IN THIS ISSUE The big job reveal
EMPOWERING MARKETING SERVICE PROVIDERS
APRIL 2017
Taking aim on sales leads How to boost your sales strategy
APRIL VOLUME 11 • ISSUE 2
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Inside this issue| Publisher’s Note
BOILERPLATE
ALSO INSIDE
26 18 32 38
CREATIVE CORNER
Von Glitschka on perfecting the art of design
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Hallowed be thy name
THE BIG REVEAL
What jobs will emerge over the next five years
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STAT PACK
06 CORNER OFFICE
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Protect your customers, protect yourself, grow your business
CANVAS APRIL 2017
A B.O.L.D. approach to success
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Organize to sell from the inside out
Makers’ Corner
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Harness paper’s secret power: Match texture to content
CANVAS Buyer’s Guide
BEHIND THE CURTAIN
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MIND GAMES
Industry news & awards
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One-stop shopping
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Inside this issue| Publisher’s Note
BOILERPLATE
HALLOWED BE THY NAME There is a phenomenon occurring in the hockey world with regards to skates. The big brand manufacturers are coming up with new models each and every year. In turn, they tout things like new speed plate insoles, the boot’s remarkable composite makeup or the new titanium blade holder – all of which guarantee more speed and performance. When you look back at last year’s model, the trumpeting sounded eerily similar to this year. In some cases, you could barely tell the difference between the two skates, except for maybe a few flashes of color. The phenomenon isn’t that there seems to be a never ending cycle of new models. Rather, it’s how the consumer has tired of all the change and gotten hip to the ways of the suppliers. As a result, people wait for the new skates to line the shelves and promptly buy last year’s model when the price subsequently drops. The reality is that this occurs in more than just hockey skate sales. We see little difference from model to model, year to year in just about every product category. Yet, we’re constantly chortled into investing or being left behind. But the magic doesn’t lie What truly matters is in the skates. It has more to do with the foot how hallowed our name within the boot. becomes. In other words, Our success cannot depend on the assets what’s our reputation in the we own. There’s little difference between the marketplace and how do quality of printers, and maybe even less bewe make people feel? tween what we offer and what’s truly required. No, the magic actually lies within us. We have more capability within every aspect of our lives than we really need. So, sometimes, I wonder if we’re running out of innovation – at least the kind of innovation that matters. What truly matters is how hallowed our name becomes. In other words, what’s our reputation in the marketplace and how do we make people feel? If you have a long history of caring, supporting and elevating others, my guess is you’ll have a sustainable competitive advantage over those who continually think they’re winning the innovation game. The constancy of changing products can ultimately destroy a reputation. But the constancy of character creates a hallowed name. Right on cue is our cover story this month, “The Human Effect – Why Success Lies Beyond Data.” The piece examines how today’s marketing landscape continues to shift from a consumer-based approach to a more human one. Our second feature, “The Big Reveal – What Jobs will Emerge Over the Next Five Years,” goes inside how the roles of the future are forcing companies to take a hard look at where to invest their time and money. In addition, “0-60” provides a step-by-step guide on boosting your sales strategy, offering seven tips to sharpen your team’s skills, while sales thought leader and CANVAS contributor, Linda Bishop, explains how to sell from the inside out. And finally, a big thank you to Bennett Graphics for providing the enhanced cover. The tactile feel and raised imagery looks really cool and reminds us all to be more human. Enjoy the issue. Warmest regards,
Mark Potter, Publisher @MarkRicePotter
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CANVAS APRIL 2017
CONTRIBUTORS
Linda Bishop, President, Thought Transformation @Linda_Bishop Von Glitschka, Founder/ Creative Director, Glitschka Studios @vonster Jill Johnson, Founder & President, Johnson Consulting @JillJohnsonUS Pete Wiltjer, Principal Pete Wiltjer Marketing Group of Design @pwiltjer
GET IN TOUCH WITH US @THECANVASMAG
2180 Satellite Blvd., Suite 400 Duluth, GA 30097 WWW.THECANVASMAG.COM
THE CANVAS TEAM MANAGING EDITOR michael j. pallerino CREATIVE DIRECTOR brandon clark SALES/MARKETING mark potter
EDITORIAL BOARD lisa arsenault McArdle Solutions gina danner NextPage tom moe Daily Printing dean petrulakis Rider Dickerson david bennett Bennett Graphics
PUBLISHED BY CANVAS, Volume 11, Issue 2. copyright 2017 CANVAS, All rights reserved. CANVAS is published bi-monthly for $39.00 per year by Conduit, Inc., 2180 Satellite Blvd., Suite 400, Duluth, GA 30097 Periodicals postage pending at Duluth, GA and additional mailings offices. Periodical Publication 25493. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to CANVAS, 2180 Satellite Blvd., Suite 400, Duluth, GA 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. CANVAS magazine is dedicated to environmentally and socially responsible operations. We are proud to print this magazine on Opus® Dull Cover 80lb/216gsm and Opus Dull Text 80lb/118gsm, an industry-leading, environmentally responsible paper. Opus contains 10% post consumer waste and SFI and FSC chain of custody certification.
to the good stuff APRIL 19–22, 2017 LAS VEGAS, NV
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20,000 connections. Nearly 600 suppliers. Cutting-edge equipment. Best product deals of the year. New applications and substrates. And more! If you’re serious about capitalizing on the profit opportunities in signage, graphics and visual communications, this is the show for you.
Let’s get the deals
Register today at signexpo.org/Canvas
STAT PACK
CONVERSION
Study shows the need to convert leads into sales
30.9% Driving sales
13.7%
None of these
Retaining and re-engaging customers
23.1%
What’s the biggest challenge for your small business clients? According to Infusionsoft’s “2017 Small Business Marketing Trends Report,” it’s lead conversion. The report, which surveyed 1,009 small business owners from across the country, shows that 18 percent say their greatest marketing challenge is converting leads into customers – a problem they admit is greater than attracting leads. Also on their challenge list was generating web traffic (15 percent) and capturing leads (8 percent). Here’s a look at some of their top marketing goals moving forward.
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CANVAS APRIL 2017
Building brand awareness or conveying information
11.4%
13.6%
Gaining efficiency and cost savings
7.3%
Collecting leads
Insights
The business of intelligence
Salesforce’s Einstein. Adobe’s Sensei. Amazon’s new AI service. A slate of complex technology is making its presence felt in all kinds of marketing tech. And as these automated insights pull predictive patterns from massive amounts of data, marketing professionals are dreaming of future exploits. According to Demandbase's "Artificial Intelligence" survey, 79 percent of marketers say artificial intelligence
(AI) will revolutionize marketing by 2020. The study, which surveyed 500 B2B marketers at the manager and C-suite level, showed that 40 percent say they will be all in over the next three years. But, in order to do so, marketers believe that AI must:
59% 58% 54% 52% GENERATE A BETTER SALES CLOSE RATE
INCREASE REVENUES
IMPROVE WEBSITE TRAFFIC & ENGAGEMENT
THE NUMBERS GAME
DID YOU KNOW?
Only 38 percent of marketing influencers recognize that inadequate technology integration is a significant barrier to successfully achieving goals, according to Ascend2’s “Marketing Technology Trends Survey Summary Report.” Interestingly, despite understanding its importance, 60 percent of marketing technology systems are marginally integrated or not integrated at all. The report surveyed 261 B2B, B2C and B2B/B2C marketing influences from across the country.
