Wow, this Great American Print Sales Prospecting Contest is going great! I already have more than 200 entries! Companies are sending me their monthly results. This is a lot of bookkeeping for me, but it's worth it to see salespeople earning new accounts. The contest winners get, among other things, a visit by me and I'll be washing the winning salespeople's cars in the company parking lots while the salespeople watch.
We are the best at what we do, and we want everyone to know it. Go ahead, say it a few times. Feels good, doesn't it? Isn't that the image you want your customers to have about your company? You want clients to feel that you are the best option for their printing needs—you have the newest, most advanced equipment, the know-how and the dedication to provide a quality product.
WASHINGTON, DC—The printing industry continues to see new personnel enter this exciting field. Some are in sales, others are in customer services, or involved with management and production. Whatever your role, part of the job description (written or unwritten) is to assist in gaining work for your company and producing profits. This means no stone should be left unturned in finding jobs that can be run on your plant's equipment. This influx of new talent is why, every once in a while, it is important to educate printers about the federal Government Printing Office (GPO) and its potential as a customer to your business. The following
EDITOR'S NOTE: The Mañana Man, Harris DeWese, took his formidable hulk to a nutritionist on June 28, 2001. This trained professional somehow motivated El Porko to embark on a diet based on six small meals daily and no more than 1,700 calories. She also persuaded him to exercise one hour daily. Harris has lost 50 pounds, and now will answer only to "Studmuffin."
This is the PRINT 01 edition of Printing Impressions. Extra copies of Printing Impressions will be distributed at the Chicago show to thousands of people who walk through the McCormick Place exhibition halls. Some of these attendees may not be regular readers of the magazine or this column.
In case you haven't been outside lately, it's August; the temperature is 97° and the humidity is 97 percent. These are the Dog Days of summer. These days are about lethargy, lemonade and lots of air conditioning. Lots of your brother and sister print salespeople just stop working in August. Why not? The boss is at the shore. Some salespeople rationalize that the print buyers seem to have crawled underground. These salespeople say, "Why should I work?" Most of the buyers are backpacking in the mountains or scuba diving in the cool waters of the Caribbean. Well, I aim to do something about all this
I will be 59 this month and I'm getting crotchety. Lots of things annoy me. Our era of excess communications annoys me. Everyone, including many adolescents whose voices haven't changed, have cell phones. Cell phones really annoy me in airports and on airplanes. I was on a flight recently where the guy next to me, the people in front of me and behind me were all speaking on cell phones just before takeoff.
The April 2, 2001, edition of Time magazine featured a cover story titled "What Scares You?" The subtitle was, "Don't be afraid to read about the promising new cures for hundreds of phobias." Well, I have to tell ya, the title scared the bejeebers out of me. I was mysteriously compelled to read it. The editors at Time must have a huge research staff because the article listed several hundred phobias alphabetically. Just listen to some of the "H" phobias. There is hedonophobia or the fear of feeling pleasure. Then there is heliophobia or the fear of the sun. And then there is hemophobia, which
My writing license requires that I write a serious column once every 10 years. This is it. Lots of times managers tell me, "Mañana Man, I copied your column last month and gave it to all of our salespeople." Now this is your chance, salespeople. Copy this column and give it to your boss.
About 247 Silicon Valley smart guys dreamed up some e-commerce Internet sites to sell different stuff to printers and/or print buyers in order to get a lot of money. It really wasn't so much about selling anything. That really didn't matter. It was mainly about getting the money. The smart guys called their schemes "business models." Business model is smart guy terminology. The smart guys didn't know, however, that printers work hard to come by their money and don't part with it easily. Printers have payrolls due every Friday and the paper companies want their money on time. So most printers walk around worried about
