September 2017

Were you in the copier industry ten years ago?  If so, can you remember what accounts you sold along with the model numbers of the copiers that you sold?  Can you remember what was and what was not?

Many of the questions are some of the main reasons that so many Print4Pay Hotel members love reading This Week in the Copier Industry 10 Years Ago This Week.

For many it brings back memories of what we love best about the industry!  Enjoy these threads from ten years ago this week!

Weekend Notes from The Copier Industry 9/24

With many athletes practice makes perfect.  It's that repetition of completing certain tasks over and over again the create muscle memory.  That muscle memory then becomes an instinctive reaction when that athlete puts those skills in motion. 

Since I'm pretty familiar with baseball, it's the day to day tasks of taking batting practice, long tossing and fielding that builds the muscle memory of the athlete.

Over the years, there are many tasks that I perform daily, weekly and monthly that have helped me to be successful in the copier industry.  In many cases, I'm not thinking about the tasks that I perform. It's just that I've been doing them for so long that they become my muscle memory for my sales processes.

Thus, I'd like to share some of these tasks and I guess you can call them tips that can help you sell more copiers.

1) Many times, it's hard to connect with a net new prospect via phone, social media and or in person.  Most of us understand that before we call that prospect that we should also pay a visit to their website.  Visting their website enables us to get a better understand of what that company does and who some of the decision makers may be. 

On many occasions, I will scout the "contact us" page to see if there is an email contact form. If there is I will send my intro email through their website. It's definitely going to get read and makes a cold call on the phone a bit easier when you can tell the receptionist that it's in reference to an email I sent through your website.

Now, there's another little trick that works from time to time when you're on that companies "contact us" page.  While on that page you may be able to capture the email address that is being used for that contact form.  In most cases that email address is usually used by a person that has some authority within the company.

You can capture that email address by "right clicking" on your mouse.  You'll then see a pop-up appear on your screen.  You want to find "view source", once you've found it you want to click view source. You will then the source code or the HTML that was used to create that page.  Now, somewhere on that page, there may be that email address that we're looking for. The quickest and easiest way to find that address is to type the @ sign in the search field and then press enter.  All of the @ signs on the page will then be highlighted.  See the picture below for exact instructions.

I'll be posting the rest of these in the next couple of days, getting late now and I need to get ready for tomorrow. Only two days left in the selling month and quarter. 

-=Good Selling=-

BEI Services has been providing service process improvement metrics for decades. BEI’s experience and the vast amounts of data collected from thousands of service professionals and millions of print devices have positioned itself to offer all the information our partners need to run exceptional service organizations. The hundreds of our current customers have saved millions of dollars. Each day BEI continues providing the intellectual tools for service improvement. With today’s advances in technology, we are excited about the future of not only continuously improving our world-class platform but helping our valued partners improve in delivering to both their internal and external customer’s a better experience.

Today there must be even more understanding of service cost as new and different approaches to market become mainstream. Sales strategies like Device Billing or Seat Based Billing will only work profitability if you truly understand your cost. BEI Services is by-far the best in the industry for understanding service cost.

Over the next months, we will be adding more features and benefits to ensure that our partners can continue capitalizing on this most critical component of their deliverable. Everyone in the Imaging Channel understands the importance of the service annuity, the lifeblood which pumps through the heart of our industry. The BEI Services Team is dedicated to the commitment of continuous improvement. We understand that Analytics Equals knowledge which Equals Best in Class. It’s in this group of best in class that our partners find the best possible outcome for profits.

The protection of your businesses profit is more important than ever in a fast-changing deliverables future. Most already know, or should be aware, the future of document output is changing. The equipment, the supplies, the ways of service, the modes of delivery, and yes even the ways of selling print equipment is changing. Remember it doesn’t all have to end to disrupt one’s current circumstances it just must change enough to make the old way painful both for you and your customer. The future of all the components of the print equipment deliverables is threatened. Don’t get emotionally attached to the excited cries of paperless. I will scream again it’s not a paperless argument it’s a change in the components of the deliverable which should motivate all dealers to take seriously the need to explore improvement continuously.

“If we don’t seek out and understand how we can be defeated we are at the mercy of those who plan and execute our defeat.” 

Imaging Channel Resellers must capitalize on their current circumstances. It’s from the fuel, or (PROFIT) of the existing deliverable which will feed the engine of change. However, if you want too long, the fuel truck will be empty. Many industries are seeing shifts and fearing the unknown competitor who sits outside the window of their current circumstances, waiting for technology advances, advances which will eliminate or de-value their current end-users desired outcome. In other words, your end-users find a better way and then desire something different which might include you if you’re not ready. BEI Services has the tools and the expertise to help our partners uncover and capitalize on the benefits of performing as a Best in Class company.

Let’s explore where to find surpluses of cash just waiting to be used for your innovation. It’s safe to say most business owners convince themselves they are 100% focused on protecting their business, they understand the absolute necessity of that. At BEI, we live to help control the operating cost our partner's service and support centers.

