If, like the Mole, you have at the heart of your business a stream of large-format printers chugging away, then you will probably have, from time to time, given plenty of thought, like me, as to how you can earn more from them. When things are a bit quiet and machines are sat idle, the “If I drop my prices really low, I’ll print more, sell more and make more” argument enters your head.
If other companies can sell for just a few quid per square metre and make money, then why can’t I? A few days later, when the regular upturn in business comes you are quickly backtracking on those thoughts and thinking of clever ways to increase your prices as you are just too busy. Where’s the happy medium we all ask.
Well, I think I have the answer. It comes down to disguising your print as a service and not as a commodity. Ha ha you all say, I knowthat already. But how do I achieve that in my business? ?Well, I have the answer to that too, and it’s all about what we
believe our business to be. Whether it’s cross-media marketing, project management, on-line procurement or graphic installations, the only way to add real value to your printing service is by combining it with something that has real, unique value and in a way that places less emphasis on the cost of print in the mind of your clients.
In my own business, over the past two years we have managed to develop a whole new side to the business which has taken us a lot higher up the food chain, increased margins for all of our printing and added double digit profit growth too.
So, the only way forward is for all of us to stop thinking of ourselves as printing companies but as something completely different. If we can achieve that then the real rewards will follow.
Let me know how you get on! Email me at industrymole@imagereportsmag.co.uk