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5 VDP Truths
May 14, 2008

Woke up this morning to beautiful sunshine and a few thoughts about Variable Data Printing...

1. VDP is really, really, really hard to sell and is a bad, bad, bad purchase decision to make without proper preparation. The first thing to do is to focus on the customer and block out what you hear, see, and read. Know the questions to ask.

2. There is no untapped market for VDP as the vendors and consultants would like us to believe. Is it there? Yes. However you need to find it, educate it, and harvest it first.

3. The average printing sales rep has zero interest in selling VDP. It takes too long, pays too little, and requires a skill set that they simply don't have. Therefore, maybe you don't want to use sales people at all. Hmmmmm.

4. Client data is either non-existent or spectaculary insufficient. That is a huge, huge problem....and an opportunity as well.

5. Even with all of 1-4 being true, there IS an opportunity for the marketing-focused communication-savvy printer to benefit from VDP. It takes a strong set of vertical markets, a good storyteller, and patience, but you CAN do it.
Here's my unsolicited advice: Do the free things first, the cheap things second, and then spend the money. A checklist might look like this:

• Free: Talk to customers and peers; Read  up; Think
• Cheap: Attend a PIA or PODi event
• Spend: Invest in prepress equipment and manpower first, VDP capable equipment second

You're welcome.

Posted by Bill Farquharson on May 14, 2008 | Comments (1)