What Makes Print Buyers Tick

What winds the clock for print buyers? Printing company executives who can answer that question, according to conventional wisdom, hold the keys to profitability and business success, but the truth is more complex. A definitive answer eludes most printers because there are many more solutions these days, and they're always changing.

A recent survey of 250 advertising agencies, sponsored by the Printing Industry Center located at the Rochester (N.Y.) Institute of Technology, revealed the top five factors that buyers consider when selecting a print services provider are, in rank order, dependability, quality, turnaround time, ease of doing business, and price (see facing page for the complete list).

Printing industry consultant Vincent Mallardi has studied the printer/print-buyer dynamic in earnest. Each year, he says, he interviews hundreds of print buyers; one of the questions he frequently asks is how they select printers. But, Mallardi adds, the results of his most recent effort were quite surprising to him.

"I was expecting that buyers choose printers based on their advertising and the individual salesperson, but mostly it was referrals from other print buyers," says Mallardi, who founded the Printing Brokerage/Buyers Association, International (PB/BA). Those results led him to conclude that most print jobs that printers win have nothing to do with their sales effort.

"I've also found that there's a real adversarial relationship existing between printing management and print buyers, meaning the end customer," he continues. "I think this situation has cost the industry work."

Even more surprising, he says, print buyers often tell him they avoid using print because it's just too aggravating and frustrating to buy.

"Obviously the cure is for print producers and the consumers of print to form more collegial relationships, but I don't see that happening," says Mallardi. "At almost every meeting I attend at a printing company, I sense that for most managers, customers are a necessary evil."

In turn, he says, buyers aren't treated civilly during press checks, many times forced to wait for hours in uncomfortable quarters.

Print buyer Jennifer Hoff says her print buying practices aren't complicated. President of Hoff Communications, a multimedia advertising agency based in Lansdowne, Pa., she says, "I just want to know: What equipment does a printer have? What's the standard turnaround time? How do I send files?"

Hoff readily explains that she places print jobs based on a given printer's press equipment. "One printer doesn't fit all of my needs," she says. "My goal is to use the strengths of the printers I work with to my advantage."

"I think buyers want predictability, not only with proofs but with service," contends Suzanne Morgan, president of Print Buyers Online.com, Arlington, Va., an Internet-based educational community of print buyers. Morgan knows of instances in which buyers have selected the printing company that offered consistency in products and services over the printer with better quality.

In her view, treating clients consistently starts with understanding their unique individual needs and expectations. "A simple example of this is finding out how a print buyer wants to communicate on their work," Morgan explains. "One may prefer e-mail, while another expects a phone call."

This approach is important because she feels that creating differentiation today is less about the big things, given the leveling effect of technology, for example, and more about the little things. "Little things, like how quickly they receive invoices and if the invoices are always correct, can make a buyer either crazy or loyal," says Morgan.

Buyers also want to deal with printers that are willing to offer solutions to their business problems, says Morgan.

One great and welcome way is for printers to teach buyers about the latest trends and technology. "Buyers are starving for education because it's so difficult to keep up with rapid changes that are going on in the graphic arts," notes Morgan.

Linda Dickerson also wants to establish strong relationships with her printers and to be able to work on projects as partners. Dickerson, director of print production and purchasing for Meridian Communications, Lexington, Ky., says she relies on her printers to solve problems and research production options.

Above all, Dickerson says, she believes that building such relationships requires honesty. "If there's a problem with a job, I expect my printer to tell me so I that can fix it," she says.

In an effort to foster these relationships, Dickerson has narrowed her stable of printers. However, she continually evaluates possible new vendors to assess the price and service she receives from current vendors.

The top three qualities she looks for when selecting a print provider are, in descending order, quality, turnaround time, and price.

The key criteria that Bruce Kielar uses when picking a printer include that company's relationship potential, trust, technological expertise, and a competitive price.

"I have to know that they'll come through and deliver what they say and more," says Kielar, who serves as senior vice president and executive creative director for Roberts Communications, Rochester, N.Y. "I want my printers to be our partners and to be willing and able to help us solve problems."

Based on buyers' comments, there are numerous but important parts to the process of buying printing services that printers dare overlook only at their risk. Clear, steady communications from printers is a buyer requirement, reports Suzanne Morgan, who explains that a buyer should not have to be a pest to find out the status of his or her job in the plant.

"Yes, I know, a printer's intense focus on the final product sometimes distracts them from completing process steps on time," Morgan explains. "But at the same time, the shop has to understand that it's also important to deliver a proof on time."

Apparently, calling on a client without an appointment is a common but largely unwelcome practice. "A printer's sales representative should never stop by without an appointment, no matter the level or extent of the relationship," advises Morgan. "This practice, buyers tell us, is not respectful of their time and frankly is annoying."

Linda Dickerson feels so strongly about this practice that she refuses to see a printer without an appointment.