Here are some examples of business processes BEI helps maintain within the Imaging Channel.

Territory management, BEI Services has the world’s best in class system for territory management. Our territory management software has reduced millions of callbacks, and this has increased the end-user customer satisfaction. A dealers Customer experience has quickly become much more important than more relationship based as in the past. Customers waiting for parts, or continuously having to call back are not an acceptable experience.    

Ensuring parts and toner inventory turns at least ten times a year. Some dealers had not reevaluated levels and still stock like 1980 when it took four weeks to get something the world has changed it got a lot faster. No dealer in the industry should have 9 or 10 months of stock sitting in their warehouse, no dealer in the industry should have parts or supplies which have not been used in 18 months. Dealers should not be writing off more than 1% of inventories. BEI’s software highlights behaviors which are inconstant to best practices causing profit loss. These alerts and details provide the dealership with information to act on saving our partners millions of dollars.

Many dealers have delegated their inventory and service controls to great, fantastic people; however, many are not trained in business acumen regarding PNL’s. Inventory and service management is just as critical as sales management. No good business leader would allow their sales manager to continue in their role if sales were not growing, had no plan or accountability metrics. However, some dealerships are bleeding much more in losses from inefficient inventory, and service management deficiencies. Fifty percent of the company’s revenue comes from your service department so your service business must be managed by business mentalities, not strictly technician mentalities. Today this is more important than ever.        

However still today, in some cases managers’ excuse away the reports, don’t read the reports or refuse to manage the disciplines the reports outline. BEI understands that Dealer owners must take the lead when core changes are needed we are responding with our Executive Dashboards and Acuity programs.

Today Dealers could easily be circumvented by other means of delivery and service, as manufacturers continue improving equipment thereby eliminating more and more onsite service as this and the lack of reliance on the equipment itself from end-users get closer and closer in-line the industry will experience many challenges. Today independent dealers must look to disrupt themselves into a sustainable future and do it before someone else takes control of their disruption.      

Most dealers would recapture a minimum of 20% of their Service and support operating cost if they managed by the numbers and not the emotional non-sense which attempts to penetrate one’s common sense.

Think about this. Currently 60% of all service calls are created by your technicians or lack of good inventory control. 30% of these calls should never happen. More than likely 70% of your profit comes from services and 30% comes from supplies, Hardware is a wash at best or drains 5-7% of your overall profit. Service departs must be vigilant to continuous improvement

With regards to revenue. Fifty percent of your revenue comes from service, and supplies the other fifty percent comes from hardware sales. A ten-million-dollar dealer with a five-million-dollar service platform running at fifty percent gross margin would have a cost of service of 2.5 Million saving 20% would reduce cost by Five hundred thousand dollars a year, or $46,666 per month. That my friends is a big number and should get your attention. Regardless of your dealerships size maximizing profits, and controlling inventories is mandatory for survival and to the cost of innovation. 

So, here’s the question what could your dealership invest in with an extra half a million dollars a year. And I guess I would say this, “If you think that you’re doing your best, that’s not the same as knowing you’re doing your best.” It is time to re-evaluate your service strategy and begin preparing yourself for the real possibilities that the annuity service platform which feeds the Imaging Channel will cease to bring enough nutrition for continuing our current circumstance.

Most dealers have qualified managers in their ranks. However, they normally don’t have a surplus of change leaders. Focused structural changes must be led, the dealer owner and their senior executives’ must take the lead. Those managing a current process who believe is performing just fine will become emotional and most definitely challenge any new order of things. In all reality, it’s 2017, and the fact is this- if your managers aren’t ripping up the past on their own you need to and BEI is here to help.  

“Business disruptions are the result of innovation improving the customer experience so drastically that the old way becomes a customer nightmare.”

Let BEI Services help you navigate to a more profitable future by providing the metrics, solutions, and knowledge from the world’s largest data base of Print service analytics.

R.J. Stasieczko  

National hospitality staffing company, LGC Hospitality, implemented DocuWare Cloud to digitize and streamline their onboarding workflow, making the process simpler for both the applicant and staff.

Established in 2003, LGC Hospitality is a leading hospitality staffing company with over 26 offices across the USA. They help hotels, corporate dining companies, country clubs, hospital food services, special events centers, stadiums, caterers, schools and others to fill hospitality, hotel and restaurant positions. LGC provides temporary, temporary-to-hire, and career options at a variety of venues.

Their mission is to ensure a positive experience for both candidates and clients by going above and beyond the expectations they have of staffing firms. LGC strives to make quality placements as a result of long-standing client and candidate relationships built on trust and honesty.

