Margie Dana

What 3 Perceptive Print Buyers Said About Printers

Just listen.

When I listen to print buyers* talk about printers, it’s hard for me not to jump out of my chair, screaming, “My God, why isn’t every printer listening to you?”

From time to time I’m involved in buyer events. Most recently, these events have been offered by Printing Impressions and sponsored by Canon U.S.A. So far, they’ve all involved highly experienced businesspeople who are responsible for sourcing print – no novices, no millennials, no recent college grads.

While three buyers may not agree with one another on every question, there are definite trends that you can identify if you’re paying attention.

The buyer intelligence I pick up from these conversations is important to the print industry. Here are a few insights from just one webinar:

Highly experienced print buyers view their printers as partners. They don’t want to switch, or find new suppliers, unless they have to.

Sometimes printers are judged more by the way they recover when they fall – how quickly, and how well.

The biggest mistake a print rep can make when calling on a new prospect is not doing any research. The reps whose MO is talking all (and only) about their company won’t get anywhere. Ask, “What do you need?” Listen.

Print customers want their print partners to suggest new ideas. Many depend on this. You have to want to help your print customers succeed.

Many print customers, in companies large and small, prefer to work with local or regional printers. This is particularly true when press OKs are an issue. The highly experienced print customer enjoys going to the printer.

More and more printers are responsible for data security. Think about insurance companies, health care, and financial services. This will involve having a signed agreement and large liability clause with a printer. And printers can expect a thorough due diligence process.

Many experienced print customers don’t care what output device a printer uses, but many do. They like to know how a job will run.

Color matching is an issue with print customers. Anyone surprised?

Print customers are curious about AR technology but really interested in getting into NFC.

Interesting, right? The buyers all spoke the truth that day. And believe you me, it all rings true.

How can you use this information to improve your business development?

*Any business professional in charge of working with commercial printers, including the sourcing of print. This is typically a print buyer, a designer, a marketer, or a procurement executive.

What the Average Print Customer Wants

What do print customers really want?

A print company owner emailed me to ask the simple question: what does the average print buyer really look for in a printer today?

Giving a simple answer to a tricky question is a challenge that I accepted. I put aside all thoughts of specific technologies and capabilities. Here’s what I came up with:

Honesty & integrity

These are by far the most important qualities a customer looks for in a printing company. If a printer proves to be otherwise, there are no second chances, and the bad reputation will spread like poison ivy to the customer’s colleagues and acquaintances.

Creative ideas

Seasoned print customers in particular prefer printers who make suggestions on ways to improve and enhance their materials. It’s one real way by which a printer can stand out in a sea of other printers. Novice print customers won’t necessarily recognize this quality from the outset. However, I strongly believe it’s a way to differentiate your print company.

Speed

Print and deliver it fast. That’s a given for every customer – corporate and consumer. We have Amazon to thank for that. Your customers will look to see how fast you can deliver their products. It’s critical.

Very good quality

It’s the most obvious ‘must-have.’ Whatever it is they’re buying from you, buyers expect excellent quality.

Expectations met

Even if customers never articulate their specific (and unique) expectations, they’ll presume you’ll put their jobs in production right away unless they hear otherwise. They’ll presume a lot, in fact: that you’ll keep them informed of problems. That you’ll tell them in advance when to expect proofs, plus how the proofs will come to them and what to do with them. They’ll presume, too, that the work will be delivered when you agreed to do so, and that the quality will be as good if not better than they hoped. In a nutshell? No surprises. That says it all.

Great communication

See above. All print customers expect their printers to keep them informed of what matters to them — when their proof’s coming, the delivery schedule, potential price changes, and so on.

Fair pricing

Customers shop for printers, and price is part of the equation. Hopefully, people shopping for the best printer know how to select similar companies so they can get comparable prices. This is not always the case, particularly with novices who think a printer is a printer.

Respect

Whatever the service is that people pay for, they want respect from the provider. This includes printers. It’s the whole package: how you speak to them and treat them, how you handle problems that arise, how fair or balanced the business relationship is, how seriously you take their concerns, and how quickly you respond.

Put these expectations together and you get a package that spells professionalism. It can’t be much simpler than that.

The One Time a Direct Mailer Let Me Down

The conference postcards we’d produced to attract attendance that year meant everything to us.

They were expensive to print and more expensive to mail. This was before social media took hold. We counted on direct mail plus email marketing to promote our event.

