Stepping on toes, alas, isn’t hard to do, and often comes about innocently. A commercial printer, for example, might feel the need to reach out to the agency’s client directly, which would be a mistake. “They might give creative ideas directly to the client,” Hazlett says. “Once they feel comfortable, they may go directly to the client without communicating with the agency.”

Printers err when they think that getting their foot in the door with an agency hinges solely on price, according to Teodorczuk. “It’s not price, it’s color quality, because they are very sensitive that. For example, the Coca-Cola red has got to be the Coca-Cola red. The designers are the ones with that eye.”

Tread lightly around agency sensitivities. A major one is working with a client’s competitor. “If you’re printing some Pepsi materials and they’re working on Coke, they are going to be sensitive,” says Teodorczuk. “They don’t want people seeing each other’s materials, and they are very loyal in that sense. They have to be.”

The final word on the subject?

“Samples, samples, samples,” Teodorczuk concludes. “It’s the visual.”