LGC processes paperwork for over 50,000 applicants a year and issues W2 forms for over 24,000 employees. Employees range from those looking for fulltime work, a few weeks of work, weekends or just one event. Regardless of how many hours they end up working, each employee must fill out a 54-page application plus additional paperwork to set up payroll. When using their paper-based process, getting the applications complete and properly filled out was one of LGC’s biggest challenges. The application was long and asked for the same information in several locations which candidates found frustrating. To add to the labor intensive process, LGC staff had to spend a lot of time reviewing applications just to make sure every field was filled in and that every page had been signed. It was also very difficult managing, storing, and sharing this information internally, in addition to pulling information for audits.

Requirements

When a new Vice President of Operations came on board, she began looking for a digital solution that would ease the company’s pain. She decided on DocuWare because the solution met all her needs: streamline the application process, eliminate time spent manually storing documents, provide the company with a searchable database of employees, and give recruiters the ability to use the system when they were at event locations. Additionally, implementing a cloud-based system would make rolling it out to 26 branch offices an easy process.

Solution

Today, the application and on-boarding process is all done through DocuWare via one online web form that contains fields from all their forms such as: Form W4 – Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate, Form I9 – Employment Eligibility Verification, Direct Deposit, Emergency Contact Information, and others. The web form avoids redundant data entry by only asking for each piece of information one time and ensuring completeness by making some fields required. Once the information is entered and the web form has been signed, the data is used to create separate documents that are automatically stored in DocuWare. To simplify searches, branch offices and the corporate office each have their own filing cabinet, however, area and corporate managers have access to multiple cabinets. The solution was methodically rolled out to each office and after one week of training, staff jumped in and embraced their new paperless processes.

Benefits

Before DocuWare, the application process could take up to an hour and a half; now it only takes about 30 minutes. Making the process even easier and faster, LGC can email the applicant a link to the form so they can complete it at home and then finalize it in the office.

“DocuWare has so much flexibility that if we have a candidate who is struggling to use the computer, we can print out the form and let them use the paper version, then scan the document back into our system,” said Rachel Martin, VP of Operations. “All we need is a laptop, signature pad and Wi-Fi. We can even do our hiring for an event from a venue location,” Martin continued.

DocuWare has expanded beyond just the first phase of the application process to now include a workflow to ensure all documentation is complete as someone transitions from applicant to employee. LGC’s hiring managers use DocuWare to electronically stamp tax forms, I9 forms, and direct deposit forms as approved which routes the documents to the payroll department for a few final processes and allows the employee to begin work.

“We stayed very close to the same payroll processes we were using before DocuWare, with one exception; our processes have been completely streamlined. Once a payroll form has been submitted and approved by a manager it launches a workflow that activates or allows deposits to be made to a pre-paid debit card, eliminating a two-week lag time. It’s been a win-win for everyone, our staff and our hospitality employees,” said Martin.

LGC has every applicant fill out IRS Form 8850, so it can apply for Work Opportunity Tax Credits, a Federal tax credit available to employers who hire and retain veterans and individuals from other target groups with significant barriers to employment. In the past, branch offices would mail physical forms to the corporate office weekly, who would then consolidate the shipments from the branch offices and mail a bigger box of forms to the IRS. LGC only had one month from the date-of-hire to submit the form and deadlines were often missed. Today, as soon as the form has been reviewed and stamped approved, it is automatically emailed from the branch office directly to the IRS processing facility, ensuring the company takes 100% advantage of eligible credits without the added physical work of copying and packing documents or the weekly shipping costs. Employees have to work a certain number of hours before LGC can qualify for a tax credit, but since all forms are automatically sent, the number of credits LGC is potentially eligible for has risen.

When it comes to placement, since the applicant files are digital, the staff can now search their newly created database to quickly find a candidate with the right qualifications for an event

“Sometimes, I need to find someone with a specific qualification, such as someone who has a certain certificate or has had a certain health screening. I can do a search in DocuWare and find several candidates. We love being able to search our own database, because this is something we could never do with paper records,” said Martin.

Conclusion

The biggest benefit DocuWare has brought LGC is its impact on the audit process. LGC’s large corporate accounts conduct periodic audits that require the corporate office to produce requested documents such as signoff-sheets, background checks and verifications within a small window of time. In the past, the corporate office was dependent on the branch offices to forward paper documents. Today, the requested documents are completely and accurately filled out and easily accessible in DocuWare, allowing LGC’s corporate office to pass the audit with ease.

Martin summed up their DocuWare solution saying, “DocuWare has significantly impacted our business and streamlined our processes. Our on-boarding procedure is considerably easier and quicker for both applicants and staff and the use of online web forms results in complete, accurate information. On a corporate level, we have access to all the documents from each of our 26 locations, smoothing our audit process and improving our efficiency. DocuWare has helped us moved our business into a modern age and allowed us to better serve our clients.”

DocuWare Corporation | 4 Crotty Lane, Suite 200 | New Windsor, NY 12553   (888) 565-5907 | www.docuware.com

The Desire

Let me tell you a short story.

At the age of 23, I had just completed my first six months as a copier technician. Prior to getting hired as a technician, I was hired for a 16 week boot camp to learn how to repair copiers in 1980.