CONVERT MORE LEADS
63%
The percent of B2B marketers who say their organizations are "extremely" or "very committed" to content marketing ("B2B Content Marketing: 2017 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends—North America" survey by MarketingProfs and Content Marketing Institute)
60%
The percent of CMOs who say they spend time on traditional marketing approaches, with only 37 percent focused on innovative approaches ("The C-level Disruptive Growth Opportunity" report by Accenture Strategy)
24%
The percent of marketers who plan to spend on content development strategies in 2017 (“2016 State of Customer Journey Marketing” report by Autopilot)
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Perspective | Leadership | Insights
CORNER OFFICE
BY PETE WILTJER
Protect your customers, protect yourself, grow your business Who isn’t tired of hearing about hackers and cyber crime? It’s a good thing you work for a small business. Surely your company is too small and insignificant to cyber criminals, right? Website and application developer Curt Vance says there’s no industry, market or business too small to avoid detection of cyber criminals. Given the growing trend of commercial printers embracing digital marketing solutions (see, “Who You Gonna Call – Dialing in on What it Means to be a Printer in the Digital Age,” CANVAS, June 2016), having the confidence to deploy those solutions without fail is crucial. But this message also is for companies that aren’t offering digital marketing capabilities as a component of their overall services.
Thousands of printers work with retail customers on a daily basis, so it’s important to be confident that your e-commerce process offers a secure and trustworthy experience. Thousands of printers work with retail customers on a daily basis, so it’s important to be confident that your e-commerce process offers a secure and trustworthy experience. Usually, I talk with my clients about creating and executing marketing and sales plans that help meet their sales goals. But to overlook the issue of internet security as part of your sales and marketing today is unforgivable.
Why small businesses are easy targets for hackers
The problem doesn’t start with an inability to provide strong website and e-commerce security. Instead, it’s usually because business owners think they’re too small to be targeted by hackers. Consider that 42 percent of finance executives at large companies have reported experiencing a cybersecurity attack in the past 24 months, according to a 2016 CFO.com study. Yet, only 22 percent at small- and mid-sized businesses say they have experienced a cybersecurity attack. Those odds are too high to ignore. However, robust data security as a service (DSaas) is a viable option at a nominal monthly cost for businesses with fewer than 10 computers. This security is comparable to what large companies pay much more for. The CFO study says that about 56 percent of small- and midsized businesses have conducted employee awareness training of potential cybersecurity issues. Yet, just 33 percent have developed an incident response plan, and just 24 percent have bought cyber insurance.
Types of threats
Beyond threats like hacking, spam and computer viruses, cybersecurity also can protect you from: •
•
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DOS – Denial of service (DOS) attacks occur when an overwhelming number of requests are sent from a group of devices and directed at a computer or a network, causing the target to shut down. Malware – A nickname for malicious software. Spyware and ransomware are all versions of malware that steal your data and even infect any connected computers, thereby destroying productivity.
CANVAS APRIL 2017
•
• • •
Phishing – Norton.com says phishing is an online con game, where someone is lured to a malicious website via a spam email or link that is clicked on, and asked to provide confidential information. Pharming – This redirects an employee or customer to a malicious, but seemingly legitimate website, even when the correct web address is typed. Trojans – These show up via email, and then try to direct you to a malicious site while destroying your computer system. WiFi eavesdropping – Public access WiFi can allow listening into all internet activity without your knowledge, resulting in your emails, passwords and data in text messages being stolen.
Verizon’s “2016 Data Breach Investigations Report” found that around 90 percent of all security incidents in the retail sector involved denial of service (DoS), point-of-sale (POS) or web app attacks. But in 79 percent of these cases, it took retail organizations weeks or more to discover a breach had occurred. Consider also that 18 percent of people will abandon an ecommerce transaction because they don’t trust giving out their credit card information, according to a Baymard Institute study. Do your customers trust your digital brand?
SSL makes your website more secure
Small companies don’t have the built-in confidence that large brands provide. But they still can provide their prospects with a secure browsing experience. This starts with SSL (Secure Sockets Layer). SSL tells visitors your website is encrypted so hackers can’t intercept your data. You know you’re on an SSL site when you see the website address begin with https, instead of just http. A website built with SSL also can present SSL seals or Trust seals, which offer a visual verification of the site’s technical security and its business authenticity. Plus, visitors will notice the little padlock icon in the URL bar, which indicates a site is secure. So you see, cyber security actually is an important sales and marketing issue. And if you have the choice between being smarter about your marketing and sales, instead of having to work harder at it, you’ll always choose being smarter. Pete Wiltjer is an inbound marketing and PR consultant, and owner of PWMG Inc. in Aurora, Ill. For more information, visit pwmginc.com.
I y t t y t g
Instead of focusing on your weaknesses and how to improve on those all the time, why not challenge yourself to build on some things that you’re already good at?
5,800 NFL football fields per day!
many wood for making paper and e vid pro ich wh ts, es for S. U. Did you know that y between 2007 and 2012! da r pe s eld fi ll tba foo L NF 00 other products, grew by 5,8 Love magazines? You’ll love them even more knowing they’re made from natural and renewable wood.
Source: USDA Forest Service, 2014 Two Sides is a global initiative promoting the responsible use of print and paper which, when sourced from certified or sustainably managed forests, is a uniquely powerful and natural communications medium.
Discover more great #PaperFacts at twosidesna.org
CORNER OFFICE
Perspective | Leadership | Insights BY JILL JOHNSON
A B.O.L.D. approach to success Today’s world is unpredictable. This much we know. In the midst of a complex and ambiguous landscape, it’s becoming harder to develop success strategies when every time you turn around there’s another challenge threatening your enterprise survival. So, why not take a B.O.L.D. approach? This four-point framework will focus your strategic mindset on gaining the insight and critical skills you need to thrive. Here’s how it’s done:
1. Business Strategy – Grow your organization with purpose and prosperity
Rethink your approach to planning. Stop engaging in strategic planning focused on fun, bonding events where you envision idealistic wishes for your future. This results in ineffective plans and written reports that collect dust. Focus on grounding your planning efforts by gaining the information and insight needed to develop effective business strategies. Leverage the emerging opportunities available and minimize the risks that an uncertain business landscape creates for your enterprise. Let go of old ideas. Coalesce your business strategies around innovation and adaption. Build your sustainable success on a viable future that’s grounded in a full understanding of your situation, not on dreaming.
2. Opportunities – Uncover the potential in your market to achieve sales results
Effective strategic planning in turbulent times requires a deep assessment of your market opportunities. This environment is driven by significant market forces influencing your enterprise success and long-term potential. Staying close to your target market is crucial to long-term success. But market needs, wants and desires can change. Understand how your market is changing and why. Determine what you must change to meet those evolving market needs. There are nine key market forces affecting most businesses today: shifting demographics, competitive actions, fluid economic conditions, unstable capital markets, governmental interference affecting regulations and reimbursement, technology evolution, workforce skills and capabilities, industry changes as organizations adapt to these forces and generational shifts. You have no control over these, yet you continually must adapt and adjust your strategies to respond to them.
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3. Leadership – Lead with confidence and effectiveness It takes hours to master a skill or hone your expertise. Don’t expect to be an effective leader from the start. It takes time. Building your insight to effectively navigate stormy strategic waters takes time, too. Asking the right questions is the foundation of an effective strategic mindset. Yet learning to ask them is difficult, because most people only ask superficial questions. Asking challenging questions allows you to deepen your understanding of the impact of each market force and its influence on your long-term potential for success. Effective leaders are not afraid to listen to divergent perspectives. They understand their ability to take corrective action before things go completely haywire requires candor from their teams and a full understanding of the market forces. Confident leaders use objective advisors to get to the truth and to push their teams. Look for real expertise that has proven results.
