Every operation has them. Those difficult clients with messy jobs, bad files and unrealistic expectations. The customers that your team tries to avoid. Their jobs result in chaos. And the refrain is: “Why can’t they be like department X (insert name of your best customer)?”

Operational excellence starts with a singular vision and a commitment to an extraordinary culture. Recently, I spoke with the director of logistics for a midwestern BlueCross BlueShield healthcare provider. The organization serves 2.1 million members. The manager leads a team of 21, providing printing, mailing and logistics services. His print team is comprised of five people who produce 2.9 million pieces of mail annually.

The director embraces the qualities of a servant leader. He demonstrates empathy, listening, stewardship to the organization and a commitment to the growth of people.

According to Peter Drucker, “Only three things happen naturally in organizations: friction, confusion, and underperformance. Everything else requires leadership.” Leaders in printing, mailing and fulfillment have a worthy goal of striving for operational excellence. In the last few years, the mix of applications and volume of print work has changed dramatically at many in-plants. Managers are focused on strategies to improve their operations, increase efficiency, and enhance value to their organizations.

The summer travel season is here. I relish a summer day on the beach with a good book. My toes in the sand, the sound of the waves, and a great story that pulls me in. This is my definition of a perfect day. Whether you have a vacation planned or a long flight in your near future, nothing is better than some uninterrupted time with a good book.

June is here. Summer travel has begun. Depending on your geography, restrictions on business and gatherings are over or soon will be. B2B employees are beginning to return to their offices. Mail volumes are up significantly over this time last year and many print service providers are experiencing growth in print volumes across many sectors. After overcoming the hurdles of 2020, the biggest challenge of the summer may be adequate staffing for production volumes.

As a consultant I am often engaged when decision makers want to improve their sales results. I regularly hear “we want the sales team to be more effective,” and “we want them to sell more.” These appear to be universal goals in the print and mailing industry.

Sales effectiveness is the combined result of four disciplines: sales leadership, sales methodology, sales execution, and sales culture.

Let’s focus first on sales leadership. Great sales leaders see their role in helping their team to achieve desired results.