Canvas Magazine | Say Hello to Mobile Marketing

supporting print sales & Marketing executives

October 2010

Say hello to mobile marketing …and Create a Sticky Situation

E-mail: Ally or Adversary?

Closing Ranks Monkey See, Monkey Do Rework

Solutions that Meet Changing Market Demands Ricoh’s technology offers all the reliability, flexibility, and speed an in-plant needs to be successful. The best part, however, is that the Ricoh team is very vested in the success of our operation.

They’ve been there for us every step of the way. You can’t ask for more than that.”

Strategies that Increase Revenue We now have the color and variable data capabilities that allow us to do complex personalization and versioning, making it possible to offer solution selling.”

Pete Glennon President Creative DataProducts

Debbie Pavletich Graphic Services Manager Briggs & Stratton Corporation

A Full Range of Dedicated Services & Support Ricoh is the right fit for us.

The solutions are affordable, the color is true, and service is very available. They’re always saying, ‘here’s my number, call me if there are any problems.’ In spite of having to meet new high-capacity needs for production with lots of color, we were able to do it easily with Ricoh’s support.”

Amy Dretzka Director of IS Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Southeast

CONNECT WITH RICOH

for performance at every step of production Don’t wait to set the highest standards in your production print environment.

At Ricoh, our goal is to satisfy your business requirements by defining, building, implementing, and supporting solutions that meet the demands of your specific applications, all while maximizing efficiency and profitability.

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Isn’t it time you connected with Ricoh? Call us today at 800-637-4264 or visit us at www.ricoh-usa.com/ppbg to find out the many ways we can help your business grow and profit—every step of the way.

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www.ricoh-usa.com/ppbg

October 2010

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Publisher’s Thoughts Don’t Peek

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How Social Media Can Help Your Business P5

The Three Google Mistakes P6

The Corner Office Tech Corner: Emerging Markets and Applications for Inkjet Printing CMO Fact Print in the Mix Fast Facts Leadership Insights

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People News Lawton Printers Takes Top Honors Lithographix Installs New Equipment PULP Launches “Street Level” Business Unit J.B. Kenhan Acquires Conley Printing Sappi Fine Paper North America Announces Grant Recipients for the 11th Annual Ideas that Matter Program

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Say hello to mobile marketing …and Create a Sticky Situation

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E-mail: Ally or Adversary Discover how to manage your e-mail more efficiently and boost your sales with these tips.

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Product Spotlight Unisource Partnering with Print Council

Publisher mark potter

Marketing Manager caroline farley

MANAGING EDITOR lorrie bryan

ART DIRECTOR brent cashman

CONTRIBUTORS Linda Bishop, Howie Fenton, Graham Garrison, Brian Sullivan

Editorial board lisa arsenault McArdle Printing Co.

W2Psoftware Introduces New Web-to-Print Storefront Program ROLAND 900, XXL, with Perfector

gary cone Litho Craft, Inc.

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peter douglas Lake County Press

How Printers Can Benefit from … Other Printers

dean petrulakis Rider Dickerson

Monkey See, Monkey Do

ron lanio Geographics, Inc. randy parkes Lithographix, Inc.

Closing Ranks P36

How Your Attitude and Actions Affect Your Customers

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Rework

CANVAS magazine for more information: 678.473.6131, 2180 Satellite Blvd., Suite 400, Duluth, Georgia 30097 CANVAS, Volume 4, Issue 5. copyright 2010 CANVAS, All rights reserved. CANVAS is published bi-monthly for $39.00 per year by Conduit, Inc., 2180 Satellite Blvd., Suite 400, Duluth, Georgia 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, 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.

CANVAS magazine is dedicated to environmentally and socially responsible operations. We are proud to print this magazine on Sappi Opus® 30 Dull Cover 80lb/216gsm and Opus 30 Dull Text 80lb/118gsm, an industry leading environmentally responsible paper. Opus 30 contains 30% post consumer waste and FSC chain of custody certification.

Correction: Opus 30 contains 30% post consumer waste.

CANVAS P1

Don’t Peek

M

My little hockey-playing son provided me with yet another lesson recently. He was in the midst of a practice drill in which he had to quickly maneuver around tires and then skate to the other end of the rink as fast as he could. His course was set up on one side of the rink and a mirror-image course was set up for another skater on the opposite side.

The coaches were not encouraging the kids to race—they simply wanted each kid to focus on their

skills and complete the course as best they could. However, the kids didn’t seem to look at it that way; they were going to race each other come hell or high water.

Publisher’s thoughts

As the two boys started off, I could tell Joey had already lost his focus. He started out OK, but as soon

as he made it around the first tire, I saw him take a peek over at the other kid. He was not concentrating on the course or working on his abilities. Soon, he became so completely distracted by what his competitor was doing that he lost his edge and fell to the ice.

Your competitor today may be your partner tomorrow.

In the end, you need to forget about what the competition is doing. It is not worth it. You can lose your focus and fall into non-productive obsession. The fact of the matter is that what “they” are doing is not important; focusing on being the best you can be is.

Our book recommendation, Rework, devoted an entire chapter to competition and the lack of credence that you should put in traditional mindsets about your enemies. According to authors Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, focusing on competitors too much will cause you to dilute your own vision. They believe, “Your chances of coming up with something fresh go way down when you keep feeding your brain other people’s ideas. You become reactionary instead of visionary.”

In business, vision is the ability to see things where others can’t. In our cover article, Say Hello to Mobile Marketing, we propose that printers should see and seize the opportunities associated with mobile marketing. Print integrates very well with other vehicles, and mobile marketing is a trend that true visionaries must embrace.

And speaking of enemies, in our article Closing Ranks, we explore ways that you may be able to partner with your competitors rather than obsessing about beating them. It is a new day and the competitive landscape changes all the time. Your competitor today may be your partner tomorrow.

I want to thank our readers and our sponsors for standing out and standing for something. I don’t believe that all of the vehicles in this industry are truly supporting your dreams. I know that CANVAS and our corporate sponsors are focused on elevating you to greater heights. We won’t even waste our time taking a peek. Neither should you!

All the best,

Mark Potter Publisher

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CANVAS october 2010

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Social

Getting

How Social Media Can Help Your Business

By John Foley The top four social media sites you should focus your time on first are LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. The reason for this is because they each add unique value for your online followers. LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional social networking site and has an incredible amount of features that make it easy for you to show off your work history and expertise. It has the ability to do this by being able to sync up your business blog, Twitter feed, and your e-mail’s calendar. This is a huge help to people with busy schedules, because as soon as you update your blog, Twitter or calendar, LinkedIn automatically updates those features on your LinkedIn profile. You can also John P. Foley, Jr. is the CEO

share past Powerpoint presentations with their Slideshare application, and LinkedIn

and CMO of Grow Socially

makes it easy for you to find any business contact you may have come in contact with

(www.growsocially.com).

via e-mail or mutual contacts.

For more information call

Facebook and Twitter are fantastic sites to share links, articles, pictures, videos, and

John at 800-948-0113 or e-mail

much more with all of your followers. Facebook now has options to build Personal and

him at support@growsocially.com.

