Print Sales Strategy

56% of B2B sales are done before a buyer reaches out. Imagine how many sales can be gained if you find a way to inject your company into that first 56%. Imagine how many sales are lost if you can't. And you'll never even know the sales you lose.

Creating cognitive bias enables printers to inject themselves earlier into the sales process to influence potential customers by positioning their brand as the one the customer chooses over the competition. There are some simple ways to achieve this.

The president of a design firm in our building once told me they were open to exploring an alternative source for their printing needs. He explained that despite purchasing over $100,000 in print annually, they no longer felt the same level of appreciation that they did when their relationship began a year ago. He said that they rarely hear from the printer, are always the ones who have to initiate contact to check on job status, and that they never get thanked (printing it on the bottom of an invoice doesn't count!). He further noted that while providing accurate information, the person who takes their calls seemed to lack enthusiasm.

In 1995, I started by licensing customer education print newsletters to about a dozen printers dispersed throughout the country. It was an instant success. Top-tier content and design was the key to our success.

If you want to survive and thrive in challenging times, the following are three things that will help you retain (priority) and gain customers. Let me show you how easy this is!

These seem to be the hot topics in my universe these days. While we can debate being in a recession, the fact that so many are talking about it seems to make it a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The Zero Moment of Truth–or ZMOT–refers to when buyers research products or services before making a purchase. ZMOT occurs during your prospect's buying journey between the initial stimulus (an alert that triggers the prospect's interest or need) and the First Moment of Truth, a term coined by Proctor & Gamble referring to the actual purchase decision. (1)

As the saying goes, 'all good things must come to an end,' and soon, that will apply to the venerable Postscript Type 1 font. The desktop publishing revolution couldn't have happened without it! Adobe is ending support for T1 fonts in January 2023.

#1: Have high-quality blog content and update it consistently. 80% of the sales process happens before a prospect contacts you. Most of this is happening on your website. Your website's ability to differentiate itself from your competitors is determined primarily by its content.

With so much emphasis on blog and social media marketing, the idea of using a company newsletter as part of your marketing efforts may seem out of date. However, it's essential to recognize a newsletter's role in your marketing strategy.

Embrace content marketing! It's easy and effective and where most of the sales process occurs. Inject your company into the sales process early and often. Some statistics to consider…

As you plan and prepare for 2022, keep these three things in mind: 90% of people will visit your website before contacting you, 92% will check out your LinkedIn profile after initial contact, and content marketing is the most effective way to build trust before a sale.

The paper shortage and pricing issues are a big concern right now, and your customers are hearing about it. I urge printers to be proactive and control the message to eliminate fear. Your customers seek peace of mind, stability, and inspiration from their print providers. Make sure you are the one to provide them with it.

Fall selling season is around the corner. Supporting those efforts with effective marketing will have a big impact on your success. Strongly consider the following:

83% of purchases are influenced by relevant direct mail. Are you utilizing this channel for your own marketing efforts? 66% of U.S.-based marketers reported using postcards when asked which direct mail formats they used most often in their campaigns, tied for first with newsletters.

After every shakeup, nothing ever settles back precisely the way it was before. Selling will be different. Content marketing and LinkedIn will have a much more prominent role in the sales process. This is a massive opportunity for those who are smart about it with planning and execution.

The buying process for print continues its transformation. Change your selling process accordingly. Printers need to inject their companies into this process earlier. Marketing is more about giving than asking. Engage and start building awareness and trust with the 97% who aren't ready to buy yet.

QR Codes made a huge comeback during the pandemic and continue to present a fantastic opportunity to printers and their clients. Unfortunately, many printers don't have the resources to educate and promote these opportunities.

Having recently presented a webinar with my print industry colleague, Kate Dunn, I wanted to highlight some points that printers need to think about and act on.

Now is the time to focus on growth and success in 2021! Following are some casual but essential thoughts and ideas to help you achieve both.

With all shake-ups, nothing ever settles precisely the way it was before. Customer reallocation is inevitable. The following are some of the everyday things I'm finding with companies who are growing sales.

During the last few months, digital content in the form of blogs, social media, and email was highly effective at allowing companies to stay engaged with mostly remote audiences. With some degree of distancing now part of our foreseeable future (possibly culture), this trend will continue. Do not ignore this. Your only choice is change!

