Tuesday, May 26, 2009

"Web 2 Print" is not about taking orders. It's about getting leads.

Taking an order from anything that can be described at a web site is easy. Getting leads is hard. Producing the work profitably is hard.

So, why invest time and money in doing something that's already easy? On the other hand, investing time and money to turn something from hard to easy always makes sense. Remember easy for me, hard for you is the unassailable advantage of a Printer.

One possible approach is:
1. Make it easy for the customer to construct the specs from the web with one from column A and one from column B.
2. Then say "When you think you've put together the job you want, give us a call."
3. On the call, make sure your people don't worry about selling. Just help the caller define the job with enough clarity to get the job done and for your people to give a contract price while they are on the phone.
4. Don't worry about getting the job. Focus on getting the address, email and phone number.

NOTE Step 3 is Consultative Lead Identification
That's where your people suggest the time for money trade off or the paper change that will cut the price without cutting the profit. It's also where your people find out if the caller is a possible prospect, what kinds of problems they face and which pitch will probably get them interested.

Presto, you have a new lead! With no direct mail or marketing! Plus you can keep track of it every day. And you can take the appropriate next steps in real time instead of corporate time.

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