Comments on: A Mistake Was Made–Kill the Printer! http://www.billprintbroker.com/2009/05/a-mistake-was-made-kill-the-printer/ Printing, Publishing, and Observations Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:40:00 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 By: Richard http://www.billprintbroker.com/2009/05/a-mistake-was-made-kill-the-printer/comment-page-1/#comment-703 Richard Thu, 21 Jan 2010 08:10:18 +0000 http://www.billprintbroker.com/?p=1031#comment-703 Have you ever considered adding more videos to your blog posts to keep the readers more entertained? I mean I just read through the entire article of yours and it was quite good but since I'm more of a visual learner,I found that to be more helpful well let me know how it turns out. This is good...thanks for sharing Have you ever considered adding more videos to your blog posts to keep the readers more entertained? I mean I just read through the entire article of yours and it was quite good but since I’m more of a visual learner,I found that to be more helpful well let me know how it turns out. This is good…thanks for sharing

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]]> By: Liz Tiefenthaler http://www.billprintbroker.com/2009/05/a-mistake-was-made-kill-the-printer/comment-page-1/#comment-148 Liz Tiefenthaler Tue, 12 May 2009 13:12:30 +0000 http://www.billprintbroker.com/?p=1031#comment-148 Remember, it is called Graphic Arts, not Graphic Science! I own a printing company and our loyal customers will go to the mat for us. The ones that view print as a commodity, well I don't need them as a customer anyway. Remember, it is called Graphic Arts, not Graphic Science! I own a printing company and our loyal customers will go to the mat for us. The ones that view print as a commodity, well I don’t need them as a customer anyway.

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]]> By: Tom Frye http://www.billprintbroker.com/2009/05/a-mistake-was-made-kill-the-printer/comment-page-1/#comment-147 Tom Frye Tue, 12 May 2009 11:56:17 +0000 http://www.billprintbroker.com/?p=1031#comment-147 In my experience as a Quality Director for a folding carton company customers left for two reasons, one good, one bad. The good ones are the ones who leave for price reasons. They find a cheaper printer, and do so with every job they run. They fail to understand that using a printer involves finding the sweet spot, the buyer understanding what the printer can do and the printer understanding the buyer's requirements. The one and done customer never finds the sweet spot. The second reason customers leave is continued failure on the part of the printer to meet requirements. This is more problematic for the printer since he has probably lost a long time, valuable customer. Such customers leave because they are tired of excuses and a failure to take effective corrective action. No amount of credits and redo's can take away the sting of a missed product launch. Printers need to deliver on their long term commitments or be up front in terms of what they can and cannot do. In my experience as a Quality Director for a folding carton company customers left for two reasons, one good, one bad. The good ones are the ones who leave for price reasons. They find a cheaper printer, and do so with every job they run. They fail to understand that using a printer involves finding the sweet spot, the buyer understanding what the printer can do and the printer understanding the buyer’s requirements. The one and done customer never finds the sweet spot.

The second reason customers leave is continued failure on the part of the printer to meet requirements. This is more problematic for the printer since he has probably lost a long time, valuable customer. Such customers leave because they are tired of excuses and a failure to take effective corrective action. No amount of credits and redo’s can take away the sting of a missed product launch. Printers need to deliver on their long term commitments or be up front in terms of what they can and cannot do.

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]]> By: Tim Lloyd http://www.billprintbroker.com/2009/05/a-mistake-was-made-kill-the-printer/comment-page-1/#comment-146 Tim Lloyd Tue, 12 May 2009 08:34:36 +0000 http://www.billprintbroker.com/?p=1031#comment-146 Bill, great piece and very topical. As a customer publisher, I am often stuck in the middle, outsourcing the print of a magazine to a printer, on behalf of a client for whom I have managed the creative. I recently blogged on this myself - the need for clients to understand how to handle suppliers. Suppliers need to be looked after as you would a valuable client. Yes, there are plenty of printers around, but the most profitable and rewarding relationships are built up over time. If clients bully their suppliers from day one, it is only they who will lose out in the long-run. Bill, great piece and very topical.
As a customer publisher, I am often stuck in the middle, outsourcing the print of a magazine to a printer, on behalf of a client for whom I have managed the creative.
I recently blogged on this myself – the need for clients to understand how to handle suppliers. Suppliers need to be looked after as you would a valuable client. Yes, there are plenty of printers around, but the most profitable and rewarding relationships are built up over time.
If clients bully their suppliers from day one, it is only they who will lose out in the long-run.

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]]> By: Mark Prosser http://www.billprintbroker.com/2009/05/a-mistake-was-made-kill-the-printer/comment-page-1/#comment-144 Mark Prosser Tue, 12 May 2009 05:24:23 +0000 http://www.billprintbroker.com/?p=1031#comment-144 Well said Annmarie Scottson, I could agree more. Any good relationship begins with clear communication from both parties. Well said Annmarie Scottson, I could agree more. Any good relationship begins with clear communication from both parties.

