#UKvUSA: What printshop investments attract new customers?
Two continents: US and UK. Two different buying backgrounds: procurement and agency. Two alternative ways of looking at things. I’m delighted to have teamed up with Deborah Corn from PrintMediaCentr to bring two extremely different views to some important print questions. So welcom e to Print Buying: #UKvUSA where Deborah and I share information about our experiences from both sides of the pond.
At the end of this post I have linked to Deborah’s answer to the same question. We wrote our answers (each limited to 500 words) without any idea of what the other was writing. As Deborah says: “Maybe we will agree, maybe we won’t, maybe we don’t even see the question in the same way – who knows… that’s the fun part!”
Please do leave comments, thoughts and support at the bottom of this post and on Deborah’s post. It would be great if also posted your thoughts on Twitter, using the hashtag #UKvUSA Remember to watch out for our answers to another question next month.
#UKvUSA: What printshop investments attract new customers?
Most customers don’t care about your printing equipment
It’s a sad but true fact. The majority of your client base are not interested that you just spent a considerable six or seven figure sum on a new piece of kit. Your increased efficiencies are rarely of interest to them.
Investing in new plant is rarely going to gain you new customers. So how do you spend money and win new clients? The answer is to think of things from the clients’ point of view.
Invest in results
- Don’t invest in a web-to-print system: invest in reduced design costs and more efficient ordering
- Don’t invest in multi-channel workflows: invest in increased ROI from marketing campaigns
- Don’t invest in a faster press: invest in shorter delivery times
- Don’t invest in new finishes: invest in increased customer engagement from tactile products
The print industry has traditionally talked a lot about its equipment
That means nothing to most of today’s buyers. Focussing on equipment has also led to fighting for new clients on price. Investing in product puts the focus back on the buyer’s world. It leads to a very different conversation.
There’s one more bit of investment I should talk about.
Investing in product isn’t all about research and development
You could do a lot worse than investing in some marketing. Think about getting some coverage in magazines and websites that your clients read (hint: that’s not the print ones). You could even consider sponsoring events that your clients attend. If you have some great new products you want to be able to shout about them.
Whatever you do, it’s time to stop talking about the whizzy new press you’ve just bought…
How did Deborah tackle this question? See here. Look out for the next #UKvUSA battle next month.
PS Find out more ideas on how to increase sales with today’s buyers: download my free e-book “Ten Common Print Selling Errors and What To Do About Them” right now. You’ll also receive my regular “Views from the print buyer” bulletin, full of ideas on how to sell print effectively.
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