NEWS
DMIA's TradeMart Returns to New York City Triumphantly
At the first TradeMart in New York City since 2002, more than 330 attendees gathered Wednesday at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square to participate in education sessions and visit more than 100 exhibitors' booths.
Neil Rosen, president of distributorship Brooke Business Forms & Supplies Inc., Morganville, N.J., cites the show's convenience and quality as reasons he decided to attend. "It's so little of my time. It cost me half a day of my time, but I got a lot out of it. And I came away a little charged," he says. "The education was super. You don't just go there to walk up and down aisles to look at products. I meet the manufacturers I deal with. I meet other distributors. We sit down. We talk. That's very important to me."
At one educational session, attendees heard about a Caribbean hotel chain that owns seven different properties, each designed for a different clientele. For instance, one hotel offers activities and services aimed at guests with families. Each property is distinct, but the company used a generic brochure to market all of them until Wise Business Forms, Alpharetta, Ga., offered an alternative. Travis Howe, vice president of sales, explained how the manufacturer's digital printing capabilities allow the hotels to personalize marketing materials. Potential guests answer questions about their interests on a web site. Wise then prints and mails a personalized brochure with variable text and images based on that information. The dynamic nature of variable printing eliminates inventory and "it gives the user the opportunity to keep the offer and services current," Howe says.
During the presentation "Commercial Printing Unwrapped," Greg Gill, president of distributorship Performance Press Inc., Orlando, told distributors how they could begin selling commercial printing. He cautioned attendees that selling commercial printing differs from selling traditional forms. The margins are generally smaller for commercial printing products. On the other hand, "The beauty of the commercial print market is that it isn't going away," he says.
Large, direct-selling manufacturers are difficult to compete with on long runs, Gill says, but distributors have many opportunities to sell short-to-medium runs. He recommended offering commercial printing to existing clients to get started. To be successful, it's necessary for distributors to educate themselves about commercial printing products, he says. Distributors should hire or partner with a graphic artist and work closely with manufacturers and paper houses. "You've got to have a manufacturer partner. You have to find that person," he says.
In another session, distributors Greg Gill; Robert O'Connell, president of Vanguard Direct, New York City, and a DMIA Board member; and Robert Sanchez, president of United Print Group, Long Island City, N.Y., spoke about how to get and maintain large accounts. Among their tips:
- Today's customers are much more sophisticated about the internet, and they quickly recognize whether you have a simple "brochure" web site or a more sophisticated, "custom, interactive" site. Often, end users will want your technology to be on a par with theirs, and they likely will have substantial IT resources. Even if your company is technologically more advanced, large clients tend to ask for sophisticated technology solutions beyond what they currently have.
- If you are seeking a $1 million account, it's probably going to be a $2 million or $3 million account if you succeed in getting it.
- Today, more than ever, price is extremely important to large accounts. Requests for quotes can be exhaustively detailed, requiring you to fill in hundreds of prices on Excel spreadsheets which often are created by "print consultants" who specialize in reducing print costs for large companies.
- You must demonstrate through cases studies how you saved money or increased efficiencies for other accounts.
- Your company must be financially secure. Demonstrate how you invest profits in your own firm.
In another educational session, Mike Weinzierl, president of distributorship Professional Graphic Communications, Pittsburgh, offered advice on running a successful direct mail campaign. The keys to a successful campaign include the mailing list, the offer and the mailing's design—in that order.
To emphasize the importance of the list, Weinzierl shared a case study: The Pennsylvania Sheriff's Association recently conducted a drive to increase membership. Its prospects included middle-aged, politically conservative individuals. In the past, the campaign generated approximately a 0.5 percent response rate. Weinzierl further targeted the list, adding prospects who voted in the last three elections, known as super-voters. The Association mailed to 400,000 prospects and received a 2.5 percent response rate, a five-fold increase. "If you mail to the right list with the right offer, you'll have successful results," Weinzierl says.
View photos from the New York TradeMart.
Ikon to End Some Document Services, Cut Jobs
Ikon Office Solutions Inc., Malvern, Pa., is cutting 1,500 jobs (5 percent of its work force) to reduce costs and is leaving the document services business because of limited profitability, the company said. Ikon said it also will cut costs by consolidating sites where it provides legal document printing and services from 82 to 65, and will sell its operations in Mexico except locations in Mexico City, Monterrey and Guadalajara. The company's business document services unit provided printing and document-management services for businesses that outsourced those chores. Such services have become a commodity offering limited profits, the company said. Legal document printing and coding, graphics and other services remain strategically important, it said.
