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 Kind of Printer Gets a Seat at the Marketing Table?

I had a conversation recently about how early in the process a company involves their printer in the discussion about using print in a campaign.

Actually, we were chatting about including printers in the bigger picture, in which marketers decide which channels would be most effective. Are printers ever included?

Here’s what I think.

Only printers who have well-developed relationships with a customer (marketer, print buyer, creative) would be invited to have a seat at that table.

Only printers who have well-developed relationships and work for a progressive print manufacturer would be invited to have a seat at that table.

Only printers who have well-developed relationships and work for a progressive print manufacturer and are viewed as masters who think creatively would be invited to have a seat at that table.

Only printers who have well-developed relationships and work for a progressive print manufacturer and are viewed as masters who think creatively and who have a proven interest in helping marketers succeed using a variety of channels would be invited to have a seat at that table.

By printers, I mean salespeople or owners or print brokers or print executives. I know professionals in every one of these categories who are true visionaries. The manufacturers they represent are not your ordinary print shops, to be sure.

These are highly experienced, broad-minded leaders who exude brains, imagination and enthusiasm. Though I’d love to name names, I won’t.

When I read posts about inviting printers into the marketing chambers to contribute to campaign decisions, I only think about the rare professionals I’ve described. They really deserve a seat at those tables.

This could be an interesting discussion if you join in. I welcome your comments.

Do You Broadcast the Names of Your Customers?

One thing I get fired up about is a printer’s website. Even when I happen upon a site that’s not a client’s, I’m all over it like a cheap suit. There’s a mental checklist I go through to ultimately give it a grade from the perspective of a potential customer.

I was checking out the website of Lithographics Inc. after a couple of their salespeople subscribed to this blog. For whatever reason, I went to the “Our Work” section, where I came upon four different subsections.

It was the first link that caught my attention. It’s called “Clients.” Lo and behold, there I found a page filled with logos of some of their clients.

Though it may seem trivial to you, to me it’s quite significant. Because most printers’ sites that I come across do not share the names of their customers. Maybe they’re afraid that competitors will steal them away. Quite possibly they can’t get permission from clients to use their logos (or even identify them in a list of testimonials).

Seeing this colorful list made quite the good impression on me. It comes from strength – to put these client names out there. It comes from pride – to acknowledge some of their clients on a web page. And frankly, seeing this graphic arrangement of company logos somehow conveys Success.

Back when I bought print for a financial services company here in Boston, whenever a printer dropped the name “Fidelity” to us, we all thought, “Well, if they’re good enough for Fidelity, they must be fantastic!” Worked like a charm.

What do you think? If you’re a printer, are you man enough to post a list of customers on your site (with permission, of course)? And if you’re a print customer, would this influence you?

Something for Printers to Think About

I know zero about building homes. Zero. The only home we’ve owned is this one in which I’m sitting. It was built in 1936.

But I’m currently fascinated by two homes going up in my neighborhood.

There’s a transformative renovation going on, just across the street, involving a regal, brick Colonial. Five, sometimes six days a week, an entire crew shows up as early as 7 am. Bit by bit, the house has been gutted, and in its place, a transcendent version of its older, worn-out self is appearing. The builders are always on time. Someone who seems like the general contractor is often there, and very involved. The property’s spotless. It looks as though the site gets swept clean daily. Call this House A.

Just two doors down, House B is going up. This one was a tear-down. These two sites couldn’t be more different. Compared to House A, this second one looks like the work of amateurs. After the existing house was demolished (in fits and starts lasting weeks), the site looked like it had been bombed. Materials in sloppy piles sat untouched for months. There’s litter everywhere. The framing looks catch-as-catch-can. Days go by with nothing happening.

I’m sure the listing prices for both new homes will vary by quite a bit. House A is larger. But if I hadn’t witnessed how different two residential building sites could be, I wouldn’t have known or even thought about it. There seems to be a huge quality difference in materials, in management, in the building process, and possibly in the tradesmen. Everything about House A screams “professional!”

Will this be obvious once the homes are complete?

It got me thinking about printing. Show customers a pile of printed materials, and they can’t tell who’s printed what. They don’t know what went into the work.

Imagine prospective customers who know zero about printing.

Are they likely to judge you only by your finished product? Do they appreciate the quality of your workmanship? Do they even know what goes into your product? It could be the consumables, the equipment, the software systems, or the caliber and overall talent of your team. I think whatever craftsmanship goes into making your printing spectacular ought to be shared – especially if your prices are high.

Think of ways to articulate the true value of your product’s quality, and then communicate that to your market.

The Accidental Marketer

The Friday morning yoga class always felt like private instruction to me. For the 15 months I’ve been going, there were usually just 2 or 3 of us there, along with our instructor.

