Three Reasons to Start Thinking About January
Why start thinking about the New Year in the middle of November?
It probably seems a little crazy. Right now you are, hopefully, at one of the busiest production points of the year. Surely it’s time to be focusing on getting all the jobs out of the door, not worrying about January.
But, if you are planning on celebrating the New Year, then chances are you booked a restaurant or an event some time ago. You can’t expect to go out on New Year’s Eve and find a spare seat at your favorite venue.
However, many in the printing industry expect to be able to manage January as soon as they come back to work. So here are three reasons why you should be thinking about the New Year already.
January is always quiet!
I know of few printing companies that are lucky enough to be guaranteed a full-order book in January. It’s a quiet time of year. People are still planning. They are often not ready to buy yet. We should be prepared.
Yes, the presses are hopefully busy at the moment. However, we should take a little time out every week to sell January. What can we do to encourage people to place work in this month? Can we offer them something extra to get them to plan early? It’s time to start planning now. And, speaking of planning …
January is a time for New Year resolutions and strategies
It is always a good time to start doing things differently. But that doesn’t mean that we make our minds up about this on Jan. 1. We should be thinking ahead about what we want to change. And the busiest time of year is, bizarrely, the perfect time to do this!
If it is busy now, things that do not go as smoothly as they should become exposed. Those are the issues that you should be focused on when it Is quieter in January. Right now, it is time to be listing issues and thinking about the results you want from your New Year resolutions and strategies.
You have reading time
Most of us will have a little time off over Christmas and the New Year. We will have a bit more brain space. It is the ideal time to do some business reading and get some new ideas.
However, to get the most out of this reading time, it is important to have the books lined up. So find some titles now.
Is it really so crazy to be thinking about the New Year now?
As you can see, there are plenty of things that you should be planning for. It is never too early to be thinking about New Year!
P.S. Here’s a first quick piece of New Year reading for you: download my free e-book “Ten Common Print Selling Errors and What To Do About Them.” You’ll also receive my regular “Views from the print buyer” bulletin, full of ideas on how to sell print effectively. Also, make sure you check out my pdf book: “How To Stop Buyers Choosing On Price” – it’s full of strategies you can put into place in the New Year.
Many printing companies are frustrated how hard it is to engage buyers in today’s world. That’s where Matthew Parker can help. He is a gamekeeper turned poacher. Parker has bought print for more than 20 years and received over 1,400 print sales pitches. He now uses his buyer’s point of view to give practical advice to printers. He helps them engage with prospects and customers to create profitable relationships.
Download his free e-book, "Ten Common Print Selling Errors And What To Do About Them" and check out his recently launched book, "How To Succeed At Print Sales: Setting targets, planning the right activities and making sure goals are met."
