5 Tips to Evolve and Grow for Tomorrow’s Print Market

Ricoh’s neon pink toner enhances the creative possibilities for a wide range of print applications.

Today, just about every PSP wants to establish and maintain a reputation as a customer’s one-stop shop for results. But earning that reputation requires the right mix of people, processes, and technologies — and sound strategy. Here are five tips to help push your print shop forward:

Be ready to compete. To drive positive word-of-mouth and repeat business, you need to deliver positive customer experiences. Job quality, turn times, and understanding customers’ unique needs and pains all go into crafting positive customer experiences. Look for ways to quantitatively assess your ability to provide those experiences and aspects against the competition’s, from response rates to sales conversions. This will give you a picture of where your shop stands, as well as insights into ways you can play to your advantage in areas where you know you surpass the competition.

Ricoh’s 5th color station allows users to blend neon pink to achieve shocking oranges, add invisible red to secure promotions, use white to simulate metallics, and more.

Shape the way customers see you. You are what others believe you to be. Proactively approach customers — especially customers whom you’ve worked with before, but who may not have been back in a while — with a strategy or application to which they’ll respond. Show them pieces of exceptional quality you’ve produced in the last six months. Talk to them about wanting to understand their goals, so you can be a true partner that delivers on what they need, not what they request. Change the perception, and you will change the reality.

Five-color print is on the rise; rise with it. Color printing is becoming more widespread, and the pressure is on to stand out. Five-color print can help produce unique and eye-catching applications that capture audiences and entice print buyers. Regularly examine your color capabilities and how they compare in the market, and keep abreast of evolutions in color technology. Beyond knowing the color needs of your customer base, be willing to embrace hardware and/or software upgrades that will benefit you and your customers.

Offer more: expand your portfolio and leverage existing technology. Who are your customers today? Who do you wish were your customers? What are they buying elsewhere they can’t get from you? Additional services will increase your value to new and existing customers alike.

Market your operation. Today’s print market requires constant visibility. Create a web and social media presence to make it easy for customers to find and remember your services. Offer giveaways, such as calendars and capabilities brochures customers can keep on their desks. Join customer councils, conduct seminars, and host open houses and tours. Instill instant recognition so your customers think of you first when it comes to printing.

It’s a tough world out there. And with competition constantly looking to encroach on your turf, it’s up to you to make sure you stay top of mind. But you don’t have to go it alone. Leverage your peers, partners, and industry associations to stay informed, stay on the offensive, and stay ahead of the game.