Have you ever gotten a marketing piece that made you think, “Gosh, these people don’t know my business at all!” My husband, who is the director of facilities for a private high school, feels this way a lot.

In fact, here is the pitch that landed in front of him this morning.

Hi, STEWART,

Remember the winter we had last year? Don’t be caught off guard by another winter filled with snow, ice and bitter cold temperatures.

Before the first flakes fall, get all the supplies you need to keep your facility and people safe throughout this upcoming winter.

Don’t risk running out of those essential winter products you need to keep everything in and around your facility moving, especially ice melt.

[Company] has all you need for the inside of your facility—floor mats and wet floor signs for entrances and lobbies—and the outside, featuring a great selection of ice melt products, as well as spreaders for even, effective application to parking lots, roadways and sidewalks.

Okay, perhaps we can forgive the lack of comma after the salutation and his name being spelled in all caps. We might even forgive the fact that winter is no longer “upcoming” and the first snowflakes have already fallen. Here’s the real problem with this piece.

As he said so eloquently, “Every year, there are some suppliers and vendors that just don’t get it. No one worth their ‘salt’ is ordering winter materials in early January.” As any vendor to this marketplace ought to know, those supplies are ordered in late summer. So if this company is wondering why its campaign failed, this is probably why.

Sometimes a campaign lives and dies by the list. Sometimes by the creative, the message, or the incentive. But sometimes it’s the timing. Something as simple as a buying cycle is something every B2B marketer ought to  know. So when working with your clients to develop marketing campaigns, whether direct mail, email, or multichannel, try to get involved early enough in the process to ask about the timing, too.

A few years ago, while in England, I visited Canterbury Cathedral. (We were on a pilgrimage and we all told tales as we trekked southward, a doughy poet feverishly writing them all down in rhyming couplets; and as the Miller told his tale, our faces, at first just ghostly, turned a whiter shade of pale. We continue.) The first cathedral at Canterbury dates from A.D. 602, dedicated by St. Augustine. It was destroyed by fire in 1067 and over the next couple of centuries was rebuilt into the magnificent structure we can visit today.

One of the most notable features of the cathedral—aside from the shrine to Thomas Becket, who had rather a bad day there in 1170—is the stained glass. Indeed, Canterbury Cathedral contains more than 1,200 square meters of stained glass which, like the stained glass found in many a medieval church and cathedral, depicts stories from the Bible, as well as other related events, lives of the saints, and so on. Some of Canterbury’s windows also depict the life of St. Thomas (Becket). The stained glass was not just decorative, although it certainly is that; medieval stained glass is quite beautiful. Much of it did, however, serve a more practical purpose: back in the Middle Ages, prior to the invention of printing, the vast majority of the population was illiterate. Stained glass windows (not all of them, but most cathedrals had various picture series) were a communication medium, a form of visual storytelling. (The verbally related tales that Chaucer’s pilgrims told on the way to the shrine to Thomas Becket were also a dominant form of communication at the time.)

(Quick quiz: what’s the difference between a church and a cathedral? The latter contains the cathedra, or the seat where the bishop sits. It’s not true, though, that bishops can only move diagonally.)

Anyway, in the sixteenth century, there was a revolt against all things iconic, and many churches and cathedrals throughout Europe saw their stained glass and other iconography destroyed. (Whence the word iconoclast, “breaker or destroyer of images.”) Canterbury was spared much of this destruction, although the English Civil War brought damage to some of the windows. (The German bombing of England during World War II also took a bit of a toll.)

However, a recent Wall Street Journal story (via Gizmodo) identifies a new threat to stained glass or, more specifically, the stained glass industry—one with which our own industry is not unfamiliar. (And if you didn’t know that there even was a stained glass industry, you are not alone.)

[C]hurch architects and experts say modern churches rely more on video and photo slideshows, which they say connect with attendees more than the static imagery of stained glass. “They want to have it dark, so they can project PowerPoint onto a screen,” says Richard Gross, editor of Stained Glass Quarterly.

