Gary Cone

ESTIMATING AND pricing are the two most indispensable areas of the printing sales process, according to Gary Cone, vice president of Seattle-based commercial printer Litho Craft Inc., and author of the NAPL book “Price Doesn’t Count.” He notes, however, that although printers sometimes use the terms interchangeably, they are definitely not the same thing—and it’s critical for managers and salespeople to understand the difference. “Estimating is a science—a mathematical calculation based on the job specifications and the variables and parameters of the production process,” he says. “It’s a repeatable process, yielding the same—or close to the same—results each time. “Pricing, on the other hand,