as one of the top companies to work for in the state of Montana.

“We have discovered that our ETDBW (easy to do business with) business model is most compelling to small businesses that appreciate our willingness to help them navigate the murky waters of print-buying,” says Field.

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CANVAS AUGUST 2009

Entrepreneurial Insights

A Select Few When business slowed a few years ago, Village Print Shop didn’t give in to temptation. The Cincinnati, Ohio-based print provider could have overextended itself, going after business it wasn’t suited for and customers that may have been unreliable. Instead, owners Neil and Gwyn Adams took the opposite approach.

They got picky.

With the help of CPrint International, an organization of independent printers, Village Print Shop went from the verge of layoffs to prospering.

As an affiliate of CPrint, Village Print Shop has a sounding board of similar small businesses. The organization has a high level of standards, co-owner Neil Adams says, and Village Print Shop is certified once a year with a thorough walk through of the entire shop, grading everything from equipment and software to employee benefits.

“The purpose is to make sure you’re a good, strong, viable company,” Adams says.

With the affiliation came a difference in the way the print provider did business. Adams says they restructured responsibilities.

For instance, owners Neil and Gwyn Adams separated functions, so Neil works exclusively on production, and Gwyn on sales.

Village Print Shop is also able to call on a consultant, and talk to a network of like-minded small businesses about subjects such as what kinds of equipment to buy and new ways to attract customers. CPrint provides extensive training with industry experts in areas such as technology and sales to help keep its affiliates at the forefront of industry changes.

While the printer was always good about controlling costs, finding the right sales approach was something it struggled with early.

Adams says CPrint showed them “how to sell and who to sell to.”

Neil and Gwyn Adams owners

Because of this, Village Print Shop is now much more selective in

Village Print Shop

“What we discovered and what helped us focus is, in printing, 80

what kinds of businesses it targets. percent of business comes from your top 25 customers,” Adams says. “We’re focusing on getting a better top 25.”

The approach has been aided by fellow CPrint affiliates and the organization as a whole, by looking at a national projection of what types of companies spend the most with what types of printers. As such, Village Print Shop already knows what kinds of companies it could best service. It softens the market with direct mail such as newsletters and calendars, and sends out an introduction letter to five to 10 customers a cycle to let them know a call is coming. Then Village Print Shop follows up with a phone call and “although you don’t get all of them, usually you’ll get an appointment or two a week, and that starts the sales approach,” says Adams.

The approach bolstered sales immediately. In 2008, Adams says the company saw 18 percent growth. In 2009 Village Print Shop is already 20 percent over from its revenues a year ago.

“We’ve shown growth every year,” Adams says.

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CANVAS AUGUST 2009

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UÊ- ÝÊ } i `Ê«À Ìi`Êi` Ì Ã UÊ- ÝÊ` } Ì> Êi` Ì Ã UÊ/ iÊ« «Õ >ÀÊÜii ÞÊe-letter CANVAS Notes.

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CANVAS is the ďŹ rst & ONLY publication that focuses on what is truly relevant to the world of the graphic arts sales & marketing professional. It investigates the challenges of an industry that is decidedly global, while at the same time, intimate and local. This sophisticated publication explores intelligent sales techniques, marketing models and best practices. By delivering the insights of industry leaders and innovators, CANVAS supports the printing and graphic arts industry better than all the rest. s PRINTED ISSUES A YEAR s .EW $IGITAL EDITIONS s 7EEKLY e-letter: CANVAS NOTES s %DUCATION ON LINE AT WWW THECANVASMAG COM s !LL ISSUES ARCHIVED IN PAGE TURNING SOFTWARE

¾¾ Product Spotlight

The Standard Sappi is excited to announce the latest edition of its renowned educational resource, The Standard. This third issue showcases the latest and greatest varnish and coating techniques and trends through a series of captivating print comparisons.

You’ll find the issue filled with beautiful examples of spot, halftone and tinted varnishes, as well as aqueous and ultraviolet coating techniques like strike-throughs, textures, soft-touch, scented and thermochromatic effects. And as a further example of Sappi’s commitment to sustainability, all of the techniques shown in The Standard 3 are eco-friendly, non-toxic and achieved using ingredients that are completely recyclable.

