Here’s one way to impress seasoned print buyers: tell them how you recovered from your mistakes.
That’s right, when every other printing company is tripping over itself, trying to land on the most glowing terms to showcase their fantastic quality and service, you do the opposite. Go left.
Prospective customers expect to get the same old information about a printing company—on a website, in a sales letter, in promotional material, even over the phone.
Can you all be the Best, the Fastest, the Most Creative in your class? I doubt it. Prospects will be suspect as well. The proof of your excellence as a supplier and a business partner will really show up when things go badly.
This is what separates a lot of companies, especially service providers like printers.
When you fall, how well do you recover? How quickly? How is the relationship handled during these stressful times? Do you, as a company, act professionally? Are you communicating well (sufficiently) with customers?
I’m not suggesting you actually create promotional materials, or rewrite your website, to feature your blunders. My point is that a truer test of a print company is during and immediately after a "situation."
How you respond to a problem matters just as much as how well you print anything.
Think of ways to let prospects know how you’ve recovered from missteps, regardless of whose fault they were. Can you weave a story into a webpage? Can you convert a situation into an educational blog post? Can you feature a "close call" in your customer newsletter? Can you ask customers who’ve seen how well you react to near-nightmares to write a reference or testimonial that you can use?
There’s an upside to admitting you’ve lived through bumps in the road, particularly when your company recovers quickly and honorably.
It’s what many print buyers are dying to know.
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- Business Management - Marketing/Sales
Long regarded as a print buyer expert and trade writer, Margie Dana launched a new business as a marketing communications strategist with a specialty in printing and print buying. She is as comfortable working in social media as she is in traditional media, and now she’s on a mission to help clients build customer communities through carefully crafted content. Dana was the producer of the annual Print & Media Conference.
Although she has exited the event business, Dana is still publishing her Print Tips newsletter each week. For more details and to sign up for her newsletter and marketing blog, visit www.margiedana.com