Targeting Buyer Personas —Dana

Experienced buyers don't need basic print education. They do their own research to keep up with printing trends and new technologies. Though they need little hand-holding, they are interested in innovative concepts from the printing industry. Some of the most seasoned corporate print buyers think they know printing as well as, if not better than, their sales reps. Sometimes they're right.

Your sales approach for this particular class of print buyers needs to be tailored to their level of print sophistication. They can decide with one quick visit to your Website whether you're a good fit or not, or if you have something uniquely valuable for their firms. More than any other group, they'll linger over your equipment list, because they understand it.

Keep it current. You may even want to annotate it so that your equipment list indicates the types of products best suited to a specific piece of machinery. (Such annotation is for the benefit of newer buyers.)

Brand new, "deer-in-the-headlights" print buyers are completely different prospects. With the exception of buyers who are former printers, most new print buyers have no industry knowledge. Sourcing print and comparing printers are foreign concepts. They need help compiling specs. Working with commercial printers is intimidating. They didn't plan on becoming buyers; the role was bestowed on them. The language is confusing, and the financial stakes are high. They require an enormous amount of hand-holding and ongoing education.

They may have little inherent interest in learning about how print is manufactured. Senior, experienced buyers have increased their skills and knowledge over many years. New buyers haven't "fallen for print" yet—and may never.

These novices may have totally different MOs for working with printers, and I'd suggest that this sums it up: Get the job done quickly. Make it perfect. Don't complicate things.