Marketing and Sales

Rewards. Incentives. "You dun good" happy-time present joys. Whatever you want to call them, reward items are a huge part of the promotional products industry, especially when included in some kind of incentives program.

Last year, Keith S. Walters, chairman, president and CEO of Midlothian, Texas-based Ennis Inc., encouraged members of the industry to promote printing as “not only a solution for customers, but a more cost-effective solution than newer technologies.” 

Having an exhibit at a convention or trade show is a major opportunity to position your company or association as a real player in your industry.

The National Association for Printing Leadership has announced several industry experts who will be presenting at this year's GRAPH EXPO, the largest and most dynamic graphic communications exhibition in the Americas in 2012.

Using social media correctly is like putting your Rolodex on steroids.

Suddenly, it can be much easier to find people. When it works, the days of gatekeepers blocking your phone calls are a thing of the past. Perhaps the best thing about using social media is that it allows you to communicate with all your contacts at once through status updates.

But there are some important lessons to learn. For one, you still have to build relationships if you want your communications to move your business forward. And building meaningful relationships in social media can take more effort than meeting people face-to-face.

Most people have the sense to add their company's websites to their releases, but they often neglect to add links to relevant secondary web material.

I have worked with many print sales representatives over the 25 years I have been in the industry. For a very brief stint, I was also one of them. In those exhaustive years, there are some things that I have learned that I would love to share with all print sales reps who read this blog.
 
1) Your prospects are changing.
Print buyers are becoming more evolved, knowledgeable, keen and aggressive. Gone are the days of taking orders on bar napkins. Why are you still using old sales techniques to try to convince prospect that your firm is better?

In the medical field, lives depend on separating fact from fiction. The same logic applies to distributors looking to penetrate this particular sector.

An $8 billion integrated global healthcare enterprise was ailing from multiple problems. The company's complex supply chain, multiple business units and intricate marketing programs presented its management team with visibility, coordination, economies of scale and execution challenges

Justin Zavadil was born into the print industry. His father, Larry Zavadil, is the founder and CEO of Glenwood, Minnesota-based American Solutions for Business (ASB).