Tailormade Launches Educational Series for 2011

Tailormade Printing, Aurora, Mo., announced its 2011 Tailormade University Series. This launches the second year of the program designed to help promotional product distributors uncover opportunities and remove the mystery behind selling printing.

"We developed the program last year as it was apparent to us that for many distributors, the idea of selling printing was complicated and unclear," said Melissa Cole, vice president of sales and marketing for Tailormade Printing. "The purpose of the program is to remove that fear and give our distributors the tools and confidence they need to succeed in adding printing to their service offerings."

Tailormade University is a free program offered online. The series has grown from five to six weekly sessions and covers a variety of topics including printing 101, paper stocks and coatings, selling around online printers, green printing options, product optimization, selling custom calendars and direct mail.

"Printing is a $90 billion industry in the U.S., and there is a lot of opportunity for promotional product distributors to grow by adding printing services," commented Cole. "Printing is a natural fit with promotional products, and serves to grow and enhance distributor's relationship with their customers."

"We had 173 students participate in the program in the spring of 2010. In order to allow for more flexibility, we've reformatted the program to be on a rolling schedule. Now students may opt in at any time throughout the year," commented Rebecca Ball, marketing director for Tailormade Printing.

In addition to reformatting the program, Tailormade University now features weekly mini-quizzes, brief homework assignments and coaching from a dedicated mentor.

"Our mentors are the students' greatest resource throughout the program. The mission of each of our mentors is to understand what the distributor hopes to accomplish with the program, their goals and learn as much about their business as possible. This allows us to brainstorm ideas with them and provide real value," said Cole.