By Ed Avis
Color graphics can be a lucrative business for a reprographics shop, but there are lots of details involved, from choosing the right equipment to marketing properly to getting the job done right. An APDSP panel discussion in February with Eddie Harper from Crisp Imaging and Joanne Underwood and Shannon Delk from Monster Color was packed with information from those experts. If you’re an APDSP member, you can view the recording of this webinar by clicking here to log into the Member Portal, then clicking on the “Reports and Recorded Webinars” tab on the left. This event is the second item on that list.
Here are three key take-aways from that event:
Sell Via Shop Tours
Among the best sales tools any graphics-focused reprographics shop has is its own shop. Delk explained that Monster Color has a full showroom of projects the company does and they update the projects regularly.
“Shop tours are very effective,” Underwood said. “You bring people in and show them the Zünd running and you got them. I don't know what it is. They love that Zünd. They hear the buzz of the routing bits.”
Underwood explains that many graphics customers are visual people who like to see and touch what they can get from Monster Color. “I can tell them 10 things that we do, and they retain one,” she said. “But if you bring them into your shop, and they're seeing all of these things, looking to see all these displays that I've talked to them about, they actually see them now they retain that a lot better.”
Harper said he has had the same experience with graphics customers at Crisp Imaging. “And the other thing too, is that at least what I've learned in my experience, is that you always want to leave your client inspired by the products that you offer at the end of the day,” Harper said. “So you give them ideas along the way for what they can use you for, especially through the shop tour. I find that works really, really well. Get them excited when they leave.”
Set Customer Expectations
Some customers have great ideas but don’t know how to execute those ideas in a printed project. It’s up to the reprographer to turn ideas into actual projects and ensure that the customer knows what to expect.
“We found out, the more you can give detail and information, the better off you're going to be. And they appreciate that too,” Delk said. “It's better to tell a customer up front, listen, what you're asking for is really not what you need for what you're going to get. And instead of just giving it to them and then them coming back three months later and saying, ‘This isn't what I expected. It didn't hold up, it didn't do this.’ So we try to giver them that information in detail.”
Being clear with clients at the beginning of a project protects you in the long run, Underwood added: “We're the experts, and we know what we're doing. The client has the vision, the idea, but don't let them set you up to fail. If something's not going to work, you got have the confidence to tell them it's not going to work….. because six months from then people don't remember that it was their fault and they were warned, it was going to be a disaster. They just remember it was a disaster. And that's how they tell the story. So word of mouth can be pretty bad for you sometimes. So just have the confidence to know what will not work and to back that up and to protect yourself.”
Do Site Surveys
“We've found that is absolutely essential to do site surveys on all the big projects. And we charge for those site surveys. That's essential,” Delk said.
Underwood explained that site surveys come in two levels. At first, someone will visit a site to discuss the client’s needs and view the site in general. Then, after the project is approved, an installer will visit to do a comprehensive site survey that includes measuring, checking all the surfaces that will get graphics, and confirming details.
Harper said his company also does that: “It will save you a monumental amount of money to make sure that the wall conditions are being reviewed properly. Doing the adhesion tests, making sure your measurements are correct. And then putting together a site survey package that is clear for your installer but also for your pre-flight team to understand what it is they need to do. That is critical to making sure especially large projects are done correctly.”
Remember, this was just a sample of what was discussed in this webinar. Log into the Member Portal and click on “Reports and Recorded Webinars” to see the whole thing. If you’d rather read a transcript of the event, email Ed Avis at ed.avis@apdsp.org and he’ll send you one.