To the uninitiated few, The Standard has been an invaluable resource for designers and printers throughout the world. This series is part of Sappi’s continuing commitment to create unique and valuable educational resources for professionals in the print communications business. It is designed to be the perfect nexus between the technical and the creative, and an invaluable resource for connecting with designers.

The Standard is available through sappisamples.com or your local sales representative. For a sneak peak of the Standard from the designer, Kit Hinrichs of Pentagram, visit www.na.sappi.com/videos/the_standard3.html

The Sales Meeting CANVAS Magazine and Thought Transformation are proud to present, The Sales Meeting. Based on the lack of resources for the predominantly small business of printing, an opportunity exists to create a platform for efficient sales meetings and education. In turn, most printer organizations have a sales manager that is charged with educating and motivating the sales force, while executing an overall sales plan. The traditional sales meeting becomes less of a value and more of a burden.

Despite the best intentions of sales managers across the country, many sales meetings are not structured well and lack content that provides a competitive advantage.

CANVAS and Thought Transformation have designed a series of eight bi-weekly sales meetings that are focused on two different curriculums. Firstly, we offer the opportunity to strengthen the core sales skills needed to succeed in any market.

Topics like “Questioning Methods” and “Identifying Decision Makers” provide the foundation for growth in a turbulent world. According to Mark Potter, Publisher of CANVAS, “With Linda Bishop’s expertise on selling, we are confident that we will provide a competitive advantage to those who utilize The Sales Meeting.”

The second curriculum is focused on selling in the new landscape. Clearly, things have changed and the skills that worked in the past will probably not work exclusively in the future. Topics like “Cross Media Marketing” and “Retention Programs” will propel print salespeople to another level of conversation with their clients. “The world has changed and customers are looking for more holistic solutions,” says Linda Bishop. “We are excited to arm the print community with the insight that they need for these high level discussions.”

The Sales Meeting will be available on Sept. 1, 2009 with the first two sessions. Two new sessions will be added each month thereafter. To learn more, go to www.thecanvasmag.com or www.thoughttransformation.com.

Today’s POV Annoying questions get some air time at new site If you want to be heard, visit any social or news site right now and look for a polling question. Everyone is polling: CNN®, Yahoo®, ESPN®, Facebook®, or nearly any social media site. With so many questions, you’d assume we’d have a lot more answers. Today’s POV (http://www.todayspov.com) is in pursuit of such answers and was set to launch July, 31 2009. With live pre-registration already enabled, visitors can sign up now and be among the first to be heard.

Today’s POV approaches opinions with an unbiased, purposeful, and universal approach – unencumbered by the constraints of a target audience, politically correct approaches, or confusion over the purpose of the site. Today’s POV is a new semi-social-media platform dedicated to the human voice — on any topic.

Today’s POV also offers a 20 questions feature — a question queue of more than 2,000 queries delivered up in batches of 20. Voters can answer one, many, or all for inclusion in results or also forward a BM&Y (Between Me & You) invitation to a friend or many friends. Responses are matched with the sender’s and both then receive the match results — think of it as a romance survey on steroids.

Daily questions run the full gamut — all age groups, all topics, all races. They are in a simple yes-or-no format and the tallied results are delivered at GMT +0:00. With active accounts at more than 100 social media sites, Today’s POV will participate with regular postings in addition to daily pushes to subscriber’s email, SMS, and RSS. There is also dedicated application support for SmartPhones such as iPhoneTM and BlackBerry ®.

A powerful search feature along with meta tags for questions provides instant results on thousands of topics. Subscription search adds demographics to results providing documented data in support of news stories, articles, research, or daily conversation.

CANVAS

P23

P24

CANVAS AUGUST 2009

Stop Driving Your

Customers

Crazy How print buyers can get fed up with vendors

By Linda Bishop

Sue walked into her office in the marketing department. She pushed a pile of papers aside, set her vanilla latte down on her desk and sighed as she looked around. It looked like a tornado had touched down in her office. Envelopes filled with samples of past jobs were stacked on a chair because she was too busy to file them. Three different sheets of wide format substrates lay draped across the small table in the corner.