There is a Stained Glass Association of America, the industry trade group, which

has seen membership dwindle to around half of its peak size of 900 during the 1970s. The annual conference draws about half the number of attendees it once did, and SGAA officials say they have privately considered broadening the group’s name.

One can’t ignore the fact that stained glass is really expensive. That, combined with the inevitable force of modernization, the desire to appear modern to bring in the parishioners, and the fact that stained glass uses decidedly static imagery, have all led new churches to use LED screens or HD projectors to display dynamic content like text, video, images, and PowerPoints (and, perhaps St. Paul’s First Email to the Ephesians).

As a result, stained glass manufacturers are looking at potential secular installations to keep their businesses going, such as casinos, retail establishments, restaurants, hospitals, and private homes.

And, hey, the stained glass industry has a “Dr. Doom,” too:

Kenneth F. von Roenn saw this trend coming nearly four decades ago. At an industry conference inside a Nevada hotel, Mr. von Roenn says he tried to warn his fellow artisans, urging them to shift focus to nonreligious buildings, in a speech called “Time to Jump Ship.”

His advice won a lot of glassy-eyed stares and little applause…

You might even call him an iconoclast.

Here is a case of individuals and companies in a market that are seeking alternate, more technological alternatives, and as a result those individuals and companies are altering their production (such as adopting a cheaper, more efficient way of producing the stained glass) and actively seeking new markets beyond their traditional ones.

To keep tabs on what is happening in the 3D printing industry, I recently signed up for the newsletter with updates from around the industry. Just as we have come to enjoy the Super-Cool Fold of the Week from The Fold Factory, we can now enjoy the 3D Printed Model of the Week from the 3D Printing Industry.

This week, it’s a 1/10 scale model of the L M Strati. While there are plenty of free downloadable test files, this one comes from Sketchfab, which includes the “best of the best” as staff picks. When I see this model, I don’t envision a business model for printing out automotive prototypes. I envision promotional items and marketing incentives for the automotive market vertical.

If you think 3D printing is not going to affect you at some point, I recommend signing up for the newsletter because it provides a comprehensive picture of what’s happening in the industry. Among this week’s articles:

1. Source for 3D design for everything from prototypes to replacement parts (they design it, you print it).

The point here is to understand that, if you are without expensive machinery, 3D printers, CNC mills, and design software, you can still have access to great designers and quality objects, parts, gadgets and prototypes.

2. Free 3D printable model of the week.

3. China getting its first 3D printing college.  If that’s not a statement, I don’t know what is.

So check it out.

I continue to believe that commercial printers shouldn’t see 3D printing as a “me, too” product. There are plenty of places to get 3D models printed. But I do believe that there are ways to incorporate 3D printing into existing business models, either as a convenience service for existing clients or as a way to produce unique and compelling incentives for marketing campaigns. (For more on this, see related Digital Nirvana articles or my report State of 3D Printing in the Commercial Printing Industry.)

Some are just better than others. You know the accounts that I’m talking about; everyone in the plant knows who they are too. Your best accounts value the input and attention to detail you put into each project, they appreciate that you take the extra step to maintain their brand integrity and the value (the difference between the price paid and the results) you deliver exceeds their expectations. It’s all good.

How about the other accounts in your portfolio? The ones that when you ask the rep about them their reply is, “they aren’t great but it’s work.” These are the same ones that when their projects show up on the schedule the senior managers ask repeatedly “why are we still doing work for these folks?” It’s not personal-just business. They really don’t see or experience the same type of gratification that your best accounts have when working with you. There isn’t a connection. They don’t see any difference in working with you as opposed to their best alternatives. We often see these groups of client results when we perform NAPL’s eKG Competitive Edge Profile^TM. These are the ones that rate you the same as anyone else they would be working with.

NAPL’s Key Account Accelerator^TM is another place we see these results. Starting with your top 20 accounts, we determine three things: how significant, strategic and profitable are these accounts to your business. Next, take this to your “lower” 20 accounts and the difference becomes very clear.

Peter Drucker, that famed management guru talks about planned abandonment. Simply, the concept encourages business managers to regularly review their business to determine if anything is out of alignment with their stated goals and that might be taking up valuable resources or deterring their growth. He goes into much greater detail and I encourage you to read his work.

