Are Reverse Auctions good for the Print Industry?

So the question has come up again; "does Cross-Wind do Reverse Auctions?" My biggest concern is why are buyers so infatuated with reverse auctions? I find it hard to believe that anyone in the print industry would even consider these. Have the lessons not been learned? I really would like further feedback on this from the print supplier/printers perspective.

I can tell you that I have personally sat in on reverse auctions with a printer, as an observer and I can tell you it was quite painful for the print supplier. The auction was a long duration auction lasting 3 days. The supplier reviewed the specifications and had questions as did other suppliers apparently by the feedback response that was given to the questions. Of course no one really wants to ask a question about the specs on an open forum as that may give away something none of the other bidders had considered and if the customer is not accepting questions any other way then the questions often go unanswered. The specifications in the suppliers eyes were not complete so therefore they felt they were unable to provide the best pricing and without being able to consult directly with the customer the price would not be complete. Also pricing did not start coming in to the auction site until the last 3 or 4 hours and then got really heated in the last few minutes which by looking at the price differences that printers were providing there was margin the whole time. In addition, the customer was fairly savy in that they were using a ringer. They had a supplier that truly had no intention of doing the job but was there strictly to drive the price as low as possible. Every time pricing was submitted the ringer would respond within a minute or two and counter the price by a percentage point. So if a print supplier was truly interested in the job they were forced to drop the price even further if they wanted it. The print supplier I was working with had decided early on that they were not going to get the work and that this was a waste of their time. The supplier estimated the job with their standard markup, a discounted price, and with their cost. When the auction started he offered up his discount price immediately which was a 0.5% profit margin. Within an hour he countered with his cost price which meant no profit on the job. One minute later the ringer countered that price which would have put the print supplier at a 1% loss. The right thing to do for the printer would have been to walk away at that point. However the printer knew e needed to fill the press and chose to go .5% lower (now at a 1.5% loss.) With a half hour left in the auction another supplier countered his offer. The printer while frustrated chose at this point to walk away from the job. Now once the price went below cost the printer spent most of his time that afternoon trying to run different scenarios as to how they could cut cost on the project to win the bid. This was a very painful experience for the supplier as they met and engaged the production department and pre-press in devising ways that cost could be trimmed, but without the answers or the ability to ask questions of the customer their was no way to respond without taking a complete loss on the project. The supplier walked away frustrated and realized later how much time was truly wasted in trying to respond blindly to the auction. This supplier politely turned down the next invitation to a reverse auction for this customer, and when the customer called to ask why, they politely told them that if this was the way they intended to do business from now on that they were not interested in being a supplier for them.

The customer lost out on having a consultative resource available to them. The bottom line for the supplier was that if doing business meant doing it at a loss they were not willing to risk losing their company to satisfy a customers need to save money. There is a balance and companies are in business to make money.

What are your thoughts? I am interested in hearing what Printers and Print Buyers think regarding using and completing Reverse Auctions. Post your comments! All will be posted. Thanks!

Print Buyers International Announces Speaker Line-up for 2nd Annual Print Buyers Conference

Print Buyers International Press Release

Print Buyers International today announced their speaker line-up for the upcoming 2nd Annual Print Buyers Conference on November 7th and 8th at the Westford Regency Inn & Conference Center in Westford, Massachusetts. Headlined by keynoters Frank Romano and Dr. Joe Webb, the conference will offers attendees the expert input of 22 different renowned industry authorities. For complete conference details, including session descriptions, speaker bios, and program logistics, go to http://www.printbuyersinternational.com.

In an unsolicited email, Joan Grace, Chief Executive, PrintNZ (New Zealand) stated, “Having seen the proceedings from last year’s 1st Annual Boston Print Buyers conference and then looking at who Margie had attracted to speak this year, I decided this was a ‘must do’ in terms of my own professional development. I am looking forward immensely to meeting Frank Romano, who continues to challenge the industry to consider its future. Likewise, the session with Don Carli, Institute of Sustainable Communication, is important to me. In a small country like New Zealand, it will be helpful for me to see how the printing industry in a much larger economy is addressing environmental sustainability. I am also looking forward to meeting with the print buyer delegates – what do they want from our industry? – are we delivering it? Finally, with such a great line-up, I would like some advice from Margie on how I can attend more than one session at a time!”

