New perspectives lead to better profits for distributors.
Many in the forms industry would agree that digital printing has had its share of resistance from distributors. Although the technology for this market has been in existence for a while, some still doubt its earning potential, and others have chosen to avoid the learning curve involved.
But, two manufacturers offer another way of looking at digital printing. They both provide new perspectives to convince distributors that this niche is well worth their while. In addition, one manufacturer shines a light on more advanced technology, allowing distributors to profit from selling programs, as opposed to the small-order jobs typically associated with this market.
According to Roger Buck, national sales manager, forms division, Ward/Kraft, Ft. Scott, Kan., "This market is still trying to get legs. It seems that distributors struggle with how to sell digital printing because they try to promote it just as they would promote traditional products, but it's not traditional."
Another View
Digital printing is so non-traditional, Buck said, that distributors need to treat the sale of products in this category in an unconventional way. "Distributors need to know that when using variable data, they need to behave more like an ad agency," he said. "We are actually educating our customers on how to understand the idea of response ratios so that they can market digital printing products as revenue documents instead of workflow documents. Customers can then better understand the value of what they are selling."
Ward/Kraft focuses on three areas of digital printing, including digital color offset, digital short-run labels, and black-and-white imaging in short run. "Short-run color is most prevalent mainly because we market personalization very heavily," he said.
The company offers weekly training and online "Webinars" to assist distributors in selling digital printing. "And soon, we will be providing a return on investment (ROI) calculator via CD and online, which is designed to help distributors visually promote the value of digital printing products to their customers," said Buck.
Jeff Prettyman, executive vice president for NextWave/Wise Business Forms, Alpharetta, Ga., agreed that distributors tend to avoid the sale of digital printing because of the technology involved and because they see it as "a small order, not worth the hassle."
"I think distributors want to sell digital printing, however," said Prettyman. "That's why we stress that the real opportunities are in program sells, which are available by using solutions we offer through VIP Page." He explained that VIP Page is a NextWave Web-to-print solution marketing tool that allows corporations to create high-value, customized and personalized marketing collateral, while reducing costs and maintaining brand image and integrity. "It has an easy-to-use browser interface enabling sales, marketing and customer service departments to expand their capabilities and empower their teams to improve sales efficiency and effectiveness anywhere, anytime," he said.
Why Sell Now?
Prettyman believes that the market is prime for profits right now. "Digital printing is growing rapidly and, in some cases, it is replacing traditional commercial printing since it can be more economical and has a faster turnaround. But, the real value—where commercial printing can't compete—is in selling programs and highly targeted and personalized direct mail and Web-to-print solutions," he said.
Prettyman added that in 2000, NextWave capitalized on emerging technologies, such as the Internet and personalization software, to develop the vision for the future. "Now, we have three full-time Web developers programming customized Web-to-print solutions that drive printing to our digital presses," he said.
Prettyman explained that the programs are developed to end-user specifications, with each implementation being completely different. "We don't take a canned or one-size-fits-all approach to Web-to-print development. We build in the end-users' workflow requirements and other processes to give them a solution that saves them time and money, therefore increasing their return on investment in a very short period of time," he said.
This fits in with the small-order trend that has been occurring in digital print. Prettyman said that he believes end-users are becoming accustomed to the smaller orders and are satisfied with the quality of digital printing.
He added that companies have invested large sums of money in customer relationship management software to learn more about their customers. "Digital printing is ideal to help them realize their return on investment objectives by using this data to cross-sell and up-sell their customers with offers that are specifically tailored to their customers," he said.
Market Progression
With even greater technology permeating the digital printing market, one may assume that the market is progressing, and Prettyman feels that it is. He stated that distributors have a real opportunity to get involved in bringing Web-to-print solutions to their customers and reported that NextWave has many sales tools available, including cooperative marketing literature, joint sales calls and online presentations of demo sites.
"It's just that it takes more time on the front end to implement, but the back-end reward is that once the Web site is up, the distributor has an annuity," said Prettyman. "And, because end-users embrace the solutions, they find more applications to add to their sites, allowing us all to make more money."
Buck added that while he also sees the market progressing, the pace may be slowed due to the lack of education. However, he predicted that this is an obstacle that many are overcoming. "The market is moving. It is just a matter of distributors taking advantage of the learning opportunities that manufacturers offer," he said.
By Sharon Cole