Are you important?
If you haven
I was at an industry trade show in the United States a couple of months ago. Almost by accident, I became involved in a discussion about what printing customers think is the most important thing when dealing with a printer. The usual list was thoroughly discussed: service, quality and, yes, price. Eventually we got into a further break down of printers’ knowledge, turn around time, knowing your customer, and range of services. The idea of niche markets and offering non-printing services were thoroughly discussed, or better said, beaten to death. Then one of the quieter participants piped up with, “is it not really about being important to your customer?” This is where the discussion got interesting. Comments and ideas started getting thrown around.
In an era of ever-increasing price competitions, when printing seems to be treated like a commodity, how can you be important to a customer? The fact was pointed out that for a lot of printers, the 20% to 80% rule applies. Namely, 20% of your customers make up 80% of your business. To those 20% of your customers, you are probably important. (If you are not, you will be in trouble soon.) The question is figuring out why you are important to those customers.
How do you tell if you are important to a customer? You don’t have to be the lowest on every job. The customer looks at you as a resource, not just as another printer to send for quotes. You are asked for your ideas on a new project, or a current problem they are having. The customer is receptive to new ideas that printers present them. (Something few in our industry do.)
An example outside of the industry was added to the discussion. The difference between the American and the Japanese car companies is that Americans demand their suppliers lower costs by x% or lose the business. (Commodity/supplier mentality.) However, the Japanese companies look to their suppliers to find ways to reduce cost and/or improve the product. They even tell their suppliers they have to work with them in designing a car to improve the product and reduce costs. Guess who gets the good supplier ideas?
Toyota, which is forecast to become the world’s largest car company in the next four to five years, even has a training program for their suppliers on how to come up with better ideas and also how to reduce costs.
The group tossed out a number of examples of American printers that have become “important to their customers,” Quad Graphics being the most notable. I had a number of Canadian examples: Davis + Henderson to the chartered banks; Hemlock to customers that want award-winning quality; and Friesens to a lot of book publishers. The more integrated a printer is with their customer, the more important they are. Something Data Business Forms (The Data Group) has been very successful at.
Lyman Henderson’s comment comes to mind: “Customers don’t buy printing, they buy what printing can do.” Which, translated into the question of how important are you to your customer, means how important is what your customer is trying to accomplish with printing? If their goal is not important, than price probably is. When it is important, one goes with the best. When it is not important, one goes with price.
Unfortunately, I had to leave for a meeting on the show floor before the discussion was over. I have to admit the question of how important you are to your customer does tie a lot of other concepts together. The ideas of knowing your customer, being part of their business, making it easier to do business with them, and being looked upon as a consultant all fit into the idea of being very important to your customer.
Alexander Donald is the publisher of Graphic Monthly Canada.