I presumed my mail person at the printer’s knew her stuff in ways that would not only keep my postage costs down, but also get the thousands of pieces delivered fast.

On this postcard, we offered an Early Bird rate for the conference. The deadline for this discount was approaching. We mailed the postcards First Class Presort.

What happened when the postcards were dropped into the mail stream? They went nowhere fast. We’d seeded our list as always. I remember sweating it out, frustrated for days, stretching into weeks, when we didn’t receive our postcards.

I had to dig to find out where the hold-up was. Someone at the USPS told me that because of the way the cards had been mailed, the post office had X number of days to get them in the mail stream. It was too close for comfort and caused us tremendous stress.

Direct mail campaigns require a subject matter expert – someone who knows the USPS regulations cold, or at least knows enough to find out key information for the customer.

We customers assume the pieces will be delivered with no undue delays, unless, of course, we’re aware of what’s allowable by the USPS. I think this is a reasonable expectation.

When that mailing issue surfaced, I felt blindsided. I didn’t get the advice I needed.

Today, I’m fortunate to know mailing experts like Christine J. Erna, Senior Postal Solutions Architect for Novitex Enterprise Solutions. I asked her how customers can better ensure that their direct mail provider is covering all the bases.

First, she pointed out certain sections on the USPS web site, like the one detailing the USPS Service Standards in 2015. Updated quarterly, these are officially defined as “A stated goal for service achievement for each mail class.” She also shared a link that allows you to enter the zip code of origin and the class of mail. It will show you a map of the service standards based upon these elements. Check it out.

Christine taught me more about “Intelligent Mail. “The USPS has worked hard to gain visibility of all of the mail in their operations. With the advent of the Intelligent Mail Barcode and Full Service Intelligent Mail, you can actually see the scan data of the intelligent mail barcode on your individual mailpieces, and for customers that present their mail as Full Service Intelligent Mail, this data is FREE. Full Service Intelligent mail requires the mail preparer to create a unique serial number for each mailpiece and upload an electronic data transmission of their mailing utilizing a mail.dat file. Industry software generates this and enables the visibility of mailpieces while they’re being scanned throughout the USPS network of mailing equipment.”

Finally, she suggested we ask our service partner questions like these:

Are you a Full-Service Intelligent Mail preparer?
Do you offer IMb Tracing Service with reporting?
Where do you present the mail to the US Postal Service?

What else can customers do? Contact the USPS Mailpiece Design Help Desk. They can review your mailpiece and explain the service standards early in the process. Here’s that number: 1-. Or email them at .

In today’s mailing environment, wrote Christine, you should never have to wonder where your mail is.

You Had Me at NJ

Don’t underestimate the power of commonalities when meeting potential customers. They may be cultural, biographical, professional, or even related to lifestyle.

We humans let people come a bit closer when we find out we share something of vital importance. For me, it’s as banal as the state of NJ, which I still call home despite a move to New England over 30 years ago.

It’s pretty easy to determine if you and a prospect have such an unrealized bond. Go to LinkedIn and Facebook. Maybe information on the prospect’s website will bear fruit.

And as a sales rep, it’s crucial that your online presence reveals some personal facts. Your LinkedIn profile must be highly developed and kept current. Prospects will check you out – where you’ve worked, where you went to school, and so forth.

Printers need interesting bios on their web sites. We welcome the peek into individual personalities. It helps differentiate you. If you have too large a staff to include everyone, at least post bios for management, sales, and service reps. Add photos and a just a little bit of copy (one small paragraph) that hints at what the person is all about.

Until the day comes when all business transactions are done over the Internet, printing is still personal. Relationships are formed between people, primarily the sales rep and print customer.

And when I meet someone, including a salesperson, with whom I share something meaningful, I’m all ears. Often, NJ is the tie that binds.

Yes, We Have No Bananas

I read an interesting article in the Boston Globe recently, about how high school seniors reject prospective colleges and universities for the most random of reasons. It often happens when they’re taking a tour of a place they’re considering.

It told the story of a student visiting Oberlin College in Ohio. He found out on his tour of Oberlin that the college was committed to locally sourced food – which meant no bananas in the dining halls. Said the senior to his mother, “That could be a deal breaker. I mean, four years without bananas? That’s a lot.” (Oberlin does offer a limited number of fair-trade bananas, BTW.)

Another student, mid-air on a flight from the East coast to the West to see a California university, decided then and up there that it was too far from home.

