Finding the Digital Color Rainbow

WE’VE ALL seen impressive digital color printing statistics. For example, in 2006, for the first time ever, U.S. companies spent more on production digital color printing than on digital black-and-white, according to Caslon & Company’s 2008 PDP Market Analysis Report for North America. By 2008 the retail value of production digital color printing rose even further to $13.5 billion—65 percent more than digital black-and-white. In fact, while black-and-white volumes are declining, digital color printing is increasing at a rate so great that Caslon predicts the retail value will more than double in just five years.

But where is this digital color rainbow? And, how do in-plants get to the gold at its end?

The good news is, if you look in the right places and bring the right tools, you really can find the rainbow and follow it to the pot of gold. It will take some preparation, though. Getting your facts straight before you start will ensure you’re ready to take advantage of the opportunities.

Begin by compiling a list of your digital color printing capabilities. Be sure to include print quality, media weights and sizes, UV coating, cutting, finishing and design services. Create a sell sheet describing these capabilities, along with a sample portfolio. Be prepared to talk about the benefits of using your in-plant such as cost, customer and technical service, responsiveness, etc.

Next, compile a list of “what if’s” describing capabilities of possible in-plant investments. For example:

• What if you had production digital color printers that handled heavy or oversized stocks?

•What if your digital color quality was better?

• What if your digital color quality was a lot better?

• What if you offered personalization services? PURLs? Multi-channel marketing?

• What if you offered design services?

Just list the top five or six areas where you are considering investing. You’ll use these when you talk to potential clients to determine what enhanced capabilities you will need to get their work.

As an example, many in-plants use departmental printers because they only need 20,000 to 30,000 color impressions per month. Unfortunately, if they can only provide office quality color and can’t handle postcard suitable stocks, they will never be able to get the larger jobs. Alternatively, they might find that not enough jobs require ultra-high quality to justify a high-end printing investment.

What are you doing right now?

Now, look at the color work that is already coming into your shop. As always, start by asking yourself if it is being done on the right equipment. Then, if you are outsourcing any of it, consider what investments you would need to make to bring that back in. Remember, the margins on digital color are far higher than on black and white, which translates into more potential savings for your organization. For example, one of our in-plant customers realized a 50 to 75 percent savings on the digital color work the shop brought back in-house.

What are you missing from your color customers?

Contact your existing color customers to find out what other color work they send out and why. These customers don’t need to be convinced to use color, they need to be convinced to use your in-plant. It’s very likely that they have a perception of your capabilities that typecasts you so that you aren’t considered for other jobs. Again, be sure to talk about your potential investments and their effect on these sourcing decisions.

What black-and-white work should really be color?

Sit down with major clients doing monochrome work and explore the costs and benefits of adding color. There are numerous studies available on the effects of color on motivation, participation, learning and retention. Changing an entire black-and-white manual into color might be cost prohibitive, but adding color to key pages may have a powerful impact without breaking the bank. Documents with a mix of black-and-white and color pages can now be cost effectively printed on color presses. Be innovative and review how documents like these are being used and how the right application of color might make them more effective.

What internal customers are you missing?

Seek out the internal departments that produce color documents but don’t use your in-plant at all. Who is doing marketing, recruiting, customer relations or training? Are you an educational institution with alumni relations, alumni giving, athletics or community relations? Who else are you missing? Step back and look at the documents your company, agency or school is sending out to customers, students, staff or constituents. What are you missing?

Departments like these generate a lot of color materials. Some departments might do the design work and outsource the printing. Others might outsource the entire design and production process. Help them understand what you can offer and how you can save them money. There is a fascinating inverse relationship between advertising and the economy: The worse your sales are, the more (and more effectively) you need to advertise. Think about it and you’ll see it makes sense. Color direct mailers are often an effective way to advertise. Personalized color mailers are even more effective. Saving money, while producing documents that deliver better results, is something that will catch your customers’ attention.

The answer you provide to these departments, however, is not about printing, it’s about getting increased response rates, improving learning and getting better results. To talk with these organizations you will need to understand their goals and be able to brainstorm solutions to improve the effectiveness of their documents. You should highlight your services, emphasize your security and underscore that your success in the volatile printing industry is directly tied to the same business as your client (i.e. you’ll be around just as long as they are).

What about insourcing?

Insourcing sounds very exciting and it can be highly lucrative, but it is last on this list for a reason. For all the other job sources mentioned, you have advantages over external print providers. You have better access to your customers. You have shared goals. You have more data security. You can probably offer cost savings.

When you insource jobs you’re on equal footing with your commercial competition. You’ll have to find customers, sell your services and make a profit. You might also have to be careful with ethical concerns. A government agency insourcing commercial work might be competing with the very constituency it is supporting. Schools and government agencies are thus often limited to insourcing from other public institutions. In all cases, while insourcing revenues are appreciated, insourcing also raises questions among senior management about why investments are being made in non-core businesses.

That being said, insourcing can be a valuable addition to your volumes and to your revenues and can be a valuable way to generate enough volume to justify needed investments. Hospitals often have medical centers with doctors’ offices and other related facilities that need brochures, pamphlets and other color materials. Schools and community colleges can often leverage services with each other and with local governments. Use the same techniques you used on new internal customers with these external accounts. Sell solutions that can help them be more effective while saving money.

There really is color volume out there and you can capture it—if you have the right capabilities and you proactively approach the right people. Price sheets and mandates are not the answer; preparation, hard work and solution selling are.

Be sure to start with the areas where you have advantages first. You’ll find that, along with the selling experience you’ve gained, having digital color references will help you win the tougher clients. In the end you’ll be able to spot the color rainbows and capture the gold. IPG

Greg Cholmondeley is segment marketing manager for Ricoh Americas Corp. An expert in production printing environments and solutions, he is responsible for in-plant marketing for Ricoh Americas’ Production Printing Business Group. He brings 25 years of engineering, systems architecture, solutions development and industry marketing experience to this assignment. Greg can be reached at Greg.Cholmondeley@Ricoh-USA.com