When the lockdown first hit in April 2020, Paul Nickoloff took the necessary steps to right-size the production hours of his 16-person team over the first couple of months to see how things would work out. Once the Fotorecord Print & Marketing Center team began to ease out of the initial pandemic-related shock, they returned to full-time, slowly building its sales numbers back.
But there is another story that sits in between that timeline, one that Nickoloff, owner of the privately-held commercial printing and direct mail company located near Pittsburgh, says paints an endearing portrait of the resiliency of every member of the Fotorecord team. Unprecedented artificial scenarios meant hard decisions and conversations were necessary—ones that had to be made without the benefit of a playbook of how it was done before.
In his 28 years of operation, Nickoloff never had to lay a group of people off for a “lack of work.” While the situation was above and beyond his control, it still rocked him. He initially moved everyone back to reduced hours for the first couple of months after April 2020, but made sure everyone had a document outlining what they needed to do in order to collect state and federal benefits. And, as he made sure his employees knew he had their back, Nickoloff turned his attention to his customers.
“I spent the first four months after April 2020 having deeper conversations with my client base,” he recalls. “This involved real salesmanship in the sense of learning pain points, discussing future needs and highlighting new products and services we were offering.
“We are never going to go back to the way it was before the pandemic. That means you should never be satisfied with the status quo. Always know the key indicators you need to monitor for the health of your business.”
– David Bennett, President, Bennett Graphics
In the normal day-to-day whirlwind, Fotorecord may process 500-plus quotes and orders a month. But during the initial shutdown months, Nickoloff had an opportunity to dive deeper and unlock new opportunities he knew were out there. And even as key markets were suddenly drying up and supply chain issues took hold (some of which are still standing today), Fotorecord pushed on.
“Our level of proactivity for quotes and orders is setting us above and beyond our competition, and is building us into more trusted partners with our clients, rather than just being another vendor,” Nickoloff says. “The new challenge is not so much getting work in, but getting work out. I have had a lot of conversations about alternative sizes and paper for ongoing client work now with paper supply issues.”
If you press Nickoloff on the strategies he employed during a time of great adversity, he will tell you that success is knowing that while you are going to take a hit, you still can come up swinging. “You need to keep your ear to the ground and be proactive. Always be looking ahead six, 12, 18 months.”
For example, Fotorecord’s No. 1 paper vendor was complaining in early spring 2022 about getting rolls for its web press clients. But once the printer installed its Fujifilm J Press 750S (digital inkjet sheet-fed press) in July, it slowly started building inventory of its house sheets and envelopes coming into the big direct mail season over the last several months of 2022.
It worked out, and continues to pay dividends today, with Fotorecord’s one- to two-month inventory now versus the next-to-nothing available in the paper market. “Being proactive means you don’t have to say ‘no’ to a client request,” Nickoloff says.
Expect the unexpected
In his 40 years in the business, David Bennett has never seen the pressure on costs and the availability of materials at the level that it is now. Materials that normally have a three-to-five-day availability, sometimes now are not available for 10 to 12 weeks. In addition, Bennett Graphics is getting hit with price increases on a monthly basis.
And to make things even more interesting, it also has been put on allocation with some of its larger suppliers, putting enormous pressure on margins, as well as being able to meet the delivery requirements of its clients.
“The pool to choose from is smaller, as well as the desire to commit to the tasks required to serve our clients,” says Bennett, president of the Tucker, Georgia printer. “To do things a little differently, we have been communicating with our clients on a much more regular basis. We’ve also broadened our supplier pool, along with having to order much less efficient sizes at a considerably higher cost just to meet our clients’ needs.”
“You need to keep your ear to the ground and be proactive. Always be looking ahead six, 12, 18 months.”
– Paul Nickoloff, Owner, Fotorecord Print & Marketing Center
On the backside of the initial crush of the pandemic—and everything and anything that went along with that—Bennett has gained a stronger appreciation for even the simplest things. Take communications, Bennett and his team have found success with better, more consistent and intentional communication. “With our employees, we are really trying to explain the ‘why’ before the ‘what.’ I think we all fear having hard conversations more than we should. Both our employees and clients are smart groups. These conversations consistently go better than what we had anticipated.”
Which brings Bennett to his most hardcore set of tips he recommends in time of adversity: Just communicate. Over communicate. Try to shift from a reactive to a proactive outlook. “Today is the new reality. We are never going to go back to the way it was before the pandemic. That means you should never be satisfied with the status quo. Always know the key indicators you need to monitor for the health of your business.”
10 ways you can rise above adversity
The story of serial entrepreneur, marketer and investor Deep Patel is one everyone should know. Raised in a middle-class family in a small town with the third-highest level of concentrated poverty in the U.S., the Macon, Georgia, product who couldn’t code, didn’t go to college and never benefited from a single dime from an investor, is founder of one of the fastest-growing CBD brands. And he is 22. Here are 10 ways he says you can turn adversity on its head.
- Find your sense of humor
- Be mentally prepared
- Take stock of all you’ve been through already
- Adversity offers valuable insights
- Make peace with the situation
- Embrace adversity as a chance for opportunity
- Refuse to give up
- Have a purpose
- Keep a positive mindset
- Believe in your capabilities
