Marketing and Sales

Are you a distributor new to selling commercial print? If so, check out some recommendations made by some of the experts. David Jensen, sales and marketing director, J&A Printing, Hiawatha, Ia.: Be sure to ask the following questions: • Does your direct mail reach across the country or only locally? • Do you need to ship your printed materials across the country or only locally? • Do you have any projects that are demanding, detailed and time-sensitive? Dan Reid, marketing manager, THP, Freedom, Pa.: • Understand the project and then, have the right partner who can put it together. •

Every task begins with a first step but, in sales, there are six more steps that must be taken to leave crowds of competitors in the dust. Inadequate salespeople often try to jump over the steps or don’t even take the first one. As a result, printing jobs go unsold—not for lack of demand, but for lack of effort. Be forewarned, the steps are steep. But, at these higher elevations, sales soar and profits proliferate. Are you ready to climb? Let’s do it. 1. Pick a market category and find out what is needed. For example, consider travel, an industry of $758B with more

Follow your passion is a popular prescription for achieving career success and personal fulfillment. Early in a career, it’s easy to do. There is so much to learn and every encounter is so new that even routine duties can seem flush with opportunity. Nothing’s mundane. Passion’s flame is fresh. Over time, however, that flame can begin to fade. What was once new and unique can seem routine and boring. Cutting-edge management ideas and philosophies—viewed through the prism of experience—begin to echo yesterday’s warmed-over initiatives. Management fads come and go as quickly as the buzzwords that spawn them. You reach the point where

It’s hard to resist a good bargain. And U.S. homes are currently the biggest and best bargain on the block. Many prospective home buyers are taking advantage of a housing market made vulnerable by a down-and-out economy. The latest Housing Opportunity Index released by Wells Fargo and the National Association of Home Builders reported approximately 53.8 percent of all new and existing homes sold nationwide January through March 2008 were affordable for families earning the median household income of $61,500—a 44 percent increase from the first three months of 2007. In fact, these are the most affordable prices since June 2004. Granted, one must

The focus of all modern management thinking and strategic business practices must be the customers. Keep customers happy, and your sales will continue to soar—neglect them or take them for granted, and your bottom line will suffer accordingly. When responding to a customer who has a legitimate complaint, keep these six rules firmly in mind for the best possible outcome: #1: Listen with understanding and sympathy to diffuse anger and demonstrate your concern. Tell the customer something such as, “I am sorry you have been inconvenienced. Tell me what happened so I can help you.” It is vital to show a sincere interest and

Joyce Harper is an online columnist for Sales & Marketing Management. She is also the founder/CEO of Sharper Solutions (www.sharpersol.com)—a management consulting firm specializing in organizational development and strategic management—and works with companies nationwide to create organizational effectiveness and increase revenue building potential. Reprinted here is Harper’s article “Motivating Change: And The Two Became One”, in which she recommends careful consideration and compatible business goals to ensure a successful merger. Recently I met with a client who was contemplating a horizontal merger with another organization. My client was approached by one of his competitors with a proposal aimed at broadening market share, maximizing

New products and services are the lifeblood of organizations, offering the sales force a short-term competitive edge in a cutthroat market. Yet, most new products fail to achieve the desired results in the vital first months following their introduction. When launching new products or services, there are five steps marketing departments can take to ensure success for their sales teams. 1. Provide a strong value proposition. Weak value propositions are a leading cause of new product failures. Customers don’t buy phrases such as “increased productivity,” “more robust” and “reduced cost.” Quantification of the value gained is essential in today’s market. Be explicit. How much

Midlothian, Texas-based Ennis is excited to announce the establishment of the Ennis National Sales Team. The sales team brings together experienced sales managers who are directly responsible for all Ennis capabilities and plants within a geographic region. In addition to geographic responsibilities, the Ennis National Sales Team will provide distributors an opportunity to leverage the national manufacturing footprint of Ennis. Ennis area sales managers will serve as a single source for distributors to work with all manufacturing facilities. The team members have combined industry experience of nearly 120 years, and include: • Carrie Hoesli, southwest area sales manager, carrie_hoesli@ennis.com,

You’ve spent much time, effort and money putting together your B2B sales leads generation program. The way B2B sales leads are handled once you get them determines whether you will have happy salespeople and new customers or unhappy salespeople and lost sales. Ask yourself the following questions to evaluate your chances for success: 1. Are you prepared to send requested information immediately? • Do you know what to send in response to different types of inquiries? • Do you have electronic versions for those who want the information by e-mail or via downloads from your website? • Do you have adequate supplies of

To help print service providers expand and grow their digital print businesses, Rochester, New York-based Kodak launched new vertical market programs in its MarketMover Targeted Sales Module (TSM)—the financial services and the education TSMs. They join four existing modules—manufacturing, retail, advertising and marketing agencies and existing customers—and are designed to support Kodak NexPress digital production color press users in sales and marketing efforts, capturing new business and driving new revenue in a variety of specific vertical markets. For each vertical segment, the individual TSM offers an overview of unique business issues in the market, and provides customizable integrated cross-media campaigns to help market and