Her phone rang. It was Kayla, the receptionist at her company. “You have a package in the lobby,” Kayla said.

“Who is it from?”

“Some company called Promo Express.”

The package contained samples of an eco-friendly jute tote bag Sue was considering as a giveaway at the biggest trade show her company attended. “Thanks Kayla. I’ll pick it up later,” she said.

CANVAS

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Stop Driving Your Customers Crazy

There was still a lot to be done to make that big event a success.

Her boss, Doug, the VP of marketing, had asked her to refresh the graphics on the tradeshow booth. She needed ads placed and a pre-show mailing for attendees. The VP of sales was supposed to get back to her on special offers, and then she would create promotional flyers.

If all that wasn’t enough to ensure she worked 10 hours a day every day, yesterday Doug announced that he wanted her to “tweet” the sales force to keep them updated on what marketing was doing to promote the event.

Sue sat at her desk and checked her email. She scanned the 32 new messages in the inbox looking for the PDF proof on the latest brochure. There was an email blast scheduled to go out in a week.

She needed to have the brochure in the hands of the sales force when the blast went out so they could respond quickly to customers who wanted more information.

She spotted the email containing the proof and opened it. The changes had been made, but something odd happened. All the italicized copy was now bold and the type looked fat. Sue grabbed her phone, dialed her print rep’s cell phone number and groaned when she got voicemail.

Your client’s world is a pressure-packed environment with multiple, and often conflicting, priorities.

They don’t have time to deal with salespeople who drive them crazy.

“Marcy, this is Sue. There’s a problem with the proof. Call me right away.”

There was a knock on her door. It was Doug. “I need you in a meeting in the conference room to talk about new social media initiatives,” he said.

“When?”

“Now.” Sue liked working with Doug because he was a creative thinker, but he often called meetings on the spur of the moment, making it a challenge to manage time. Sue thought about telling Doug she was too busy to attend, but knew that wouldn’t go over well.

“Can you give me 10 minutes?” she asked.

“How about five?”

“Okay.” Sue abandoned her email and shuffled papers looking

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CANVAS AUGUST 2009

for the folder she would need for the meeting. She loved her job, but it was harder and harder to keep on top of everything she needed to know and do. Now more than ever, she depended on her vendors to keep her afloat.

That’s why she had decided to replace one of her oldest printers.

The company did a decent job but the sales rep drove her crazy.

Life was too short and Sue was too busy to deal with salespeople who annoyed her, so she had decided to find another supplier.

That afternoon, she was meeting a sales rep who had cold called and she looked forward to learning what this company offered.

Your client’s world is a pressure-packed environment with multiple, and often conflicting, priorities. To get everything done, clients often spend the day doing triage, deciding what must be handled now and what will survive if the task is put off. They don’t have time to deal with salespeople who drive them crazy. Here are five different ways that can happen.

You whine about the small amount of business the client is now giving you Put yourself in the print buyer’s shoes. Budgets got cut, staff was reduced and the buyer’s boss is demanding your client find new ways to stretch every dollar spent. Buyers have bigger problems than whether or not you get enough work. Don’t complain, because this is a problem they are not interested in fixing.

Wake up and smell the recession-brewed coffee. Many current customers will never buy as much print in the future as they bought in the past. Many now expect cheaper pricing and they

CANVAS

P27

Stop Driving Your Customers Crazy

will continue to expect it when the economy improves and the marketing budget expands.

Stop complaining and figure out what you need to do to survive and thrive in 2009, 2010 and beyond.

You send out too many proofs with problems More often than not, the buyer did not create the art for the job they want to print. They hired a designer. They hired you because you’re supposed to be the expert who makes files print correctly.

Buyers hate it when proofs turn into scavenger hunts forcing them to find technical glitches, re-flowed copy, missing elements and wrong fonts.

Sending out a bad proof once in a while is not a deal killer. Sending out three consecutive bad proofs sends the message that your company is incompetent and doesn’t care enough to fix the problem.

You don’t listen I will admit it. More than once a client has started a sentence saying, “But I told you . . .”

