The New Way To Sell Print: Consultatively Wenatchee WA

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Print as a communication vehicle has been sold for centuries. Gutenberg's bible was commissioned by the Arch Bishop of Germany and the Pope. When asked, "What is the price of the printed Bible?" Gutenberg had no answer. After much debate, a commissioned price was agreed upon between the Catholic church and Gutenberg. In the book titled "Gutenberg," the author notes printers still have a problems pricing their work.

The cost of print has been discussed for many centuries, but without a clear resolution. The technology of the offset press with estimating tools has helped get more specific, however. These tools have aided the printer in establishing formulas to determine their costs. This is acceptable for ink and water presses, but what about digital presses?

Ink on paper has become a commodity, although highly contested by traditional printers. Selling most offset print reflects an old model, selling on price, and profit margins have decreased. Print buyers view ink on paper as a commodity, while print sales representatives focus on higher volumes of impressions. This has limited the printer and what they provide. Lastly, selling on price alone puts distance between the printer and customer, and declining customer loyalty has become evident.

A Spin on Selling

The digital print industry has also seen some commoditization over the last decade. This is due to the increasing number of digital printing systems sold. It also is due to the reluctance of the print sales representative to change the methods they use to sell.

The new selling model is consultative selling. There have been many books written on it, such as "SPIN Selling," and "Selling to VITO (Very Important Top Officials)." Both stress solution selling, which is reflective of true customer consultations. This model has shown an increase in profit margins, and to bring the customer closer to the print provider, increasing loyalty.

The first step is understanding a client's business. Many times, sales people do not do their homework.

The Internet is a great tool to use to find out about a particular market and business, and there are vast amounts of trade journals within nearly every industry. "Blue Books" are another useful resource to draw information from. Knowing the market, market conditions, and something about the firm you are calling on will help give you credibility and trust with your prospect.

Each market, company, and individual have needs which require a solution. Print sales representatives should be educated on the market they are calling into. This is where the consultative sales representatives can differentiate themselves from being price directed.

Drawing out a problem and offering a solution with justification reaches the customer's concerns. The solution needs to be directly related to the problem, and clearly solve the concern. This is a good time to provide a proposal. Most print sales people do not provide proposals; they just give quotes.

A proposal contains a problem and solution statement, as well as an intended implementation plan. This assures the customer that you fully understand their business, and you have an integrated solution to solve their problem. Understand that there are implications to the customer if the problem is not solved. Likewise, highlight the positive affects if it is solved. These steps help build your case so customers do business with you and your printing firm.

The pre-call planning stage is setting your game plan. Be prepared to get information to whom you should be engaging. In many variable-data campaigns, there will be a multitude of departments and people involved. Know each of their roles within the company—each department has needs and goals to be met. Your job is to address and meet them. The key is to know who the decision makers and influencers are—both are important to satisfy.

Be All Ears

One of the most important attributes a consultative sales representative can have is good listening. Ask the right questions and listen to the answers. Clarify anything you do not understand, and be prepared to handle any objections. A professional sales representative will need to know how to tell if the objection is real or a smoke screen.

Showing proof-of-concept is done through case studies. Highlight a few industry case studies to show the success achieved by others in implementing your proposed solution.

Price should be discussed after a customer consensus on the solution. You are trying to achieve a value-add discussion, not a price only discussion. This will also remove the commoditization of digital print.

The last stage after getting the order, is the follow-up. This is your chance to get customer feedback. Continue to consult with your customer and make them a customer for life.

Ed Bokuniewicz has 27 years in the graphic arts industry. Currently, he is a business development specialist for Eastman Kodak Co., and an adjunct professor at the New York City College of Technology (CUNY).

author: By Ed Bokuniewicz

Consultative selling is, by nature, exactly as it sounds. Instead of selling to a client, a sales professional uncovers the needs of the prospect through asking various questions and then tailoring their product or service accordingly. There is no better way to go about it. The old way of selling which is quite outdated involved the sales representative giving a presentation to their target market and hoping it hits a sweet spot. This type of selling was perfectly shown in the media through the David Mamet play Glengarry Glen Ross. Throughout the story, we see desperate sales professionals pitching potential investors and attempting to convince them to sign off on a significant purchase. This type of selling does not work anymore. Companies have changed the sales ballgame and sales headhunters and sales recruiters couldn't be more thankful for it. There is also a medium between consultative and aggressive selling that sales employment experts also frown upon (though not as much as pure, old-style, aggressive selling). All sales professionals should come equipped with a presentation, however a bullet-pointed PowerPoint never got somebody really excited about the product or service they were being offered.

Attribution:Ken Sundheim runs KAS. An executive staffing firm specializing in sales and marketing recruitment in New York. KAS Sales Recruitment and Marketing Staffing

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