Serving Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Kern, Ventura & Clark Counties
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Surprising Ways to Win More Business From Existing Clients
The key to building a loyal customer base is to be an effective communicator. If you haven’t put too much
thought into your
customer service strategy
yet, this is your cue to do so.
During this webinar with speaker AL Storey you will learn:
- 3 key elements of communication
- How to identify your customer’s Primary Sensory Dominance
- How to use Transactional Analysis to attract customers to work with you
This webinar will help you have a strategy for each customer conversation, in order to win more business.
Increase your communication confidence and get tools you can implement immediately that will work
with both good and challenging customers.
Don’t miss this invaluable webinar on
Tuesday, August 28th, 10:00 am PST
At a computer near you
FREE WEBINAR FOR MEMBERS
NON-MEMBERS $30
Who should attend:
Owners, Managers, Sales Reps and Customer Service Reps
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Take Action on Another Important Issue: Impact of Aluminum Tariffs on Printing Plates
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The new “Section 232 Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum” were issued by President Trump on June 1. These tariffs apply to steel and aluminum imported from various countries, including those in the European Union. Because the high-quality aluminum used to produce lithographic printing plates is sourced from the EU and is generally not available from domestic manufacturers, our industry is hit hard by this tariff.
The reaction by suppliers in our industry—and the pain felt by PIA printer members—has been swift. Within the past three weeks the major suppliers of aluminum printing plates in the U.S. announced price increases and/or “surcharges” as pass-through costs to customers. All three suppliers pointed directly to the Section 232 tariff impact as a reason for these price increases, demonstrating the need for the entire supply chain to collectively advocate for a solution.
This negative impact was predictable. PIA President and CEO Michael Makin personally took the industry’s warning to top-level Department of Commerce officials in a meeting on June 20. He was informed that there was an application process available to printing equipment suppliers to request exclusions from this tariff; however, the 90-day process has been deluged by requests from nearly every U.S. industry sector using steel and aluminum inputs. The timing on when or if printing equipment suppliers will receive exclusions is now undefined.
—Take Action—
- Congress must hear tangible examples of how the printing industry is being impacted by trade policy. If your company has been notified of printing plate price increases due to the Section 232 Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum, notify your U.S. Senators and U.S. Representative as soon as possible.
- A pre-written letter to submit to lawmakers on your company letterhead is available here. Please submit by fax or email.
- For maximum impact, please email copies of your letters to Print Powers America at printpowers@printing.org, so that we can directly advocate on your behalf.
- Sharing the impact that Section 232 Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum has on your company is vital to help the Trump Administration and Congress understand the real-life impact of trade policy on the printing and graphic communications industry.
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How to Maximize Your Exposure with LinkedIn Hashtags
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Have you noticed more people using hashtags on LinkedIn?
Looking for tips for using hashtags in your own LinkedIn marketing?
In this article, you’ll learn how to use the LinkedIn Hashtags You Follow feature to develop a solid hashtag strategy for LinkedIn.
#1: Explore the Hashtags You Follow Feature
LinkedIn is encouraging users to post and search for specific hashtags using the Your Communities section on the left-hand side of their LinkedIn feed.
If you see the
Your Communities
box on your home page, you have the ability to manage hashtag use and conversations more easily, right from a convenient location. Click the pencil icon to start adding hashtags to your list.
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Infographic: Why do so Many People Love Print on Paper? It's enjoyable, relaxing and practical!
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Two Sides North America
has released the second of three engaging new infographics on Why do so many people love print on paper?
The new infographic focuses on the fact that the majority of Americans consider print on paper as enjoyable, relaxing and practical. “Our survey results confirm that, even in our increasingly digital society, a large majority of people see the benefits and value of print on paper. This not only includes leisure reading, but also critical tasks like managing finances”, says Phil Riebel, President Two Sides North America.
The infographic is designed to bust key myths about the switch from paper to digital, and highlight the benefits of print on paper for learning, literacy and providing a deeper understanding of information.
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Calculating Your Facility's Carbon Footprint
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There are three main reasons why calculating your facility’s carbon footprint is an important exercise. First, if your facility has carbon dioxide equivalent emissions greater than 25,000 metric tons per year, you are required to report your greenhouse gas emissions to the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. Second, your facility may be required to report emissions if your State or local government has set a lower reporting threshold. The first step in understanding and meeting these requirements is obviously to determine your facility’s greenhouse gas emissions levels.
Finally, calculating your carbon footprint will prepare you to answer customer inquiries. Customers are becoming increasingly interested in the environmental impact and sustainability of companies. The carbon footprint of a printing operation is a valuable metric that can communicate your commitment to sustainability.
“Scope I and II” emissions represent the greenhouse gas emissions that are directly released from a facility due to burning fossil fuels, or are indirectly released due to the consumption of energy such as purchased electricity.
As a PIASC member you have access to a handy tool that will provide emissions data reported as carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e). It contains an EZ Form that is supported by 14 separate calculation sheets that address fuel combustion, solvent oxidation, vehicles, refrigerants, electricity purchased, etc. Almost all printing operations will be able to simply enter their data into the EZ Form, but the tool can be customized in each source category in the event that a specific emission scenario is not included.
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Looking to Labels and Packaging for Business Expansion
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As consolidation continues to drive the merger and acquisition activity in commercial print, commercial printers who are looking for business growth are increasingly looking for new offerings that can deliver new revenue streams and new customers. Packaging – and more specifically, labels – is an area of growing interest. Why? Because the labels and packaging market is growing – single digits, but it is growing.
But for commercial printers thinking about adding labels or packaging to the mix, it is not as simple as simply adding another press. These markets have different, often much more conservative buyers. It is a big risk for a company to change its labels or packaging provider. If I’m a microbrewery, for example, I’m not as interested in saving a few pennies per label as I am in ensuring that my labels are consistent and that they won’t be sliding off the bottles.
Likewise, the printer-turned-converter may need an entirely new set of skills. Laying down ink on paper in high quality is only a small part of the overall equation. They need deep knowledge of substrates and adhesives. They may not have done much die cutting before. And depending on customer requirements and the specific product being produced, structural engineering capabilities are often a must. In addition, sales skills cannot be underestimated. Sales professionals must be able to speak the right language, and the sales approach will likely need to be quite different than that of a traditional commercial print sales person.
For these reasons, commercial printers wishing to grow into labels and packaging are increasingly looking for companies to acquire that already have the necessary expertise and customer base. At New Direction Partners, we have already seen several commercial printers take this path quite successfully. But there are several things to take into consideration when approaching a deal of this nature:
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2013 Flash Back to Paper Fashion
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“I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination."
~Jimmy Dean
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