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Serving Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming
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Arm Your Company And Your Customers With Pro Print Facts
33% - Only 33% of the fibers used to make paper comes from virgin trees; 33% comes from wood chips and scrap from sawmills, and 33% comes from recycled paper.(1) Strong wood markets, including the demand created by print, provide an incentive for private foresters to hold their land rather than sell it for other use.(2) 750 million - There are more than 750 million acres of U.S. forestland (that's one-third of the U.S.). Of this, 56% is privately owned. (3) 105 million - Up to 105 million acres of private U.S. forests are likely to be sold or transferred in the near future.4 With no financial incentive to grow trees, these forests may be permanently converted to other uses. These are just some of the statistics available through the WSPA-endorsed Choose Print campaign. The goal of the campaign is to promote the effectiveness of print and to reinforce the fact that print on paper is a recyclable, renewable, and, thus, sustainable environmental choice. And the effort is working as we continue to reach out to designers, print buyers, and purchasing agents. The latest addition to this multi-faceted program is a six-part "Be Prepared" poster series aimed at you, the printer. It will give you strong, fact-based responses to address common objections you hear about print. Access and print these posters and print them prominently in your workplaces and certainly to your sales team. CLICK HERE for the artwork to print. Sources:
1 Print Promotes Trees (postcard from Downloads page)2 The Environmental Impact of Print: Myths vs. Reality (article from Downloads page)3 Go Paper Grow Trees (website from Helpful Resources column of "Print Promotes Forests" page)4 Ibid |
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Learn The Latest On Technology At Special Phoenix Program - June 13th
Technology plays such an important role in the strategic direction of printing companies. The right investment in technology can provide profitable dividends for years to come. The wrong investment can spell disaster. Fresh on the heels of Drupa, the world's largest printing equipment exhibition, this session will explore the latest technology trends and developments impacting our industry. This 90 minute program will cover: - What technologies dominated Drupa this year, from ink jet to Benny Landa's nanography
- What vendors are poised to make bold moves
- What investments in technology might provide the greatest ROI for your company.
Space is limited for this program so register before it sells out! CLICK HERE to register. Program SpeakerJulie Shaffer is the Vice President of Education and Marketing Strategies with Printing Industries of America. She joined PIA in May 2000. A member of the executive management group, Julie overseas all of PIA's education initiatives including conferences, webinars, and the Integrated Learning Center. She is an industry expert on topics such as digital file prep, prepress productions, web-to-print, social media, digital printing, 3D printing and integrated media. |
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Save On Your Credit Card Processing Fees
Did you realize you could save hundreds if not thousands of dollars a year in credit card processing fees? CardConnect offers an exclusive WSPA benefit that provides up to 40% savings off of current processing fees! WSPA members have access to wholesale pricing, an online gateway & next-day funding. To find out if you're paying too much for processing, contact Rachel Lewis at rachel@cardconnect.com or call 913-953-5352 or fax a recent merchant statement to 913-953-5354. For more information, CLICK HERE.
To see what other discount programs are available to you as a WSPA member, visit our
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Sales Tips From Leslie: Make A Plan and Spend Time With Positive People
Make a plan. Nobody accomplishes anything of significance by trying to do it all at once. Most people want to magically move from point A to point Z, but don't even have an outline of a plan to get from point A to point B, and from point B to point C and so on. While it's easy to picture yourself and the life you want, the difficult part is actually getting there. Break lofty goals up into manageable steps and your likelihood of success increases tenfold.
Focus on your strengths. Backsliding is not failure. It's easy to see what we haven't accomplished, rather than the steps that we have taken. Any effort or energy you give to what you haven't accomplished will only slow you down. Celebrate every accomplishment, keep the momentum, and look toward the future. Make sure that you maximize your strengths and minimize weaknesses.
Learn something new. There is no better way to continually evolve as a human being than to make a commitment to life-long learning. Even the biggest "know-it-all" doesn't know everything. Education pave a pathway to success. You can never be too educated. Take a class about something of interest to you, be it personal or career oriented - you've probably been meaning to but haven't gotten around to it.