So what does planned abandonment and the fact that some accounts are just better than others have to do with each other? To me it’s about making choices, making the choice to work with the accounts that are significant, strategic and profitable and to replace the accounts that aren’t with better ones. This isn’t a “flip the switch” maneuver, rather this only happens by doing the work necessary to know your accounts, to know what you want and what you don’t want and finally to be able to say no to the ones that take you astray from your goals. It only works with a solid growth strategy that spells out the details, strategy and tactics and provides your sales reps with a roadmap of your expectations. To use a line from Jim Collins, this plan tells your team where the bus is going and what it will take to secure a seat. It’s hard work but the alternative is to stay the current course.

If you’ve created your own roadmap for success I’d like to hear from you – how’s it working?

The number of Christmas cards I receive every year is going down, even as the number of e-cards and social media holiday greetings goes up. So it is at this time of year that the value of print vs. e-media is particularly acute.

When I receive an email card, I appreciate that I was on the email list, that whoever it was cared enough to include me in their contacts, but unless it’s a personal friend or family member, I rarely open it. It’s not personal, even if it’s personalized. It’s a contact list with personalization by check box. While I appreciate being included, I appreciate it for what it is.

When I receive a social media greeting, there is still some level of appreciation for the effort, but it’s less than email.

When I get a Christmas card, however, it’s a different story. I open it, read it, and set it up along the knee wall between the kitchen and the living room. There is often a handwritten signature, and even if there is not, the person or company went to the expense of printing the card and mailing it. There is a higher level of value. There is also pure beauty in these cards. The richness of the colors. The texture of the paper. The tasteful accents with gold foil. There in my kitchen, where I spend a lot of my time, I look at those beautiful pieces of art all season long — and remember which friends, family members, businesses, or clients gave them to me.

With email, there is a moment of appreciation. With print, that appreciation (and for B2B marketers, the branding and competitive differentiation that goes with it) lasts for months.

Print still matters. In this increasingly electronic world, it matters all the more.

’Twas the night before Christmas…

As the year draws to a close, it’s a time for reflecting on the past and anticipating the future. The month of January was named for Janus, the Roman god of transitions and beginnings, who is notable for having two faces, one looking to the past, the other looking to the future (it’s a good thing beards were fashionable amongst the gods; he’d have gone through razor blades like crazy).

The first known new year’s celebration was held by the Babylonians circa 2000 B.C. They didn’t have a calendar per se (or Dick Clark), so it took place after the vernal equinox and was intended to herald the coming of spring, a time when the world is reborn. Their festival was known as Akitu and included parades and other religious rites. There is one aspect of the Akitu that raises an eyebrow or two: the ritual humiliation of the king.

[T]he king [is] brought before a statue of the god Marduk, stripped of his royal regalia and forced to swear that he had led the city with honor. A high priest would then slap the monarch and drag him by his ears in the hope of making him cry. If royal tears were shed, it was seen as a sign that Marduk was satisfied and had symbolically extended the king’s rule (Andrews, 2012).

I like this idea; perhaps we should revive it for our elected leaders. It might make New Year’s Rockin’ Eve a bit more entertaining.

Anyway, this time of year is also a time for forecasts and predictions. Everyone loves forecasts, even though the vast majority of them will end up being wrong. (So-called professional psychics and astrologers inevitably make predictions and are almost universally wrong.) Still, forecasting has always been big business, and the Old Farmer’s Almanac, which debuted in 1792, is still going and is the oldest continuously published periodical in North America.

It wasn’t the first almanac, though; that distinction belongs to (no, not Benjamin Franklin) a man named Leonard Digges. Digges (c.1515–c.1559) was an English mathematician and scientist, who is believed—albeit dubiously—to have invented, independently of Galileo, the first reflecting telescope. Regardless, he was one of the first popularizers of science, sort of the Carl Sagan or Neil deGrasse Tyson of his day. He wrote many books, the first of which was a 1553 bestseller called A General Prognostication. It contained a perpetual calendar, weather lore, facts about astronomy, and so forth. It was revised a few times in the ensuing years. (By the way, Digges’ son Thomas picked up where his father left off and eventually played a strong role in the popularization of a subversive little book called De revolutionibus orbium coelestium by Copernicus, which first posited the fact that the Earth revolves around the sun and not vice versa.)