Speaker Line-Up

This international print buyers conference offers a rich and comprehensive educational program. This year, there will be 21 educational sessions, held over two days, dedicated to the enhanced understanding of professional print and media buyers. In addition to a buyers’ panel moderated by PBI founder Margie Dana, the conference will offer the expert opinion of several of the industry’s leading authorities:

Frank Romano, Professor Emeritus, RIT;
Dr. Joe Webb, Director, WhatTheyThink.com's Economics and Research Center;
Derek Awalt, Global Product Manager, Halftone Proofing, Kodak Graphic Communications Group;
Don Carli, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Sustainable Communication;
Daniel Dejan, National Print & Creative Specialist, Sappi Fine Paper;
Diane Dragoff, Purchasing Manager, United Way of Massachusetts Bay;
Christine Erna, Executive Vice President, Mailing/Fulfillment Services, Vermillion, Inc.;
Cheryl Kahanec, Vice President and Director, Digital Solutions, Sandy Alexander, Inc.;
Sabine Lenz, Founder, PaperSpecs.com;
Rick Littrell, President/CMO, Magicomm, LLC;
James Lockman, Adobe Certified Expert (ACE) Print Specialist and Owner of Working Words & Graphics;
Robert McClements, Managing Director, Grange Consulting, and founding Senior Executive of PrintYorkshire;
Jack Miller, Senior Consultant, North America, Pira International;
Nick Patrissi, Senior Marketing Manager, Kodak Graphic Communications Group;
Sandi Peterson, President, Berthelot Marketing Services;
Michael Riordan, Assistant Professor at RIT's School of Print Media;
Brian Rooney, Chief Technology Officer, Pantone, Inc.;
Bob Wagner, Vice President, Xerox Creative Services Business and Premier Partners Program.

Dinner Keynote by Frank Romano and Dr. Joe Webb

A special highlight of this year's conference will be the November 7th keynote dinner address, to be co-delivered by industry giants Frank Romano and Dr. Joe Webb. Romano is the well-known author, educator, industry guru, world-class speaker, and friend to every print customer. He delivered the keynote address at the first annual print buyer's conference held in November 2006. Webb, affectionately known as "Dr. Doom," is one of the printing industry's most highly regarded economists, consultants, forecasters, and commentators.

"We’ve built this program to bring attendees not only the hottest topics, but also sought to find the best-in-field speakers for each," noted PBI founder Margie Dana. “With Frank and Joe co-keynoting, I know the dinner session will be entertaining and information-packed. But just as valuable, Frank and Joe tell it like it is. There’s no sugar-coating. Today’s print and media buyers need to understand what’s happening and how it’s getting done. I know our hand-picked roster of speakers will tackle each topic with this same hard-hitting approach.”

For additional information, please visit http://www.printbuyersinternational.com or send your inquiries to info@bostonprintbuyers.com.

How Print Sales Reps Really Think

I read this post on another blog and was SHOCKED by the comments made. I cannot believe a Sales Rep would really think this way! I am going to break this down by paragragh to respond and the whole post can be found at: http://www.graphicartsonline.com/blog/1850000385/post/1790014779.html

I received a phone call this morning from a client who had an interesting scenario: "My long time client (worth $50K a year) has started asking suspicious questions regarding pricing. When I press her on it, she admits that they need to save money and printing is one of the areas targeted for savings. What do I do?"

