Jeffrey Dickerson is someone I consider an “elite” print buying professional. He’s been on several print buyer panels of mine and has always impressed me (and the audience) with his wisdom and intelligence.

He is currently the Procurement Specialist for State Farm Insurance Companies in Bloomington, IL, responsible for a team that buys millions of dollars of commercial print and media replication a year. His team supports printing for several departments in State Farm, including Agency sales and training, Claims communications, Human Resources, Training, Bank, Mutual Funds, Marketing and Systems.

Jeff is no slouch. He has his CPM certification (Certified Purchasing Manager) and ChFC designation (Chartered Financial Consultant).

I was so impressed every time I heard Jeff on a panel that I asked him to present at our 5^th Annual Print & Media Conference this year. On November 3^rd, he’ll speak about “How to be a Person of Disproportionate Influence.” For today’s Tip, I asked Jeff 5 questions about his session.

1. How does the topic of influence relate to our print & media show this year?

Why do we exist and what do we bring to the table as a print buyer? As we look at “Modern Marketing from Design to Print to Pixel,” what skills does a world class buyer need and what value does a buyer bring to the transaction? Why should associates come to us for help? Do our bosses, suppliers, and teams trust us and respect us? Where does our influence begin?

We should be the most skilled, knowledgeable, approachable, professionals in our organization. We must know more about the production and procurement of our products than internal clients, suppliers and end users. Aside from obtaining the highest quality, lowest price and timely delivery, we also can strive to create an expanded presence throughout our organizations. We can work toward this end by obtaining results and presenting capabilities that increase our acceptance at the design and decision stage.

We must work diligently and expertly to elevate the satisfaction our business partners experience from the value we can add to the process. We also need to look for opportunities to reduce redundancy and “red tape”, create leverage with suppliers and mitigate risks other take for granted.

A seasoned, professional buyer can assess wants versus needs early in the design phase and use a decision making tool to obtain the most useful product at the optimal price. A veteran buyer can also lead as a guardian of company brand, quality assurance, diversity purchasing and environmental awareness and compliance. We can also go many extra miles as educators on the printing process by teaching internal staff and customers about print and paper specification writing, total cost of ownership, logistics and fulfillment.

2. What will attendees learn at your session?

My goal is to have one takeaway that attendees can begin using the first day back on the job after the Conference. They will hopefully become a more trusted, respected professional print buyer who can deliver results and be a sought-out team player. We will discuss why they should become and how they can become a lifetime learner and gain the skills necessary to become a person of disproportionate influence.

3. Please give us a few highlights of what you’ll be sharing with the crowd.

We are all capable of influencing others, positively, and we should focus on our commitment to growing as professional print buyers. I will share…

• The hallmark of a professional
• 8 pillars of influence
• Using a decision-making tool to increase acceptance with our services
• Skills needed and the 10,000 hour rule
• The essential library you must have in order to grow and thrive as an influencer
• The 4 cores and 13 behaviors of a trusted person
• Tools to manage your Boss, time and in-basket
• How I started with nothing and still have most of it left4.

4. Will you stick around at the Conference so attendees can speak with you after (or before) your session?

I will be at the entire Conference and thoroughly enjoy discussing print and all related and associated industries with other print professionals. I have learned through the years that all of us are smarter than one of us. And, to quote James Michener, “The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he’s always doing both.”

5. Jeff, can Print Tips subscribers connect with you on social media, or???

I currently am not tweeting, (Face)bookin, or linking(in), but I can be reached the old fashioned way at or .

Thanks, Jeff! I encourage all Conference attendees to sign up for your session or at least seek you out during the show. To read more about Jeff’s session on November 3^rd, visit www.printbuyersconference.com/schedule.html.

© 2010 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.