Group pages for yourself and your business, so there are plenty of options to choose from depending on how you would like to utilize the site. Twitter is more of an informational-sharing tool where you can post or re-tweet tweets. If what you are posting can be categorized at all, such as it is a topic for the printing industry, you can add a hashtag to it, such as “#print”. This way, Twitter can be used as an informational search engine, where people can type in hashtags of a specified subject, and all tweets with that hashtag attached would come up in their search.

Finally, YouTube is perfect for the creative side of your business. If you have a FlipCam or Digital Camera with video features hanging around, use it to make a 30-second

S

to 2-minute video clip. Company announcements, product promotions, or welcoming a new team member to the company are all great examples of how you could use this site. YouTube is a great way to humanize your brand and to step out of the box when it comes to promoting your business.

Social media adds an enormous amount of value in terms of business

For a concrete example of how social media can help your business, my marketing

networking, establishing expert cred-

management software company, InterlinkONE, began tracking their social media sites

ibility and sharing industry content

since the end of 2008. Here are their results from using social media thus far:

nowadays. Before social media, you

•T witter followers increased from 0 to 10,000+, consisting of corporate and

were pressured to pack a year’s worth of networking, business ideas and proposals into conferences that only

individual accounts •F rom social media sites alone, 15,000+ have clicked on InterlinkONE’s links, downloaded their e-book, and whitepaper

occurred a few times a year. With

• 50+ inquiries/prospects in the lead generation pipeline directly from social media efforts

social media, you can easily promote

• $100,000+ revenue directly associated to online marketing

yourself and your business every day

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to business colleagues without any

Another successful case study comes from Paul Strack, president of the award-winning

stress at all. Social media gives you the

printing company, CustomXM. Strack announced that in 2009, the revenue generated

opportunity to share your portfolio in

from Twitter, for CustomXM, was “in excess of $25,000 over the past 12 months.”

creative ways, it gives you a chance

Overall, as long as you focus on engaging and nurturing ongoing conversations that

to be an industry expert in online

form in social media, you will begin to gain the reputation of an industry expert and

discussions and it helps you become

a quality informational resource for colleagues. Focus on consistently building and

easily approachable for people who

engaging your network, and follow up with tracking and analyzing your social media

are curious to learn more about how

activity. If you follow this advice, your business brand will expand and the benefits of

you can help their business.

social media will begin to flood in.

CANVAS october 2010

Taking

A c t i o n

The Three Google Mistakes

T

By Paul Castain

There are three lethal mistakes I see sales professionals make when “Googling” as part of their pre-call planning.

1. “ Googling” the company only and not your contact (and key players) Now, more than ever, individuals are leaving their own, personal online footprint.

Taking a moment to research your prospect can help you learn about your prospect’s personal interests, opinions, likes, dislikes. All of which can be used to not only help you connect but help advance the sale. I mentioned key players quite intentionally

Paul Castain is the Vice

because we are seeing more and more decisions on high level projects made by

President of Sales Development

committee. Why limit your understanding to just your contact?

for Consolidated Graphics and

2. “Googling” during the “courtship” and not the “marriage”

is responsible for creating and delivering sales training

Business is moving faster than ever. In fact, just in the short time you’ve spent reading this,

content, as well as mentoring

something has changed somewhere! To that end, it’s reasonable to assume that informa-

the CGX sales force. Paul’s

tion that might only be a week or two old can already be obsolete. How about information

career spans more than 25

that goes back two to three years when you first chased that account? I would suggest

years, during which time

setting up a “Google Alert” on the key accounts you are hunting as well as your book of

he’s trained more than 3,000

business. While you’re at it, set up one for your own company and yourself. The key to

sales and sales leadership

accelerated sales performance is to learn how to listen for clues.

professionals. Prior to joining Consolidated Graphics, Paul

3. Limiting yourself to Google

was the Director of Corporate

Google is an awesome search engine but it has a serious flaw. Because of the way it ranks pages in your search (by back links) it’s not overly quick on grabbing critical Social

Solution Sales at Dale Carnegie and Associates.

Consider using www.socialmention.com and setting up an alert. It’s about as close as I’ve seen to a real-time search without having to lay out serious cash.

Media data on your prospects/customers. I’m talking about things like their blog, their Twitter activity, Facebook etc. Again, these not only contain critical “connection” clues, but you’ll find that people can be very open in sharing business information via their blogs, Twitter etc. Consider using www.socialmention.com and setting up an alert. It’s about as close as I’ve seen to a real-time search without having to lay out serious cash.

I truly believe that there are sales clues all around us, but the million dollar question still remains . . . Are you listening?

CANVAS P5

Co Th Of rn e fic er e

Tech Corner

Emerging Markets and Applications for Inkjet Printing

By Howie Fenton, NAPL Senior Consultant

O

n May 29, 2008, an article appeared in the Wall Street Journal called Inkjet Printers Get Set to Turn the Page. According to author William Buckley, “Inkjet-printing technology that dominates inexpensive desktop printers is about to enter the world of commercial print shops.” The article echoed the sentiments of industry experts who had dubbed the show the “Inkjet

DRUPA.” Both the article and the experts said that the new inkjet presses were disruptive and would start a migration from offset and electrophotographic printers (EPP: iGen, Indigo, Nexpress, Xeikon) to inkjet presses. If you’re wondering what’s important at Graph Expo, it’s not the inkjet technology but the markets and applications for inkjet printing.

Let’s start with a somewhat controversial acknowledgement: print-

at CPI, Europe’s leading book manufacturer, and

ing technologies such as offset have a universal appeal across many

Courier Corporation, North America’s third-largest

markets and applications while EPP and inkjet seem to fit better within

book manufacturer.

certain markets and for specific applications. Here are three support-

There are other companies offering inkjet prod-

ing facts: EPP is considered best for shorter runs and variable data

ucts including Agfa, EFI, Kodak, FujiFilm, Impika,

printing (VDP), VDP is most successfully sold into specific vertical markets, and due to high equipment costs, inkjet printing is used most for highvolume applications such as transactional printing (bills and statements) and direct mail.

However around the time of the “Inkjet DRUPA,” the quality and paper improved and

MGI, Miyakoshi, Olympus, Ricoh/Info-

But the question is what are the new markets that are next applications best suited for inkjet.

new markets and applications

Print, Riso, Screen and Xerox. But the question is what are the new markets that are next applications best suited for inkjet. The majority of the devices require multimillion investments, meaning they need either broad appeal or high-volume demand (10 million/month).

Some companies are targeting a more broad appeal. Companies such as Agfa and HP are using inkjet for industrial applications and label printing while Xerox (Phaser)

started to emerge. Oce started to talk about inkjet presses for newspa-

and Riso have pioneered much more affordable

per applications. Today they point to Madrid-based publisher Imcodavila

devices which are being used in office applications.

that prints 6,000, 80-page broadsheet papers each day, a pilot project

If you go to Graph Expo, look for samples of the

with personalized editions of “The Washington Times Weekly Edition”

improved quality of the inkjet presses, but more

and most recently “niiu,” the world’s first custom newspaper in Germany.

importantly, you should try to learn more about

Last year HP made it clear that they are focusing on the book market.

the emerging markets and applications for inkjet,

On May 5, HP had an open house at O’Neil Data Systems in Los Ange-

because successful sales are linked more to markets

les and talked about how they were targeting books with installations

and applications, then to technology.

