3 Productive Ways to Follow Up on Following Up
Printers say the craziest things. While that isn’t the name of a new Podcast From The Printerverse series, it might as well be. I have heard some doozies as of late and they are worth sharing for two reasons. The first so I am not alone in the horror, and the second so all of […]
Know, Like Trust: Funneling Suspects into Sales
Most people who have been in sales for even a few short years have heard about The SALES FUNNEL. You might have first encountered a sales funnel the first time you were introduced to a CRM like Salesforce, where the opportunity manager helped you see how big your pipeline was and helped you strategize how […]
Do All Your Employees Know the Elevator Pitch of Your Print Business?
No. The answer is no, they don’t. Some of your employees are non-customer-facing so MAYBE it’s not necessary for them to learn your company’s pitch. Or MAYBE it is. What about your customer-facing employees? Your sales, customer service, and marketing staff? Do they all deliver roughly the same pitch or do they all tell the […]
Print Samples: Why You Should Use Postcards
Postcards are the lingua franca of communication. Even in today’s Instagram world, people send postcards when they travel. Businesses use them to find new customers and stay visible with current clients. Retailers use them to make offers and politicians use them to pitch their policies ahead of elections. Even governments use them to communicate deadlines, […]
Control Pricing and Put Print Profits Back in Your Pocket
Assumptions about pricing can kill your business. Here’s an example. Recently I helped a printer get rid of half of his business that was dragging him down. He had spent ten years using loss-leader pricing on half his products. For an entire decade, he made pricing assumptions without backing them up with facts. He had […]
Five Magical Benefits of Creating a Vision Board for Sales
This summer was supposed to be my summer of trying new things. I have been talking to a lot of my clients in sales and marketing in print organizations across America. I tell them that to move forward they must change their thinking, be bold, be adventurous, and try new things. I know I should […]
Winning Sales Strategy: The Moment for a Quick Sales Victory Lap
If you read my posts with any frequency or listen to the Print Buying UK v. USA Podcast co-hosted by me and Matthew Parker, you probably know I focus on helping printers create long-term relationships with print customers. I benefited from long-term relationships with my print partners throughout my agency career. Some of the printers […]
What’s Your Priority? Sales Revenue or New Lead Generation?
What do you think is the highest-priority marketing objective of print businesses today? To drive sales revenue or drive lead generation? Recent research shows that lead gen is #1. This was surprising to me at first because you can’t pay the bills with leads. But looking at it another way, new leads are the fuel […]
Print Samples! Tell a Story with YOUR Business Card
Do you carry business cards? Some people have started to avoid them and exchange phone bumps to transfer contact details. Others take pictures of the card but don’t accept it to transport home. I’m an avid business card collector. They help me remember the contact and put some context around the conversations. Sometimes I run […]
The Funnel is Dead. Long Live the Customer Journey!
I remember the first time I read about the marketing funnel and how prospects go through an awareness, consideration, and decision process on their way to becoming a customer. It made so much sense. The other elegant thing about the funnel is it is large on top and small at the bottom. For every 100 […]
Should Your Print Business be Advertising on LinkedIn?
LinkedIn advertising is an expensive form of B2B digital advertising. It’s also one of the most cost-efficient. Wait, how can it be both? The answer arises by looking beyond the cost of placing an ad and the potential ROI. LinkedIn ads aren’t for every print business. But if you sell higher-value print to SMBs and […]
Beat the Summertime Blues One Week at a Time
I’ve been there and I’ve done it. Summer comes. You take your foot off the gas pedal a bit. You tell yourself that people are on vacation. Things are “slow”. And you’re not wrong. People ARE on vacation. Things DO slow down. But this is 2021. This is a different year, and you are a […]
