Canvas Magazine | Read the Signs by Conduit, Inc.

CANVAS SUPPORTING THE PRINT SALES & MARKETING PROFESSIONAL

SEPTEMBER 2009

Read the

Signs

The road to success in large format printing

Sponsored by

CANVAS SEPTEMBER 2009

Jared Smith started with a ﬂyer delivery business. Then he transitioned to print brokering by doing letterhead and business cards, followed by printing T-shirts and other items for skateboard shops. Slowly and steadily, Smith, president of Tempe, Ariz.-based bluemedia, built his business and his project base. “By the time we had bought our [digital presses], I had accidentally – or conveniently – been through 15 years of schooling with every other method there was to print,” Smith says. Today, bluemedia is in NBA stadiums, on Sprint cell phone signage in airports and wrapped around NASCAR vehicles for TV ads. Its projects are as diverse as creating the Pepsi Smash stadium with signage for the SuperBowl, to wrapping the light rail trains for the NBA All Star game, to bus advertising for local mu-

The road to success in large format printing

nicipalities. If a print service provider does it right, large format offers a new, lucrative revenue stream. It also offers an advantage over local competition. “Let’s say there are 1,000 offset printing companies within 100 miles of here,” says Smith, whose company is now exclusively in the large format segment of the industry. “There are 80 large format companies. I don’t want to cheat and say the reason [for success in large format] is there’s less competition, but that has to come into play somewhere. It takes a very specialized crew, level of equipment and experience to execute large format, and your average offset shop doesn’t offer it. It’s a completely different animal.” In other words, don’t get ahead of yourself. There’s plenty of opportunity to be had with banners and signage for events, vehicles and retail stores. But before you get behind the wheel, it’s

CANVAS

Read the Signs

important to know not only how to operate

was to start by thinking small. Print providers should determine

efﬁciently, but how to read the signs – for

which type of large format business they want to go after, and

potential customers, potential roadblocks

then do some research on the technology available. In other

and the best route to success in large for-

words, obey the speed limit and know your limitations.

mat printing. Are you ready? Buckle up.

“When ﬁrms are determining which large-format technology to invest in, it often helps to think about what types of applications they will focus on” says HP’s Business Development Manager, Rudy Herrera. “As Clint Eastwood would say, ‘A man has got to

Rules of the Road

know his limitations.’ It’s the same with large format printing; you

Proceed with caution in what technology

need to know the technologies’ limitations, where it’s strong and

you choose

where it’s not.”

The range of large format projects varies from the signs you see at restaurants

The following are large format ink technologies:

and check-out lines at the grocery store to

UÊÊAqueous. A water-based ink that creates high quality signage.

the big and bold messages on water tow-

The image quality is “brilliant” for indoor displays and photo

ers and billboards. But don’t let your eyes

applications, says Herrera, but not as effective for outdoor

get too big. The best advice experts gave

signs due to the more limited durability of the print. If it is go-

CANVAS regarding large format projects

ing to be used for outdoor signage, Herrera strongly recommends it be laminated. UÊUV Curable. Excellent for jobs printed directly on a rigid material, which saves labor costs. It also can print on roll media with good durability for applications such as indoor and out-

The range of large format projects varies from the signs you see at restaurants and check-out lines at the grocery store to the big and bold messages on water towers and billboards. P6

CANVAS SEPTEMBER 2009

door posters and banners. Given the more rigid nature of the cured ink, it does not work as well for vehicle wraps. UÊÊSolvent. “The traditional technology used for producing an outdoor banner,” says Herrera. It produces very durable outdoor graphics on inexpensive uncoated media. However, the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) contained within the inks can be an environmental issue for many ﬁrms. UÊÊHP Latex. A recent upgrade in technology by HP which produces the durability of a solvent printer without the environmental negatives associated with solvent inks. There is no need to ventilate and it produces odorless prints. “It works great for indoor and outdoor applications requiring high image quality,” says Herrera “The kind of technology a customer has will help determine where they are going to compete most effectively,” says Herrera. “If they have an aqueous technology printer, they’re going to be effective with higher quality indoor applications. They probably will not be as effective if they’re trying to capture outdoor banner business. If they have a solvent printer, they’re probably going to be very effective with banners, but not as effective competing for high image quality indoor signage applications.” Don’t be afraid to use the HOV lane Signs By Tomorrow has been in business since 1986, building its product offerings and client base among its national franchises. Logistically, it provides a service to its customers that few can match. If one location isn’t able to handle a particular project, it can rely on another branch that may have that type of expertise. “We try to offer as many different types of applications of signage to our customers as possible, making us a one-stop shop for any of

