It is in your best interest as a printer to make sure your customers are secure in their jobs. They are responsible for giving your firm business. They are your biggest advocates inside their companies—often, they’re your only advocate.
Doesn’t it make sense that you’d want them to stay put and build on the relationship with you?
What are you doing to ensure that happens? Let me throw a few ideas your way...
- Do you know what capabilities they are looking for in their service providers?
- Do you know what challenges they’re facing in their careers/companies?
- When was the last time you had a conversation with customers that didn't involve either a job in production or one (hopefully) coming down the pike?
How has your relationship grown and developed (presuming it has)? Has this customer learned to trust you and your firm more as time has passed, resulting in new kinds of applications or new services?
I ask because an increase in volume, as well as new services, indicates that you’re a key provider for that customer. It symbolizes trust. It points to a deepening relationship. What led to this growth, and can you duplicate those steps to develop other customer relationships?
Are you familiar enough with top customers’ industries to be able to make strategic suggestions to them about their marketing materials, such as new applications that would one-up their competition?
I wonder how many printers think this way about customer retention. How many printers take an active role in helping clients succeed in their job? If you fit that description, I’d like to hear from you. Or if you’re a print buyer reading this post, I want to hear about printers who have in some way helped secure your job.
Share your thoughts by posting a Comment below.
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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