Howie Fenton is an author, speaker and consultant with NAPL. For two decades, he has trained sales people to articulate the value of print and print related technologies such as VDP, email marketing, Purls, QR codes and Web-to-print solutions.

For more information, call 800-642-6275, ext. 6328, or e-mail Fenton at hfenton@napl.org.

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CANVAS october 2010

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Co Th Of rn e fic er e

CMO Facts

Big Brands Must Embrace Move to Mobile Relationship Marketing Opportunity to Put Interaction in the Hands of 5 Billion Global Mobile Consumers The mobile phone represents the most pervasive channel of communications and targeted engagement on the planet, with more than 5 billion users globally. As smart phones

Smartphone Application Users (U.S.)

Smartphone Browser Users (U.S.)

111% growth

112% growth

already account for more than 30 percent of the market, users are rapidly migrating to smarter devices and increasingly utilizing their phones for social media engagement. There will be some 800 million users of mobile social networking worldwide by 2012, according to eMarketer.

The mobile channel is an unprecedented opportunity to reach both developed consumer markets in new an intrusive way, and developing regions that cater to a previously

adult population) do not use any form of formal financial services, yet about 70 percent of all people on the planet use a cell phone.

17,785

18,126

2009

2010

2009

Mobile Market Application Users (U.S.)

28% growth

Mobile Market Browser Users (U.S.)

31% growth 69,639

54,414

2009

2010

Source: comScore

Source: comScore

untapped, unreachable, and unbanked mass of humanity.

An estimated 2.5 billion adults (more than half of the world’s

37,577

38,413

72,872 55,503

2010

Source: comScore

2009

2010

Source: comScore

Print in the Mix Fast Facts The Direct Marketing Association’s new Digital Marketing Practices and Trends report, which examines today’s digital and traditional marketing methods and how they are likely to evolve over the next year, shows that the use of digital media is growing rapidly, yet direct mail remains a strong contender.

Key Findings: • Most marketers (71 percent) cite brand building as a main

Some 88 percent of B2B companies and 82 percent of B2C

(including search engine optimization and search engine

companies use social media. The most widely used social

marketing) is predicted to grow to 13 percent from 12,

media for B2B companies are professional social networks

while print advertising will decline to 8 percent from 9.

(69 percent), microblogs (53 percent), and blogs (47 percent).

• Direct mail still represents 17 percent of the overall market-

For B2C companies, the most widely used social media were

ing budget, which is larger than the share held by any other

general social networks, such as Facebook (62 percent),

media—yet e-mail may slightly surpass direct mail in the next

microblogs (54 percent), and blogs (40 percent).

12 months. Catalog is expected to decline from 10 percent

•D iscussing findings from this report, George Orme from

to 9. For B2B marketers, direct mail currently handles the most

David Shepard Associates, who wrote the report on behalf

targeted messages (29 percent), followed by e-mail (22 percent).

of the DMA states, “First, most marketers today are using

• B2C marketers also use direct mail the most (32 percent), followed

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•T he most used media platform at this time is social media.

objective of their digital marketing. Online marketing

digital media to both sell and nurture a stronger bond

by e-mail (24 percent). In the next 12 months B2C marketers do

with their customers. But the study also underscored

not expect to change significantly what they are doing in

that very few companies have mastered the analytics and

terms of the media used to target messages. The one excep-

found ways to accurately measure the incremental effect

tion is that catalog usage will drop and mobile ads will increase.

of each media within a multimedia campaign.”

CANVAS october 2010

A

e r Thrnece CoOffi

Leadership Insights

s Nelson Mandela once said, “It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.” As CANVAS has been preaching for years, now is a time when it is even more important to lead and take the front line. We are in a day where criticism is high and people may stand down or stand up. We at CANVAS chose to stand up and face the unknown ahead and challenge

what tomorrow will bring. We have found some leaders in the industry who are standing up alongside CANVAS.

“ I believe that when anyone has a book and can read it, it opens the world to them, and when you strengthen your

“ A leader is one who has the ability to bring out the best in others.”

character, it teaches respect for yourself individually and

– Florinda Colacio, senior account

you gain ownership of your own life. Learning is funda-

executive at ProGraphics

mental; when a person learns they are like a sponge and continue to want to learn more. Finally I believe that actions speak louder than words; I live as I believe and I do as I do.”

“ Leaders are those that lead by example and not solely by their words.”

– Kim Groshek, founder and CEO of Creatively Canny and

– Ron Vanderpool, senior print management/

Groshek Consulting LLC

direct marketing consultant at Curtis 1000

“ At the age of 48, after working 25 years in printing, I lost all of my hearing due to a neurological disorder. Six months prior to this, our company had been purchased from the original owner and much restructuring was going on. I had been the manager of an extensive training department but had done just about everything, including platemaking, ink mixing, preflighting, job estimating and scheduling in those 25 years. The previous management team urged me to stop working and apply for social security disability. I just looked at them and said “I’m deaf not disabled,” and went on to prove to the new owner/the new team that I can do/achieve anything. Currently I provide estimates for offset and digital print work, perform layout and design as needed, preflight incoming files and communicate with our team on any issues which might arise as well as provide online customer support. The only limits are in our minds.”

– Donna Maderer, Print Empress at Copycop

People News Lawton Printers Takes Top Honors Lawson Printers received top honors at the 2010 annual Florida

PULP Launches “Street Level” Business Unit

Print Awards, the printing industry’s largest and most presti-

Based on the Street Level Project, created by long-time PULP

gious statewide graphic arts competition. The Printing Asso-

visionary, Robert Carrier, PULP has broken the mold again to begin

ciation of Florida (PAF) presented the awards to elite Florida-

providing its contemporaries with the tools to help them make

based printing and graphic arts companies during a banquet

the transition from print services provider to marketing services

on August 6, 2010. With hundreds of entries from printing and

provider. “With nine print service providers signing up for access in

graphic firms across the state, Lawton Printers received six Best

the first two days of service, this new business unit is quickly show-

of Category Awards, four Awards of Excellence and one Judges

ing its value,” reports PULP’s President, Steven Blankenbeckler.

Awards, plus the prestigious Trophy for Best Process Color Printing and a Trophy for Best of Show Division I.

What began as a single text, designed to make 21st Century Marketing technologies easier to understand for both sales

George Ryan, president and CEO of PAF, added “this

staff and customers, has now grown to several technology

year’s competition was the toughest yet, and Lawton Print-

primers and nearly a dozen vertical market primers through

ers should be very proud of their outstanding accomplish-

the help of a newly formed Street Level Team headed by

ments.” The Florida Print Awards is the printing industry’s

Carrier. In addition, a new Web site (www.fromstreetlevel.com)

largest statewide graphic arts competition. It recognizes

supports this business unit as a delivery vehicle for most of

companies responsible for the production of print communi-

this system. Also included at this Web site are sales processes

cations. The competition promotes excellence in the indus-

and other marketing materials supporting this solution. Blan-

try and recognizes companies and individuals who produce

kenbeckler continues, “Our solution succeeds where all others

the best in print media.

in the industry fail by bringing a cohesive and comprehensive

Lithographix Installs New Equipment

sales and marketing program to print service providers that is granular and drop-dead easy to follow.”

