BY WTT Columnist Bill Farquharson August 7, 2002 -- The typical printing sales person wouldn’t know a digital or variable printing application if it walked in to their shop, jumped up on the counter, and kissed them on the lips. Sure, they know a Request-For-Quote when they see one, but only because they can read. Otherwise, I am convinced that digital printing equipment would sit idle. See, here is the problem summed up in one Reader’s Digest-length statement: There is no such thing as a quick, profitable digital printing sale. Indeed, the printing sales person WILL find quick sales, but they most often originate from being the lowest price on a bid. These are not the most profitable opportunities. They will also find profitable sales, but they take time to cultivate due to the massive amounts of change necessary in everything from the new way the customer delivers the job (electronic file versus sketched on a napkin) to the difference in output quality. Most printing sales people lack the creativity and patience required to identify and sell digital printing. And then there’s variable...... There are three steps involved in selling digital. The sales person MUST have the following skills: 1. Ability to "talk the talk"—Stop here. If your rep doesn’t know how to explain the difference between a Postscript and PDF file, it’s over. Read that last sentence carefully. I am NOT suggesting he/she knows how to MAKE the Postscript or PDF file, just that he/she knows how to put it into laymen’s terms. Here’s the thing: we are going to tell our reps to identify and speak with the owner or originator of the file. Chances are, this person is far more technically competent than they are. Without the ability speak the language of digital, they will not have any credibility and the sales call will forever stay in the "we’ll call you when we are ready for a quote" stage instead of moving to the "we are looking for ideas and need your help" more consultative approach. 2. Ability to identify prospects—"Who is buying digital printing?" This is the most common question I hear after the digital printing equipment is installed. Digital printing applications do not have red flags on them. A customer does not have the ability to build bridges between his printing needs and your printing solutions. That’s the rep’s job. But the trick is finding the right industries to approach and the right departments within a company: there is no standard. Back in the days when the Earth was still cooling, I used to sell business forms. The nice thing was that everyone called an invoice an invoice and a statement a statement. Finding them was easier. Now, with digital printing, it is a matter of not only finding the applications, but actually creating them. Digital printing is like Vitamin E: it’s a cure looking for a disease. 3. Ability to ask qualifying questions—Great, your rep can talk the talk and, sure, he/she knows where to go. But the third step is to learn the story behind what is being printed and that requires a special skill, a consultative skill. Most printing sales people, as acknowledged in Vince Naselli’s recent eXpert Row column, are simply order-takers. They hold a printed piece in their hands and ask, "how many do you want?" The better approach is to learn everything possible about the item through a process of asking a question and listening intently. How many good listeners do YOU know? See the problem? The skill of learning to sell digital printing profitably is not unattainable. It requires a little product knowledge, a good target to aim at, and an understanding that God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason. What’s the cure? Funny you should ask...