Roll Out
End-users who abide by a purchasing philosophy of only working with direct manufacturers are severely limiting their options. Quite simply, the list of available sources has depleted.
"There used to be a whole bunch. Now, there's a small handful and there's a good chance that [the] customer may have had a bad experience with one or two of them," Simon commented. "I'm not saying there aren't any, because there are some who still do [take that position]. But it's not a difficult thing to explain to a customer why they could have a lower cost dealing with the independent channel than dealing with a major direct. I'll take that challenge on every day of the week."
Elise Hacking Carr is senior production editor for Print & Promo Marketing magazine, and managing editor for PRINTING United Journal.