It’s Showtime!

Credit: Bill Gillespie

Are you on the road? Will you be at PRINTING United? Will you be at the show?

Unfortunately, I will not. I have conflicts that can’t be moved. I'm missing an event I think everyone should attend. I’m unable to practice what I preach.

I've been in the biz since 1975. It hurts to hear myself say I've been at it for 50 years. I don't even want to be 50 let alone that long in print. Geez…

Having said that, I'm always juiced by shows. I’m excited by the technology and love seeing what has been invented. I go booth to booth imagining possibilities. Engineers design machines. I try to see problems the new stuff solves for customers. I love it!

I'll confess I'm a show junkie. When I was selling I visited every show I could. I went to home shows, boat shows, car shows, flower shows, flooring shows and lots of other shows. I liked seeing how these spaces (industries) sell their stuff. What they say about themselves in a show environment provides lots of insight into how savvy reps might sell to them. Shows are great places to prospect.

One of my favorite things to do was to invite a client to attend printing shows with me. Think about it. You have uninterrupted time with your client. Together you look at cool print stuff. They get excited by possibilities and you're there to share the moment. If you decide to invest, they share ownership which leads to loyalty. Taking a client to a print show is awesome.

Years ago I took two folks from a soft drink company with me to what used to be called Graph Expo. Together we saw a generation 1 Xeikon. They saw possibilities. They shared print frustrations they dealt with daily. We left the show having ordered two machines. Guess who our first digital customer was.

Shows are awesome. They keep you informed. They inspire ideas. They remind each of us how awesome our industry is and that anything is possible.

I can't be at the show but I hope you are. It's a good investment in your career and business.

The preceding content was provided by a contributor unaffiliated with Printing Impressions. The views expressed within may not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of Printing Impressions. Artificial Intelligence may have been used in part to create or edit this content.