For Your Information
Presentation may be key, but so is durability. A folder or menu that beautifully displays your client's information is nothing if the folder immediately rips when an end-user shoves more than two documents inside or if the menu has a million coffee rings and a few sticky stains from spilled soda. The following eight folder and menu items not only contain your client's service or meal options, but are made to last and leave an impression.
FOLDERS
Recommended product: Sculptured Pocket Folder
What they offer: Sculptured Pocket Folders are customizable presentation folders with over 100 templates from which to choose. Stock art is available or provide your own for a unique design to fit your individual needs.
Why they're a good pick: They are an affordable, unique alternative to fully customized presentation folders. Design offerings include a wide variety of stock templates and art files to promote different types of groups and businesses.
A selling point: When your customers need a presentation folder and want to stand out from their competition, the Sculptured Pocket Folders provide them that opportunity at an affordable price. These folders [...] are so easy to order with the stock templates and art. Using your customer's design with our templates is also very easy.
Submitted by: Dorthy Shepard, prepress manager, Folder Express, Omaha, Neb.
Recommended product: Presentation Folder
What they offer: Our standard folder (the PF-105) is 9x12" with two 4" glued pockets and a single scored spine. It comes with a four-corner business card slit in the right pocket for easy, on-the-go branding. As an added bonus, our standardized product has a 48-hour turn time.
Why they're a good pick: Presentation folders are a low-cost, high-impact marketing option. When you leave one with a client, you're ensuring they think of you every time they pass it on their desk. Why take chances on a first impression?
How to sell them: When you're selling presentation products, or print of any kind, you'll find there are two main selling scenarios.
Assessing a customer's print needs can be unlocked with this simple question. "Are you currently purchasing print products that showcase your corporate identity?" If the answer is yes, ask to take a look at their samples and provide them with options for reorders. If the answer is no, ask if they are interested in looking at ideas for presentation products related to their market.
Nothing can stall the process faster than an incorrect quote. Fortunately, this can be avoided by accurate information gathering.
1. Get a sample of their current products.
2. Assess their interest in upgrades including the visual look and feel, cost-saving ideas and style changes.
3. Get their paper type, weight and color, if they know it.
4. Find out how it's printed, how many colors, is it foil stamped/embossed and whether or not there is a coating or laminate.
5. What is their required quantity?
Submitted by: Grace Savides, copywriter and social media tech, Independent Folders, De Pere, Wis.
Recommended product: Conformer Folder
What they offer: 9.5x12" with two 4" pockets. Each pocket holds up to 3/8". Available printed, foil stamped or embossed on a wide variety of stocks with multiple coating options. Conformer options [include] reinforced edges, tax folder, tall pockets, legal size [and] matchbook style.
Why they're a good pick: Conformer Folders have a special patented scoring system that provides capacity when and if you need it. When filled, it stays flat and looks professional-unlike box pockets that can crush or zippered pockets that can rip.
A selling point: Most customers end up putting more in their folder than they thought they would. Everyone has seen an "overstuffed" folder and how unprofessional it looks. A Conformer folder holds a few sheets or up to 3/8" in each pocket and doesn't lose or change shape. That versatility makes it an easy folder to sell.
Submitted by: Lisa Goebel, marketing manager, Admore Inc., Macomb, Mich.
Recommended product: Raised 3-D UV Folder
What they offer: With our new 3-D UV process, we are essentially 3-D-printing graphics onto printed sheets. Imagine a conventional spot gloss UV combined with sculptured embossing, but instead of pushing up from the backside of the sheet (leaving an impression), we digitally print a clear polymer onto the printed surface with variable densities for different heights and gloss levels.
Why they're a good pick: When people see samples for the first time, they're blown away. It engages the senses not only visually, but the tactile effects are sure to be remembered (the press is also used for braille). Sometimes the challenge is more getting customers to not be overwhelmed by thinking it's too expensive or too hard to set up a file. [...] When customers do embrace it, they love it, and it tells their customers they are forward-thinking and keeping up with cutting-edge technology to make them stand out in their market too.
How to sell them: Further to the challenge of getting designers and distributors to embrace the idea of using this technology, we often will take a few sheets of their order that doesn't call for raised 3-D UV, and prepare a file for them and print a few samples to show them what it can do to their piece. This first shows them how much different it can look and feel, and then also how simple and inexpensive it is to make it a reality.
Submitted by: Joel Tardie, marketing director, Presentation Folder, Orange, Calif.
MENUS
Recommended product: Nylon Sewn Menu Cover
What they offer: Nylon sewn menu covers are available in six standard sizes with six different views available. Because they are manufactured in Minnesota we are able to accommodate unusual size requests quickly.