Effective decision making begins with a desire for clarity, which requires a complete and candid understanding of your situation.
4. Decision Making – Gain the clarity you need to thrive Effective decision making begins with a desire for clarity, which requires a complete and candid understanding of your situation. Truth gives you information. Well-researched information gives you insight. Insight gives you the clarity you need to set the right priorities and focus your team on the most critical activities affecting your success. Make sure you’re not operating under a false set of assumptions that were correct at one time, but have not been updated. If your assumptions are wrong, your ability to make good decisions will be severely limited. It’s critical to reassess your assumptions about the future. That means getting the right information is essential. Look for more than superficial answers. Invest the time and money to bring in a fresh and different point of view to discover the truth. By taking a B.O.L.D. approach, you’ll integrate an action plan for uncertainty into every facet of your strategic mindset. By asking challenging questions to understand your current and evolving situation, you’ll develop the business strategies needed to enhance your success. So take action now. What’s the first B.O.L.D. approach step you’ll take to address the impact of your enterprise?
Jill Johnson is the president and founder of Johnson Consulting services, a highly accomplished speaker, and an award-winning management consultant. For more information, visit www.jcs-usa.com.
Perspective | Technology | Insights
3 CULTURAL TRAITS YOU CAN LEARN FROM STARTUPS 1 Have not just a tolerance, but an appetite, for risk
Risk-averse cultures can be crippling. Successful leaders have been told “no” so many times that they take it for granted. Sticking to the status quo is much riskier than trying to make a breakthrough.
2
Learn to pivot
3
Make collaboration a must
Taking risks leads to pivoting. Brands must change course when they fail. Pivoting is a natural part of startup culture, and it’s something they’ve been able to teach brands.
Having everyone in a meeting chiming in can be intoxicating. Siloed environments are impediments to innovation. So, don’t create silos.
CORNER OFFICE
Your goal as a leader in customer service is to bring out the optional efforts of your employees, the extra efforts that are not on their daily checklists or job descriptions but that can make all the difference in how customers feel about your company. – Best-selling author and consultant Micah Solomon on why great customer service companies also need to be great employee service companies
Source: Joe Jaffe, co-founder & CEO, Evol8tion (www.startupsforbrands.com)
ALL IN ON BRANDING Over the next five years, 81.3 percent of B2B companies plan to invest more in branding strategies, with increases expected to jump 20 percent this year, according to "The B2B Brand Strategy" report by brand strategy consultancy Spencer Brenneman. According to the study, those bigger budgets generated real results for most, as 82.3 percent of those that increased spending saw the larger investments pay off. The biggest payoff area was in increasing sales and landing additional customers, with 56 percent citing huge returns. The survey queried 150 B2B marketing executives who consider themselves ultimately responsible for their organization's brand strategy.
CANVAS P11
BEHIND THE CURTAIN
Around the industry
The Enterprise Managed Services Division of Canon Solutions America Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Canon U.S.A. Inc., has introduced enhancements to its Healthcare Information Management (IM) plan as part of a comprehensive industry white paper. The enhancements have a specific focus on advancing its enterprise print and scan platform. The white, which combines a strong print and scan strategy with EHR implementation to improve print project outcomes, now is a critical business element throughout the healthcare industry. It shows that a comprehensive print and scan strategy can be an outlet for organizations to redefine their enterprise business solutions, while simultaneously lowering costs, ensuring security and supporting cost-saving initiatives. Sappi Limited (JSE) has launched its new website – www.sappi.com – with updates benefitting customers, investors, employees and other stakeholders. The site features full descriptions of products and services offered; comprehensive award-winning educational materials for customers; in-depth sustainability reporting; easy access to corporate social responsibility efforts like Ideas That Matter; dynamic portals for customers and investors and a prominent social media presence. The site also features user personalization and a new hub dedicated to investors that provides background information on Sappi and the industry, as well as regularly updated share pricing, financial results, upcoming financial events, financial presentations and information on the 2020Vision. The site is one of the many steps Sappi is taking to unite its global divisions as part of its groundbreaking 2020Vision strategy, which seeks to pursue growth opportunities in the wood fiber industry. Printing Industries of America (PIA) has introduced Open House Recruiting, a turnkey talent acquisition solution that sources viable candidates and delivers them to a company’s door. Powered by technology partner JobOn, the program features the Open House Hosting kit, which includes suggested activities, interview questions, sample itineraries and digital signage templates. A customized employment posting is disseminated through digital channels for maximum exposure. Interested applicants complete an online video questionnaire. From their responses, a recruiter vets potential candidates for the hiring company. Select candidates receive an invitation to an in-person open house at the printer’s facility. The hosting company can conduct private interviews with promising candidates during or after the open house. Available in three pricing models, the program is an exclusive benefit to PIA members. For more information, visit www.openhouserecruiting.com. Printing Industries Alliance has formed the Print Drives America Foundation, which will be headed by Marty Maloney, who also is executive VP of the Alliance. The Foundation is registered as a P12 CANVAS APRIL 2017
not-for-profit 501(C) (3) charitable organization. All contributions are tax deductible. Funds for the Foundation’s marketing and PR efforts will be raised from both printers and vendors without regard to geographic limitations. Contributions can be accepted in any amount and frequency, but informal suggestions would be made by using annual sales as a guideline. Contributors do not need to be PIA members. For more information, contact Maloney at mmaloney@pialliance.org or 203-912-0804. Flesh Co. has begun Phase 1 of a three phase 5s program involving its off-site warehouse in Parsons, Kan. 5s refers to a five-step process for continual improvement involving: Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardize and Sustain. The building originally was the short-run print division of Flesh Co. Today, the location serves as warehousing for customer stock, inventory, parts and special projects. Though all of the primary production is in the main plant, all facilities within the company are subject to 5s standards. The initial phase focuses on the shipping office and print center. The following phases will cover the entryway, warehouse and maintenance inventories. FUJIFILM North America Corporation, Graphic Systems Division, has installed an Inca Onset X2, at Innomark, a Miamisburg, Ohio-based visual communications provider for retail signage, displays and packaging. The company offers in-house design, printing, manufacturing and fulfillment capabilities. With a maximum throughput of 6,889 ft²/ hour, equating to 128 beds per hour (126.8 inches x 63 inches) the Onset X2 will help Innomark produce fast-turnaround retail graphics. Bann Business Solutions and El Toro are joining forces to take advantage of a new discount program launched by the United States Postal Service (USPS). The program, which runs through Aug. 31, allows companies utilizing direct mail to qualify for a discount of up to 2 percent off postage costs when they integrate their campaigns with Digital Direct Mail, also known as IP Targeting. With El Toro’s IP Targeting, Bann continues to help its customers significantly improve the results of their direct mail efforts while reducing the cost of acquisition for new leads. For more information on this and other USPS direct mail programs, visit www.usps.com/business/promotions-incentives.htm.
