Things that Print Buyers Won’t Tolerate

Remember that old “$100,000 Pyramid”* game show? It was a contest between two teams, each comprised of a TV celebrity and an “average Joe,” who hoped to win the game and, therefore, a lot of money.

There was a big electronic board filled with a pyramid of different categories, which were hidden from the “average Joes.” Each contestant’s partner tried to get him/her to correctly guess the names of categories (worth a certain amount of money) by suggesting things that would be included in each category. Categories moving up the pyramid got increasingly more difficult to identify—and worth more money.

If I hosted such a game show, there’d be a category called: “Things that Print Buyers Won’t Tolerate – for Long.”

Here are some examples of clues a contestant’s partner might give to get him or her to guess the category correctly.

• Dishonest printers and sales reps – God help you if they catch you in a lie.
• Waiting too long for a price estimate.
• Having the spec’d paper switched by a printer—without the buyer’s permission or even knowledge.
• Invoices that don’t come anywhere near the estimate, even when specs didn’t change; or if they did change, without any discussion about the price by the sales rep.
• Unresponsive sales or service reps.
• Sales or service reps impossible to reach by phone in a timely fashion.
• Misrepresentation (of what printers can and can’t do, equipment at the plant, etc.).
• Unprofessional behavior.
• A habit of missing delivery dates.

This is a short, but powerful, list. I can also share another category I’d like to use in this game: “Things that Endear Printers to Their Customers.” It would be much longer.

Another time, perhaps?

* According to Wikipedia, this show started in 1973 as the $10,000 Pyramid, with the late Dick Clark as the host.