Consolidated Graphics Completes Kelmscott Acquisition
Consolidated Graphics Inc., Houston, completed its acquisition of Kelmscott Communications LLC, a privately held provider of commercial printing services in five Midwest and West Coast states with annual sales of $100 million. Terms of the transaction weren't disclosed. The Kelmscott operations include Anderson Printing, Hollywood, Calif; CDS Publications, Medford, Ore.; Maximum Graphics, Minneapolis; Orange County Printing, Irvine, Calif; Printing Control Graphics, Seattle; Spangler Graphics, Kansas City; and Watermark Graphics, San Francisco.
Champion Industries 1Q Earnings Rise
Champion Industries Inc., Huntington, W. Va., reported that its first-quarter income increased due to lower operating costs and higher margins. Quarterly income was $263,000, or 3 cents per share, up from $14,000, or nil per share, a year ago. Revenues for the three months ended Jan. 31 were $34.4 million compared to $29.3 million in the same period in 2004.
OfficeMax Completes Accounting Probe
OfficeMax Inc., Itasca, Ill., said it estimates it overstated operating income by approximately $7 million in its fiscal 2004 first quarter and understated it by about $1 million for both the second and third quarters of that year. The company, which has conducted a probe of its accounting for vendor income, reiterated that it expects to restate quarterly income for the first three quarters of 2004. It said it believes financial statements as of and for the year ended Dec. 31, 2003, weren't materially affected.
Deluxe Announces New Chief Accounting Officer
Deluxe Corporation, St. Paul, Minn., announced that Terry D. Peterson, 40, will become vice president, controller, and chief accounting officer effective with the departure of Katherine L. Miller, who will resign for personal reasons effective March 15. Peterson joined Deluxe in September 2004 as director of internal audit. Previously, he was vice president and controller of the GCS Services Division of Ecolab Inc. Peterson also held positions with Provell Inc., Jostens Inc. and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Reynolds & Reynolds CFO to Retire
Reynolds & Reynolds Co. CFO Dale Medford will retire from the company and its board, effective June 1. The Dayton, Ohio-based company said Medford has been with the company for 31 years.
Final Chance! The 2004 Top 100 Manufacturers Surveys are Due Now!
Final call for manufacturers to be included in Top 100 Manufacturers feature, to be published in the April issue of Print Solutions. The story will rank manufacturers by fiscal 2004 sales through business printing and document management distributors. It will also include top sales per employee rankings, the fastest-growing manufacturers and stories about several firms. The best way to submit your Top 100 information is to complete the online form. If you'd like to fax a hard copy instead, download a PDF and fax completed pages to Darin Painter, Managing Editor, at (703) 549-4966. Only surveys returned to DMIA by 6 p.m. EST today will be included.
Update: Print Solutions Magazine PEAK Awards
This new contest is generating lots of interest. The deadline for entries is March 31, so hurry to get yours in! (For complete details and entry forms, go to http://www.printsolutionsmag.com/peak.html Contact us at (703) 836-6225 or email us at peak@printsolutionsmag.com if you have questions.) Here are the latest FAQs:
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Is this contest for distributors only?
No. While the contest was created with distributors in mind, there are categories for manufacturers only. Also, many manufacturers have material they want to enter and are calling their distributors to get permission to enter that work.
Why should I enter the contest?
If you win, you'll have a valuable marketing tool--a citation of excellence from an industry-wide competition. A Print Excellence And Knowledge (PEAK) Award will show prospects that your work is among the best in the industry.
Explain the idea of the Solution Summary. Would it be possible for us to place an entry without the Summary? (We are neither the end user nor the distributor and would be unable to measure the client's business objectives.)
The Solution Summary is a brief description (no more than one typed page) of the most important aspects of your printed solution and what it accomplished. It should give judges an idea of what value was added to the printed piece. The added value might not be obvious without some explanation. You may submit entries without Solution Summaries, but you might be at a disadvantage compared to the entries that include the summary.
There is another important issue here. We recommend that you contact any distributor whose work you plan to enter. The distributor (your client) might want to have some say in whether the work done for a particular client is subject to publicity. And, if you contact the distributor, you might get all the information you need to write an excellent Solution Summary.
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