Awards & Recognition The Standard Group has been chosen as the third quarter winner of the esteemed “2017 USPS Irresistible MailTM Award” for its Holiday Inkling Mystery Game direct mail campaign. The “Irresistible MailTM Award” is a quarterly contest that recognizes innovative and effective mail piece designs. The online Holiday Inkling Mystery Game invited customers, prospects and employees to play the game via personalized invitations that featured a curiously creative opening and 16 customized elements, including a pop-up
Industry news & more
cube with a picture of the customer’s own sales specialist dressed as a character suspect in the game. The campaign’s conversion was tracked via personalized websites, or PURLs. Active players received daily email reminders to solve the mystery in order to receive prizes. As a quarterly winner, the Holiday Inkling Mystery direct mailer will be showcased at the 2017 National Postal Forum in Baltimore in May, where it will compete against three other quarterly winners for the chance to become “Grand Champion.” According to patent results issued by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services, Canon U.S.A. Inc. was granted a total of 3,665 patents for 2016. For the 31st consecutive year, Canon has secured a spot among the top three companies for U.S. patent holders and has been ranked among the top five U.S. patent holders for the 12th consecutive year. It has ranked first among Japanese companies for the number of U.S. patents granted. The patents demonstrate the company’s commitment to using a robust set of intellectual property rights to develop visionary solutions in consumer, business and medical areas. Sappi North America was selected as a winner in the paper industry’s prestigious “2016 Pulp & Paper International (PPI) Awards – “Bringing Paper to Life – Innovative Printing & Writing Campaign of the Year Award” category. Designed by VSA Partners, Sappi created a direct marketing campaign directed at high-value corporate end-users and prospective clients. The “2015 Holiday Kit” contained a reusable box and bag, wrapping paper, cards and tags printed on various weights and finishes of Sappi’s Opus paper, leveraging the science of touch to trigger a connection between the Sappi brand and the recipient. The kit also worked to demonstrate Sappi’s paper solutions, arming the target audience with evidence and giving them the confidence to advocate for paper choices that will enhance their brand communications in the future. To complete the sensory experience, parts of the kit, printed by Classic Color, were infused with scents like cinnamon and peppermint. Sappi also received a second nomination in the category for its research and marketing campaign, “The Neuroscience of Touch: Haptic Brain, Haptic Brand.” In addition, Sappi received a nomination in the Environmental Leader category for its hood heat recovery project at its Somerset Mill in Skowhegan, Maine. The PPI Awards are the only global honors recognizing the achievements of companies, mills and individuals in the pulp and paper sector. GPA has named the winners of its “2016 Print & Design Contest,” which honors creativity and excellence in printing. Entries were evaluated on uniqueness of design, number of substrates utilized, complexity of production, application use, and quality of printing. This year, Cockrell Enovation won the “Best of Show Award” for a jumbo-sized booklet featuring famous Texas firsts, including the corn dog, margarita and Liquid Paper, which it first introduced at its open house event. It collaborated on the piece with Pinkerton Design and freelance copywriter Brian Pearce.
Cast your vote PIA seeking ‘2017 InterTech Technology Awards’ nominees
Printing Industries of America is seeking submissions to its “2017 InterTech Technology Awards,” which honor the development of technologies predicted to have a major impact on the graphic communications industry. The InterTech™ competition is open to manufacturers and suppliers of equipment and software involved in any aspect of graphic communications operations. To be honored, a technology must be recognized by the judging panel to meet the following criteria: Be truly innovative, not just an evolutionary improvement to an existing product Enable printers to operate more efficiently or offer new products or services Be commercially available, yet not in widespread use Final deadline for entry is June 2, 2017. Judging will be held in mid-July, with the winners announced shortly after. The winners will be recognized at the Premier Print Awards Gala, Sept. 10, 2017, in Chicago. For more information, visit www.printing.org/intertech.
• Colornet Press (Van Nuys, Calif.) – Pressure Sensitive Synthetics • Gateway Printing & Graphics (Hamburg, N.Y.) – Papers: Uncoated & Uncoated/C1S & C2S Boards • Maskell Graphics Inc. (Burbank, Calif.) – Pressure Sensitive Papers Award of Distinction Winners: • Advanced Printing Services Inc. (Bristol, Conn.) • Aldine Inc. of (New York City) • AlphaGraphics of (Evansville, Ind.) • Chromatic Lithographers (Glendale, Calif.) • Quantum Group (Morton Grove, Ill.) • ZUZA (Carlsbad, Calif.)
Best of Category Winners: • Carlson Print Group (Eden Prairie, Minn.) with design by The Meyocks Group Inc. – Non-Adhesive Synthetics CANVAS P13
Makers’ Corner
Harness paper’s secret power: Match texture to content Every project is about something. That something could be adventure travel, single origin chocolate or high-performance fabrics. And the paper you use should be chosen thoughtfully to support content through its look and feel. Think about it this way: The way a paper feels is the secret power of a printed piece. Before you read a word, the paper’s texture communicates, evokes emotions and amplifies content. Learning how to harness the subtle, yet effective power of paper is easier than you think. Recently, I saw a super interesting and oh-so-beautiful example of this in action. A manufacturer of high-performance fabrics, Perennials, created a product brochure to highlight a new line of upholstery materials. The brochure, “Suit Yourself,” whimsically presents this luxurious, high performance collection in the context of men’s suiting. In an effort to match texture and content, designer Tom Nynas chose Mohawk Carnival Premium Linen for its deeply textured surface, which evokes tightly woven fabric. The paper texture supported a series of saturated, full-bleed, full-color images, alternating between product details and shots of models wearing suits tailored from the same fabrics. Nynas said that “the surface of Carnival Linen was the perfect canvas for this incredibly beautiful collection of fabrics; the minute your fingers touch the cover, the paper texture becomes part of the story.” This single book makes a powerful case for the strategic use of materials to amplify printed content. It could have just as easily been printed on glossy house stock, but Color Dynamics of
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Allen, Texas, worked with the designer early in the planning process, followed his materials spec and produced a worldclass job, where paper played a major role by enhancing the content. Matching texture with content is an easy strategy you can put to use today. Start by establishing yourself as the materials expert. There are abundant resources available (including www.mohawkconnects.com) to help you understand the full breadth of textured papers you can easily source for your client. Every designer I know loves paper, especially uncoated, textured paper. And they’re anxiously looking for printing salespeople who share that passion. Work with them to find texture in their content, products or stories, and suggest some papers that fit the bill. By starting the discussion about paper early in the planning process, it helps them think about how texture can communicate their message and builds their confidence in you as a collaborator, not just another supplier. Remember, paper is a powerful communicator. One simple way to start exploiting its full potential is to find ways to match paper texture with client content. So go ahead, embrace every bumpy, toothy, embossed inch of that sheet and be prepared to be every designer’s hero. Coming up: Using Paper as the Fifth Color
By Chris Harrold VP, Business Development & Creative Director Mohawk Fine Papers
>> Visit Mohawk Connects.com
WHAT WILL YOU MAKE TODAY? Introducing A Maker’s Field Guide to Texture and Color, featuring easily applied strategies to elevate your work through the considered use of textured and colored paper. Get yours today at: Mohawkconnects.com/makersfieldguide
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One-stop shopping Mohawk unveils new minimum order quantities for premium envelopes
Thanks to Mohawk’s new minimum order quantity, beginning immediately, you can get as few as 1,000 envelopes in standard sizes, even if they’re not in stock. Enjoy the ease and convenience of one-stop shopping for fast delivery. With advanced envelope converting capabilities and regional distribution centers throughout the country, Mohawk provides next-day or two-day delivery to 98 percent of the country.
With advanced envelope converting capabilities and regional distribution centers throughout the country, Mohawk provides next-day or two-day delivery to 98 percent of the country. “Now, designers, printers and end users can improve a client’s image and enhance direct mail response rates while staying within budget with smaller envelope orders,” says Ted O’Connor, senior VP and GM for Mohawk Envelope and Converting. “That’s one-stop shopping convenience, fast delivery and superior envelope converting quality.” The program offers quality that stands above the rest. Every envelope features a discreet die-cut “M” on the inside seam, which is revealed by holding the envelope up to a light source. The “M-notch” is a symbol of Mohawk quality and assurance, backed with world-class service and support.