Spend time with positive people. Surround yourself with people who support your goals and endeavors. Spending time with people that bring us down or focus on the negative side of things challenges our focus and positive attitude - both of which are essential to achieving success in sales.
Source: Leslie Groene |
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Ask The Tech Experts!
Ask The Tech Experts is a resource of PIA's Center for Technology and Research that features the responses to questions covering a wide gamut of topics. If you would like to ask a technical question, simply email Dillon Mooney at dmooney@printing.org or call PIA's toll-free hotline at 1-800-910-4283. I have a customer who is complaining that the UV inks on a carton are too glossy and do not look "green." What can I do?Lower gloss UV inks are available, but they do not have a matte finish. You can spot or flood coat the UV ink with matte aqueous coating. The UV ink and aqueous coating must be formulated for this type of application. I have heard of CxF/X-4. What is it used for?
CxF/X-4 is a color exchange format that is based on ISO 17972, which is used to define a spot color throughout the whole production workflow. The use by brand owners increases the consistency of spot color matching while providing ink manufacturers the data to produce inks that achieve the desired color. This then allows standardized colors to be produced within single, or across multiple print facilities and processes. |
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Sharing The Bad News
Managing employees is easy when everything is going great. But most managers, at some point in time, have to deal with adversity - sagging financials, layoffs, poor company performance, or other bad news. When you have to share bad news, here are some good tactics to use.
1. Explain the situation clearly. Resist the urge to sugarcoat any bad news. Employees will hear the truth at some point anyway, and they will lose respect for you if you're less than honest with them. Bite the bullet and be up front about what's happening.
2. Tell them your plans. Employees want to know what they plan is for dealing with the bad news. They can handle almost any kind of situation, as long as they know you've got a strategy for turning the situation around.
3. Ask for their help. Don't just give orders; ask employees for their suggestions. Employees usually have tons of ideas for how to fix problems, but all too often, nobody ever asks for their input. They'll be more invested in solutions they've helped to design.
4. Exhibit a positive outlook. Employees take their cues from you. If you're dejected and negative over the news, you'll infect them with the same attitude. If you are upbeat and optimistic, you can expect them to adopt a positive viewpoint.
5. Show what success will look like. What will a successful solution look like? How will you all know when you're past the crisis? Give employees something to shoot for, whether it's one overall goal or a series of milestones. Employees need to see that light at the end of the tunnel, so they have something to look forward to.
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Lessons From Lindgren: They're Leaving For A Competitor
One of the most unwelcome bits of news is that a sales rep is going to a competitor. The first step should be to take quick action to protect the client relationships. Reach out to all of the affected people to assure them that your firm will continue to meet their needs, and identify the person (s) who will now be handling their account.
If a significant piece of business is involved, a visit by top management should be a priority. This will be vastly more effective if management has previously worked with the now departing rep on the account and they know your firm and you. If the departing rep was successful, chances are that the move was motivated by the reality that reps (and printing companies) grow by having larger jobs, mot more jobs and thus the move to a firm that can handle those projects.
One possible protective solution is to encourage reps of this kind to broker large projects as getting a piece of the action is better than getting nothing.
Bob Lindgren is the President and CEO of Printing Industries Association of Southern California, the largest affiliate of PIA. Mr. Lindgren has more than 40 years of experience in the industry and is an expert in the area of print finance.
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The key to success for any manager frequently depends on the ability to negotiate. Whether you're trying to hire a job candidate, court a client, ask for a raise, or strike any other kind of bargain, improve your chances with these tactics:
1. Plan. Don't enter a negotiation until you know exactly what you want to get out of it - and what you're willing to give up in the inevitable moment of compromise.
2. Listen. Be willing to sit back and let the other side talk. Avoid interrupting or being combative. Think of this as a reconnaissance mission - your opportunity to gain a feel for the opposition and plan your strategy.