our clients,” says Gary Schellerer, VP of Operations for Signs By Tomorrow in Bloomingdale, Ill. However, that doesn’t mean they’ll take on every aspect of every job. “If I have to put a person on a crane 60 feet in the air, I may outsource that to someone else,” says Schellerer. “We’ve been in business 22 years, and today were doing more in-house than we ever have in the past. But there are still certain things that we outsource.”

Customers – Your traffic flow Adding large format services to your repertoire may bring in new customers. But the best strategy may involve building from within. That is, offering your best customers these services first and prospecting for new customers second. “What we always suggest when the sales team and principals talk to their customers is to look for an opportunity to go beyond your traditional small format job to transition into poster-banner business,” Herrera says. “In many cases it can be more profitable than your small format jobs.”

“We’ve had our clients classify us somewhere between being a SWAT team and an emergency room.” – Jared Smith, president of bluemedia

Photo courtesy of: bluemedia

CANVAS

Read the Signs

The following are some traditional large format customers:

Large format jobs demand much more attention and expertise than traditional small format runs.

¾¾ Retail Clothing stores need banners for special sales. Grocery stores often update their departments with catchy graphics. And fast food chains want to blitz their customers with mouth-watering pictures blown up from their menus. Walk through any of these businesses and you’ll see a world of possibilities with large format projects. Joe Mauldin is Senior Director of Sales & Support for Signs By Tomorrow’s National Headquarters. He says it’s best to take a different approach with retailers depending on their size and scope. “We can take a small to medium retailer and we can work with them to pump up their digitally printed signs to help gain exposure and look more professional,” says Mauldin. “Then you look at the big retailers, and we can work with them to gain consistency over a chain.”

¾¾ Vehicle Vehicles deliver a message in ways few other mediums can. “When you look at studies in terms of daily impressions, the numbers are astounding as far as how much exposure a company can gain by wrapping their vehicle,” says Mauldin. “So when you compare a vehicle wrap to traditional forms of advertising, and

Photo courtesy of: Signs By Tomorrow

CANVAS SEPTEMBER 2009

you look at the cost comparison vs. the number of impressions,

Maintain ﬂexibility

clients are blown away by what they can gain at a fraction of the

Smith says bluemedia’s hiring packet is a

cost of TV or radio.”

bit different than what you’d ﬁnd with tra-

“In a lot of instances, [customers] already have the ﬂeets

ditional companies.

in place, so the vehicles are already bought, the medium is al-

“It has language like ‘This is not a nor-

ready there, it’s just a matter of putting the graphics on them,”

mal job; there will be something in your job

says Schellerer.

description that requires you to be at work

¾¾ Events Company meetings, festivals, celebrations – you name it. While the signage may not be as detailed as needed by retail and vehicle projects – turnaround time is key, experts say.

at 3 a.m. someday.’ We’ve had our clients classify us somewhere between being a SWAT team and an emergency room.” But bluemedia has also made it an enjoyable working environment, with ping pong

“Their main concern is that the signage is done in a timely fash-

tables, a large screen TV and Nintendo Wii

ion,” says Schellerer. “If we do not have it on time and at the event …

games at the facility for employees. The

a minute late is too late. Timeliness and your ability to produce the

company has even brought in DJs, food

signage very quickly are extremely important to that type of client.”

and video game vendors for “Stay and Play” days at work.

Roadmap

“We have to have that ﬁrehouse, football

So you have an idea on the technology to use and the customers

team type attitude in order to get done

you’re going to attract. How do you go about it? The following are

what we need to get done. It’s ridiculously

selling tips to help you get there.

fast-paced.”

