From Digital to Fulfillment

ONE OF the biggest selling points of the annual Web Offset Association (WOA) conference is that it hasn’t turned into a statue that’s firmly cemented and unmoving. The venerable conference’s year-old name, Offset and Beyond, suggests that its participants view technology favorably and don’t consider themselves forever locked into the past.

Not that we’re turning our backs on offset lithography, mind you. It’s not being thrown under the technological bus. But it stands to reason that web and sheetfed offset printers need as many guns in their arsenal as possible to remain competitive in a congested marketplace, and the good folks who bring you Offset and Beyond have rustled up a few ancillary offerings to provide added firepower. Day-long programs on selling fulfillment and digital printing highlight the newest offerings at the 2008 Offset and Beyond.

The following is a brief rundown on some of the new programs at this year’s conference, which is running concurrently with the Binding Industries Association (BIA) Mid-Management Conference.

Selling Fulfillment: Tom Quinn, director of fulfillment services for the Mailing & Fulfillment Service Association, will be proctoring the session on how to sell fulfillment and make money at it. The fulfillment session, which is aimed at graphic arts salespeople, will be held on April 28 from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Among the topics he will be covering: the categories and types of fulfillment, and the marketing value chain. Quinn will explore the five basic fulfillment applications, as well as the importance of workflows. He will cover both transactional/one-off sales and establishment/contract deals.

Quinn will also provide an overview of the sales model for fulfillment, prospecting tools and proposals. The importance of quality service in providing new business is another area of focus.

He will introduce a fulfillment sales model and provide a framework for understanding the fulfillment industry, adding a new dimension for the printing salesperson in need of an overall value proposition tutorial. Quinn will also stress the differences between selling printing, mailing and fulfillment.