Free White Paper Outlines Plan for C-Level Leadership To Realign and Refocus Entire Sales Management Process 

East Rutherford, N.J. (September 15, 2011)—As commercial print firms deal with a shifting marketplace, thinner margins, and a new breed of client, the need to remake the sales function takes on priority status. The change is so important that it can only be driven from the top by a CEO who will step up to the role and responsibility of the Chief Sales Officer (CSO). “How CEOs Can Transform the Sales Process,” a new free white paper from the National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL), maps out the strategy and tactics a CEO must take to successfully perform as the company’s CSO.

“The role of CSO is gaining traction in other markets, and the time is right for the printing industry to consider adopting this high-level position to deal with the critical issue of sales transformation,” notes Mike Philie, Vice President and Senior Consultant, NAPL Business Advisory Team, who authored the guide. He draws on 28 years of experience in the printing industry, executive leadership, and national sales management to advise clients on customer strategy, business growth, and organizational leadership. His results-oriented recommendations have helped many organizations make a successful transition to a CSO-driven sales strategy.

“The printing industry today is unrecognizable compared to what it was a decade ago,” says Philie. “We continue to hear about the need to change our sales approach and broaden our products and services, but companies struggle to understand what the new business model should look like and how it will be profitable. With the ideas and information outlined in this guide, the CSO can bring focus and direction to the sales team and transform the old selling model into one that is fully prepared for today’s marketplace.”

Making sales a process is a central idea of the guide, which encourages the CEO/CSO to look at sales as a series of steps that can be defined, optimized, and repeated. It outlines the key areas in which data should be gathered in order to frame a plan for the future, and explains the actions needed to enable sales professionals to focus on prospecting and business development, price into new markets, and shift accountability from tracking activities to guiding a process.

The new guide, “How CEOs Can Transform the Sales Process,” is available free from the National Association for Printing Leadership at http://naplceosaleswhitepaper.com/. For information on NAPL membership, contact Director of Membership Kristen Hartman at (678) 594-0048 or khartman@napl.org.