Why Use A Print Management Company?
Using a print management company can save you time, save you money and help you get a better ROI from your catalogues. The term ‘print management’ can mean different things in some sectors, so it is worth looking at what we mean by the phrase in this case – before exploring the main benefits of the service.
What Exactly Is Print Management?
Print management takes care of every printing requirement of a business. A good analogy is an external payroll service or bureau as used by many smaller companies. Everything related to wages and PAYE is rerouted to that service, including activities such as details of leavers and new joiners, HMRC queries and correspondence, one-off payments, expenses and so on. Effectively, payroll is outsourced.
A print management service is very similar for all printed matter requirements. Anybody in the company who wants to reorder or obtain new stationery, invoices, business cards, brochures, price lists, signs, banners, mugs, point of sale promotional devices or other marketing materials deals directly with the print management company. The print management provider acts like an internal department – provides a single point of contact, does all the legwork of getting quotations, submitting artwork, checking proofs, ensuring quality assurance, and every other little detail associated with new printed material. As an added bonus, the service saves you money with typical annual savings in excess of 20% of previous print costs and over 30% in some cases. And that is not all. Digital marketing channels can optionally come under the remit of print management if required.
5 Outstanding Benefits Of Using A Print Management Company
1) Free Expertise & Advice From A Specialist
Print management involves dealing with many suppliers including specialist printers, such as wide format banner printers, textile printers and a whole host of others. People like us know the market intimately and who the go-to guys and girls are for any particular print job. We also have a very good idea about design from the perspective of what works and what has been shown not to work in the past. Avoiding known pitfalls alone can save a company quite a lot of money as well as avoiding campaigns that nosedive instantly. You effectively hire a new employee at no extra cost who has unrivalled knowledge and specialist expertise to guide you.
2) A Dependable Print Partner
If you have suffered from print delays in the past or poor quality materials, you will know the utter frustration of trying to sort out re-runs and missing critical deadlines. Contrast that with the absolute comfort and security of knowing that from now on, every print job you order, no matter how tight the deadline or how short the lead time (once agreed) will be delivered when it has been promised and will be exactly what you expected. The stress reduction alone is a massive bonus for many a harried executive or assistant. We ourselves are a Full Service Print Management provider, including design, graphics, layout, storage, postal management, consultancy etc.
3) Total Accountability
A common issue at a great number of companies is lack of control and accountability for ordering printed materials. It often seems that everybody from the janitor to the CEO has been commissioning orders from printers almost willy-nilly. Not alone does it represent a black hole in budgeting but it makes consistent branding more problematic. Switching to a single professional source for everything solves all those issues instantly. We would first carry out a document audit that shows who owns each printed item, as well as highlighting apparent orphans for whom no owner is apparent. That alone can be a sobering exercise for some organisations. Procurement and accounting are centralised and streamlined, with a single cost centre for printing with as many sub-headings (departments) as you wish. You have taken back control.
4) Multi-channel Marketing Expertise At Your Fingertips
Nowadays, print management is about a lot more than paper. We tend to advise more and more regarding what mix of channels are best suited to a particular purpose or campaign. Often that means no printing whatsoever, or printing to meet a specific objective among many in the overall plan. We realise that printed marketing materials are one tool in an array of options that ranges from catalogues to social media as well as conventional marketing channels such as print media, radio and TV. Everything is on the table from which to configure a campaign. We help you design and execute your communications strategy.
5) Employees Love The Simplicity
Many common printed products are perfectly suited to templates. Business cards are a good example. When a new employee joins, part of the onboarding checklist is to procure personalised business cards. With an online portal at your print management service, it is simplicity itself to place the order. The same applies to reordering standard everyday stationery items such as invoices, statements, letterheads and so on. There is no hassle or palaver involved, and everybody knows the ropes. Efficient processes are the bedrock of profitable businesses.
Find Out More
Download our free eBook The Catalogue Design & Print Guide and find out more about how relevant print management is to today’s most vibrant businesses.