So there’s a print job in your pipeline. You do the usual ring around of the usual printers, to bring in two or three quotes. But then you decide, on a whim, to request a quote from a printer you’ve heard about but haven’t used before. The results are surprising.
Instead of seeing your brief repeated back at you, along with the expected numbers, your outside-the-square printer has come back with ‘secret sauce’ - several alternative and innovative ways to approach the job. Each of these alternatives is up to 20% cheaper than the mainstream printers’ quotes, but all of them will still produce a quality outcome.
This story isn’t fiction. It’s based on a recount from marketing specialist Trevor Moodie, when he was CEO at Robbins Brandt Richter.
“We were never purely price driven when choosing a printer, however we were always concerned about getting value for our clients – that meant right price, great quality and good service. We’d quoted this particular job with our regular core printers, and the cost was looking a bit up there. So our print manager dug into the market a little deeper and requested a quote from a second tier printer. They came back to us with a bunch of different ways to approach the job, saving money but without compromising quality. They got the job, and they also inspired a changing of the guard for our core printers.”
Trevor’s experience backs up what we know at Soar. Printing is not a commodity; it’s both a science and an art form, which means one printer’s approach can be radically different to another.
Here are our tips for getting a print quote with secret sauce:
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Don’t let your printer know how much you want to spend. A smarter way to work is to suggest a quality level for the outcome – economy, regular or premium. This will usually be tied to the importance of the piece and its intended audience.
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Provide basic information, but be flexible. Jobs can often be produced faster and more economically using a method or materials that differ from what you have in mind. Ask your printer for ideas about stock, printing process, finishing and cost-efficient volumes.
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Let your printer know whether the job is time sensitive or not. If you don’t have a specific deadline, you may get a better price if the printer can ‘gang’ your job with other similar jobs.
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Request printed samples of jobs similar to yours. If you were choosing a kitchen designer, you’d look at other kitchens they’d designed. It’s the same for printers. Ask to see some of their stuff.
Want a print quote that thinks deeper? Call Brian Landry on (09) 302 9500 or email brianl@soarprint.co.nz
Read how Soar’s ‘out of the box’ thinking cut print costs by 25% for an Auckland charity. See the case study.
Request a print quote from Soar right now.
