How do I go about creating a USP or a 30 second commercial? Are there
any books specific to the printing indusrty to help me create the 30
second commercial. Are there any consultants to help me? The printing
and the support, I and my staff give our customers, I feel is unique.
My customeers tell me it is, but what they say is not different then
what other printers say. It may be that we really do it and not just
say it.
Michael, go to this website take a look and then call Peter or
Tom at 916.554.7555 Sacramento, CA We are able to produce
what we call an infoshow that will knock your lights out.
I don’t doubt that you have a set of unique customers that would sing your prpraises. however, maybe the value isn’t so much what you do for them as who they are. In other words, what are the common denominators about your customers. Once you discover that, you will be able to to define your organization based up on their needs. Then, when the CEO says “who are you?”, you can respond with something like “I provide “insert customer segment or industry here” increased revenue through integrated marketing services. In short, I am committed to your industry Mr. CEO and have proven it time and time again. Examples include….
I don’t think you need a book necessarily. I do think you need to start with an audit of your current customers and determine who the best ones are and what they have in common. Once you have determined your target market and named them, you can begin positioning yourself with them and otehr prospects that are similar.
I think your comments about the “elevator speech” are indicative of what is wrong with the printing industry today. I spent 12 years at Xerox, and one of the things that was constantly emphasized was the elevator speech. In fact, Xerox would have their reps practice this speech in front of the managers, and prizes were awarded for the best ones.
I would venture to say that a majority of sales reps in the printing industry do not call on “C level” executives. A “chicken and egg” sort of mentality is at work here, as I can’t say whether the reps are unable to call at that level, or if they could call at that level, could they make a compelling argument about their particular value proposition. BTW, I think the reps themselves are really the value differentiator in today’s market, especially when selling print, which a buyer can basically get the same thing for the same price or less at any other printing company.
Print sales people need to commit to improving themselves, assuming of course, that they are the primary value differentiator. I almost always call at the “C level” whenever I can, and if I can’t, I’m doing everything I can to try to move up to the “C level”. In order to do this, a rep has to have the confidence and the ability to be able to bring value to the discussion that a business decision-maker doesn’t already have at his/her disposal. When people ask me what I do, I tell them that I am a business process consultant, or a marketing problem-solver.
What that means is that I have to have the ability to get in front of a decision-maker, be able to “tease out” those issues which are causing the most friction in the organization, and have the ability to comprehend both the problem and possible solutions. Print sales people don’t typically operate this way, and many of them will be unable to operate this way. Those who show potential will need to be mentored and trained in this way of selling. Once they are trained, the management of our industry will then have to understand that these sorts of sales cycles are long, but the potential payoffs are great. Many of the future reps will come from outside the industry. Companies like Xerox, HP, IBM, and Accenture understand this way of selling, and people who come from these companies will have substantial training and experience as true solution-oriented consultants.
Unfortunately, I believe few of those folks currently selling print will be able to make the leap. Between the rise of on-line print selling (VistaPrint, etc.) at the low end of the market, and solution selling at the high end, traditional print sold by commissioned direct reps will be squeezed by a giant market vise.
I think your publication does an excellent job of communicating this sea change, and educating the traditional print sales reps on the changes they will need to make in themselves to be successful today and in the future.
JOBZ! (the printing sales force automation – CRM software that we sell) asks the following questions as part of developing a strategic account profile, or in connection with challenging an account held by another rep:
Company Name:
Primary Contact:
Why this Account Should Be Assigned to Me:
Describe Our Current Relationship with this Company:
To have a 30 second commercial in your holster ready to fire is very important.
Needs to sound confident, be very direct and to the point.but don’t scare them. You get aprox 30 seconds to grab and hold the attention of the person you are addressing.From there you had better know what you are talking about. And know when to shut up and listen. I’ve info barfed on many people in my early years,cost me many opportunities.
Not every situation calls for the same commerical that’s why Having a different commericals for different situations is KEY!!
Passion drives Success.
I am a member of a Net Working Group that helps educate The members on
Here are some interesting statistics for you to chew on:
According to Fast Company magazine, the average consumer is exposed to 3,000 ads per day.
According to abcnews.com there are over 170 billion emails circulating worldwide each day.
