Contest Winners Take a Bow--DeWese

The past three years have been horrendously bad for the printing industry. Some industry experts say that printing market conditions were the worst in 40 years. I heard horror stories every day. I witnessed bankruptcies, I saw lost jobs and I grieved over padlocked companies. It was depressing and I considered buying an ocean-side bar in the Caribbean, or joining a traveling carnival, or running for governor of California (who cares that I reside in Pennsylvania?) or developing an online psychotherapy Website for unemployed printers.

I was committed, however, to sticking it out because I had sponsored The Second Great American Print Sales Prospecting Contest and, as much as I wanted to roll over and take a nap to forget the weak economy, I was witnessing hundreds of salespeople working extra hard to get new accounts in the worst of times. Finally, after compiling all the contest participants' reports, I can recognize the winners in this column.

I asked each of the winning companies to give me a little write-up on how they won. In reading them, it showed me there's a lot to learn about human motivation in tough times. This may be the most valuable column I ever wrote because parts of it were actually written by the winners who did it! The five winners have my congratulations and highest respect.

Here are the official results.

Large Company Category Winner

PCA Inc., Baltimore

Richard Jones, PCA president, writes, "We remain committed to performance. As the only small-format company in the group of Consolidated Graphics companies located east of the Mississippi, we continue to sell PCA as a regional resource for large-scale projects that are produced on small presses, particularly those that are facilitated by electronic ordering. PCA does $300 orders, lots of them. But we consider complicated, unusual and time-sensitive jobs routine, and we embrace those opportunities.

"Some are very large, $500,000 and more. Some use online ordering systems, CGX-media's own COIN and other systems that are proprietary to the account. Some demands are stationery. Some demands are specialty requirements, requiring embossing, foil stamping, diecutting, thermography or hand assembly.

"We believe that long-term strengths are critical to a company's continued success, and that customers want to do business with printing companies that demonstrate stability, strength and performance. Our Sales Group lets print buyers know that our company and our parent company are profitable and well managed—it can only give those buyers a sense of confidence in our organization, which relieves anxiety about our ability to produce and to stand behind our work.

"Is there a prospecting strategy to follow? Well, I kicked the question around with Mike North, who is the greatest in our great Sales Group, and this is what we came up with:

* The most important discipline about prospecting is to do it. Folks who are new to print sales really need to seek advice from production people and from more experienced colleagues, to develop their style. It even is useful to get beaten up. There is a lot to be learned from repeated experiences of being frustrated and bullied.

* Use face time to probe more deeply into the depth of the account and to develop relationships. Look around to see what your client has on his or her desk. Then either engage conversation about relevant services, or be satisfied to plant a seed and walk away—with a reason to get an appointment on another day to discuss those relevant services. And while you are there: get referrals, get referrals, get referrals.

* And do not be intimidated by sophisticated or unavailable buyers. Most of that is myth anyway. Learn to deal with egos and ask probing questions to determine what is important to a buyer. The whole sales process is eliminating the objections and pains that a buyer has with getting projects produced. What is important to him or her?"

Specialty Printer Category Winner

Victor Graphics, Baltimore

Since its founding 20 years ago, Victor Graphics, a national book manufacturer, has remained obsessed with new account growth. Testimony to the success of this focus has been a robust sales increase since 1983—$700,000 that first year and more than $22 million in 2002.

Incentives exist for every salesperson to continually be at the top of the funnel: a dinner for two in any month in which two or more new accounts are sold and a cruise for two if 18 new accounts or $500,000 in total new accounts are sold in a year. These awards may be won by each salesperson.

Support of the field sales efforts includes a constant flow of direct mail gifts related to a particular benefit—fast schedules, competitive pricing, A1 service, etc. All of the gifts are pineapple items; spinoffs from Victor's logo such as a pineapple piggybank ("Want to save money?"), a pineapple hot pad ("let Victor Graphics handle your next hot job.")

Beyond the giveaways, Victor Graphics publishes two times a year a 14,000 copy, 32-page newsletter, The Pineapple Review, which highlights employee and company news, profiles customers, their jobs, families, hobbies, etc., and, of course, recipes of all things pineapple.

Midsize Company Category Winner

Worth Higgins & Associates, Richmond, VA

Worth Higgins & Associates is an employee-owned sheetfed commercial printer. The company was named one of Virginia's Top 10 Printers of the Decade in 1999, and has been recognized as the Best of the Best Workplace by Master Printers of America and PIA for the past three years.

