Every now and then, I encounter an objection raised by my fellow print companies that is so entirely unexpected, its very peculiarity creates its own challenge.
In this instance, the argument I encountered ran something like this: “I don’t need Web2Print because my customers have never asked for it, so obviously, they don’t need it.”
This is definitely one of the odder responses – why would a customer not need Web2Print? More importantly – how could a printer possibly believe that?
Quite simply, people don’t really know what they don’t know.
Don’t Tell – Show!
This belief may have been formed as a result of how Web2Print has been presented to this end customer. So, how do we go about persuading someone who believes this? How does one demonstrate the direct and immediate value to the customer, represented by Web2Print?
A printer who doesn’t believe their customers need Web2Print is sincere in this belief, but often it is based on incorrect assumptions, or even a lack of understanding about how, exactly, Web2Print works.
Put yourself in the customer’s shoes and ask yourself, “what would really convert me, or add value for me, as a printer?”
I wondered also, if I were a Web2Print supplier (and I have worked with many over the years!) and a printer said to me, “Well, my customers don’t really need Web2Print,” how would I expect one of my sales team to address that objection?
What do they always say about writers? A good writer doesn’t tell – they show. Web2Print suppliers need to do the same with their customers. A good consultant doesn’t tell their printer how much Web2Print will improve lives – they demonstrate it for them.
During training exercises, I like to encourage Web2Print sales teams to sit with their customers and say, “Right, let’s have a look at your top ten or twenty customers, let’s see what they order and whether Web2Print could be applied to any of those purchases.”
I have seen more successful closures from sales personnel who do this. By sitting alongside their client and proactively adding value, Web2Print suppliers are directly assisting and supporting them, helping them to identify organisations within their customer portfolios that are currently placing print orders solely amounting to dozens of small changes to artwork. Consider, for instance, customers who reuse annual campaign flyers and only require a small adjustment to the date on their announcements.
Prospects such as these are absolutely prime candidates for Web2Print.
And by adopting this approach, Web2Print suppliers are greatly assisting printers to identify similar prospects – those with multiple ordering parties; those with small, but frequent changes to artwork and so on. Classic Web2Print use cases, all of them!
Value for Everyone!
The key for Web2Print suppliers who are prospecting, is to help the printer with whom they are engaging to identify major Web2Print candidates from their own client base.
If, from among your client’s customer list, you are able to identify one that repeatedly orders business cards, for instance, you can very easily demonstrate how their lives can be made so much easier by using a Web2Print platform. You can instantly show the added value to a customer that comes from being able to order business cards in record time.
Moreover, a faster sales cycle impacts both the printer and their customer – everyone benefits!
By tackling a printer’s sales model directly, Web2Print supplier become educators, enlightening printers so that they may become more genuinely interested by the whole Web2Print proposition.
Such an approach ensures that printers quickly realise their investment in Web2Print, growing revenue and rapidly attaining profitability, as well as provisioning a powerful and creative platform for their customers to enjoy – and that means value for everyone.
