Content and online ordering.
These are the two pillars we’ve highlighted in this email series that are the foundation for helping you sell more printing. To bring you up to speed, here’s everything we’ve covered in this series:
So, where do you go from here?
You take what you’ve learned these past several weeks, and you get going on selling more printing.
How to Sell More Printing in 3 Simple Steps
When you need to grow your print business, here’s the three-step rundown of how you can sell more printing:
1. Invite Your Print Buyers in with Content
Create connections and build relationships and trust through consistent, relevant content on your website, through email and social media, and direct mail. Partner with the necessary people to get this done. Why? Because it’s the essential invitation you need to welcome your prospects and customers into ultimately placing an order with your company.
2. Give them the Necessary Tools to Do Business with You Online
Provide the e-commerce and online ordering solutions your print buyers are looking for.
3. Refuse to Let Your Print Company Stand Still
Once you have your content and online ordering solutions in place, don’t stop there!
A couple of months back, we talked about how to tell if your print business was stuck in a rut.
Recognizing you’re stuck isn’t as easy as realizing you’re viewing the world upside down like a turtle. Instead, it’s disguised by thoughts of “this is the way we’ve always done it,” or “it worked last [month, year, decade], it should work again.”
You can avoid any potential ruts by learning to expect and anticipate change.
Expect Changes
Imagine this scenario for a second:
A wife comes to her husband and says, “I feel like I’m alone in all this – like we’ve lost our connection and are starting to grow apart. It doesn’t feel like you even know me anymore or understand my needs.”
Now, if this were your husband or wife, more than likely you’d hear that as the red flag that it is and put in the necessary effort to study your spouse, learn how to connect better, and meet the needs they’re expressing.
But, how do you think it’d go over if either in words (or attitude or actions), you expressed something like this, “That’s not true! I told you I loved you the day I married you. If anything changes, I’ll let you know.”?
Yeah, pretty cringe-worthy, right?
Here’s the deal: While you may think you’re showing your print buyers how much you appreciate them and how you’re meeting their needs, it’s not about what you think you’re doing, it’s about how they feel you’re meeting their needs.
Printers can miss out on what their print buyers are really looking for (and miss out on the sales that go with it) when they think things like:
- “They don’t need to order online. They can just email us.”
- “If people need printing, they stop by the shop or give us a call. Sure, business has slowed down, but that’s just because the industry has slowed. This is the way we’ve been doing it for years, and it works for us.”
- “We’re printers. We print. So, why should we spend our time marketing through social media, email, or content on our website?”
But, what if the focus was shifted to instead seek out ways to meet their needs by continually asking yourself and your customers questions like:
- How could I make ordering printing more convenient for you?
- Would it be helpful to you to be able to design your print projects online without paying for a designer?
- We could help you keep your print costs down across franchises by helping get everyone who orders printing on the same page through a private label website? Would this be of interest to you?
The results could be staggering!
Look for ways to keep your business momentum going by not allowing your business to become stagnant or stand still. What solutions are you currently not offering to your print buyers but should be to meet their needs?
Invite them in with content, give them the necessary tools to order online from you, and continually learn new ways to expand to meet their needs:
That’s how you sell more printing.