Show your customers what you can do – every chance you get

Be a consultant

Herrera recommends including a brochure or small sample kit that

Large format jobs demand much more at-

sales reps can show to customers detailing large format projects, in-

tention and expertise than traditional small

cluding thumbnail pictures of the jobs and customer testimonials.

format runs. Use this to your advantage in

“Make sure that your customers know that you do this,” Herrera says.

being a consultant, not just a vendor, for

bluemedia does a lot of work with stadiums and arenas, includ-

your customers.

ing Arizona State’s Sun Devil Stadium, US Airways (home of the

“Customers often have challenges or

Phoenix Suns) and Chase Field (home of the Arizona Diamond-

opportunities that they are trying to solve,”

backs). Those venues have an army of people looking for ways

says Mauldin. “The technology [we have]

to generate more sponsorships and revenue, including ads. blue-

enables us to consult with the client, at a

media has been able to demonstrate new signage and ideas on

much higher level, and then use that tech-

walls. In one instance, the company demonstrated a way to create

nology to develop a solution that address-

signage on the round columns of building structures by demon-

es whatever their idea or challenge is.”

strating the new technique in a parking deck. “We’ve helped them create a new revenue stream that they didn’t know existed before,” Smith says. “We’ve actually had thank you letters come back where a client let us know that we increased their revenue more than our entire bill was for the year. It really is a key partnership in that they trust us to make sure that they’re not behind the times. It’s a competitive world that we need to stay up on.” Learn to ﬁnish “Producing print is only part of the solution,” says Herrera. “There’s a lot of money to be made in the ﬁnishing of the print for the eventual display of the graphic.” Laminating, cutouts, and mounting enable print service providers to increase revenue by either outsourcing or providing these services in-house.

HP is proud to sponsor CANVAS. We invite you to visit the HP Digital Printing Resource Center to download whitepapers, view on-demand press demos, webinars and more!

CANVAS

Hard to Get Selling How indifference can often make the difference By Brian Sullivan

“Um … well … yea … I’m sorry … I …” P10

CANVAS SEPTEMBER 2009

Yea, yea, yea … just say it! The rest of the sentence can be filled in with … “We bought from somebody else,” “Your solution just didn’t fit,” or “I have decided to date somebody else.” Each one feels like somebody just kicked you in the gut. And then, of course, it usually follows with a little self-examination such as, “Was my price too high?” “Did I not ask enough questions?” or “Was it my breath?” While it often is a combination of errors along the way, one overlooked point could be that perhaps you acted like getting that YES was the most important thing in your life. Right or wrong, the more you show that you are dying for the order, the more dead the deal often becomes. Now don’t misunderstand me, I still believe the prospect needs to know you absolutely love what you’re selling. They just need to feel that if they don’t move forward with you, life will continue happily because there are a ton of other takers that you need to get with. So do you want to be a great salesperson, influential leader or

So let’s break down those words and

master negotiator? Then you need to heed the advice of well-

discuss how each part is designed to keep

known trial attorney and negotiation expert, John Patrick Dolan.

the customer longing to hear more.

On my radio show, Dolan said negotiators need to take an attitude of “slight indifference” when sitting across the table from

“If you believe …”

a customer, an employee, a boss, or potential partner. While en-

These three words let customers know that

thusiasm is important in inﬂuencing others, you need to pick the

they are in control and that the buying de-

right time to say nothing or appear as if you are NOT emotion-

cisions are theirs alone. Letting them know

ally attached to what you are offering. This makes the other party

up front that their opinions and beliefs su-

want to listen.

persede yours as the salesperson will blow a big hole through the defenses.

For instance, when trying to sell something to a prospect, try these words:

“… might have a solution. If not … thank you …” These words insinuate that you, as the

If you believe that we might have a solution for you, great, we can discuss it in further detail. If not, I still want to thank you for the opportunity.

salesperson, are not even sure if what you have is going to provide a solution to their needs. This lets them know that you have no plans to pressure them, and it removes yet another brick in the customer defense wall. When negotiating, the same is true, stay positive while making the other party feel that you hope you can work things out, but if not, no problem … life goes on. So this week, try playing “hard to get.” While you are playing “hard to get,” others will ﬁnd it hard to get enough of you and your solutions. Watch how your perceived indifference will become one of your greatest weapons in your PRECISE selling and negotiations arsenal.

