The simple science of increasing sales fast… without spending money
Dear Printing Colleague,
The printing industry has yet to feel the full force of the fallout from the financial markets. Thousands of print owners are going to get clobbered by slowing sales… rising prices… and shrinking margins… unless they are properly prepared.
Sure… you can cut costs and tighten your belt. But, this eventually leads to corporate anorexia. You can get thin… but it’s no way to get healthy.
The best cure for shrinking sales is an avalanche of new customers. There’s nothing like a steady stream of new business to cure an ailing profit and loss statement.
In fact… if you don’t have a system for continually bringing in a stream of new customers… your business just won’t survive. Statistics show that the average company loses up to 50% of its clients every five years.
Of course, I hope you hold onto a lot more than 50%. But… it’s inevitable you’ll lose some. And if you have high fixed costs… losing any customer is bad news.
However… because generating new sales leads is critical for your business, I’ve done something for you.
Endless sales leads… with no cold calling
Here’s what I’ve got for you (available to nonmembers for a limited time).
A special video that outlines step-by-step the two-part process we use to generate all the leads we could possibly sell to. It seems unbelievable… but we genuinely have more opportunities than we can deal with in our own printing company. We’ve just hired another salesperson in October. Now we have to recruit yet another one in November.
And these new customers we’re winning aren’t the type who price haggle with us. No… we avoid customers like that. We like customers who value what we do for them… and are more than happy to pay for it.
Picture this… it’s three months in the future and your production area is going crazy. New business is piling in… your production manager is having a hernia. But… it’s steady profitable business… and you can afford to pay for his hernia operation.
Seriously… Prospect.ology works big time
We have the proof.
In the video you are about to watch, you’ll see how I’ve used the same system in multiple industries… with the same predictable results.
It’s like a recipe. Follow the instructions and the result is inevitable.
I’ll show you how to use it so you can start magnetically attracting profitable customers to your business… like iron filings to a magnet.
So… click this link and rush across to the video page now
It’s not going to be there forever. My webmaster is under instructions to dismantle it soon and lock it away in our private member’s area.
When you’ve watched it… come back here to the blog and join the conversation. If you’ve got any questions this is the place to ask ‘em. I’ll be checking back here regularly and I want to see you posting a comment or question.
After failing dismally – and getting sacked regularly – from my first few sales jobs… I’ve figured out systems that produce predictable results. Prospect.ology is one of those systems. It’s easy to use. It is paint-by-the-numbers simple and now you can implement it in your company.
Be sure to check it out while you can…
Take me to the Prospect.Ology Video
Sales… Profit… & Cashflow Strategies For Printers
Nick Devine
Founder and Publisher
www.ThePrintCoach.com
www.PrintersProfitSystem.com
{ 97 comments… read them below or add one }
Looking forward to trying it out with my sales team !
WOW! Your presentation was outstanding. I will make this presentation the center piece of our annual business review meeting in December.
Thanks again.
Dick Royston
Owner Color Pages
This is great info that you are sharing..
Thank you,
Michael
Very good
Referrals is a good system but slow.
Spending money on marketing, where do you think is the good medium or steps?
I have thoroughly enjoyed your video on Prospect.Ology. I whole heartedly agree that this works. I have found in my sales experience that prospecting by referrals is the way to gain customers with long term relationships. My question to you at this point is are you interested in partnering with me to buy a company that I am working for? This company has been in existence for 23 years and is fairly well branded but with the economy and the current owner has reached a burnout point, he is ready to sell. This comes with 2 buildings as well. If you are interested in this prospect in the United States, please email me and I can send you a business plan that I have put together for your review.
Thank you for the great effort. Keep it up! From kenneth, gps print media
great info once again.
This will be geat to use with my new reps and a nice reminder for myself.
Very good
Great ideas!
We are an offset trade printer from W.Va. who markets the metro DC area without a salesman. I make cold calls & direct mail marketing. How can I best use referals to gain customers without being able to meet with them?
