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  • Buying Is More Than Writing the Check…
    - Wednesday May 9, 2012
    By John Giles With all of the cool new print equipment and technology at drupa and at the upcoming Graph Expo, printers need to make sure they are covering the basics before they add something new to their production mix, especially if it requires a big investment. Financials – In this day and time, you need strong financial information before you make a decision and ask your banker for help. Many printers are coming off slow growth years and don’t have the cash they need to safely add new debt. A strong current ratio is needed before adding to your liabilities. Not enough cash can cripple a company, even if sales are climbing. Creditors don’t want to wait until your customer pays you before they get their money. You have to...

  • Printers Need To Evolve
    By John Giles - Thursday November 3, 2011
    There are a lot of printers going out of business or about to go out of business because they can’t change their business model. Customers no longer walk in and ask for something to be duplicated. The day of commodity printing is over. People no longer need forms to collect information. It is now done on a computer. What print customers now need is help in finding the best way to communicate their message with their customer. The answer isn’t always ink on paper. A recent report by John Stewart for the NAPL/NAQP found that the average age of a print shop owner was in the mid-50s. They opened their businesses when making a copy required expensive equipment. Today, everyone has a copier attached to their home and business...

  • A Cure for the Summertime Sales Blues
    By John Giles - Tuesday August 16, 2011
    Is the summer a bad time for printers? Over the years I have heard that July and December were down months. Printers could expect to see their sales plummet twice a year as print buyers took vacation or enjoyed the holidays. That sounds logical, but the more printers I meet the more I begin to think this is just an urban myth. I am finding that printers have smoothed out the roller coaster sales ride by constantly working on increasing sales. They don't stop their sales activities when they get busy with printing. They keep making sales calls. They use the same tools and technology they are selling to customers to improve their own sales. The new products and services driving successful print companies relate to helping customers get more...

  • Don’t Ignore the Web
    By John Giles - Friday July 8, 2011
    As printers search for new revenue, selling and supporting websites is becoming an exciting new product to sell. Websites integrate easily with printing companies since many printers are already working closely with customers to manage their message. But there are some printers who do not want to get into Web services. Printers do not have to sell Web services, but they must realize that it is important to understand the Web if they want to continue printing for a company. Printers will have to become “Web experts†because they need to help customers integrate their print collateral with the current website information, even if they don’t maintain the websites. Combining the power of the Web with print is proving to be...

  • It is Hard to Believe: Customers Lie
    By John Giles - Thursday June 2, 2011
    Rising fuel costs are pushing prices up for everything we buy. Printers are seeing jumps in paper and every other thing they buy. The rising costs mean lower profit margins if a printer doesn’t react quickly, but we aren’t seeing a jump in print prices because customers tell the printer it isn’t happening. Every day I talk to printers who are concerned about raising their prices. They tell me that they can’t raise prices because their customer told them they could get the job cheaper somewhere else. When we drill down in the conversation, I find that usually the printer doesn’t have any facts to what the prices really are. He is just going on what he was told by the customer. Printers lose jobs every day...

  • Where Are The Young Guns in Quick Printing?
    By John Giles - Thursday April 28, 2011
    Industry consultant John Stewart recently released the 2011-2012 Quick Printing Industry Pricing Study. The document is packed with interesting pricing information, but to me one of the most striking observations was not in pricing, but in the Basic Company Data section. According to the report, the average age of the 350 printers participating in the report was 55 years old. The average age of the company was 28 years. If this report is representative of the industry, then quick printing is going to go through some major changes in the next 10 years. The age factor raises more questions than answers. Are younger people not coming into the industry? The baby boomers who started the quick printing industry are still here, but where are...

  • Pricing Pressures Continue to Grow
    By John Giles - Wednesday March 30, 2011
    A visit to the grocery store or gas pump lets us know how quickly prices can change. Prices are going up quickly and not just for consumers. Printing companies are seeing their costs rise. The question is whether or not printers will react and raise prices or eat the rising costs and suffer the consequences. I’m continuing to get calls from printers who are complaining that their competitors are “giving work away.†They say they are forced into price wars because a few low-ball printers are messing up the market for everyone and making customers expect to get lower prices. I can’t agree. Printers are notorious for being poor salespeople. Most just wait for customers to call and then react by giving a price. Since...

  • Are Printers Going To Lose Out Again?
    By John Giles - Wednesday March 2, 2011
    Are printers going to let someone else make money off a cool communication idea and just sit around waiting to compete for the printing? It seems so as we see new social media support companies popping up around the country to handle the social media mechanics for businesses. These companies are charging premium fees and handling the print buying for their clients because print is important to use when creating followers and fans. Why can't printers offer social media services too? They already work with customers in creating and distributing the customer's message with print. They know how to manage a customer's printed brand. Why not use those same skills to help customers with their social media? The printing industry has let this...

  • Follow the Money
    By John Giles - Wednesday January 5, 2011
    In a recent email, a printer was lamenting the fact that non-profit organizations were always beating on him to lower his prices. He was complaining that because they were “non-profit†he felt obligated to provide a lower price because they weren’t in the business to make money. I have to disagree. Being a non-profit organization means that an organization does not distribute its surplus funds to owners or shareholders, but instead uses them to help pursue its goals. The organization is also exempt from paying some local, state, and federal taxes. It doesn’t mean the organization is poor or that its employees work for free. In a new book entitled “Death to the BCS,†the author studied tax records of...

  • Discount Prices Can Cripple Business
    By John Giles - Monday December 6, 2010
    It is amazing the pricing strategies that some printing companies use to gain new business. One strategy that has been around for ages is to offer discounts for first time buyers to show prospects the quality and service they can receive if they were to become a regular customer. The discount might get the job the first time, but it doesn’t guarantee you will get the next job at the higher price. You just trained your customer that you are willing to give lower prices. I suggest another tactic you can use with a new customer, especially if creative design is involved, is to raise your regular price 10 to 15 percent. This allows you to test your pricing structure and make sure you aren’t leaving money on the table. Printers...

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