Here's what your fellow professionals from our LinkedIn group had to say in March.
What would be the best result from the Geon collapse?
The topic of the decade. Imagine in a fantasy world where they paid all their bills outright, and were legally held accountable until they do like the rest of the punters, the company was split up and taken out of the hands of a private equity group and bought by printers and run by printers. Hopefully this will make big business realise that the Coles and Woolworths mentality does not work with printing!
Tony Perini, general manager, Intoprint
Should the industry stop operating on credit?
Paper merchants have been way too lenient and greedy with companies that we all know were not travelling too good. They have relied on insurance to bail them out rather than walk away from dubious clients. We all talk in the print industry and it has been proven time and time and time again that certain companies will fall, but no, paper merchants keep on supplying these companies. And we all know that once the dust settles and the paper merchants lose more money and premiums go up, they conveniently put their prices up so the good guys can fix up their shortfall (thanks). The sooner insurance companies walk away, the better paper merchants will operate their companies and stop supply to the badly managed print companies. Go on, do it. Maximum credit 60 days or no supply
Geoff Drennan, managing director, FSG Design & Print
Do you have any tips for improving cashflow?
I have never had any problem with cashflow (apart from needing more cash to flow from new work). My trading terms are strict – new clients either pay a 25% deposit or pre-pay before we commence work. Casual clients pay COD. Longstanding customers get 30 days. If unpaid on 31st day they get a friendly phone call. We don't undertake any new work for a client if they are in arrears… until they catch up. We have one client who needs to pay 60 days. We put a 10% loading on all their work… with their knowledge… to act as their bank!
Michael Santer, owner, The Jamida Group
Tell us about your best client. What makes them so great?
We have several great customers who are like-minded individuals who include us as part of their plans, their team and their successes. They challenge what they do each day and are constantly striving to rationale business improvements. Being a part of that is exceptionally satisfying. I understand it is a sign of the times but it also an attitude: we have customers who pay us on time, every time no matter what and that doesn't go unnoticed!
Tresta Keegan, managing director, Tharstern Australia & New Zealand
Do you have any tips for optimising the online presence of a B2B company?
Split-test your landing pages. Have one clear defined goal you want the user to achieve (click something, submit a form, purchase, etc). If you need more than one goal create another page. Never assume you know best. Come up with ideas and actually run a test against a control to see what performs better. We are in the process of redesigning our website based on the results of split tests we've performed and found what works best for our users visiting our website.
Jason Xuereb, co-owner, Mediapoint
Does your business encourage junior staff to contribute ideas?
Of course – mainly with marketing! We're getting our most junior staff member to be in charge of our email newsletter soon and come up with ideas for it. All of our team are very creative so they need to be part of the contribution. The one area that is hard to get juniors to give ideas is social networking – they seem to spend most of their spare time doing this but struggle with ideas for business purposes. (I'm a culprit of this too, though).
Sharon Sewell, owner, Varsity Graphics
Does your company donate to charity?
Kopystop is a great believer in giving back to the community. There is nothing more rewarding than knowing one can assist or aid through either monetary contribution or physical participation towards charities. There are many charities to choose from and you will always find one which is close to your heart. Most charities would not survive without the assistance or contribution from individuals or businesses. Donating to charity really puts the smile on the faces of the Kopystop Krew – more so knowing that somehow we are putting the smile on the faces of the truly needy!
Art Tchetchenian, managing director, Kopystop Digital Print Solutions
[Related: What your fellow professionals said last time]
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