Stimulus Plan for Printers --DeWese

Good people are being laid off!

Offshore buyers don’t want our used equipment!

I’ve got to do something about this. You will continue to slide downhill unless you change your way of living.

So, I’m gonna do something drastic and create my own Stimulus Package. I’m introducing the Mañana Man Economic Stimulus Plan for Printing Companies. The acronym is easily pronounced MMESPPC.

The plan is based on the premise that unless you do something different to compete in this bad economy, your share will continue to erode. “Something different” ultimately distills into more and better sales calls on qualified buyers. You have to compete harder and smarter for the print sales that are available.

Hustle Up

For example, I met recently with the owner of a $16 million printing company who had driven more than three hours for our one hour meeting. He had gotten up around 5 a.m. He is the CEO and the only salesperson.

As he was leaving, he told me he was going to make two sales calls in Philadelphia, and three in another city, on his way home. That’s five sales calls and about eight hours of driving in one day.

During our meeting, this CEO/salesman revealed that April was a record month for his company in sales and profits. He went on to tell me that the first quarter was record breaking, and that last year was better by far than 2007!

This is what I mean by the value of doing something different in tough times. Sure, there are fewer print jobs available. But you can succeed like my buddy, the CEO/salesman, if you are willing to out-hustle your competitors, many of whom have fallen into a fetal position. That’s called “hunkering down” instead of “hustling up.”