A New Look at ‘Customer Focus’

It’s not uncommon for business leaders to stress the importance of “customer focus” through all areas of their enterprise. On the surface, not a bad idea. However, upon closer look, this approach may be keeping your business from realizing its full potential. Here’s why. We’ve all heard of the Pareto Principle, sometimes referred to as…

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Four Tactics to Achieve Operational Excellence for Your Company

The printing industry continues to evolve, with technology advancements, changing customer preferences, and economic fluctuations reshaping the landscape. To thrive in this sector, achieving operational excellence is crucial for printing companies. What is operational excellence? Operational excellence encompasses a range of strategies and practices aimed at optimizing operations, enhancing customer relationships, and ensuring profitability. Let’s explore four main points you can use to achieve operational excellence in your business. Embrace Technological Advancements In the general commercial printing industry, technology is a driving force behind achieving operational excellence. Printing technology continues…

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A Very Powerful Question

As I returned my Alamo rental car in Newark, N.J., recently, an employee asked if I had any issues with the car and how my trip was. I said, “Fine,” and was prepared to get my receipt and walk to the terminal. Instead, I was legitimately surprised by a simple question: “Could we have done…

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Before and After

Answer this. Believe your answer. You’ll be well on your way to defining your competitive advantage, your value proposition, and will become more successful at differentiating yourself and your company. You’ll be well on your way to moving away from the commodity business and being an innovative value creator. Describe your client’s life before they…

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Do I Have to Buy QuickBooks Premier Software Every Year?

No; currently, QuickBooks Premier is a desktop software and not a subscription service. That means that when you buy the software, you own it.

QuickBooks supports its desktop software, such as Premier, for three years. QuickBooks Premier 2012, for instance, is supported until May 31, 2015. During this time period, you can expect to receive automatic updates and fixes, as well as support and access to any integrated add-on services.

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How Does Amazon’s Business Model Affect Ours?

Our evolving industry business model continues to be a hot topic. Recently I started wondering how an online purchasing mentality, I’ll call the Amazon click-to-buy world, affects our industry. It begs the question, are we (aka distributors) really needed? It’s getting easier and easier for end-users to buy online or direct from suppliers.

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Why Should They Choose You?

If you don’t know why customers should choose to work with you over all of their other options, how in the world are they ever going to know? You need to know the answer to that and be able to articulate it, believe in it and live it. Here are six questions you need to answer and how to put those answers together to create your “value proposition.”

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Feeling Price Pressure from Online Discounters? Here’s What You Can Do

What do you do when a prospect tells you they can buy the promotional products you’re recommending cheaper on the Internet?

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$2 a Slice

You would think that $2 a slice is referring to buying pizza by the slice, but in this case, I’m referring to slicing a piece of paper—one piece of paper.

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