Lithographix Inc., one of the nation’s most complete graphic

The industry agrees. With the backing of industry leaders like

print providers, has expanded and updated its capabilities.

Canvas Magazine, Presswise, Mindfire, EasyPurl, and Hewlett

In their Sheet-fed Division, they are installing a brand-new

Packard, the Street Level Project is destined to become one of

Mitsubishi 40-inch, eight-color, sheet-fed press which will

the most successful new products in PULP’s history.

J.B. Kenhan Acquires Conley Printing J.B. Kenehan LLC (Waukesha, Wisconsin) is pleased to announce the acquisition of Conley Printing (Beaver Dam, Wisconsin). J. B. Kenehan has been providing customers with the finest prepress, printing and finishing technology for 25 years.

For the past six years both companies have worked together utilizing each other’s manufacturing capabilities and technical expertise. That close working relationship identified several benefits of bringing the companies together. This acquisition also include the capability to print with U.V. inks. At the same

enhances core competencies of both facilities. The combina-

time, they are retrofitting their other new 40-inch, eight-

tion of the two companies allows for further growth in the

color, sheet-fed press with the same U.V. equipment, giving

industry and provides an impressive variety of services as well

them two 40-inch, eight-color presses with U.V. capabilities

as a vast pool of talent and expertise in printing.

and five 40-inch, eight-color, sheet-fed presses total.

Conley is a high quality heatset and non-heatset Web

In their Grand Format Division, they recently installed two

printer specializing in standard and tabloid-sized publications,

brand-new 6/C Durst Rho 800 U.V. Flatbed (High Speed)

inserts, and catalogs. Their 172,000 square-foot facility houses

Printers (8 foot). These super-sharp, high-speed printers

three Web presses, saddle stitching, perfect binding, in-line

complement their existing two QS 3200 Vutek Flatbed U.V.

and offline mailing, polybagging, tipping and fulfillment.

printers. Also, in the Grand Format Division, they are install-

J.B. Kenehan is a high quality sheetfed and Web printer

ing two brand-new Durst Rho 500R Superwide (16 feet) Digi-

specializing in digest, slim-jim, standard and custom-sized

tal U.V. printers. The 2009 DPI Product of the Year is the first

books, catalogs, inserts and components. Their 80,000

5 meter, roll-to-roll inkjet printer that combines POP quality

square-foot plant houses two Web presses, sheet-fed press,

with billboard speed and versatility, These two installations

saddle stitching, specialty cutting, scoring, folding, drilling,

complement the four existing Vutek Digital 16-foot printers.

shrink wrap, and fulfillment.

Lithographix is one of the nations’ most complete graphic

In this current economic climate, J. B. Kenehan is proud

and print providers, servicing ad agencies, automotive,

to have the ability to enhance the variety of services

entertainment and corporate clients.

they will now be able to provide to all current and new

P10 CANVAS october 2010

customers. Their main goals remain the same—they

will

in grants to designers around the globe, who are perform-

strive to continue producing superior product, while provid-

ing pro bono work for a nonprofit organization. Out of

ing unmatched customer service, and years of skill and expe-

the $1 million that is annually awarded on a global level,

rience to customers.

a total of $400,000 in grants will be awarded in North

Sappi Fine Paper North America Announces Grant Recipients for the 11th Annual Ideas that Matter Program

America this year.

“Grants from Sappi’s Ideas that Matter program help fund the unique not-for-profit work of designers in North America. These designers have dedicated their talent, vision and energy to a range of community-based causes across the

Sappi Fine Paper North America today announced the 27

country, and we are honored to support their work in these

grant recipients for its 11th Ideas that Matter—an annual,

challenged economic times,” said Jennifer Miller, Executive

innovative grant program that transforms the creative ideas

Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Sappi

of designers into a powerful force for social good. Through

Fine Paper North America.

Ideas that Matter, each designer’s project will support the

A list of the 2010 Ideas that Matter grant recipients

mission and public awareness campaigns of a nonprofit orga-

can

be

found

nization of their choosing. The winning projects represent a

news/2010-09-09.

online

at

www.na.sappi.com/aboutus/

vast array of social, cultural, and environmental issues and

“I think what makes Ideas that Matter unique is the notion

were selected based on their creativity, potential impact and

that design can be a catalyst for change and not only

practicality of the implementation plan, and were selected

through formal, traditional design solutions. The really excit-

by an independent panel of judges.

ing proposals were those in which the designer worked in

The winning proposals and funding for each proj-

tandem with a partner- an organization, a foundation, some

ect were determined by a judging panel of top graphic

cultural or social institution- and found a way for visual think-

designers from throughout the U.S.: Casey Caplowe of

ing to make a leap that other kinds of thinking cannot,” said

GOOD, Jessica Helfand of Winterhouse, Doug Powell of

Jessica Helfand, Partner, Winterhouse. “That’s what was

Schwartz Powell, Matt Rollins of Iconologic, and Armin

really exciting to see.”

Vit of UnderConsideration. Since 1999, Sappi’s Ideas that FS Digital Printing Ad_canvas_halfpage3.pdf 9/15/2010 4:35:55 PM Matter program has awarded over $10 million worldwide

Sappi’s 2010 Ideas that Matter grant recipients will complete their projects by March 31, 2011.

Say hello to mobile marketing …and Create a Sticky Situation

A

woman sits at home in her comfortable club chair perusing the latest issue of her favorite magazine. She sees a recipe she’d like to prepare for her family, and instead of tearing out the page

and throwing it in a drawer, she whips out her always

by Lorrie Bryan

handy cell phone and snaps a shot of the QR code on the page. Immediately, the recipe with a list of ingredi-

ents is downloaded to her phone where she can easily retrieve it when she’s shopping at the grocery store. If this sounds like a science fiction scenario to you, than perhaps you are not among the 89 percent of this country’s 270 million cell phone users who use their phone for text and data in addition to phone service.

P12 CANVAS october 2010

“The mobile phone is the device that is with the consumer for the most time each day—far more than a single computer or TV. Creative mobile marketing builds an instant and meaningful bridge to interactivity, and facilitates the leap from the page to the hand,” explains longtime mobile marketing specialist Carol Glennon, CEO of Renu Mobile.

“Creating interactivity within the print medium extends shelf-life as well as value by offering readers layers of experience beyond the printed page.

Using text messaging or mobile codes begins a consumer interaction with the brand or editorial utilizing the device that is consistently nearby the reader. The possibilities are infinite. A text message call-to-action can lead to existing Web content that has been optimized for mobile. A mobile barcode within an advertisement can kick off an interesting video on the mobile phone,” Glennon adds.

CANVAS P13

Say Hello to Mobile Marketing

As part of a multimedia marketing campaign, print projects almost always include a Web address where additional information and special incentives can be found and downloaded, but mobile marketing enhances this experience by making interaction easier, more immediate and more rewarding.

