As many of you probably know, we just wrapped up the survey portion for 2012-2013 Quick Printing Wage & Benefits Survey published by NAQP/NAPL and QP Consulting, Inc. We distributed more than 60,000 emails to survey the industry. If you didn’t get at least one of our emails (or find one in your spam folder), then you just don’t exist! I will share with you some of our early findings, but first I have to share a funny story.

Emergency Email

Something funny happened as we began broadcasting our first email blast. The subject line of the email was, “Receive Your Free Copy of the Wage & Benefits Study,” and within 15 minutes I received what could only be termed an emergency email. It was from a printer begging me (well, it sounded like begging) to please cease and desist and no longer send anything about wage surveys to his business.

He explained, a bit testily, that he just didn’t want his employees knowing anything about these types of studies, and certainly not about the information they contained. Henceforth, he requested that all future emails of this nature be sent to his private email account. I suspect that is where he receives his eHarmony.com and Datehookup.com emails as well. OK, just kidding about the latter, but this guy did sound a bit paranoid.

I promised I would do my best to delete his name from the list. Trying to hold back my sarcasm, I also suggested if he thought his employees were unaware of what fellow employees were getting paid, and what other printers in town are paying, he was a bit naive.

I wonder if he is the type of owner who scoops up all the issues of Quick Printing as they arrive and takes them home, rather than leaving them around the office for his employees. He probably checks out the employee bathrooms as well, since this is another popular place to find past issues. Allowing reading material in bathrooms statistically lowers productivity by 21.6 percent.

Record Response Rate

We’ve received more than 450 surveys, and we still have 10 days to go as I write this column. Best yet, the accuracy of the data is outstanding. Unfortunately, about 50 additional firms filled out the form, but failed to include critical data, such as names, addresses, and, most important of all, their email addresses.

For specific details about the contents of the study, a list of eligible participants (yes, they got a free copy), as well as details on how to order this information-packed study visit: www.myprintresource.com/10111792. You can also order your own copy of the study from NAPL at www.myprintresource.com/10006811.

Results of Early Returns

Here’s a glimpse of some of the initial data we have gleaned so far from surveys we have analyzed:

Remember, the above data is unfiltered and clearly represents a very broad spectrum of participants. We had firms reporting sales between $200,000 and $20 million. While every participant will receive a complimentary copy, our final data will be filtered so as to eliminate the impact, positive or negative, of outliers that would distort some of the findings.

Numerous Breakouts Available

The final study will contain dozens of breakouts based upon annual sales, population density, and sales per employee. As an example, if you own a company with annual sales between $250,000 and $500,000, you will be able to compare wage and salary data to firms of similar size. On the other hand, if your sales are between $1 million to $2 million, you will find wage and benefit data matching your firm’s size.

As I’ve noted previously, the final study covers 19 key positions in the industry, plus it will also feature a 16-plus page section dedicated solely to compensation practices for outside sales representatives, sorted by annual sales and experience levels. The study will also cover the latest in company healthcare costs and what companies are doing about it.