I've decided to share this client communication with the print and mail community. During times of uncertainty, it's still important to communicate. These are truly uncharted waters in which we find ourselves, with uncertainty and no answers on the immediate horizon.

Make sure to utilize current trends and technologies. Are your website and email efforts optimized for mobile? Employ a multichannel strategy to engage your target audience, including, but not limited to, print, email, website, and social media. Ignoring even one of these can hurt your credibility and create a competitive disadvantage. Don't allow that.

Commit to being the catalyst for growth in 2020. Utilize content marketing to build awareness and position your brand as the trusted resource. Don't let your website put you at a competitive disadvantage: 67% of prospects go there first to form opinions about your company.

With the power to choose what advertising and marketing they are exposed to, and when they are exposed to it, consumers are demanding more of what they want from brands, and less of what they don't.

Selling print has changed. Companies need to adjust their selling process. The three most common issues print providers face are the decline of customer loyalty, difficulty securing meetings with buyers, and increasing competition from digital alternatives.

Today, as in the past, there are too many service providers chasing too few jobs. Many still believe that the answer to survival is finding a new salesperson who promises a large book of business or perhaps a better motivated and skilled sales staff that excels at prospecting, time management, and closing. The answer, however, lies elsewhere. Today's providers can generate greater revenues by focusing more on marketing and less on selling.

Commit to growth in 2019! In many cases, this also requires a commitment to being a change agent. The following are three things to consider as you plan for a successful 2019:

Don't rely on business growth to come from an improving economy or from finding the next great salesperson. Print providers need to be the catalysts for growth. They need to utilize marketing to differentiate themselves and give their sales staff a competitive advantage.

Credibility and trust begin at your website. Your website is the first place that 67% of prospects visit. Even existing customers are influenced by your site. Many sales are lost there. Conversely, having an active website will give you an advantage over many of your competitors.

A new year ushers in new opportunity. Be the catalyst for growth. Embrace, refine and rejuvenate your sales and marketing efforts.

Happy New Year! We are almost ten days into the new year. What changes have you instituted to increase sales effectiveness and grow your business?

Sell your customers on the role print plays in an effective marketing strategy. Print companies that had double-digit growth last year supported their sales efforts with marketing collateral. Content is king. Sell client retention programs for a truly unique selling proposition.

I want to tell you about four quick tips I recently shared with my clients. The first is a key take away from research produced by InfoTrends (Lisa Cross and Kate Dunn) that identified best practices from print providers that experienced double-digit sales growth in the past 12 months.'While engaging potential customers in person is essential, it is also important to support those efforts with printed and digital communications to create a productive sales force.' (Source link)

Here are 5 things to consider halfway through 2017. Summer is a great time to plan for growth! Millennials love direct mail, as do others. Are you using it as part of your marketing communications? Existing customers cost less and spend more.

My colleague, Matt Hunt, recently attended the Email Innovations Summit. It featured a number of dynamic speakers from well known companies to small startups talking about their experiences with email marketing and customer communications. Email marketing can be a powerful sales tools but only if done right.

I wanted to share a few thoughts on marketing your print and direct mail services. See Me, Trust Me, Like Me is your marketing objective. The customer's perception is your reality. 80% of the buying process is complete before a prospect makes contact with you.

Happy New Year! A very simple and extremely important message for the start of 2017!

Here are the three best things you can do in December to help grow your print and mail business in 2017:

More than ever before, print providers in this day and age have wisely embraced the need to effectively market their services. Know Me, Trust Me, Like Me -- if you are not effectively achieving all of these, then your company is at a competitive disadvantage.

Even if you dismiss what marketers say about the need to market your print services, it's hard to ignore what printers themselves are saying. This printer's email about unsolicited praise for their marketing program shows the power of strategic advantage.

I've spent the last 21 years providing marketing tools to printers and mailers. In that time, I've been able to witness the common issues that seem to derail even the best-intentioned marketing efforts. Here are a few of the most common reasons why they fail.