Worth Higgins was founded in 1970. The company has nine salespeople who generated $14 million in 2002, a 20 percent increase over the previous year.

Sales Manager Benny Bowman attributes this growth to several factors. "We have a very diverse sales force with a broad range of personal styles, which enables us to meet the needs of a large variety of customers," Bowman observes. "They stay focused and keep things simple. We use a prospecting method that includes a script and a plan for the first few sales calls, but it is tailored to the needs of the individual customer. Our reps operate as a team and support each other enthusiastically."

Bowman continues, "We prospect on a regular schedule, set goals and develop strategies. But it is the company's reputation for integrity and a superior product that gives us the credibility and confidence to open doors and close sales."

Small Company Winner

Ambrose Printing, Nashville, TN

During the first quarter of 2002, Ambrose Printing President Sterling Ambrose knew something would have to be done to make up for the early sales deficit that the company had encountered.

"Frankly, we had dug ourselves a pretty big hole; we had our work cut out for us," states Ambrose. During the second quarter of 2002, Ambrose implemented an ongoing sales training plan that included a different level of accountability. Ambrose notes, "We tied our bonus structure not only to new qualified prospects, but also to making those new prospects clients. The timing of The Mañana Man contest couldn't have been better!"

Ambrose also adds, "We were in sales training on September 11. The way 2001 ended, no one needed a crystal ball to know that the outlook for 2002 wasn't promising. If we were going to finish the year 2002 strong, it was going to take an all-out effort by everyone on the team. The contest helped us 'keep score' and it was an opportunity to be judged along side of our peers."

For the rest of the year, team members challenged each other weekly to earn points for the contest. Ambrose normally concentrates on business development and his twin brother, John III, CEO, on operations. John put on his "sales hat" not only to sell, but also to research new prospects for the rest of the team.

Ambrose also added additional incentives to the contest. The sales force was not only challenged to find qualified prospects and mend fences with any clients that "fired us" (as DeWese noted), but also to expand relationships with clients the company was already doing business with. The results: An unprecedented 'come from behind' victory for the sales force at Ambrose Printing!

Since 1865, Ambrose Printing has been one of the premier heatset web and sheetfed printers in the United States. The privately held, family owned company enjoys serving its clients from its state-of-the-art facility, located in Nashville, and being a member of the Printing Impressions Top 400 ranking of printing companies.

Real Small Company Winner

Saint Clair Press, Indianapolis

While 2001 through 2002 presented a downturn in the economy and many major businesses in Indianapolis had relocated, Saint Clair Press challenged its staff to grow, improve and find ways to be the "best of the best."

As a division of the National Graphics/Premier Print organization with locations from coast to coast, Saint Clair Press offers a wide variety of printing and support services for local businesses and companies with regional to national distribution requirements. Saint Clair Press employs 85 and is a 24/7 operation.

During this time, the company used its strengths to consolidate and merge with two of Indianapolis' established printers. It was able to bring a lot of talented and experienced people together to form a union of great personnel. Amidst all the changes in the company, and in the Indianapolis print market, the sales force was able to demonstrate to clients and prospects how these changes would benefit them and their printed products.

In these tough times, marketers of print services have to be more than just a printer. They must deliver the product at the best price, best quality and the best service. Bottom line, we must deliver what we said we would—while exceeding their expectations.

As Saint Clair Press continues to evolve, it is intent on becoming Indianapolis' preferred printing organization.

There are some common themes in each of these winning stories. Words like credibility, integrity, planning, closing, consistency and customer satisfaction occur throughout the winning efforts.

Winners have received a handsome plaque for their lobbies and notoriety within this publication. They will also be receiving a library of publications from NAPL.

Now, before I go crazy and announce another contest, I think I'll take a nap while you get out there and sell something!

—Harris DeWese

About the Author

Harris DeWese is the author of Now Get Out There and Sell Something!, published by Nonpareil Books. He is a principal at Compass Capital Partners and is an author of the annual "Compass Report," the definitive source of information regarding printing industry M&A activity. DeWese specializes in investment banking, mergers and acquisitions, sales, marketing, planning and management services to printing companies. He can be reached via e-mail at hmdewese@aol.com.