According to NYC research firm Basex the average American worker loses 2.1 hours per day in interruptions
How many phone calls do our average buyers get?
How many voicemails?
Here’s the bottom line, its real easy for us to become lost in the sauce if our message isn’t compelling.
My suggestion is to look at this from a few different angles:
1) What are businesses looking for?
*More sales/More profit
*Happy Customers/Happy Employees
*Greater productivity/quicker to market turn times
*Better employee retention/better image in marketplace
etc
2) What would aggravate the hell out of you if you were a buyer?
*Quality
*Deadlines
*Poor Communication
*Surprise Costs
*Managing Multiple Vendors
*Dealing With Internal Clients
etc
So, what is it that you do that speaks to those things that we know are on our buyer’s minds?
And one last thing, don’t give them an overview of every piece of iron you have on the floor unless you want to sound like everyone else out there.
If you were to ask a group of people how long it takes to make a first impression, some say 10 seconds, some say 3 seconds and you will have conflicting opinions.
One thing everyone will agree on is how long it takes to undo a bad first impression.
I applaude you for taking the time to do this . . . what you say and how you say it are important elements of the brand we call YOU!
Respectfully stepping down from my soapbox
Paul Castain
Consolidated Graphics
Excellent blog post. I just came across your site and wished to say that we have actually really liked reading your blog posts. Any way I will be signing up to your rss and I’m guessing you’ll publish again quickly.
January 19th, 2009 at 12:44 PM
How do I go about creating a USP or a 30 second commercial? Are there
any books specific to the printing indusrty to help me create the 30
second commercial. Are there any consultants to help me? The printing
and the support, I and my staff give our customers, I feel is unique.
My customeers tell me it is, but what they say is not different then
what other printers say. It may be that we really do it and not just
say it.
January 19th, 2009 at 12:58 PM
Michael, go to this website take a look and then call Peter or
Tom at 916.554.7555 Sacramento, CA We are able to produce
what we call an infoshow that will knock your lights out.
Tom….916.591.9383
January 19th, 2009 at 1:09 PM
I don’t doubt that you have a set of unique customers that would sing your prpraises. however, maybe the value isn’t so much what you do for them as who they are. In other words, what are the common denominators about your customers. Once you discover that, you will be able to to define your organization based up on their needs. Then, when the CEO says “who are you?”, you can respond with something like “I provide “insert customer segment or industry here” increased revenue through integrated marketing services. In short, I am committed to your industry Mr. CEO and have proven it time and time again. Examples include….
I don’t think you need a book necessarily. I do think you need to start with an audit of your current customers and determine who the best ones are and what they have in common. Once you have determined your target market and named them, you can begin positioning yourself with them and otehr prospects that are similar.
January 19th, 2009 at 1:44 PM
I think your comments about the “elevator speech” are indicative of what is wrong with the printing industry today. I spent 12 years at Xerox, and one of the things that was constantly emphasized was the elevator speech. In fact, Xerox would have their reps practice this speech in front of the managers, and prizes were awarded for the best ones.
I would venture to say that a majority of sales reps in the printing industry do not call on “C level” executives. A “chicken and egg” sort of mentality is at work here, as I can’t say whether the reps are unable to call at that level, or if they could call at that level, could they make a compelling argument about their particular value proposition. BTW, I think the reps themselves are really the value differentiator in today’s market, especially when selling print, which a buyer can basically get the same thing for the same price or less at any other printing company.
Print sales people need to commit to improving themselves, assuming of course, that they are the primary value differentiator. I almost always call at the “C level” whenever I can, and if I can’t, I’m doing everything I can to try to move up to the “C level”. In order to do this, a rep has to have the confidence and the ability to be able to bring value to the discussion that a business decision-maker doesn’t already have at his/her disposal. When people ask me what I do, I tell them that I am a business process consultant, or a marketing problem-solver.
What that means is that I have to have the ability to get in front of a decision-maker, be able to “tease out” those issues which are causing the most friction in the organization, and have the ability to comprehend both the problem and possible solutions. Print sales people don’t typically operate this way, and many of them will be unable to operate this way. Those who show potential will need to be mentored and trained in this way of selling. Once they are trained, the management of our industry will then have to understand that these sorts of sales cycles are long, but the potential payoffs are great. Many of the future reps will come from outside the industry. Companies like Xerox, HP, IBM, and Accenture understand this way of selling, and people who come from these companies will have substantial training and experience as true solution-oriented consultants.