1. Less than two years ago, Google's new Hummingbird algorithm shook the SEO world. As usual, there was no advance notice. The next big event will be 4/21. This time, Google has given notice. If your company website is not mobile friendly by this date, it will have an adverse effect on your search rankings. Not sure if your site is mobile friendly? Google provides this simple tool to let you know if it meets their mobile-friendly standards. Don't wait. Try it now here.

A client of mine has had a great deal of success utilizing the LinkedIn publisher platform as a sales tool. In the spirit of that, I wanted to share the following tips:

Take the challenge and be the catalyst for change in 2015. Try at least four of these ideas for six months and see what happens. I'd love to hear your results and get your feedback. We can help you implement several of these if you choose.

Brand differentiation starts with an understanding of the customer journey from the customer's point of view, not the printer's. It's all about the customer experience.

Do you have a LinkedIn strategy? If not, you should. To get the most out of your marketing content you can't stop at mailing, emailing, and posting to your website. Leverage LinkedIn both from a company standpoint and an individual standpoint. Do you use Slideshare to share content on LinkedIn?

In the last 2 weeks, I’ve witnessed and spoken with printers who are reporting fantastic results. Here is a summary of what four of them have done.

We've all done it. Summer slowdown arrives, and we join in. But perhaps when you consider the marketing benefits that summertime offers, you may want to reconsider. At the very least, you may want to maintain a steady marketing course and ease back on some of your other efforts.

At the end of the day, it's all about trust. Most often, people will give the job to the company they feel has the greatest amount of competency and then come up with ways to justify not giving it to someone else. The most effective way to influence your brand is to produce content that reflects your expertise. This means content that is better, more relevant and more sophisticated than any of your competitors. Use this content for both inbound and outbound marketing efforts.

Here are some things I would absolutely do. I would make sure that my website was better than any of my competitors. I'd obsess about this, plan quarterly meetings to discuss improvements, and make sure new content was being added at least monthly.

If you haven't already, now is the time to set up a G+ page for your business. It's not just about social media effectiveness it's about SEO. As mentioned in several of my previous articles, SEO represents a great opportunity for print providers to extend their marketing reach and cultivate new business.

Sorting through old files, I recently came across a copy of my January 2004 Marketing Briefs newsletter to printers. I was struck by how different (simpler) things were then. No mention of SEO, social media, content marketing or even email (we launched that in the Spring of 2004). At the same time, I was struck by how much things had not changed. These are the same fundamental ideas that need to be at the core of your marketing strategy today. Planning and commitment to execution have always been the keys to marketing success.

Take the challenge and be the catalyst for change in 2014. Try at least four of these ideas for six months and see what happens. I'd love to hear your results and get your feedback. We can help you implement several of these if you choose.

Most printers are seeking additional sources of customers these days and a search optimized website may provide the solution. A month after implementation, Google announced that it has replaced their search algorithm. 'Hummingbird,' as it's known, is not merely an update to their previous one. It's a complete replacement. 90% of search results will be affected. Some claim it's their biggest change in a decade.

When it comes to SEO, it's my practical belief that most print providers should focus on producing (sharing, posting, mailing, etc.) well-written, engaging content and let the SEO take care of itself. That being said, here are some things to consider:

These days content marketing is the big buzz. I've spent the last 18 years providing content marketing solutions to the print industry so this is an area of expertise for me. If you are currently utilizing or plan on utilizing content to help grow your business, here are 5 quick things to think about.

Print providers should focus more on retaining existing customers before looking for the latest and greatest way to acquire new ones. Here are some eye-opening stats on customer retention that every printer should consider.

The average person is only capable of retaining 3-5 brands per category in their memory. If you want to introduce your company into someone's consideration, you need to push another company out of consideration.

I see it all the time, and it has even happened in my own business. Employees (and owners) mishandle situations that end up creating opportunities for their competition. It's not just the sales and customer service people who have to provide a customer-centric experience. Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy's, in making his case for consistency, always claimed that the first bite and the last bite were what the customer remembered most. So pay attention to how your phones are being answered and how your products are being delivered. Consider having written policies to address this.

Create content with your customers' needs in mind rather than the needs of SEO, your company newsletter or social media. Too many companies are misdirecting their focus. If it doesn't present strong value to your customers, then it's not going to help you with the other areas either.

