Welcome to my blogging duel with TEAM UK’s Matthew Parker.
Matthew and I haven’t always seen eye to eye when it comes to Print Buying. He comes from the UK procurement world, and I come from the USA agency world. We used to argue about process, but over the years it has turned into a mutual respect. However, that doesn’t mean we now agree, or see things the same way! As a matter of fact, most of the time we don’t. So we decided to turn that into Print Buying: #UKvUSA and share information about our experiences from both sides of the pond!
At the end of my post is a link to Matthew’s post on the same subject. We don’t know each other’s response before writing our own. Maybe we will agree, maybe we wont, maybe we don’t even see the question in the same way – who knows… that’s the fun part! We have also set a 500 words or less format to keep things moving along.
Please do leave comments and if you happen to support one side over the other let us know on either blog! I am proudly representing TEAM USA, and we are using #UKvUSA on Twitter. LET THE DUEL COMMENCE!
#UKvUSA: How Can Print Companies Get More Work From Their Customers? – A Buyers Perspective
I can think of three things off the bat that would make working with one (or a few) of my Printers more often then the rest. NONE are based on price, and for now I am going to put Sarbaines-Oxley regulations on the back burner or this post would contain 400 disclaimers!
Relationship. For me, this is the number one reason I do business with anyone. I find it important to uphold my end of the partnership by keeping a steady flow of work to my Printers, and in return I expect pretty much whatever I need to happen, gets done. I am speaking in generality here, but both Printers and Buyers get this.
Added Value. It’s getting to be an over-used term, but the concept isn’t going anywhere. I will use a Printer who catches typos, fixes my files or calls to troubleshoot, discusses better ways to execute my project, alerts me to special deals on premium paper, ask questions about my quote BEFORE sending it to estimation, and pretty much anything that shows they are really paying attention to my work. And no, not all of you do that, despite your “better service” than the other guy position.
Convenience. I am a long time advocate of one-stop shopping in the Print world. I’d prefer not to go to one vendor for printing, and also need others to get my projects done. I am not referencing any outsourcing of finishing work that Printers handle, I mean additional print related or campaign related items such as posters, premium imprinted items, presentation materials, basic signage and so on. Taking it to the next level, providing electronic services like e-book creation and digital asset management also touches upon added value, and allows me to have my files in one place.
The last thing I am going to add is that Printers should never get lazy when it comes to their customers. If you want more work, then you need to work to get it – and that doesn’t mean calling me to ask if I have work for you. Added value is what moves the line, and that can be applied to things outside of how you handle my jobs. Helping me stay educated on new presses and substrates, new technologies and techniques, new finishing, new opportunities and anything that can help me stay topical and relevant makes you important to my career, not just my job. The ROI for a relationship on that level could last a lifetime.
See Matthew’s response: http://profitableprintrelationships.com/ukvusa-how-can-printing-companies-get-more-work-from-their-customers-a-buyers-perspective/
Next month: #UKvUSA: Three critical buying tasks to kick-off 2015
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