Printing Industry Commentary & Analysis

Articles by Robert Lindgren

Bob began his career in printing in Chicago over 50 years ago, after earning his MBA in accounting and finance from the Graduate School of Business of the University of Chicago. Following his service as a accounting manager for a Chicago based printer, Bob joined the staff of Printing Industries of Illinois, and began a career of over 40 years advising printers, first in the Midwest, then in the nation’s largest industry group, Printing Industries of America – Southern California, where Bob currently holds the title of President/CEO Emeritus of Printing Industries of Southern California. He has advised printers both in Southern California and the Midwest for more than four decades.

Displaying 1-5 of 5 articles

Where Do Sales Reps Fit Into the Pricing Story?

Published August 22, 2019

Sales reps are key players in your business. Their knowledge of the market and their customers are a central part of the process of optimizing pricing. Your objective is to attract and retain the best ones while motivating them to attain even better results. The objective should to get them on the team and make their interests parallel that of the firm. In this article, Robert Lindgren discusses the various sales rep compensation options.

Getting the Most Out of Your P&L Statement

Published July 18, 2019

Do you use your monthly profit and loss (P&L) statement to its fullest? Although few do more with it than quickly glance at—and perhaps lament—the bottom line, the P&L can offer valuable information about how your business is performing. In this latest installment of his Pricing series, Robert Lindgren explains how.

Pricing the New Stuff

Published June 13, 2019

New technologies, new equipment, and new applications can play havoc with traditional pricing. In the third installment of his series on pricing, Robert Lindgren looks at how to price new capabilities such as digital printing and VDP, wide-format printing on unique substrates, and more.

The Power of the Hit Ratio

Published May 16, 2019

In the second installment in his series on pricing, Robert Lindgren looks at the “hit ratio”—the percentage of quotes that turn into actual orders. Differentiating customers based on their respective hit ratios, and adjusting pricing accordingly, can lead to a substantial increase in the bottom line.

The Proven Path to High Profits: Sell as Much as You Can Produce for as Much as the Customers Will Pay

Published April 18, 2019

The key to effective pricing (aka profitability) is not just understanding costs, but understanding the market for print and what customers are willing to pay. Tailoring estimating and quoting to individual customers, or groups of customers, can help maximize the contribution from current customers, and potentially win customers who may have been hesitant to do business with you.