Contributed by Great Reach Communications editor, Heidi Tolliver-Walker

Your company website is the FIRST place prospects go to evaluate you. How does your site compare to those of your competitors? Are you putting your company at a competitive disadvantage right from the start? Here are some things to consider:

In an age when competitive advantage is fleeting, brand differentiation should be the ultimate goal for printers, mailers and marketers. What many companies believe are efforts to differentiate are in reality, efforts to replicate. A quick look at your website and marketing collateral may confirm this.

With branded Facebook pages, content that your company posts only appears on a percentage of your follower news feeds. On September 20th, Facebook revised the Edgerank algorithm that determines those percentages.The number of follower feeds your news appears on is considered your 'Reach.' Simply put, it's how many people you reached. Prior to the recent revision, posted content averaged a reach of about 25%.

In looking at cutting expenses, frequently one of the first cuts is in marketing. This can be a critical mistake. One way to make sure that you are in control of the message is to stay in front of the customer both through marketing avenues and personal one-on-one visits.

A printer in Ohio promotes PURL campaigns and touts response rates of 25% on its home page. Regardless of how it's worded, that extraordinary success rate is what people will see, remember and expect. Why set your customers up for disappointment?

When it comes to getting your message across clearly and succinctly, having a truly unique selling proposition (USP) is critical to your success. Printers absolutely need a USP that lets them stand out from the crowd, differentiate from the competition, and position their company as the go-to resource for the services they offer. Here are some suggestions for articulating your USP:

Summertime often divides us into two categories: Those who slow down as the weather warms up and those who move full speed ahead. Which category do you fall into? With many people choosing to slow down, this represents a fantastic opportunity to get noticed (less marketing chatter to compete with), evaluate and plan your marketing priorities and position your company for strong fall sales. Evaluate your successes and failures.

At a time when competitive advantage can be elusive, brand differentiation should be the primary goal for printers, mailers and marketers. Many companies, however, miss the mark in their attempts:

When it comes to promoting your company, if you say 'I don't have the time' or 'we're too busy,' what you're really saying is, 'I choose not to make this a priority.' Lots of active managers and busy companies also find the time to consistently execute marketing plans. Don't think it, don't wish it -- just do it!

Well perceived brands command a price premium of nearly 9% over brands perceived as just average. The most popular way to lose a customer is to lose touch with him or her. Industry-specific data indicates that 60% of customer loss is due to lack of communication. Irrelevant communications contribute to customer defection and alienation.

The term QR Code® is a registered trademark of DENSO WAVE INCORPORATED. While many in the industry use 'QR Code' as a generic term, it is a trademark registered in the U.S., Japan, Australia, and Europe. The trademark covers the term only. The underlying technology is open source.

Right now, the marketing chatter is about QR codes. These 2d codes, which whisk you away from a print or electronic piece directly to the webpage of the marketer's design, are also indirectly tied to mobile payments. Are you ready?

In addition to the quality of work you do and services you provide, there are other elements of your business that have a powerful impact on how customers and prospects view your brand.

There's been a lot of talk about QR codes lately. Is the exponential growth in the use of these codes reality or hype? It's reality. You know how I know? I've seen the data.

A five step guide to cultivating new sales prospects by Dick Rossman of Rossman Consulting. A print company owner complained that none of his sales people ever did any prospecting. This five step guide outlines a plan to uncover and cultivate new prospects.

Ask about our comprehensive, easy to implement marketing programs. Outbound, inbound, and social media marketing. We've got it all covered!

I would encourage any owner of a printing company today to consider joining a peer group simply because businesses whose owners belong to a peer group have consistently outperformed non-members. The reasoning is that these owners have the ability to:

It is amazing to me how many people still see QR codes as a fad. Whether it's in comments to industry blogs, online discussion groups, or industry list serves, I hear it all the time. Let me tell you why you should take QR codes seriously.

Another Dscoop conference has come and gone. Kudos to everyone involved in making this a spectacular conference! Below are some takeaways as reported by attendees.

- Social media can play a big role in client acquisition, retention and loyalty. It's all about establishing credibility and building trust. Meaningful interactions with your audience are an extremely effective way to accomplish that. Keep in mind that frequency and relevant content are keys to the success of any social media strategy.