"Suspicious Questions" I certainly hope that EVERY Print Buyer, whether they are full print buyers or occasional print buyers are asking questions about pricing. And in case you haven't figured it out yet with prices on the rise everywhere, good buyers are going to ask questions about pricing, both upfront AND when the invoice comes, that buyer should be reviewing it with a fine tooth comb and questioning anything they do not understand. I also certainly hope that the buyer was "shopping" for print. Buyers, shopping is a VERY good thing in the print industry. Their are sometimes suppliers that are sitting with open capacity on a press and your job might just be the perfect fit in their schedule and they are willing to "shave" the price to fill that press. Companies are learning that when things get tight you don't fire the marketing staff to save costs, you increase the marketing budget to get your name and product out to more people. So you still have to save somewhere. Corporations look at their non-core competencies first. Most corporations are NOT in the business of buying print so they are going to look at where they can save. I worked with a company a few years back that went through this very exercise, they analyzed where they were spending money and where they could get their biggest bang for the buck! Print happened to be it! It was not a core-competency, it was in their eyes an evil necessity of doing business. (it also happened to be 100 million worth of necessity) So they learned to get smart about that business and came up with ways of reducing that cost like volume purchasing, sole provider contracts, process improvement, etc.

This phenomena is all too common these days and there is no question that she is in trouble. After giving her my answer, I pointed out that she is at fault for the client even having that thought! It is up to the sales person to remind the customer on a consistent basis why they do business with them. I don't care how good you are or how great your service level is, if the customer doesn't know (because you haven't told them), it won't be remembered and you are at risk. Get it?

Ah yes! The old customer loyalty gig...My advice (for what it's worth) Hit the problem head on...ask what you can do to help cut costs. The Sales Rep should go back to their boss and say something like; that $50,000 annual business is going to become NO BUSINESS if we cannot find a way to help our customer save money on their jobs. Bottom Line, is $40K better than $0K? If the answer is yes...then help cut the costs for the customer. Also, ask the customer if they need help finding a cost effective printer for the work your company does not do. Be consultative, be sincere, be caring, and really be helpful. Now that is customer service! Be loyal to them first and then you have a right to expect loyalty in return.

If you rush an order, send the client an email that says, “Thank you for letting us deliver on our promise of service” AND CC EVERYONE ON THE PLANET. That way, when a pencil pushing accountant says, “Save money on printing” the Buyer can push back and protect you. However in order to do this, they need to know your value. If you don’t tell them, they will have short memories.

Your right, they do need to know your value and the "Pencil Pushing Accountant" (or better known as CFO) will see NO value in receiving unsolicited AND unwanted emails from a sales person who has just added their email address into their CRM system and is now getting copied on every campaign your company offers. They get VALUE from seeing the books balance and seeing cost savings in areas they think can be leaned down. Your best bet with the accountant is show them savings and show them WHY costs are what they are. CFO's are usually accountants that got A's in economics while in college they will respond better to an economics lesson than shouts of how great we are.

Providing good service and being consultative to a company is more valuable than anything you can provide. Helping the customer to realize savings should be every sales persons first and primary goal. Help that buyer do their job better and it does pay dividends. Customer loyalty is EXTREMELY rare in today's market.

Why professional print buyers are a needed commodity

So I started to read a blog article about how printing is priced, and without even looking at the authors profile I instantly knew within the first paragraph that this was written by a designer. How did I know? The first paragraph immediately pointed out that it should never be about the cost to produce the job but about the quality of the final piece. And budget should be a secondary concern. Statements like these are exactly why a professional print buyer should be quoting and selecting the printers.

The need for balance
Designers are very talented and creative people and can put things in designs that can wow the senses. But they are also very close to the piece and they take great pride and ownership in their designs. So it is important for them to know what will make a piece POP to the end user. However, the cost of the final product is always of great concern and while designers will almost always tell you cost is secondary. The bottom line comes down to; can the piece be produced within the designer's specifications AND on budget? If the answer is No, then alternatives must be sought to still produce the piece and keep it in budget. A professional print buyer can provide an objective eye on the project and help keep the project grounded. I have worked with designers who upon hearing that the piece they want produced is out of budget instantly react with; "increase the budget then because it cannot be done any other way." A print buyer can look at the various aspects of a job and recognize alternatives to the job that will produce a quality piece at the right price. Print buyers provide a needed balance to the order of printed pieces, without them, designer's will pretty much have carte blanc. Printers love the idea of no controls to the price. They can produce the PERFECT print piece, but perfection comes with a cost, and most companies in today's market do not have unlimited print budgets.