This is my third review of your presentation.
Thanks.
Dick Royston
Color Pages
Great Video. I’d like the slides so i can better understand it.
For Art
For most companies I donÂ’t advocate traditional marketing. ItÂ’s expensive and usually underperforms and typically does not generate the type of prospect that is ideal for your company. We use the approaches outlined in this video and the results are fast. IÂ’ve build The Print Coach the same way. IÂ’m currently working with a Financial Services company and weÂ’re doing the same thing there. IÂ’m also a partner in two other non print companies and this is the system weÂ’ve implement in both of those. It works every place we implement it. But you do have to fully commit to making it work.
For Stephen
Thanks for the kind offer. Because of all the other business interests I currently haveÂ… taking on one more would not be sensible. Good luck with the venture.
For Mike
You can still use most of the system I outlined in the video. The only major difference with the referrals, if you do the follow up on the phone. YouÂ’d look for JV opportunities through other companies that deal with printers such as fulfillment houses, designers, marketing companies etc. YouÂ’ll have to be a little more creative in terms of what you do for them in return.
:’(
1: Highly interesting to me as I have always felt there us a more productive way of lead generation than cold calling even though my salesperson is good at it..
2: Many facets similar to SPIN selling but complementary in terms of emphasis on print industry and referrals.
3: This method of generating referrals resolves my issue with networking groups (e.g. BNI) that expect members to provide referrals even if they have no experience of other members’ product or service.
4. Speed of trust! I like it! I do well in solutions sales because I readily engender trust over a few meetings. But qualified referrals do much the same with speed. Oh why didn’t I make that connection before?
Yes I am interested in exploring further.
p.s. re Vista Print, maybe their success coms from other sources? See http://www.consumeraffairs.com/online/vistaprint.html
Melbourne, Australia
A printing company I owned produced high quality self-adhesive wine lables for the Australian wine industry. We decided to export the product to California and Oregan. From a slow beginning we developed the market especially in Oregan by using referals through wine makers and graphic designers. Once established the referal process grew the business into a a good export market with better margins than the local market.
These are great ideas for someone like myself who doesn’t have the self-confidence to do cold-calling. Thanks!
Absolutely simple advice and the timing could not have been better! About 3mths ago we met with a supplier who clearly had been following this program. I knew then we could be on to something by creating a joint venture but the boss was hesitant to take it further. I have a meeting with the MD later this week to discuss last years poor results and look at what the team is to do differently to turn around the slump. I now have the facts and figures to prove why we must change our mentality. More importantly, as a sales manager, I now have the tools to aid my colleagues and substantially improve my own performance as a team player.
I have been looking for some time for a way to change the mindset amongst the companies I know, about how to sell themselves.
I really wish I could get the hang of prospecting clients that will actually go through to completion. The clients I have won have proved to be great, but I feel I waste too much time chasing the wrong clients in order to just look active (I’m sure all reps get pressurized to look busy).
Don’t get me wrong….. I am having sucess! It’s just that I want more.
It’s always difficult at new companies to use this referral model, so I’m guessing it’s not for that situation, unless you have some other advice Nick.
I always find your presentations thought provoking,even if I don’t always agree or I think you haven’t used them in my field!
For Chris
Hi Chris. You always use referrals… even in a new company. I think I may have mentioned in the video that I once started a company in the education field. I made referrals mandatory. From day 1, we had referrals. Our process generated 3 new referrals for each new client. You can also use the other part of Prospect.ology in a new company. I’m a partner in another company (non print related) and half our revenue comes from that one strategy. We went from $0 to close to $1m in the last 12 months. It works.
Looking forward to taking a look at this system!!!
Hi Nick,
Very interesting and informative, I will be showing this slide to my sales staff when then arrive at work today.
I have already churned a few ideas around in my mind and identified potential customers, while watching the slide.
