Three Things to Stop Doing in 2020

We all have bad habits. Sometimes they start as a quick fix to an immediate need, and sometimes they evolve out of processes built to serve products and equipment that is no longer part of the business. Over time, they become ingrained in the fabric of how work is sold and how jobs flow through the business. Every one of those habits costs the business money. It might be a little. It might be a lot. But it is costing money.

As you approach 2020, this is a great time to find those habits and banish them to the past. Here are three things you should stop doing today for a healthier and more profitable 2020:

1. Stop accepting jobs that lack complete specifications, including substrate, finishing, and delivery requirements.
2. Stop using freeware and apps downloaded from the internet in your core business processes.
3. Stop letting sales team members dictate discounts.

Here is why.

Don’t Accept Jobs with Incomplete Specifications

In 2020, every job that you accept without complete specifications means that someone must chase down the details, confirm inventory availability, and verify finishing requirements. No matter what the estimation and quote say, there is still a need to verify every aspect of the job before it enters production. When that doesn’t happen, the risk to the job is high. Incorrect substrates, wrong trim, database mismatch for variable-data work, and even incorrect mailing dates all impact the final margin on the job. You may find that jobs that showed a healthy margin during the estimation and quoting stage end up with a loss when the job details are tracked.

If you remember nothing else, remember that jobs that come into the shop without complete specifications cost money and bankrupt the anticipated margin.

Banish Freeware

In 2020, make a point to find every instance of freeware, including free fonts, and banish them from your server. Remember that freeware is worth what you pay for it. No matter what problem it was meant to solve, the risks of freeware are too high for any commercial or transactional environment. If the software is performing well and continues to meet a need, look for the PRO version and pay for it. Ensure that you have a path to support if something goes awry. And always review the license agreement, especially for fonts. Many of the free fonts are not licensed for commercial use, which means that they aren’t meant for print-for-pay environments. Do the risk mitigation and ensure that all your software is licensed and up-to-date as you start the new year.

Don’t Let the Sales Team Dictate Discounts

In 2020, review your processes around discounting. During reviews and assessments in a variety of transactional, print and mail, direct mail, and pure commercial shops, an interesting commonality emerged in 2019. Most shops allow the sales team members to intercept the invoicing and apply discounts. There may be many reasons, from a delay in job execution to a sense that the customer expects a discount. Regardless of the reasons given, no discount should be applied to a job without a review. It might come from sales management or business management, but it should take more than one person to approve a discount on any billable work. Take the time to ensure that discounts aren’t being applied without review and set up clear processes for when a discount is warranted. Every discount has a material impact on the final profitability of the work, so take the time to be in control.

These are the top three bad habits to break in 2020. Tell me what you will stop doing in 2020! Send them to me at [email protected].