New ways to sell print in a new environment
Are you fed up with the traditionalists?
Personally, I have had enough of the sales messages that I keep seeing that pretend that nothing has happened. Every day I receive e-mails and social media messages that I see from companies that say they are open for business as normal. But these messages ignore the fact that normal has disappeared.
If we want to sell print successfully in 2021, we need adopt a new set of values. However, we also need to accept that it is still OK to sell. Businesses need to survive during a pandemic. Our businesses have a right to take action to survive. And that means selling. We should also accept that, if we are providing the right solutions to our customers, we are also helping other businesses to survive. Our customers need print to drive their results.
With that in mind, let’s look at my three rules to successful print selling in 2021. The first rule is vital.
Sell with empathy
It is fine to sell. But we should recognise that our prospects may be hurting, both on a business and a personal level. We should acknowledge this rather than assuming that everything is OK. In the case of business problems, we may be able to help our prospects with new ideas. For those who are suffering on a personal level, we may be able to do something for them. This won’t be on a business level, but we should always do what we can to help others in exceptional times.
In times to come people will remember who displayed empathy. They are much more likely to remain loyal to those who helped them in tough time.
Assuming we are approaching our prospects in the right way, it is time to adopt my next rule. It’s not new but it is particularly relevant right now.
Stop selling print
We have the opportunity to acquire a lot of new customers at the moment. Businesses that have never bought print before need social distancing signage to be able to operate legally. Others have moved from retail to delivery and need packaging. But these companies have never dealt with printers before.
The temptation is to keep to our comfort zones and to talk about our presses and processes. It is easy to discuss our quality and service. But these new customers don’t want to hear about any of this. They are facing new business challenges and need solutions that they can manage quickly and easily.
But if we don’t sell print, what should we sell instead?
Sell solutions and results
The new generation of print customers don’t want print. They want to build and expand their businesses. That is what we have to sell to win their business.
Here’s an example: don’t sell them a flyer. Instead, sell them more repeat business. The flyer is an offer for a discount if people make a repeat order of a certain value by a certain date. This is a perfect example of print driving more business (and it is measurable).
There are two ways to make this sale easier. Firstly, have a case study which shows how this has performed with. Similar business. Secondly, make sure you don’t just offer the printing. Offer the design and copywriting too. These new customers want an easy one stop shop, so make sure you have the right business partnerships in place.
You can sell print very successfully in 2021
However, it is vital to be creative and, most importantly, to move on from being traditional!
