Margie Dana, founder of Print Buyers International, is a print-buying expert and speaker. She focuses on improving the printer-buyer relationship in her weekly “Margie’s Print Tips” e-newsletter. The following is an edited version of a recent Print Tips, reprinted here with permission.
I surveyed print brokers for their insights on why buyers have such strong opinions about the brokerage industry. In today’s Tip, I am presenting brokers’ feedback. (Newer terms for brokers have been cropping up in recent years, including print consultants, print managers, print distributors, print agents and print specialists. By the way, “print broker” is not synonymous with “print manager.” I associate print management with a totally different business model.)
The brokers who took my survey are:
• David Jacobs, Richard Jacobs & Co., www.rjco.com
• Brian Maranian, Signature Printing & Consulting, www.sigprint.net
• Kitty St. Sauveur, Alliance Print Group, www.allianceprint.com
• Dennis Galligher, Galligher Printing, www.galligherprinting.com
• Chuck Spiegel, Advanced Graphics, Inc., www.adv-graphics.com
1. How does a print brokerage firm differentiate itself?
(Jacobs) Through our service and by trying to align ourselves with reliable, privately owned printers who themselves are committed to customer success, but may not have the resources to build out a national sales organization. While we realize that price is an important variable in considering a new vendor, we look at the long-term relationship between the customer and the printer. Is the customer willing to pay enough to make their business valuable to the printer, and is the printer willing to put enough skin in the game to really deliver on the promise of customer satisfaction? We then measure each of these and make sure we continue to deliver at a high level. So, we have data to back up our marketing messages. Our situation is a little different, since we represent our printers rather than broker their work.
(Maranian) Print brokers can differentiate themselves by not referring to themselves as brokers. We refer to ourselves as a print management company—that’s who we are and what we do. We manage every aspect of the printing, finishing and mailing process. The difference between us and the average print broker is that we don’t just sit behind a desk, take orders, cross our fingers and hope that the delivery date hits and that the quality is there. We are very hands-on from the beginning stages of design, to checking proofs, to press checks through delivery.
(St. Sauveur) We offer our client base a full complement of print solution services, employing account representatives [who] are supported by our internal customer service staff. In addition, APG features a technical group for conceptual development.
(Galligher) We have an open relationship with our clients. They know the printers we want to use for estimates, we talk about which printer is best suited based on quality level, budget and turnaround. Our clients will even work with the printers’ CSRs when appropriate. Service is the only thing that really differentiates us.
2. What value do you bring to your customers?
(Jacobs) Specialized print knowledge within the markets we focus on—catalogs, brochures and perfect bound books—and fast pricing (less than five minutes after entering a request for a quote.)
(Galligher) I represent my customers at the end of the press. We make sure they get the best value for their print dollars, and we keep customers involved in the process. We have the ability to pre-plan jobs to get the best value on paper, press-time and post press.
3. Why do you think print brokers are viewed with skepticism by some print customers?
(Jacobs) Because they are middlemen. But, people fail to realize they deal with middlemen everyday, such as insurance agents, mortgage brokers, stock brokers, etc., because there is an advantage to being in a market all day, everyday, knowing how jobs are going through plants and what a typical price quotation does and doesn’t include. Does the job really fit the plant or is the printer trying to fill a press schedule with a job that is destined to have problems later? Does the culture of the customer and the culture of the printer align as well?
(St. Sauveur) The majority of print broker[ages] are one- or two-person operations. I think many brokers are spread too thin, thus the detail that’s necessary for a successful outcome starts to diminish once multiple jobs are in production at the same time.
(Spiegel) That is the old way of thinking. Technology has created more options for the print buyer, and the broker can be the answer to all those options. The direct sales rep is limited by the technology and equipment of the company he/she works for. Just as with direct sales people, some brokers are better than others.
(Maranian) Possibly because the position of a “broker” was abused over the years. Many print broker companies took advantage of people who did not know print by charging astronomical amounts, not reprinting jobs [at the same plant] where they were initially printed and basically not managing the jobs. They were glorified couriers making a lot of money on print, and [this image of brokering] has stuck over the years. If [a prospect felt as though] I couldn’t add any value to the process, I would encourage him or her to give it a chance. Check out our credentials, call on the people we work with on a daily basis and ask our clients how it is to work with us. Would you do any different with a new print vendor?
4. How do you respond to buyers who believe using a broker will cost more, discourage direct contact with the printer and take away their control?
(Jacobs) Sometimes [brokers] can help save money, since they have a better relationship with the source, developed over many years. And, since they always have jobs in production, [brokers] have already experienced the learning curve of a new printer. [In some cases] we are able to offer better pricing than the printer’s in-house sales force. We can also be working on multiple projects for the customer at different printers, and can therefore sell each job with a lower markup because we have a higher chance of winning multiple jobs. Making sure the pricing is fair is very easy for us; we just pull up a few past quotes and see how the manufacturing and paper numbers compare to past and current jobs.
Through a broker you can perhaps meet a smaller printer not currently calling on your firm or even benefit from openings in press schedules and new pieces of equipment that you may not know about.
(Spiegel) A direct sales person dictates to the print buyer what their company will do regarding price/delivery. A broker dictates to their vendor what is needed. Brokers have leverage direct sales people don’t. Using a broker gives you more control. What control do you have with a direct sales person that you would give up with a broker? When you deal direct, the sales person is at the mercy of the company [he or she] works for. Brokers always gets better service because they are always being courted by the manufacturers. A good broker is your partner in buying printing. The broker’s job is to make your job easier and to make you, the print buyer, look good to the people you work for.
(St. Sauveur) We can help relieve the burden, and help them look better in their company’s eyes. Our buyer is usually the marketing person who wears a number of different hats and doesn’t have time to shop for print quotes or keep up with print technology, paper and green issues, [as well as] fulfillment.
The fact that our limited vendor/partner relationships with printers, binderies and paper distributors are long standing, affords APG favorable pricing. Cost benefits can be passed along at competitive rates to our clients. The majority of our clients actually have extensive print buying experience. They prefer [to use] APG [because] our experience and methodology extend their capability, and allow for a more efficient print production process. At APG, it’s a common practice to involve our clients with our vendor partners; clients always have control or input regarding print management decisions.
I also heard recently from another industry professionals who did not take the survey regarding this topic. Here is an insight broker Howard Kornfield shared:
(Kornfield) An organization big enough to have a full-time person dedicated to the task of buying print probably doesn’t need a broker. As a broker (I sometimes refer to [our company] as a “virtual printer”), I target the [roughly] 85 percent of organizations who need to buy printing, but don’t have expert buyers. Very often the marketing department, human resources and other departments in medium to small companies simply do not know how to buy all the various flavors of printing they need. The first two [accounts] I [ever] sold to were acquired strictly by cold-calling and asking if they were satisfied with the way they were buying printing. Both of them later told me I had saved them several thousand dollars the first year. Item for item, my prices were about the same they had been paying, but by changing their specs I frequently got better results for less money.
By Margie Dana
For more information, visit www.bostonprintbuyers.com or e-mail mdana@printbuyersinternational.com.