Companies of all sizes across all vertical markets are now in an uncertain and uncharted situation due to COVID-19. Many of you may have recently pulled out and used parts of your business continuity and contingency plans. And many of you have found gaps as staff have shifted to working from home.

The excitement and agony of college basketball and March Madness are almost here. I’m reminded of the many conversations with my sport-loving husband about his favorite teams and their strategies for success. Many discussions center around the ability to move the ball forward in basketball and football, or moving the runner along in baseball.

Do your customers know everything you can do for them? This is a question I ask at the beginning of consulting engagements. The answer is usually some variation of, “No, most customers don’t really understand everything we can do.”

Are you reaching your strategic goals? Strategic planning comes in many flavors and there are many methodologies to create a successful plan to guide companies to achieve their substantial goals.

Inkjet technologies have enabled in-plants and service providers to print more, faster, and at a lower cost. The big buckets for cost considerations when migrating to inkjet include assessing the capital requirements, changes in operating costs for inks and service plans, power consumption, and changes in labor and finishing.

My husband and I recently adopted a dog. Champ is a beautiful, smart, boxer, who my sister’s family rescued a year ago. In eight months, Champ bit two other dogs and he was uncontrollable around other dogs, doorbells and strangers coming into the house. He needed a new home and a new environment where he was safe, loved and not a threat to other dogs. So, Champ came to live with us.

It’s November. Six weeks until 2020. Many organizations have completed their annual strategic and budget planning process with insight from events and situations that have had positive and negative impacts on their business in 2019 and anticipation of changes for 2020.

Common phrases heard from marketing professionals: “We do all our marketing by email, so we don’t need to direct mail,” and “We have a website, so I don’t need to print, and we use social media, so we don’t need to do direct mail.”

There has been widespread adoption of inkjet platforms replacing digital toner and offset printers in the last five years. Many in-plants justified investment in inkjet platforms based on three criteria: reduced cost of running inkjet over older print devices, increased speed, throughput, and the elimination of pre-printed shells.

As budgets for travel and attending conferences and trade shows continue to be reduced or eliminated, there are more events, conferences and shows to choose from.

A critical element of professional growth is continuing growth through education – formal and informal. Talking with other industry leaders, there are some consistent elements that are key to success.

Print and mail service providers may think that in-plants have it easy. In-plants have built in customers, standard print applications, and they don’t have to compete on price. The reality for many in-plants is far from the accepted beliefs.

B2B marketing is multi-faceted in this omnichannel world, and I work with clients to develop and deploy marketing strategies in this environment. Defining a marketing strategy for products and services includes identifying potential target markets, prospects, and buyers.

With the evolution and variety of inkjet options now available, smaller volume print operations like small and medium size in-plants are now considering inkjet adoption. The justification and cost analysis for inkjet is not as straight forward as the cost of acquiring previous new printers.

Advances in wide-format and grand-format printing; a growing number of new substrates for indoor and outdoor signage; and the popularity of vehicle wraps and wall coverings means that designers can now think big. So big that sky is the only limit.

In Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare wrote, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” In his poetic fashion, Shakespeare was telling the audience that it was not the name or title that mattered, rather it was the essence of the person (or thing) that was important.

The USPS Informed platform has increased awareness, effectiveness, and results for direct mail. Brands now have a platform to link direct mail with omnichannel communications across email, SMS, apps, and the web. Informed Delivery campaigns enable consumers to respond and interact with products, services, and offers before they receive their physical mail.

Too many print companies still rely on traditional methods for interacting with their clients. Instead of suggesting creative ways they can help their clients achieve business goals, print companies keep focusing sales conversations on quotes and printed products they can provide.

Competition is fierce in the printing business. Nearly every print operation can buy the same equipment and software you use to run your business.

The USPS Informed Delivery program continues to gain momentum. As of this writing, the program includes around 13 million subscribers. An impressive 65% of email subscribers check their Informed Delivery emails nearly every day. If you’ve ever run email campaigns, you’re probably aware that achieving a 65% open rate is quite a feat.