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Mohawk’s diverse palette of rich colors, fibered shades and distinctive textures are manufactured in the industry’s most popular sizes, including 6.75, monarch, #9, #10, A sizes, booklets, baronials, catalogs, squares and windows. And they’re easier than ever to source. Premium non-stocked envelopes can be ordered for a minimum of 1,000 or one carton (whichever is greater) in the following grades: • Mohawk Carnival • Mohawk Loop • Mohawk Options • Mohawk Skytone • Mohawk Superfine • Mohawk Via • Strathmore Premium • Strathmore Pure Cotton • Strathmore Writing
For more visit www.mohawkconnects.com >> More companies and products at your fingertips in the CANVAS Buyer’s Guide www.canvasbuyersguide.com
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CREATIVE CORNER
Creative director
Von
Glitschka on perfecting the art of design
On any given day, from their studio in Salem, Ore., Von and Savannah Glitschka could be creating a look for one of the world’s most respected brands, or working one-on-one with a small business trying to carve out its identify. Regardless of the job, the father/daughter creative design duo approach the process with the same relentless pursuit of creativity. Conceive. Create. Commence. The strategy works to ensure the results are effective, thought-provoking and reactive to the intended audience. Today, Glitschka Studios (www.glitschkastudios.com) is the go-to place for ad agencies, design firms, in-house corporate art departments, startups and small businesses looking to communicate their visual stories. We sat down with Von to get his take on the process and what makes every job so special.
Give us a snapshot of today’s graphic design market?
Our industry is digitally driven. Styles, methods and technology changes so quickly that it has changed the audience as well. People don’t have time to interact with design as much as they did in the past, specific design that is. They interact with a greater range of design overall and the aesthetic is in constant flux. For a creative, the range of flexibility within a digital work flow, unlike previous generations of design, is so adaptive to divergent approaches that experimentation can be done rapidly. An audience doesn’t have enough time to resonate with it to gain the momentum and popularity that becomes a classic over time. Our industry is over-saturated, so trying to carve your niche is like canoeing upstream in a raging river of marginal design in order to get noticed. It can be done. It just isn’t an easy process, even though we ironically have more potential to be seen than ever before via the internet.
What are your clients looking for today?
Brand logos that will impact an audience and be memorable, and design-centric work needing an illustrative twist. This is my niche. Both my daughter, Savannah, and myself are illustrators and designers, so we leverage both skills to produce visual solutions. P18 CANVAS APRIL 2017
The design process is all about the relationship with your clients and building more trust as you help them move forward. What are the traits of the ultimate client?
Trust. They know I have their best interest in mind and let me push their comfort zone. They don’t always immediately have that, but once you win them over, it’s a great relationship to have. My client, OneStop Pro, had a bad experience with 99design.com. They found me via my Lynda.com courses. We worked with their budget, renamed them, rebranded them, and now they are on pace to double last year’s earnings. I now have their trust and they’re flourishing. They had a good business in terms of service, but their branding provided zero help in promoting or facilitating growth. We changed that.
Walk us through your “Conceive, Create, Commence” process.
The creative process can be chaotic and seemingly counterintuitive at times. But as much as I can, I try to keep things systematic, regardless of the project type. Conceive: I take the time to learn an industry and know an audience. I do all the necessary upfront informational-centric
Creative corner
research, so that I can design from an informed perspective. Then, once I gather it and consume it, I go into what I call a slow boil. I let the information steep as it were, until ideas naturally form and connections are made. Then I can start sketching. Create: It starts in thumbnail form. Then I refine ideas and begin to create my actual work – be it a logo, layout, illustration, presentation, course, etc. Commence: If I brand a company, it involves the launch and how we approach the marketing strategy. It’s about managing assets and brand direction, and helping a small business client grow and expand. Sometimes you only recognize what else is needed after a project is done. The design process is all about the relationship with your clients and building more trust as you help them move forward. Some projects are in and out. I use the same core methodology, but not all clients need marketing strategies. Some clients just need a good hired creative gun to carry out a specific task. I do a lot of that. All that said, I use the same approach on my own personal projects, so it’s not a rigid business-only methodology. It’s just how I work. I’m less critical on the commence stage, especially when I’m illustrating a painted snake. I created this for my Lynda.com course, “Painting with Vectors.”
Why is the genius in its uncomplicated approach?
Our creative process is refreshingly uncomplicated. I wouldn’t label it genius. I’ve worked with a lot of agencies that love to post white papers on their proprietary approach to creative solutions – tons of briefs and overcomplicated self-justifying analytics and processes. In a multi-national brand, context is somewhat expected, but
with a small business it’s overkill. So I provide the same level of work I create for million-dollar ad agencies and simplify the process for small business clients. One simple brief elicits the core information I need on a project and provides them with distinct coherent expectations. It has worked pretty good, but I’m not a genius.
Where will the trends take us in 2017?
I think trends are the one-hit wonders of design. I loved the song “We’re Not Gonna Take It” by Twisted Sister in high school, but it’s not part of my current play list. It was fun while it lasted, but I don’t try to forecast aesthetic preferences for the same reason. I take notice of them once they hit, and determine if they align with anything I need to do. If so, I enjoy it for what it is – a trend. I just finished a new course for LinkedIn Learning on Iconography. One current trend is the whole “Long Shadow” look and feel. I happen to like it, but I don’t think it’ll become a mainstay. I’d rather invest my time in improving the skills I’ll use for a lifetime like drawing, writing, etc. When a trend comes around, I try to showcase it in my weekly series for LinkedIn Learning via DVGLab.com.
Connecting with Von @vonster www.glitschkastudios.com www.drawingvectorgraphics.com www.dvglab.com dribbble.com/vonster instagram.com/vglitschka
CANVAS P19
MARKETING
P20 CANVAS APRIL 2017
Cover Story
By Jamar Laster
ake a page from the Chipotle book of doing business. That’s what Deb Calvert says B2B marketers and sellers should do to enact campaigns that deliver a human-based approach, instead of the consumer-based methods of the past. Calvert, author of “DISCOVER Questions® Get You Connected” and founder of People First Productivity Solutions, says businesses like Chipotle enable consumers to build exactly what they want – every time. Need a little more guacamole and a tad less salsa? You got it. In the mood for carnitas instead of chicken? No worries. Red beans, black beans, shredded cheese? Check, check and double-check. The point, Calvert says, is that buyers can create something different and special that precisely fits their moods. “At Chipotle, buyers are in control and are active participants in creating exactly what they want,” she says. “In B2B, we need to engage buyers in a similar way, giving them more control and allowing them to participate in creating exactly what they want.”
Just because you have 5,000 Facebook fans, 8,000 Twitter followers and 10,000 LinkedIn connections doesn’t mean you’ve made meaningful connections.
The reality is that the landscape is changing. Marketing strategies of the past included everything from purchasing lists of demographic matches and advertising in industry-specific publications, to sending direct mail with special offers. “Every lead that hits a seller’s desk was considered to be ‘warm’ and worth pursuing,” Calvert says. “Seller interactions with ‘warm’ prospects was human-to-human, with a phone call or a face-to-face meeting. Sellers invested time because they knew there was some genuine interest or some buyer characteristic that suggested a need.” The catalyst driving the change in today’s landscape? Lori Richardson, CEO of Score More Sales and president of WOMEN Sales Pros, says technology has leveled the playing field for buyers, such that they don’t have to rely on sellers for much information. “Information is everywhere,” Richardson says. “You can go to Google and get information about anything. So we don’t need to know information, but we need to know insight or how to use that information in the buyer’s particular situation or the customer’s particular situation.”
