Don't Leave Accounts in a Bind
Talk to printed business products customers about their book and booklet needs—before they talk to the competition
Distributors who are not handling the book and booklet needs within their printed business products accounts are leaving money on the table—and, quite possibly, their customers in a bind.
Said Bruce Tanner, president of First Class Printing, Fayetteville, Tenn., "Our orders are not coming from distributors specializing in book and booklet sales, but from those providing forms, stationery, labels and other printed business products who are taking the time to go a little deeper into their existing accounts and discuss book and booklet needs with customers."
And, the needs are definitely there. He pointed out that manufacturing plants require instruction and usage booklets, health-care facilities provide tons of patient education and awareness materials, human resources departments utilize employee handbooks, as well a variety of pamphlets and manuals, and marketing departments need product catalogs and sales booklets. "We get orders for everything from simple, black-and-white booklets all the way through to annual reports that require commercial printing skills," added Tanner.
Grace Rishel, president of Wichita, Kansas-based ADR/BookPrint, agreed that there are numerous opportunities within distributors' customer bases for selling the products, and that they are often not being tapped. When asked about the best prospects to target, she replied that there really are no typical end-users of these products. "Any company, industry or market can utilize books, booklets, pamphlets, manuals, directories, reports and other multi-page documents," she said.
For those new to book and booklet sales, ADR/BookPrint offers a free educational tool titled The Five Minute Guide for Selling Books and Manuals. However, most forms distributors should be able to transition into selling these products quite comfortably and successfully.
Rishel noted that most distributors have well-established anchor accounts, and suggested these as great starting points. "If it's a hospital, go to the personnel department and ask to bid on the publications that are used, perhaps employee manuals and insurance information," she offered. "If the hospital has a training department, ask about training and orientation materials. The hospital may also have a school of nursing—investigate opportunities there, as well."
Banks, also, are frequently key distributor accounts—another environment where, Rishel said, any given department can be a source for multi-page document orders. She also urged distributors to visit companies' corporate communications, sales and marketing, and document departments.
Besides large key accounts, Rishel suggested contacting junior colleges, and trade and technical schools. "Also, churches and other organizations have cookbooks printed for fundraisers," she said. "Local genealogy societies prepare family histories—a trend that seems big right now—and historical societies will write histories of counties and states. Tourist spots will have information about attractions, and organizations will have membership directories that they print. The possibilities are really endless."
To Make a Long Story Short
Tanner pointed out that books and booklets are really no more complicated than selling forms and labels. But, because these are bigger documents to be approved, he cautioned distributors to be prepared for longer proofing stages, especially if it's a new job. "Although, we hardly ever send out hard-copy proofs anymore," he added. "Most of it is done by e-mailing PDF files, which helps to shorten the process."
Tanner went on to say that it is during the proofing stages that the most common problem with book and booklet production occurs—missed errors. The upshot is that the entire project has to be scrapped. "Say that an error is discovered on page 12 of a 48-page, saddle-stitched book. The hand-labor alone that's involved in pulling out the staples, reprinting the page, inserting it and then re-binding the project makes reprinting the whole piece much easier, quicker and more cost-effective," observed Tanner. "Still, the impact—and the cost—is much greater than having to throw out 1,000 copies of an 81⁄2x11˝ padded form."
Rishel and Tanner both reported that end-users typically know the type of paper stock that they want to use for their projects and will furnish distributors with electronic files for graphics and text. Otherwise, scanning equipment is used to convert materials into electronic files.
In addition, these products are conducive to generating repeat orders. Tanner estimated that as much as 80 percent of his plant's orders are for repetitive work. "Once the file is done and you have the artwork, it's all very easy," he continued. "There really are no standard products—each order is pretty much a custom job. They range anywhere from simple, one-color, two-sided little booklets to four-color process jobs."
Rishel pointed out that distributors can increase value—and profits—by educating customers about print-on-demand and Web-based fulfillment programs for their multi-page documents. "These types of programs are extremely popular, and allow end-users to buy in small quantities for up-to-date publications," she said. "I would encourage distributors to discuss print-on-demand programs for all of the publications that a company does and explain how they eliminate waste and warehousing hassles."
Special Editions
Tanner reported that 25 percent of his company's sales are for booklets, and that this number is growing monthly. "We're just continuously getting requests for eight- and 12-page booklets," he said.
First Class Printing recently moved its operation from a 20,000-sq.-ft. facility into a newly renovated, 60,000-sq.-ft. plant, and spent approximately $2 million on new equipment. "We've added the first 23x29˝ Sakurai five-color press with an aqueous coater in the United States, and added a two-color Sakurai 20x28˝ perfector to go with a four-color Sakurai that we already had," said Tanner. "In the bindery department, we've added a new Standard Stitchliner saddle stitcher, and a new shrinkwrap and shipping line."
Tanner's shop handles quantities ranging from 100 copies to half a million booklets. "We run 11 presses of various sizes, including Docutech machines that are run for perfect binding books," he explained. "We're in the process of installing plastic-coil binding equipment, which customers are increasingly requesting. It makes for a nice-looking book, and instead of having to press on the spine, this type of binding allows the book to lay flat when opened."
Capabilities at ADR/BookPrint include digital, sheet-fed and web press printing, as well as perfect binding, lay-flat perfect binding, saddle stitching, plasticoil, wire-o and tab cutting. In addition, the digital design department handles editing, cover design, illustration and formatting. "Technical and training writers have recently been added to help manufacturers that don't have this type of support achieve a more polished, professional look," said Rishel.
ADR/BookPrint is able to print in quantities from as few as 25 pieces into the thousands. "Our presses are matched to the run length of the project to achieve maximum economy, and covers can be produced either digitally or offset to reduce costs and turn times," Rishel continued.
"Just like with customers who buy forms and labels, price, service and quality drive sales of books and booklets," said Tanner. Both contributors strongly believe that every business has a story to tell—and multi-page documents that require bindery services.
By Maggie DeWitt