At any rate, Digges père was by trade a surveyor, and his true claim to fame was the invention of the theodolite. The what? Basically, it’s a surveying instrument that has a rotating telescope for measuring horizontal and vertical angles. Digges named the device in a 1571 surveying textbook called A geometric practice named Pantometria (it was published posthumously) and the thing is, no one can quite figure out where the word “theodolite” actually comes from, as it appears to be a mélange of Latin and Greek words that only seem vaguely relevant. Nobody really cared about that, though; it got the job done and that was really all that mattered.

As the Age of Exploration kicked into high gear, those venturing into parts unknown required instruments of all kinds—navigation, surveying, etc.—that had greater and greater precision. In the New World, one of the seminal and most famous surveying projects was the Mason-Dixon line, drawn between 1763 and 1768 by Brits Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, which was only possible because the team had access to the most sophisticated instruments at the time; Mason had served as assistant astronomer at the Royal Greenwich Observatory near London. (For an entertaining fictionalized account of Mason and Dixon’s exploits, I recommend Thomas Pynchon’s Mason & Dixon, or Mark Knopfler’s 2000 song “Sailing to Philadelphia.”)

As America continued to move west, particularly after the Civil War, surveyors of the ever-advancing frontier were aided by precision theodolites, and in the 19th century, no one’s theodolites were more respected than those made by W. & L. E. Gurley, Co. In fact, theirs was the gold standard for surveying equipment until the advent of lasers and digital technology. The company had been founded by two brothers, William Gurley and Lewis E. Gurley, graduates of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y.

Conveniently located near the intersection of the Hudson River and the Erie Canal, Troy at the time was a major industrial manufacturing center, and there was no better location for the Gurleys to base their company.

Troy, N.Y., also has a role to play at this time of year. On December 23, 1823, the Troy Sentinel first published an anonymous poem, later revealed to have been written by a New York City-based Episcopalian professor. Reprinted in many other publications, it was that particular poem that created much of our contemporary Christmas imagery and lore, particularly regarding the poem’s main character, said to have been inspired by a Dutch handyman the poet knew. That main character was Santa Claus, the author was Clement Clarke Moore, and the poem, of course, was “A Visit From St. Nicholas” (aka “The Night Before Christmas”).

It was Moore’s poem, followed by an 1881 illustration by cartoonist Thomas Nast, that helped define the modern conception of St. Nicholas, aka Santa Claus.

…and to all a good night.

Happy Holidays from The Digital Nirvana.

References:

Evan Andrews, “5 Ancient New Year’s Celebrations,” History.com, December 31, 2012, http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/5-ancient-new-years-celebrations.

“Clement Clarke Moore,” Wikipedia, last modified November 18, 2014, retrieved December 3, 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clement_Clarke_Moore.

“Gurley Precision Instruments,” Wikipedia, last modified April 22, 2014, retrieved December 3, 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurley_Precision_Instruments.

“Leonard Digges,” Wikipedia, last modified September 28, 2014, retrieved December 3, 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Digges_(scientist).

“Old Farmer’s Almanac,” Wikipedia, last modified October 6, 2014, retrieved December 3, 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Farmer%27s_Almanac.

“Santa Claus,” Wikipedia, last modified October 6, 2014, retrieved December 3, 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus.

“Theodolite,” Wikipedia, last modified November 30, 2014, retrieved December 3, 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodolite.

In working with many companies on their strategy and their business plans, the subject of goal setting always comes up.  Whether goals should be “stretch” or “makeable” is another subject for another time.  What I have noticed is that something even more fundamental is usually missing.  It’s what I call “the two N’s”.