At 7:30, it was on the early side for the gym’s group classes, but I prefer to get up and go, before I begin work.

When another instructor took ill, our Friday yoga instructor subbed her early-week Pilates classes. These 9:30 and 10:30 Pilates classes had always been popular; the instructor was much beloved.

Within 2 weeks, the sub had established her reputation among the later class participants, even though she was tougher. And she’s very much a no-nonsense person. Totally different from the Pilates instructor for whom she subbed.

But slowly, people asked when else and what else she taught. They’d warmed up to her.

In no time, her Friday morning yoga class grew. Though 7:30 had been (or so I thought) a deal breaker, it suddenly attracted more and more new people.

Now we have 15 or more every Friday, where once there were 2 or 3. I think it will keep growing.

If the instructor hadn’t been in a new spot where potential students gathered regularly, the Friday class would still feel like my own private lesson.

The yoga instructor was in a new place at the right time, purely by circumstance.

Want to grow your business? Where else could you happen to be?

For the Love of Print (Buyers)

Last week I took part in a fascinating webinar entitled, “Do Modern Print Buyers Have New Expectations of Their Printers?” This live 60-minute event on November 5^th was sponsored by Canon USA. It was offered by Printing Impressions and moderated by Mark Michelson.

At the top of the hour, I gave a short presentation of the results of a print buyer study I conducted with John Zarwan. If the 40-page report on this study (available for purchase on my site) is the Book, then this presentation was a Tweet.

I painted a profile of modern print buyers: who they are, where they work, and what they want from the industry. It set the tone for the next part of the hour.

Then two print buyers weighed in. They answered questions posed by Mark Michelson and a few more submitted by webinar attendees. The panelists were Liz Howitt of John Hancock Financial Services and Jeff Dickerson of State Farm Insurance. Both are print buying veterans, and both (coincidentally) have some experience on the ‘other side of the fence.’

What stopped me cold early on in this webinar was something Jeff said: “I want print to thrive.” This is a common sentiment among many print buyers. It’s important that printers are aware of it. The print industry and their customers are on the same side of the table. Doesn’t this mean something? I think it does.

I’m planning on writing some of what I learned from these buyers in future posts. What’s key for today’s post are these facts:

“Print buyer” is a term I use to describe the role of professionals who source print for their employer. It doesn’t traditionally include designers, and we’re not talking about consumers. I use the term to keep it simple. Buyers self identify with this term, regardless of their titles.
Every print buyer is different. Liz Howitt made this point, and it deserves repeating. Yes, there are trends to be acknowledged (that’s my job – to get them out there), but printers still need to know their customers.
Print buyers who are baby boomers are very different from those who are Millennials.
We’re not really sure how Millennials view or feel about the print industry. They’re harder to identify and poll. I’d love to do it.

This event was a valuable experience for buyers, giving them a place to voice their opinions and be heard. It’s clearly valuable for the hundreds of listeners, most of whom, I suspect, were printers.

Here’s to more and more of them.

Your Sales Reps’ Secret Sauce

If you’re hiring a print rep, I imagine you pay special attention to sales numbers and the accounts that a rep would bring to your company.

Print customers don’t care about either of these. They care about other things, including one that you should play up: that special skill a salesperson brings to the table.

Customers don’t buy from companies. They buy from people. They work with people. And they bond with people.

A print rep is the face of your company, and how well a rep gets along with a customer depends on lots of things. But if a prospect learns that a print rep is an expert in an area that really matters to his or her company, well, that might be the winning ticket.

Make sure that print customers and prospects are aware of the particular skills or expertise that your reps have.

What special skills would impress a print customer? Passion and experience in any of these areas would pique my interest:

Paper – File prep – Graphic design – Photography – Mailing – Marketing – Personalization

Years ago I met a print company owner who also serviced client accounts. Her background was in the paper industry, and I remember thinking, “Wow, I’ll bet your designer clients love this about you.” I suggested that she somehow make this known when communicating with prospects.

Having a passion or a developed skill set for anything that relates to your printing business shouldn’t be kept a secret. It could make a big difference to a prospect. Don’t be modest: spread the word!

Why Every Customer’s Judging You by Perceived Value

No matter what you’re selling, your customers are evaluating you by the perceived value you provide them.

It’s easier to judge the value of a tangible good – a car, restaurant meal, kitchen appliance, office copier – because we comparison shop, read online reviews, seek opinions from friends and family, and then make our purchase armed with this information and guided by budget.

Defining Value is trickier for service providers who don’t sell tangible products. As a writer, I’m in this category. Likewise, it’s tricky for companies manufacturing products that thousands of others do, too (like commercial printers).

In these cases, the stakes are higher when customers judge our Value.