CANVAS P21
The human effect Calvert agrees, saying the ubiquitous access to information has left buyers feeling empowered because of more choices, meaning they won’t settle for less. “Buyers want to be dignified and respected as individuals, not seen as the means to an end goal,” she says. “Technology empowers buyers and makes it all the more important for sellers to personalize the customer experience.”
MORE THAN JUST LEADS
So, what does this all mean? For starters, it means it’s more important than ever that your clients feel humanized, necessitating you treat them like more than just leads. “People have their choice of working with companies all over the world thanks to the internet,” Richardson says. “It’s like eating at a restaurant where you might get good food but bad service, or bad food but good service. There are just so many more restaurants out there. Why not try for good food and good service? Or fantastic food and service?” Calvert recalls research done with 530 B2B buyers, in which they were asked what seller behavior would cause them to meet with and buy from sellers. Among the most highly rated behaviors was that the “seller treats others with dignity and respect.” Moreover, she says the same research identified that buyers prefer that sellers demonstrate a higher frequency of 30 specific behaviors that are more often associated with leadership than selling. “The main reason not to depersonalize buyers is because they won’t tolerate it,” Calvert says. “They’ll go elsewhere in search of the buying experience and connection they desire … Leadership, of course, is very personal. We don’t follow people unless we feel connected to them in some way.” But in today’s world, is humanization and personalization as simple as the “point-and-click” variety of interaction so many prefer today? Well, thanks to technology, it is. For example, social media and networking sites such as Twitter and LinkedIn allow sellers to show their human sides with connected mobile devices in a matter of seconds through multiple engagements. “Through your LinkedIn profile, you can show your professionalism and humanize yourself,” Richardson says. “Share your passions or hobbies, in addition to all the great corporate information. Be you more.” Calvert says that consumers preferring to be treated like they were more than just leads was predicted in 2004 in the book, “The Future of Competition,” by professors Venkat Ramaswamy and C.K. Prahalad. Their summation was that consumers will migrate to businesses that allow them to be participants in creating what they want. Think the Chipotle business model Calvert espouses. “When we think about leads, prospects and customers, we respond as lead generators, prospectors and closers,” Calvert says. “That doesn’t dignify buyers as individuals with unique needs. It doesn’t allow for space for people to come alongside us and participate interactively in creating something relevant, personal and meaningful for them.” Using the research with B2B buyers as a blueprint, Calvert says, a critical strategy identified was that sellers who want to be more effective in connecting should enable others to act. This is the result of behaviors that include answering questions and providing information that is relevant, timely and useful; involving customers in the decisions that directly impact their job performance; and engaging in two-way dialogue as the seller strives to understand the customer’s needs. Thanks to all the different ways of connecting today, having meaningful, humanizing interactions with buyers isn’t getting harder.
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“Buyers want to be dignified and respected as individuals, not seen as the means to an end goal.” – Deb Calvert, Founder, People First Productivity Solutions
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The human effect However, the temptation has increased to treat social-media interactions as the final step instead of just the first step in the process, Calvert says of the “social selling” phenomenon. “[Some] sellers want to believe that passively connecting with people on social-media sites will somehow translate into a sale,” she says. “It doesn’t work that way. Social-media sites make it easier to find people and to open a connection with them. That’s only the beginning. It’s not an adequate replacement for genuinely connecting, voice-to-voice or face-to-face.” Translation: Just because you have 5,000 Facebook fans, 8,000 Twitter followers and 10,000 LinkedIn connections doesn’t mean you’ve made meaningful connections. You still leverage these engagement figures to create value, differentiation or human-tohuman interaction. “Sellers who understand this see social media as a starter tool that makes it easier to identify people,” Calvert says. “Then, they do the work to truly open a relationship that later leads to a sale.” Delivering a human-based approach in sales and marketing campaigns also requires being clear about who you serve (know your market niche) and not trying to be all things to all people, Richardson says. She cites Starbucks as a consumer brand that puts this into practice. “Starbucks never claims to have a cheap cup of coffee,” she says. “That’s not their brand. That’s not who they are. They don’t want customers who are going to shop around for the lowest price. They serve people who get that the brand means a lot about community. Starbucks really builds community and it extends to supporting causes. People are clear on what they’re getting when they go there. If I’m paying $5 for a grandé coffee, I feel good
“Information is everywhere. So we don’t need to know information, but we need to know insight or how to use that information.” – Lori Richardson, CEO, Score More Sales
about it because I know what [Starbucks] stands for.”
5 WAYS TO DELIVER A MORE HUMAN-BASED APPROACH 1 2 3
Share your brand promise and show how it is put into practice through your marketing materials. Choose quality over quantity. Instead of metrics related to the number of deals made, measure the number of true human connections. Foster true belief in what you’re selling. Get buyers personally invested by enabling them to contribute and be heard. Their own ideas, insights or imprints will compel them to buy more than a sales gimmick.
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4 5
Ask value-creating questions to ascertain needs. Dignify buyers by listening to and fully understanding their unique situations. Understand the importance of the customer experience. Every touch point matters. Make sure each experience – even an online one – has a personal feel.
SALES
ZERO TO
HOW TO BOOST YOUR SALES STRATEGY By Michael J. Pallerino
P26 CANVAS APRIL 2017
Feature Story
"All my customers care about is price." "I don't have time to research or prospect." "Technology is a problem for me." "What? I'm selling marketing services now?" These are some of the comments and questions printers hear from their sales reps all the time. And there are more – many more. In the daily grind that is sales, creating a sales strategy that effectively provides your team with a succinct process that works is paramount. Editor’s Note: This is the first in a three-part series highlighting effective sales strategies and how you can implement them into your digital printing sales initiatives. The stories are designed to give you the resources you need to navigate today’s rapidly changing business environment.
CANVAS P27
Zero to 60
IF YOUR SALES PROCESS IS DONE CORRECTLY, YOU CAN MEASURE THE ACTIVITY THROUGHOUT THE STAGES TO SHOW YOU WHAT NEEDS TO BE IMPROVED AND WHERE TO RAISE THE BAR.
Follow that process, and the process works. Take the TAS Group’s
on salespeople who make them think, bring new ideas, and find
“The Top 10 Reasons Salespeople Fail” report. According to the
creative and innovative ways to help their businesses,” Dunn says.
TAS study, companies that follow a well-defined sales process are 33
“Customers are demanding more depth and expertise.”
percent more likely to be high performers. And from these companies, the report shows that the top 1
According to the Corporate Visions “Sales Benchmark Index,” the first viable vendor to reach a decision maker has a 74 percent chance
percent of sales reps are those who follow a consistent sales process
to win the deal if they can see the buying vision. In addition, a sales
with all of their prospects and customers.
team has a 56 percent greater chance to attain quota if they engage
Kate Dunn, director of the InfoTrends Business Development Group, believes printing sales reps can learn a lot from the best
the buyer before the buyer contacts the seller. “The process works,” Dunn says.
practices employed by high-performing sales organizations. The strategies include: 1. A structured, documented, repeatable sales process 2. A culture of learning
2
3. Ongoing training and coaching 4. Sales activities and professional goals that are documented and measured 5. Sales goals that are raised annually
A culture of learning It all comes down to culture. The keys include making learning a strategic action, not a task. Demonstrate the behavior you want from others. Create learning events. Incorporate knowledge sharing
into your daily operations. Recognize and reward ideal behaviors. And set small goals to get your team used to succeeding, and then extend them.
