7 Ways to Stand Out in a Crowded Printer World

Seth Godin stresses in his book—"The Purple Cow"—that every business must be exciting to make the customer experience special. He uses the analogy that seeing brown cows in Ireland quickly becomes boring, but how exciting it would be to see a purple one. Now how do you make your printing operation exciting compared with the 20,000+ other printers in the country?

What makes your printing operation exciting? What makes you different? What do customers say when asked where to buy print? How do you get your customers to talk about you instead?

Every printer says it meets deadlines, has the highest quality, offers the best service. That is boring. Everyone does that.

Think for a minute. What makes people say, “Wow! Now that is different.” or “That is so cool they do that.”

Here is what other printers have done to be exciting. Some are little things. Some big. Some strategic. All are different.

1) The Academic Printer—One printer was thrilled to learn that customers appreciated its educational marketing seminars and newsletters. Customers learned a ton and valued that special focus. The company positioned itself as an expert at marketing. Customers knew it did much more than print through its actions. Educating its customers put the printer in a class all by itself.

2) The Cookie Printer—Famous Amos Cookies: That’s right. Last year during a panel discussion, a printer shared how customers became disappointed when it stopped dropping off cookies when delivering jobs. Customers enjoyed the gift. Those tiny, 30 cent bags of cookies went a long way. A local printer did something different and customers noticed and remembered. It's the simple stuff.

3) The Tweeting Printer—Pick your space and magnify it. A printer chose to put a ton of effort into Twitter and social networking within its business community. He picked business groups that did not have a printer participating and started hanging out with different groups virtually and face to face. The printer went to Tweet socials, where tweeting people get together face to face to socialize and see people. He shared marketing and printing ideas of interest to the groups. He picked the right audience that would appreciate this knowledge. Now and then, the printer would throw out a promotion. Over the course of a year, he became well known in the business community. This printer picked a focus and kept at it.