sales Archives - Marketing, content, & technology to help printers sell more printing

While it can be challenging for print owners to keep up with the ever-changing landscape of technology and print buyer behavior, one thing remains constant – the importance of a strong online presence. Having a website for your print business is crucial in order to attract new customers and retain existing ones. Looking to level up your online presence and provide your print buyers with an exceptional experience? It’s all about the base! Your print website base. Start with the foundation of your website and build up from there. If you want a great print website, it needs to have a few essential features. User-Friendly Interface: Make sure your website is easy to navigate and visually appealing. Your print buyers should be able to find what they need quickly and effortlessly. Clean, intuitive design and clear navigation menus can significantly enhance the user experience. Seamless Ordering Process: Streamline the ordering process by integrating a user-friendly online ordering system. This will save you and your customers time, resulting in a smoother experience for everyone. Consider incorporating features such as saved order history, easy reordering, and secure payment options to make the process even more convenient. Comprehensive Product Information: Provide detailed and

As the printing industry continues to evolve and become increasingly competitive, your printing company has to stay ahead of the curve to succeed. With a few simple steps and a little planning, you can start now to ensure you’re ready for success in 2023. Here are ten things you should consider doing today to help your printing business sell more this year. 1. Develop a comprehensive marketing plan With the right comprehensive marketing strategy, you can reach your target print buyers and stand out from the competition. Researching trends and understanding customer needs allows for creating targeted campaigns to increase the effectiveness of your marketing initiatives. All in all, get your marketing off of the back burner and invest in putting your brand front and center. 2. Invest in modern printing technology and software to increase efficiency To stay competitive in the printing industry now is the time to invest in modern printing technology and software. If you haven’t looked at Odyssey 2.0 for your Print Management Information System (Print MIS) needs lately, what are you waiting for? Odyssey 2.0 is a powerful and intuitive software solution designed to help your print businesses increase its efficiency and profitability. With an

It’s the first thing people look at when researching a company, yet almost always overlooked when considering their sales team. Your website can easily be your top sales performer and the greatest “hire” you’ll ever make. Consider what Claire Emerson of Copyblogger says, “Your website doesn’t take breaks, it won’t call in sick, and it’s focused on getting the results you want.” Are you overlooking the sales impact your website can make? 3 Ways to Make Your Website Your Greatest Salesperson 1. Interview Your Website. That may sound corny, but think of it this way: did you interview the salespeople you have on your team now? Of course, you did! Start by creating a list of “interview questions” that you can use to evaluate your website. For example, Does your website know and display everything about your print business that it should? Are you reviewing your website’s success on a regular basis? Do you offer your website “training” (i.e., content) on the questions your print buyers are asking? Does your website promote and use all of your current product offerings, services, and pricing? When you hire an employee, you give him or her your time and attention to help improve

The impact of COVID-19 has hit the sales efforts of many hard. Every successful salesperson likes to keep score. And there’s nothing quite as deflating as a scorecard that shows you’re not winning. It doesn’t have to be that way, though. Here’s an easy trick on how you can keep score to make sure your sales goals hit the mark 100% of the time. An Unexpected Method: Easy as 1-2-3 Instead of focusing on one area, broaden your viewpoint. This score-keeping method is based on keeping the score for three different sales targets: Must, Should, and Could. Set your expectations for these sales targets by answering these three questions prior to each sales call: What must happen for this part of the sales process to be considered a success? What should happen if I do what must be done? What could happen if I do what must be done? Step 1: Must The “Must” target is the foundation for your scorecard. It should represent one single activity that’s completely within your control that must occur for this sales effort to be considered a “win” on the sales scorecard. An example would be “Call prospect for an appointment.” If you made an effort to place