When I was young and immature, those words waved a red flag in front of me, and I wanted to argue their validity. As I got older and wiser, I recognized that often a client tried to communicate but I missed the message.

Talk to your client today. Ask, “What do you want to know more about?” If they care about a topic you want to discuss they’ll return calls and agree to meetings.

Hearing is a physical condition. Listening is a learned skill. The easiest way to be a better listener is to stop interrupting. Do clients the courtesy of allowing them to put their complete thoughts into words and you’ll gain a better understanding of their message.

Single task when you talk to clients on the phone. Don’t read emails while they’re talking because you’re sure to miss something.

Don’t type emails — they can hear the keys clicking.

As an addendum . . . if you’re discussing something complicated, take notes. Type the notes, send them to your client and ensure you all have the same common understanding.

You waste too much of the client’s valuable time In today’s world, clients don’t return calls. They refuse meetings.

They won’t go to lunch. Why? Because they don’t see talking, meeting or eating with you as a good use of their time.

They’re swamped. They come in early and stay late, and when your voicemail message says, “I just wanted to call and touch base,” there is no benefit to them to call you back.

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CANVAS AUGUST 2009

Every time you touch the client it is your sacred responsibility to build a stronger perception of value. To do that, every phone call,

If you ignore enough complaints you will lose the customer.

email and meeting must focus on the most important person on earth — the buyer — and how you can help them.

I once spoke to Elizabeth Dahlin, Vice Presi-

Talk to your client today. Ask, “What do you want to know more

dent and CFO at Communicorp in Columbus,

about?” If they care about a topic you want to discuss they’ll return

Ga., about how people make purchasing deci-

calls and agree to meetings.

sions. “People get married for one reason and stay married for others,” she said.

You ignore complaints

Clients buy initially because they’re unhappy

Little things drive us crazy if they happen often enough and influ-

with another vendor, or they need what you sell

ence buying decisions.

and believe it makes sense to buy from you.

Clients continue to buy because you keep

Major complaints get addressed, but it’s easy to ignore smaller

promises, care about their satisfaction and

complaints like:

address their complaints. If a client complains,

UÊÊ ÃÊÞ ÕÀÊVÕÃÌ iÀÊÃiÀÛ ViÊ«iÀà Ê> Ü>ÞÃÊ Ê>ÊL>`Ê `¶Ê Ê >ÌiÊÌ Ê

fix it or explain why you lack the power to ad-

ask him for anything.

UÊÊ7 ÞÊ` ÊÞ ÕÊÌ> iÊÃ Ê }ÊÌ Ê}iÌÊ> ÊiÃÌ >Ìi¶Ê à ½ÌÊÌ iÀiÊ> ÞÌ }Ê you can do?

dress the situation.

Sue’s shoes Take a walk in Sue’s shoes. She’s busy. Buying from you is only one of the many things she

UÊÊ ÊÌ `ÊÞ ÕÊ Ê ii`Ê«À vÊ vÊÃ «« }Ê ÊiÛiÀÞÊ Û Vi°Ê > ÊÞ ÕÀÊ

does in a day. Make her life easier and she’ll

accounting department get this right next time so I don’t have

love you and want to keep buying. Drive her

to keep calling?

crazy by whining, sending out bad proofs, not listening, wasting her time and ignoring her

Customers are score-keepers. You gain points for doing something right. You lose points for doing something wrong.

complaints, and her business will go away. The choice is yours.

CANVAS

P29

of a ONE How to approach the different social styles of your customers

P30

CANVAS AUGUST 2009

KIND

Gregg Cowan abhors the cookie cutter.

At least for sales. Sales reps can’t go into every call thinking the same exact approach will work for each customer.

Just like everyone has individual fingerprints, so too does everyone have a different social style.

“The sooner you can figure out which personality type best fits your buyer, the sooner you can get them to buy,” says Cowan, VP of sales and marketing for DocuSource of North Carolina. “The worst thing you can do is go into an appointment without a game plan and take the wrong approach with the wrong buyer.

Really good sales reps understand this and do their homework, but they are also able to change their approach on the fly if they need to.”

