In a recent WhatTheyThink print buyer interview, the interviewee made it very clear her distaste for one sales strategy in particular. In this individual’s words, "Another pet peeve I have is the "good 'ole boy" mentality when it comes to printers entertaining art directors and account people with invitations to play golf. I'm the decision maker on where the printing goes and they're wining and dining "the boys' at the club. I find that offensive."

On the surface, the gaffe at the very least shows bad judgment and possibly a distinct lack of etiquette and perhaps even respect. Large or small, executive level or not, all customers deserve the same respect…period.

The real issue that this situation points to however is a strategic mistake which occurs time after time. In any organization there are a number of individuals who play different roles, under different titles, that influence the ultimate print decisions made by that organization. They may not all have the final authority, but they all likely have some influence on the final vendor and project decisions. In this case, at least one of the influencers was being left out of the process. In too many others there is likely only one point of contact in an account to begin with.

In today’s print market, there is no way you can create value for your customers if you do not have a solid understanding of how their print procurement needs touch each segment of their business…including their customers’ businesses.

So what does this mean to you?

If you and your company genuinely have the ability and resources to assist a prospect best manage their print procurement needs, and if you expect them to listen to your message, then you had better be prepared to:

- Identify each of those points of influence in an account
- Discover each of those individuals’ objectives, as well as the challenges they face in achieving those objectives.
- Blueprint each individuals’ buying preferences and how they relate to the other influencers in the account.

Until you are armed with this information there is no way you can design and shape an account management strategy that will provide you and your organization the tools it needs to effectively meet their needs, optimize the effectiveness of their print budgets AND make sure that price is not the issue.