Designers should continue to design the most creative pieces they can for their customer. But print buyers should recognize production issues and be able to adjust the specification's of a piece to produce a high quality piece at the best possible price.

DMIA Print Solutions Conference and Expo

The DMIA Print Solutions Expo is just around the corner. This year the Conference and Expo are being held in glamorous Las Vegas on October 17 - 19. At the Las Vegas Convention Center. This is a great opportunity for print distributors and buyers to hear the latest about technologies and processes in the print industry. I was at last years event in Chicago and was just overwhelmed with all of the exhibits and opportunities to hear some great insights. This year I am going to put a little different twist in my attendance, I am planning to blog right from the floor of the exhibition center. You got it live and on the scenes coverage of the conference sessions, and the exhibit hall. I plan to blog about the sights and sounds and the insights from the attendees.

I would like to know; What sessions you think I should attend, what exhibitors should I talk to and discuss in my blog, and what questions should I ask. Here's how you can help? If you click on the questions link you can fill out the form and I will ask the questions of the suppliers or attendees and post responses back here. You can find all of the information including exhibitors and sessions at: www.printsolutionsshow.com. If you are attending the show stop by at booth 1012 and say hi! I love to hear readers thoughts and would love to discuss them with you. I will post more information as we get closer to the show.

I encourage anyone that has the opportunity to take advantage of attending this show. There are always a lot of great suppliers and a great opportunity to learn more about the print and print services industries. It is a great opportunity to go to these shows for me and discuss procurement and sometimes show Cross-Wind. I hope to see you all there!

Cross-Wind® Project List Management

Making projects inactive in the project list.

Ever have problems or delays logging in to Cross-Wind? If you do then take a look at your project list. The first thing that can improve system responsiveness is to make those projects that are no longer being worked on inactive. The way to do this is to un-check the box to the right of the projects that you would like to make inactive. Once you have deselected the projects then scroll to the bottom of the list and click on the "Save" button. The page will refresh and the jobs deselected will be placed in the inactive list. If you need to retrieve an inactive job simply select "Inactive" in the search pane and click the "Search" button. Your list will now display all of the inactive jobs in your system.
Questions please feel free to comment or contact me.

Contracts for Procurement Systems

I am working on revamped pricing for our estimating and procurement system and was having a discussion about terms. The question of contract terms and the length of the contract came up. There are some that will use a one year agreement as a selling point. However is that really good for the print buyer in the long run? Has our society become so bent on instant gratification that we can see the trees through the forest? Buyers need to be able to evaluate system needs up front before entering into a system without knowing what they are getting. So the up side to a short term agreement is "Well I only have to use this for a year then I can get out and start looking all over again" or as a buyer you will get a sour taste in your mouth and the common statement then is "well all of these systems are the same and this one didn't work for me so none of the others out there will...it's just easier to do this manually anyway." I think what you miss by taking that kind of approach is that you do not see the long term benefit an estimating and procurement system can provide.

Now as a buyer I believe that a long term of 3 years is the optimal length of an agreement because it gives me the ability to gather data and to analyze my spend for at least two years of the term and then gives me an ability to at least start practicing forecasting in the third year of the term. By mid-year of the third year I should have enough data gathered to prove or disprove my forecasts. You see I believe that a system is not just purchased for the ability to improve you effieciency but also to capture and analyze the data from your purchasing to be able to better predict spending cycles. So a system is not just to make your job easier from day to day but it is also to gather information to help you make more informed purchasing decisions. So is it really worth your while as a print buyer to be using a system for a year to "evaluate" whether it is right for you up front? OR, is it better to know exactly what you want from a system and sign a long term agreement to get that information that will help you do a better job down the road?

