IPMA 2015: An App-solute Success

adding services to fill them. His in-plant has also become a dealer of promotional products, and is bringing in $700,000 a year from this.

During that session, Ciardi showed off her strategic plan: a three-ring binder packed with data on the cost of ownership of her shop’s equipment, budgeted hourly rates, the in-plant’s mission and vision, pricing comparisons, jobs won and lost by the in-plant, the pro’s and con’s of in-house printing, and more—all detailed and waiting for the next challenge to her in-plant’s value. She recommended every in-plant put together such a book and have it ready.

Yet another panel at the conference brought together Paul Bethel, of BCBS of Louisiana, Robert Cisneros, of Farmers Insurance, and Chris Donlon, of Kohler Corp. They talked about the importance of cross training, empowering employees to make decisions, providing great customer service and more.

Greet Customers as Friends

Marketing and customer service were recurring themes at the conference, starting from the very first keynote speaker, Patrick Henry, who—in between strumming humorous songs on his guitar—stressed that to inspire loyalty, in-plants must greet customers as friends and create “rememberability.” He advised them to adopt an “extra inch mentality,” noting that anything you do, you must be willing to sign your name to it. Don’t have a “point-the-way mentality” (i.e., pointing to a sign instead of actually helping customers), but rather adopt a “lead-the-way mentality,” which will spawn lifelong customer loyalty.

In another session, Tammy Slone, of Cedarville University, related how her in-plant has developed partnerships with various departments on campus, the most vital being the relationship with marketing. Since marketing is the guardian of the school’s logo, the in-plant is helping marketing ensure the logo is used properly by offering discounts for work that passes through the designers in marketing before reaching the in-plant.

An in-plant’s continued relevance, Slone noted, stems from how vital their role is in conjunction with the mission of the parent organization. Building relationships is the best way to remain relevant. It also allows the in-plant to discover the unmet needs of these customers.

In a session about marketing the in-plant in a K-12 setting, Erica Derrington, of Olathe Public Schools, talked about having open houses and face-to-face meetings with customers. Others in the audience shared their ideas for building customer relationships.

In his lunchtime keynote session, Foley discussed the crucial need for in-plants to market their services. YouTube, he revealed, is the number two search engine. Take advantage of this and create videos showing off what you can do, he said. When a customer thanks you for a job well done, make a video testimonial of them to share their satisfaction with others.

Foley urged in-plants to stop selling a commodity (print) and transform their businesses to better respond to customers’ changing needs. Cross-media marketing, digital asset management and variable data printing should all be in your sights. He stressed the need to think differently and keep your eyes and ears open for new opportunities. But before jumping into a full transformation, make sure to create business, marketing and financial plans, he advised.

In some sessions, managers talked about how they had transformed their operations to add more value. Todd Graham, from Delta Dental of Michigan, described how his in-plant improved its workflow, worked to control costs and repaired staff/management relationships. He also described future changes, like implementing Web-to-print, improving customer ordering and moving to a chargeback system.

Marmon, with the City of Boise, related her in-plant’s experiences after a consultant was hired to review the copier situation at all city locations. After reducing the number of devices from 545 to 380, she tracked a 6 percent reduction in pages printed and a 24 percent cost reduction for the city.

Outsourcing Boosts Relevance

Abbas Badani, of the Pennsylvania State University, related how the e-commerce print procurement site he created has improved his in-plant’s strategic relevance, while cutting costs and providing more transparency. All vendors must bid electronically through the PSU Print Portal, including the in-plant. Jobs are awarded based on which vendor offers the best value. The Portal tracks job status, shows job price history and scores vendors on pricing, service, quality and on-time delivery. Because the in-plant has the opportunity to see all the work, he said, it can position itself to deliver value where it can be most effective. The portal provides a platform for the in-plant to talk to customers, understand their needs and partner with them.

The conference included technical sessions as well. Some covered mail piece design, implementing Web-to-print, intelligent packing systems and copier fleet management. In his session on “technical aspects of printing every print manager should know,” Brad Johnson, of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, led an animated discussion on various topics, such as color management, inkjet technology, automation and time tracking, to name a few.

In the end, though, the 2015 IPMA conference will be remembered not so much for the educational sessions as for its enhanced focus on networking, whether through the conference app and new website community or through the many opportunities for face-to-face conversation during the event.