Certification means we must complete two independent management planning sessions each year to keep our businesses strong.

First and foremost, your CPrint® business advisor comes to your shop and works with you to develop budgets, action plans and to assist you with personnel and competitive issues. Our business advisors are the heart of our program. Even when your business advisor is not on site, they are only a telephone or email away.

However, the second critical part of our program is that you are invited to join one of our many boards of directors we established among companies similar to yours. The board is comprised of up to seven other companies. Once you join a board, you continue to meet with this same board in the spring and fall at one of our performance centers in Jacksonville, Chicago, New Orleans or San Diego. As a result of this long term experience, deep bonds are formed among individual participants. Additionally, many other friendships develop as well as numerous individual boards meet at the same time at the same location.

The board of directors meeting is a mandatory part of a company remaining certified.

Directing your board meeting is another business owner – your Mentor. They are seniors in our program and have their own group that they are responsible to for their performance. Their role is to be the chairman of your board – they make the trains run on time PLUS their unique position and experience as a company owner and senior in our program is invaluable. Additionally, each board has its own assigned staff that meets whenever the board does. Board meetings begin with a Wednesday evening reception where we renew acquaintances. Thursday’s events are tied specifically to your board in your individual board room. The program here follows the format of a review of each company’s action plan and financial performance; followed by a presentation of each company’s current pressing issues. Advisors are there to help you with that.

Thursday evening we hold optional training sessions. Sometimes we have sessions on budgets, personnel or other matters – topics that are chosen based on the challenges faced by companies attending.

On Friday, and here’s where the real advantage of having our boards meet at the same time comes into play, we have Business Training Sessions. Sessions fall into three categories, soft skills, hard skills and technical skills.

Soft skills are people oriented and provide training in topics such as interviewing, leadership, keeping good workers, wage administration, employee evaluations and dealing with difficult employee situations. Soft skills also include developing customer relationships, sales skills and sales management. Hard skills are task oriented and include sessions on Finance, Budgeting, Budget Hour Rates, Justifying Equipment Purchases as well as labor law and personnel policies and procedures.

Technical skills are printing oriented and include topics on the latest technical innovation CPrint® is providing such as the SeePrint™ Driver that turns customers’ applications into editable pdf files; training resources including CPrint® University and outside trainers; web site implementation and ink and water balance issues such as color theory and more. Suffice it to say that Friday’s session is jam packed with directional information that keeps CPrint® affiliates ahead of the industry in both technical and management skills.

Friday afternoon is devoted to break out sessions where you work with another company in helping them develop their action plan and budget and then the roles reverse as you have someone assisting you in developing your plan and budget.

Friday night is always our gala where we present awards and honor participants – where else can you get a standing ovation for exceptional performance in running a printing business?

Saturday starts with “show and tell” where each participant presents ideas they found useful since the last meeting. Can’t begin to tell you how valuable this session is.

Then it is on to your commitment session. Each company brings back to the board their action plan and budget for the forthcoming six months for discussion and adoption. And we are complete no later than 4 pm as many hit the road to implement the decision they’ve made.

As John Reggio of Scottsdale, Arizona said, “There is no way you can go through this process without knowing what your issues are.” And knowing what they are; ending up with a plan of attack; and then doing something about them in a supportive and protected environment is what this component of the CPrint® program is all about.

If you’d like to learn more about our program, fill out our information request and we will be in contact with you shortly. I encourage you to do so.

“You can’t possibly go through a board meeting without clearly knowing what your challenges and opportunities are. It’s up to us to do something about them, of course. But you will unequivocally know.”
John Reggio, Benchmark Printing, Scottsdale, Arizona