INKISH.NEWS -

By Christel Meinhardt & Editor Morten B. Reitoft

My name is Christel Meinhardt. I work at Liga Sign & Wrapping, which is a signage company. I'm responsible for sales, but I also help with the administration.

Morten B. Reitoft: What challenges you the most working in the graphics arts industry?

Christel Meinhardt: At the moment, the challenges are prices increasing and delivery issues from our suppliers. We can't get qualified colleagues who are well educated and experienced in the sign industry. The schools that educate the students are at another level. The education matches what was being done in the industry somewhere between 15-25 years ago. They don't know how to use equipment, and the tools used today are foreign to them and so many other things.

Morten B. Reitoft: The way I see you, you are a very active woman, active in BNI, active as a volunteer, and generally recognized in the printing industry. Why is networking important, and how do you use it in your position within sales?

Christel Meinhardt: Throughout my entire career, networking has been crucial. Networking is vital to increase sales or keep a good knowledge of suppliers, colleagues, materials, machines, or general knowledge!

I am a very outgoing person, and I love to help people. If I can share my knowledge, even if it's with a competitor, I will! I believe that we can always learn something new, which I have repeatedly proven to me.

I am also a member of BNI, which helps me get new customers. As a person, I learn a lot on different topics and get help from other BNI members contacting potential customers.

I run a business network called 'Netværks Ligaen,' with knowledge-sharing and potential business. As a volunteer, I have practiced helping people in need and being part of the well-known association 'Life of sports in Denmark,' both within Badminton and Football (soccer) as a coach and team leader, which gives me a lot on the human part.

Morten B. Reitoft: You have worked on 'both sides of the fence" - what do you like the most? Or if you won't answer that, maybe you can talk about the differences?

Christel Meinhard: It's no secret that I have a weakness for the part of selling equipment and supplies. However, working in a sign company is very interesting now to see what can be done or produced with the equipment and so forth. Also, going from selling to sign, print, and in-plants to selling to end-users has been a great learning curve. If I ever go back to selling equipment or services to sign, print, and in-plants, this will be helpful, as I understand the customers' needs and can help inspire.

But I found a very good person in Tina Standager Hansen, who owns Liga Sign & Wrapping. We have a great understanding and are alike, making daily great. That is just so important!

Morten B. Reitoft: At the exhibitions, I've met you as a very creative person, very good at utilizing print technologies - do you find it easy to convince customers to try new things?

Christel Meinhardt: I love being part of the creative part of exhibitions. I have a lot of ideas, and putting some of them into the actual exhibition is great.

Talking to customers has always been important. Listening to their present work situation and trying to inspire them is fun. But maybe not inspire them by talking about the equipment first, but about the end-users final application. From there, tell them how to get to the final application with the equipment I offer.

I don't think you should convince a customer at an exhibition, but hopefully, inspire and book a meeting for a follow-up and even arrange a product presentation!

Equipment sold at an exhibition often starts weeks before and is just confirmed at the exhibition.

Morten B. Reitoft: In sales - how tough is the daily competition - and is it always the price that ends up being the most important KPI?

Christel Meinhardt: Looking at the signage business, there is literally a company in almost every town and some towns more than one. Some colleagues are better than others. Some are specialized in car-wrapping, light signs, posters, etc. Then the difference in what materials you choose. Is the product a cheap Chinese product or a well-produced product from a recognized supplier?

We have chosen to use Avery products mainly and is also certified Avery user, which makes us trained with the products, and we can give guarantees that not all can provide.

We also recognize that we are not the cheapest company in our field, but we are very focused on making a quality product for the customer. We won't compromise the quality.

Morten B. Reitoft: How important do you find your experience with both sales, technology, and substrates when you engage with customers?

Christel Meinhardt: It has always been essential to understand the customers' needs and not just push a sale. I'm a woman in a man's world, which some find challenging. But I have been surprisingly well accepted by all customers and colleagues. One of the reasons might be that I'm curious and have always been looking at the technicians over the shoulder and asking all kinds of questions.

So for me, a combination of knowledge about the equipment, substrates, and sale, and, of course, the actual applications that the customer wants is important.

Morten B. Reitoft: And - where do you find your inspiration when engaging with customers? Do you get to trade shows, to local vendors have show-rooms, do you use media, or how do you keep yourself up-to-date?

Christel Meinhardt: The inspiration comes from visiting customers and listening to them. Further, Google is a" good friend" when searching for solutions for customers. I have unfortunately only visited exhibitions in Denmark, once in the Netherlands and once in Sweden. In the Netherlands, there was a lot of inspiration, but Sweden wasn't different from Denmark. Some vendors are good at displaying equipment and applications, but not all of them. I participate in some groups on Facebook and Linkedin, and I have successfully connected to colleagues in the US who share great ideas.

Morten B. Reitoft: Large format, signage, car-wrapping seems to be a segment in the printing industry that will grow 'forever' - where do you see the biggest challenges working in a local shop?

Christel Meinhardt: Funny enough, we have only seen an increase in sales during the period of Corona. Still, it's, of course, vital that we keep in touch with our current customers and through our business network get in contact with potential new customers. As a local shop, we also have to focus on the end product and ensure that we keep up the quality and our reputation at the same time.

Morten B. Reitoft: I noticed on your website that the company is almost only women - what advantages/disadvantages does this give you?

Christel Meinhardt: Yes, we are an all-women company at the moment. I feared this when starting at Liga Sign & Wrapping because women can often be full of discussions, comments, and mean. However, this is not my experience here. We actually talked about it not long ago and agreed maybe we are all" boyish." We are not afraid of using our muscles, getting dirty, and the tone is much like men working at a garage. We have a lot of fun and still find time to eat our lunch together, and it's very cozy as well. Last but not least, we all love eating cookies, so we have common ground on many things.

-- Other articles in Series --
Christel Meinhardt · Patrik Knutsson · Bent Brix · Heidi Thompson · Rob Ens · Zoltan Kanovits

Feb 04, 2022

Author: Christel Meinhardt & Morten B. Reitoft