Goals (sometimes called objectives) are often expressed in broad and even vague language.  Improve our position in this or gain a better understanding of that.  Do less of one thing or more of something else.  While setting goals can be helpful, setting clear, measurable goals is even better.  Which brings us to “the two N’s”:  Names and numbers.

By being as specific as we can in setting goals, using numbers allows us the benefit of accurately determining whether and to what extent we actually reached our goal.  Instead of simply “growing sales”, we want to “increase sales by 12% with half of that growth coming from new customers”.  Using numbers, whether they are expressed in percentages, actual counts, or dates is essential in order for us to get a truly accurate read on the accomplishment of our goals.

The second “N” stands for names.  Or more to the point, name!   Next to each goal, the name of the person responsible for its accomplishment is absolutely required.  Not a department, division, committee, work group or team.  A singular person must be responsible for bringing the necessary resources together to achieve the goal.  This does not mean, of course, that one person has to do all of the work required to complete the goal.  But someone has to “own” the responsibility of the goal.  When more than one person is “responsible” there is just too much opportunity for the focus to be dissipated.  Assumptions are made about who is doing what and not much happens.  Or as my old football coach used to say “anybody could have made the play…everybody thought somebody was going to make the play…so nobody made the play!’

Breathe new life into your goals by making sure that numbers and names are always included.

We can all debate about what the most important goal in business should be. It’s always been my opinion that the most important goal is to “create a sustainable competitive advantage”. From that point, all things follow. The problem is that of all the goals and objectives you can identify creating a sustainable competitive advantage may be the most elusive and most difficult to achieve. However, understanding the concept of “business cycles” and where your company sits in the cycle can provide you with a powerful tool to help you avoid the dreaded “stall point”.

First, let’s understand what the “S Curve” and why “Stall Points” need to be avoided at all costs. Every business begins, develops, and disappears along a consistent pattern sometimes referred to as a business cycle. This business cycle follows the pattern of an “S”, thus the term “S Curve”. The lowest point on the S Curve represents the start-up position as the enterprise searches for a value proposition that is desired by customers and that differentiates it from the competition. Assuming the start-up phase is successful the business then moves into the growth phase. This part of the cycle is characterized by “optimization” as management focuses on leveraging the success of the value proposition. Typically, the growth phase involves significant investments in equipment and staff. Often debt begins to grow. Management is totally focused on harvesting the profit potential of the original value proposition without understanding that without developing a fresh, updated and more relevant value proposition their competitive advantage is quickly disappearing. They are headed to the last part of the business cycle, the crown of the S Curve, the must be avoided “Stall Point”.

Why be so concerned about hitting a Stall Point? In their book, Stall Points, Matthew Olson and Derek Van Bever talk about the insidious nature of Stall Points. They point out –

• That Stall Points are hard to predict; most come as a complete surprise to management.
• Most organizations’ growth actually accelerate into a Stall Point.
• Recovery must come quickly or recovery may not come at all.
• Only 7% of the companies they studied were able to return to growth.
• The average company they studied lost 74% of its market capitalization in the decade following the Stall Point.

Fortunately, there are steps you can take to avoid falling into this trap, and there are steps you can take if you hit a Stall Point… both of which I am happy to share… on the following condition. I only ask that you respond to this blog. Write a comment. Let me know if you would like me to follow up with more information. It’s as simple as that. If I don’t hear from you I will assume this blog has reached its Stall Point.

A difficult economy means that your customers are taking longer to decide if they want to spend money with your printing company. This “wait and see” game may go on for months, perhaps years. In the meantime, your business has its own objectives to meet, and bills to pay. Reducing expenses can only take an organization so far to profitability.

Realize that you are engaged in the race of business development. Take the time now to consider these thoughts for taking your printing company to a higher level of success in every aspect of your sales and marketing efforts.

First ask and answer the question “what business am I really in?” Am I a quick printer? Digital printer?  Commercial printer? Graphics company? Communications company? It sounds so simple, but is it really? Over the course of the last few years, entire markets have appeared and grown, others disappeared. Your customer base has likely changed, if not in size, perhaps in scope. Take time to think about the past, your present and the future. What needs do you address? What problems do you solve for your customers?

