Sales Strategies: Sell Print and More by Connecting the Dots

Published November 5, 2010

How do you wring more out of the sponge? How do you provide your clients with greater benefit? How do you match your services to your clients needs? Mike Philie of the NAPL has some advice on how to “hear” what your customer is really asking for.

Value-Based Pricing: A New Business Transformation Model

Published October 13, 2010

The commoditization of our product is a risk we face every day. This essay by Joseph Truncale of the NAPL highlights the difference between just selling print and making the shift to being a strategic partner who can deliver unique value to his customers.

It’s More Than Keeping Score

Published September 20, 2010

The process of managing a printing sales staff has become much more complicated than comparing compensation with business brought in. Matching the right rep with the client has become more important than ever. Mike Philie of the NAPL offers some insights on giving your team the best chance to succeed.

Use Managed Liquidation As Bankruptcy Alternative

Published August 20, 2010

Print owners are often looking for ways to escape companies with balance sheets that are deep in the red. Typically there’s a strategic acquirer who’s only taking on the general intangibles. Asset values are often less than debt levels. And timing between payments might not always match up with debt obligations. Bankruptcy might seem like an obvious solution, but the NAPL’s John Hyde explores the many advantages of Managed Liquidation.

Keep a Close Eye on Inflation

Published June 8, 2010

With much of the media focus on recently enacted health care reform legislation, pending financial reform, and the continuing large number of unemployed, the government's inflation reports for the most part have been pushed to the back burner - not eliciting much attention when released. One reason for the muted reaction: Overall inflation has been relatively benign to non-existent. But that may be changing.

Don’t Count on a Non-Compete

Published May 25, 2010

The challenge facing printing company owners over whether and how to secure non-compete agreements was debated recently with a lively exchange of views on the NAQP listserv. Having encountered this issue from an M&A and business valuation perspective for many years, and being sensitive to the legal implications, given my background as a lawyer, I unequivocally weigh in that a Non-Compete Agreement is NOT the ultimate solution to protect general intangibles.

Winning New Fulfillment Services Business

Published March 29, 2010

Selling fulfillment services requires problem-solving skills. This means understanding how your customers develop their products and how they are used. Once their job has been printed and bound, for instance, why do your customers feel that you must ship the job to them and take up space at their facility?

Protect Intangibles to Preserve Company Value

Published November 24, 2009

A company's general intangibles have a very tangible impact on a company's valuation. Intangibles that are perceived as attractive can greatly enhance a company's value while negative or negligible intangibles can drag it down. To safeguard the worth of their businesses, NAPL Senior Vice President and Consultant John Hyde believes that graphic communications company owners should take proactive steps to protect their intangibles.

Lessons From the Field I: Take Appropriate Action

Published November 10, 2009

Commercial printers often turn to consultants to help them learn how to tackle tough challenges, but many of the industry’s most experienced consultants know that they can learn quite a bit from their printer clients as well.

Lessons from the Field II: Explore Your Options

Published October 27, 2009

One thing was clear from the experiences of several National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL) business consultants and other experts during their front-line field work over the past year or so: Harsh business conditions demand looking beyond business as usual, crafting solutions that might not ever have been considered in the past. The following are among the lessons learned from those who were keeping every option open.

Equipment Leases: Beware of Possible Pitfalls

Published September 1, 2009

Equipment leasing offers many printing companies an affordable way to add today’s most requested capabilities to their service offerings, especially in today’s tight lending market. In addition to computers—far and away the equipment leased most frequently by businesses—printers are leasing such industry-specific equipment as presses, copiers, binders/cutters, colorimeters, and graphic cameras.

Selling Mailing Services: Getting Started

Published August 18, 2009

A company's general intangibles have a very tangible impact on a company's valuation. Intangibles that are perceived as attractive can greatly enhance a company's value while negative or negligible intangibles can drag it down. To safeguard the worth of their businesses, NAPL Senior Vice President and Consultant John Hyde believes that graphic communications company owners should take proactive steps to protect their intangibles.

Selling Mailing Services: Getting Started

Published August 3, 2009

If you have decided to add mailing and/or fulfillment services to your offerings, remember that you will not be alone in this dynamic market. Mailing and fulfillment service providers have been around for years, some producing the same types of work they always have, while others recognize the changes wrought by the digital age. Your closest competitors will be:

Make a Decision—Today!

Published July 21, 2009

You may have heard pundits say that it doesn’t really matter what you do—just do something. The trick in the printing industry is, don’t try to do everything.

Developing a Winning Cross-Media Proposal

Published July 7, 2009