Teens aren’t the only picky people. We’re all persnickety about certain things, and it shows up with print buyers, too. I’m thinking of one circumstance in particular: the new plant tour.

Every buyer is on the lookout for something specific when she or he tours a facility to check out a potential print partner. As the printer, you don’t really know what someone’s looking for, or what might cause a prospect to give you a “thumbs down.”

At one point I asked my buyer community to share what they look for on plant tours. A few unusual things stood out, which printers might not necessarily be aware of: clean bathrooms, no offensive (i.e., girlie) posters or calendars, and an indication that there’s real camaraderie between production and sales.

I also recall a buyer telling me that one time she traveled out of state to check out a potential printer. When she saw that there was barbed wire fence surrounding the plant, she knew she wouldn’t work with that company. That wasn’t a case of being fussy; she said she wouldn’t feel safe if she had to do evening press OKs there. If I were that printer, I’d make a point of telling prospects how much personal attention they get when on press checks, in ways that would reassure people who might hesitate at working in major cities.

Who knows why someone decides they can’t work with you? There might be some reasons that you have to chalk up to personal quirkiness, but there are others that you can deal with now, before the next potential buyer comes to call. Like making sure the ladies’ room is clean, and asking someone from management to stop by to greet your guest. Dotting your i’s and crossing your t’s will present your company in its best light.

Try looking at your facility through the eyes of a potential customer. What’s in plain view that might give someone pause? What’s missing – like those bananas at Oberlin – that a top prospect is keenly searching for?

Should You Judge a Printing Company by Your Sales Rep? Yes…and No.

Print reps. I’ve met all kinds. The young and ambitious. The old and crabby. The new and clueless. The seasoned and condescending. The energized and creative. The wise and giving. And yeah, every type in between.

Generally speaking, the print rep is the one person from the company who’s in front of the print buyer (or designer, or marketer). And it’s because of this simple fact that we customers tend to judge the company based on the salesperson.

Fair? Maybe not, but it’s only human and only natural. When I thought about it for a minute, a few things came to mind:

Your sales rep should be well acquainted with every product and service his or her company offers. We assume this to be true. But if that rep isn’t comfortable with, say, multichannel marketing or personalized printing, and the company offers both – well, you’re left in the dark about these services that you might be in the market for. The printer’s losing out on selling you these services. And maybe you’ll look elsewhere. What a shame.
If a printing company prides itself on being forward-facing, informed about all kinds of media channels, and a consultative printer (not one that sells print as a commodity), your sales rep should reflect this in what he or she says and does.
Printing firms have unique personalities, and in my experience they are truly distinct. Their sales reps should mirror this, but often they do not.

I’ve never been in sales and therefore have never hired, trained or managed sales reps. How many sales teams are put through a standardized training program, I wonder? How many sales managers stress to their reps, especially new ones, how heavy this customer responsibility is?

This is important stuff because of the stiff competition within the industry – and outside of it. There are commercial printers aplenty to work with, and a disgruntled customer who has a beef with her or his sales rep is more likely to switch printers than go around (or above) the rep to fix the problem.

Bottom line? Sales managers have a responsibility to make sure their reps are prepared and informed. Sales reps have a responsibility to know what can be done by their company, and what can’t. And customers have a responsibility to find out from their reps or from someone else at the company what products and services they offer. Speak up. Ask questions. Go above your rep if you love what a company produces but are having an issue with your salesperson.

It’s a heavy burden, being a sales rep and representing an entire company. Sometimes customers need to look beyond your rep.

How to Make Your Print Partner a Friend for Life

If you’re new to working with commercial printers, here’s some advice for developing these relationships in ways that will benefit you and your printers. Finding a printer you can count on and work with for the long term should be your objective, whether you’re a professional working on behalf of an employer or a consumer needing stuff printed occasionally.

