It's easy to dismiss the career ambitions of teenagers. After all, high school is a place for developing skills to take to college where self-discovery happens. Joe Kluessendorf is an exception to this rule.
Kluessendorf wanted access to his high school's darkroom to develop his own pictures. The problem? This privilege was reserved for graphic arts students.
Instead of abandoning his goal, Kluessendorf signed up for some classes. As a result, he made the "easy decision" to continue his studies at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. An internship at a sheet-fed printer in Milwaukee validated this choice.
"One of my jobs was to audit the salesperson's expense accounts. That really opened the eyes of a 20 year old! I decided then and there I wanted to sell, and that was over 25 years ago," he recalled.
Kluessendorf currently serves as the Midwest region: vice president of sales for Saint Cloud, Minnesota-based Nahan Printing, Inc.
Here, he shares his thoughts on the industry.
Print Professional (PP): Tell us about your background—Where did you grow up, what school did you attend, your degree?
Joe Kluessendorf (JK): I grew up a Cheesehead just outside of Milwaukee. I received my undergraduate [degree] from the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Graphic Arts Management, and my MBA with a concentration in sales management from Aurora University.
PP: Describe your business style.
JK: While it may sound trite, promise good and deliver great. You must try to differentiate yourself and your company on something other than price. When all you are selling is price you become a distribution medium and it becomes very hard to distinguish yourself. Also, trust the people you work with. Find good people, give them clear goals and objectives, hold them responsible and then let them go.
PP: What is your greatest business accomplishment and disappointment?
JK: My greatest business accomplishment is looking back on the clients [who] I've developed personal relationships [with], which in some cases go back over 20 years. Doing business with people you like and [consider to be] friends is a great place to be. The biggest disappointment, in a macro sense, is the pain in which the contraction of our industry has caused. I can name off the top of my head 14 printing plants I sold work in that are closed. While our industry obviously needs to be rebalanced, that doesn't make it any easier.
PP: What do you think is the most exciting, cutting-edge thing your company is doing right now?
JK: We're celebrating our 50th anniversary and are still owned by the family [that] founded us. We are continuing to make investments in our platform and are coming off a couple of really good years, which not too many printers can say.
PP: What do you think will be the printing industry's biggest challenge in the next few years?
JK: Rebalancing. There is going to have to be much more pain before it's over. When T.V. came along, people said: "That's it for radio." Well, no it wasn't, but you don't sit down to your favorite radio program on Tuesday evenings either. Radio reinvented itself as another way to reach the consumer. That's where print is right now. Perhaps the days of phone books and parts catalogs are going away, but there is still a strong tactile advantage that print has over other mediums which is yet to be duplicated.
PP: What is the best part of your business day?
JK: When the client says "yes." (I'm a salesman, don't forget.)
PP: What would people be surprised to learn about you—hobbies, special interests, etc.?
JK: I've run a couple of marathons, jumped off the Stratosphere in Las Vegas and touched 48 states ... now if I can just find some clients in Alaska and Hawaii.