If you have an employee who is habitually late or absent from work, resist the urge to globally address the problem. In other words, don’t gather the whole department and say, “It is important for everyone to get here on time.”
According to Rick Wise, director of Printing Services at the University of Missouri-Columbia, this tactic will work against you.
“It hurts the morale of the majority of employees who are, in fact, getting to work on time,” he says. “Their thinking is why should they have to listen to discussion on this issue? And they are right.”
It also erodes the supervisor’s credibility, Wise says.
“They all know who is actually tardy. And they lose a little respect for their supervisor for not discussing it directly with this individual, one-on-one.”
Meanwhile, the one person you are actually talking to gets to hide in the crowd and probably continue to live in denial that you are even talking to him or her. So in the end, this tactic most likely doesn’t even accomplish your purpose.
In-plant customers have a hard time differentiating one printer from another, so they often use price to decide where to send business. By offering superior customer service, you can reduce the importance of price in the customer’s mind and keep him or her coming to you.
The key to customer service? Good communication, namely excellent phone skills, since customers who receive poor treatment on the phone initially are unlikely to return. For maximum phone flair, you must:
• Answer the phone promptly.
• State your name and department clearly.
• Match the volume and pace of the customer’s voice.
• Repeat important information to show you understand what’s involved with a project.
• Master the hold and transfer features; losing customers shows a lack of concern for their needs.
• Never keep a customer on hold longer than one minute; if this might happen, take a number and call back as soon as you can. Never make a customer call you back.
Make sure all employees receive telephone training so customers always hear you at your best.
From the article “Win Business With Customer Service,” by Jean-Luc Devis, February 2004
Last week, press manufacturer MAN Roland (now rebranded as “manroland”) held a rededication ceremony at its Westmont, Ill., headquarters. The event, attended by local dignitaries, marked the U.S. unveiling of its new logo and branding.
On hand at the ceremony were Kirk W. Dillard, Illinois State Senator; Patricia R. Bellock, Illinois State Representative; and Polly Jensen, President and CEO of the Printing Industry of Illinois Association. Each made brief statements, as did manroland CEO Vince Lapinski. After the company’s new logo was unveiled at the intersection of Pasquinelli Drive and East Oak Hill Drive, attendees took a brief tour of the facility, which manroland has called home for 26 years.
Ohio State University (OSU) has selected the Dialogue software application from Exstream Software by HP as the primary tool to overhaul and improve its student communication system. The university needed a standard platform for producing the more than 250,000 student communications it sends annually, including admission letters, grant awards, loan information and more.
Dialogue will enable OSU to produce automated, data-driven student communications that are specifically created and customized for each student with the insertion of targeted, relevant messaging. It support delivery through print/mail and online channels.
“We have seen an increase of several thousand applications each year and serve a student body of close to 68,000,” noted Bruce Boda, senior systems manager for the Office of Information Technology at Ohio State. “Dialogue’s ‘click-and-go’ technology is particularly important since the administrative department employs a mixture of IT and business users. We are looking forward to the benefits of a more automated system that will help us reduce infrastructure costs and streamline our student communication processes.”
Rising crude oil prices continue to put pressure on ink makers to find ways to recoup cost increases for their raw materials, including pigments, chemicals, freight and packaging. As a result, Flint Group is instituting surcharges and price increases for all commercial and packaging inks sold in North America, effective on all products billed on or after July 21, 2008.
A surcharge of $0.10/lb. is being added for all solvent, energy curable and paste products (inks, coatings, extenders/blend vehicles), while water-based inks, coatings, extenders/blend vehicles and additives will carry a $0.06/lb. extra charge.
Price increases will be assessed on a percentage basis depending on type:
• Solvent liquid ink colors, extenders/blend vehicles and additives — 5%
• Solvent liquid blacks and all solvent and water whites — 7%
• Water-based ink colors and blacks — 4%
• Conventional sheetfed paste inks — 6%
• All energy curable products — 6%
Increases on other brands of ink went into effect on July 1st. Central Ink implemented a range of price increases, including $0.12/lb. on all non-heatset black inks and 8% on colors, along with a flat 6% for all heatset inks. Sun Chemical’s Performance Pigments division raised its pigment prices by 10% to 30%. In addition, the Flint Group North America Publication and News Inks divisions imposed a surcharge of $0.10/lb. on all heatset, coldset and news inks.
Ricoh Co. will erect a sign in New York City’s Times Square that will be 100 percent powered by solar and wind power. The electronic billboard, reportedly the first ever to be totally powered by natural resources in Times Square, will be located at the corner of 7th Avenue and 42nd Street.
The sign, which is 47 feet high and 126 feet long, will be illuminated by floodlights and powered by 45 solar panels and four turbines for wind generation. By using all natural energy sources, Ricoh will reduce the amount of CO2 production by 18 tons per year. If there is not enough solar or wind power, the Times Square sign will not be illuminated.