Be open-minded. Sure, you have a good idea of what you want printed, but most printers are experienced. They have alternatives you should at least listen to. This could mean a different format, different run length, different paper stock, different use of inks, or different finishing technique. Don’t be pig headed about your project. Listen to a printer’s suggestions.
Be honest about your priorities. For some customers, a speedy delivery is what really matters. For you, it may be the highest print quality you can afford, or creative input, or cost-saving suggestions, or pleasing your very picky boss. Tell your printer what you care about the most.
Don’t play cat-and-mouse games. Be as forthcoming as you can about your budget and your schedule requirements. Negotiating with printers isn’t a game of Go Fish, so while I urge you to be prudent about how much you share, neither should you be so coy as to create a relationship based on mistrust and secrecy.
Give good and complete specs for every job. Each print job is customized manufacturing. This means every detail affects the price and could impact the success of your job. Ask printers for a sample spec sheet to guide you if you’re new at writing specs.
Find out what your responsibilities are. Once you award a print job to a provider, make sure you know what you do vs. what the printer does. Here’s one tip: proofreading is your job.
Treat your printer with respect. You want to be respected – who doesn’t? As you work with a printer over time, you may experience challenging situations that test your patience and threaten to blow up the partnership. Develop some sensitivity towards your service professionals, and you’ll be treated in kind. Should someone not be worthy, you’ll find out quickly, and you’ll move on.
Say thanks. Make it a part of your business transactions. Do it in person, on the phone, in an email or even a letter (remember these?). You like it when people appreciate your efforts, so reciprocate with your print partners.
Communicate well. Don’t miss deadlines you’ve set up without giving your printer a heads up, for example. Share spec changes promptly and in writing. Of course your printer should do the same.
Pay your bills promptly. If this is out of your hands, try and connect with your accounting or purchasing department, when possible, to encourage swift payment. As an independent businesswoman, I can tell you that clients who pay me promptly are my “A Team.” I jump through hoops faster and higher for them.
Share the love. When you find yourself working with a worthy and valuable print provider who makes you look like a genius and delivers beyond your wildest dreams, tell colleagues and peers. Go to LinkedIn and write a recommendation. And of course, tell your superiors.

That, my friends, is a recipe for earning the highest regard from your print providers. Let these tips guide your relationships with printers in the New Year. Enter each new relationship expecting the best outcome. Just remember to do your fair share of making that happen.

Printers: People Who Know People

If I worked for a printing company (I never have), there’s no way on God’s green earth I’d be selling just “ink on paper.” Every printer can print.

Increasingly, printers have to define their services in new and creative ways. The truth is, most commercial printers have always done creative and magical work, and they’ve helped their customers design and produce materials that win awards and make lasting impressions. It’s just that they never quite found the right terminology to position themselves. Now, they have to.

As time passes, it gets harder and harder to tell commercial printers apart. Professional print buyers and designers know how important it is to choose printers who have similar capabilities. When considering new print partners, they consult with peers. They interpret equipment lists. They interview printers and try to find out what a company’s really all about. They read between the lines and do their own sort of background check. It’s a wonderful skill set that takes years to hone.

Without these skills, it’s tough to distinguish between printers, for so very many of them are so very alike.

There’s one perk that a lot of printing companies offer but very few promote: access to other professionals. Printers are social networkers of the best kind. They spend time with lots of creatives. Let’s face it: they get around.

I’ve lost track of all of the introductions that printers have made for me in my career, but there have been dozens. Whether or not a sales rep makes a dime off of this “social largesse,” he or she is deepening the customer relationship every time an introduction is made.

Here are just some of the connections printers have in the creative community:

Graphic designers
Videographers
Web site designers
Photographers
AV firms
Direct mail experts
Promotional items specialists
Marketing consultants
Mail houses
Finishers
Writers

If I sold print, I’d be this kind of salesperson – someone who’s known for my generosity of spirit and willingness to help clients out, no matter what they needed.

That’s part of what I would “sell.” My resourcefulness. My eagerness to help customers. My broad network.

If you’re a print customer, you probably get this benefit from your best printers. Isn’t it a valuable benefit?

This is not to suggest that customers should take advantage of printers’ connections, but it’s something no one really talks about. So I am. Here’s to printers who help their customers find the right creative when the need is there.

If you’re a printer, encourage your sales reps to be resourceful in this way. If you’re a customer who’s lucky enough to work with such printers, take a minute to thank them and tell your colleagues.

When a Rep Leaves – What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted Customer?

Despite all the talk about the lack of loyalty among print customers, I know for a fact that many customers are totally attached to certain sales reps and CSRs (Customer Service Reps).

This translates into customer loyalty. When a customer and rep have teamed up for a long time, a strong bond forms. The relationship become quite meaningful. The rep has extreme value for the customer. Does management even know?

Whether people in this service role are called sales reps, CSRs or Account Managers, here are some key reasons why a bond forms with certain customers:

– The rep knows the customer’s preferences and idiosyncrasies.

