Personalizing Your Service

"Convergence" is the new buzz word in the printing industry as trade shows now place a variety of printing segments under one roof so printers can see new possibilities for additional revenue. Maybe selling a larger variety of print services will make a printer more profitable, but shouldn’t you start selling something that you already have?

Success for printers comes from getting in front of customers and explaining the benefits of the products and services the printer can offer. Customers won’t know how a printer can help them if they are never told. Before you write that check for that new gizmo, make sure your customers and prospects know what you can do for them.

Personalized Printing

Variable data printing has long been touted as the next big thing, but few printers go beyond using it to address envelopes or add a name to the salutation. Most printers already own software and equipment that can personalize text and artwork in a dynamic, audience-of-one document. Adding more personalization to a printed piece can dramatically increase response rates and make it more valuable to the customer. It can allow the message to better resonate with customers, enhance the overall customer experience and improve the efficiency of customer communications.

Personalized printed messages can target information such as demographics, location and life events. It is a powerful tool, especially for anyone asking for money or selling a product or service. Many businesses already maintain historical data records of customer interactions that can be exported to a printed piece. A customer data platform as simple as a Quickbooks database or a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system can be the springboard for powerful marketing information.

One of the biggest stumbling blocks in personalization is that many smaller companies don’t know where to start. Customers don’t buy it because printers haven’t shown them what can be done or spent the time to train the customer to provide the right database information and files. Printers must take time to demonstrate and teach customers how to provide their data to increase the value to their marketing pieces including supplying printed examples of how the piece will look.

A printer successful with variable data printing and personalization shows qualified prospects samples of how personalization works. They provide a free assessment of the customer’s database, including correction and preparing data for print. They review the data for the customer, demonstrate how to properly construct and export the fil, and print a couple of samples using the customer’s data. They eliminate the fear the customer has about submitting data and get the customer closer to saying yes to an order. Providing this simple service also allows them to demonstrate their expertise in variable data printing. They find this technique works especially well with small non-profit fundraising companies.

Printers can charge more for personalization in printing than a static print job because of the increased results most users have. It looks complicated and expensive to customers, so it automatically adds value in the customer’s mind. Taking the time to talk to the customer about the data they already collect, how to format it properly and then spending time to show them how easy it is to export will help differentiate a printer from their competitors. 

Printers need to review their internal processes for accepting data files for variable data and personalization. Does the prepress staff have the tools to clean up and correct customers' data files? Are the key digital operators trained to import the data files into the templates? Is the most efficient software being used? Are there instructions on how the customer should submit data files? Does the printer’s own marketing material use VDP and personalization? Does the salesperson have marketing collateral that can be used to demonstrate the advantages of personalization, and can they describe the benefits of personalization?

Companies with marketing departments are looking for VDP and personalization support. Other companies would use it if they knew it was available. Don’t miss your chance to build your business with tools you already have.

Got a question? John Giles is a consultant for the printing industry and welcomes calls and questions from readers. John works with Tom Crouser and CPrint International to help printers prosper. They are currently accepting new clients. He is the author of The DTP PriceList that is included in the 2019 Crouser Pricing Guide found at www.cprint.com. If you have questions about making your printing company more profitable, contact John at 954-224-1942, [email protected] or [email protected].