When you’re ready to work with a new commercial printing company, you’ll be talking directly (at first) with either a sales rep or the company owner (which is pretty common when working with a small printing firm). Following are three pieces of advice I’d give to new customers in this situation.

1. If you’re working with a sales rep, once your work’s in production, you’ll be dealing mostly with a CSR (Customer Service Rep). This is typical but not always the case. Rule of thumb: the bigger the company, the more likely it is you’ll be assigned a CSR. Often, he or she will be your main point person with that company, especially when work is being produced. At other times, you’ll continue to work directly with your sales rep.

So: ask your new printer who will be your main contact, and for what, exactly. Get names, emails and phone numbers and make sure you understand who’s handling what for your company.

2. Good, reliable communication is going to be vital to you, as a new print customer. This is true of all customers, BTW. We want to be, need to be, kept “in the know” when a job is in production. We’re at the mercy of the printer/sales rep/CSR to keep us informed. Don’t be reactive or passive about this – be proactive and chat about it from the get-go.

First, decide what you need to know and when you want to be updated by your printer. Presumably your delivery deadline has been OK’d by the printer (or why would you give them your job..duh). So the next logical step is getting your proof. Ask when you can expect to get your proof, how it will arrive (on your computer or is it a hard-copy proof?), how fast you have to approve it and turn it around, in order to keep your delivery date intact. If your job has to go from the printer’s to somewhere else – say, a mail house or fulfillment center or a finisher’s or wherever – you want to know ahead of time when this will probably happen, and you want to be told when it is happening. To me, that’s piece of mind. To some of you, you may think it’s TMI.

So: have a discussion early on with your new printer about when you expect to hear from him or her about major stages in the production of your project. Might as well express your preference for how you want to be reached, too. Email? Phone? While you’re at it, talk about what other details or issues require a conversation or heads-up. What’s typical? A production delay that might jeopardize your schedule, a problem with paper that might jeopardize your job, unexpected delivery issues, and the not-so-common news that your job’s shipped early. Yippee!!

3. As a new customer for this printer, you have no history with them (and vice versa). I’d be especially vigilant. Whether your company is large or small, and your first job with them is simple or complex, you want to know your job matters. How much clout does your rep have in the company? Will he or she make sure things go as planned and that your job doesn’t get bumped or fall through any cracks? By the time you’ve selected this new printer, you’ll have done whatever background checks/due diligence you do, presumably. You’ll have seen samples, talked with current customers, and maybe toured the facility. How assertive is your rep, and are you comfortable that he or she can get the job produced and delivered successfully?

So: now is not the time to be mousy and meek. Have an honest conversation with your new rep. Let him or her know how important this first job is to you, and that, if all goes well, you’ll likely develop a strong, long-term relationship with the company. Find out how much seniority your rep has and let him or her know your concerns. Don’t be passive; be assertive.

This is one of those tip-of-the-iceberg Print Tips. There’s so much more advice I’d give when you’re working with a new print provider, but honestly? These three things are key and will get you started. They will help you define and manage your expectations.