Do all your customers know everything your operation can do? I rarely get a ‘Yes’ when I ask this question. In-plant operations typically serve many customers and internal departments producing a wide range of products and services. Yet many of those same customers may have little comprehension of the full breath of services your operation can produce.

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.”

This is a big challenge for in-plants. Educating customers and senior leaders in your organizations about everything you do - and can do - to support the strategic goals of your organizations is a critical role for in-plant managers. If senior leaders don’t understand what you do and how it benefits the larger goals of your organization, it’s a slippery slope to outsourcing.

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.

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.”

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.

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.