Sales Graphics Blog

Inc. Magazine today ranked Sales Graphics Corp. on its annual ranking of the 5000 fastest-growing private companies in the country for the second year in a row. The list is the most comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economy – America’s independent-minded entrepreneurs. Taken as a whole, these companies represent the backbone of the U.S. economy.

Sales Graphics is proud to be among this elite list of exciting and future-thinking companies. Unlike most of them, however, Sales Graphics is not a new start-up, but a 50-year old company with a long history of providing innovative presentation solutions and industry-leading customer support and service. With a history of successful projects and satisfied customers, Sales Graphics recognizes that successful growth only comes from providing the best products and services possible to our clients and we look forward to another year of growth, innovation and satisfied clients.

In this year’s difficult economy, making the Inc. 5000 List is especially meaningful. In a time of cutbacks and layoffs, Sales Graphics’ growth is a testament to the importance and effectiveness of its software and services. As companies look for new ways to be more efficient and more effective in their sales and marketing, Sales Graphics is the partner they look to for help.

In this week’s Cover Story, BusinessWeek makes a strong case for the need to innovate during a recession. “Managing Through a Crisis” discusses many of the managerial challenges of getting through hard economic times. What’s interesting about the article is how looking at previous recessions shows that, for companies that can take advantage of lower prices and reduced competition, economic hard times can be great growth opportunities.

“You should be thinking of innovative ways to become more efficient, to improve your processes and think out of the box in those realms so that when the recession is over you are thinking out of the box and you’re prepared to innovate in other ways.”

According to Interbrand and BusinessWeek Magazine, during a recession brands need to spend harder to “not get distracted from their long-term brand-building efforts” or”to get a leg up on weakened rivals.” However, the most important piece of advice from BusinessWeek’s annual “Best Global Brands” article came from Martin Puris, the creator of BMW’s “The Ultimate Driving Machine” campaign. “In good times, people are less apt to try new things. In bad times, they have to start to do things better.”

In their 2008 edition of “Economics of Basic Cable Networks,” SNL Kagan predicts strong growth in licensing fees and steady growth in ad sales, according to MarketingCharts.com. While the reports warns of “extremely volatile ad markets,” they see all of the major indicators increasing in the next year. Those indicators include subscriber, ad revenue, total revenue, cash flow and cash flow margins.

Advertising Age has more insight into marketing strategies during a recession and has some great tips on what to do when the economy turns sour:

Recesssions are scary to think about and can have disastrous effects on consumers and businesses that aren’t prepared. But for marketers, recessions and eceonomic slowdowns can often be periods of great opportunity. Advertising Age has been a frequent proponent of the opportunities that recessions can provide to marketers looking to gain market share, enter new markets or reach new customers, and they’re saying it again. (“Innovate in a Recession? Yes“) Gains made during recessions are cheaper that those during boom years, and when the market swings back (and it always does), those small gains can turn in to big advantages. The key point of the article is “companies that spent more on innovation during the downturn saw return on capital employed rise 23.8% during the recovery, compared with 0.6% for those that slashed spending.“

Every time the economy turns towards recession, the same questions come up. As marketers, do we cut back and save money until the economy turns around? Or do we look at this as an opportunity to invest and get ahead? Advertising Age certainly thinks the latter. (“Your Job for ’08? Forget the Recession and Innovate“) We whole-heartedly agree with this. When the economy softens, that’s often the best time to invest in marketing tools and outlets that will let you gain market share and mind share at a lower cost that during a boom. And when the economy picks up again, even a small increase in market share can transform into a significant advantage. Sales Graphics’ DesignStudio and CustomShow software are exactly the kinds of investments that can make a difference for an ad sales team looking to get a competitive advantage and gain share at the expense of the competition.