By Margie Dana

Mention the name “Dr. Joe Webb,” and printers will take notice. One of the industry’s most talked-about – and listened to – consultants and thinkers, Dr. Webb was the draw for over 100 print company executives at a dinner event hosted by PINE last week. PINE is the New England affiliate of PIA, print’s largest trade association. Friends throughout New England reconnected. The mood was light, and all were united by their pride in print.

Along with co-author Richard M. Romano, Dr. Webb wrote Disrupting the Future – Uncommon Wisdom for Navigating Print’s Challenging Marketplace, in 2010. (All dinner event attendees received a complimentary, full-color copy, thanks to Courier Corporation.) We all came together to learn from Dr. Webb what printers can do differently in this age of always-connected digital media.

Today I’ll share some of the wisdom of his presentation.

Now’s the time for printers to retrench, renew and rebuild. It’s tough to be in this business right now, but as Dr. Webb advised as he began his speech, “when you see confusion in the marketplace, run toward it.”

Consider the “digital natives,” he said. These are the people born during the introduction of digital technology (approximately 1989 or 1990). They’ve grown up using only digital technology, and they’re about to hit the marketplace to make their living. They fully expect to have Facebook and Instant Messaging on their desks as standard business tools. “100% of them are online,” stressed Dr. Webb. “Their first impulse to answer any question is to look to Google or Facebook.”

Dr. Webb gave examples of businesses that have “let their legacy weigh them down” and who missed major opportunities:

• Blockbuster should have beat Netflix
• Sony should have made the iPod unnecessary
• Nokia could have made the iPhone
• Microsoft wasted time on tablet PCs

Printers should focus on the print business, said Dr. Webb, not print, because “print as a medium can take care of itself.” He advised printers to pay attention to the business needs of their customers. Printers can (and should) offer expanding services that directly relate to customers’ marketing strategies, and they can do so without hanging out a ‘marketing service provider’ shingle.

The primary factors in consumers’ choices today are convenience and immediacy. We all want answers, products, and service now, and we expect companies to make it easy for us to do business with them. Don’t focus on ROI, said Dr. Webb. Focus instead on “ROT – Return on Time.”

There are many ways for printers to remain vital and grow. While his book explains in detail the specific building blocks, Dr. Webb acknowledges that the rules of the game for printers who “just want to do printing” have changed. It’s through change that printers can dig themselves out of these challenging times.

Some of Dr. Webb’s most memorable comments are these:

• “Bring a newness to your business – like the first time you met it.”
• “Gather new resources. Explore, discover and reinvest.”
• “Make your company a magnet for employees.” (This takes word of mouth and social media presence, BTW.)
• “Study your clients, large and small, and stay curious.”

In addition, Dr. Webb said that too many print sales reps fail to do research on their prospects before approaching them. You need to find out what they do before you call on them. Ask top customers about their marketplace. Set up Google alerts for your top customers.

I’ll end this column with my favorite sound bite from this presentation: “Urgency waits for no one. It’s not about saving print; it’s about seizing opportunities.”

If you haven’t yet read Disrupting the Future, put it at the top of your must-read book list for 2011. You can purchase it at store.whattheythink.com for about $25. A great read, chock full of insights for the printing industry.

© 2011 Margie Dana. All rights reserved. Your comments are encouraged. You’re free to forward this email to friends and colleagues. However, no part of this column may be reprinted without permission from the author