Business Management - Marketing/Sales

This is one of those columns where I'm going to reach into the ol' mailbag and reprint some of the letters you readers send me. The idea is that I reprint either all or excerpts of the letters, and then I'll tap into my enormous wisdom and solve the reader's problem or I may have to single-handedly turn around the poor soul's life. Okay, here's the first letter. I am reprinting it because it comes from a young person who beautifully summarizes a major problem in the printing industry. *** Hello Mr. DeWese, I wanted to contact you to let you know that

This column is for women only! It is strictly private and confidential. Women should enter their user names, passwords and proceed to read my column. Men should just flip the page and read the equipment ads. About 18 years ago I wrote a column that predicted women would have a bigger role in printing management and printing sales. Didn't happen. What actually happened was that women who couldn't get a decent job in printing got jobs as print buyers. (And, by golly, female print buyers have noticed that the printing industry is male dominated and, as a result, they are irritated.) We have female

This is a column about showin' up. Woody Allen said it when he wrote, "Eighty percent of success is showing up." This column is about the importance of just showin' up. I have mostly shown up for all of my 60 years and, with my many limitations, showin' up has saved my butt. Those of you who have seen me know that I have always shown up for supper. Lots of printing salespeople don't ever really succeed because they don't show up.

It was a few days before Christmas in 1998. A light snow was swirling in the 30 mph winds blowing off of Lake Michigan. The winter wind in Chicago seems to gain strength as it whips through the buildings and down Michigan Avenue. It was about 2:30 p.m. and a stocky businessman on the wrong side of 50 entered the hotel bar. His flight home was scheduled for 6:55 p.m. and he wanted to relax before leaving for O'Hare Airport. He was tired and chose a stool near the end of the bar. He was carrying an expensive overnight bag and a matching attaché

You remember that the Feds released my print buyer and banker hostages. They found my secret camp when a snitch revealed our whereabouts. It was probably that weasel laundry truck driver. I was holding the hostages until the printing industry raised prices by 25 percent. So much for that plan. I'll have to try something else. I'm still being held by the Feds at a brand new Executive Detention Center. It was built for all the Enron, WorldCom and Adelphia Cable executives who will soon be my cell, er, suite mates. This place is the ultimate white-collar prison. The Feds have a management contract with

Well, my whole damn plan to raise prices in the printing industry blew up in my face. I kidnapped more than 200 print buyers and bankers and held them hostage in what I thought should be a top-secret location. My plan was to hold these yokels until the printing industry raised its prices across the board by 25 percent.

I am still holed up in this secret underground location guarding my hostage print buyers and bankers. I've made a lot of progress training the hostages to cook for themselves and clean their cells. I am also trying to teach the print buyers to use fair and balanced criteria for selecting their print suppliers. I am trying to teach the bankers the benefits of embracing the printing industry. The banks have turned their backs on us because they don't understand our industry and because a few bad apples have recently tarnished our ability to borrow. I have explained that printing companies operate on

I have submitted this column by special courier since I'm holed up in a secret location with 150 print buyers that I'm holding hostage. I am holding these hostages until all you printers raise your prices by 25 percent. You were all supposed to raise prices at midnight on my 60th birthday, June 30, 2002, but, alas, you let me down.

Okay, that's it! I'm enraged! I've taken another 150 print buyers hostage, and this time I'm not telling where I'm holed up with this motley crew. You remember the last time I took print buyers hostage; I admitted that I was holding them in the Ritz Carlton in Chicago. I served them Dom Perignon and the best Beluga. Eventually, the FBI "negotiated" their release. I'll tell you about my demands later. First, I want to tell why I'm so angry. It was this past Friday, about 4 p.m. I had given myself the afternoon off to tend to my garden. Why not? Most

BY JOHN M. COLLARD Would you share the wealth with those who were required to help you create it? Of course you would. Printing company owners willing to invest in realistic incentives that reward achievements accomplished by managers and employees reap the proceeds. The key to success is to: 1.) set realistic goals and timeframes; 2.) hold managers accountable for performance; 3.) communicate measurement and reward methodology—then step back and let them perform. Always be sure to reward positive results when goals are achieved, but never give a reward when goals have not been accomplished. If goals are met, the cash will be there to pay