By Guest Author Jeffrey Dickerson

Hey print buyer, your future is disrupted! Dr. Joe Webb says so, and he is not wrong. If you have read his book, “Disrupting the Future,” or his recent article on the PBI site on 12/1/2012, “Dr. Joe Lays It on the Line,” you should be motivated to think about your future. Dr. Joe states, “We wasted our time “educating” buyers about the supposed “power of print.”

I have never been more concerned about my future as a print buyer than I am now. Fifteen years ago I read that print would continue as it is for 20 years. Sad to say, that time has come and gone. Print changed and it changed dramatically. Print continues to shrink and in direct relation, print buyer jobs have vanished. Just as printers have gone out of business, been consumed or changed direction, print buyers have experienced the same fate. In the last election, digital ads grew and print ads declined. Despite our best efforts to promote the “power of print,” we must “follow the money” and we will see where the power resides.

Time to panic? Not if you are prepared for the change. I did not believe the day would come when print was viewed as a commodity and print buyers labeled “non-strategic.” We can wallow in self-pity, denial and blame others for lack of knowledge and insight. We can prepare for extinction or stagnation – or we can change. We can become more versatile, agile and valuable to our companies.

Where do we start?

Review where your organization spends money: strategic, mission-critical money. Do you have skills to help manage that spend? If you do, don’t hide your light under a bushel. Let management know you have that capacity and get assigned to a project with high value and visibility. If you lack skills beyond print buying, perform a skills gap analysis. Determine what a world-class buyer needs, identify your gaps, and access training to close the gaps. Like Dr. Joe says, simple answer, impractical for most to implement. Be the one to make a difference in your organization and career. Find a way to add economic or market value to projects. Research shows that better buyers work on high-value projects. This is the path to security, advancement and economic benefits to you personally. Let me ask you, what do you see special, strategic, or groundbreaking in print that can be a high-visibility project for you?

Do not allow yourself to get pigeonholed into a commodity role. Do not let your boss or your organization define your career path. Someone told me recently that to advance, you need to move to a new area with high visibility or you need to do something special where you are.

So, what skills do we need to help us provide an uninterrupted flow of materials and/or services with low-cost, low-inventory investment at maximum quality from a competent supply base?

Here are 10 skills that have stood the test of time:

1. Interpersonal communications – presentation skills, public speaking, listening, writing
2. Decision making – make versus buy, risk analysis, project management
3. Negotiations – work product, Ts &Cs, risk management
4. Influence/Persuasion - team building, trust, cross functional collaboration
5. Conflict Resolution
6. Data Analysis – Business case writing, completed staff work, risk analysis
7. Problem solving – ISO procedures, Six Sigma, lean operation
8. Change Management – anticipate obstacles, calculate risks/rewards, goal setting
9. Customer Focus – reduce interaction time, increase satisfaction
10. Leadership – Figure out where you should be going, big-picture focus

These are additional, crucial core skills for the next 10 years:

1. Ethics – especially important if you work for a multinational company
2. Contract Writing- if it is not in writing it is not part of the deal. A P.O. may not be enough
3. Managing Risk – data is king and must be protected, especially if you manage NPI data
4. Supplier Analysis - financial health and ability to deliver
5. Pricing Techniques – Can you verify your price as competitive
6. TCO – if you have to ask, you have a gap
7. eTools competency – spreadsheets, ePROCUREMENT systems, presentation software, data software
8. Outsourcing – especially non-core business products and services, (watch this carefully)

This is not the article I wanted to write! I love print. I thoroughly enjoy print buying and still will, but in a minimal capacity. As print shrinks, so does my opportunity to impact my organization and improve our profitability. It hurts to say this. I cannot allow myself to get cornered in a specialized field. I hear many of you say the same thing. Flexibility is the key to survival. We need the skills that can move our companies forward and quickly respond to market and customer demands. We should be a “learning organization” and build the intellectual capacity of our function so that gaps in sourcing areas can be filled.

Best to you all in 2013.

© 2013 Jeffrey Dickerson. All rights reserved. You’re free to forward this email. However, no part of this column may be reprinted without permission from the author