What's Your Strong Suit?
By Margie Dana | Posted on May 07, 2010
The other day a printer cold-called me, saying that his was a minority-owned and certified business, and could he please get on our bid list.
I had to break his heart and tell him ours is a professional association, not a "buying entity," but being in a good mood, I took the time to chat with him at length. (Besides, he is a Southerner and yes-ma'amed me with a delightful politeness we Northerners aren't used to. It would've been rude to cut him off.)
As soon as he told me his firm has minority-owned certification status, I asked the obvious: "Is this fact front and center on your Website?"
"No," he replied with a chuckle.
So started our long conversation about making sure a print company's special strength is made clear to prospects and customers. I asked for his URL to look up his site on the spot (something he'd not done with my firm before he called, hint, hint).
"Let me guess - this is a PrinterPresence site, isn't it?" I think I freaked him out. "Um, yes, it is…" he replied. I'm no psychic. And I wasn't being critical, just observant: these sites have the same look. His site was attractive enough, but I suggested he go further and customize it. He needs to tell visitors about his special status on the home page. He thought this was a terrific idea. (Yes, I'll check back in a bit and see if he followed through.)
We looked at a few others pages on his site together, and I found several things to congratulate him on. Often a site just needs refreshing as opposed to an overhaul.
That brings me to you: What's your strong suit? Is it obvious on your Website?
Don't tell me you're a general commercial printer and that you do everything. I've heard it for years, and I don't buy it.
Ask your best customers why they stick with you. They'll be happy to tell you. Maybe you'll get lucky, and one of them will put your special strength in terms both creative and fresh. I've found that such mining for customer feedback results in real nuggets of value. It's a low-cost effort for high-quality results.
