Through the Eyes of a Customer

Many times, throughout my myriad careers, I have found the value of a fresh set of eyes. We get so caught up in doing what we are supposed to be doing and what needs to be done, that we forget to take a moment to see things as others see them. Sometimes having somebody who is not connected to your business give you a “customer’s view” can be enlightening and productive.

I recently needed a small quantity of letterheads for a non-profit group I work with. Having some knowledge of printing, both as a printer and as a printing customer, I felt these letterheads looked to be an ideal order for a quick print or smaller print shop. An 8.5x11" camera ready sample was produced—very basic, no bleeds, no complicated art, just a typeset name and address, motto, and a small dingbat (a piece of simple, line clip art). I decided to order 200 copies, requesting black ink that would be safe to run through a laser printer. For paper I wanted standard white 20-pound copy paper (making second sheets readily available). All in all, a very basic, simple order. Just run in get a quote and place the order. Or at least that was my initial plan.

The Shop in Flux

My first stop was at a print shop that had been in town for some time. I previously had many dealings with them, including an ongoing order for a monthly calendar and orders for a government agency for various printed items. Looking back, I fondly remembered even helping out in their press room and bindery a couple of times many years ago.

Since then the shop has gone through a couple of owners and a period of “financial instability”—at least that was what one upset supplier called not getting his bills paid. An addition was placed on the shop’s modest building a couple of years ago, which might have precipitated the problems. The current word on the street was the latest owner was an okay guy.

Entering the shop, I encountered a fairly sterile sales area in the new addition. The rubber stamp sample display and wedding invitation album on the counter showed they at least had outside sources to order products. A nicely framed sample item on the wall was something I was familiar with. However, it was 19 years old and, ironically, was not even printed at this print shop! As far as I knew, it had nothing to do with the new owner or any current employee of the shop.

The lady manning the front counter was busy with a couple of her friends discussing a poster for a local event. I patiently waited my turn, even though the conversation turned to the customer service person’s plans for social activities with her customers. I encounter this often with young people, but these ladies were about 60 years old.

She finally came over to help me and I explained what I was after. She carefully took down what I was after, made a copy of my original and said “someone” would get back to me. As I was leaving, that “someone” arrived at the shop, so it was back to the counter to repeat what I was after. This second customer service person looked things over and said he would let me know about a price once he did some figuring.

That evening about 8:30, I got a phone call from the second customer service person. He had some questions about the letterheads. Would I be interested in a fine quality rag bond paper? Would I be interested in a four-color print job? I can understand the concept of up selling, but this seemed to be a bit over the top. While hating to disappoint this salesman, I reiterated my interest in a simple, cheap print job. He said he would have to do some figuring. Maybe it is just me, but I also found getting a call from a printing salesman during the evening to be somewhat odd and a little troubling.

Fifty hours after my initial stop at this shop, I got a phone call from the first lady at the sales counter. She informed me that they had discussed my order and could do the 200 letterheads for $86.93. Plus there would be a probable charge of $75 for an art fee to rework my camera ready copy and digitalize it for posterity—something I didn’t want, need, or ask for. The order would be done in two to three weeks after I placed it.