Print Solutions Magazine

In April, 162 attendees gathered at DMIA’s Spring Management Conference (SMC) to discuss business strategies, develop partnerships and exchange ideas at the Doral Golf Resort and Spa in Miami. Many left with a lot more.

“Several of the sessions really made me rethink what we’re doing,” said Frank McMullan, national sales manager at FormStore Incorporated, Fenton, Mo. “I’m going to try to invoke some different sales strategies when I go back, and test them out. I can tweak what I heard to fit our company.”

Sales and sales team management were among the most popular topics at the educational retreat held April 26-29, and most attendees mentioned a sales tip or revelation they planned to implement.

Rick Farrell’s session, “Implementing a No-Nonsense Sales Plan and Strategy,” sparked a lively discussion about the best ways to reach customers and streamline the sales process. Farrell, of Selling Dynamics LLC, a sales management training firm, encouraged attendees to adopt a prospect-centric sales philosophy instead of a product-centric one. “Rick tore apart everything we were taught about sales and flipped it all backwards, and I took a lot of notes,” said Beth Ann Scullin, marketing director at FileAmerica/EnvelopeAmerica LLC, and one of the DMIA Region 2 directors. “After his presentation, I went and called my dad, who’s been in sales for 30 years. I was just really amazed and I think we’ll change some things.”

Georgene Hansen-Witmer, executive vice president at Sterling Business Forms, White City, Ore., and Region 6 Director, agreed with Scullin. “He made you think outside the box about what you are doing and what you could be doing.”

For many attendees, the conference was an opportunity to assess and reflect on ways to better meet the industry’s upcoming challenges. Steve Himes, owner of the Normandy Group International LLC, Dayton, Ohio, and a first-time SMC attendee, said, “it was a nice refresher of our basic values. It was very informative. I think the positioning session [Larry Mersereau’s branding presentation] will really adjust what we do. We had a business plan, but we’ve gotten away from it quite a bit. I’ll go back to the office and give it a review.”

DMIA President Tim Mehl, CDC, CEO of Dispatch, Erie, Pa., said DMIA’s Board of Directors was looking for members’ input on ways the association can establish a clear identity that differentiates DMIA in the marketplace, design a new model to productively connect manufacturers and distributors, and develop a new association financial model.

At the opening general session, Larry Mersereau, of PromoPower Presentations and Consulting, stressed the need for companies to adopt 1- and 5-year business plans. The 1-year plan enables a company to find out what’s working for them and eliminate what’s not to reach the goals in the 5-year plan, he said. “In times of turbulent change, the most dangerous thing you can do is to continue doing things the same way.”

Through examples that evoked laughter and chuckles among the audience, Mersereau said companies:

• Must position themselves as unique and different.

• Must create powerful positioning statements that define their target audience, products and services, benefits, competitive positions (why your company is a unique option) and personalities.

• Have memorable tag lines such as “The Paper Products Price Leader.” A tag line should explain a company’s positioning statement so that anyone can understand it immediately.

“Your tag line and your elevator speech are two powerful branding tools,” he said. “When you have competitors who offer the same, or virtually the same products and services you offer, you have to take every opportunity to differentiate yourself. If you’re not one of the first two to three names that come to mind when your prospect is ready to buy, you’re not even in the game.”

Roger Courson, senior vice president at the International Business Solutions Alliance, Indianapolis, said until eight months ago, the company featured globes on business cards. “Then, Larry Mesereau said, ‘you have to get rid of those graphics everyone has on their products!’ He mentioned globes. It was real vindication that we did the right thing.”

Popular speaker Dirk Beveridge, principal of The Beveridge Consulting Group, Barrington, Ill., introduced a new service called Community of Achievers in partnership with DMIA. The service allows DMIA members to listen to interviews with DMIA and other business leaders on successful strategies, exchange ideas based on the interviews, and adopt best practices introduced every month.

Attendees at the Young President’s Forum talked about several topics such as working with ad agencies vs. bringing ad work in-house, communicating with manufacturers, setting up CSR programs, hiring and training CSRs, hiring tests and ways to keep younger employees motivated. The discussion was led by Jay Vento, president of Proforma Spectrum Graphics, West Caldwell, N.J., and Steven Reiss, president of Business Stationery Inc., Cleveland.

Sending direct mail and using webinars are some of the ways manufacturers can inform distributors about their products, said Paul Edwards, CDC, president of FormStore Incorporated. Edwards, who accepted the 2006 Member of the Year at the conference, and Mike West, CFC, national sales manager of label products at Ward/Kraft Inc., based in Fort Scott, Kan., led a discussion on “Increasing Distributors’ Mindshare.” West said the manufacturer reaches prospects through WK Live and WK Coffee sessions online training programs, collaboration with distributors on potentially patentable items, and email campaigns that distributors can forward to their customers. Plant tours, newsletters, statement stuffers, trade shows and seminars are other ways to reach out to distributors, they said.

The Sales Manager Roundtable, led by Randy Eubanks of Suncoast Marketing Inc., Fort Lauderdale, Fla., provided an opportunity for attendees to discuss how they handle the responsibilities of sales teams. The true definition of a “sales manager” proved elusive, illustrating how varied the job description is.

At the DMIA’s annual Awards Ceremony, 2006 President’s Award winner Gail O’Roke, CDC, president of Independent Business Group, Hayward, Calif., and DMIA’s 2002-03 president, thanked friends and colleagues at DMIA. O’Roke, who now is Region 6 director, said that over the years, she had learned many things from DMIA members that helped her succeed. After accepting the 2006 Member of the Year award, Paul Edwards talked about his early years at FormStore Incorporated and thanked DMIA for creating opportunities to meet and collaborate with other companies. The manufacturer has planned many major long-term projects with unique objectives, he said. Each speech by the award winners was preceded by a photo presentation and reflections from peers, co-workers and family.

Dave Wandling, CDC, vice president of marketing at The Flesh Co., St. Louis, and Stuart Boyar, president of the Cooley Group Inc., Rochester, N.Y., accepted awards on behalf of their companies, which won recognition for 60 years of continuous membership. Both companies were among the eight firms that met in Chicago and created the association in 1946.

The Publications Committee, Print Solutions Expo Marketing Committee and Education Committee held meetings where attendees gave feedback on DMIA publications, events and programs, and suggested ways to improve them. The Health Care SIG held a meeting to discuss latest products and trends in the medical industry. The PERF/XML Committee talked about technology-related developments.

Optional events included a group dinner at A Fish Called Avalon, a restaurant in South Beach, golf on the treacherous “Blue Monster” course, one of five at the Doral, and tennis. Sponsors for the conference included C.E. Printed Products, DealerLabel, Discount Labels, Ennis Inc., Independent Business Group, Lancer Label, PrintXcel, TopForm Software and Wisco Envelope.

The 2007 Spring Management Conference will be held May 2-5 at La Quinta Resort and Club, Palm Springs, Calif.

View photos from this event.