Why Your Sales Team Needs a Consultant’s Mindset If your sales team is still acting like human brochures, you aren’t just losing orders – you’re losing the chance to be the expert your customers actually need. I had a conversation recently with a printer who’s tearing his hair out. He’s got a sales team hitting every activity target in the book – calls made, emails sent, LinkedIn messages fired off – but their conversion rate is through the floor. When I looked under the hood, I saw why. They were essentially acting as order-takers. When a prospect asked for a price on 5,000 brochures, they gave a price for 5,000 brochures. They didn’t ask why the brochures were needed, what the distribution plan was, or if a different stock might better reflect the brand’s premium positioning. They were selling ink on paper, but they weren’t solving problems. If you’re just another name on a screen or a voice on the phone reading a script, you’re in trouble. Escape the Commodity Trap by Asking Better Questions You cannot compete on price alone and expect to build a sustainable, profitable business. I see it all the time in this industry – owners get stuck in the commodity trap because their sales process is entirely reactive. If your team is only responding to the specifications the customer provides, you are a commodity. A consultant, however, looks at the desired outcome rather than just the print specification. I remember working with a wide-format printer who stopped asking “what size do you want?” and started asking “what is the footfall in the area where this signage will sit?” That one shift in mindset allowed them to recommend higher-durability materials and better placement strategies. They weren’t just selling PVC banners anymore; they were selling visibility and longevity. This change moved them away from the race to the bottom on price and allowed them to charge for their expertise. It is about getting comfortable and challenging the customer’s initial assumptions to provide a better result. The Shift From Information Provider to Expert Navigator Your customers already have access to the technical specs of your presses or the speed of your kit through your website. If your sales team spends the first twenty minutes of a meeting explaining things the customer has already read online, they are wasting everyone’s time. You’ve got to be the expert who helps them make sense of it all. You aren’t just there to hand out brochures anymore; you’re there to help them avoid the mistakes that cost them money. Colin Sinclair McDermott, The Online Print Coach, gives his advice on managing an effective sales team, and looks at the reasons that orders may not be turning into profits because of simple behaviours and approaches Having been in the print industry since the mid-late 90s, Colin Sinclair McDermott entered the world of self-employment in 2004 and over the years that followed, experienced a number of highs and lows running his own print company, learning what does and doesn’t work. In 2022, he trained with The Business Coaching Academy to become a fully certified corporate coach with the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches. Through The Online Print Coach, industry members can access an online training platform, Print Mastermind and private 1-to-1 coaching with Sinclair McDermott. www.theonlineprintcoach.com I’ve always said you need to diagnose before you prescribe. It’s about mindset. If a client wants a direct mail campaign, a consultant-led salesperson will dig into the data quality and the call to action before they even mention stock or finish. I once saw a commercial printer save a client £4,000 by suggesting a slight size adjustment that allowed the job to run more efficiently on a B2 press. The client didn’t care about the press size; they cared about the saving and the efficiency. That salesperson earned a client for life because they acted as a consultant, not a salesperson. Build Trust Through Transparency and Technical Authority Trust is the currency of the print industry, and you build it by being the person who INDUSTRY TIPS | THE ONLINE PRINT COACH 51 www.printmonthly.co.uk Issue 362 - September | October 2026
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