Mobile barcodes (QR, 2D and data matrix),

surprisingly, many innovative printers are continuing to evolve

popular in Japan and Europe for more than

and maintain viability by adding mobile marketing features to

a decade, are increasingly showing up in the

their repertoire of print services and solutions, according to

print world of mainstream America on signs,

mobile marketing consultant Tim Doegler. “I encourage my print

business cards, packaging, bills, and advertise-

clients to routinely promote mobile marketing as part of the

ments. The September issue of “O, The Oprah

sales process. They are discovering the benefits of always offer-

Magazine” (circulation 2.6 million) includes 10

ing clients the opportunity to upgrade to interactive by includ-

advertisements sporting the trendy codes.

ing a QR code or SMS call to action. Never before has the adver-

Most of the ads are featured on a two-page

tiser had an option for direct engagement via mobile phone. For

spread that includes directions for uploading a free barcodereader application. And if past trending patterns are any indication, where Oprah goes, millions follow.

“Today’s

media-savvy

reader has an expectation for mobile interactivity. Increasingly, she enjoys using her smart phone while reading to act on ideas and brands she reads about,” affirms Glennon. “In the near future, most of America will share that expectation.

Mobile

marketing

will

become the new standard.”

Mobile marketing is not a departure from Internet marketing; it’s the next evolution-

example, a print ad may simply say “Text COUPON to 55432 right now from your mobile phone to receive an instant coupon.”

ary step. As part of a multimedia marketing

Doegler says that not only does adding an interactive element

campaign, print projects almost always include

add value to print, it can become an extended revenue branch

a Web address where additional informa-

for printers. “It’s costly and time-consuming for individual clients

tion and special incentives can be found and

to actually get all the shortcodes and keywords set up and

downloaded, but mobile marketing enhances

managed, but printers can offer this service ready-to-go at an

this experience by making interaction easier,

affordable price.” According to Doegler, the biggest obstacle to

more immediate and more rewarding. Not

selling an interactive option is explaining the value proposition.

P14 CANVAS october 2010

The

’s of Mobile Marketing

Mobile marketing is meant to describe marketing on or with a cell phone (or other mobile device).

CSC (Common Short Code) is a short numeric sequence (4-6 digits) to which text messages can be sent from a mobile phone. Subscribers send text messages to CSC’s with relevant keywords to access mobile content or act upon a call-to-action.

SMS (Short Message Service) is used as a synonym for all types of short text messaging, as well as the user activity itself, in many parts of the world. SMS text messaging is the most widely used data application on the planet, with 2.4 billion active users.

MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) is a standard way to send messages that include multimedia content to and from mobile phones. It extends the core SMS capability which only allowed exchange of text messages up to 160 characters in length. The most popular use is to send photographs from camera-equipped handsets, although it is also popular as a method of delivering news and entertainment content including videos, pictures, text pages and ringtones.

MO, MOM (Mobile Originated Message) is an SMS/MMS message received by a mobile device.

QR Code (Quick Response Code) is a matrix barcode or two dimensional code readable by a QR scanner, mobile phones with a camera, and smart phones. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on white background.

The information encoded can be text, URL or other data.

WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) is an open international standard for the presentation and delivery of wireless information and telephony services on mobile devices. The most common use of WAP is accessing the Web from a mobile phone or PDA (Personal Digital Assistant).

Review case studies where print is integrated with mobile marketing, sign up for a free newsletter, and review best practice guidelines at the Mobile Marketing Association Web site (www.mmaglobal.com) and at the Direct Marketing Association Web site (www.thedma.org).

Say Hello to Mobile Marketing

Mobile Facts & Forecasts There are 4.6 billion mobile phone users worldwide Mobile coupon redemption rates are ten times higher than coupons distributed by mail or newspapers Social networking is now the fastestgrowing application on mobile phones with 800 million users expected by 2012 Studies show mobile phone users are more apt to advocate, refer and engage in social networking than desktop computer users.

(From www.planetoi.net)

“ Stickiness is important because it keeps the consumer or demographic target interacting with brand or product longer than an ad in a magazine or newspaper.”

– Kitty Dunning, senior vice president at Don Jagoda Associates

“It can be hard to understand the value propo-

ways. ‘We do not know if a customer prefers e-mail, Web or print-

sition, but there are numerous case studies that

based communication, so when we market to them we offer them

illustrate this. The percentage of people partici-

multiple ways to respond. TVP offers five ways to make print inter-

pating may be low, but it is better than zero.

active but SMS codes and QR codes are the quickest and least

There is no option for engagement without an

expensive way to add stickiness to print-based marketing and

interactive element. And often the people who

make it more relevant and actionable.”

do engage are going to be your

Ravi notes that the maximum response rate

champions—people who are

is achieved when there is high brand value

going to spread the word.”

and a strong enticement factor. “Special

The ability of a marketing piece

discounts on recognized brands, a chance to

to capture the recipient’s attention

win a big prize or a chance to vote on some-

and engage them is frequently

thing relevant offer instant gratification and

referred to as stickiness. “Sticki-

elicit an immediate response.” A variety of

ness is important because it keeps

case studies illustrating the creative integra-

the consumer or demographic

tion of print with mobile marketing are avail-

target interacting with brand or

able for review at the Mobile Marketing Asso-

product longer than an ad in a

ciation Web site (www.mmaglobal.com).

magazine or newspaper, explains

Like the early days of Internet marketing,

Kitty Dunning, senior vice presi-

some companies are slow to launch mobile

dent at Don Jagoda Associates,

campaigns while others are already ahead of

a full service promotions agency.

the game. The consensus among marketing

“Advertisers want their brands’ images, slogans,

consultants is that cell phones will become increasingly integral

experiences etched into the consumers’ minds

to consumers’ lives and advertisers will increasingly integrate

to create trust, emotion, loyalty etc. and the more

mobile marketing into existing multimedia campaigns. “Adver-

impressions or favorable experiences a consumer

tisers will find creative ways to engage consumers and keep

has with a product or brand, the stronger the loyalty

them on their site via special access, loyalty programs, sweeps,

and the greater potential for increased sales.”

contests, games etc. The possibilities are endless. Companies

Sudhir Ravi, partner at ThinkVariable.com (TVP), explains that stickiness can be achieved in several

P16 CANVAS october 2010

will have to make room for mobile in their overall marketing budget or they will eventually be left behind,” Dunning says.

CANVAS P17

: E-mail

Ally or Discover how to manage your e-mail more efficiently and boost your sales with these tips.

by Linda Bishop

P18 CANVAS october 2010

Adversary?

D

eb looked up from her computer monitor when she heard a knock on her door. It was her friend, Scott. Like Deb, he was an account executive at Busy Print Press.

“Do you want to get some lunch?” he said.

Deb shook her head. “Sorry, I can’t. I have too much to do.”

Just one day before, Deb had complained that her business was slow.

Scott asked, “Do you have some new orders in the works?”

“No, I wish that was the case, but it’s not new projects keeping me busy.” Deb pointed at her computer screen. “It’s all the e-mails I get.

Even when my sales are down, I still get 50 to 100 messages in my inbox daily, and it’s sucking the life out of me.”

Scott nodded sympathetically. “I know what you mean. Sometimes customers send 20 messages relating to one simple project, or copy me on information I don’t really need to know.”

Deb slumped in her chair. “It’s really starting to get to me. I know I need new customers, but I never have enough time in the day. I must do something different, but what?”

CANVAS P19

E-mail: Ally or Adversary?

“Six months ago, I was in the same spot as you,” Scott said. “Then I lost my biggest customer.”