To listen to Brian’s entire interview with John Patrick Dolan, author of the highly acclaimed book, “Negotiate like the Pros”, go to www.preciseselling.com/Radio.htm. This interview will give you speciﬁc negotiation steps that will help you positively inﬂuence everybody around you.

CANVAS

P13

The

Essentials Finding success by focusing on the basic elements of sales By Dave Kahle

Editor’s Note: The following is excerpted from “Question Your Way to Sales Success,” by Dave Kahle

The salesperson’s job is much like playing golf. In a four-hour round of golf, the club hitting the ball only takes about three minutes. Everything else is prelude or postlude. The essence of the game is, of course, to hit the ball correctly. The same thing is true of sales. The essence is to interact with the customer effectively. Everything else is prelude or postlude. The best golfers execute the essentials with excellence. They focus on the three minutes. The best salespeople execute the essentials with excellence. They focus on the quantity and quality of their interactions with their customers. Regardless of the intricacies of the customer, the product and the setting, the job of the salesperson can be reduced to the following basic elements.

P14

CANVAS SEPTEMBER 2009

:c\V\Z lî] i]Z g^\]i eZdeaZ BV`Z i]Zb [ZZa Xdb[dgiVWaZ lî] ndj ;^cY dji l]Vi i]Zn lVci H]dl i]Zb ]dl l]Vi ndj ]VkZ \^kZh i]Zb l]Vi i]Zn lVci <V^c V\gZZbZci dc i]Z cZmi hiZe AZkZgV\Z hVi^h[VXi^dc id di]Zg deedgijcî^Zh

CANVAS

P15

The Essentials

Engage with the right people You can be the most trained, thoroughly equipped salesperson, with the best questions, the most powerful presentations and the gift of a good sense of humor. However, if you waste all this on the wrong people, you’ll never be successful. Engaging with the right people is an absolute essential. However, it is far more difficult today than ever before. And it is growing more difficult, as more of your customers find themselves in overstressed situations where they have too much to do and not enough time in which to do it. Which puts meeting with you at the bottom of their “to do” list. In order to be successful at this, you must identify all the key people, prioritize them, and then develop a series of practices that will allow you to regularly gain an audience with them. No small task. In fact, you’ll need to work at this, constantly improving, for the rest of your career. It’s that big of a challenge. A good series of questions is your major tool to help you do this. These provide you the information on who are the important people to see. It allows you to collect and then prioritize the potential in every opportunity. It’s a series of questions, asked

Personally and individually crafting your presentation to show the customer how what you have gives him what he wants is the mindset that, in part, deﬁnes the master salespeople. P16

CANVAS SEPTEMBER 2009

about the customer that provides you the information to sculpt your approach. A series of good questions allows you to turn the ﬁrst encounter into a full scale engagement.

Make them feel comfortable with you If they aren’t comfortable with you, they won’t spend much time with you, and the time that they do spend will be guarded and tentative. They may be convinced to do business with you because of the fundamental attractiveness of your offer, but it will be action taken against the grain. They will be forever uncomfortable and eager to ﬁnd a replacement. On the other hand, if they are comfortable with you, they won’t mind spending time with you. They’ll be much more open to sharing the information that is necessary for you to do a good job of crafting a solution. They’ll be eager to share future opportunities with you and will be much easier to deal with. Using a series of perceptive questions develops the perception of your competence within the customer, leading him to sense that you are competent and trustworthy. A series of personal questions leads the customer to perceive that you are interested in him and uncovers areas that you and your customer may have in common.

Find out what they want This is the heart of selling – the essence of what a salesperson is all about. I know that ﬂies in the face of the routine practices of multitudes of salespeople who believe that the end-all of their focus is to push their product. While it is certainly true that the company expects you to sell your product, how you sell it is really the issue. You can proclaim the merits of your product to willing and unwilling listeners, attempting to sway them with the powerful features and advantages that your product offers over the competition. Or,

you can focus on the customer, ﬁnding out what motivates him,

is the fulcrum upon which the entire sales

what issues are important to him, what problems he has, what ob-

process pivots.

jectives he is trying to solve, what he looks for in a vendor, etc. The sum total of the customer needs is the “gap.” Having fully understood the gap – or “what he wants” – you can then

Needless to say, the primary way that you learn, with depth and detail, what the customer wants is to ask good questions.

