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When I read publications that target agencies and designers, I do so with the print industry in mind. What attitudes toward print providers are reflected in their pages? Are printers advertising in them? What are the themes of the articles? How do the issues impact the printing industry?
I was mulling this over as I read the February 2006 edition of Graphic Design USA. The cover story was "100 Designer-Friendly Companies." On the table of contents, the teaser read, "When you get past the public relations hype, there are just a few companies that really target the graphic design professional, service them, and care about them…" For this reason, the publication gave these firms special attention.
The first thing I did was look to see how many corporations were print or print-related. There were quite a few, and the type of companies ranged from full-service offset and digital printer Tanaseybert, to online fast-turn specialist 48HourPrint.com, to packaging specialist Aspen Packaging and Media.
It would have been nice if the magazine explained why it chose these particular companies or what made them designer-friendly, but it did not. I called the publisher, Gordon Kaye, and asked.
Mr. Kaye admitted that this is a subjective determination, but through the decades, he has been in a position to watch the interpersonal relationships between printers and creatives, and developed a few educated opinions.
Mr. Kaye defines a "designer-friendly printer" as someone who "understands the designer's mind and creativity, who respects the challenges designers face, and who is prepared to deal with the extra effort and demands that good designers put on them."
Clearly, there are different needs for different projects. On the high end, for example, designer-friendly printers are willing to spend extra time with their customers. This means consulting with them and explaining options. Designer-friendly printers are willing to indulge certain eccentricities, such as unconventional paper selections—or at least consider doing so without simply dismissing them. It is not as much a matter of service as it is interpersonal relationships.
Then there are printers who service designers' quick-turn needs by making it as easy as possible to do business with them. They offer easy-to-navigate online solutions, super-fast turnarounds, and good prices.
Sticking with Status Quo Is a No-No
How does this differ from the average printer? Printers are conservative by nature. They prefer to stick to what they do best. Margins are already slim without having to spend unbillable time on intangibles or investing in workflows like Web-to-print. Only printers with the right job mixes and pricing strategies can afford to offer this level of service. However, when they do, it gets noticed.
If you are a printer, I hope that, in a way, this is a brain teaser. One of the pieces of data that has always struck me is the paltry percentage of printers who see "calling on/selling to designers and agencies" as a top sales opportunity for their businesses.
In the most recent market research survey from the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (GATF) (Printing #24, Fall 2006), the percentage of printers who indicated that they see marketing and selling to agencies and designers as a top sales opportunity is 10 percent. This is down from 12 percent six months ago, and down from 14 percent six months before that.
In part, this reflects printers' lack of emphasis on sales. Printers have always preferred to sit back and wait for customers to come to them. This is one of the reasons they have had a difficult time adjusting to the new business environment. Print is still a powerful force in marketing, but it is has to split the budget pie with an increasing number of new media. Consequently, printers are increasingly in the awkward position of having to market not just their services, but their primary product—print.
If you do not have a smart, savvy sales team in place to position print and its relevance in today's marketing mix before your customers, you are in trouble. The percentage of print work that will come your way just because you are open for business will continue to shrink. For your business to grow, you are going to have to go out and get that business, and that requires selling customers, not just on your company, but on print itself.
Most printers are still clinging to business models that focus on price and turnaround and do not have the pricing cushion necessary to really cater to customers, especially those like designers who may have special needs. Like the ability to sell, printers are going to have to loosen their grips on the traditional. We live in an online, applications-driven, multi-channel marketing world. It is the world your customers live in, and if you want to grow your business, it has to be the world you live in, too. That takes time to understand.
Ironically, the low percentage of printers who see "calling on/selling to agencies and designers" as a top sales opportunity is an opportunity in itself. If you are looking for a unique direction to take your business in, catering to agencies and designers is not an oversaturated market.
How do you become a designer-friendly printer?
- Ask questions. Get to know your customers. Ask them what they like about your company and what they do not. Would they do more business with you if there were other services you provided? What do they think of your sales team? What do they think of your customer service and production teams? What do they think are their good and bad points? What steps can you take to make these customers happier with you?
- Take the extra time. Train your sales and customer service teams to ask additional questions during their interactions with customers. Make customers feel that your company is interested in them and the jobs they produce. Then follow up. One technique that you regularly hear successful print companies use is the job post-mortem. Not only are these great for taking a customer's temperature on what you did right or wrong, but they make a customer feel valued.
- Read creative industry publications. If you do not read, or at least scan, publications aimed at designers and agencies, such as Graphic Design USA, Ad Age, and Communication Arts, you should. Not only does it give you insight into how your customers are thinking and what their issues are, but it also gives you insight into your competition. What print shops regularly advertise in these publications? What do those ads like? What services are they offering? How are they positioned?
- Attend creative and marketing trade shows. Go to any creative trade show and there is something you will not see—printers. Shake things up a bit. Go to a show, sit on a panel, and give a presentation. Talk to designers over a lunch table or during a coffee break. Here is the insider's secret to everything designer—and so few printers are taking advantage of it.
Printers complain that business is shifting and shrinking, but fortunately, there are things you can do about it. Becoming a designer-friendly print provider is one of them.
If you are an agency or designer, I would love to hear from you. What makes one print provider stand out in your mind? E-mail me at the address below and let me know.
Heidi Tolliver-Nigro is an industry writer, an analyst specializing in digital workflow and technologies. She can be reached via e-mail at htollvr@aol.com.
author: By Heidi Tolliver Nigro