Overcoming Fear Of The Network

In-plant managers share how they've convinced customers to leave hard copy behind.

By Mike Llewellyn

It's a shame some customers have to make it so difficult for a manager who's trying to make their lives easier.

For example: you know that sending a job electronically to the in-plant over the network is far easier—and faster—for customers. But still some of them insist on bringing you hard copy or dropping off disks.

You can't really blame them—they're not trying to make your life miserable. They're just afraid of using the network. It's your job to put them at ease.

One-on-one Interaction

Most in-plant managers that have become old pros at running an e-shop say good communication is the key to overcoming customers' fears of the unknown. Mike Schrader, manager of Printing and Publishing Services at Mercury Marine, in Fond du Lac, Wis., makes it a point to talk to customers whenever they drop off a hard-copy job in person.

"If they give us a hard-copy job, then we ask them if they knew that we could take it electronically, or that they can print it right to one of the DocuTechs," he reveals.

Give Them A Choice There's more than one way to get a "soft" job in the door, and most customers love to have choices. Make sure you explain to them the different ways they can send digital jobs to your shop. A high-tech in-plant like the graphic arts department at College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., is a great example. "We're pretty strong in computers here," says Manager Henry Roy, referring to the whole college. "And we've got a pretty highly regarded ITS department." To keep up with the computer-savvy campus, Roy says the in-plant encourages file submission using a variety of avenues—e-mail, Web-based submission, and posting files to a network server, among others. Another method is favored by Bob Hulett of Beckman Coulter, in Fullerton, Calif. Central Printing Services gets 99 percent of its jobs electronically, says Hulett, because the in-plant uses an Enterprise Document Management System (EDMS). "The company had it installed several years ago," he says. Hulett explains that the system allows his customers to submit a variety of file types from several different servers and remote locations, although the in-plant prefers PDFs. An extensive menu of options isn't always essential, though. For Kerry Mehle, of Moorpark Community College, in Moorpark, Calif., a nuts-and-bolts system has worked out just fine. "Most of our work comes in via e-mail," he says. Mehle says he encourages PDFs for larger files, but the in-plant is used to handling any file type that might show up in the in box.

If they're stopping by the in-plant at all, he says, chances are they had no idea there was an easier way. And once they learn they can print directly to the in-plant, says Schrader, they're hooked.

Meet Them Where They Are

Charlie Tonoff, manager of corporate printing at Highmark, in Camp Hill, Pa., takes it a step further.

"When we have a customer that we do work for on a regular basis, we tell them that we'll make a [network] directory specifically for them," he says. A "PC consultant" handles the software installation, Tonoff adds.

"So we literally go to them and set up their PC to access the folder," he explains.

Tonoff says the system is especially helpful for customers who submit large desktop publishing files. But for the folks who are just printing regular office documents, Tonoff encourages them to just send the documents as e-mail attachments.

No Such Thing As 'Too Big'

Size is a common reason customers don't want to send a job to an in-plant electronically—they're afraid it's just too big. And if you're using e-mail to accept all your jobs, that just might be the case.

To get a handle on the large jobs that come into her shop, Linda Grilz, associate director of printing and postal services at Pittsburg State University, in Pittsburg, Kansas, has set up an FTP (file transfer protocol) server to take in jobs from the school's resident graphic designers.

It's a much easier system for these customers, says Grilz, and they have been more than happy to send large PageMaker files through the server.

"We've had this system for four years," she says. "Before, they were bringing it down on hard copy or a disk."

Getting In The Advertising Game

But sometimes customers neither use the network nor drop off hard copy. They send jobs through inter-office mail.

To reach these customers, Rodney Brown, manager of the graphic communications center at the University of Delaware, in Newark, says he has had to start a back-to-basics marketing effort to get the word out about his shop's capabilities.

"We do flyers that we send out. We hold an annual open house—that's been a tremendous success," he says.

The open house was a big help in overcoming indifference to the shop's capabilities, says Brown, and it got his customers to pay attention.

The Benefits Of E-submission

If you promote electronic submission throughout the company, be sure to list the benefits that go along with it.

For instance, Bob Hulett, manager of Central Printing Services at Beckman Coulter, in Fullerton, Calif., says submitting PDFs can go a long way in easing a customer's mind.

"Because the documents are created as electronic documents," he says, "there aren't the accuracy problems associated with scanning."

Highmark's Charlie Tonoff adds that by submitting a PDF, customers can also be assured that the finished product will come out exactly as they intended—they don't have to worry about problems like missing fonts.

Another tip to share with customers is how easy electronic file submission can be.

"It's a convenience," says Kerry Mehle, graphic communications technician in the publications department at Moorpark Community College, in Moorpark, Calif. "And a lot of people are only just getting used to that."

Build A Better Relationship

In the end, bringing customers up to speed means maintaining a strong relationship with them.

"We've worked a very long time to develop a good relationship with the graphic designers," says Grilz, of Pittsburg State. "Now, they're like a feeder for me."

Mehle puts it this way: "Often, we assume it's just a natural thing to submit jobs this way. But for some it's not."

It's the in-plant manager's job to build the relationship that makes electronic file submission the natural thing for all customers.