Unfortunately, I believe few of those folks currently selling print will be able to make the leap. Between the rise of on-line print selling (VistaPrint, etc.) at the low end of the market, and solution selling at the high end, traditional print sold by commissioned direct reps will be squeezed by a giant market vise.
I think your publication does an excellent job of communicating this sea change, and educating the traditional print sales reps on the changes they will need to make in themselves to be successful today and in the future.
January 19th, 2009 at 1:50 PM
JOBZ! (the printing sales force automation – CRM software that we sell) asks the following questions as part of developing a strategic account profile, or in connection with challenging an account held by another rep:
Company Name:
Primary Contact:
Why this Account Should Be Assigned to Me:
Describe Our Current Relationship with this Company:
Company’s Annual Sales: $ Fiscal Year End Month:
Describe the Company’s Industry & Marketplace:
Number of Employees:
Names of Divisions:
Number of Facilities & Locations:
Major Products & Recent Product Introductions:
Recent Financial Performance, Stock Price Trend, Mergers & Acquisitions, etc. :
Top Priorities of CEO:
Primary Business Objectives:
Strategies in Place to Achieve these Objectives:
Critical Success Factors:
Performance Indicators:
Issues & Challenges:
Products & Services We Offer That They Need:
Their Annual Spend in these Segments: $
Our Potential Annual Sales: $
Where is their Pain?
Who is Our Competition?
What is Their Incentive to Change Suppliers?
Ease of Implementation:
Seasonality of Work:
Profitability of Work:
Sales Cycle, Accelerators:
Org Chart (Formal) and Informal (Political):
Short Term & Long Term Goals for this Account:
Team & Resources Needed, Management Participation Required:
January 19th, 2009 at 5:53 PM
To have a 30 second commercial in your holster ready to fire is very important.
Needs to sound confident, be very direct and to the point.but don’t scare them. You get aprox 30 seconds to grab and hold the attention of the person you are addressing.From there you had better know what you are talking about. And know when to shut up and listen. I’ve info barfed on many people in my early years,cost me many opportunities.
Not every situation calls for the same commerical that’s why Having a different commericals for different situations is KEY!!
Passion drives Success.
I am a member of a Net Working Group that helps educate The members on
January 20th, 2009 at 7:33 AM
Here are some interesting statistics for you to chew on:
According to Fast Company magazine, the average consumer is exposed to 3,000 ads per day.
According to abcnews.com there are over 170 billion emails circulating worldwide each day.
According to NYC research firm Basex the average American worker loses 2.1 hours per day in interruptions
How many phone calls do our average buyers get?
How many voicemails?
Here’s the bottom line, its real easy for us to become lost in the sauce if our message isn’t compelling.
My suggestion is to look at this from a few different angles:
1) What are businesses looking for?
*More sales/More profit
*Happy Customers/Happy Employees
*Greater productivity/quicker to market turn times
*Better employee retention/better image in marketplace
etc
2) What would aggravate the hell out of you if you were a buyer?
*Quality
*Deadlines
*Poor Communication
*Surprise Costs
*Managing Multiple Vendors
*Dealing With Internal Clients
etc
So, what is it that you do that speaks to those things that we know are on our buyer’s minds?
And one last thing, don’t give them an overview of every piece of iron you have on the floor unless you want to sound like everyone else out there.
If you were to ask a group of people how long it takes to make a first impression, some say 10 seconds, some say 3 seconds and you will have conflicting opinions.
One thing everyone will agree on is how long it takes to undo a bad first impression.
I applaude you for taking the time to do this . . . what you say and how you say it are important elements of the brand we call YOU!
Respectfully stepping down from my soapbox
Paul Castain
Consolidated Graphics
July 26th, 2010 at 9:02 AM
Excellent blog post. I just came across your site and wished to say that we have actually really liked reading your blog posts. Any way I will be signing up to your rss and I’m guessing you’ll publish again quickly.