Mr. Robinson made some interesting points—and some scary ones. For example, the typical office employee checks e-mail 50

“I remember,” Deb said. “But you turned that situation around so quickly. Everyone on the sales team was impressed.”

times a day, according to RescueTime, a firm that develops Time management software.

That’s what I used to do. When it came to e-mails, I was

“Losing my most important client forced me

like Pavlov’s dog. Every time a new e-mail arrived in the inbox,

to make changes. I have a family to feed, so I

I salivated to open it. This conditioned response interrupted

couldn’t sit around hoping things would improve on their own. Something had to be done, and it had to be done fast. I examined my selling process under a microscope and realized I spent three hours of every day dealing with e-mails.” Scott raised his eyebrows. “That added up to fifteen hours a week, almost two full days.”

Deb gulped. “What did you do?”

“I completely rethought my approach.

Now I spend half the time handling e-mails and get twice as much done.

My new strategy freed me up to spend more time selling and helped me give clients better service as well.”

thinking, interfered with workflow

You can increase productivity without significantly reducing service levels by limiting e-mail checks to four times a day, or once every two hours.

I developed a smarter strategy and found more time in the day. You can do the same with by following three steps.

Step One: Control Interruptions.

In 2005, a team of researchers at Oklahoma State University made a presentation at a conference. This presentation was titled How Often Should We Check Our E-mail? The topic explored finding the right balance between e-mail interruptions and effective response.

“What’s your secret?” Deb leaned forward in her chair, eager to learn.

and chipped away at productivity.

The research defined interruptions as “externally generated,

Scott grinned at her. “Buy me lunch and I’ll tell you.”

randomly occurring, discrete events that break continuity of cogni-

Deb grabbed her purse and stood. “Let’s go!”

tive focus on a primary task.”

In March 2010, I read an article in Entrepreneur

For salespeople, e-mails are a lot like lottery tickets. Since they

magazine. The name of the article was “E-mail

could hold new opportunities to make more sales, we’re motivated

is Making You Stupid,” by Joe Robinson. The

to check them out. The problem is when we’re reacting to 50 inter-

insights he shared made me stop and think about

ruptions every day, our productivity plummets, and we’re swept up

how managing e-mails impacts sales productivity.

in this time-sucking cycle.

P20 CANVAS october 2010

You’re focused on a task.

A new e-mail arrives in the inbox.

You interrupt yourself and shift focus. Productivity drops.

You read the new e-mail, decide it can wait and go back to the task.

You begin the task again but it takes a minute (or several) to refocus.

Another new e-mail arrives.

You stop what you’re doing and productivity drops—again.

When this is your e-mail response system, even simple tasks like writing up estimate requests take longer to finish, causing anxiety and stress.

Cycles like the one above help explain why the average worker at a desk loses 2.1 hours of productivity every day to interruptions and distractions, according to Joe Robinson’s article in Entrepreneur.

Yikes! That’s a big block of unproductive time. To recapture it, I looked deeper into the research done at Oklahoma State University.

For workers who deal with e-mail for approximately three hours a day (salespeople and customer service qualify) the research team concluded you would increase productivity without significantly reducing service levels by limiting e-mail checks to four times a day, or once every two hours.

CANVAS P21

E-mail: Ally or Adversary?

Too often e-mail plays out like a game of ping-pong where messages rapidly bounce back and forth without much thinking beyond the next move.

If you think this is a great idea, have superhuman willpower and can simply ignore any

The other 80 percent are made up of: spam, information with no requirement to act and requests with no timeframe involved.

e-mails that arrive in your box between desig-

If you open an e-mail and decide it is spam, take a few seconds

nated check-in times, good for you. I’m not that

and unsubscribe. For the rest, let your e-mail management tool act

focused.

as your personal assistant by assigning rules to help you sort and

Since I use Outlook, I rescheduled how often

categorize incoming e-mails.

e-mails get delivered to my in-box by following these easy steps.

In Outlook, this is easy. Open an e-mail. Look for a box along the top ribbon that says, Create Rule. Click on it and follow instructions.

• Open Tools.

• Click Send/Receive.

• Click Send/Receive Settings.

• Click Define Send/Receive Groups.

• Look for a box with a check in it that says, Schedule an automatic send/receive every _______ minutes.

• Change the number in the box to 120.

• Close.

New e-mails will now arrive every two hours and productivity will increase—if you put your smart phone out of sight and don’t cheat by sneaking a look at incoming e-mails there.

Step Two: Sort

One of my rules relates to my LinkedIn account. I regard these

Some e-mails are more important or more urgent

incoming messages as coffee- break e-mails. They’re interesting

then others. The sender or the subject could get

but not a priority. I divert them into a folder titled, Look at Later,

priority, or there is a time requirement for action

because I don’t want them to snag my attention and stop me from

involved, or both. According to the study at Okla-

getting more important tasks done.

homa State University, approximately 20 percent of incoming e-mails fit this profile.

P22 CANVAS october 2010

Set up your own Look at Later file. Divert social media alerts, news and information into it and read them when you need a break.

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E-mail: Ally or Adversary?

Step Three: Communicate Smarter

be shared. Hurriedly, you write an e-mail and push send. Seconds

Talk to your customers. Discuss how you handle

later, you think of something related to your first thought. You write

e-mails and find out how you can do a better job

another e-mail and push send. A moment later, a response comes

for them.

to your first e-mail. Before you finish reading it, it’s followed by

– Do they want you to acknowledge the

a response to your second e-mail. A few seconds later, there is

receipt of an e-mail?

– Are you giving them too much information—or too little?

– Do they feel your e-mails reflect courtesy and respect?

Another common scenario is this: You remember information to

a third e-mail relating to both previous e-mails, requiring another response from you. You answer. As soon as the e-mail vanishes, you recognize you need to share one more piece of important information. So you write another e-mail and send it.

Too often e-mail plays out like a game of ping-pong where

– If you responded to an e-mail request

messages rapidly bounce back and forth without much thinking

within two hours, is that acceptable?

beyond the next move. These stream-of-consciousness communi-

– If they sent you a priority message, do they

cations waste a lot of time when every message sent requires addi-

mind calling to alert you as well?

tional information before the recipient can act.

These conversations offer you the opportu-

E-mail isn’t going away, so you need a strategy to increase your productivity.

In the future, you’ll have to cope with texting and instant messages, too.

nity to better understand your client’s expectations and improve their buying experience.

Many of them struggle to be more productive and manage time more efficiently, just like you. For those folks, there is extra value in the conversation and providing value builds stronger relationships.

There are times when you would save time by treating e-mail like a chess match where you think strategically and anticipate the other player’s next move. If you’re asking a question, do you need to provide more contextual information so the respondent understands? People skim. Will relevant points stand out? Are you sending the e-mail only to people who need to receive it?

If the subject is complex, using e-mail to sort it out wastes time.

Pick up the phone and discuss it.

Summarize the body copy in the subject line instead of describing content. Instead of saying, “Shipping Information,” say, “Widget catalog needs to ship on Thursday, the 10th” E-mail isn’t going away, so you need a strategy to increase your productivity. In the future, you’ll have to cope with texting and instant messages, too. When it comes to managing time, technology can be your ally or your adversary. The choice is yours.