What are your thoughts? Post your comments.

Have a great weekend!
John

Does the price of Fuel impact Print Production costs?

The national average for the price of gasoline today is $2.81 per gallon. But the price of gasoline has nothing to do with the equation. It is the price of diesel fuel that has an impact on print production costs. The average price per gallon of diesel fuel is $2.92, an $0.11 per gallon difference. And the price is higher today than it was a year ago by $0.067. Now that doesn't seem like much but it is significant because prices are on the rise and winter is coming.

Economics 101
Sorry for the economics lesson but in order to understand the significance let's consider just a couple of factors. Fuel Prices are already high in the mid-west and IF we have a bad winter (meaning lot's of cold and snow) combined with a shortage of refineries and lot's of competition from overseas markets for fuel oil (Asia and Europe) the price of diesel fuel will continue to rise to all time highs. Now throw in just one hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico (that shuts down production and refineries) and we will be toast. Here endth the lesson.

OK so why is diesel higher than gasoline it didn't used to be?
That's very true diesel prices before 2004 were always lower than gas. For this I will give you the Department of Energy's explanation;
Until several years ago, the average price of diesel fuel was usually lower than the average price of gasoline. In some winters when the demand for distillate heating oil was high, the price of diesel fuel rose above the gasoline price. Since September 2004, the price of diesel fuel has been generally higher than the price of regular gasoline all year round for several reasons. Worldwide demand for diesel fuel and other distillate fuel oils has been increasing steadily, with strong demand in China, Europe, and the U.S., putting more pressure on the tight global refining capacity. In the U.S., the transition to low-sulfur diesel fuel has affected diesel fuel production and distribution costs. Also, the Federal excise tax on diesel fuel is 6 cents higher per gallon (24.4 cents per gallon) than the tax on gasoline.

Alright so let's put it all together...
The cost of fuel is high, it is going to remain high, and if foreign competition is will to pay more per barrel for oil, then we are going to lose out.

So what if I buy my print in Asia?
Cost of fuel is still high, but labor and living conditions are low so it balances out you can only work a human for low pay for so long...ever here of sweat shops? I don't think it is a win to print in Asia, and with all of the substandard products coming out of that part of the world are you really willing to sacrifice cost for potential hazardous chemicals?

What can I do?
The best thing to do in today's market is to look at suppliers that can produce your job close to the destination thereby reducing freight costs. If the job is shipping to two locations seriously look for split production not split shipping. The cost of production may be higher BUT you may save overall, by reduced freight. Print Buyers should seriously evaluate freight cost first when determining production then look at the total cost for the job not just production price not just freight but the total. In today's market it is extremely important to consider freight. I have stated in an earlier post that I had a customer that routinely evaluated freight and made production decisions based on that. Now if you are using a procurement system it should have the ability to break freight out as a separate line item in pricing and to go one step further it should also be able to sub-total your production costs and your freight costs. If your procurement system doesn't allow for freight as a line item then get a new system! I am betting the cost savings in freight alone will pay for a GOOD procurement system. If your suppliers are not breaking freight out then ask them too. Don't let them give you excuses either because if they think they might lose the job because of their freight price they will hesitate to provide it. Also, now is the time to be supplier shopping. Look at your shipping destinations closely and then start looking for suppliers that are in those areas that can provide the same services that Charlie down the street is providing, just at $250.00 per shipment more. A little trick that the big boys have learned is...When a large print supplier is involved and you know the companies I am talking about, they have figured out that, if you have a job that is shipping to Cleveland and your quoting with the plant in Dallas they will get the quote from the Dayton plant and then estimate freight from Dallas for the quote. Then when you order they will produce in Dayton and charge you for shipping from Dallas. So another question I would be asking your suppliers in the quote is; where is the producing facility located? If you ask that question and get a response of; "Why is that important? OR it doesn't matter! OR my favorite...we haven't determined that yet. (Yeah right) They knew EXACTLY where they were going to produce this the minute that quote came in the door!! With the press operating systems that these major printers have they know when the pressman is on coffee break and when he will return to the press halfway across the world.

