Use Recession Economics to Train Customers

Now is the perfect time to get customers to change their habits and do what you want. The recession is affecting almost every segment of society. Businesses are looking for ways to save money. They are looking for new suppliers. They are open to change.

For quick printers, the recession can mean opportunity. Salespeople can find it easier to get past the gatekeeper to see decision makers. Businesses are no longer “comfortable” with their suppliers and are willing to listen to alternatives. Getting in front of potential customers has never been easier.

But the sword cuts both ways. Quick printers will have to increase the service they provide to their current customers to make sure they aren’t stolen by the competition. That means that printers will have to increase the direct contact with their top 25 customers and present the advantages of using their services.

In both cases, printers will have the opportunity to change the buying habits of the customer. Remember when someone would pump your gas at the local gas station? When oil prices rose in the early 1970s, service stations went to self-service pumps to lower costs and keep prices down. There were a few customers who complained, but today it is rare to find a full-service gas station where they will pump your gas and clean your windshield.

Strike While the Iron Is Hot

When a printer gets in front of the new customer, he can use his technical knowledge to make the sale. Today’s print technology allows customers to become part of the workflow and save time and money if used correctly. Printers can develop a partnership with new customers and train them to use the advantages of technology. Most customers don’t know what they can or can’t do because their current printer never explained it to them. A printer can get a fresh start with a new company and teach them how to submit files properly from the beginning.

Printers can use the tough economic times to establish habits for customers to follow when submitting digital files. Customers are open to suggestions to save money, so a printer who promotes an automatic PDF creation print driver will find customers ready to try it. The automatic PDF creation program makes a PDF that the printer knows he can manipulate. Since using it can possible save the customer time and money, the customer will be more apt to try it.

Automatic PDF creation programs are typically special print drivers that distill a PDF on the customer’s computer and automatically submit the file via the Internet to the printer. The PDF could still have problems, such as the wrong color model or low resolution graphics, but it can usually be edited by the prepress department.

If a printer can get the PDF file created on the customer’s computer, he can enter the PDF file into a PDF workflow more quickly and allow the workflow to identify and correct many of the common problems. Many RIPs for digital printers include Hot Folders that will automatically paginate certain types of jobs. If the customer can create a good PDF, a printer can get the job into his workflow faster. Fewer people have to touch the file and costs are usually reduced.

Driving the Change

Getting a customer to use an automated PDF creator used to be difficult because the customer couldn’t see the benefit. A printer would take any digital file with little information and try to reproduce it without any additional charge to the customer.

Today, printers are looking at ways to reduce costs. They are also starting to charge for functions they once ignored. As successful printers increase prices to cover their costs, they can give customers alternatives that will allow them to lower their bill. Customers should jump at the opportunity, real or perceived, to help them control the costs of their printing purchases. Printers who actively deal with customers should be promoting the “self service” aspect of printing, and push customers who create their own files toward the automatic PDF creation program.