MU Printing: Scrap the Online Job Quotes

With so many in-plants providing online job submission via their Web sites, they may be finding that online price quotes work against them; customers generally don’t understand how job costs change depending on volume and method of printing. Here is how Printing Services at the University of Missouri-Columbia approaches this issue:

“If you offer Web submission of jobs and provide both offset and digital (toner) printing, giving prices on your Web site could be a problem,” notes Rick Wise, director of Printing Services. “We choose to leave prices off our Web site. We do show firm pricing for specific quantities of business cards, letterhead and envelopes. But we do not calculate a price for a digital or offset order as that particular order is being placed.

“Naturally customers can request estimates for any job (offset or digital) to be placed later. That is never discouraged. And if they submit a job that is going to be produced offset, we do an estimate prior to placing it into production.

“Most customers just don’t understand the distinction between these two printing technologies. Digital/toner is a unit-priced model with limited variables. Offset is a sliding scale pricing model with many variables. So if a customer mistakenly places a digital order to be run offset, the price will be too high (too small a quantity for offset). The same is true of an offset order mistakenly placed on the digital side (too large a quantity for digital).

“We still like to have human contact with most customers placing orders. It ensures them getting the greatest efficiency we offer.”