Secondly rethink your competitive advantage related to your core business. Do you have a competitive advantage? Are there breakthrough opportunities on the horizon? Do you have the resources to successfully communicate your unique selling position? What is it that you do better than anyone else?

Related to the second thought, determine exactly who your best customer is. Is this a customer of the past, present or future? Whom do you want to be doing business with? What is it about this type of customer that makes them desirable? Write down those characteristics because this exercise will define your ideal customer, the one that will move you towards your business goals.

Very few individuals in business have ever taken the time to write a business plan, a document that allows them to think through their entire business, the competitive external environment and in the end, requires them to develop a course of action that will move them forward. Develop a One Page Business Plan that can be used as a communication tool to everyone in the company.
Lastly analyze your source of past business and determine what tools were employed to gain those customers. In short, the rule states “determine what marketing works best for you then do it better each day.” Time is money, and money is tight, so stick with what works.

I have recently updated my brandable white paper “Best Practices for QR and Other 2D Barcodes.” From watching implementation of these codes (the good, the bad, and the ugly) over the years, this is my Top 10 list. Do you agree with it? What might you add or delete?

1. Create marketing campaigns, not QR Code campaigns.

QR Codes are a response mechanism, not an end unto themselves.

2. Have a strategy.

Slapping a QR Code on something is not a strategy. Using a QR Code on a product display to show the product in use, provide a coupon, or link to customer video testimonials? That’s a strategy.

3. Make it serve a purpose.

Know why the code is being used. Don’t just add a QR Code to “go mobile.” Know the purpose it’s intended to serve and then make it happen.

4. Make the QR Code worth decoding.

What’s the value for the person scanning? We all know the value for the client. But what about the target audience? What’s in it for them?

5. Optimize for mobile devices.

Don’t assume that because 69% of U.S. consumers own smartphones that content doesn’t have to be mobile-optimized. It does.

6. Optimize for mobile lifestyles.

For example, if you’re going to send people to a survey, don’t ask them to input lots of information by hand. That’s hard to do on a mobile phone.

7. Follow best practices for (technical) implementation.

Certain steps will make QR Codes more scannable than others. Know what they are and use them.

8. Test, test, test.

Just like any other campaign, test the links, test on different phones, test on different browsers. What’s the end user experience?

9. Include multiple paths for response.

 QR Codes are great tools, but not everyone will want to use a QR Code. Provide other ways to respond to the CTA, as well.

10. Include brief instructions for using the code.

Some day, this won’t be necessary. For right now (with the exception of select audiences), it is.

Do you agree with this list? What might you change? Please chime in!

For more information on the white paper, which includes greatly expanded discussions on this Top 10 list, you can find it here.

Today’s business world is more competitive than ever, and many organizations are finding it difficult to keep producing sales.

So, what can you do to change this and boost sales for 2015?

You need to update your sales team’s skills to deliver what your audience wants and needs. To succeed in growing your business for the new year, make sure your sales reps brush up on:

1. Conversations and relationship building
2. Social media
3. Collaboration vs. selling
4. Adaptability

These 4 essential skills are the key to turning around your sales for 2015. To learn how to effectively use these skills to close sales, please download your copy of 4 Essential Sales Skills, free for The Digital Nirvana readers.

Lead generation is critical, not just for your clients, but for your company, as well. Just as it is with your clients, it starts with targeting not just the right companies, but the right people within them. Are you sure you’re targeting the right ones? How much does job title matter?

According to an infographic released by LeadJen, a B2B lead generation company, it matters a lot. In a survey, it found that director-level professionals in marketing organizations and those with functional responsibility for sales are most likely to respond to prospecting efforts from marketing technology vendors (which we can assume would include print service providers).

It also found that, while the plurality of appointments (49%) are set with budget owners (including the director, vice president or CXO), 22% of appointments are set with managers specializing in marketing functions such as digital, e-commerce and social media. “These marketing managers, even without direct budget control, have a clear influence on spending decisions,” notes the report.

What days are best to set up appointments?  Tuesdays and Wednesdays were the most likely to yield appointments, and between 2-3 PM was the most productive time to find prospects sitting behind their desks.