For this article, CANVAS got personal. Using the Keirsey Temperament Sorter and its four basic temperaments – Guardian, Idealist, Artisan and Rational (for more on the Keirsey Temperaments and to take a test of your own go to www.keirsey.com), CANVAS asked a handful of industry experts – how do you sell to these temperaments?

CANVAS

P31

One of a Kind

Artisans

need details, but at the appropriate time. It’s not as important up

Artisans think big. They’re the excited, big pic-

be in support with the Artisans.”

front because you’re big picture focused, but the details need to

ture type, with all kinds of ideas on creative projects. According to the Keirsey Temperaments, you’re also dealing with someone who is more

Guardians

prone to being optimistic (a big plus in making

Picture a suit and tie, papers neatly filed and an immaculate desk.

a sales pitch), playful (more likely to warm to hu-

A Guardian is well prepared and expectant of a sales rep to be the

mor) and they are generally good troubleshoot-

same. According to the Keirsey Temperaments, Guardians “pride

ers. Artisans also like to take risks.

themselves on being dependable, helpful, and hard-working.”

“They want to see a lot of passion, and they want to see a lot of excitement,” says Ed Hen-

Guardians are by-the-book people, and don’t take kindly to sales reps who like to “wing it,” says Cowan.

dricks, President and CEO of Dynamic Developments Education & Training.

Selling to Guardians Cowan recommends a methodical approach with Guardians. He

Selling to Artisans

provides and follows a strict agenda, “but I always get feedback

Hendricks says sales reps should be aware of the

from them in advance to make sure we accomplish exactly what

Artisans’ body language. Out of the four base

they want to get done,” he says. “They are usually less interested

styles, they’re the most likely for tangents during

in samples, and more interested in processes. Emphasize the ben-

a conversation, but they’re also the most likely to

efits to them – how will you make their job easier? How will you

notice if a salesperson isn’t enthused. “If sales-

make them look good?”

people aren’t excited about what they’re trying

Dave Henkel, president of Johnson & Quin, Inc., says that Guard-

to sell, then they shouldn’t expect an Artisan to

ians will want an objective reason to make a purchase. The details

be excited about purchasing,” he says.

and instructions are a must.

Idealists want to form a relationship.

Trust is paramount. They’ll want to talk about the weekend, sports and their family vacations.

Gut feelings work here. Artisans trust their in-

“Walk through process and procedures quite literally and step

stincts, says Cowan. “You want to engage them

by step,” he says. “Answer questions completely and with confi-

right away to get them on board,” he says. “Skip

dence and experience. Decisions may only be based upon experi-

the plant tour, but bring plenty of good samples

ence and understanding of the product or service.”

and be ready to quote a job on the fly. If they have a job ready to go, and your samples look

How not to sell to Guardians

good, they might let you take it with you. Arti-

Henkel says Guardians need some assurance they are making a

sans are all about what is right in front of them at

sound decision. “This means avoiding conversation that alludes

that moment. Create lasting impressions and you

to the fact that buying your product or services will require huge

will win their business.”

changes in their processes,” he says.

How not to sell to Artisans

Guardians. They’re looking for assurance in your words and body

Just because Artisans are fond of the big picture,

language as much as the facts you’re presenting. “The little things

don’t leave out the details in your sales presenta-

go a long way,” he says. Hendricks recommends making your voice

tion, says Hendricks. Know where to include the

drop at the end of a sentence instead of rising. “It’s all about per-

finer points in the overall concept. “There’s a fal-

ception,” he says. “If your voice rises, then perhaps you’re ques-

lacy about Artisans that they don’t need the de-

tioning your own solutions. They want someone that’s confident

tails as much as other styles,” he says. “All styles

with their knowledge and solution.”

Hendricks says voice inflection can affect the sales pitch with

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CANVAS AUGUST 2009

One of a Kind

Idealists “Idealists aren’t comfortable making decisions unless they understand all of the information presented to them.”

– Gregg Cowan, VP of sales and marketing for DocuSource of North Carolina

Have you ever been around somebody that has an infectious, joyful personality? Someone who has a big heart and is sympathetic when you’ve come across a tough time? Chances are, that person is what Keirsey defines as an Idealist. Oprah, Mikhail Gorbachev and Plato are a handful of famous names pegged as Idealists. According to the Keirsey Temperaments, Idealists are enthusiastic and loyal.