– The rep has the customer’s best interest in mind.

– The rep offers suggestions to help projects or prevent problems.

– The rep takes care of zillions of details behind the scenes, inside the plant.

– The rep’s become a trusted and respected ally, on whom the customer depends.

When a rep has our back, there’s no better reason to stick with a printer.

These relationships are often the main reason why customers will recommend you to others.

Management shouldn’t wait till a crisis occurs (i.e., the rep skedaddles). If the bond is that strong between customer and rep, you need to get involved – appropriately, occasionally – so customers get to know other people in the company. Then the relationship a customer has with your company won’t be tied to a certain person.

Yes, customers get attached to their reps. It’s strictly professional and altogether human.

So what do you do, as a print company CEO or sales manager, when a beloved rep leaves the company? Maybe the customer knows about it, but maybe not.

The best advice I can give you is this: call customers (particularly if you know there are long-term relationships at stake) and talk about it. Share with them whatever information you can. Let them know how you’re going to handle their account in light of the departed rep. Tell them who their new rep will be and what he or she brings to the table. And then….listen.

Let them tell you how they feel. Reassure them that their business is valuable to you. Ask them what they need during the transition to a new rep. Introduce their new rep personally.

And keep in touch over the coming weeks and months to make sure their work is on track and their wounded hearts, on the mend.

10 Things Every Print Customer Expects

No matter where a print customer works (company, organization, or agency), what umbrella they stand under (marketing, production, design, or procurement) or how much experience they have, they share some common expectations from their printers. I’m not referring to the obvious – of course they expect excellent print quality, pricing, and on-time delivery.

Regardless of how much or how little they spend on print every year, print customers prefer to work with printers who have certain qualities and who handle their accounts in particular ways. They want reps who are honorable businesspeople, who accurately represent their companies, and who can be trusted to do what they say they’ll do.

These are the qualities I’m singling out. This is my list of 10 implicit expectations that all print customers have:

R.E.S.P.E.C.T. They expect and deserve respect for their knowledge and job responsibilities. Whether you’re speaking with a new buyer or a savvy one, printers should never patronize customers or condescend to them.
Honesty. Integrity. Professionalism. These 3 personal qualities will get you far if you possess them, or sink you like a pair of cement shoes if you don’t.
Collaboration. Developing a print job is a process that often involves multiple stakeholders on the buyer’s side. Customers welcome print partnerships that are collaborative. Decades ago, it may have been about Getting the Sale. Not anymore. Help your customers by providing expertise. Listening is a big part of it.
Appreciation of the ROI of print and its place among digital media. Today’s sales reps have to speak to broader communications issues, help clients measure print’s ROI, and converse intelligently about other marketing channels. How will you address (and solve) customers’ web-based communications needs? Print doesn’t exist in a vacuum.
Creative ideas & suggestions. In my mind, if a printer doesn’t make suggestions and offer ideas that make my job better in some way (Quality? Efficiency? Format? Cost-effective? Easier to mail?), that’s an open invitation for your competitors to swoop in and take your client right out from under your nose.
Strong communications. There’s no excuse for not keeping in touch with clients, particularly with an active job. Response time matters. Take your pick (or better yet, check with your clients to determine which channel/s they prefer): phone, text, email.
Forget your daddy – who’s your back up? Customers assume there are people on your team to watch over their work in your absence. This means when you leave for a day, a long weekend, a week or even longer, they know their work won’t suffer or be ignored.
Instant everything. Print customers are no different from other customers in this regard. Fast response to their queries, fast turnaround on RFQs, fast proofs, fast delivery. You name it; we want it now.
Extreme value. Value’s a funny, squishy term, isn’t it? But as customers, we all know when we feel we DIDN’T get the value we expected. To help make sure you’re delivering value to your customers, ask them at the outset what they expect from you/your company – and how they define a successful relationship. It will not be the same for everyone.
High level of technical expertise. Customers presume their reps understand the manufacturing processes they’re representing – enough to help guide their decisions and make recommendations that will ensure success. This encompasses all of the parts that make up the whole: prepress, press, formats, paper, post-press/finishing, mailing and fulfillment. (Tall order, right? That’s why your team is important.)

Here’s the tricky part: these are implicit expectations. We customers presume you’ll deliver on all of them. Will you? Does this list represent some of the qualities you strive for as a print rep? What else can your customers expect from you – and do you make them known when meeting a prospect?

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Category Archives: Buying Print