“Congratulations, you just sold three cars! Wait, you didn’t know we were in the car business? We did a small job a few days ago for an auto dealer, who, when called a couple of days later to see how the job went, replied, ‘Oh yeah, we already sold three cars from that promotion and have another 120 qualified leads.’”
This was part of a story that Paul Hudson put in a recent employee newsletter. Hudson, president of Hudson Printing, likes to remind his employees that, as printers, they do not always get to see the end results from their work. People tend to think print is the end result. But as Hudson emphatically and passionately proclaims, the end result actually is what your clients achieved with that print—everything from sales, awareness, memory preservation, learning, etc.
“It’s always the wrong question when people ask if we should be selling print,” he says. “We shouldn’t be selling ‘print;’ we should be communicating our willingness to solve problems for our clients with our capabilities, people and equipment. As printers, far too often we talk about our presses and other equipment, not what we can do for our customers on that equipment. We think the equipment is sexy, but our clients don’t (always) care.”
Hudson is quick to note that the Hudson Printing team works hard every day to get better at telling the stories of their success in things like case studies. Showing how you are able to solve a problem for a customer is one of the best and most authentic sales tools you can use. “If you are good at this, your customers will find you.”
“We shouldn’t be selling ‘print;’ we should be selling our willingness to solve problems for our clients with our capabilities, people and equipment.”
– Paul Hudson, President, Hudson Printing
Over the past two years, when the print industry, like so many others, was trying to find footing on shaky ground, Hudson Printing strengthened its stance. “I think the pandemic only emphasized certain aspects of the work we perform every day for our customers. These stories existed before and after the pandemic; they just didn’t have a spotlight. As an example, we have a customer that prints how-to books about crafting. We offered to print 20,000 small books for them about how to sew your own facemask (when they were not available).”
And while it is a cool story on how printers can discuss the merits of print, the takeaway Hudson wants you to glean is that in the long-term, that customer still wants to publish its crafting book. “If our customers are achieving their objectives—the purpose for which they paid to have the thing printed in the first place—they will continue to do it. It works. We don’t have to convince ourselves or our customers that it works.”
In the end, the better you understand what “job” your client wants that piece of print to do, the more able you are to recommend options or alternatives that might make print do the job even better. The value is in the offer.
Meet them where they are with print
Miles Kilday comes just short of calling the fight for marketing dollars a barrier. While the fight certainly has become more competitive, with the digital marketing industry spending close to a trillion dollars in resources, print still is the medium that meets people where they are. That physical space is where Kilday, co-owner and head of Sales and Business Development at American Calendar Company, says printers must make their mark.
As humans, we want all our senses to be engaged. And with the systematic, unrelenting presence of digital in our faces 24/7, print can and should be marketed as the more engaging option. At least that is, as they say, Kilday’s story, and he’s sticking with it. “We do not want to fall into the trap of selling print versus digital. They are complimentary. Another easy miss is continuing to sell the same print product, the same way as we have done in the past. ‘Hey, it worked before, right?’ That’s a bad model.”
Truth be told, if you truly are seeking the answer, print must evolve to stay relevant, which means your salespeople must as well. For example, American Calendar Company is in the business of printing calendars for advertising purposes. Every time Kilday tells someone what his company does, they seem surprised that the industry still is viable. “Aren’t calendars kind of going away?” he is asked more times than he cares to admit.
“You would be surprised how often that thought is verbalized,” he says. “But they are right. Calendars, in general, have been on the decline for decades. But niche segments within the general category have grown significantly during that time, which has allowed our business to grow. Print continues to evolve, which keeps it fresh. We must flex with these changes to ensure we are selling the right kind of print.”
“Be passionate about your product. If you aren’t excited about it, your customers won’t be either. Print is one of the most cost-effective branding tools out there.”
– Miles Kilday, Co-owner, American Calendar Company
In an ironic shift of fate, the pandemic re-emphasized the incredible power of print at a time when marketers were looking for a way to connect everyone during physical and emotional lockdowns. For printers like American Calendar Company, and scores of others, 2021 was a positive year economically—a momentum shift Kilday says printers must continue to push. “The businesses that invested in print are likely to have done well. Remind them of that. They are thinking the same thing: ‘How do I keep the momentum?’ Well, continue doing the things that led to that great year. People will be active more than ever and don’t want to be stuck behind a screen. Print will be more powerful than ever in 2022.”
The blueprint, so you can write this down, is to keep it fresh and new; know the segments of opportunity that are out there today, and use the power of tactile engagement in brand recognition.
For example, last year, American Calendar Company sent every re-seller one of its premium “3-month at-a-glance” calendars. The top panel had the classic Albert Einstein photo “e=mc2” on the blackboard. The American Calendar Company team replaced that equation with the customer’s name. The pocket folder that came with it talked about the printer’s variable data capabilities, its large three-month calendar portfolio and the newest addition to its product line: low minimum, full-color pocket folders. To top it all off, American Calendar Company also purchased new equipment so it could continue to grow in certain segments, along with letting go of some more traditional work to help speed its turn in growth areas.
“Be passionate about your product,” Kilday says. “If you aren’t excited about it, your customers won’t be either. Print is one of the most cost-effective branding tools out there. Don’t be afraid to compare it to other marketing avenues.”
