Mastering the Customer Dance: How to Navigate High-Touch Print Clients

Learn how to meet the demands of high-maintenance, high-end, and high-volume accounts while managing the print production cycle.

Offering impeccable customer service is every print operation’s goal. Whether onboarding someone new or working with repeat print clients, the aim is to ensure the entire production process goes smoothly. While that’s the case for any job that comes through the door, some clients require, or demand, more time and attention.

To help you manage instances where unexpected or seemingly unreasonable requests come through, or when you just want to ensure high-end clients get the careful attention they want, print service providers (PSPs) in the field offer some tips and tricks for you to try.

This article will break down some of the common expectations and requests from these clients, how to balance varying needs and put out fires, and communication strategies to try.

Client Expectations

First, let’s break down some of the scenarios PSPs know all too well or can expect to encounter from time to time.

Joe Sheridan, owner and general manager of SpeedPro Des Moines in Grimes, Iowa, says the most common request he sees from high-touch clients is the infamous “semi-unrealistic turnaround times.” And on top of that, art files often come in late, which makes it even more difficult to manage expectations.

“As many in this industry are aware, signage/large format is the last item thought about, or it is put off to the last possible moment,” he says. “However, we would not get requests for rush jobs if we had not already demonstrated the ability to execute [them]. So, some of it is from your own making. Building relationships to help educate the best way to order is key to offset these demands.”

Those outside of print often don’t understand the full scope of what’s required for a print job. This lack of understanding is part of the problem when it comes to rush orders. “Even the most savvy partners sometimes forget we’re not printing out a piece of paper from their office printer,” Sheridan continues. “It takes time and talent to produce quality outputs. Some of the hard work to get a project done is rarely seen or truly appreciated until the praise at the end, but quickly goes away when the next project arises.”

And often these challenges can be exacerbated by other external forces, he notes, such as weather impacting freight and delivery. He says relationships with freight and logistics providers have been a key part of his business’ success and its ability to stay ahead of unforeseen issues.

Beyond the inevitable rush order, high-end and high-volume clients have high expectations for color quality and consistency. Quality and consistency are important for any job, but to ensuring these clients keep coming back, it is critical.

Carla Johanns, CEO and vice president of sales and marketing at Simpson Print, Bloomingdale, Ontario, Canada, says, “Ensuring color consistency across litho, wide-format and small-format platforms is critical for our brands. All of our wide-format presses are profiled the same, so there is no variation while ensuring we are able to meet deadlines with tremendous firepower and flexibility.”

Being a multi print platform manufacturing facility, Simpson Print must provide careful attention and manage “brand integrity across multiple platforms” — something Johanns describes as an operational commitment.

Balancing Varying Needs

Effectively balancing the different expectations and demands of high-touch clients can be just that — a balancing act, but there are strategies and tools PSPs can put in place to help.

Sheridan focuses on “specialized customer service,” meaning each customer-facing employee has their own book of business or client base. Through this approach, employees can form strong relationships with each client, knowing and identifying “their needs and patterns,” he says.

This approach not only allows deep relationships to form, but keeps SpeedPro in the loop on trends that come up within the different segments it serves — from retail and construction to events.

Looking at larger standard operating procedures (SOPs), SpeedPro Des Moines also has processes in place to keep the business running like a well-oiled machine. These include:

• Weekly project reviews with daily production meetings
• Pre-event or large project discovery/intake processes
• Post-event/completion reviews

At Simpson Print, Johanns and her team take a similar approach, offering a “fully integrated customer service approach through each state of the workflow.” Some key elements of this type of approach include:

• Support through multiple channels (phone, email, automated chat, and even social media)
• CRM solution(s) to keep customer data unified under one database, which improves productivity and customer interactions
• Cross-department communication
• Print management software with a customer portal, allowing PSPs and their customers to track jobs in the production cycle

These are just a few of the tools and approaches PSPs can use to keep up with the wide range of customer demands. Remember, leveling up your customer service and offering a personalized experience can differentiate your print business from the one down the road.

Communication Strategies to Try

Part of owning and operating a print business, or any business for that matter, is putting out weekly, or even daily, fires. For instance, there’s an unexpected change request from a client who already approved a proof, or they want a job done next week that requires two weeks.

No matter the scenario, PSPs need to handle clients with care while also being transparent. To keep clients informed and satisfied throughout the production cycle, Sheridan and Johanns swear by a few communication strategies:

• Give every project an internal team member to be the key contact. “They shepherd the project start to finish so that the customer has full transparency into the process,” Sheridan explains. “Having employees specialize and own a certain aspect of the business balances out the lift.” Johanns takes a similar approach, setting her team up as client ambassadors. From design and prepress to production and warehousing, there’s a point person at every step. “We ensure communication with regular and predictable cadence on all jobs and for all customers,” she says. “This allows us to be better equipped to handle, manage, and address same-day fires.”
• For certain high-touch projects, and after the client signs off on a quote, share project documents and checklists. “These forms allow for real time updates and make it easier to track some of the hyper-detailed or extensive high-end projects,” Sheridan says.
• Automate communication and provide updates and status changes as a job flows through production. While this isn’t currently in place at SpeedPro Des Moines, Sheridan hopes to get there soon, saying, “We envision this for our high-production run clients vs. high-end, detailed custom installation projects.”

Transparency and immediate remediation is how SpeedPro Des Moines works through unexpected issues. To building strong relationships, not only with clients, but with everyone in the supply chain, “Go out of your way to help others to build as much social capital as you can, so that when you need a favor or some grace from a partner, you have that history to fall back on,” Sheridan advises. “If you always work to make things right, then people will remember how you helped them, regardless of fault.”

Allowing buffer days and not overstretching production can also leave room for the rush order or allow time to fix a broken machine. Proper planning means you can still meet your deadlines.

For a business like Simpson Print, which has been serving clients for 60 years, operational quality control is down to a science, thanks to the SOPs put in place. While it is a print business, Johanns says it’s in the business of continuous improvement more than anything. That mindset allows the company to evolve as its clients do — staying 10 steps ahead of their needs and demands.

While developing and fine-tuning SOPs can seem like overkill, if you’re a small- to mid-sized operation, it’s well worth the time. “There is a perception that perfection will kill a shop’s ability to efficiently produce, however, if we have the proper systems and pre-planning in place, we should be overdelivering for customers every time,” Sheridan stresses.