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| American Printer | |
| A Primedia Property | |
| May 5, 2004 | |
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Table of Contents WELCOME TO GRAPHIC ARTS PULSE®! Blended learning Factors in direct-mail effectiveness Customer satisfaction doesn't necessarily win Asking the right questions Shrinking sales opportunities Forget personalized postage About Graphic Arts Pulse® WELCOME TO GRAPHIC ARTS PULSE®! What are your CIP4 priorities? We've all heard a lot about JDF, CIM and process automation--mostly from vendors. Now it's your turn. Help ensure developers and industry leaders understand your requirements. AMERICAN PRINTER and the CIP4 Organization want to hear from you. Please take a few minutes to complete the survey at http://www.cip4.org/questionnaire/american_printer.php. We'll publish the results in a future issue. We look forward to hearing from you! SPONSOR MESSAGE  Adobe(R) presents an eSeminar series for Print Service Providers. Learn what printers need to know to deliver outstanding output from the New Adobe Creative Suite - the top tool of choice of design professionals worldwide. Find out how you can print even the most complex files created with this software consistently and efficiently. Click here to register now or call 1-877-303-9422.
Consider This Blended learning Different people learn differently. In training or communicating with customers or employees, there is evidence that the planned use of multiple vehicles substantially improves the effectiveness of the communication. This is called "blended learning." It confirms the phenomenon known as "Integrated Marketing Communications," the coordinated use of two or more media to communicate the same differentiated, focused message. Research into training effectiveness by Thompson NETg compared the performance of salespeople trained via a combination of e-learning, field work with managers, classroom seminars and videotapes with the performance of salespeople trained exclusively by e-learning. The performance of the former group was substantially better. In Our Experience Factors in direct-mail effectiveness Volumes have been written about the "secrets" of effective direct mail. A complex mosaic of factors must be coordinated, including, but not limited to:
SPONSOR MESSAGE  "Find New Profitable Markets with Variable Data" is the theme of AMERICAN PRINTER's second annual Variables Conference. To be held July 12-13 in Chicago, this conference, presented in partnership with Creo and Printable Technologies, Inc., is designed to help you run a successful variable-data printing operation.
Technical presentations and interactive panel discussions allow you to tap the knowledge of industry experts. Highlights include: What did we learn from Drupa?; Workflows that make sense; A database tutorial; and Insights into marketing and selling variable data.
Check out details and an early bird discount on http://variables.americanprinter.com.
Customer Corner Customer satisfaction doesn't necessarily win Contrary to the conventional wisdom in many quarters, customer satisfaction doesn't assure profitability. That's the conclusion of Frederick Reichheld, author of "The Loyalty Effect," a classic study of the relationship between customer retention and long-term profitability. Reichheld's most recent research indicates no linkage between customer satisfaction and supplier profitability. Customer satisfaction is the least that buyers expect in a commoditized environment. Be Careful Asking the right questions Introspection is an important activity for company owners and senior management. Three questions are frequently asked, one of which can lead to a counter-productive answer. That question, "What do we do best?" It's a dangerous question if the answer leads to promotion of a product or activity at which competitors also excel in this commoditized business environment. Furthermore, the response may not address a primary customer need. A more appropriate question is "What does the customer need?" Another valuable question: "What perceived value do we uniquely bring to customers outside of the product?" The response may lead to a differentiated competitive strategy or mission. It may also be effective in structuring the agenda of a business planning session. SPONSOR MESSAGE Old, traditional sales and management techniques just don't work in today's "new marketplace." WANT TO KNOW WHAT REALLY WORKS? Intensive, cutting-edge, industry-specific education: The Graphic Arts Sales Foundation (GASF) Five-Day Institutes. GASF has been training graphic-arts professionals since l988. The GASF Sales Institute highlights: (1) effective steps to the development of "new business;" (2) creating a presence with senior management of existing accounts; (3) getting to the top of a buying organization; and (4) overcoming the price issue. The GASF Business Development Institute is a no-nonsense, innovative, cutting-edge program which highlights the development of a practical business plan and the development of an effective self-promotion program to support the business plan. REGISTER NOW to ensure a seat at a 2004 GASF five-day institute. Classes are limited in size so that participants receive a customized program from industry leaders who are "in the trenches" on a daily basis. The 2004 GASF five-day Sales Institute: May 3-7 > PII of Maryland, Timonium, MD June 7-ll > PIA of Georgia, Smyrna, GA Aug. 30-Sept. 3 > Kansas City, MO The 2004 GASF five-day Business Development Institute: May 17-21 > PI of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN FOR DETAILS OR TO REGISTER, CONTACT: Judy M. Miller at (610) 431-9780 or judymiller@gasf.org. Sad But True Shrinking sales opportunities If it seems that the number of new account opportunities for graphic-arts companies is shrinking, it's not just your imagination. A "mini-survey" of print buyers by printbuyersonline.com revealed that 55 percent of the respondents' companies consolidated the number of print suppliers during the past year. Nine percent eliminated half or more of their suppliers. Twenty-six percent of the buyer respondents reported shrinking the size of their respective vendor lists by 25 percent to 50 percent, while 21 percent of the buyers estimated the shrinkage to be less than 25 percent. Forget personalized postage The report of the President's Commission on Postage Reform, now being considered by Congress, included a recommendation that personalized first-class stamps be adopted. The idea was that mailers could digitally create their own stamp. The Postal Service would reproduce it and sell copies to the mailer at a price in excess of regular first-class postage. That recommendation is unlikely to be adopted. It presents problems with content acceptability, copyrights, counterfeiting and other issues. Behind the scenes About Graphic Arts Pulse® Graphic Arts Pulse® is an e-newsletter from AMERICAN PRINTER magazine, written for managers in the commercial printing industry. The purpose of this newsletter is to provide practical, easily implementable ideas that will help you better manage your business. Graphic Arts Pulse® is written by Dick Gorelick, president of graphic-arts consultancy Gorelick and Associates, Inc., and president of Graphic Arts Sales Foundation (GASF). Dick also writes a monthly column for AMERICAN PRINTER that focuses on management and marketing topics. Feel free to contact us at APeditor@primediabusiness.com. We'd love to hear from you. |
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