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.

(c) 2016 Margie Dana