Why they're a good pick: These are one of our most popular menu covers-easy to show off your design, and oh, the options. There are color options, size options and number-of-pages options. They clean up easily and are very affordable.
How to sell them: When you go to a restaurant to sell new menu covers to an owner/manager, take a look at what they already have. If they are new and look nice, take the time to explain how table tents, coasters, beverage menu covers and check presenters can really enhance the overall branding of the restaurant. Make sure you are offering them something they can't live without, or that additional sales can be made because of the item. For example, if you notice they have a board with daily specials, explain how a table tent with the same information is easier for the customer to see. It also helps that they have the entire meal to look at the information.
Submitted by: Laurie Oftedahl, sales and marketing manager, Carlson Craft Binder Division, North Mankato, Minn.
Recommended product: Dimensional Premium Polyester Menu
What they offer: Mohawk synthetic materials range from pressure-sensitive substrates to magnetic substrate products, dimensional substrates and embedded substrates.
Why they're a good pick: Mohawk synthetic substrates provide the ideal solution for restaurants, taverns, casinos and other hospitality industry businesses because Mohawk synthetic products eliminate the need for laminating, provide exceptional opacity, are moisture- and grease-proof, are chemical resistant, are ideal for perforating and punching, and stand up beautifully to the test of time and heavy use.
How to sell them: Mohawk synthetic products save printers time and money by reducing the need for costly and time-intensive lamination processes. Documents are ready in seconds, not hours or days. Final products perform better, last longer and are more aesthetically pleasing than laminated products.
Submitted by: Diane O'Connor, director of public relations, Mohawk, Cohoes, N.Y.
Recommended product: Waterproof Menu
What they offer: This menu is printed on waterproof stock so that it can be used in a setting where moisture or weather elements may come in contact with the printed material.
Why they're a good pick: With summer coming soon, many restaurants and pubs are planning outdoor seating areas or volleyball courts where a spilled beer or inclement weather could ruin their menus. Printing on this waterproof stock protects that investment, maintains their brand and looks great. This waterproof stock not only works great as a reusable menu, but can be purchased for ID badges, door hangers or luggage tags, which are all die-cut and ready to use.
How to sell them: Just the name of Waterproof Menu speaks for itself for many restaurants and pubs. Take a sample to show a potential customer so that they can see the clarity of the print and test it themselves.
Submitted by: Matt Cramer, customer service manager, Printegra, Fairport, N.Y.
Recommended product: REVLAR Waterproof Menu
What they offer: REVLAR synthetic waterproof paper is tear-proof and durable, impervious to grease and chemicals, and designed to withstand high and low temperature fluctuations. [...] It is available in a variety of thicknesses; white, pastel and vibrant colors; and can be folded, punched or die-cut as needed.
Why they're a good pick: Restaurant menus are constantly handled, spilled-on and subjected to varying levels of humidity. With standard paper or card stock, the edges tear and spilled sauces or beverages leave unsightly stains. [...] REVLAR eliminates the need for lamination [which can be costly and time-consuming] and provides restaurants with a durable alternative that can be printed on laser printers, and can be used time and time again, all while keeping the image quality of the menu intact.
A case study: Rocky's Aqua is located on the water at Cedar Island Marina in Clinton, Conn. The majority of the restaurant's seating is on its covered patios, so visitors can take advantage of the waterfront views in all types of weather. "This is my fifth year operating Rocky's Aqua. When I first started, we were using the types of menus that required stuffing of individual pages in plastic pockets, which was time-consuming. Condensation and the dampness on the tables caused a problem. Plus, the menus were difficult to keep clean; I never liked them," explained restaurant owner, Rocky Ross. "I wanted to be able to really control my menu, to print them as needed, so I started looking for a solution that could work for me."
After an unsuccessful trial of lamination, Ross found Relyco and REVLAR Waterproof Paper. "From the start, Relyco was easy to work with and focused on providing a waterproof paper that would work for my restaurant. REVLAR [is] perfect for any restaurant, but especially for a restaurant with outdoor seating. [...] I've even upgraded my printer to ensure the highest quality menu possible. The fact that I was willing to change equipment just to be able to use this paper speaks to the value of the product."
Submitted by: Julia Kuziomko, marketing manager, Relyco Sales, Dover, N.H.
Amanda L. Cole is the editor-in-chief of NonProfit PRO. She was formerly editor-in-chief of special projects for NonProfit PRO's sister publication, Promo Marketing. Contact her at acole@napco.com.