ALEXANDRIA, VA (March 28, 2003)- Get Sales NOW!, a program of the Printing Industries of America’s (PIA) Sales and Marketing Executives (S&ME) in partnership with Print Tec Network, has had a very successful start in helping printers improve prospecting efficiency and client retention. Over fifty printers have participated so far and S&ME has plans for attracting additional participants. “There are definitely plans to expand. One large national printer has signed up some members of their sales force with the promise of more to come,” said Beth Parrott, Sections Manager for S&ME. Response from participants has been very positive. According to Jay Howren of B&B Printing, “I can honestly say that, as a direct result of Get Sales Now!, I am doing what I need to do to prospect for new business on a regular basis. I have the tools to make my efforts both more productive and easier and I have the appointments scheduled to prove it!” Digicon Imaging of Buffalo NY was an early participant in the Get Sales NOW! program and has nearly a year of experience under its belt. On a recent visit, Print Tec Network's President, Bill Farquharson, discovered an energized sales team delivering consistent results. Greg Hennessey of Digicon received his first formal sales training from Get Sales NOW! "As a direct result of this program, I brought in over $200,000 in new business last year, and 40% of my sales are from new clients." Digicon's management team wholeheartedly embraced the Get Sales NOW! principles, implementing Goldmine as a sales automation tool and populating the database from existing and new lists. This has been a tremendous help, since the majority of the prospects have at least $2 million in annual revenue and can generate the type of repetitive business the company is after. Digicon also implemented a formal performance review process for all employees at the same time the Get Sales NOW! program was initiated so that expectations were clear and a mechanism was in place to ensure the achievement of results. In addition, sales staff used Goldmine to tag prospects to automatically receive a print sample and customer story highlighting Digicon’s quality of service. Samples are sent on a quarterly basis, and act as a trigger for follow-up sales calls. For more information, please contact Bill Farquharson at (781)934-7036/ [email protected] or Beth Parrott at (703)519-8137/[email protected].