6. Messaging that is defined and practiced 7. Team members who are held accountable for results “The process is the key,” says Dunn, who provided valuable insights during a Canon Solution America’s thINK Inkjet User Group
3
Ongoing training and coaching A Sales Executive Board study found that sales reps who received quality coaching achieved 20 percent sustained improvement in performance.
webinar. “The key is to qualify and build urgency at each step. It’s
So the first step is to determine what your sales
about creating an accountability matrix. Set proper expectations.
team needs. This includes assessing each rep’s needs. Once you
Monitor and manage specific behaviors. Monitor results. Provide
define where the gaps are, you can build a training program and
regular feedback.”
coaching plan that targets these areas, Dunn advises.
Following is a snapshot of the plan Dunn says you can use to help boost your sales strategy:
1
A structured, documented, repeatable sales process
4
Noted management thought leader Edward Dem-
Sales activities and professional goals are documented and measured If your sales process is done correctly, you can measure the activity throughout the stages to
ming once said, “If you can’t describe what you’re
show you what needs to be improved and where to raise the bar.
doing as a process, you don’t know what you’re
“You have to make sure that each rep knows and understands his
doing.” Your process must expand past the initial engagement
current state,” Dunn says. She recommends using a CRM system
with a prospect all the way through what you learned and how you
to help manage the process. Look at the sales funnel and set
can apply that moving forward. “Customers put the highest value
activity goals.
P28 CANVAS APRIL 2017
BEYOND FLEXIBILITY
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Canon is a registered trademark of Canon Inc. in the United States and elsewhere. Océ and Océ VarioPrint are registered trademarks of Océ-Technologies B.V. in the United States and elsewhere. Océ iQuarius is a trademark of Océ-Technologies B.V. in the United States and elsewhere. All other referenced product names and marks are trademarks of their respective owners and are hereby acknowledged. © 2017 Canon Solutions America, Inc. All rights reserved.
5
Sales goals are raised annually Avoid complacency. According to a Harvard Business Review report, 75 percent of high-performing sales organizations raise their sales quotas by at least 10 percent annually. “You don’t want your
sales reps to get out of the habit of prospecting,” Dunn says, “so
YOUR
Zero to 60
STEP PLAN FOR BUILDING
PROCESS
it’s important to keep looking for new business.”
6
Messaging is defined and practiced Make sure your sales team understands the message the way you understand it. Look at what they are doing and saying now. Compare their activities
to your value proposition and modify. Create versions targeting focus markets and positions. “One thing you can do is practice in team meetings,” Dunn says. “Role playing helps. Listen in on phone conversations. Coaching your reps helps them to improve, so evaluate them frequently.”
ACCORDING TO TAS GROUP’S ‘THE TOP 10 REASONS SALESPEOPLE FAIL’ REPORT, COMPANIES THAT FOLLOW A WELL-DEFINED SALES PROCESS ARE 33 PERCENT MORE LIKELY TO BE HIGH PERFORMERS.
7
Hold your reps accountable This is the key to the whole process. Holding your reps accountable helps set the proper expectations. Start by monitoring and managing specific behaviors. Monitor results and provide regular
feedback. “You have to make your reps accountable for achieving things,” Dunn says. And while leadership must create the sales process, there must also be input from the sales team. “Your sales reps are the ones in the field,” Dunn says. “It’s a collaborative process. Find out which of your products and services are marketable, why do people buy them from you and how can you differentiate yourself from your competition. These are the questions you must ask.” In the end, the process comes down to what you sell, who you sell to, why do they buy from you, and how will it all change in the future? Dunn believes these are the essential components to giving you the best opportunity to set your plan into motion. The simple truth: You must start by giving your reps the best chance for success. Says Dunn, “What you do now will lay the groundwork for future sales success.”
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Research and planning Engage Build the case Present/close Implement Analyze Recommend Apply Source: Kate Dunn, Director, InfoTrends Business Development Group
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PERSPECTIVE
What jobs will emerge over the next five years
P32 CANVAS APRIL 2017
Feature Story
By Ray Glier
here are teachers who get it. They see the robots coming. They see the ones already here. Teachers see the same statistic you do: By 2025, one-third of today’s jobs will be replaced by machines, according to research by Gartner. Lowe’s, the home fix-it store, is using LoweBot in San Francisco area locations to guide customers to the aisle to find the right fuse. Bots are on the way for the plumbing aisle, too. Furthermore, many teachers understand they’re instructing students for jobs that don’t even exist yet in the Age of the Bot. Understandably, there is angst about the shallow talent pool for techbased businesses, which includes just about every profession these days. Just how does the pool get filled?
Companies are paying for talent that will help fulfill the company’s “purpose” and “values.” But the skills are not always technical. First, start with this “teachable” truth as a foundation. It is something business and education should be acutely aware of. It comes from Jonathan Cohen, an assistant professor in Georgia State University’s College of Education & Human Development’s Learning Technologies Division. “The trend is that routine tasks will continue to be automated,” he says. “Keep your eye on anything non-routine. The jobs growing are the non-routine ones.” Second, business and education have to collaborate to meet the need for non-routine jobs. The fast pace of technology in the workplace is making it difficult for education to keep up, but business can help. “Transforming schools from places that are more focused on ‘content knowledge’ to places that understand that content knowledge is there to support the student’s skill development is a difficult shift,” Jonathan says, “but there is growing national recognition that it needs to happen.” Students have to be given more than facts to memorize. They are being taught these skills: •
Problem solving
•
Collaboration
•
Effective communication using technology
•
Information literacy
•
Media literacy
•
Technological literacy
CANVAS P33
The big reveal
ADAPTION IS THE KEY From where he sits, Jonathan Cohen sees it every day. Students need technological literacy so that when something new comes out, they can adapt to it and get up to speed. “Critical thinking and problem solving are what employers are thinking about, which is tricky to do in this assessment-environment we are in,” he says. “Schools are starting to realize that we need to spend a lot of time thinking about skill development, that the point of schooling is not just a pile of content knowledge that you need to know before you graduate.” FSG is a mission-driven consulting firm for leaders in search of large-scale, lasting social change. Jeff Cohen, a managing director in the Seattle office who specializes in education, believes there should be more emphasis on the connective tissue between education and technologists in the business world to fill the talent pool. “There is very little in the way of connective tissue between the end of the education pipeline and the labor market,” he says. “There is not a lot that helps you navigate that transition. One of the challenges is this disconnect.” The Helmsley Charitable Trust helps fund the Texas Regional STEM Degree Accelerator for high school students. The program’s goal was to expand the number of students with STEM degrees, particularly among the underserved population of the state. “They were funding public, post-secondary institutions in getting access to real-time labor data and using it both at the student advising level and also at the level of developing course offerings and majors,” Jeff says. “Academic administrators could look at the data and see the demand, for instance, in petroleum product processing. These are the skills you need – it pays $70,000 a year. Administrators could talk to local employers and build a pipeline, which is the connective tissue.”
THE LADDER APPROACH Another way to meet demand of technology-driven businesses is “stackable credentials.” Jeff Cohen says the model exists in the United States, where all the work is done up front, all the way through the Ph.D., and then you go get a job. “There are a lot of problems with that,” he says. “One is that it requires a huge upfront investment before you start to see any economic benefit. Another is that it requires you take a big guess about what profession you want to be in. You credential yourself for that, and then if it doesn’t work out, you have to re-purpose that education.” Jeff says the ladder approach has worked in nursing and it can work in other career fields, too. It would involve some restructuring of the education system and the employment system. The major players in the technology boom – the privileged companies that can attract candidates with the best pay, and the Ivy League schools with career resources galore for their students – feel less pressure to change the technology/education divide. They will not be the leaders in turning the ship. “The places that are going to be more responsive and scramble are the places under pressure to bring in people and bring in money,” he says. “And where you see the most response is at the community college level and the regional four-year schools not sitting on endowments. They have to make a case to a student why education is relevant.” Bellevue College started an IT program to feed the tech boom in the Seattle area. Both Bellevue and Seattle are thriving. Another example is Walla Walla Community College in eastern Washington, which is training students to go into the burgeoning wine industry, which increasingly relies on technology.
