Time To Add Services That Work

Adding Services That Work

It use to be that all a good printing company had to do was continually invest in their people and their equipment. That was about all it took to stay competitive and increase productivity and quality. Even now companies should be making sure that they are continually investing in these important skill sets of:

Technical skills
Sales skills
Customer management skills
Purchasing skills
Negotiation skills
Social media skills

Yet as good as having all these skills sets are they are no good without the right services in place. Skills without the services are worthless. You will not be able to push the envelope, to make things work and have a trained staff in place to hit the ground running and get superior results if you can’t put everything in place and ready to roll in perfection. Customers are not going to let you learn things on their dime. Customers are not going to let you train yourself and staff with the very lifeblood of their companies marketing at stake.

The world does not have time to stop while you learn the new communication and marketing techniques.

To change for the future printing companies need, yes I said need, not think about, adding services. Now that might not sound like something you want to be doing but to achieve sales growth and market share it is not an option. It is no longer enough to just put ink on paper. To roll off the perfect printed piece and smile. To have the perfect press check as you sip a cup of coffee with your client in the customer lounge. Print companies have to sell a complete value added services. You cannot sit back and do one part of the marketing/advertising package. More now than prerecession it is do it all or die a slow painful death. As a Printing company you had better be considering what your customers need. They understand the challenges that they face and you had better start. If you can’t, don’t or won’t produce solutions to overcome their marketing challenges they will go shopping for a supplier that will.

Larson Notes & Satire:  So what’s a printing company to do?

1st you can begin by looking at some new services and try to decide what areas you can move into (with the least amount of pain). If you can’t do it alone you need to find a synergistic partner who will not steal your customers.

2nd, review your key accounts, you know the 2 or 3 that make up 60% of your companies business. The ones that if you lose your company goes out of business. As ask them what other services they would want you to be offering them in a more holistic marketing attack.

3rd review your sales message. You need to be more inclusive of the all areas of the communication process to get your customers the kind or results they need in a way they expect.

If it were my shop, I’d be looking at picking a synergistic partner with a history of blood and ink running though my veins that matches my values.

So where does that leave us? I have been around the block a few times. Been full time with my own company since 1975 as well as having grown up in the business working for my father’s company starting in 1966. Walking in to the smell of ink, the sound of the feeder grabbing each sheet of paper, the pounding of our Gordon as it die cut card stock. Yes I have a history, and what I hope is a more glorious future.

If you want your business to be more call us for an appointment.


Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-1294
howard@larsonassociates.ws
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P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.