What do you think? Does this data match up with your lead-generation experiences?

With the start of a new year the common questions revolve around “what are we going to do different this year in hopes of better results?” A good place to start is by examining your sales team. Look at team members and create a depth chart, complete with all their stats. Many of you already do this with your fantasy sports teams. Look at the chart, what do you have? Do you have the right folks playing the right positions? Are they on top of their game? Are they being coached properly?

If you were building a team from scratch, what would you want it to look like? This can change from company to company based on the culture, the markets served and the diversification of the products and services. My guess though is that this team might include those who:

• Are well versed in the vertical markets that you value.
• Have good business acumen.
• Knows how you make money and is focused on uncovering opportunities where you can be successful, profitable and deliver ongoing value.
• Has both the empathy to connect with a buying organization as well as the drive to connect the necessary dots to build and sell a solution that differentiates you from the competition.
• Understands the importance of ongoing account management but works within your guidelines to allow the internal support team to manage that aspect of the relationship.
• Is committed to being the best at what they do.

There’s a good chance that there is overlap between your fantasy team and your existing team – great. Where there isn’t overlap is where you need to make changes. It may involve a new approach to your training and continuing education program and it could mean moving some to different positions. It could mean a new strategy – new plays. We all know finding new sales people has gotten harder and harder so this exercise might help in defining the attributes that you’re looking for in your next rep. In the race for talent, just looking for “more of the same” probably won’t get you to where you need to be.

Looking for reasons to encourage your clients to add QR Codes to their print materials? Here are five you can start with. Can you think of more?

1. It’s a smartphone world.

It used to be that you couldn’t assume that consumers had smartphones, so reach for QR Codes was considered to be limited. However, as of March 2014, comScore reported that smartphones are 69% of the U.S. mobile phone population.

2. Mobile is an addiction.

We don’t just own cellphones. We are addicted to them. According to Edison Research, 94% of consumers admit that their cellphone is always within arm’s reach. [1] In a separate survey, 75% admit to using their mobile phones while in the bathroom. [2]

QR Codes connect print to mobile. Enough said.

3. QR Codes reach 30-40% of consumers.

Regardless of which data you view, QR Code scanning is holding steady at one-third of U.S. consumers. That’s a lot of people. Vibe reports that 31% of smartphone owners in the U.S. have scanned a QR Code to get special in-store deals (October 2014). More than one-quarter (27%) have scanned QR Codes in the store itself (September 2014). Just the other day, I read InfoTrends research that showed the percent of mobile phone owners having scanned QR Codes recently as 43%.

4. QR Codes prompt purchases.

Of those Vibe respondents scanning QR Codes in-store, 40% said they made a spontaneous purchase based on the information they received. Another 42% reported that the information helped them feel better about a purchase they were going to make. ExactTarget reports similar numbers. It finds that 43% of smartphone owners have scanned a coupon or QR Code in the past six months. Of those who did, 90% found them to be useful. [3]

5. QR Codes = coupons.

More than one-third (34%) of the ExactTarget respondnets report scanning a coupon or QR Code with a mobile device while shopping in a store. The primary reasons? To get coupons or deals (69%), obtain more information (48%), and to see if there is a better buy elsewhere (44%).

QR Codes aren’t new anymore. They may not be exciting. But they are useful tools that should be in every marketer’s toolbox. If they aren’t, then maybe this is an opportunity that you are missing.

There is a strong market out there for printers right now, so it’s the perfect time for you to make the most of the services you’re offering.

The answer to the nagging question about what print and mail providers need to do to grow their business lies within two simple words: provide solutions. That’s right! In order to grow your print and mail businesses in the age of digital marketing, you must first focus on the services that you already offer customers.

You already have the resources. Now is the time to focus on change and growth.

By following these 5 simple steps, you’ll discover how your business can make more money using the resources you already have available, and be on your way to a profitable 2015.

Please take a moment to read and share this article at http://ilink.me/Grow2015. Do you have any other tips or suggestions to help boost business growth for 2015? I’d love to hear in the comments below!