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January 2007 - Catalogs and web sites are great references for your customers to find office papers. These are the tools that drive most orders. But what they don’t do is advise your customers. They don’t guide them to the best paper for their needs because they aren’t interactive, they can’t ask questions.
Consumers are left with very few aides when they may be interested in purchasing a higher grade of paper. There’s the standard catalog copy, which does a terrific job describing some of the key attributes of a product, but may not really tell the full story. Consumers may not understand when to use a Color Copy sheet versus a Multi-purpose grade for example. They could use some help.
Asking questions is one of the best ways you can bring value to your customers because the answers they provide give you insights that can help you match product to need. Below are two simple, powerful questions you should ask each of your paper customers. |
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A general rule of thumb is that about 75% of the paper they use is copy paper/multi-purpose. This is the most commodity level of consumption. They may shop this paper around quite a bit looking for the lowest price.
Dealers have a great margin opportunity in the remaining 25% of office paper consumption. Let’s call these “specialty papers.” Your goal with this question is to uncover their specialty paper needs and make sure they source from you. Papers in this category range from high-bright premium multipurpose to laser/color copy paper and from inkjet presentation papers to business stationery.
Keep probing until you uncover paper applications like “letter head” or “proposals” or “marketing materials.” These are perfect applications for specialty papers. Anytime the quality of the output has to be high, then there is an opportunity to use a higher grade of paper than commodity multi-purpose.
Frequently the margin opportunity on a carton or two of specialty papers will equal the margin on a pallet of commodity copy paper. So uncovering these hidden gems is worth the trouble. A little goes a long way toward your bottom line.
Once you have identified a need for specialty papers, there are a number of techniques for getting the sale. Refer to the PaperRap.com feature archive for more information, such as the feature Tips For High Margin Paper Sales. |
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This question is another way of uncovering specialty paper opportunities. There is a strong link between equipment and paper consumption because many specialty papers are designed to work best with specific machines. And some specialty papers are available to “print on demand” at a desktop even though many businesses assume they have to go to a commercial printer.
For every type of printing device there is a “best” match for paper. Some papers have special features designed to work best in a specific type of printer/copier. For example, ink jet papers have surface coatings engineered specifically for ink jet printers. The coatings help the ink to set up and form the best possible output.
When you uncover a more expensive type of printing device, such as a color laser printer, there is an open door you can walk through to promote a specialty paper. Your customer invested in such a machine in order to get the best looking printing possible… so why wouldn’t they want to use paper designed to look its best in that machine?
The PaperRap.com feature “Making The Grade” has more information on matching paper to machine. Check it out in the feature Archive. |
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Consumers of business papers may not be aware of all the options available, many of which are designed specifically for certain printers and/or applications. Common tools in the market, such as catalogs and web sites, have a lot of information but don’t necessarily provide all the help consumers need. That’s where an independent dealer sales or customer service rep can add value, while at the same time making a higher margin sale.
The two basic questions above are easy to ask and can lead to the discovery of high margin paper sales opportunities. The first one gets at what types of applications your customers use paper for while the second sheds light on the type of equipment they use in their office. Understanding both of these components should give you insights on suggestions you can make to introduce value-added grades of paper to your customers. And as noted above, one or two sales of specialty paper can have the same margin as pallets of commodity copy paper.
So ask questions, uncover opportunities, and then ask for the order. Ask to receive! |
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