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Solutions June 2006
Mailbag
Editor’s
note: The following letter
was part of a discussion among
distributors and manufacturers
that took place on DMIA’s
members-only broadcast email system.
The discussion centered on innovation
and DMIA’s Community of
Achievers.
Use
DMIA Resources to Make Connections
over the Web
I
had the opportunity to hear John
Seely Brown, former chief scientist
of Xerox Corporation and the director
of its Palo Alto Research Center
(PARC), speak a few weeks ago.
He has written about the decline
of companies: the average life
expectancy of S&P 500 companies
in 1925 was 75 years, but in 2004
it was only 15 years. Brown relates
this decline to the lack of innovation,
and thinks part of the problem
is our inability to see new patterns.
He says: “The best way to
look forward is to start looking
around. The future is already
here, just not evenly distributed.”
He also said, “Social software
that connects people, enhances
awareness, supports the vetting
of ideas and builds community
would be helpful.”
I thought his speech was great.
Among several examples of social
software he mentioned were wikis.
Here’s an article about
wikis if you are unaware: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_23/b3886141.htm.
Imagine
my surprise when I subsequently
learned about DMIA’s Community
of Achievers. It gives you the
ability to connect with others
in a social way and it focuses
on an industry leader’s
specific best practice each month.
The best practice is presented
along with suggestions and challenges.
You can ask questions and make
comments at your leisure. It’s
like TiVo learning. Gail O’Roke’s
podcast was great and it came
with a detailed explanation of
the spreadsheet she uses for her
discovery analysis. Greg Gill’s
June best practice looks really
interesting.
Huge
numbers of young people are online
right now creating a social fabric
that supports collaborative idea
development. Technological innovations
like blogs, wikis and Google are
being used because they are fast
and effective. Like the fax and
e-mail, if we as an association
don’t adopt this tool we
will be left behind.
In
Orlando I heard two people lament
our industry’s inability
to attract young people, particularly
in sales. The digital color printing
opportunity right now is huge!
Print driven by information technology
is what I grew up doing in my
father’s forms distributorship!
Make the connection people! This
Community of Achievers not only
helps drive collaborative vision
and innovation, it creates an
exciting social fabric attractive
to young folks looking to make
a difference.
The
Community of Achievers is a tool
that we, the members, can use
to drive real innovation into
our companies and our clients’
companies. All it takes is participation,
and it’s free with your
DMIA membership. Without your
participation this will be nothing
more than a sad commentary on
the membership. “System
doesn’t make man great,
man makes system great.”
– Confucius.
Steve
Visio
Vice
President and COO
Executive
Data Control
Springfield,
Mo.
Dirk
Beveridge of 4th Generation Systems
and DMIA have partnered to bring
members a unique opportunity to
share and learn from each other.
The Community of Achievers is
an online collaboration tool that
lets you share business practices,
learn and exchange ideas. Registration
is free for DMIA members only.
Go to www.DMIA.org and click on
“Community of Achievers.”
Editor’s
note: The following letter
was part of a discussion among
distributors and manufacturers
that took place on DMIA’s
members-only broadcast email system.
The discussion centered on prospecting
in person or over the phone.
What
are the Dos and Don’ts of
Prospecting?
I
have a huge list of prospects
and would like to spend more time
on the phone prospecting. I have
always been a big believer in
on-site cold calls and continue
to do so because of the enormous
benefit of actually being there
and making observations. But there
are many companies that make it
impossible to get any information
when going to their locations.
Sometimes, there is nothing but
a front door and a phone with
nobody present and not even a
box to put a brochure in (and
say a prayer). I would like to
start a discussion on phone prospecting
techniques and any educational
aids that may be available. I
have reasonable success right
now, but it occurred to me that
perfecting this art could be very
profitable. Some thoughts on the
subject?
Robb
Tipton
Owner
Star
Business Products
Kemah,
Texas
Research,
Research, Research
I
stopped using the on-site cold
calling method years ago. Instead,
I research prospects online
first before making the first
phone call to determine whether
it’s worth my time. Obviously,
getting the correct name is
the first step, then I mix it
up with multiple phone calls,
personalized letters and direct
mail. Once I get the correct
person on the phone, my only
goal is to get the face-to-face
appointment. I try to sell them
NOTHING. Just get the appointment
is what I tell my reps. The
phone call consists of no more
than 45 seconds of introduction
and confirmation that I’m
speaking to the right person.
It’s short and sweet using
something different to spark
their interest. The hardest
thing, unfortunately, is dedicating
the time to do this. If done
regularly, you will have a fresh
supply of new accounts.
Alan
Gorberg
President
GGA
Associates Inc.
Prospect
Park, Pa.
Get
a Professional
The
problem with doing phone prospecting
yourself is that when you find
a new client, you are busy with
implementing them as a customer
and the phone prospecting goes
out the window. It is better
to have someone dedicated to
this whether it is a professional
phone prospector or someone
else you already have on staff.
Kathleen
M. Brennan
Owner
ProForma
Info Pros
Galveston,
Texas
Note:
DMIA’s Print University
offers an e-learning module on
prospecting entitled “Prospecting,
There’s Plenty of Gold in
the Document Management Marketplace.”
DMIA’s bookstore also sells
an audio book on telephone prospecting
entitled, “How to Manage
Your Telephone for Bigger Profits!”
with product code AC14.
Correction
In
the April 2006 Top 100 Manufacturers
issue of Print Solutions, due
to a calculation error we omitted
the following information:
1.)
Printegra should be ranked as
#1 in FY2005 Cut Sheet sales with
$40.1 million.
2.)
Printegra should be ranked #9
in FY2005 Paper-Based sales with
$25.95 million.
