Graphic arts trade shows provide printers and other industry participants an effective way to meet and get acquainted with potential suppliers and other prospective business partners and to see new equipment and technologies in operation. This year’s Print 01 show in Chicago will provide these opportunities in abundance. According to GASC, the show’s organizer, Print 01 will be the largest graphic arts industry event in the world in 2001. It will host more than 1,000 exhibiting companies and occupy more than 1 million square feet of exhibit space.

Graphic arts trade shows also usually provide attendees good educational opportunities through seminar programs, and, here again, Print 01 will certainly be no exception. According to the Print 01 website, more than 90 seminars and other educational sessions will be offered during the 9-day event. These seminars and other sessions will address a wide variety of industry topics in functional areas ranging from business management to sales and marketing, to production.

Like many PrintPlanet.com members, I will be attending Print 01, and I have been reviewing the seminar program to determine which of the sessions will be most worthwhile for me. Choosing from among all of the seminars being offered is a difficult task because many of the sessions will address topics that I find both interesting and timely. But despite the number and variety of the seminars that are planned, I cannot help but notice that two important topics seem to be missing from the Print 01 program line-up. The first topic deals with the dramatic changes that are now beginning to occur in the ways that businesses engage in marketing and the effect that those changes will have on the commercial printing industry. The second topic relates to the marketing strategy, sales tactics, and selling skills that are necessary to successfully market and sell print e-commerce services. Of course, it is possible that these topics will be touched-on in one or more of the scheduled seminars, even though they are not specifically mentioned in the published seminar descriptions. But I believe that each of these topics is sufficiently important to warrant a seminar of its own. The following paragraphs describe the "missing" seminars as they might have been described in the Print 01 program materials.

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Surviving and Prospering in a World of Personalized,
Integrated Marketing

In rapidly increasing numbers, businesses are implementing customer relationship management (CRM) initiatives to improve customer acquisition, customer retention, and customer profitability. According to a recent study by eMarketer Inc., companies spent $3.9 billion on CRM software in 2000 and are on track to spend $10.4 billion in 2001. Research firm IDC recently estimated that total revenues generated by the CRM services industry will grow from $61 billion in 2001 to $148 billion in 2005. The term "customer relationship management" describes a wide range of business functions, but the objective shared by all CRM initiatives is to improve the quality of the interactions between a business and its customers and prospective customers. In achieving this objective, CRM initiatives often fundamentally alter a company’s approach to marketing communications. These initiatives shift the marketing emphasis away from mass marketing techniques and toward the use of personalized marketing communications created specifically for each customer. CRM programs also seek to provide consistent marketing messages across all marketing channels, thus creating a truly integrated approach to marketing. For decades, printed material has been a staple ingredient in mass marketing efforts, and commercial printing companies have enjoyed reasonable financial success by providing that material. Today, the question is: How can commercial printing companies prosper in a business world that is de-emphasizing mass marketing and moving increasingly toward personalized, multi-channel, integrated marketing. This seminar sill examine the changes that are beginning to occur in marketing communications and assess the impact of those changes on the printing industry. We will also discuss how printing companies must adapt in order to prosper in this new marketing environment.

What you will learn
- What is customer relationship management
- How will CRM change marketing communications
- How will changes in marketing techniques affect the demand for print
- What business models will printing companies need to adopt in order to prosper in the new marketing environment
- What new capabilities and competencies will printing companies need to develop or acquire in order to be successful in a CRM driven marketplace

Who should attend
Printing company owners, senior executives and managers

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Marketing and Selling Internet-Enabled Print Procurement

During the past three years, the graphic arts industry has experienced a tremendous amount of activity relating to e-commerce. In that time period, the number of print-related Internet companies grew exponentially, from a mere handful in late 1998 to over 200 firms by late 2000. This year, the industry has witnessed a significant amount of "consolidation" among print e-commerce firms. The economic slowdown of 2001, the stock market pull-back of the past 16 months, the terrible conditions in the market for initial public offerings (especially for technology companies), and the reluctance of the venture capital community to make additional investments in e-commerce start-ups have all combined to take their toll on print e-commerce companies. Several well-known print e-commerce firms, including Impresse and Collabria, have ceased operations and sold assets to, or merged with, competitors. Ironically, this market shakeout is occurring just as printers are beginning to look more favorably at e-commerce opportunities. Today, there is increasing evidence that printers are developing or acquiring e-commerce capabilities, and most industry experts continue to believe that e-commerce will play an important role in the future of the graphic arts industry. For most printing companies, developing or buying e-commerce capabilities represents a significant strategic and financial commitment. The companies that embrace e-commerce do so with the expectation (or, at least, the hope) that these new capabilities will help increase sales and profits. But marketing and selling Internet-enabled print procurement differs in fundamental ways from marketing and selling conventional printing. Print sales personnel need new strategies, new tactics, and new skills if they are to succeed in the e-commerce arena. This seminar will provide print sales professionals with the new strategies and tools they need to successfully sell Internet-enabled print procurement and create real strategic competitive advantage in today’s highly competitive marketplace.

What you will learn
- What is "Internet-enabled print procurement"
- Why is Internet-enabled print procurement important to the future of your company
- What are the critical differences between selling conventional printing and selling Internet-enabled print procurement

- Value propositions
- Selling process
- Sales cycle
- Purchase decision-making process
- Relationship characteristics
- Required selling tools
- What new sales strategies, selling skills, and selling tools are needed to successfully sell Internet-enabled print procurement

- Selecting the right prospects
- Identifying the right "buyer"
- Performing genuine needs discovery
- Understanding the "system economies" of print procurement
- Identifying the key strategic benefits of Internet-enabled print procurement
- Creating persuasive value justifications for Internet-enabled print procurement
- Managing the "complex" sale process

Who should attend
Marketing and sales executives, sales managers, and sales personnel of printing companies that have implemented, or that are considering the implementation of, print e-commerce capabilities