Using the resurrection of customer service to your advantage...your printing vendor's desire to provide value-added services

Bad customer service is so prevalent it's almost taken for granted, and would be if it wasn't so aggravating. Websites and phone systems are in place to thwart you from actually reaching a representative who is both a human being and easy to communicate with.  Can it get any worse? Probably not.

This is why I have been surprised recently by the amount of attention I've been getting from customer service people. My theory is that corporate business focus is shifting from stock price (emphasis on absolute lowest cost of service) to recognition that shareholders will cease to exist if people cease purchasing. On the local level, this shift can be used to your advantage!

As you cope with the current economic pressures, consider that your printing vendor, whether he has told you or not, is pacing the floor thinking of ways to reinforce his relationship with you. It can be mutually beneficial to enlist his help to make your life easier...here are some concrete examples:

• A completed print job must often be distributed to multiple locations. It's very easy for your vendor to package the job accordingly...in whatever quantities are necessary. It's most efficient to do this as the job is packing up, as opposed to devoting your staff time to unpacking and repacking for shipment in the future. For a modest fee, plus actual cost of freight, it may even make sense for your vendor to handle the whole packing and shipping task.
• If your layout is complicated, ask your vendor if he will help make a template.  His assistance may save an hour or two of work, (or rework). In addition, there may be particulars about the actual printed piece which make vendor input desirable, (see my post about folding here).  Our shop even has stock templates here, and will add others you if you need them.
• If your cash sponsorships are drying up, ask your vendor about in-kind support.  The key here is to keep in mind that printers get asked for services gratis all the time, and it's difficult to say "yes" over and over.  What may make it possible is to do the work at wholesale cost, which is about a 50% discount.  This allows them to lend support to a greater number of worthy causes in a way which doesn't break the bank.  (Bear in mind, of course, that this is best done as part of an ongoing relationship.)
• If your project is in the preliminary stage, ask your vendor for a dummy to be made of the paper stock you're considering.  This is probably the most overlooked service printers can provide.  It's also an invaluable bridge as your project makes the inevitable transformation from the digital/virtual world of its birth, to the physical/actual world it'll live in when printed.  Everyone hates surprises...see the paper first if you're not already familiar with it. It's fo' free!
• If you're doing some of your printing in house it's possible you're spending more time trimming it to size than it took to print.  It may be possible to work out an arrangement where your vendor will handle the trimming at a nominal (or no) charge.  What may take you 45 minutes with a hand trimmer may take them less than 10.
• When developing specifications for a quote, have them reviewed in a preliminary way by a single, trusted vendor before you release to your entire list.  This step may save several "update" emails later, as the information evolves by way of vendor feedback.  (My personal favorite, the mistake I make most often, is to omit the quantity!)   Also, always include in the specs an opportunity for suggestions from your vendors, and do this early in the process.  (Vendor input coming too late is of lesser value because it's more difficult to implement.)  

The problem we are all confronting has two sides.  On one side are smart, qualified people spending too much time on the sidelines; and on the other are people stretched to the breaking point because of under staffing.  It makes sense to reach across this gap and capitalize on an existing relationship. Your printing vendor is more receptive than you think to the idea of pitching in to solve your problems.  Give him a call;  maybe have lunch, exchange some good ideas, and work out something new. Let me know how it turns out!

Hugh Butler
Your friend in the printing business