At the end of the 16 weeks of training, we were sent out on interviews with local copier dealerships in New Jersey & New York. All 22 trainees were hired within a few weeks.

At six months, I had my review with the Dealer Principal. He stated, “Art you’re doing a great job at taking the copiers apart, however not so good at putting then back together”. I knew what that meant, I was getting **** canned.

After a few seconds, I was told that I was be laid off. What a bummer right? On my way out the door, the Dealer Principal pulled a Columbo on me. He stated, “Art, before you go, I have a question for you”. Ok, maybe there’s still a chance I thought.

The Dealer Principal reached into his pocket and pulled out three or four hundred dollar bills. He then asked, “which would you rather do? Work for a week to earn the three or four hundred dollars or try and talk me out of it?”

Now, my Momma did not raise a fool. Work a week or try to talk him out of it? I opted for the last option and tried for at least 20 minutes or so to make him pry loose with the cash. Because I was going to need it with no job and I'm a fan of cash. After more than 20 minutes, I conceded because he was not going to give the loot.

However, he did offer me a job for selling copiers. I took the job and never looked back.

I have had at least 7 or 8 dogs over my lifetime. For me there are two types of dogs, those that a motivated by food (easiest to train) and those that are wishy washy about food (harder to train).

There are many different types of people, and one type of person are those that have the desire to make money. Growing up, all I wanted was to make money. I had the lemon aide stand, the paper route, the snow shoveling and even left school early because I wanted to make money.

It’s my belief that once you have your potential employment candidates down to the last the three or four. You can find who has the desire to make money by asking them the same question that I was asked in my exit interview.

Those that say they will work a week for the dough can go. Those that want to talk you out of it are the candidates that have the DESIRE to succeed.

Of course you never let them talk you out of the cash, but you do offer them the job!

Art

If you're your authentic self you have no competition

In, Brutal Honesty: How Self Reflection Is Essential To Becoming A Better Sales Professional, I shared with you; how as a sales professional, you should consistently reflect back upon your personal performance. What helped you to succeed during the day, week or month? What caused you to lose a deal?

How are you continually evaluating yourself to improve your results and become better at what you do?

Self-reflection allows us to understand what is important, and focus on what can be done differently, in the future.

How well have you been practicing being self-reflective?

Approach each day with clarity and a better mindset to acknowledge where you fell short the prior day so you can improve upon it today.

• Did I do what was required of me?
• What did I learn today that was useful?

"Seeking to understand thyself requires courage"

SELF-REFLECTION LEADS TO SELF-AWARENESS

The importance of learning self-awareness and self-refection can't be stressed enough as this will help you to become a better person for yourself, your career and most importantly those whom you love.

I ask you this...

As a sales professional, "If you don't know yourself then how can you help your clients?"

 HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW YOUR STORY?

Stories are powerful. They give you a narrative to live by and lessons to pass on that shape the person you are and will become. Your story calls out your best self. It calls upon you to bring your full attention, strength and personality, creating a life of significance and career full of abundance.

This requires you acknowledge the good and the bad of your story. A big part of this is learning how to let go of past guilt, failure and regret as you start living your life with conviction.

Make a conscious decision today to stop defining yourself by what you are not. Stop beating yourself up (lord knows I have learned this the hard way). Every day starts a day filled with new opportunities, so start living a better story.

How many of your clients know your story?

SELF-AWARENESS MEANS KNOW YOURSELF

Quite simple, self-awareness means you know yourself so well that you become amazingly happy which in turn allows you to live a wonderfully balanced life.

• Are you living as the real you and not someone else?
• Do your thoughts match your actions?
• Does your walk match your talk?
• Are you emphasizing the positive aspects of your personality?

Living a lie comes out sooner or later. Living a sales lies is even worse as this will ultimately screw with your career.

Knowing yourself is the process of understanding you. What makes you tick? Knowing yourself brings you face-to-face with self-doubts and insecurities. Self-reflecting upon this allows you to take a serious look into just how you are living your life and sales life.

Knowing yourself is a conscious effort; you do it with intention and purpose. This is the same approach you must take as a sales professional with your career. You must lead your sales career with intent and purpose.

SELF-IMPROVEMENT IS ALL ABOUT SELF-AWARENESS

The more you know about yourself, the better you are at adapting to the changes that come your way in life. Self-reflect to self-improve! The more you pay close attention to your emotions and how you work, the better you'll understand why you do the things you do. The more you know about your habits, the easier it is to make improvements.

You can read every sales book out there, you can event adapt to the routines of sales guru's and you can eat for breakfast every piece of self-help that comes your way but it's completely pointless if you don't know yourself well enough to put the correct advice into practice.