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]]> By: Annmarie Scottson http://www.billprintbroker.com/2009/05/a-mistake-was-made-kill-the-printer/comment-page-1/#comment-143 Annmarie Scottson Mon, 11 May 2009 19:45:19 +0000 http://www.billprintbroker.com/?p=1031#comment-143 As a former production manager and now a print sales rep, the truth is that, as you have said, there are many reasons why publishers or companies are quick to blame the printer, "hate" a printer, or choose not to work with a certain type of printer. Way too long to go into here with my own "experiences" (jaded as they were) but if something does go wrong nowadays the person responsible for the project has much more pressure to "get it right or else" hanging over their heads and it is much easier to blame someone else than look at the bigger picture (and realize maybe the blame is shared or leaning toward the company). What I find disheartening is the thought that printers are a dime a dozen. While true to a degree, relationships between companies is what ultimately makes these types of issues easier to address. If you have a strong relationship with a publisher/printer, and errors are rare, if a major slip-up occurs hopefully each side will go in with a level head and work together to resolve the issue. When I started in publishing 22 years ago, that's how business was done. Nowadays, if you do encounter a company with a long-term vendor relationship it's a rarity. Personalities definitely make or break a relationship. If you know who you are dealing with, you make darn sure to respect their way of doing business and not throw your spin on things. That is by far the biggest turn-off for a buyer. How do you learn their personality? Study their company, know the "culture" and mission, and go in very neutral. From there, you will know very quickly who and what you are dealing with. If the clash potential will be too large to deal with, it's okay to walk away. I have given up certain accounts simply because the potential for conflict and blaming was way too large and it was apparent either within the first meeting or two, or after doing one or two jobs and "they just weren't satisfied enough" with the job though it came out fantastic. Bottom line, as you said, is that there are abberations in print, and there are always ways to work things out. Knowing your buyer upfront will help tremendously in deciding whether to walk into a minefield or a meadow, and knowing their personalities will help with conflict resolution tremendously. As a former production manager and now a print sales rep, the truth is that, as you have said, there are many reasons why publishers or companies are quick to blame the printer, “hate” a printer, or choose not to work with a certain type of printer. Way too long to go into here with my own “experiences” (jaded as they were) but if something does go wrong nowadays the person responsible for the project has much more pressure to “get it right or else” hanging over their heads and it is much easier to blame someone else than look at the bigger picture (and realize maybe the blame is shared or leaning toward the company).

What I find disheartening is the thought that printers are a dime a dozen. While true to a degree, relationships between companies is what ultimately makes these types of issues easier to address. If you have a strong relationship with a publisher/printer, and errors are rare, if a major slip-up occurs hopefully each side will go in with a level head and work together to resolve the issue. When I started in publishing 22 years ago, that’s how business was done. Nowadays, if you do encounter a company with a long-term vendor relationship it’s a rarity.

Personalities definitely make or break a relationship. If you know who you are dealing with, you make darn sure to respect their way of doing business and not throw your spin on things. That is by far the biggest turn-off for a buyer. How do you learn their personality? Study their company, know the “culture” and mission, and go in very neutral. From there, you will know very quickly who and what you are dealing with. If the clash potential will be too large to deal with, it’s okay to walk away. I have given up certain accounts simply because the potential for conflict and blaming was way too large and it was apparent either within the first meeting or two, or after doing one or two jobs and “they just weren’t satisfied enough” with the job though it came out fantastic.

Bottom line, as you said, is that there are abberations in print, and there are always ways to work things out. Knowing your buyer upfront will help tremendously in deciding whether to walk into a minefield or a meadow, and knowing their personalities will help with conflict resolution tremendously.

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]]> By: Preflight to save the printer | Markzware http://www.billprintbroker.com/2009/05/a-mistake-was-made-kill-the-printer/comment-page-1/#comment-141 Preflight to save the printer | Markzware Mon, 11 May 2009 09:52:36 +0000 http://www.billprintbroker.com/?p=1031#comment-141 [...] article on how designers and creators can better deal with their print-providers called, “A Mistake Was Made–Kill the Printer!” Firstly, I learned of this via Linkedin.com from a post to the PrintPlant [...] [...] article on how designers and creators can better deal with their print-providers called, “A Mistake Was Made–Kill the Printer!” Firstly, I learned of this via Linkedin.com from a post to the PrintPlant [...]

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]]> By: Jeff Bowe http://www.billprintbroker.com/2009/05/a-mistake-was-made-kill-the-printer/comment-page-1/#comment-140 Jeff Bowe Sat, 09 May 2009 13:39:51 +0000 http://www.billprintbroker.com/?p=1031#comment-140 "I’ve had customers love, love, love a certain printer, and other customers think that same printer is the scum of the earth. How could both perspectives be true? Obviously, they can’t." Actually, they are both right and you gave the reason--the client was part of the interaction and relationship. Just like the old story of the farmer and traveler asking about the type of people in the town, customers who are fair tend to like printers and customers who have the "off with head", win-lose, or 'all printers are alike' attitude, are the ones who tend to "hate" certain printers. Think about the truly professional buyers. They'll say, "we just don't use them, we prefer X" which is due to the relationship that has been built by X. I've mediated a lot of disputes as a former owner and now as a general sales training consultants, my clients ask me about their printing problems and seeing both sides, in the majority of the time the client interaction or communication was part of the problem. “I’ve had customers love, love, love a certain printer, and other customers think that same printer is the scum of the earth. How could both perspectives be true? Obviously, they can’t.”
Actually, they are both right and you gave the reason–the client was part of the interaction and relationship. Just like the old story of the farmer and traveler asking about the type of people in the town, customers who are fair tend to like printers and customers who have the “off with head”, win-lose, or ‘all printers are alike’ attitude, are the ones who tend to “hate” certain printers. Think about the truly professional buyers. They’ll say, “we just don’t use them, we prefer X” which is due to the relationship that has been built by X. I’ve mediated a lot of disputes as a former owner and now as a general sales training consultants, my clients ask me about their printing problems and seeing both sides, in the majority of the time the client interaction or communication was part of the problem.

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]]> By: Lori Pitts http://www.billprintbroker.com/2009/05/a-mistake-was-made-kill-the-printer/comment-page-1/#comment-138 Lori Pitts Sat, 09 May 2009 02:34:09 +0000 http://www.billprintbroker.com/?p=1031#comment-138 How does one go about becoming a print broker and how does billing work? How does one go about becoming a print broker and how does billing work?

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