3. Ask. You'll have no chance of success if you are not willing to ask for what you want.
4. Share. The goal is to see that your needs are met, not to annihilate your opponent. If you can succeed while making the result feel like a win for the other side too, so much the better.
5. Confirm and commit. Close the negotiation by recapping the agreement and getting a firm commitment from the other party.
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Insurance Fraud Hurts Us All
Many people see insurance fraud as a victim less crime. After all, who's really getting hurt-some big bucks insurance company that won't even notice a few thousand dollars missing? Outwardly, it may seem impersonal. But, when the multiple layers of the effects of fraud are peeled away, the real victim is revealed: you. Costs related to insurance fraud are passed on to consumers through higher premiums.
Insurance companies take fraud very seriously. Employees are trained to prevent, detect, and eliminate fraud to protect policyholders, the public, and the company and its employees.
Proven anti-fraud tactics lay the groundwork for a firm stance on eliminating fraud and prosecution of perpetrators.
Special Investigation Unit
Federated's goal is to aggressively pursue individuals who have submitted fraudulent claims. Our Special Investigation Unit (SIU) reviews and investigates possible fraudulent claims across the country, involving federal, state, and local law enforcement and investigative agencies when necessary or required. It's unfortunate fraud is a problem big enough to warrant a department devoted strictly to it. But, with education and action, the message that insurance fraud is a crime and will not be tolerated may eventually put the SIU out of business.
Help Wanted
Fraud can be committed at any type of business and comes in all shapes and sizes: arson, suspicious medical bills, a staged car accident or slip and fall incident, padded invoices...the list, unfortunately, goes on. The tactics are as varied as the perpetrators.
There's no one better to stop fraud in its tracks than policyholders themselves. To report suspected insurance fraud of any kind, immediately contact your state's fraud bureau or the insurance company. Depending on the type of fraud, you may also contact the following:
- National Insurance Crime Bureau - 1-800-835-6422 (for suspected property/casualty, auto, homeowners, liability, and workers compensation fraud)
- Medicare/Medicaid - 1-800-447-8477
- Federal Crop Insurance - 1-800-424-9121
- Medical providers - call your state's medical board or chiropractic board
Source: Federated Insurance
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Wyoming joins states allowing private employment veterans' preference
Wyoming has enacted a law (S. 3), L. 2016) providing for permissive private employer hiring preference for veterans and spouses of disabled and deceased veterans.
The granting of a preference based on a person's status as a veteran or spouse of a disabled or deceased veteran shall not be considered a discriminatory or unfair employment practice under local or state equal employment opportunity law, provided the granting of the preference is not based in any manner on consideration of a characteristic, attribute or category enumerated in state law as constituting a discriminatory or unfair employment practice.
The law will take effect July 1, 2016.
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Outrageously Bad Marketing Advice
Here's a round-up of some popular marketing advice that just isn't true: - You absolutely must be on Facebook
- Pinterest only works for consumer brands that sell fashion or food.
- If you start blogging, your audience will naturally find you.
- If you get to page one of Google, you'll be successful.
- B2B marketers don't need a mobile-ready site.
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Weekly Photo Feature:
Are you Kidding Me?!
Each week, E-Connects shares incredible photos on just how lax individuals can be when it comes to safety. The goal - to keep a safe work environment front and center on the minds of all of your employees. Pictured: Ingenuity may be the mother of invention but stupidity is the mother of most accidents.If you come across a funny safety pic you think should be featured, email Michael Makin at mmakin@wsprint.org. |
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WSPA In Two Minutes Flat
Are you taking full advantage of your membership in WSPA and PIA? What to learn what you might be missing in just two short minutes?
Visit our website to get a video overview of the programs and benefits of your local printing association, including discount programs that could well pay for your annual membership dues.
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Quote For The Week
"Success is really about being ready for the good opportunities that come before you. It's not to have a detailed plan of everything that you're going to do. You can't plan innovation or inspiration, but you can be ready for it, and when you see it, you can jump on it."
Eric Schmidt
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WSPA | 844-237-1550 | wsprint.org
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