Linda Bishop has spent over 20 years in sales and marketing. She was previously vice president of marketing for IPD printing, presently owned by RR Donnelly. In 2005, she started Thought Transformation, a national firm dedicated to helping clients add sales dollars by developing an educated and professional sales force.

P24 CANVAS october 2010

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»» Product Spotlight Unisource Partnering with Print Council

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The leading press in this category is the manroland ROLAND 900, XXL with perfector. Designed to provide a new level of productivity, the ROLAND 900 was introduced in 1995. Since then it has been installed in commercial and packaging printers worldwide. This year, manroland introduced a breakthrough - a size 8 machine with a perfector. This option brings together the benefits of large format printing with the time savings features of perfecting.

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CANVAS P27

[Closing Ranks] How Printers Can Benefit from ‌ Other Printers

by Graham Garrison

P28 CANVAS october 2010

N

eighborhoods change. For Robert Carrier, a sales professional for Bristol, Tenn.-based PULP, the print neighborhood of the ’80s was a lively one. It seemed like anyone who could buy a print press did so. With newer equipment, Carrier watched as these newfangled print companies sent customers’ heads spinning with cheaper quotes and saturated local markets. Traditional printers built walls around their customer base to stave off a surge in competition from down the street, across town and from nearby cities.

It’s a different feel now, according to Carrier. “The capacity is dropping,” he says.

“You’ve got a survival-of-thefittest thing, where the weakest are just literally going out of business, dying on the vine.”

CANVAS P29

Closing Ranks

Partnering—It’s Mutually Beneficial Steve Harney, president of Anderson, Ind.-based Quality Printing, says there is strength in numbers. He is part of a peer group of seven like-minded printers called the Santa Fe Pen Group. Sales strategies, marketing services best practices—it all on the table to discuss and share. He says being able to share information with other printers has been invaluable, and not just for the more established members of the group. New members often find instant benefits for their bottom line.

“I’ve been involved with a peer group for over five years,” Harney says, “and have seen new members after the initial meeting go back to their shops and implement a couple of ideas from the group that will save them $10,000+ after the first couple of meetings. It’s usually easy items that we overlook in our own shops because ‘we’ve always done it that way.’ The other big one is in sharing Cost of Goods (COG) prices.”

From an individual perspective, the group offers Harney a glimpse into marketplace conditions both inside and outside of his territory. More than that, the printers in his group are a good sounding board, source of encouragement and a place to get constructive criticisms of business plans. “These are folks that you can lean

Finding the right mix can be a challenge.

So is finding the right balance of educating versus receiving.

Yes, there’s still competition. Carrier says he

on during difficult times,” he says. “Like sharing ideas and dilem-

isn’t inclined to share anything with the printer

mas when no other resource can provide you with the answers and

down the street, considering they’re both

experience—not your banker, accountant or your wife. Only having

competing for “each other’s lunch,” but he

been there and dealt with that can you get great wisdom from

sees a definite resurgence in neighborly rela-

those who are in most cases not emotionally invested in your situa-

tions among printers on a regional and national

tion to give you unbiased feedback.”

basis. Part of it is necessity. Printers aren’t so much building walls anymore as hoping to close

What’s the Holdup?

ranks against the threat of losing business to new

Not all peer group models and partnerships are created equal,

media. “As we enter a larger sense of neighbor-

however. A great many can go from startup to shutdown in months,

hood, where people in Atlanta or Florida are

even weeks. Patrick Whelan, president, Great Reach Communica-

not necessarily considered my competition, the

tions Inc., works with hundreds of offset and digital print provid-

technology exists for us to work together without

ers across the country, providing them with marketing solutions. A

competing,” Carrier says. “That’s something that

large portion of these printers, he says, participate or have partici-

we need to look at … If you have something that

pated in a peer group, so he’s got a good sampling size of what

can help the industry be better than it is, why

works and what doesn’t.

would you not share it with your contemporaries, at least when they’re not in your backyard?”

P30 CANVAS october 2010

“For these groups to be effective, they have to be well coordinated,” Whelan says. “They have to have value in them if they’re

Closing Ranks

Collectively, you can learn from best practices to improve your financial position if you are open to sharing what you’ve learned and be open to listening to your peers’ input on improvement.

going to require people to drop what they’re doing for maybe four times a year.”

Harney says there is often a fear of vulnerability; namely printers don’t want peers to know weaknesses and any holes in prod-

Whelan says a challenge for printers is finding

uct offerings. “This is another great benefit for us in groups,” he

like-minded companies, that are non-competing,

says. “Because the reality is no one knows it all. We have guys in

that can get together and share information. A

our group whose fortes are sales, then guys who are more into

local shop that deals in offset won’t have a whole

production, banking and leadership. Having a CEO that is an

lot in common with a regional player in signage.

expert in production is a real blessing to the CEO who is a sales

Finding the right mix can be a challenge. So is

guy, and vice versa.”

finding the right balance of educating versus

Cost has to be taken into consideration. Not all budgets for

receiving. Oftentimes the group leaders can feel

education and networking are created equal. Some of the larger

like the one’s getting the least out of the collabo-

peer groups in the industry are able to consolidate funds and hire

ration. “If a printer is going to share information,

someone fulltime to manage content, speakers and meetings. But

they want to be getting information in return,”

smaller printers may be wary of the investment.

Whelan says. “A lot of times in groups, one or two printers feel like they are doing the educating and not receiving in return.”

Delicate Subjects Certain printers may not be willing to share stories or numbers. Finances are a touchy topic for any company. Indeed, for this article, opinions varied on what’s considered off limits. Carrier says financial statements would probably be off limits, and “I wouldn’t give out our customer list.”

Understandably, and Harney says he’s seen that hesitation from potential peer group members. He says some printers his group has tried to recruit are afraid to “open up the hood and let you see what’s inside,” he says. “Most groups require full disclosure of your financials and balance sheet. What they don’t know in many cases is there are a lot of us struggling right now.

Collectively, you can learn from best practices to improve your financial position if you are open to sharing what you’ve learned and be open to listening to your peers’ input on improvement.”

P32 CANVAS october 2010

CANVAS P33

Closing Ranks

There are many things that can go wrong in

of next year to have upwards of 100 printer partners,” he says. “It’s

them that they constantly suffer from attrition,”

marketing-technologies based, but it’s really sales training. A step-

Whelan says. “Travel expenses. Thousands of

by-step sales process complete with CRM in one instance. It’s also

dollars in affair hotel meals, speaking costs …

marketing assistance. We provide access to marketing technolo-

For smaller printers, that’s not sustainable.”

gies. Print service providers can answer questions like, ‘OK, I have

There are ways around the traditional struc-

the technology, how do I apply it in this particular instance?’

ture. “If cost is a concern, maybe reconfigure how

“As we develop this community, there will be things that we learn,

they meet and exchange information,” Whelan

that will become part of street level that will benefit the group all

says, such as Webcasts, conference calls or chat

told,” says Carrier. “The Street Level is not a static element—it’s

forums online. Meetings could be bundled to

a living thing that’ll have things added to it. If it’s going to be

coincide with an industry event such as Dscoop

relevant, it has to. Everything that we learn, PULP and Street Level

or Graph Expo. The group could also engage

team, from other printers, will feed back into the ecosystem for the

consultants as a group rather than individually.

rest of the community to learn.”