SELF-AWARENESS LEADS TO SUCCESS AS A SALES PROFESSIONAL

Spend any amount of time in sales and you all will have been bitten by the "humble-pie" and the "dose of reality bug". This bite injects salespeople with a dose of humility and awareness of their shortcomings allowing them to become better sales professionals. If you are willing to set aside your ego, to be humble as you go about your work as sales professional, then you can reflect an attitude of "others-interest" thus creating a true buyer focused experience.

Great sales professionals are not self-centered! The best of the best incorporate self-reflection and are truly self-aware of who they are. They eat humble pie for breakfast and look forward to a day full of learning as they serve their clients.

A self-aware sales professional reminds themselves on a daily basis...

• I don't know everything about my client. So, what will I do about it?
• I will stop pretending that I know a great deal about my client's business issues. I will strive to be authentic in learning about their issues. I won't fake that I know!
• I am a student of my client's problems.
• I am an opportunity creator for my clients.

Getting to know yourself allows you to tap into the road of happiness as this is critical to your success as a sales professional. Your beliefs, your attitude and your daily routines are mission critical.

Be brutally honest with yourself...

How clearly can you define YOU?

I understand, I get where you all are coming from. Every day, I walk in your shoes. I am fully committed to helping your sales team integrate social aspects and modern strategies into your current sales process to grow new business. I want you to get results. This is why I am passionate about doing this the right way, the genuine way, the authentic way!

In 2016, I was recognized by ENX Magazine as, “The Difference Maker,” as someone who is making a difference inside the copier channel. I am passionate about helping sales reps succeed in creating their online brand image

You can find more advanced training material inside the Social Sales Academy website.

I appreciate getting the opportunity to share my LinkedIn stories. Integrating the use of LinkedIn was my “game-changer” in the highly competitive copier world. With great pride I transform, challenge, coach and inspire B2B Office Technology Sales Professionals to grow new business by helping them tell their story and communicate integrating the use of social media. My commitment is to help office technology dealers thrive in a drastically changing marketplace. You can follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter, Social Sales Academy and on my podcast at Selling from the Heart.

I originally posted this blog back in 2011. As 2017 draws closer to closing, I thought it would be an appropriate blog for those of us that care about meeting or exceeding our quotas.  I could only hope that what I share can help inspire those that are new to our industry.

I really can't understand why there are sales people that just go through the motions and couldn't care less if they attained quota or was achieved Presidents Club.  I mean, where is the desire, determination and dedication to be the best?

Recently at the BTA East event, one of the main pain points for dealer principals is that they could not develop sales people that would stick around for a decent amount of time.

My take is that we are not identifying those that have DESIRE.  Desire can't be bought, can't be taught. You've either got it or don't have it.

I have a simple test during the interview for applicants.  Send me and email and I'll tell you what that is apost@p4photel.com

Copier Sales Reps,  Presidents Club & The Grind

Vacations

If I'm only working three weeks then why do I till have to cram a months worth of business in three weeks? My point, it's really not a vacation (yes, it's time off, but we're always working)  to me unless my quota is reduced.  I've been preaching this for years and finally got my point across and then the dealership I worked for was sold and I'm back to square one again.  I call that conditions, everything changes and you need to change with the times.

Getting ready for a new year needs me to focus on some new goals:

Here they are from 10 years ago this week!

Weekend Notes from the Copier Industry 9/16/07

Another three days and we're bringing you Part Four in our blog series for our Color Label Press University.  Just and FYI for everyone.  At the top of each blog you'll see .  Clicking that link which is at the top of each blog will then bring you the collection of blogs for Color Label Press University.  It's pretty neat, you'll see all of the blogs that we've posted for an easier read and simple way to toggle from blog to blog.

Color Label Presses can be used as seeding devices in larger Print4Pay opportunities, or help that dealer or rep get a conversation going with an account where they have never had any traction with MFP's or IT services.  In addition, the competition is ripe for takeover.   Let us not forget about the GP!

The market for full color digital labels in huge and the potential to make some serious commissions is enormous.  BTW, isn't that why we're in this crazy business? 

Color Label Press University "Glossary for Pressure Sensitive Labels"  Course One

(Sponsored by Muratec a Konica Minolta Company)

Bounce:  The abnormal reaction to compression, which results in erratic rotational movement of the cylinders, causing missed or imperfect impressions. Can also occur with a rotary die causing imperfect die cutting.

Break:  A term used to denote a tear in a roll of face material or release liner. Such defects are generally spliced and marked by a protruding flag.

Breaking:  The operation of passing material over a dull edge which 'breaks' the adhesive layer, retarding curl and improving water absorption when remoistened for use.

Brightness:  The reflectivity of a sheet of paper for blue light measured under standardized conditions on a particular instrument designed and calibrated specifically for the purpose. Strictly speaking, brightness is not a colormetric quantity.

Burn:   Common term used for printing plate exposure.

Bursting Perf:   A fold perforation that permits mechanical bursting.

Bursting Strength:  The pressure required to rupture a material specimen when it is tested in a specified instrument under specified conditions. It is largely determined by the tensile strength and extensibility of the material.

