Renewing Sales Revenue!

Listen to Debbie's audio version: 

By Debbie Nicholson, Think-to-INK!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbie-nicholson-24a53627/

In my last article Print for Profit, I stressed the need to gain and retain profit by ceasing unnecessary and deep discounting just because a customer asked!  Boy, I’m glad we got that out of the way.

Now, let’s talk about Sales Revenue.  Well, this is easy enough to define, it is the sum of all money generated by your printing business, without considering any part of the total that has been or will be used for expenses. 

I’m not trying to drain your brain here, but let’s take a look with a front-row focus on how you can increase revenue and profit. (just a few)

1. Moving beyond your geographical comfort zone can be a rewarding approach to establishing new printing opportunities not currently available in that area.  Road trip!
2. Connecting with companies that don’t currently provide your unique print production processes (i.e., wide-format, signage, installations, on-site surveys as examples) would increase revenue and add additional sales support to your current line-up.
3. Make sure your pricing aligns with the practice of Good, Better, Best!  We often lose a project because we don’t offer customers an opportunity to choose the printing and manufacturing process that meets their budgets.
4. Introducing or reviving your sales channel can drive awareness while boosting revenue.  Also, recording videos of live projects while printing, cutting, special finishing, or installing offers a free ride into your world that is educational and exciting for current customers and prospects.
5. Motivate the sales team by reworking their compensation package.  Many sales compensation packages are outdated (meaning -- they need immediate attention).   If you want more, then give them more!  Incentivize!
6. Bring back old customers!  Why did they leave to begin with – do you even know?  Make it a priority to walk the list through with inside sales and customer service.  Create a calendared plan to reconnect and re-engage. Revenue doesn’t have a use-by-date.
7. I’m screaming now!  Sales reps should never, ever, never visit a customer or prospect without high-quality printed project samples to discuss and review in detail.  This allows sales to bond with customers while educating them about informative manufacturing capabilities.  Customers will never forget that they were introduced to something important and valuable.

Mental gymnastics:

Printing can be is a mental and physically draining line of business.  So, anything you can do to work in advance and not in arrears will free your mind of constant worry.  Ensuring your company is organized and structured in the end-to-end processes will give you peace that adding additional revenue will be met with high quality and on-time manufacturing -- and delivery. 

If your sales and customer service force continually experience inferior quality and missed deadlines, a downward spiral will parade before your eyes.

In closing:

Looking back…while our business was transitioning from the analog world of Color Separations into the world of Wide-Format Printing, our numbers were down, and we were scared to death.  While meeting with our CPA during a quarterly review, I still remember her sitting across the conference table, looking up at us; she paused and said:  All you need is Sales!

Remember:  Be an Order Maker, Not an Order Taker!