Sell the Product, Not the Press

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In the commercial market, most buyers do not care about print specification

The average person who purchases print in today’s business environment doesn’t even know much about print specification. They do not buy print because they want to buy print or because print excites them. They buy print for a purpose. The right print items help them overcome business problems or improve business results.

  • Buyers purchase direct mail to improve the amount of prospects they have and increase their sales pipeline
  • They purchase display material to increase footfall
  • They buy POS material and packaging to improve sales.

So why do we sell presses purely on specification?

Naturally, printers are a very different type of buyer from their customers. However, if we make the whole conversation about press specification then this dialogue tends to get repeated down the line. Many printing companies are guilty of talking about their presses and about technical print issues to their customers, even though this rarely interests their customers. If we go down this route, everyone ends up in a commodity price conversation. The print purchaser ignores technical issues and simply buys on price. This price pressure is then passed to press sellers.

Channel partners have the opportunity to start a different type of conversation: one that will inspire both printing companies and the users of print.

Drop the jargon! If you’re still talking to customers about presses and technical print issue, it’s time to start a new conversation. Here’s how.

It’s time to start talking about what presses can create

You have the opportunity to develop inspiring products for your customers. Rather than tell a printing company about the features of the press, show them what they can produce with it.

It’s time to get your customers excited! Show them:

  • New brochure finishes that increase perceived quality
  • Groundbreaking packaging with the latest luxurious finishes
  • New options for marketing signage, display, and point of sale material, perhaps with cut-outs or different inks

This creates a different dialogue with printing companies. We are no longer talking about workflow. Instead, we are discussing what a press can achieve for a printing company’s customers. We are moving the conversation away from efficiency and over to how to make more profits from customers. That’s a better conversation for everyone.

https://youtu.be/mJLbgoj3l2c

You will find focussing on products starts a different conversation

You are also showing your prospects how they can achieve the same sort of conversation. You are showing them how to create more profitable sales. That makes a refreshing change for both sides. Creating products makes you a much more interesting business partner for many printing companies: it’s the sort of conversation that makes them choose you as their preferred customer. It’s a world away from the specification discussion.

Tweet: Sell the product, not the press: how to start a new dialogue with your printing company customers: https://ctt.ac/F4fbw+ via @XeroxPartners

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