Turning the Tables: Printer Education

It's a heck of a lot easier for print buyers to learn about printing than it is for printers to learn about buying.

For the serious print customer, opportunities to gain technical manufacturing knowledge are plentiful. They include trade conferences and association web sites, printing portals, books like the Pocket Pal and Getting It Printed, magazines and newsletters - and convenient visits to the web sites of just about every commercial printer. Even e-newsletters like Print Tips do their part in delivering a steady drip-drip-drip of print education.

Conversely, the printing industry has a tougher time getting to the heart of what their customers think, want, and struggle with. I know this because it is my business to open doors between the buyers and sellers. It's literally all I focus on.

Some printers are more interested in customer input than others. They do surveys, ask for feedback after jobs are delivered, and/or have formal programs in place that enable them to get a sense of how they're serving their customers.

I like the notion of a C.A.B., or Customer Advisory Board, too. Such a group can meet three or four times a year and have meaningful conversations with the management team of the printing firm. How many printers have such a board in place, I wonder?

There's been an increased interest in print buyers in the past two to three years. Major print trade publications have now added editorial content for buyers (some better than others). Major trade shows have initiated or increased their print buyer programming as well. Even drupa, the "biggest show on Earth" in the print biz, is adding a buyer segment this May, called the drupacube. That tells you something about the sudden interest in buyers.

Although most of the programming at such events are (or should be) educational for the print buyer, it is exceedingly eye-opening for the print seller, too.

Print manufacturers should be there, side-by-side with customers, to hear what's being taught to them. More importantly, they should be there to hear the comments, questions, and concerns expressed by the buyer audience. This is a no brainer - yet every year I get calls from printers inquiring about our annual print buyer conference, asking me, "Are there formal networking opportunities for me to approach (i.e., sell to) print buyers?" (Answer: no.) Memo to these printers: you have missed the boat.

Go to sell - and you'll get the cold shoulders you deserve.

Go to learn - and come away with insights about your market that you cannot get anywhere else.

In about a month, I'm going to Chicago to moderate a buyers' panel for the Offset & Beyond 2008 Conference from the Web Offset Association of PIA/GATF. I have hand-picked a panel of pros who buy different kinds of printing for different industries. I don't know them - nor they, me. I'm preparing a list of topics and questions for us to discuss. The audience will be print CEOs and other members of the management teams. What will the panelists say? Who knows! That's half the fun! There's so much opportunity for the audience, the panelists, and me, to learn what's on their minds and how their communications needs are changing.

The topics I choose for these panels are based on the thousands of emails I get from buyers and printers year-round, feedback from our annual buyers conference, and the discussions I hear at our local buyers' meetings.

These panels fascinate me. Individual panelists speak their minds. Anything goes. No two people have the same background or job responsibilities. Yet as a group, they express themes that are universal. It is an intense dose of printer education. You may not like what you hear, but you always come away a little bit smarter.

Comments? Talk to me at mdana@bostonprintbuyers.com.

©2008 Margie Dana. All rights reserved. You're free to forward this email to friends and colleagues: please do! However, no part of this column may be reprinted without permission from the author.

PBI Patron Xerox Premier Partners

"The Digital Dozen"

Johnette Mongelli, Senior Document Advisor for Xerox Corporation, presents practical tips for buyers in her article, "The Digital Dozen." Check it out to learn more about the value of variable data printing. You may reach Johnette at Johnette.mongelli@xerox.com.

Xerox is a Patron Sponsor of our 3rd Annual Print Buyers Conference. Thank you, Xerox!

Print Buyer Conference Update

September 11th - 12th, 2008

Nearly a quarter of our exhibit booth space has already sold out! Don't miss this opportunity to make an impression on your market of professionals who purchase or influence the purchase of print and related media. Reserve your booth before June 1 and save $500!

Go to www.printbuyersconference.com for details.

Questions on exhibiting? Please contact Barbara Graham at exhibitorinfo@printbuyersinternational.com.

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