Like you mentioned, you sort of know that referrals work but you never actually implement a processes to make it happen in your business.
I will defiantly be introducing this approach to our marketing mix.
Josh Dobija
http://www.dobijaworld.com
Griffith, Australia
Very timely
Excellent information, the "doing" is the Key!
Refreshing and innovative.
Looking foward to the extra sales generated through your methods.
Practical, simple and refreshing.
Thank you Nick for simplifying an approach to increased sales and profits.
Good script – I am very interested about the system – Thanks
Interest in how Prospectology can work in current biz environment which is getting more & more competitive due to current global economic depression.
I have always worked on the 80/20 principle in my 20 years in sales with good long term relationships. The business market and perception of printed product as an effective vehicle is changing and the fun and satisfaction has diminished considerably. I have had a raft of long term clients no longer be in positions to mutually help each other and from this presentation I have gleaned a few areas where I can improve my approach and methodology. Thank you and regards,
Rod
Prospect.Ology just makes so much sense.
I am interested in prospect.Ology.
Excellent presentations – full of many things we are doing and many we are NOT!
Thanks
It’s a fantastic video. Thank you for making this available to us Print 21 readers.
interesting listening
Simple but effective system.
Yes I am always looking for a way to make new clients
Nice work, great to see positive motivation in the current climate.
Basic information that is well presented in a usable maner
thought provoking
planning to turn thoughts into action now
Hi Nick, thank you a very interesting video. I’m sure your business grows best from referrals.
I have had printing businesses for 30 years. My father established hardware businesses in 1970’s (4)and he purchased a printing business sa well which i ran,
my brother ran the hardware stores after i went into the printing and he was always giving me referrals from hardware suppliers and the business grew from the referrals due to our connection with the hardware, reciprocal business i would say. So referrals have helped my business.
Very helpful which I would like to share content of slides with colleagues
Many thanks for this free access, much appreciated.
Extremely well presented Nick- great information and learning tool
Phillip
Great strategy, I have had a little luck. I have Found most people are to busy to refer for you or are afraid to refer.
we are looking top grow our business
I’ve gotten some great customers from referrals but I have never known how to go about asking for more.
This is great!
Great information , that I will use immediately !!
Love Prospect.Ology! From today, I am going to start work on my company’s referral and joint venture programme. I will keep you posted on the outcome. Thank you.
JV and referrals are someting we are all aware of but I know it is easy to forget to do these. Thank you for the reminder.
Greg
sounds to good to be true
The video on Prospect.Ology was excellent. Some of the salespeople at our company have grown their own sales through referrals, but I never considered a systematic approach. I also like that referrals encourage loyalty (with electronic procurement systems so prevelant, loyalty is not as common as it used to be). People feel personally responsible when they refer a supplier to a peer. It also solidifies your relationships and gives you the chance to hear about other opportunities that may not be widely announced. Is there another video that goes into more detail?
I found Prospect.Ology to be informative and very in-depth about referrals. I use them now but the insight was great!
Interested in a system that negates cold calling
Excellent Nick, thank you for your persistence.
We’ve discussed referrals many times and I will use this presentation to hammer this topic home.
Always keen to absorb alternative selling ideas and concepts. Sometimes we need to be reminded about what the customer is about.
Dear Nick,
Taking this simple approach has actually made me enjoy selling much more which in turn has increased my pool of opportunities. All the best, Tony Antoine
JV’s are probably the best way to profit. All successful companies do this. Jay Abraham has some great resources regarding Joint Ventures!
As with all great ideas the principles are really simple. We have used some of these ideas with limited success, having listened to your presentation I beleive we must do more with this approach.
For Jill
Yes, we have an in-depth training on both referrals and joint ventures. It’s part of our platinum coaching program, which is currently closed to new members. I’ll be opening it for a limited time at some stage in 2009. Keep your eye out on both your email and this blog. In the meantime, keep tapping into the free material I post on this blog.