Building a Community So what do these peer groups, or partnerships, look like? For PULP, it’s centered on a “street level” view that it created for its sales reps a number of years ago. Its Street Level program was designed to help sales reps think on a granular level, rather than the “30,000 foot view,” applying practical strategies to help close sales with marketing technologies.

Carrier says PULP is in the final stages of cutting a product that it can offer to other printers based off of the Street Level model, for both sales strategies and marketing services solutions. “There are a few things we’re offering to help build relationships with printers, and we hope by the end

“As we develop this community, there will be things that we learn, that will become part of street level that will benefit the group all told.”

– Robert Carrier, a sales professional for Bristol, Tenn.-based PULP

Harney says each group will have its own makeup and discussion points. “We have a very tight group that has covered some really touchy topics,” he says. “Everything from nepotism to shutting down your business. It’s only limited to the group’s commitment to support one another and do your part to share. As that progresses, there are very few things we can’t tackle.”

The experts agree, though, that the benefits of partnering with other printers and creating these groups, exchanging ideas and solutions, far outweighs any perceived loss of an edge in the marketplace even if your peers do business a little too close to home.

“It will be one of the best business decisions you will ever make.”

P34 CANVAS october 2010

Monkey See,

Monkey Do P36 CANVAS october 2010

M

any sales books talk about the importance of being able to read body language during a sales call, and this is no doubt an important part of selling. However, you, as a salesperson, have some control over what body language your customer is speaking.

Several years ago I was in Barcelona, Spain, doing some sightseeing, and my friend and I decided to go to the zoo.

Now I am not too sure what your favorite part of the animal kingdom is, but for me it is the primate section. Monkeys and apes crack me up, and this day was no exception.

While my friend was off at the restroom, I casually strolled over to the area where the monkeys were. I know nothing about monkeys and apes, but if you have ever been to the zoo, you know that monkeys are like salespeople. You have your lazy mopes that just lay around picking bugs out of their hair. You have others that run from tree to tree indiscriminately (time management problems) with no focus.

You have the ones that seem generally but will occasional pick up a stick and smack something around. And then you have those that are masters at “relationship building,� who want to do nothing but please the customer.

How Your Attitude and Actions Affect Your Customers

by Brian Sullivan

Monkey See, Monkey Do

If you show little excitement about your product or service, your customer will show little excitement.

This day was no different. As I pressed my

This little exercise continued for about two minutes until I grew

face up against the glass to get a better look, a

uncomfortable with where my new monkey friend began scratch-

“funny” monkey approached the glass from his

ing himself. Had I followed his lead, I no doubt would have been

side and looked right into my eyes. I looked over

spending my evening trying to explain to the Barcelona police

my shoulder to see if anybody was watching.

that I was not a sexual predator. Just as I turned around, there

They weren’t, so I turned back around and gave

was an elderly woman that had obviously been watching me and

the monkey a comical face. (You know—the kind

my monkey friend do our thing, and what a moment that was. I

of face you sometimes

not only felt embarrassed about

make in the hotel mirror

what I was doing, I felt like my

for no apparent reason.)

grandmother just caught me

After I curled my lips up

playing with the neighborhood

and stuck my tongue out,

problem child.

I watched as the monkey

What is my point? We proj-

not only did what I did,

ect our body language and

he topped me. Let me

facial expressions onto our

tell you, Jim Carey had

customer. While I do not feel

nothing on that monkey.

comfortable comparing your

He could do things with

customers to monkeys, I will.

his face that I had never

If you find yourself eye to eye

seen. The monkey had

with the monkey, be aware

talent! I then curled my

that the language your body

arms into a Hulk-like pose

and mouth are speaking will

and continued to scratch my armpits while blurt-

have an affect on how that monkey reacts. If you show little

ing out the traditional monkey call…. EEE, EEE,

excitement about your product or service, your customer will

EEE. Now I had never actually seen a monkey do

show little excitement. If your lip curls up and your eyebrows

this, but I know as a kid I did it all the time, so

drop down because you are confused about your product,

I had to have picked it up from some credible

your customer will appear confused. If you shrug your shoul-

source. Well, this monkey followed my lead and

ders because you cannot answer your customer’s question,

began scratching under his armpits. We were

your customer will shrug her shoulders when you ask for the

having a blast playing our game of “monkey see,

order. Project positive body and facial language and your

monkey do.”

customer will follow.

P38 CANVAS october 2010

In short, don’t always mirror your customer. Sometimes you need to set the tone. Which means if a mildly depressed customer is telling you they are cutting their spending budget because of this “awful, downtrodden and depressed” economy, don’t feel the need to agree that all is bad. Because mirroring negativity will almost never help you close the sale. Remember, customers are looking for business partners who will take them out of their misery, not confirm that their negative thinking is correct. This same principle applies to your internal customers. While everybody around you finds fulfillment in expressing what’s “so stinking wrong,” don’t get sucked in.

Make it your job to be the one who sees opportunity where others see obstacles.

Because when its time to place an order, or deliver that next promotion, it will be your upbeat attitude they will remember.

And it will be that attitude that will make you the King of the Business Jungle (sorry, I couldn’t help myself).

Remember, customers are looking for business partners who will take them out of their misery, not confirm that their negative thinking is correct.

Sales Coach and Business Consultant Brian Sullivan, CSP is the author of the book, 20 Days to the TOP – How the PRECISE Selling Formula Will Make You Your Company’s Top Sales Performer in 20 Days or Less. President of Kansas City-based PRECISE Selling, he delivers seminars and internet training programs on sales, customer service, leadership and presentation skills to companies of all sizes. He also hosts the radio talk show Entrepreneurial Moments, a show dedicated to personal and business development. To find out more, visit him at www.preciseselling.com or email Brian at bsullivan@preciseselling.com.

CANVAS P39

Book Recommendation

Rework

By Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson

Learning from your mistakes is overrated. Planning is just guessing. Fire the workaholics. Under do the competition. Emulate drug dealers.

Does any of this sound like your traditional business book?

Well, Rework is anything but traditional. It is a real punch to the gut of tradition. The ideas in this best-selling book are refreshing, straightforward, and can be a bit difficult to grasp. However, if you are a CANVAS reader and truly interested in succeeding in business, then you better pick up a copy today.

Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson are the cofounders of 37signals, a trailblazing software company that produces

Rework is one of those books that does not take itself too seriously. products used by millions of people around the world. They have been known as disruptive leaders and inspirational thought leaders. Now, they have written a “smack in your face” book that runs completely against the grain and challenges age-old advice and traditions.

According to Fried and Hansson, “Rework is a book for hardcore entrepreneurs, small business owners, and people stuck in day jobs that they hate.” Rework is one of those books that does not take itself too seriously. It is a quick read, yet a jolt to the system of meaningless meetings, conference calls, and policies that dominate our corporate world.

Our new economy demands new leadership and a break from the mundane. Rework is different, and it will make you think differently. CANVAS highly recommends Rework because it provides a decent antidote to all the demotivating processes and bureaucracy that plagues business.

P40 CANVAS october 2010

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