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With the holiday season approaching and the bitter cold of winter settling in, many print sales reps are slowing their sales efforts, paying fewer visits to clients and making sales calls less frequently. But for the hard-charging sales rep, this is the ideal time to put forth a little more effort to have a spirited finish to 2005 that could result in new orders for 2006.
One way that print sales reps can boost their yearend sales – and become a hero to their clients – is to help customers identify trends that could save them money in the long-run. One such trend that we have seen at Rickard Bindery is the emergence of multiple language product instruction sheets.
As the marketplace has become more global, companies are shipping their products to markets outside of North America. As their geographic reach has expanded, so too has their need to provide instruction sheets in several different languages. For instance, a cosmetic company that sells its products in Europe might have to provide instruction sheets in French, German, Italian and English. If they ship to Asia as well that means the cosmetic company must stock an inventory of instruction sheets for as many as 12 languages.
Industrious print sales reps could take advantage of this trend to win business by suggesting to clients and prospects that they go from printing several instruction sheets in different languages to instead printing one instruction sheet with multiple languages. Here’s how it works:
Pharmaceutical Company A will print up to 12 different stocking numbers to accommodate each market’s language, then track inventory to ensure that the Spanish language instruction sheet is in included with products going to Spain, and so forth. Instead, a print sales rep could pitch to Pharmaceutical Company A that rather than print 12 different instruction sheets it print one sheet with 12 different languages on it, translating into a single stocking number that would have to be tracked.
Typically, product instruction sheets run about 5½” x 8½” in size. A multi-language instruction sheet, however, would be at least 15” x 25” in size. By using a knowledgeable bindery, printers can provide clients with the multi-language instruction sheets folded down to appropriate sizes for insertion into product packaging.
Any company that sells products in multiple markets – or is poised to in the near future – is ideal for this sales pitch. Personal grooming and cosmetic suppliers, pharmaceutical, software, equipment and electronics companies are just a few prospecting possibilities.
The cost benefit to the companies includes reduced inventory and more economical printing orders. The benefit to the print sales rep could be increased customer loyalty and new print orders for the New Year
The Rickard Advantage
Rickard Bindery has been around for a century because we stay in tune with the changing needs of the print and graphic arts industry. We’re experts in performing pharmaceutical and other small, final format folds. Fell free to call our experienced staff for suggestions on how to better meet your clients’ print needs.
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