Butt Cut Labels:   Rectangular labels in continuous form separated by a single knife cut to the liner across the web.

Butt Labels:   See butt cut labels.

Butt Roll:   See stub roll.

Butt Splice:  An end to end joining of two similar materials. For continuity of surface, design, etc. Often used in joining stickyback, printing plates and webs of substrates in process.

Butted Rectangles:   Die cut rectangles butted to each other with no around and/or across matrix to remove.

C1S:   Paper Abbreviation for coated one side paper.

CAD:  Computer Assisted Design/Computer Assisted Makeup or Manufacturing.

Caking:   The collecting of dried ink upon rollers and plates.

Calender Cuts:   Defects caused by creasing or cutting of the web of paper during calendering due to wrinkles in the web.

Calender Finished:   A term applied to any paper with a surface glazed by means of a calender stack.

Caliper:   The thickness of paper, usually expressed in thousandths of an inch (mils).

Camera-Ready:  Copy which is ready for photography. See artwork.

Carrier:  Sometimes used to refer to the liner material of pressure sensitive labels. Also a term sometimes used to describe the stock to which two layers of adhesive are applied in a double adhesive construction.

Cast Coated:   A high-gloss enamel finish.

Cast Coated Paper:   A paper, the coating of which is allowed to harden or set while in contact with a finished casting surface.

Cast Film:   Plastic sheeting manufactured by the casting process, as opposed to the extruding process.

Cast Vinyl:  Vinyl sheeting manufactured by coating a liquid vinyl acetate or similar ester onto a casting paper and curing in a heated oven.

Catalyst:  A substance which has the capability of initiating or accelerating the speed of a reaction between two or more substances when introduced into their presence.

Cavity:  Usually refers to the engraving on a rotary die cutter that die cuts a single shape.

Cell:   A small engraved or etched depression in an anilox roll that carries the ink to the plate.

Cellulose:   Fibrous substance of wood, cotton and other vegetable matter.

Centigrade:   A scale of temperature which features 0 and 100 degrees as the freezing and boiling points of water. Also called Celsius.

Centipoise:   One hundred of a poise; a unit for measuring viscosity.

Central Impression:  A press with a number of printing units around a large cylinder which serves as the impression cylinder against which the substrate rides.

Ceramic Anilox Roll:  Engraved inking roll used in flexographic printing. New techniques in manufacturing allow for vastly improved anilox roll performance and life.

Chalking:  A form of coating deterioration characterized by the formation of a loose, chalk-like powder on the film surface.

Character:  A single group of bars and spaces which represent an individual number, letter or punctuation mark.

Charge:   Usually refers to the degree or type of electrical property carried by a substrate.

Check Digit:  A digit included within a symbol whose value is based mathematically on other characters included in the symbol. It is used for the purpose of performing a mathematical check to ensure the accuracy of the read.

Checking:   The presence of hair line carcks in a varnish coating, a lacquer coating, a film or in an adhesive coating. Crazing.

Chemical Curing:   The setting or curing of an adhesive, coating or sealer brought about by the addition of a catalyst or accelerator.

Chemical Resistance:  The resistance of a pressure sensitive label to the deteriorating effects resulting from exposure to chemicals under specified conditions.

Chill Roll:  Metal roll or drum cooled internally with water, etc. Often used after the press dryer to cool the printed web prior to die cutting, rewinding, etc.

Choke:  An image whose edges have been pulled inslightly from those of the original. The image area remains essentially the same except for a narrow strip of reduction around its perimeter.

Chokes and Spreads:  Overlaps of overprinting images to prevent color fringes or white borders around image detail due to slight misregister during printing.

Chromatic Scale:  The colors of the spectrum: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet.

Circumferential Register:  See running register.

-=Good Selling=-

Special thanx to all of those Print4Pay Hotel members that emailed me these quotes and proposals! 

I lost a potential order the other day.  I lost because I was not aware of what my competitors practices were with escalating service rates.  You know what I'm talking about, we all have them, we all don't speak about them unless the topic is brought up.  In this case, the topic was brought up and I answered with the appropriate response.  After obtaining a copy of the proposal, I found out why I lost.  Having that proposal will save my butt next time, because I will not forget and will be ready when I run up against the same competitor.

This is why you need to keep tabs on what others are doing in our industry. One little tidbit of data can save your ass and or get you the next deal.

Enjoy!

You can access a Premium/VIP Membership here.

-=Good Selling=-

I'm back on a roll!   Just a few days ago we posted up the second blog for "Color Label Press University "Glossary of Terms" Part Two, Course One". We're off and running with Part 3 today.

Color Label Presses can be used as seeding devices in larger Print4Pay opportunities, or help that dealer or rep get a conversation going with an account where they have never had any traction with MFP's or IT services.  In addition, the competition is ripe for takeover.   Let us not forget about the GP!