Summary
There are lot's of options available to help you cut freight costs and you need to be taking advantage of each and every available option. I also encourage you to share those little tips and tricks with your peers. If you have an idea as to haw to save money or save on freight costs post a comment to my blog. I will share all ideas with the rest of the readers. If you want to know more about diesel fuel costs go to the DOE website located here.

Print Supplier Loyalty - Is it that important?

When I was a buyer the most common theme I heard from my suppliers and my potential suppliers was always about customer loyalty. Suppliers actually measure customer loyalty as an indicator in their business models. But how important is customer loyalty really? From a buyers perspective, suppliers are coming in the office constantly trying to find a way to get their foot in the door. They often times will try just about anything to get just one sale from a new customer.
As sales people, they are being measured on not just the usual volume of sales but also on the number of new customers that are brought in the door. It's called building a book of business and sales people will carry that book of business with them when they go to work for the competition. That is often times why another company hires or recruits sales people from other companies because they are often counting on that book of business. Sales people are always looking for the next opportunity too, so they can increase their salary or commission rate. So when that sales person walks in the door they are trying to build a relationship with you. They would like to be that friend for as long as you are with that company because they are counting on one of two things happening; A) They leave XYZ printers and go to ABC printer, they are counting on the fact that the relationship they have built with you over the years is going to get them a notch on their sales belt under the NEW sales column. B) When you leave ABC marketing company and go to work at XYZ marketing they are hoping that...You guessed it...the relationship they have built with you over the years is going to get them a notch on their sales belt under the NEW sales column.

So I ask...who is the loyalty really with? Often times it is not with the company unless it is niche printing and there are not many companies who can do that work. By the way we are talking about small to medium companies that are the sales reps perfect target. Why? Because they are the ones that are doing business based on relationships. They are single or two and three buyer organizations that do 1 to 2 million in print annually and print is not a core function but an ancillary function.

Keep in mind that I am not talking about the large buying companies because most of the time those relationships are based on analytics there is a director of print that is usually being held to statistical analysis of their print spend and they are always negotiating based on their volumes of print.

So is it about loyalty? To a certain degree it is about loyalty but not to who you think it might be. It is certainly not as much about the printing company as it is about the sales person. So next time that sales person walks in your door and starts talking about loyalty consider who your loyalty is with.

Working on a project with a team in Cross-Wind®

Sometimes projects are big enough that it requires two or more of your teams buyers to work up the specifications. So how do you keep all of the information in one project for tracking and reporting purposes and share that project workload among the rest of the team? In Cross-Wind you can share the project with other team members. Those team members can receive the RFQ response emails as well as the Owner of the project. Ownership of the project can also be reassigned from the Owner list so that a project can be transfered from one Print Buyer to another within the group. To reassign project ownership:
1. From the Project List, locate the project for which you will edit ownership or share with other co-workers.

2. Click the Buyer name listed in the Current Owner column. A pop-up window appears with all
Buyers in the existing group.

3. Attach the Buyer to the project by clicking the check box next to the Buyers name. If you want to transfer ownership of the project, click the radio button next to the Buyer who will become the new project owner. If you reassign ownership of a project, the new owner must also be attached to the project.

4. Click Save. A message appears indicating that your selection was saved.

5. Click Close to return to the project list.

Attaching a Buyer to a project allows the attached Buyer to view and edit the project.
1. From the Project List, locate the project for which you will edit attachment.

2. Click the Buyer name listed in the Current Owner column. A pop-up window appears with all
Buyers in the existing group.

3. Click the check box next to the Buyer who will be attached to the project.

4. Click Save. The project will now appear in the project list of all Buyers who are attached to the
project.

Print Oasis 2008 Exhibitor Opportunities Now Available

Print Oasis 2008 Print Buyers Conference & Exhibit will be held February 9-12, 2008 at the Amelia Island Plantation in Amelia Island, Florida near Jacksonville.