For Lynndell
Yes, I’ve personally studied with Jay Abraham for many years and invested a large 5-figure amount to learn from him. I’ve done the same with literally dozens of other experts from all different industries and disciplines. I have huge programs on how to sell to dentists, carpet cleaners, real estate agents and the list goes on. What I found with most niches markets is they struggle to take general concepts or niche concepts from other vertical markets and translate them into action plans for their own business / niche. So… that’s what I do for printers. I hope you are enjoying the results.
Great simple approach. Love the detailed "how to" advice. Would like
to explore these concepts in more detail.
great even for small shops like ours with no dedicated, trained salesforce.
The Prospect.Ology was an excellent reinforcement to what every sales person should be doing. It is definetly worth the time to watch this video. The referral section was great but the joint ventures section was also pertinent. Coming from a printing company that brings the total package to our clients from design, print production, storage, fulfillment, mailing and web services, I have found that creating joint ventures with companies that sell to the same type of industries your business may want to target are probably the best joint venture prospects. These companies should be successful within the industry and have a benefit to introduce you into their best customer accounts. I have found that a monetary finders fee/ referral fee works the best as it adds some additional revenue back to the refering company should you earn new business.
Well worth the time to watch. Looking forward to implementing some of these strategies.
Great presentation! Please send me the slides.
Valuable information!
Inspiring, yet simple. Why didn’t I think of this earlier?
And we are no longer battling each other because there really is enough business for all of us….
Thank you, I’ve enjoyed watching your video.
Great presentation. Have heard of both ideas before but have never acted on them. Your video however has provided me with a desire to progress both initiatives. Will let you know how I get on.
I’m looking forward to giving this a try. Previosly tried some Networking breakfast groups which worked well. This is a slightly direction which may work in combination.
This is really intrigueing stuff!
I have been retrenched and are starting to use referals in my prospecting for work. Your information is helpfull in more ways than one.
very interesting video with lots of great ideas. Can’t wait to get started and pass this info onto our reps. Many thanks!!
I appreciate the information you are giving. I find it has great value. I am starting out in this industry and have very few customers now so I need to try to find a way to prospect without using current customers.
Very good presentation. Most of it describes things everyone should naturally do as a matter of course anyway, but most people are too busy involving themselves in ‘hard sell’ activities that almost always make them uncomfortable and anxious.
I really liked your very specific and practical ideas and scripts for finding new clients. As a Promotional Marketing Advisor, I am interested to hear about other advisors and the kind of joint ventures they have done. Too often the focus has been on particular promotional products to use and I would be interested in their approaches and how each benefited from the venture.
GOOD INFORMATION – WHAT IS YOUR APPROACH IN MOTIVATING YOUR SALES PEOPLE
relationships are gold – sometimes people move to other jobs and they remember you
Great ideas – love the Joint Venture idea.
Good stuff! Stuff that I can actually use.
You have really expanded my horizons about joint ventures. Thanks! I have been aware of this concept, but never could figure out how to proceed. Now I believe I can.
looking for new sales
Once again Nick,
You hit the ball out of the park !!!
Good Information
Great info Nick! I had tried referrals in the past but not in the way you approach it. Can’t wait to implement this. Thanks!
Thanks once again.
Great way to maximise the potential of your existing core clientele!
listened to previous two
Excellent ideas. Jay Abraham also has a lot of material on Joint Ventures and Referrals. We are putting together a list of our 200 plus customers and plan to offer sending a referral letter to them referring our Business Insurance Agent and our Accountant in the hopes that they will do the same for us.
Great insights
Excellent. I believe
enjoyed the presentation.
Let there be light…Prospect.Ology is the way out of the maze that is print sales, thanks.
http://www.handbagssell.com and http://www.watchvisa.com
I finally understand Joint Ventures. Now I have to get to work. Thanks, Doug