Right now there’s a desperate and receptive audience for printers: owners of small creative agencies. They’re screaming into their pillows and clenching their stress balls. Why? Artificial intelligence. It’s hitting them hard. They’re looking around wildly, trying to give clients something that AI can’t generate. Who can help? Why printers, of course, and I’m going to show you how to reach and sell to this eager group of business owners.
BUT WAIT! ISN’T AI HELPING SMALL CREATIVE AGENCIES DO THEIR JOBS?
Like everyone else, small creative agencies are using AI internally to work faster and generate ideas.
And there’s the rub.
When AI is involved, clients push back. It doesn’t matter whether the inherent value is unaffected by AI. Clients refuse to pay premium prices if they catch a whiff of AI – or if they think AI could do it better.
The unspoken question is: Why should anyone these days hire an agency if some or all of the work can be done with AI?
Truth is, AI will keep chipping away at the value agencies – especially small agencies – provide their clients.
WHAT KINDS OF SMALL CREATIVE AGENCIES ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?
WHY SMALL CREATIVE AGENCIES ARE SCRAMBLING
If small creative agencies and their owners tell you they’re not freaking out about losing clients, they’re lying.
I get multiple sales come-ons a week from small creative agencies that are spamming everyone out of desperation.
I get stopped at the bank and grocery store by agency owners and solo providers who want to buy me coffee and pick my brain.
I’ve given away hours of free consulting to panic-stricken agency owners who have seen their sales revenue tumble in the last six months.
WHAT AGENCY OWNERS ARE TELLING ME
These owners tell me stories about clients who:
1/ Demand discounts on creative concepts and designs the client “did with AI.”
2/ Want to “just AI it” instead of paying (and waiting) for the deep, expert research the agency is known for.
3/ Ask for agencies to dismantle offerings so they can pay piecemeal for services.
Strategy, concepts, audience research, creative development, photography, video, comps, versioning, digital ad campaigns, competitive intelligence, yadda yadda yadda. If it’s something AI could do, clients question the value.
You can see why small agency owners are freaking out.
CLIENTS DON’T WANT TO PAY FOR CREATIVITY
Creativity devalues as AI improves. Put quotes around that and sign my name. I said it five years ago, and I’m saying it today.
When clients believe creativity can be achieved for free, they don’t value it.
That’s where print comes into the picture. Printers have something AI can’t replicate.
Small creative agency owners need to hear this before they dwindle out of existence:
“Print can save you.”
WHAT SHOULD PRINTERS DO?
Printers need to be calling on small creative agencies. Full stop.
They will take your call.
You need to meet one-on-one with these owners and show them how print can stop the free fall.
→ Knock on agency doors.
→ Send letters and postcards.
→ Connect on LinkedIn.
→ Attend events and meetings that agency owners attend.
→ Hold roundtables so agency owners can meet one another.
Let them vent about what AI is doing to their businesses.
They need to vent.
Then show them how to make print primary.
THAT’S ALL IT TAKES? A MEETING?
Many small agency owners weren’t born in the time of print’s primacy. It may take multiple informational meetings before you get down to the sales process.
They may need more evidence and examples than you think is necessary. They have to be taught, you see.
Persuasion will be a process.
And there’s ego at work as well. Agencies have been holding the reins, and they don’t want to let go.
However, once they see how print helps them win back customers (or keep the ones they have), they’ll get it.
When we show small agencies how to win with print, everybody wins.
You may want to get your ducks in a row before you start contacting small agency owners. If so, let’s talk. I can help you put in place the strategy, positioning, and talking points that will open the door to more and better print sales.
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Read more from Sandy here.
Check out last month’s post: The Print Pivot Is Here, And It’s Driving Powerful Change
Sandy Hubbard
is a strategist and consultant who helps owner-led printing companies improve, grow, and evolve.
She brings clients well-reasoned insight, tactical clarity, and a modern approach to building businesses from the inside. She prepares print leaders for business success in an ever-changing communications landscape.
A fourth-generation printer and publisher, Sandy is a Certified Scrum Master, Google Developer and Innovator, and a beta tester of agentic AI technology. She regularly leads hands-on sales workshops with owners and teams to help them move ahead swiftly and capture opportunities.
Sandy is the producer and host of #PrintChat, a weekly global gathering of the industry’s most influential thinkers and leaders. A proud member of Girls Who Print, Sandy is the 2022 recipient of the coveted Girlie Award. Let’s connect!