ARLINGTON, VA, September 5, 2007 — Print Buyers Online.com, a free, educational e-community for print buyers, print communications professionals and their suppliers in partnership with Print Communications Professionals International (PCPI), the premier association dedicated to print buyers, will host their annual Print Oasis Print Buyers Conference & Exhibit (www.printoasis.com) on February 9-12, 2008 at the Amelia Island Plantation in Amelia Island, Florida near Jacksonville.

The Print Oasis 2008 Print Buyers Conference & Exhibit is the premier independent conference focused on the needs and challenges of print buyers, specifiers and production professionals. Previous exhibitors have included printers, proofing companies, major technology firms and paper manufacturers.

Extended Exhibit Times
Print Oasis 2008 exhibit times will be extended from Sunday afternoon and evening to all day Monday, concluding with the Paper Show on Monday night. Back by popular demand, compelling mini-educational sessions will be conducted in the Exhibit Hall providing attendees with a fun way to quickly learn the tricks of the trade while promoting traffic on the exhibitor floor.

“We are thrilled to bring our annual conference to the exotic ocean-front destination of Amelia Island Plantation Resort. We are confident that conference attendees and exhibitors will enjoy this exciting locale,” said Suzanne Morgan. The Amelia Island Plantation is Florida's premier AAA-Four Diamond destination island resort. The 1,350 acre property overlooks the blue water of the Atlantic on the east and the green marshland and Intracoastal Waterway on the west. This resort is family friendly and offers many exciting amenities including four championship golf courses, tennis courts, 25 swimming pools, bicycling, fishing, beach rentals, chartered fishing boats, award-winning Youth Programs, nature tours and programs, Health & Fitness Center, aquatic sports, boat tours and The Spa & Shops. Amelia Island Plantation offers beautiful hospitality suites with ocean-views. From fine dining to casual elegance, Amelia’s restaurants offer the finest foods in a variety of atmospheres.

Exhibitors are encouraged to stay for the full conference, as the program allows plenty of opportunities to spend quality time with prospective clients. Exhibitors are invited to develop meaningful relationships by hosting a golf outing, a boat tour, a scavenger hunt, a beach bon-fire or pool party. They can also demonstrate their expertise by presenting a mini-educational seminar in the Exhibit Hall.

Exhibitor Fees
Early-bird exhibit fees start at $3,000 for a standard 10’ x 10’ booth (ending October 31, 2007) or $3,500 thereafter. Table-top exhibits for the popular Monday night Paper show, available to manufacturers and distributors of paper products only, will be $750 for early-bird registration (ending October 31, 2007) or $850 thereafter.

Print Buyers Online.com is also offering its exhibitors the opportunity for year-round promotion by combining online sponsorship of its over 12,000 member e-community or its "Think Fresh" educational web content package with a Print Oasis exhibit. Savvy print suppliers can drive more traffic and repeat visits to their websites by using this innovative web interface tool to educate buyers. Print Buyers Online.com also provides its online sponsors with tremendous exposure and a proven lead generation program. Details are available in the Print Oasis 2008 Exhibitors Prospectus.

Print Oasis 2007 exhibitor, Dan Freedland, V.P. Business Development of Primary Color, Inc. shared his experience at last year’s conference, “Print Oasis is an excellent venue for those wishing to interface with a significant community of qualified print professionals in a condensed time period.”

Booth location and event sponsorship opportunities are all determined on a first-come, first serve basis. Interested exhibitors are encouraged to contact Kimberlee Sautter, Conference Manager, today to guarantee the best spot at (703) 534-9305 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST or via email to ksautter@e-pbo.com. For more information about the conference, please visit www.printoasis.com.

With more than 12,000 members, who purchase over $14.1 billion in printing each year, Print Buyers Online.com is the premiere place for education and information for print buyers. A free, educational e-community, PBO provides tips, articles, Q&As, tools and resources to help print buyers learn new and existing technologies and best practices for the business of working with print suppliers. In addition to providing valuable information, Print Buyers Online.com conducts research to understand the needs and challenges of the print buying community. For a free membership to Print Buyers Online.com, please visit the PBO website.

