Using Data to Understand and Grow Your Business
The following article was originally published by Wide-format Impressions. To read more of their content, subscribe to their newsletter, Wide-Format Impressions.
The right print management system can mean the difference between success and failure.
How well do you know your own business? You might know what products and services sell well, but do you know your margins? You may have added new services in response to requests from customers or perceived market opportunities, but are you charging the right price for them? Should you even be offering those services?
As PSPs begin to take advantage of the print management software systems out there, and take a closer look at their workflows, they are often surprised at what they find. Yet many print organizations lack the skills or tools to tap into a wealth of knowledge that could be used to their competitive advantage. Print management systems are designed to help bridge that gap.
Typically, prior to finding a software solution, companies spend hours manually typing all of their estimates and emailing them to clients. This means little to no customer tracking, no central data repository for job history, and little knowledge of profit and loss margins for each type of job that they are running.
As your business grows, predicting inventory and supply needs for certain periods is important, as is the need for a central management system to help keep track of workflow progress. It is at this point where many print companies will generally begin looking for a print management system to help them manage their growing businesses.
All-in-one systems like PressWise (PRINTING United Booth 11357) help to analyze workflow to better track costs of production and provide valuable insights into the business, including its customers, profitability, and more.
PressWise, for example, provides the ability to create custom reports that examine things such as sales trends, inventory levels, staff productivity, customer order history, storefront activity, and shipping to get greater insight into company performance. Tools such as Job Costing can provide key data on each type of job that you run, letting you review items such as estimated costs versus actual costs-per-job so you can analyze areas of your workflow that may need improvement, pinpointing unprofitable products or inefficient processes.
According to Matt Huber, head of operations for a print and design company called Moxy Ox, says that once they started using a print management system, he realized what data could do for their bottom line.
“I have been able to adjust product pricing on items that we now know had ridiculously low margins,” says Huber. “We can also now focus on tracking what products are and aren’t moving, and make strategic decisions accordingly.”
All-in-one print management systems such as PressWise can provide you with valuable, real-time data about the performance of your shop, so you can analyze your workflow and highlight areas for improvement. Understanding the data will help you remain competitive and adjust accordingly. It will provide you with the insight and agility to make critical business decisions in real time, which can mean the difference between success and failure in today’s highly competitive print environment.
