Print customers in business settings are always eager to share with me what they want from their printer partners – not in regards to the holiday season, but all year long.

Their wish list includes things that range from enhanced customer service to a deeper understanding of certain technologies and manufacturing processes. As the year nears its close, I’ve put together this list of the Top 5:

1. A better understanding of personalization applications and options available to them. Help your customers appreciate how easy variable data printing can be. What should they know about putting together the right types of data to be used in campaigns? Can you help? I’m being facetious. Of course you can.

2. Educational information throughout the year. This can be done in so many ways: seminars, lunch-n-learns (or breakfast meetings), after-work events, webinars, videos, valuable blogs or enewsletters. So many options. Pick one or two. Just do it.

3. Insights into new printing technologies and applications. Most print customers do not attend print industry events, and they’re not particularly proactive in learning about the latest manufacturing capabilities from industry web sites. It’s up to you to tell them what’s new.

4. Recommendations about how to make their print materials more effective. Give them ideas that will improve their jobs. Is it the process, the format, the substrate, the design – or literally the whole approach that needs to be rethought? What would you have them do differently so that the results are better? Do you even know what results they expect? I’m pretty sure once you know, you’ll have suggestions for improvement.

5. A relationship built on honesty, professionalism, and trust. Print customers want a lasting relationship with a printing company. It’s too much work and definitely too stressful to replace printers. If your capabilities and price points are both good matches for a customer, the rest is up to you. The people in your company who serve your customers are crucial in the world of print buying. Customers need to trust you. You need to be responsive. Qualities like integrity and honesty come up a lot in conversations with buyers. Without them, you’re doomed.

If you’re a printer, why not tackle any or all of these as your New Year’s resolution? They’ll help strengthen customer relationships, which leads to more business and more referrals.