Print Communications Professionals International (PCPI) - Created by Print Buyers Online.com, PCPI expands the services of PBO by offering robust education, resources and networking opportunities to help professionals who purchase print media provide greater value to their organizations. PCPI encourages best practices to enhance the buying and selling experience and promotes the exchange of information in a non-sales environment. The association also offers advanced certification for print communications professionals. For additional information about PCPI membership, please visit the organization's website.

Cross-Wind® Supplier Training Session

The monthly print supplier training session is scheduled for Thursday September 13, 2007 at 2:30 PM Central Time. This is the regular monthly webinar through LiveMeeting. This session is for Cross-Wind print suppliers to learn new tips and tricks when submitting an RFQ response to your Cross-Wind customers. Qualified suppliers will be receiving their monthly email notification this afternoon containing the link to the LiveMeeting session. If you are a Cross-Wind print supplier and do not receive your email notification check you spam filter or box to make sure the email is there. If it is be sure to white list the sender email address so you will receive these regularly. If you did not receive your email contact me though the email link on this blog and I will be happy to forward the information on to you.

The rest of the years supplier training schedule looks like this:
October - Thursday Oct. 11, 2007 - 2:30 PM Central Time
November - Thursday Nov. 8, 2007 - 2:30 PM Central Time
December - Thursday Dec. 13, 2007 - 2:30 PM Central Time

Editing Supplier Information in Cross-Wind

I got a call tonight from a supplier and I thought this is probably a good time to address this issue. While it is not the most Frequently Asked Question it is up on the list of questions that I get from print suppliers so I will try to explain the edit features for suppliers here.

When a supplier logs into Cross-Wind, they can access their company information by clicking on the "Administration" section in the top navigation bar.

In the Administration section you can edit your company information in the default page. You can edit ALL of the information here and then click the Save button. If you would like to edit the USER information, click on "User Info" in the secondary navigation bar. You can change all of the information in the User Info section and click Save to update the information. This information is used in the RFQ page for contact information for the print buyer and in the supplier address book of the "Resources" section also for the print buyer.

It is a good idea for the print supplier to keep this information up to date for the print buyer so they know who and how to contact your company. This whole process should only take you about 5 minutes. If you have further questions please let me know.

Submitting Print Samples to your Printer

Everybody hates chicken scratch! So why torture your printers with it? Sometimes samples are a necessity when specifying print jobs but take the time to mark up your samples cleanly. The cleaner your samples are the easier it will be for your suppliers to review and provide accurate quotes. I suggest digitizing your samples if at all possible. The price of a cheap scanner is less than the price of a mistake in production because of miscommunication on the sample. If stock or matching ink color is the issue then obviously you need to send a sample but if your concern is the attributes then digitize that sucker and send it out via email, ftp, disk or whatever! Below are examples of a poor sample and a good sample. Put your chicken scratch on a separate sheet of paper and reference the attributes by number or letter. It makes life a lot easier for your printer and for you when referencing. Now obviously there are more sophisticated ways of doing this but if this is all you got then at least make it organized!

Revising Projects in Cross-Wind®

Print Buyers create projects in Cross-Wind. So when a change to a specification is made to a product template AFTER the project has been submitted for RFQ, or another Supplier needs to be added to the quote, the buyer has two options for revision:
1) Revise the RFQ; If the buyer revises the RFQ any responses that have been submitted by suppliers could be lost if those Suppliers are still selected in the list and the "Resend" button is clicked.
2) Revise Project (recommended); If the buyer clicks the "Revise" button on the Project Details page, the entire project is revised allowing the buyer to change specs, add product templates, and add suppliers or resend to suppliers for new pricing. The revise project option allows the buyer to have the original responses and the new responses in separate project to review them separately. This also allows the administrator to have accurate response time tracking for suppliers responses in the Vendor Response Report.