Part of what customers evaluate is Service. In my own case, Service is a combination of how fast I deliver my product, how accessible I am, how quickly I respond to clients’ requests, how well I listen to clients, and how pleasant and professional I am to work with.

The Quality of my product (or yours) is something totally different: It had better speak for itself, or we’re out of business. Mediocre or lousy print jobs will send any customer packing, as will unacceptable copy.

It is the Value that concerns me and should you. How would customers describe the unique Value you provide them? Do you know what they’d say – or what they’re even looking for?

It helps to think of Value as getting more for our money. This works for all sorts of service providers. If you can articulate what this specific Value is that you offer and provide your customers, you can then use it for different reasons: to develop new business, to communicate to your sales and service staff so they’re on board with it, to measure your unique selling proposition by, and to market your business in all sorts of channels.

Stop and think about what your company’s unique Value to customers is. These questions might help:

What extra knowledge or expertise do you bring your customers?
What special skill or capability do you have that, while not directly affecting customer jobs, will certainly help them/their company in some way?
What tips, tricks, or shortcuts do you regularly share with customers to make their work go smoother and save them time?
What creative suggestions might you offer customers that cost you nothing yet make a significant difference to them?
How have you let your customers know – lately and regularly – that you’re thinking about them and want to help them succeed?
What related experience or passion do you have that will help your customers? Do they know it, and do you share insights freely?
Why should customers work with you and not your competitors – what do you bring to the table aside from your products?

Your answers will be different from everyone else in your field, as mine are in my field. Focusing on what Value you bring to customers is essential. If problems arise with your products or services, and customers start questioning the relationship, they’ll end up with this very issue: “What am I getting out of this, and why on Earth should I stay?”

If you haven’t paid attention to the Value you bring, customers won’t hesitate to shop around.

On the other hand, when you provide great Value, customers stop thinking about what it costs them. They’re thinking, “I get so much more from this company that I’m never leaving them.”

3 Ways to Be More Attractive to Your Customers

Commercial printing suffers from the “you all look the same to me” syndrome. It’s incredibly difficult for one general commercial printer to look different from others. It’s especially true in the eyes of the inexperienced.

For years I’ve written extensively on how printers can improve their visibility and highlight their special offerings. Today I’m sharing three key ways for you to be more attractive to customers new to the field:

Be prepared for every meeting and phone call. This means you must do your homework about the person, his or her company, and the particular industry. This one thing will make the most difference in how you’re perceived. It stuns me how many calls I get – still – from salesmen who haven’t a clue.
Approach your first conversation as an opportunity to learn. It must be torture to leave your sales hat at home. But please do. Of course your goal is to get a new customer, but you have to first get some comfort and a sort of professional acceptance by a prospect before you go for the jugular. In fact, forget I said ‘jugular.’ Establish yourself as a professional and an expert. Get to know what prospects need. Or be pushy and get shut down.
Always be resourceful. You have solutions and suggestions for all sorts of projects (hopefully). Prospects and customers appreciate knowing how to get something done quicker, more efficiently, or in a more spectacular way. Once you’ve established yourself as this kind of ‘printing architect,’ you’ll be a professional they turn to for answers.

These three simple suggestions for improving your print sales skills will instantly set you apart from other printers. They indicate you’re putting your prospects (and customers) first – not your sales goals.

Good Communication Skills Are CRITICAL for Print Reps

Most emails I get from printers are well written. They’re professional, they get to the point fast, and they do a good job of explaining why I’m being contacted.

Today I’m focusing on those ‘cold’ emails from reps who don’t know me. They usually want to sell me something (God bless them, that’s their job) or want me to introduce them to print buyers (can’t do). Often, they want some advice (always happy to help).

Sometimes I get really badly written emails, and the stinkers from younger reps who’ve only been in the field for a short time are particularly horrifying.

If their emails to me are this atrocious, I assume that all of their emails are.

If you’re a print company owner or sales manager, and you hire new reps, I’m begging you to look carefully at their written communication skills. Maybe all of their other sales skills are excellent. They may have wonderful interpersonal skills.

But they will be writing a lot of emails and texts and maybe even letters to prospects. These need to be high-quality messages: well-constructed sentences with no typos and good grammar. The company name should be referenced and also be part of the sender’s email signature. (I know, this sounds obvious, right?)

My latest column for Printing Impressions is on the subject of reps as marketing agents. In it, I give a lot more details about why communication skills matter so much.

Here’s the thing: print customers pay attention to spelling and grammar. Mistakes jump out at us. We form impressions based on this stuff.

So check out the quality of communications your new reps send out. There’s no excuse for bad writing. It reflects directly on you. Make sure it’s up to your standards.

An earlier version of this blog appeared on PIworld.com.

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Category Archives: Selling Print