Print Solutions Magazine

“No” is undoubtedly the worst reaction a distributor can hear from a customer or prospect. But sometimes an even more troublesome reaction is, “I didn’t know you could do that.”

Keeping current with changes in technology and trends in the marketplace is difficult enough for a sales rep representing a single company. The challenge can be daunting for the sales rep representing several manufacturers—and even more daunting for the rep selling products and services other than printing. Selling software and advertising specialties can be especially challenging. And these challenges can be magnified if a rep and the manufacturers are physically distant.

An obvious sign of the challenge is the buyer who says, “I didn’t know you did that.” Even if you haven’t heard that dreaded sentence, the fact remains that learning and communicating changes in manufacturers’ capabilities is an important and ongoing responsibility.

Keep in mind that a “capability” goes beyond a product or production process. Non-production capabilities have an important role in sales and customer satisfaction. These capabilities may involve billing within 24 hours of shipment, expedited samples, extended hours of customer service operation, buyer education or even special marking of shipping cartons. Tell customers about these capabilities. Don’t take the position, “If you don’t see it, ask for it.”

Industry changes are occurring so frequently that many salespeople, their organizations, and their customers would be well-served by the establishment of a formal capabilities communication process. Unless this is done, valuable information tends to fall through the cracks, especially when there are personnel changes.

Arrange a meeting with manufacturers every six months or so for the sole purpose of discussing changes in capabilities in production, prepress, shipping and other areas. Don’t be satisfied with a discussion that is confined to equipment specifications. How does the equipment benefit customers? New machinery that runs faster than the equipment it replaced may not provide a perceived benefit to customers. On the other hand, the addition of a customer service rep may be viewed as an important benefit.

The second part of the capabilities communication process involves customers and prospects. This requires planning. Your capabilities and those of your suppliers must be expressed in terms that are relevant to the needs and interests of individual customers.

Maybe you believe you already do a good job communicating capabilities, but “buyers either don’t listen or don’t remember.” That perception may be accurate. Information may not be remembered if there’s no immediate use for it. But sometimes a sales rep expresses a capability in terms of a manufacturing process rather than a product—and most buyers think in terms of the latter. I’ve witnessed a rep glowingly describe “a great letterpress operation.” The next week, that same buyer gave an order for pocket folders to another supplier. Inexperienced buyers may not associate “perfing on press” to coupons or coupon books.

This scenario is exacerbated by customers’ personnel changes. It’s not an exaggeration to say that it’s a new account when a new buying contact appears on the scene. A change in buyers can be either a threat or an opportunity, depending upon a sales rep’s reaction during the first 30 days.

Our organization recently conducted an extensive survey for a garment company that sells to the advertising specialty market. The garment company has been in business for decades. In large part, it differentiates itself on the basis of its liberal policies regarding pant hemming, embroidery, and restocking fees. Executives at the company said, “Everyone in the industry knows us because of those policies.” Those policies are not mentioned in the garment company’s catalog.

The survey indicated an appalling lack of knowledge about these alleged competitive differentiators by ad specialty brokers and distributors, a lost opportunity on behalf of everyone in the supply chain, including the end user. The moral of this story: Assume nothing. Organize your communications about your capabilities and those of your suppliers, and don’t fear repetition.