Selling to Idealists Loyalty is a good trait to start with, says Cowan. “Because Idealists are so loyal to their organizations, it is important to emphasis big-picture benefits,” he says. “How can you help the company operate more efficiently or save money? Printing is just dots on paper, but other aspects of printing, like Web-to-print solutions or an automated bindery, really provide opportunities for results. Emphasize the results and you will keep their attention.”

Idealists want to form a relationship, says Hendricks. Trust is paramount. They’ll want to talk about the weekend, sports and their

Being All Things Finding a consistent, but personal, approach to a sales presentation Identifying your customers’ social styles is one thing. Crafting a sales presentation that will resonate with them, and with an entire audience that may not be one style is another.

Ed Hendricks knows a thing or two about crafting these presentations. Hendricks started Dynamic Developments 14 years ago after working for AT&T in business training. He’s developed 23 different programs for leadership and selling curriculum, and has a lot to say about identifying and selling to different personality types. Hendricks says there is a process to adapting the message so everyone benefits. “Anyone making a good, sound business decision has to take orientation of all four behavioral styles,” he says.

So how do you include all of them? Hendricks says salespeople should first prepare their presentation as if they’ll be giving it to a Rational. “Prepare in great detail,” he says. That includes product and service knowledge, role playing what questions may be asked, and researching the customer. If a salesperson prepares this way, they’ll have all of the information they’d possibly need for each style.

Then, the presentation should follow this guideline: UÊ Õ V>ÌiÊÌ iÊL ÌÌ Ê iÊ­ Õ>À` > ÃÊÜ Ê iÊÌ Ã® UÊ Õ V>ÌiÊÌ iÊ`iÌ> ÃÊ vÊ ÜÊÌ Ê>V iÛiÊÌ iÊL ÌÌ Ê iÊ­,>Ì > î UÊ ÕÃÌÀ>ÌiÊÌ iÊL }Ê« VÌÕÀiÊ­ ÀÌ Ã> î UÊ- ÜÊÜ >ÌÊ«i « iÊÜ ÊLi iwÌÊvÀ ÊÌ ÃÊ `i>Ê­ `i> ÃÌî If you have an idea of the social style of the decision-maker, adjust the presentation to focus more on that point. For instance, if your customer is an Artisan, spend the most time in your presentation on illustrating the big picture. Guardians will want more on the bottom line, and Rationals the details. ÀÊ ÀiÊ v À >Ì Ê Ê Þ > VÊ iÛi « i ÌÃ]ÊV Ì>VÌÊ `Ê i `À V ÃÊ` ÀiVÌ ÞÊ>ÌÊ­n{Ç®Ê { ÇÇäÎ]Ê or email him at dynamicdevelopments@comcast.net

P34

CANVAS AUGUST 2009

family vacations. Hendricks says to expect the first 10 to 15 minutes

important to remember they can be cautious

of a meeting to involve these kinds of discussions. When you get

about change.”

down to business, showing support for the products or services you’re offering will be key in the pitch. And don’t expect a quick

Selling to Rationals

decision from an Idealist. “Many times Idealists aren’t close on a

It’s important to grab a Rational’s attention as

decision until you leave, because they’re going to check in with

quickly as possible, says Cowan. “If you don’t

people they trust and ask ‘What do you think?’” Hendricks says.

emphasize your solution in the first few minutes, you risk losing the Rational’s attention,” he says.

How not to sell to Idealists

“They understand their problems, and are look-

Cowan says Idealists don’t want to be bogged down in technical

ing for vendors who can help solve them, but you

jargon. “You want to avoid being overly technical with an Ideal-

have to remember that they are also very skep-

ist,” he says. “My company provides Web-to-print solutions, so it is

tical. They have probably been burned in the

easy to get caught up in speeds, feeds and technology jargon, but

past, so if you go in with the ‘We are the best at

Idealists aren’t comfortable making decisions unless they under-

what we do and never mess up’ attitude, they will

stand all of the information presented to them. The sales call with

probably eliminate you right away.”

an Idealist is not the time to try and prove how smart you are.”

