Grow Your Business With Low Cost “Shotgun” Vehicles (Part one of a two-part series.)
By: T.J. Tedesco
For: The Binding Edge
Published: Summer, 1998

Do you need to grow your binding and finishing business?  Have you considered producing fancy brochures?  Increasing your company’s trade show presence?  Placing color advertisements in influential trade magazines?  Whoa!  These marketing vehicles are just too expensive.  Don’t worry, there are creative and inexpensive ways to market post press companies and increase sales.

Binderies frequently invest their time and resources in costly but ineffective marketing programs.  Marketing activity for its own sake may make managers and owners feel like they’re accomplishing something, but poor results almost always follow.

Marketing vehicles can be divided into two primary categories – shotgun and rifle.  If your company’s name and services aren’t well known in your target markets, raise your market awareness levels.  Implementing a mix of shotgun vehicles will help you do this.  Successful shotgun programs will get your selling proposition in front of many key business influencers in a short period of time.  Conversely, rifle vehicles are more complex and deliver different messages to different people and will be discussed in the next chapter.

Like it or not, post press companies don’t sell binding and finishing.  Rather, we sell trust, communication, information and a good night’s sleep.  We are in the relationship business and differentiation can be achieved by presenting ourselves as information donors.  The following inexpensive and information-laden shotgun vehicles will help create market awareness and generate prospect interest.

     Press Releases.  Your business changes.  Equipment installations, new service capabilities and key personnel changes are newsworthy.  Every month, fax a news release to at least a dozen trade publications and newspapers.  Not every release will be printed, but even if 25% are, you will make an impact.  Develop relationships with publication editors.  When your company’s name is frequently in print, an aura of progress is developed.  OUT OF POCKET COST: $0.

     Broadcast Fax.  Deliver your message by fax.  Appropriate subjects include newsworthy items such as equipment installations and personnel changes as well as production tips.  Warning: Make sure instructions for name removal are included on each fax.  The key to a long lasting and effective fax broadcast program is continually dispensing relevant and helpful information in bite-sized chunks.  Avoid “specials” based on price.  OUT OF POCKET COST: Well under $100 for 500 faxes.  

     Train Your Customer Relations People.  You can have the best equipment and service offerings in the industry, but if your front line people don’t know how to effectively communicate product benefits, you are losing sales.  Zig Ziglar is right when he says, “The only thing worse than training and losing someone is not training and having them stay.”  OUT OF POCKET COST: Minimal.  (Corporate trainer rates vary.)

     Place Sample Bins by Machines.  Nothing complicates plant tours more than trying to explain the benefits of idle machines or ones that are running unimpressive pieces.  However, if a tour giver has great samples at immediate disposal, then the valuable visual link between machinery and great products can still be made.  Place covered bins filled with impressive samples near your important equipment.  OUT OF POCKET COST: $200 for 20 heavy duty covered bins scattered throughout a plant.  

     Track First Time Caller Information.  Whenever you receive a call from a new company, train your receptionist to get the caller’s name, address and other basic contact information prior to transferring the call.  If there’s a reasonable chance of doing future business, a high ranking person in your company should write a “thank you for contacting us” letter.  In today’s business environment, your new prospect will appreciate the warm and unusual response.  OUT OF POCKET COST: Stamps and letterhead.

     Thank Referrers.  Binderies frequently get business through referrals.  When first time callers say they were referred to your company, write a “thank you” letter to the referrer.  People will be surprised you took the time to do this and will be encouraged to send more referrals your way.  OUT OF POCKET COST: Stamps and letterhead.

     Time Stamp Estimates/Automatic Callback Program.  Every market has an unwritten expectation for estimate turnaround times.  Time stamp all estimates as soon as they arrive and if they’re not done promptly call your customer and say, “Thank you for this quoting opportunity.  Would it inconvenience you if we took a little longer to get your estimate right?”  Most people will be delighted you cared enough to call and will gladly let you have more time.  Some will say that they need the quote right away, which allows you to better prioritize your quoting workload.  OUT OF POCKET COST: $0.

     Win/Loss Analysis by Estimator.  If you have more than one estimator, track your win/loss hit rates by estimator and look for emerging trends.  At a minimum do this shortly after an estimator blows an estimate and gets “stuck.”   Human nature indicates that overly conservative estimating frequently follows mistakes.  This will cost you business.  OUT OF POCKET COST: $0.

     Customer Early Warning Tracking System.  If you have customers that frequently give you lots of small orders – a frequent occurrence in our industry – develop a computerized system that matches current activity levels against historical performance by customer.  If someone is dissatisfied with your services and redirects business without telling you, a computerized early warning system will “flag” the account.  Every month, review the “flagged” companies and if you don’t know why someone’s business has dropped, immediately call.  OUT OF POCKET COST: $0.

     Write Trade Articles.  Establish yourself as a leading industry ambassador by writing articles for your customers’ trade publications.  After you’ve been in print a few times, people will start viewing you as a graphic arts leader.  It’s amazing how key business influencers who won’t return your calls all of a sudden dial your number when they read your ideas in print.  If writing isn’t your strength, jot down your key points and hire a ghostwriter with media placement experience.  OUT OF POCKET COST: $0.  

     Give Industry Talks.  It’s not as hard as some people think to give a 50-minute presentation.  Overcoming fear of public speaking is precisely why good or even adequate speakers greatly increase their industry presence.  Give talks to the associations and organizations where your customers belong.  PIA (Printing Industries of America) affiliates are a great place to start.  Public speaking appearances do lead to tangible business opportunities.  Every public speaker once climbed the podium with his or her knees knocking.  After a couple of times, the fear subsides and speaking even becomes fun.  OUT OF POCKET COST: $0.

     Improve Sample Display System.  If you don’t have a good sample viewing area, create one.  Do you have space free in your lobby?  Put it to good use.  If your samples are already being displayed, are they current?  Are they free of dust?  Are the covers curling or dog-eared?  The way you display your samples suggests the care you will exercise on future jobs.  OUT OF POCKET COST: Minimal.

     Post On-Time Delivery Percentages in Plant.  On a large board in a highly trafficked area, post your on-time delivery percentage.  If it’s high, then visitors will be impressed.  If it’s occasionally low, explain that production employees need to know the timeliness of their work has a real impact.  Experienced print buyers will be pleased you have the guts to post true numbers and will feel confident they are getting the straight scoop.  OUT OF POCKET COST: $0.

     Improve Your Invoices.  Many times you go the extra mile for customers and for whatever reason you’re not able to get compensation.  All freebies should be noted on your invoice with an “N/C” (no charge) in the price column.  Going the extra mile for your customers doesn’t do you a bit of good if they don’t know about it.  OUT OF POCKET COST: $0.

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The Final Word ... Don’t equate marketing effectiveness with marketing cost.  Frequently cost and effectiveness are inversely related.  Why?  Because everyone thinks of printing fancy brochures, but for some reason, most companies are reluctant to engage in guerilla marketing.  Properly implemented, these low cost shotgun vehicles will increase sales of binding and finishing services.  Not every vehicle is appropriate for every company, but many should work for you.  In next issue’s The Binding Edge, Part II of this article will reveal highly effective, yet low cost “rifle” vehicles. 

T.J. Tedesco is a “hands-on” marketing, sales, coaching and training consultant to the post press industry. He is the author of Binding, Finishing & Mailing: The Final Word, and Win Top-of-Mind Positioning, both published by GATFPress and available at Amazon.com. T.J. can be reached at (301) 294-9900 or tj@growsales.com.