present your product as a means of ﬁlling that gap, of giving

tegically, over time. For example, if you ask the customer for

Show them how what you have gives them what they want

an appointment, and in so doing mention a question that the

Sooner or later you have to make an offer

customer may have, or a problem that the customer may be ex-

to your customer. In order for you to sell

periencing that you can solve, and if your assumption is accurate,

anything, they must decide to buy it. And if

then your request for the customer’s time will be far more ef-

they are going to buy it, you need to make

fective than if you just talk about your product. I remember one

them aware of it.

him what he wants. This is true tactically, in an immediate sense, as well as stra-

somewhat defensive salesperson telling me, at one of my semi-

You can go about your territory, loudly

nars, that he just tells customers that he wants to talk to them

proclaiming the features of your product

about his company and products. Needless to say, his approach

to whoever will listen. Or, you can craft

wasn’t very effective.

your offer in such a way as to begin with

It would be far more effective to say something like this: “Because you are this kind of company, I believe you have this issue, and we can help you with that.” The conversation here is about “what the customer wants,” not your product.

“what they want” and show them how your offer “gives them what they want.” Proclaiming your product’s features is the preferred routine of the mediocre

Strategically, the same is true. You may make ﬁve or six sales

salesperson. Personally and individually

calls on a nice-sized account, speciﬁcally for the purpose of dis-

crafting your presentation to show the cus-

covering, in depth and detail, what the customer wants. Every-

tomer how what you have gives him what

thing that comes before is designed to get to this understand-

he wants is the mindset that, in part, de-

ing. And everything that you do after is based on this step. It

ﬁnes the master salespeople.

CANVAS

P17

The Essentials

Most salespeople are so focused on making the sale that they neglect to consider that their real purpose is to satisfy the customer.

But a presentation isn’t a static thing. The best salespeople ﬁne tune their presentations to the signals they receive from the customer, making mid-term, and in some cases, mid-sentence changes to reﬂect their perceptions of how customers receive their communications. Thus, a series of well planned, appropriately placed questions spread throughout the presentation is an effective way to add power to your presentations.

Gain agreement on the next step Every sales interaction has an assumed next step. If you call someone for an appointment, the next step is the appointment. If you present your solution to a decision-maker, the next step is the order. In between, there are thousands of potentially different sales calls, and thousands of potential action steps that follow the sales call. The agreement is the ultimate rationale for the sales call and the aspect that makes it a “sales” call. If you aren’t expecting to gain agreement, then why are you making the call? It’s not a sales call. It may be a public relations call, or a something-todo call, but it’s not a sales call. A sales call is set apart from the rest of the interactions in this world by the fact that it anticipates an agreement. Without an agreement, the process has been a waste of time. It is the ultimate goal of every salesperson, and of every sales process, and of every sales call. Clearly, you generally don’t gain agreement without asking for it. There’s that question, again.

Leverage satisfaction to other opportunities This is the one step in the sales process that is most commonly neglected. Most salespeople are so focused on making the sale that they neglect to consider that their real purpose is to satisfy the customer. And that extends beyond just the sale itself. The sales call on the customer, made after the sale is complete, delivered and implemented by the customer, is one of the most powerful opportunities available. In it, the salesperson seeks assurance that the customer is satisfied, and then leverages that affirmation to uncover additional opportunities within the customer and/or referrals to people in other organizations. How would you ﬁnd out if the customer is satisﬁed without asking? How would you uncover additional opportunities, other than to ask? How would you gain referrals if you did not ask? Questions, once again, are the key tool to this and every step in the sales process.

Dave Kahle has trained tens of thousands of distributor and B2B salespeople and sales managers to be more effective in the 21st Century economy. He’s authored seven books, and presented in 47 states and seven countries. Visit his blog, at www.davekahle.com.

P18

CANVAS SEPTEMBER 2009

CANVAS P993

CANVAS SUPPORTING THE PRINT SALES & MARKETING PROFESSIONAL

Subscribe today online for a year of CANVAS@ www.thecanvasmag.com Each subscription includes one popular weekly e-newsletter Canvas Notes.

The only publication for the print sales & marketing professional. Get a competitive advantage you cant ďŹ nd anywhere else.