If selling doesn’t come naturally to you, it can seem like an impossible mountain to climb to try and sell more printing. But there’s good news. The best salespeople are the ones who are solely focused on helping others. If you can shift your mindset and learn empathy for your audience, you’ll be well on your way to not only growing sales but growing relationships as well. Here are nine ways you can change your sales mindset to be empathy-minded: 1. Change Your Goal Instead of putting your focus exclusively on making a sale, work towards evaluating if there is a good fit between what you’re offering and what your buyer needs. Look past the numbers, past your bottom line and, instead, learn what your audience is thinking to determine whether any products or solutions you offer will solve their pain points and be a good fit. Takeaway: Don’t assume others should buy what you have. Aim to connect with them and not force or persuade them for your own gain. 2. Ditch the Pitch Ever been to a meeting where the other person only talks about themselves? Yeah, no one enjoys that. The same idea applies to sales. Instead

All printers want to sell more printing, but many tend to overlook the impact that white papers have on reaching that goal. What are White Papers? A white paper is an “authoritative report or guide meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision”. They provide an in-depth study on a specific topic. What’s great about providing your print buyers with white paper content is YOU are the authority in that definition, and you’re using that authority to help your audience solve their sales or marketing problems using print. The Benefits of White Papers for Printing and Marketing Companies Along with addressing or solving a problem for the reader (which is a benefit in and of itself), white papers offer many other benefits as well. White papers help generate leads. White papers help you be seen as an industry thought leader. White papers are typically geared towards a B2B focus, building powerful corporate relationships that help shore up your bottom line. White papers give you an edge over the competition when used as a valuable resource to your print buyers. White papers help influence the buying decisions of your print buyers. A 2015 Eccolo Media

Sales can be a little like parenting. There’s love, hate (ok, dislike), joy, pain, and the very real possibility that you’ll pour everything you have into it and things still won’t turn out how you had planned. But, as with everything, that doesn’t mean your best course of action is to throw in the towel, give up, and hope for the best. Instead, you research, you learn how to make a better connection, you seek advice, and many of us straight up pray! There’s not much more we’ll offer when it comes to parenting, except as Red Green says, “Remember, I’m pullin’ for you. We’re all in this together.” When it comes to sales, however, here are a few tips to help you increase your chance of making a connection. You Scratch My Back. I’ll Scratch Yours. Sales are really just a simple exchange of goods. Sometimes you’re the giver, and sometimes you’re the receiver. If you give something, it’s human nature to expect something in return. If you receive something, you feel obliged to reciprocate. Many won’t admit it, but most of us have a mental tally going as to whether our next step with a particular person is

Most companies, printers included, haven’t spent the time to define their sales process or the stages a prospect goes through before they buy. Even still, there are several more companies who have discrepancies in their sales process depending who you ask. Defining this process isn’t an easy exercise to go through, but it’s very necessary. And, having it well-defined will help you grow, follow up with sales opportunities, and streamline your sales process. But, what does that have to do with MQLs and SQLs? MQL VS SQL An MQL is defined as a Marketing Qualified Lead. It’s a print buyer who’s still a prospect but has indicated a level of interest in buying some sort of printing or services from your print business. This person is deemed likely to become a future customer after some nurturing. An SQL is defined as a Sales Qualified Lead. An SQL is a print buyer who started as a prospect and has shown high levels of interest in buying printing from you. They’ve shown that interest through a set of specific actions and are highly likely to then convert into a paying customer. This is someone who’s ready to speak to you about something

The 76.7 million workers in the millennial age group have a buying power worth $1.3 trillion. They’re the largest group in the workforce today with yesterday’s boomers passing the torch to today’s millennials. Here’s some great news about millennials: They respond favorably to paper and print marketing! How do you reach this group? When your website is powered by the content provided by Websites For Printers, you can help your print-buying customers send the right message to this influential population by providing them with the newest white paper, Marketing to Millennials. This white paper contains facts and statistics that highlight the millennial’s buying power, a mini-case study featuring the millennial messaging used by TOMS shoes, and information about how millennials view both digital and print communications. See for yourself! Here’s the Marketing to Millennials white paper as it appears on a Websites For Printers demo website.