P34 CANVAS APRIL 2017
“There is very little in the way of connective tissue between the end of the education pipeline and the labor market. There is not a lot that helps you navigate that transition.” – Jeff Cohen, FSG
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The big reveal
It’s another win-win. The rush for talent to fill a void is not going to come with a sweeping national agenda for education. It is going to be the drip, drip, drip of local, local, local. Places like Bellevue and Walla Walla are at the front of the line with schools like Duke and Princeton. “A lot of times, people are looking for a national solution or bigscale solution, and my take is things happen in local context,” Jeff Cohen says. “There is not a silver bullet that everybody everywhere can do to update the software in the whole education system.” Jonathan Cohen does not look at the labor market with angst and declare that there is a “war for talent.” Rather, he looks at possibilities. He says there are underserved students yet to be fully included in the discussion of building a technology savvy workforce. “There is a lot of talent not being developed for a lot of social reasons. We need to try and increase participation in STEM to those typically under-represented in the field.” Companies are paying for talent that will help fulfill the company’s “purpose” and “values.” But the skills are not always technical. Remember, one of the traits in the non-routine job is “the ability to collaborate.” A very smart worker cannot produce on an island. “There is a lot of talent out there, but the question becomes connecting the companies to the talent,” Jonathan says. “The companies need to understand that the talent might be a little raw and need some molding into whatever the job is. People are not staying in the same job 50 years any longer. They are moving around.”
P36 CANVAS APRIL 2017
“Critical thinking and problem solving are what employers are thinking about, which is tricky to do in this assessmentenvironment we are in.” – Jonathan Cohen, Georgia State University
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SALES
Know when it makes sense to stay on course to complete a task and when it’s better to shift. P38 CANVAS APRIL 2017
Feature Story
Organize to sell from the inside out By Linda Bishop
We all like to feel like we’re in control of our time. One aspect of control relates to task completion. When we’re organized, we finish more tasks. Organization starts with thinking, because the thoughts in our head push us to make choices. In the world of the sales professional, making the right choices to stay organized is challenging, because continual interruptions are normal. Customers call with questions. Requests for pricing and new orders arrive in our email inbox. We follow up on quotes, schedule meetings with old customers and new leads, and chase down information of all types. It’s a world where there are constant pressures and loads of distractions. To grow sales, you must come to peace with this reality and confidently cope with interruptions. To feel organized and in control, you need skills that make it easy to: • Shift priorities • Sustain focus • Attend to multiple tasks in an intelligent and orderly manner
Organized - What does it mean? Organized people know what they must do and how to get it done. They exude quiet control and approach necessary
tasks with sustained attention. When shiny objects appear, organized people exhibit impulse control and stay focused on their priorities. Focus is not the same as being inflexible. Organized people recognize when circumstances change. They assess situations and make fluid mental shifts when required to tackle different activities. Take the quick quiz to rate your organizational skills:
Do You? (Yes or No) • Plan your day • Make an active effort to plan activities that are directly linked to top priorities • When planning, consciously think of how much time tasks will take • Feel in control of your time at least 90 percent of the day • When you fall behind on tasks, have a strategy to get caught up • Feel comfortable working on an important task for at least 20 uninterrupted minutes to get it done
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Mind games If you answered “yes” to all the questions, congratulations. You’re super organized. If you answered “no” to some of the questions, here are ideas for improving organizational skills:
Trite but true - Being positive improves performance Barbara Fredrickson, Ph.D., is a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who researches positive emotions. Her research shows that positive emotions help people live productive lives by broadening our minds and opening us to new possibilities. Fredrickson’s work showed that high functioning productive people experience positive emotions in a 3-to-1 ratio over negative emotions. They embrace the old Chinese proverb, “Control your emotions, or they will control you.” How can you use this information to get organized from the inside out? By controlling your internal and external dialogue. For example, many salespeople moan about their organizational skills, saying, “I’m soooo disorganized.” People making statements like this often feel overwhelmed, anxious and worried about failing. While the first step to improvement comes from acknowledging you need to improve, it’s possible to frame the statement in a positive way. Instead of saying, “I’m so disorganized,” reframe to say, “I feel disorganized today, but I can fix that.” This statement puts you in control. It acknowledges your ability to learn, solve problems and improve. By reframing for a positive outcome, you stop feeling hopeless and get to work on a better outcome. When a sense of disorganization threatens to crush you, take a breath. Mentally review your current circumstances. Pinpoint what’s causing you to feel disorganized. Make a decision to take one specific action. Acknowledge your effort with a positive statement such as, “This is good. I have a plan, and I’m ready to go.”
Be prepared for shifts During our day, sales professionals are called upon to perform many different tasks. Some require people skills and emotional intelligence. Others involve analyzing information and problem-solving. When you find it easy to transition from one activity to another, you feel organized. Scientists call transitioning from activity to activity “setshifting.” It is a skill set we develop as we mature. Successful set-shifting requires decision making. When something new hijacks your attention, stop and think. Make a decision about whether the old or the new task requires your immediate attention. If a shift is needed, make it without remorse and go forward.
Here’s an example of how set-shifting works: Bob is a salesperson who owes a big client a quote. It’s complicated, and he needs at least 30 minutes to think it through, and to write up the estimate request. He comes to the office early so he can get this done. In the lobby, Bob runs into his customer service representative, Susan, who stops him to talk about shipping instructions on a project that’s due three days from now. Bob has a choice – shift and talk to Susan or continue to his office to work on the quote. Because Susan does not immediately need the information he says he’ll get back to her and heads to his office. In his office, Bob turns on his computer. He has 16 new emails. Bob has a choice – shift to look at all the new emails or simply print the email from his customer with the specifications for the project to be estimated. Bob resists looking at the new email messages (good for Bob) and gets to work writing up the quote. Ten minutes later, his phone rings. It’s his largest client, Steve. Bob could ignore Steve’s call, but Steve seldom calls this early, so he decides to answer. Steve gives Bob the good news that Bob has won a large project. The timeframe is tight, and Steve wants to meet later that day. They compare calendars and agree to meet at 2 p.m.
When a sense of disorganization threatens to crush you, take a breath. Mentally review your current circumstances. Bob returns to write up his request for an estimate. The phone rings again. Bob sees the caller is a friend and lets it go to voicemail. After 20 more minutes, Bob finishes the quote and turns it in to estimating. In a 30-minute timeframe, Bob used his set-shifting skills four times when: • • • •
Susan stopped him in the lobby He chose to ignore the new emails in his inbox He answered Steve’s call He ignored the call from his friend
For sales professionals, interruptions are normal. Some interruptions lead to new opportunities, which is exciting. An organized mind is flexible. You stop for a moment, consider your options and confidently make a decision. Organization isn’t easy because sales professionals operate in a complex world where interruptions are normal, and circumstances always are changing. Know when it makes sense to stay on course to complete a task and when it’s better to shift. Have a positive attitude and control what you can. Make decisions with confidence and learn from the decisions you make.
Linda Bishop, a longtime veteran of the commercial printing industry, is the founder of Thought Transformation Inc. (www.thoughttransformation.com), which trains and consults companies and sales professionals on how to sell more and reach their full potential. You can reach her at lindabishop@thoughttransformation.com.
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