How not to sell to Rationals

Rationals

Don’t be pushy with Rationals, says Hendricks.

Like Guardians, you’re dealing with a straight shooter. These are the

salespeople will try to fill the void with gibberish.

blank face customers who you’re going to have to assume are skepti-

Hendricks says to avoid that urge. Rationals want

cal of any product or pitch you offer, at least at first. Those role playing

time to think through a decision and have time for

sessions at the office where your co-workers try to think of any con-

a prepared response. It doesn’t mean leaving an

ceivable counterpoint to your presentation? It’s to better prepare you

open date on a decision, though. Give them a time

for the Rational, which Keirsey defines as “pragmatic, skeptical, self-

frame. “Set up that next meeting – giving them

contained, and focused on problem-solving and systems analysis.”

time to prepare a response,” says Hendricks. “They

“They trust logic instead of feelings,” says Henkel. “They will want knowledge about what you are selling and it is

When silence occurs during a pitch, oftentimes

like having time for a response. They don’t like being put on the spot.”

CANVAS

P35

As Seen

on

TV How Billy Mays taught us to be proud to be a pitchman

By Br Brian Sullivan

Several weeks ago the sales w world orld lost one of its great Pitchmen. For years, ye ears, Billy Billy Mays could be seen on infomercials inf in his familiar blue denim shirt and khaki pants yelling, or as he called it, “projecting” about products such as OxiClean, Orange Glo, the Awesome Auger, and dozens more. With his famous, “Hi, Billy Mays here…!” he found a way to capture our attention two minutes at a time, and often left his name on our credit card statement next to the number $19.99.

His ability to generate millions of dollars in sales by pitching common household products landed him on his own Discovery Channel show known as Pitchmen. In one episode, Mays faced off against fellow co-host Anthony Sullivan (another well-known pitchman) in a battle to see who would be more effective at pitching the same product.

In the end, Mays outsold Sullivan 3 to 1 merely by adding his skills and personality to the product. So what can we learn from Billy that will make us a top pitchman or pitchwoman?

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As Seen on TV

Understand that YOU are the difference in the sale

gain 10 more because of it. So to be like Mays, err on the side of over-enthusiasm.

Many salespeople sell products and services that tition. So how are you going to separate your so-

Create urgency with your tone of voice and facial expressions

lution from similar competition? Simple, don’t be

Think about it. If you were in a building and somebody emo-

similar to them. While your product may be hard

tionlessly said, “Fire, you need to get out of the building,” how

to differentiate, you are not. Which is why Mays

quickly would you run? What if they loudly proclaimed, “There

was able to outsell one of the best pitchmen in

is a FIRE. Drop everything you are doing NOW and run as fast

the business 3 to 1 … selling the same product.

as you can so you can live!” Wouldn’t you move a lot faster? So

Can you outsell your competition 3 to 1?

to create action and sales orders, show urgency in your voice

are identical or almost identical with the compe-

and face. For instance, you say to a prospect, “I am glad you like

Commit to, live and breathe what you sell

what you see. But to get the product in your office within the

Mays understood that people make decisions

So if I can get your authorization, I will get with the appropri-

based on emotion. To get prospects excited

ate people to make it happen. I will let you know if we have any

about a product, he had to show an often an-

challenges with that.” This, combined with your urgent tone and

noying enthusiasm for it. In doing so, he was

slightly concerned facial expressions, will encourage the appro-

fully aware that he would turn some prospects

priate prospects to move and move quickly. If they aren’t ready,

off. But for every customer he lost because

it will snuff out any objections that may be inhibiting the sale.

he was too enthusiastic, he knew he would

Either way, you win.

next two weeks, I am going to have to make some calls today.

So think about how both internal and external customers view your personal brand. Are you noticeable? Do you deliver your branding consistently?

