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  • Customer Service! Customer Service! Customer Service!
    By Debra Thompson - Tuesday February 7, 2012
    By Debra Thompson It's the latest watchword. That's all we hear about today. There are tons of books out there, articles being written in every magazine we pick up and seminars going on everywhere discussing the importance of good customer service. But many of the owners I am consulting with today still don't get it. They hear it, they talk about it, but they don't really know what to do about it. My observation is that they know they must address it, but if they do, then they personally will have to do something. They personally will have to become very involved in customer relations. This is the frightening challenge that many owners cannot face. Many owners tell me that they know they should have more contact with their customers...

  • Food for Thought on a Grand Scale
    By Denise Gustavson - Tuesday January 31, 2012
    I've been following the billboard ban issue in California over the last year or so, so it was kind of interesting when I saw a news item last week about a new documentary to hit the Dallas Film Festival later this year (April 12-22). This film made its worldwide debut at New York's Documentary Festival back in November 2011. "This Space Available" is a documentary about Sao Paulo and other movements to rid cities of billboards. (More info about the film can be found here .) In This Space Available, filmmaker Gwenaëlle Gobé brings to life stories of people from around the world who are fighting to reclaim their public spaces from what they term "visual pollution"—aka billboards, building wraps, etc. In the film, she lays the blame...

  • Your Ego or Your Customer? What's More Important?
    - Monday January 30, 2012
    By Debra Thompson I can't even begin to tell you the number of times that I have been asked to do consulting for an owner and the first thing they say is, "I want you to be honest with me and tell me exactly what you think is going on around here." In many cases, my findings are that the owner is the source of the problems. He doesn't know what is going on or has installed controls that hamper employee performance or has not replaced antiquated methods and techniques. When it comes time for me to give my report and I begin by saying, "The main cog or obstacle that I find in this organization is YOU", they become defensive and start with the excuses to justify every condition that I bring to their attention. Let me tell you, these...

  • Customer Service: It Will Make or Break Your Business
    By Debra Thompson - Monday January 23, 2012
    By Debra Thompson In an age of competitive fever and instant communication, customers have learned to expect the world. Remarkably, the great new customer service providers are giving them that and more. Although good statistics are hard to come by, studies show that customers are demanding better service in general. Roland Rust, a marketing professor at the University of Maryland and co-author of last year's "Dividing Customer Equity", says that companies increasingly see the link between great customer service and "retention, loyalty, and increased sales." However, as we move into the era of "tier Zero," the latest buzzword, which refers to a customer service system that's so proactive that it anticipates a customer's every need...

  • Top 100 Deadline is this Friday, March 16
    By Karen Hall - Sunday January 15, 2012
    By Karen Hall This Friday is the deadline for quick/small commercial printers to submit information for the 2012 Quick Printing Top 100 list. This year you will have the option of registering your company as either a small commercial or a large commercial printing firm. The results for the small commercial segment will be published in our June issue. The large commercial results will be published in August. This is your chance to have your company’s accomplishments recognized in a prestigious national forum. The marketing opportunities are second to none and all of the Top 100 companies will receive the 2012 Quick Printing Top 100 logo to use in their marketing materials. Every entrant that had 2011 sales of at least $1 million...

  • Two Valuations: Polar Opposites
    - Monday January 9, 2012
    By John Stewart I have sitting before me on my desk valuation folders for two different printing firms. One is green and the other yellow. The colors themselves don't mean anything, but the contrast between what they each contain inside is simply shocking. I finished both valuations late last week. The Green Folder represents a company projected to do almost $700,000 in 2011. Two years ago their sales were $820,000 but the drop in sales doesn't concern me. It is typical in this industry. What does concern me is that this company's final valuation came in at less than $50,000! That doesn't mean they can't sell the business for more or that the customer list itself might have a higher value, but from a strict valuation standpoint...

  • Trade Association Hypocrisy
    - Monday January 9, 2012
    By John Stewart In November, Timothy Andrews, president of the Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI), issued a news release attacking President Obama's recently issued mandate to cut 20 percent from federal agency spending on "plaques, clothing and other unnecessary promotional items." I'll bet if you had interviewed the officers and members of this association just two weeks ago about the federal budget you would have heard almost a unanimous chorus suggesting or demanding that the government needs to reduce spending across the board. So what happens when the President takes such a move? ASI issues a news release pleading for its members to take up arms and fight this move by the President. The ASI news release said, "We are...

  • Client Reports Digital vs. Offset Sales
    By John Stewart - Monday January 9, 2012
    By John Stewart One of my long-time clients contacted me the other day with some info his manager had gathered. According to the memo, sales in 2011 had increased eight percent over 2010, and were the best sales of record. Most interesting of all was the manager's report that, for the first time ever, sales from digital copying (31.8 percent) had slightly exceeded those coming from offset printing at 31 percent. Since we will be conducting a new Operating Ratio Survey within the next couple of months, I will be extra curious to find out if this trend is representative of the industry. I suspect it is, but I can't be sure until I analyze the numbers. If you have any similar data you would like to share, I would like to hear from...

  • Make Procurement a Priority to Achieve Significant Cost Reductions in 2012
    - Monday January 9, 2012
    by William Gindlesperger, chairman and CEO, e-LYNXX Corporation A wise New Year’s resolution is to assess how more can be done with existing resources. This is certainly true as organizations continue to look for ways to squeeze every penny out of every dollar. One proven way of maximizing resources is to save on goods and services through the purchasing process. Often relegated to back-office operations, procurement has earned its place at the strategic decision-making table of any organization that wants to improve its bottom line. According to the most recent survey of chief procurement officers by Capgemini , 79 percent of chief procurement officer respondents stated that procurement must be more focused on “improving an...

  • 2012 is Your Time to Shine
    By Denise Gustavson - Tuesday January 3, 2012
    With 2011 completely behind us, we've all turned our attention to 2012. But as we sit, only a few days into the new year, this gives us a unique vantage point to look back and see what worked—and what didn't—and also see how we fared during this economic uncertainty. This year you'll have two opportunities to share your opinions—and give yourself a little bit of shameless self-promotion in the process. We all need the opportunity to toot our own horns every now and then. Make sure you don't pass up this opportunity! Wide-Format Imaging Top Products Awards So what were the best wide-format new products in 2011? Readers and subscribers to Wide-Format Imaging and MyPrintResource have the opportunity to cast their vote and weigh...

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