Interesting, just from posting up the glossary of terms, I'm becoming familiar with the type of language that's used in the color label business.  It's all about learning their language, and once you've mastered all of the terms you can have the special conversation with your client. 

The market for full color digital labels in huge and the potential to make some serious commissions is enormous.  BTW, isn't that why we're in this crazy business? 

Color Label Press University "Glossary for Pressure Sensitive Labels"  Course One

(Sponsored by Muratec a Konica Minolta Company)

Autoclave:  A pressurized, steam heated vessel generally used for sterilization. In label application, label must endure a cooking process by superheated steam under pressure.

Back Printing:  Refers to printing on the underside of a pressure sensitive substrate or laminate, i.e. on the adhesive or back of liner.

Back Split:   See split back.

Background:  The area surrounding a printed symbol.

Backing:  Refers to the carrier sheet of material in a pressure sensitive lamination as opposed to the face material. Usually has a release coating applied so that the adhesive will not stick too tightly to it. Release liner, backing paper, carrier, etc.

Bagginess:   A slack, floppy area usually caused by gauge variation. The material has been stretched and is actually longer in that area.

Ball-Up:  Specific term to describe the tendency of an adhesive to stick to itself; cohesiveness. Such an adhesive, when rolled between fingers, will not spread smoothly but will roll up in small spheres.

Bar:   The dark element of a printed bar code symbol.

Bar Code:  In optical reading, a system of symbols which identifies data through length, position size or thickness of lines or symbols. Codes are normally machine printed.

Bar Code Density:   The number of characters which can be represented in a lineal inch.

Bar Code Reader:   A device used to identify and read a bar code symbol.

Bar Length:   The bar dimension perpendicular to the bar width.

Bar Width:   The thickness of a bar measured from the edge closest to the symbol start character to the trailing edge of the same bar.

Bar Width Reduction:   Reduction of the nominal bar width dimension on film masters or printing plates to compensate for printing gain.

Bare Cylinder Diameter:   The diameter of the actual plate cylinder, before the stickyback and plates are mounted.

Barrier Coat:  A coating applied to the face material on the side opposite to the printing surface to provide increased opacity to the face material and/or to prevent migration between adhesive and the face material and improve anchorage of adhesive to face material. Sealer coat.

Base:  The major constituent, other than pigments and filler, comprising the non-volatile portion of an adhesive, coating or sealer compound.

Base Roll:   See anvil roll.

Basic Sheet Size:   The size of a sheet of paper which is used to determine paper weight. Sizes vary depending on the type of stock.

Basis Weight:  The weight in pounds of a ream of paper cut to a given size. Most backing papers used in pressure sensitive laminations are based on a ream size of 24" x 36"/500's. Face papers are more typically 25" x 38"/500's.

Batch Counter:   Device used on a sheeter/stacker to count and group sheeted labels.

Bearer:  Type-high supports mounted or molded around each end of a printing plate to help carry part of the impression load and to help prevent bounce. Also the load bearing surfaces(s) of a rotary die, usually positioned at each end of the die.

Bearing Block:  A device that holds the die in place and upon which pressure is added so as to effect the actual die cutting function. Pressure is almost always applied directly over the bearers at each end of the die.

Biax:  Biaxially oriented material, that is, oriented in the machine and transverse directions.

Bi-Directional Read:   The ability to read data successfully whether the scanning motion is left to right or right to left.

Bi-Directional Symbol:   A bar code symbol which permits reading in complementary directions.

Binder:   The component of an ink that supplies the cohesiveness.

Bit:   An abbreviation for 'binary digit'. A single character in a binary number.

Black-And-White:   Originals or reproductions in single color or monochrome, usually refers to artwork.

Bleed:   When the printed image extends beyond the trim edge of the label, it is called bleed.

Bleed-Through:   See penetration-migration.

Bleeding:  The diffusion or migration of an ink component or dye into an area where it is not wanted. The spreading or running of a pigment color by action of a solvent. Also the diffusion of migration of an adhesive component into the face material.

Blocking:  Undesired adhesion between the plies in rolls of pressure sensitive stock usually due to adhesive ooze, improper drying of inks, or improper curing of coatings, often to the extent that damage to at least one surface is visible upon their separation if they can in fact be separated.

Blocking Test :  A test used in measuring the tendency of surface-to-surface sticking.

Blowup:   An enlargement.

Body Stock:   See face material.

Bold Face:   Heavy face, in contrast to light face type. Used for emphasis, captions, subheadings, etc.

Bold-Face Type:   Name given to type that is heavier than text type with which it is used.

Bond:   To attach materials together by adhesives.

Bonding Range:  The time during which satisfactory bonds can be made. A bonding range of from 10 to 30 minutes indicates that maximum bonds can be achieved between 10 and 30 minutes.

Bonding Strength:  In paper, the force with which the fibers adhere to each other. In surface coatings, such as inks and adhesives, the strength with which the dried coating adheres to the surface of the substrate. Also refers to the degree of adhesion of a pressure sensitive face material to any surface.

