You’re Talking About the Wrong Stuff!

Credit: Bill Gillespie

Have you ever delivered your best pitch and it just laid there? You know what I mean. Your presentation was perfect. You touched on everything that makes you great. You mentioned all of your gadgets. You included the buzzwords. You said AI, Embellishments, Workflow Automation and Personalized QR Codes. But the prospect just looked at you and said, “Ok. Thanks for coming in.”

It happened to me. I was doing business with a large soft drink company. The relationship was new but I was starting to pick up steam. I was doing smaller, fringe projects.

I finally got in front of the big man. I shared samples and went on about our quality and service. I spoke to the agencies that hired us over others. I talked about our new press and coater. I didn’t leave anything out.

The guy looked at me and said, “cool. Thanks for introducing yourself.”

I left empty handed. No order, no bid and no agreement to meet again. I accomplished absolutely nothing.

A few weeks later I found myself speaking with him again. I was in the building and we ran into each other. I asked if he had time for a question that was bothering me.

I’m a straightforward guy. When we got to his office I asked, “what did I do wrong. I can tell that my info left you cold. I’m generally pretty good at this stuff but I dropped the ball somehow.”

He laughed, told me to relax and opened a desk drawer. He started showing me some of the most outrageous samples I had ever seen. He had elaborate marketing kits from printers all over America. The biggest and best companies in the world were sending him stuff, daily.

He wasn’t worried about quality or service. He knew he could get those things. He wanted partners. He wanted people that would do the work when it was…impossible. He wanted teammates that would not allow anything to fail even when it deserved to do so.

He became a client. He became by largest client. He became my friend too.

I was hired to produce 3,000 pocket folders over a weekend. When I picked it up Friday night it was actually a 150-page perfect bound book. I had to make 300 color separations (old guys explain those to the young guys). I had to get it prepped, plated, printed and bound over the weekend. There was no Plan B.

I was hired to produce point of sale that owned our presses for weeks. When work moved to the bindery he would call back and order more. It wrecked our schedule but we said yes.

Our operators worked for weeks with no time off. There were no slow months. There were no routine deliveries. Nothing was as specified. Nothing was as described. Everything was as promised; Impossible and critical.

He didn’t give a flip about my presses. He’d seen more of them than I had. He didn’t care about my quality. He knew it was good enough. He also knew it wouldn’t matter how pretty it was if it was late.

One day I asked him, “what has your experience been with the guys that sent you those kits?” His response? “They care more about what they want to sell than they do about what I need to buy.”

Integrity, resolve and resourcefulness were his triggers. Our company tripled in size.

This guy changed the way I would live forever. I woke up every morning expecting to learn new stuff. I discovered anything is possible. I was ready for some of the world’s largest brands thanks to this guy.

Your equipment is worthless to clients without you behind the wheel.

Photo? We’re still pals!

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.