Tales of a Quick-Print Business: The Power of Word-of-Mouth Advertising

I began my quick-print shop with a used AM 1250 press. I would sell a few small jobs during the week to people I had come to know while working for the Plumbers Assn. My son Doug would print them on the weekend, I would deliver and pick up some more work. Meanwhile, we invested in an AM 3500 typesetter and began selling typesetting to some of the same accounts, plus those our current accounts recommended.

As the typesetting volume increased, Doug got out his sharp pencil and became convinced that pre-press (typesetting and graphic design) produced more revenue with less expense and overhead than did typesetting. We sold our presses to a competitor (printing shop) that was giving us some of his typesetting needs, notwithstanding the fact that we were competing for the printing end. It ended up that we began getting a lot of pre-press work from a number of print shops.

We also mingled with other potential accounts by becoming involved in local community activities, like sponsoring a little league team, or helping sponsor some do-gooder organization's community activities, or by donating an occasional job for a worthy cause.

As for outside sales, I would never salary a sales rep. I dealt with a couple of outside sales reps, but I clearly defined our limitations, and paid them a specified commission. He/she would bring in a potential job for us to price. At that point, I would contact the potential customer face to face to determine exactly what they had in mind, what my terms are, and how long the job would take. I also made it clear that any and all future dealings regarding that specific job were to be done directly with my office and personnel. I paid the sales rep his agreed upon commission for that specific job. It seemed to work fine since it freed the sales rep to find more work for us to do.

Nevertheless, the bulk of our work came from firms and individuals who had heard about us from previous customers. If you do a good job for one, and he is happy, he is bound to recommend you to others, hence word-of-mouth.

Location is important. But if you turn out quality work and charge accordingly, customers will be attracted . . . and will recommend.

Membership in service clubs -- Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions, Eagles, Elks, etc. -- can be helpful provided you don't convey the impression that you joined for profit, if you get what I mean.

The biggest problem small print shops have is what is sometimes called desk-top publishing -- using the office computer and printer for in-house short-run jobs.

One of my best type-setting accounts was the PIP franchise for that town. Because the owner had previously worked for a large typesetting firm in Los Angeles, he was quite capable of defining the layout and type faces to be used. He sent us business; we sent work his way as well.

But the key is letting the customer deal one-on-one with the graphic artist or appropriate technical personnel, not just the sales rep. That way you cement or bond a direct relationship with the customer. There can be exceptions, of course, but that depends upon the talent and resourcefulness of the sale rep. If he/she is fully conversant with how a print shop operates and the nomenclature associated with the industry, and what the limitations are as regards your particular shop.

A highly talented female graphic artist came to us to typeset and pasteup a particular job. She loved bleeds -- ink coverage that bled off the edge of the sheet. Most of her work was to be printed on 8.5x11 stock. I asked her where she planned to have the work printed and what size presses the shop had. She mentioned a specific printer, and I told her that the size press the shop had could not bleed, that she would have to go to a shop that had 14x20 or larger presses, and the necessary paper cutters. Something she didn't know. In appreciation, she began giving me all -- or most -- of her business . . . and she recommended us to others.

Incidentally, we were a small shop, one that was dwarfed by several large typesetting firms. We outlived them. Sometimes companies get too big for their own good, and they forget that the customer represents the bottom line.

Need I mention Honda and Toyota vs GM and Ford? It is paying heed to the the customer and his desires -- and then satisfying that need -- that put Honda, Toyota, Nissan, and even Hyundai where they are today.

Like I used to tell my customers, if we can't fulfill your need for this specific job, we know who can . . . like the Miracle on 34th Street.