The Xplor View - October 2008 - (Page 11)

How do you effectively win new business? Winning new business is the mantra for all print companies. The usual method is to employ new salespeople and send them out on the road, with a vague brief to win new accounts. The new recruit will probably have promised during the interview that they have existing business they can bring in immediately. More often than not, this business is not forthcoming. So they are dismissed, and another is sought, and the likelihood is that they will fail too. Successful businesses break out of this cycle, and see winning new accounts as a project that requires careful consideration and planning, and can often involve people throughout the company, not just the sales team. There are a number of areas to consider! Be honest with yourselves The first thing is to identify where your niche is. What exactly are you good at as an organisation? And what are you not so good at? Get the sales team together and run a SWOT (Strengths/Weaknesses/Opportunities/Threats) analysis. Be honest with yourselves during this process—there is nothing to be gained from pretending that you are strong where you are not. Get someone to facilitate such a session—and remember the rules of brainstorming—just list everything that people offer up—no matter how silly it may seem—do not get down to the detail of any points until everything is written down and out in the open. Then discuss the ideas raised, and agree a plan of action. Once you have identified your strengths, you can begin to play to them. Study your customer list The next step is to take a long hard look at your customer list. Run out some management reports—look at how much each client is spending and also how profitable they are for you. Where do you as an organisation perform well? Can you narrow it down by industry; by the type of work? What opportunities can you see for cross-selling and up-selling? It is often much easier to win new work from customers you already have a relationship with, than to find completely new prospects. Often we forget to network within customers, or to ask for additional opportunities. An old mantra of mine is “if you don’t ask, you don’t get”—look to move around different departments within a company, networking with new contacts, seeking out new opportunities. The installation of new equipment and software is a good basis on which to hang this approach—if up until now you have only been a litho business for example, but you have installed a colour digital or high volume mono press, then look for variable data work from people you already know—direct mail campaigns, staff communications, payroll requirements, and such like projects. If you have a successful application within a specific market, look to promote it to similar companies. Consider whether it could be adapted for other markets as well. Do some mock ups to present to new prospects—remember that the print medium is about touch and feel. People will warm to a proposal more quickly if they can understand the idea and see a potential finished item. Marketing and PR Do you do any? Is it a dedicated function within the company, or something people get round to when they have a moment? How do you look for new leads? Whose responsibility is it? Does it happen? Word of mouth recommendations are undoubtedly the best leads that you can have, but sometimes work is required to find leads in other ways. Leaving it all to the sales people can mean they are spending more time trying to find prospects, than out talking to potential customers. 11 Issue 6 October 2008 The VIEW Journal Xplor European Edition

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Xplor View - October 2008

The Xplor View -� October 2008 Contents TPE Master Class: Three Ways to Tame your Print-to-Mail Workflow Right Now Mission Impossible: Embracing Environmental Concerns TPE Master Class: Implementing a Lean Working Environment Improving Business Processes Yields Award-Winning Business Performance How Do� You Effectively Win New Business Writing a Marketing Plan to Win New Printing Clients How Buying Strategies Have Affected How the Industry Sells Let's Talk About Integrated Customer Communications Management:�Transpromo...It Takes a Village! Knowledge Management Part 3 XDU: Leading the Education Revolution Kodak plus Xplor equals XDU Around the World Xplor Europe News:�Short News Items for the Xplor UK�Programme and Europe News

The Xplor View - October 2008

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