The printing industry seems to be weary of green topics these days, but here's a point you don't want to miss: consumers aren't. In fact, individual printers' and distributors' disinterest in green may actually be hurting them financially. Why? A recent Capstrat-Public Policy Polling survey found:

On behalf of myself and everyone here at Great Reach Communications, I'd like to take this moment to wish all of our clients and readers a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Prosperous 2011!

We've talked about QR codes a lot in Marketing Briefs lately, and for good reason. Done right, QR codes can breathe new life into static print projects. They do this by connecting print to the Web through the viewer's cellphone. Seminars. Blogs. Webinars. Trade magazine articles. LinkedIn discussions. Industry listserves. Discussion about QR codes is everywhere.

This morning I was cleaning some mail off my kitchen table and I stopped short. One of the pieces had a QR code on it. Have I mentioned that they're beginning to show up everywhere?

Quick Response (QR) codes continue to generate a lot of buzz in our industry. In talking with printers over the last few months I've come to the conclusion that in our excitement to make use of their marketing potential, many straightforward QR code opportunities are being overlooked. Here are some that come to mind:

With many printing companies cutting back on sales and marketing efforts, going out of business, merging, having layoffs, etc, there's a tremendous opportunity for companies to win new business and build loyalty with existing clients. But you have to be positioned to take advantage. Start building and strengthening sales relationships today by utilizing meaningful content. Outbound communications such as newsletters and postcards, social media outlets like Linkedin, and inbound strategies that utilize web content are all highly effective ways to increase sales success.

Are you positioning yourself as a marketing services provider? If so, you are putting yourself out in front of your customers as more than an output provider. You are positioning yourself as someone they can trust to handle the marketing as well as production aspect of their campaigns.

The following was excerpted from an article by Customer Communications Group. With the exploding adoption of client engagement as a marketing tool these days, I found this article worth repeating.

I spend at least two hours of my day seeking out and reading articles that I think would be of value to the print community. It's far too much info for me to be writing about in our Marketing Briefs, so I've begun posting a few of these each week on our company's Facebook page. Please follow us if you'd like to read these.

More people are wondering these days: Do QR codes really increase response rates? Insqribe, a company that provides a real-time QR analytics platform, recently published a success story.

The following was excerpted from an article by Customer Communications Group.

As we enter Q2, things seem to slowly be improving. I recently received this feedback from a new client that I wanted to share. I'm happy to discuss our programs and send samples. Please feel free to contact me at anytime. Best of luck to all!

I hope you'll indulge me and let me get on my soap box for a minute. I recently released a new report in my Marketer's Primer Series, Greening Print Marketing: A Practical Guide. One of the most surprising pieces of feedback I've gotten is, My clients don't care anymore. With all the media discussion about green these days, my first question was, Are you sure? People do care about the environment. In fact, studies show that consumers are committed to green products even in a down economy.

If you're interested in utilizing a highly effective marketing program to help grow your sales, I'm happy to email you some samples and info. It's easier and less expensive than you probably think.

DSCOOP 5 was in Dallas, TX this year, and we were there. It was great to see some new faces and meet many of our clients. Thanks to HP for putting on another great show!

Want to get your customers to print more this month? Present them with the opportunities offered by QR codes. Design requirements for adding QR codes to print are minimal. Simply use a free QR code generator, download the .jpg or .png, and find space to put a 1x1-inch square. The result could be a complete reprint of their corporate identity materials and marketing collateral.

There's a lot of talk these days about QR (quick response) codes. These are basically two-dimensional barcodes that look like black-and-white puzzles, although some can be produced in color. When they are scanned with a smart phone or other mobile device, they automatically launch a URL containing marketing content. You might have seen them on billboards, magazine ads, business cards, and even trade show banners where they take readers to a specified website or special offer.

On behalf of myself and everyone here at Great Reach Communications, I'd like to take this moment to wish all of our clients and our readers a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Prosperous 2010!

You've heard the saying, 'You can never get too much of a good thing'? Here is a consolidated list of great marketing points that I've covered in past that bear repeating.

When I sat down to write this week's [Marketing Briefs](/blog), I began thinking about some of the really great quotes I've read recently. I'd like to pass them along to you with some of my thoughts about them.