Printer, or Marketing Services Provider? —Michelson
A RECENT blog on PIworld.com by Margie Dana, founder of Print Buyers International, set off a firestorm of responses from printers... er, marketing services providers (MSPs). You can read her blog post and a few of the online responses on page 16 in this issue or, better yet, check out all of the comments at PIworld.com by clicking on the "Blogs" tab. Although Dana primarily expressed her displeasure with commercial printer Websites which try to hide the fact that their core competency is manufacturing printed products, the discussion opened up a broader issue. Is identifying oneself as a printer something to be ashamed of—a dirty word that relegates your company to competing for work based solely on price? Conversely, does positioning your firm as a MSP get you past traditional print buyer "gatekeepers" and, hence, the opportunity to discuss overall marketing strategies and solutions, not just print pricing, with corporate-level decision makers?
It's hard to make a blanket statement regarding the printer vs. MSP debate, since product offerings, client bases and local markets can vary widely. That said, masquerading as something you're not doesn't pay. And, to me, a printer doesn't meet the marketing services provider definition. Of course, many printers do now offer value-added, cross-media services such as variable data printing, database management, e-mail campaigns and analytics, personalized URLs (PURLs), Website design and the like.
Scott Dubois, of Reynolds DeWalt in New Bedford, MA, weighed in on the subject with some enlightening commentary. "I wish the so-called 'experts' would stop pushing MSP onto printers. There are such things as Marketing Services Providers, but they don't own presses. They have fully staffed departments (not one person wearing multiple hats), which include Market Research, Product Development, Performance Analytics and Trending, and Marketplace Strategy. Do you know of any printers like this? I don't know of one," he wrote. "Printers used to think their equipment defined them; now they think it is their 'services.' Silly them—buy a digital press, sign up for MindFire and then add digital printing, variable data and PURLs to a capabilities list. None of it matters any more than 40˝ offset printing if you don't explain (marketing) strategy and how you use it. Where I work, we consider ourselves a cross-media communications firm. It implies nothing we don't do and everything we do. It also lets us define a unique strategy for every client (what a concept)," Dubois concluded.
Or consider the insightful response from Jim Petritz, owner of Endwell, NY-based Carr Printing who—like many printers—is struggling to take his company to the next level. "You read so many articles about print being a dirty word, there are times you're tempted to enter into strategies that don't fit well with your strengths. As I spend money on Web-to-print solutions and digital technologies, I keep asking myself the following question: 'Can we grow and thrive in the future doing business as we always have based primarily on quality and customer service?' The experts would lead you to believe that the only way to succeed is to be an Internet-based company," he wrote.
With 30 years in the business, Petritz went on to list the guiding principals he developed: 1.) Return estimates in a matter of minutes or hours. 2.) Offer alternatives that will improve the project. 3.) Review the job once it is committed to make sure it's what everyone thought so, if adjustments are required, they can be done before the project runs into trouble. 4.) Communicate additional charges or changes in writing up front to allow buyers to make informed decisions. 5.) Communicate constantly throughout the production process. 6.) Be honest and up front about any changes or challenges that may occur during production. Calling the day of delivery or, worse yet, on the mail drop date, is a cardinal sin. 7.) Confirm shipment and delivery of the job. 8.) Get client feedback about your performance and quality on a regular basis.
These sound business practices apply—whether your company moniker is printer or marketing services provider. Either way, exemplary customer service is key to success.
Mark T. Michelson
