Have you ever heard an older person say, "I read the obits every day and if I don't see my name I know it's a good day!"? Yup, that's a real knee slapper around the Old Printers' Home. However, there are plenty of printers out there still who died a few years ago and yet they continue to show up to work every day, unaware of their fate. I spoke with one such gentleman around the holidays. It was the saddest phone call I had all year and it haunted me for a couple of days, so much so that I am making it the subject of my essay this month.

Wake Up and Smell the Coffee
In the old days, printers did not need business plans or marketing managers. They bought big pieces of iron and photocopiers and sold on three principles: cheap, quick, and cheap. The concept of asking customers about where they were going and investing capital dollars in equipment that could help them to meet customer goals was as foreign as switching from the pegboard accounting system. Their idea of marketing their services was a banner in the window. The really smart ones put an ad in the Yellow Pages. That earned them a speaking tour on the subject of marketing your business and they were seen as visionaries.

It is sometimes hard to see change. Everything from the hairline to the waistline is in constant motion, yet they look the same on a day-to-day basis. So when the business landscape begins to change and the economic climate goes from "there's plenty for everyone" to "there is always a lower price out there," the signs of such change are hard to pick up. Several years ago I was on a panel with Noel Ward, Executive Editor of OnDemandJournal.com when a man in the audience asked a question that went something like this: "I am watching my business change and more customers are coming in the door with electronic files that I can't handle. What does this mean for my future?" I leaned over to Noel and whispered the R rated version of, "Sir, you are screwed." This caused Noel to bust out laughing and subsequently get called on by the moderator to handle the question. Noel, did I ever apologize for that?

Dwindling Dollars
Back to my phone call. This man was woefully describing how things had changed for him. He had gone from a $1.8M company to less than $800K in just under two years. All along, he never changed his sales approach, never thought to do anything differently, just to do what he'd always done and, occasionally, more of it. Yet the results were the same: His business dropped off, loyal customers departed for a better price, and his phones stopped ringing with invitations to quote.

What happened? Well, I'd say there were a number of factors contributing to the demise of this man's core business. Sure, the economy hit us all and printed pages disappeared or went to the Web, never to return. Second, technology reared its ugly head and entered the world of printing with a vengeance. My caller missed that memo. The client base became more sophisticated and he did not invest in technology to accommodate the technically competent customer. Third, the Buyer got younger and he aged. The older men and women who once occupied the Purchasing Department were downsized to a bunch of Mini Me college grads who wouldn't know a good printing vendor from a good peanut vendor (you know, the kind who can whip a bag of nuts around their backs and hit you in the hands from twenty seats over and three rows up at the ballgame).

Finally -- and I think most importantly -- our friend failed to realize that the rules of sales have changed. Today's rep has to be part consultant, part marketing whiz, and part communications expert in order to win an order. The days of selling printing are over. The successful and profitable printers are solving problems and earning orders. That one, too, was overlooked.

Pray for the Dead
I feel for this man, I really do, and am trying to help him the best I can, although I think I can look into my crystal ball and see the outcome already. I just wish he had done more to attend seminars and trade shows and association events and read magazines that discuss the industry. Surely somewhere along the line some witty columnist or editor would have written about how the times, they are a-changing and ye best be prepared. Perhaps he could have seen the warning signs.

Sir, if you are reading this, consider it your obituary (although I doubt he will be reading this because when I mentioned the Internet he asked me to define it). I'd tell you to put your equipment up on eBay, but you wouldn't know whether I was speaking Pig Latin or speaking in code for, "You are dead. Lie down and close your eyes."

Bill Farquharson is the president of Print Tec Network.