You are there to sell, not to educate Is education important in a sales call? Absolutely. But that education is only a vehicle to get them to make a decision. Mays knew that education meant nothing if it didn’t have a resounding “call now” at the end of the pitch. Too many sales “consultants” and even some well-known sales training companies believe that traditional sales “closing” techniques don’t work. This “soft selling” philosophy has made it too acceptable to not ask for customer action. Mays didn’t think this way. He not only asked for the order, but he made it easy and exciting for you to place it.

The demo difference One of Mays’ greatest skills was his ability to see a product used in a way that others never dreamed possible. His Mighty Putty would pull a tractor-trailer. His Odor Air Freshener would take the skunk smell off his shirt. He would smash his hand with a hammer to show the strength of his Impact Gel Insole. So what do you do special to demo your product or service? Whatever it is, it needs to include a demonstration or a story that would get a WOW out of your prospect. Because without the WOW, they won’t be buying NOW! That quote takes us to the next Mays lesson…

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Use taglines “Get the ultimate Green Invention for Your Fly Prevention,” was justt one of the hundreds of creative quotes Mays came up with to keep p his audience’s attention. Did many of them sound a bit “cheesy?”

Absolutely. But Mays knew that while people winced, they also smiled. When they smiled, he had their attention. So what’s your tagline? If you don’t have at least one, it’s time to get to work.

These taglines can be used in a humorous way while you present, as well as below your signature line in an email.

Brand yourself Mays portrayed himself as a blue-collared, regular guy. His loud, high-pitched, “But wait, there’s more. And for only $19.99 you get…” was Mays. The branding was consistent. So think about how both internal and external customers view your personal brand.

Are you noticeable? Do you deliver your branding consistently? If not, take time to think about how you want to be known to others.

Then make that brand part of everything you do in business.

Mays embraced “salesmanship” like nobody else. While so many in our great profession are hiding behind softer titles like “sales

Brian Sullivan S ll is President d off PRECISE CS S Selling ll

consultant” and “solutions representative,” Mays was example of

and a Business Radio Talk Show Host. To listen

why it’s a badge of honor to call yourself a salesperson and even

to Brian’s radio interview with i h fellow Pitchman

a “pitchman.” Because if you truly believe in the products you are

(and friend of Billy Mays) Skip Borghese, go to

selling, you owe it to the marketplace to sell and sell often. So

www.preciseselling.com/Radioaccess.htm. To

thanks for the sales lesson Mays. And we have no doubt that when

find out more about Brian’s sales and leadership

the Man Upstairs called you home, his first words were a resound-

programs, visit him at www.preciseselling.com or

ing, “But wait, there’s more…”

email Brian at bsullivan@preciseselling.com.

CANVAS

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Book Recommendation

A Whole New Mind Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future

By Daniel Pink

CANVAS magazine recommends that you pick up a copy of “A Whole new Mind” by Daniel Pink immediately. With the world changing before our eyes and most people asking how they are going to differentiate themselves, Pink has some answers.

We have been raised in a “Left-Brain” world, and a vacuum has been created. Knowledge work is dead and many jobs can now be outsourced overseas or directly to a computer. As Pink points out, we have three main variables defining our world: Abundance, Asia and Automation.

In other words, we have more than enough stuff. Asia can produce things cheaper. And knowledge is fully contained on the Web. It is simply not enough to bank on what you know, because someone else can know it seconds later.

The day has come for those that can deliver a holistic solution and are inherently creative. While each business is unique by definition, Pink urges you to be a lot more honest and realistic with yourself.

This book states that anything that is repetitive, procedural and inherently left-brain centered can be outsourced or programmed into a computer; leaving behind the uniquely human ability to perceive pattern and meaning using the right-brain.

Pink’s groundwork for success in the new landscape is rooted in six senses that will be critical to implement a more right-brained strategy: UÊ ià } Ê UÊ-Ì ÀÞÊ UÊ-Þ « ÞÊ UÊ «>Ì ÞÊ UÊ* >ÞÊ UÊ i> }Ê If you’re curious about competing in the new economy, “A Whole New Mind” is a must-read. If you’re a disregarded rightbrainer working in a left-brained world, this book will not only make you feel more special and appreciated, it will help you really hone those skills that set you apart. If you’re one of those leftbrainers who might be feeling a little left out in this conversation, this book will help you take your skills and expand them for even more success.

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