Get The Respect You Deserve
By Mike Llewellyn
Managers say attention to detail and a focus on customer service have made their in-plants among the most respected departments in their organizations.
One of the toughest, and seldom discussed, challenges for in-plant managers is the battle to win recognition and respect from their parent organizations.
"A lot of managers think they're rated very low on the totem pole," says Mike Renn, assistant vice president for corporate services at Philadelphia-based Mellon Financial.
But this isn't because they lack the expertise needed to win the support of upper management. Rather, Renn says commercial printers have the time and money to sit down with company brass and tell them flat out that they'll do a better job than the in-plant.
"They'll say things like 'Nobody uses an in-plant anymore,' " notes Renn. And because the in-plant manager isn't around to offer a counter-argument, the commercial printers' erroneous message sticks, and people think in-plants don't have the expertise commercial printers have.
That doesn't make it true, though, and many in-plant managers have found a little attention to detail and a lot of communication go a long way toward reminding upper management that not only is the in-plant cheaper and more convenient, it's a source of printing expertise commercial printers could never match.
The Numbers Don't Lie
If there's one thing any parent company respects, it's more money.
"Outside printers tell the executives their message with slick presentations. They know management doesn't know that much about printing," says Renn. So it's up to in-plant managers to one-up profit-hungry printers with a fail-safe tactic: Invite the company to bring in a consultant, or hire one of your own.
"In-plant managers will always get respect for this kind of thing," he contends.
Scott Nelson, supervisor for Print and Mail Services at Otter Tail Power Co., in Fergus Falls, Minn., says he's not concerned about outside printers approaching upper management because his in-plant isn't afraid to look at the numbers.
"That's just because we've gone through the pricing, and we've found that we are routinely 25 to 30 percent cheaper," he says.
To make sure those numbers were accurate, Nelson says Print and Mail Services had to roll up its sleeves and get to work.
"We hired a local printer that had recently sold her business," he says. "For six months we had her price all of our internal jobs as if we were sending them to the company she had owned."
But all of that comes up empty if a manager makes what Renn suggests is the worst possible mistake—hiding and hoping not to get noticed by management.
"We just always try to stay visible," he explains, adding that some managers have a tendency to expect their organizations will see the in-plant as just another (expensive) mouth to feed, and so try to stay below the radar.
"They're afraid to ask for equipment because they're afraid that means someone's going to look at them," he says. But one way or another, the in-plant is going to get noticed, and it's the manager's job to make that recognition work to the benefit of the in-plant.
To make sure customers know what his in-plant at the University of California, San Diego can do, Manager Larry Fox says his department publishes a service guide in hard copy form and also posts it on the Internet. Customers can access the form and other in-plant features by logging on to BLINK, a campus-wide portal, and locating the in-plant, which goes by the name Imprints - Print Resources. BLINK offers customers a familiar interface, as well as Web-based print submission.
In addition to interacting with customers on the Web, UCSD's in-plant takes advantage of an annual services conference—a small-scale trade show—organized by the school's business affairs office.
"The annual services conference is a boon for us," says Fox. "It gives us a chance to really highlight the services that we offer."
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A Happy Shop Is A Busy Shop According to Scott Nelson, supervisor for Print and Mail Services at Otter Tail Power, nothing goes farther toward establishing a professional, respected in-plant than maintaining a great rapport with your employees. "I would vote for us to be better than any commercial printer not only because we have state-of-the-art equipment, but also because I have a stable work force. Everyone here has been here for seven to eight years," he boasts of the in-plant's seven employees. Nelson says if a manager wants to make his or her in-plant a respected fixture within an organization, service is the key. But the manager's relationship with his or her staff has a direct effect on how the in-plant is perceived by customers. "We have fun, and it's kind of loose, but everyone knows what I expect of them," he says. "And our staff is so well trained and well cross-trained." In other words, a happy shop is a productive shop. "I guess it's a small town thing," he laughs. "When a customer walks in they're met with smiling faces and knowledgeable people." As a result, Nelson gets a great deal of positive feedback from customers. "So I know my crew is doing an excellent job." Also convinced the atmosphere inside an in-plant directly affects the shop's relationship with its customers is Dave "Smitty" Smith, press supervisor for White Wing Publishing House and Press, a division of the Church of God of Prophecy. "Maybe it's because this is a church, but everyone here respects each other, everyone listens to each other, and I listen to them," says Smith of his 12-employee, Cleveland, Tenn., in-plant. "And that's the best skill I've developed here." Smith, who worked in commercial printing before arriving at White Wing, says the focus on listening to customers defines the in-plant's customer service. This tactic has worked so well that it has even brought in work from outside the church. |
Getting the word out about the in-plant's expertise can be tough, though, admits Fox. In a state university system, the administration is often hard to reach. He insists, however, that the quality of the in-plant's work is the best advertising.
Great Customer Service
But even when the whole company knows about the in-plant and upper management understands its benefits, it's still possible to lose business.
"You have to get to management what they want to hear," says Renn. "You can't just be in the business to do production. You report on how you're helping the corporation overall. You've got to get management excited about what you're doing."
To do that, he says it's important to have your staff become masters of the art of customer service.
"Be the printing expert. People love to hear 'How can I help you?' when they know there are no strings attached," Renn contends.
Additionally, having a rock-solid customer service plan can often turn a negative situation into a positive one, says Renn. He contends that if a regular customer disappears, a manager should call the missing person and find out what's bothering him or her.
"The reaction you get from people is just amazing," Renn says. Outstanding customer service skills, he adds, are the best way to make customers realize the in-plant is an invaluable source of printing expertise.
For instance, UCSD's Fox says one of the best ways for his 25-employee in-plant to present itself to customers as a source of print expertise is by acting as a liaison between them and the service bureaus that handle offset work. The in-plant is nearly all-digital, and does not offer offset printing. Instead, customers can simply tell the in-plant employees what they want, in plain language, and those employees will then discuss the technical details with the service bureaus—and negotiate a good deal for the customer.
The root of Imprints - Print Resources' success, concludes Fox, is the atmosphere of knowledge, service and trust it has created.
"We select staff with customer service experience for all areas of the in-plant," he says. "We work hard for this high level of service, and we've got a great team."
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