Digital Original: Use the Latest Technology to Compete Effectively

For printers to compete, they have to know how to use the latest technology. Over the years, printers have had integrate their businesses with the Internet, email, mobile phones, texting, social media, and more. Video conferencing is the latest tool for printers to add. Every printer already has a computer and an Internet connection, so adding a video camera and headset is all that is needed to make sales calls, check proofs, and provide customer training without ever leaving the office and wasting time traveling.

I use video conferencing every day to deliver assistance and advice face-to-face to clients without leaving my office. Gotomeeting.com and Skype let me deliver information, training, and guidance with the same effectiveness as sitting in their offices. In fact, my company starts every morning with a video conferencing meeting with employees stretched around the country.

Everyone is doing it. Webcams are built into most of today’s laptop computers, tablets, and smartphones. Free services such as Skype, Facetime, and Facebook keep family members and friends connected, even if they're spread across the country. It even attracts older users who are watching their grandchildren grow up over a video conference.

It has obvious uses in the print shop. Prepress issues can easily be handled by video conferencing. Imagine your prepress staff being able to review a proof with a customer in real time without ever leaving their desk. How is a change going to look? The customer can see how the change will affect the layout and approve immediately. Getting bad files from a customer? A video conference can show the person who created the file how to fix it. You could even arrange for training sessions where your staff watches how the customer creates the file for print and then teach them how to do it correctly.

Sales Tool

Sales people are obvious users of video conferencing. Real-time interaction in the sales process can build a stronger business relationship with customers. Seeing a person’s facial expressions and body language also improves communications and makes meetings more personal. More interactive than a telephone call, video conferencing can be used to make presentations, show samples, or include experts on the call. The sales person can easily demonstrate the support the company can bring to the table. For instance, a graphic designer could sit in and hear exactly what the customer’s expectations are without leaving his or her workstation. This means graphic designers wouldn’t have to interpret messages from the sales people. Video conferencing can also reduce the time sales people have to travel and increase the geographic area a sales person has to cover.

Video even has an effect on search engine optimization and can put your website higher in the Internet rankings. Share a video created in a video conference on YouTube and see it help propel the website to the top of a search page. Some printers have even created their own YouTube channels that show the benefits of their different services, train customers how to correct common print problems, and include testimonials from satisfied customers. Even the smallest shop can look like a major player in the industry with the right videos online.

Printers will need experience using video conferencing to make them more effective. What will the customer see on your screen? Backgrounds, lighting, and audio can be controlled so you will make the best impression and look professional. Need a backdrop? What better way to demonstrate wide-format capabilities then to create an attractive background for your video? You’ll also need to consider the lighting and sound to avoid feedback and audio problems. The only way to get these answers is to practice video conferencing and learning what looks and sounds best.

My advice is to set up a video conference with family and friends and start using the technology. Gain experience in using the camera and headset. Control what your customer sees and hears. The Internet is shrinking the business world, and now video is making it even smaller and more personal. If you want to compete in today’s business world, you need to use all the tools you can. You just may turn into the next YouTube star.

John Giles is a consultant and the technology director for CPrint® International (www.cprint.com). He is the author of 12 Secrets for Digital Success and The DTP PriceList. He can be reached at 954-224-1942 or [email protected]. You can also find Giles on Twitter.com at @JohnG247 and Linkedin.com. His blogs can be found at http://johngilesiii.blogspot.com/ and at www.quickprinting.com. To order his books, visit www.crouser.com.