Consultant Clare Taylor who is leading the project reported on the initial results at last week's ViP conference.

"Buyers want to be informed, they don't want to chase, but all it takes is a quick call or an e-mail," said Taylor. "Printers are reluctant to involve customers if there is a problem until the last minute, but they [customers] need more notice due to the impact on other products and services. For them print is not the final product."

Taylor also highlighted  internal communication at print firms as a problem. She pointed to the difference between the salesperson's knowledge of the customers' needs and the relative lack of it on the part of customer service.

This, she said, showed the need for customer relationship management systems, as currently a lot of critical information was "in the sales guy's head, not on a system".

Other simple moves buyers requested were quick quotes, full cost breakdowns in estimates and accurate paperwork, especially en-suring it matched clients' own systems, which had the spin off benefit of ensuring faster payment.

The full report, based on questionnaires from 200 print buyers and 30 in-depth interviews with buyers from a range of industry sectors and sizes of firms, will be published in November.

Before that volunteer printers are sought to test a prototype self-assessment tool desgined to highlight areas they can improve their customer service.

Contact: clare@clare-taylor-consulting.co.uk

Story by Barney Cox