Truly A "Market of Owners" - Made for M & A Sharks...!

By Sid Chadwick, Chadwick Consulting, Inc. – 10/16/2025

Published in American Printer

“The data on Bankruptcy filings…is once again on the increase…many of the printing companies that file Chapter 7, resulting in the liquidation of the company.…apparently did not realize there are other options.”….The Target Report Annual Review - August 2025 M&A Activity

INTRODUCTION:

As our National and Regional Associations “look the other way”… other options, for growing your revenues – Do Exist….and it’s NOT an Equipment Trade Show…!

In our 13-Week Inside Sales Rep/CSR Training Class (soon to become 14-Weeks, we’ve learned that:

• Most of our brightest Students have never been introduced to the 30-Plus Concepts and Tools we introduce (and drill) - for developing Customers, Better Margins, and Renewing Neglected Customers – as we distribute their weekly reading assignments of Published Articles, Handouts, Homework Assignments, and follow-up focused, spirited Class Discussions (e.g., Why Differentiation, Researching Multiple Databases, Proper and Better Use of Samples, Winning More Quotes, Improving Value-Added through better Prospect Selection, Teambuilding Between Production & Sales, becoming a Better Listener, Preparing & Asking Better Questions of Customers, et al.)

• Our Students did not know of Harvard Business Review’s published research about how “Printed Content” is superior to digital content for learning to read, grasping content, and content retention….!

• Almost no one in their companies is using publicly available Databases for uncovering ‘Target Prospects – within 35 – 50 miles of their Plants.

• None of their employers are using multiple Customer Surveys, designed for uncovering different Opportunities - some designed to generate over $500,000 in annual new business revenues.

• Most of our Students’ employers DO NOT have self-promotion literature or Self-Promotion Programs - for introduction of their companies to target prospects. And those few that do have self-promotion materials, Students are hesitant to use – because their observation is – “It’s terribly out-of-date…!”

• And as a final anecdotal observation, most Outside Sales Reps receive minimal Supervision. (In today’s business environment, Outside Sales Reps don’t carry the risks of the company owner…!)

SUMMARY:

The lack of “Strategic Leadership” in our National Associations – is embarrassing. (The purpose of your local association should be so much more - than arranging golf tournaments for members…!)

Peter Drucker had it right…. but because our industry was a “rising tide that lifted all boats after WWII,” owners bought the lie that - “their net worth resided in the iron on their plant floor.”

The development of more efficient “Work-Flow Order-Entry Systems” have only worsened the pain. Now no one needs to talk to a customer – once they learn how to download their files…! (We Surveyed this issue for a client….he was shocked to learn that 80% of his customer respondents preferred to discuss their Projects with a knowledgeable supplier Rep…!)

Today, too many of our Commercial Printing companies know very little about what their customers: (a) are trying to accomplish, or (b) what they do for  revenue – for their customers.

“The purpose of a company is to create a customer…”…….Peter F. Drucker, Consultant, Author, Lecturer