Promoting Your In-plant

You can't just sit there waiting for customers to find you. They'll find the local quick printer first. Promote your in-plant. Here's how.

By MIKE LLEWELLYN &012;

"Upper management has a hard time understanding why we would need a sales staff," says Manager Russell Gayer.

It's a busy morning at Tyson Food Corp.'s Printing Services Division, down in Springdale, Ark. But Gayer says it could be busier—a lot busier.

"The company loses people over a period of time, whether they retire or find other jobs, or whatever," he says. "A lot of times the [new] person that comes in doesn't know what the in-plant has to offer."

A sales staff sure would come in handy.

We Have A What In The Company?

Like Gayer, many in-plant managers complain that some of their parent organization's employees are unaware of their shop's capabilities—or even of its very existence.

To corral those potential customers, managers must constantly promote their in-plants, letting people know, both verbally and through marketing materials, what services the in-plant provides. Sure, it seems just plain unfair for a shop with a limited customer base to have to advertise its services, but with competition from quick printers increasing, it has become crucial.

Some in-plants, like those at Louisiana State University and the Washington State Department of Printing, are fortunate enough to have dedicated marketing staffs. At others, the managers must take on this job, in addition to their many other tasks. This is where promotion often takes a back seat.

Get Everyone Involved

Keep in mind, though, that you don't have to go it alone. Get your staff involved. Explain to them how important it is to get—and retain —new customers. After all, one rude comment from a busy press operator to a customer and word will spread.

"Everybody—me, the receptionist, the delivery person—has to put their best foot forward when dealing with customers," says John Sarantakos, administrator of Printing Services for the University of Oklahoma. "Probably the most important component of our marketing program is the one-on-one contacts that we have."

Personal contact is priceless as a promotional tool, managers say. Many of them make a point of frequently visiting departments throughout the organization to increase their visibility. This is doubly important if your in-plant is located in a separate facility.

In downtown Chicago, Mike Compton, manager of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois Printing Services, visits customers every time he goes to the main office. This keeps him—and his in-plant—fresh in everyone's mind.

One in-plant fortunate enough to have a marketing staff is the U.S. Department of the Treasury Printing and Graphics department, in Washington, D.C. Director Melissa Hartman says her in-plant has a sort of modified sales force within the Treasury Department to make sure no one forgets about her shop.

"We have printing specialists within each bureau—the ATF, the Secret Service, Customs. They let the bureaus know what we can do, and they're responsible for getting the paperwork together and sending it over to us."

Gayer, at Tyson Food, doesn't have it quite so easy, so he's had to get creative. When it comes to promoting his shop, he says, "You can't just hit them once and forget it. You continually have to put stuff in front of them."

Right now, Gayer and his team are designing a pocket folder that will be distributed throughout the company.

"It's got business cards, staggered sheets inside the pockets that say things like 'About Us' and 'Services Provided," he says. "The company has expanded and now there are locations that don't even know we're here, so this is especially for them."

Open House = Open Wallets

Another way Gayer gets his customers to learn more about his shop is by inviting them in for an open house. For several years now, Gayer has invited staff from the various marketing departments to come and tour the facility.

"We had a 'bar' set up with punch and cookies and some handouts and giveaways," he says. "You get quite a turnover in the marketing groups, so it's best to do the open house bi-annually."

Open houses are also a big part of the promotional effort at the University of Oklahoma. Sarantakos plans several each year.

"We send out invitations to just about everybody. We have giveaways, food—people will always come if there's free food," he says. "The thing is, in-plants have a limited client base, so you can't lose any of the customers that you have."

Use Every Trick In The Book

"Promotion and marketing are a continual high priority," continues Sarantakos. And he's used just about every promotional method there is to make his shop known on campus.

"We've partnered with the development group to make some top notch calendars," he says. "We've partnered with student groups like the student union."

Sarantakos has also started doing promotions over the Web.

"We've had a Web page for quite some time," he says. "It's had all of our information on it, job pricing, etc. We've been able to take job tickets in online. But last year we implemented a system where you can typeset your own business cards and forms, etc. It's more cost effective for both sides. And you can order paper online, too," he says.

Sarantakos explains that it's important to maintain a high profile both on campus and within the administration.

"My direct boss and I have a good relationship," he says. "I keep him very well informed. Any positive things we can pass up along the line to the vice president and the president, we do."

One major promotional tool has been the in-plant's awards in the In-Print contest, sponsored by IPG and the International Publishing Management Association.

"We get a lot of mileage out of them. We've made duplicates of the plaques and put them up. Plus, we've gotten write-ups in both the staff newsletter and in the student newspaper," he says. "We try to make sure that we're a big part of the campus."

When the in-plant receives compliments, don't keep them to yourself. Broadcast them.

"We have a 'kudos board' where we post appreciative customer feedback," says Wes Friesen, manager of Billing and Remittance Services at Portland General Electric, in Portland, Ore. "Plus, we have a picture at the front of all of the employees in the shop so that people can put a name to a face. That has been pretty effective as well."

It doesn't hurt to show some gratitude to customers either, he adds.

"For our best customers, we'll send out thank you cards and gift certificates to Starbucks," Friesen says.

One promotional tool that many in-plant managers have found to be effective is a newsletter. Bob Lane, assistant director of Document and Printing Services for Arizona State University, in Tempe, has been producing a full-color, 11x17˝ newsletter called "The Source" since 1995. It has been so effective, he says, that other university departments asked the shop to design and print newsletters for them (see sidebar).

They Can Do That Too?

Hartman, from the Treasury Department, focuses her promotional efforts on getting the word out about her shop's new services.

"We're moving more into digital file submission," she says. "We've got customers coming from several different buildings, so we're trying to make it easier for them to just send their work in electronically."

To market this new service, Hartman plans to use the shop's Web site, as well as the in-plant's newsletter. She has also begun promoting her shop's newest on-demand capabilities with a color marketing piece.

Friesen, at Portland General Electric, suggests using company e-mail to spread the news about new capabilities.

"We just started doing CD burning and walk-up scanning, and that's how we got people to learn about it," he says.

Be A Good Listener

Hartman says that despite her in-plant's marketing efforts, she still has a problem with potential customers remaining unaware of her shop. To correct this problem she is developing customer response surveys. Not only will they provide valuable feedback on customer satisfaction and expectations, they will let her know just how many employees are unaware of the in-plant's capabilities.

"We're going to be sending it out electronically," she says.

As with any type of marketing, though, managers have to tread a thin line, says Bob Lane, at ASU; it's easy to go over the top.

"Marketing is a very high priority," says Lane. "But if we get too aggressive, folks will say that the amount of money that we're spending on marketing could be applied to reducing the price of printing."

He says that putting up neon signs over a campus copy center boosted sales by 30 per cent in one month, but soon afterward the dean demanded that the signs be removed.

"We're supposed to be a service center," says Lane, "and not behave as a Kinko's or other copy shop would."

So while quick printers may have more neon than in-plants, managers should be just as dedicated to promoting their shops as other businesses are if they want to stay healthy.