Take Our Word for It: Dealer Experts Share Advice on Entering Production Print

So, you’re thinking about adding production print to your product catalog? It’s the dealer’s equivalent of choosing a panther as a pet. It’s one of those times when you should ask yourself, “Are you sure you want to do that?” because you could be asking for trouble.

We kid. Production has long been seen as a strong category and a great catalyst for adding serious bottom-line revenue. The path to success begins with a top-down commitment, but that’s only the beginning. We’re wrapping up this month’s State of the Industry look at production print by providing actionable advice for would-be newcomers from dealers who have enjoyed tremendous experience in the discipline.

Find dealers who do production print well and pick their brain, suggests Stephanie Keating Phillips, director of production print and solutions for Advanced Imaging Solutions of Minnetonka, Minnesota. Just don’t stop at one. She sees the value in getting a diverse set of perspectives to learn about the various hiccups they experienced, and what’s worked well for them.

“You want to know what their challenges were along the way,” she said. “You’ll want to take those best practices and hopefully apply them. Whether that’s industry friends that you’ve met along the way or peer groups, talk to as many people as possible that you trust. That will give you an idea and you can put your plan in place.”

One of the most critical areas is the investment commitment necessary to build a formidable and successful production print catalog. From dedicated production specialists, to technical expertise, workflow knowledge and ongoing training, providers must appreciate that clients demand a much deeper level of support than required of traditional office equipment, according to Troy Olson, owner of Les Olson IT in Salt Lake City.

“It’s also important to build strong partnerships with manufacturers that offer a broad product portfolio, reliable technology and excellent technical resources,” he said. “Our relationships with our manufacturer partners have allowed us to offer solutions across a wide range of customer needs.”

Olson admonishes rookie production dealers to focus on solving business problems as opposed to just selling presses. “Dealers that lead with workflow improvements, automation, software integration, and long-term customer success will be the ones that continue to grow as the production print market evolves,” he said.

Knowledge is a powerful tool, and it helps to have a sales team that can talk about capabilities, speeds, media and the like, notes Jeff Presnall, production specialist for Datamax. Reps are better served if they understand challenges, workflows and customer trends, and can make accurate recommendations for them. Importantly, show them how you can help them compete and be successful in their markets. 

“A good production salesperson must know these areas well and be able to speak to them confidently,” Presnall noted. “The industry does not forgive bad investment decisions; therefore a perceived lack of knowledge will put them at a disadvantage very early in the sales process.”

Following the “build it and they will come” philosophy without fully setting the stage for success (hiring subject matter experts and skilled technicians, having the ability to train clients, working with a responsive and quasi-local OEM) will result in a disaster and possibly failed SLAs, notes Ray Bullins, vice president of sales for Systel Business Equipment in Fayetteville, North Carolina. There’s no shortcuts in performing a proper due diligence for the offering.

“At the end of the day, it’s a business, and we need the return on investment as much as the client does,” he said. “You need to know how many presses you’ll need to sell in order to justify bringing in the proper resources. They’re six- to seven-month selling cycles. You’ll need to commit the resources before then, so if you don’t have them in your pipeline right now, it will be a while before things start to fall for you.”

Having a detailed dossier on commercial printers is the optimal path if that’s the client set you wish to pursue, notes Adam Silk, CEO of Digital Print Solutions in Macedonia, Ohio. How do they print envelopes? Do they outsource to other printers? What are the weaknesses of their current equipment? That level of intel can help make you a well-attuned provider.

But the commercial set isn’t for everyone. “If you are a ‘by the book’ type company or have a ‘this is how we have always done it’ mentality, don’t get involved with commercial printers,” he said. “If you can analyze customer need, your strengths and incumbent’s limitations, you can succeed.”

Approaching a client engagement from a partnership perspective is the best tack to follow, notes Debra Dellaposta, president and CEO of Doing Better Business in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Beyond having the knowledge of the full production line and associated gear, she feels that partnership must entail offering guidance on automation, labor shortages, cybersecurity, AI, and digital transformation.

“At the same time, production print represents one of the greatest growth opportunities in our industry,” she said. “The organizations that succeed will be the ones that invest in their people first. Equipment can be purchased by anyone. Experienced people who know how to solve complex business challenges are much harder to build—and that’s what customers ultimately value most.”