Who Writes the Specs?
Last week someone in charge of sourcing print for his company wrote to ask my opinion: should he write the printing specs, or should his clients – the internal folks at his firm? He’d heard in the past that clients should write specs.
It brought me back to my corporate print buying days at Boston University in their publications department and at MFS, when I handled financial printing in their communications department. In each position, I dealt with dozens of internal “clients” who worked with our buying pros in order to get something printed.
We were the inside printing experts in both cases. We were required to know how to help clients shape their projects. Our task was to determine what they wanted; advise them on details, pricing, and schedule; get estimates; place orders with the appropriate printer; set and oversee the production schedules; and help ensure that clients ultimately got the jobs they expected. This included writing job specs.
Of course we’d work closely with clients to learn what they had in mind. Discussions included such things as quantity, format, inks, images, paper, finishing techniques – and anything else related to a job.
It was our responsibility to develop detailed job specs to send to printers for price estimates. Our internal clients lacked the industry experience, for the most part, and frankly, I wouldn’t trust any job specs they might attempt to write, especially if I was the one responsible for getting something printed.
So if you’re in a print buying role for your organization, this means it’s your job to develop detailed specs for every project. It presumes you have the knowledge and skill to do so. If not, you have to acquire it. Start by asking your printers for a lesson. Also, buy a copy of Pocket Pal and a copy of Getting It Printed. Terrific books, both of them.
© 2013 Margie Dana. All rights reserved. You’re free to forward this email. However, no part of this column may be reprinted without permission from the author.