Teach Customers To Want It

In-plants know the benefits of print on demand; customers need some coaching. You must demonstrate the advantages if you want to win them over.

TRADITIONAL PRINTING is like a buy-three-get-one-free special: It's a great deal—if you needed 400 documents; it's not really so great if you only needed 100, because now you have 300 you probably can't use, and you still have to store and manage them.

In-plants know the advantages of print on demand (POD) by heart: more timely information, lower storage expenses and drastically reduced waste. Customers are not quite as well versed in these matters. It's up to in-plants to promote the benefits of POD from the customer's perspective.

Carlos Baez, graphics services manager of the National Safety Council, promotes his production facility's POD capabilities by spending at least one day a week in the corporate office meeting with customers.

"I meet personally with users to explain how they can use our new services to improve the quality and appearance of documentation," he says. "Installing new technology is just the first step; educating customers is equally important."

Talk to customers from their perspective. Examine the business reasons in light of human factors. Many people still get a comfortable feeling from having stacks of catalogs or brochures in the office. Why?

• Quick turnaround is one reason. Employees like the security of knowing that if an urgent call comes in, they can send out five or 10 manuals that day.

• Economics are also important. It may be easier for an employee to justify a project with a low unit price.

• Paper is a security blanket for many employees. They feel more comfortable if they can see or touch important documents.

• Tradition is also part of it: "It's always been done this way."

Explain Your Capabilities

Taking customers through a concept of POD will illustrate how deadlines can be met more effectively while managing to the lowest levels of inventory and waste. Explain to customers that you can offer same-day service for many types of documents by keeping their files on-line. If same-day service is important to a customer, help him or her design materials that you can confidently produce within a 24-hour time period.

It's often necessary to describe the economics of print on demand. First, the total dollars spent, or overall budget, is more important than the per-page charge. Instead of printing 2,000 manuals at a cost of $3,000, a user can print 200 for just $375. While the per unit charge may be 20 percent higher, the customer can update the document frequently—and there's little waste.

It's human nature to look for a bargain. It's your job, as an in-plant manager, to explain that lower per-page charges are not a bargain if the documents become outdated and end up in a recycling bin. The waste inherent in a larger order (analysts' estimates average 10 to 15 percent) makes the net cost per page almost even. What customer would want to pay a large up-front charge for products they might not use, when they can pay as they go with little or no premium?

Paper's Legacy

Users' love affairs with paper continue unabated. Today, however, most users create documents electronically and output them on laser printers. The letters, memos and reports employees produce are, in effect, printed on demand.

In-plant managers can ask customers if they keep 10 or 15 paper copies of every single document on their computer. If they don't, then ask why they would want the in-plant to store dozens of paper copies of similar documents.

The last aspect is reference selling, a powerful and subtle motivator. Most employees want a service that's been proven on someone else's projects first. It's time to promote your successful application of print-on-demand technology.

Create a flyer with quotes from your customers that describe timely turnaround, flexibility, rapid revisions and other hallmarks of this thriving technology. Let customers define which applications are the most appropriate for on-demand printing—those where information quickly becomes outdated and those that require frequent revisions.

This marketing tool spotlights your capabilities and your customers at the same time. Post the flyer in employee areas and insert it into all projects. You can create an ongoing series and feature a new customer and a new benefit every couple of weeks.

After all, the flyer is being output on demand.

Ray DiCenzo is manager, marketing and sales support for networked printing products at Danka Office Imaging. He can be reached via fax at (716) 784-1197 or via e-mail at:

rdicenzo@dankaoi.com