-=Good Selling=-

"Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful."

Margaret J. Wheatley

You make the calls, you take care of your clients, you prospect, you lose some opportunities and you close deals as it’s the never-ending cycle of a hard-working sales professional. However, most in sales find themselves repeating the same sales tactics over and over again expecting different results. Quite frankly, the definition of sales insanity.

As a sales professional, you should constantly reflect back upon your personal performance. What helped you to succeed during the day, week or month? What caused you to lose a deal?

How are you as a sales professional continually evaluating yourself to improve to become better at what you do?

Allen R. McConnell, Ph.D., the James and Beth Lewis Professor of Psychology at Miami University, noted the importance of self-reflection several years ago stating it is also a necessary part of attaining goals, self-improvement and positive change. In order for change to occur there must first be awareness – a state of being that can come through self-reflection.

"Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes."

 Carl Jung

EARLY MORNINGS AND SELF REFLECTION

Benjamin Franklin said it best, "early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise." I have learned to enjoy early mornings. I found going to bed earlier and training my brain to wake up earlier has led me to become more productive.

Think about capturing the first hour of every morning to set aside and self-reflect.

Every day ask yourself...

• Who am I?
• What am I most proud of?
• What am I most grateful for?
• What did I actually do yesterday?
• What did I learn yesterday that I can apply to today to become a better person?

Self-reflection allows us to understand what is important, and focus on what might be done differently.

If I can’t lead myself, how could I possibly lead other people?

It is so easy to get caught up in the day-to day aspects of life that we forget to pause, self-reflect; taking a look at the bigger picture - life. Slow down by taking time early in the morning to think about your life is extremely helpful in creating a better sense of you are, who you want to be, and how you will get there. 

KEY AREAS OF SELF-REFLECTION

Each person has their own way of self-reflection. For myself, self-reflection is about letting my past experiences, endeavors, encounters, or actions pass within my mind, form an opinion so I can learn from it.

More importantly, it is a way to uncover whether I am still on track or what needs to be done to refocus. I find not self-reflecting every morning means accepting risk, the risk that I will not be able to learn from my failures or that I might lose track of how I want to develop as a person.

Think about leading your life as opposed to life leading you.

SUCCESS AND FAILURES

Take a pen and a piece of paper out daily and journal as you self-reflect. In quiet solitude, reflect on your successes as you uncover what led to them. What was it you did which led to your success?

The same goes for failure; what did I do which led to the failure? Most importantly, how can I avoid it in future?

Contrast what you did in order to achieve success as a sales professional versus what you did that ended in failure, uncover what did you do differently?

Look to uncover why you “failed,” were you less motivated or less excited thus you weren't working as hard, lacking the dedication needed to achieve your desired level of success.

GOALS

What are your personal and business goals? What do you want to achieve in 1, 3 and 5 years? I find it important to review and reflect upon both short-term and mid- term timeframes. Looking too far ahead can be a distraction since many things in your personal and business life can be influenced by many different factors.

Goals can include your career or business, your social life, improving your health, sports and fitness, even improving your mindset as the list could be endless.

Ask yourself the following question...

• Are the things you are doing right now are they likely to help you reach your goals?

Setting the time aside to self-reflect, reviewing your goals regularly as you evaluate whether these are still realistic and obtainable.

HOW AM I HELPING OTHERS?

Give, and you shall receive. As a sales professional how are you helping your clients do better business? How are you giving back to the community you live in?

My motto has always been to help first as this comes back tenfold in return.

Self-reflect, ask yourself... Am I doing what I can in my community to help those in need? Try giving something back to your friends, colleagues, family and most importantly your clients. Help where they all need it the most. Don't ask questions, just do it!

Self-reflection is never easy, but for sales professionals this is the difference between just getting by and making it happen. Self-reflection is hard work. It's like looking into the mirror and asking the questions and having to answer them. You're in charge of your own sales career.

What's your plan, what do you need to do and when will you get there? It is totally up to you! Now go open the door to success!

I understand, I get where you all are coming from. Every day, I walk in your shoes. I am fully committed to helping your sales team integrate social aspects and modern strategies into your current sales process to grow new business. I want you to get results. This is why I am passionate about doing this the right way, the genuine way, the authentic way!

In 2016, I was recognized by ENX Magazine as, “The Difference Maker,” as someone who is making a difference inside the copier channel. I am passionate about helping sales reps succeed in creating their online brand image

You can find more advanced training material inside the Social Sales Academy website.

I appreciate getting the opportunity to share my LinkedIn stories. Integrating the use of LinkedIn was my “game-changer” in the highly competitive copier world. With great pride I transform, challenge, coach and inspire B2B Office Technology Sales Professionals to grow new business by helping them tell their story and communicate integrating the use of social media. My commitment is to help office technology dealers thrive in a drastically changing marketplace. You can follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter, Social Sales Academy and on my podcast at Selling from the Heart.