A well-formed small-to-medium print manager should have many advantages, including low or no debt, low head office costs, an ability to react quickly to the market and, probably most importantly, customer focus from senior management.

The IT systems necessary to manage print and buy well are now affordable for all. A small-to-medium-sized print manager can have IT systems to rival the larger players – in many cases, they can afford the same or better systems.

The big boys are diversifying into marketing support services including artworking, data management, digital production and even creative design, but for many clients the headache remains: how do they buy, manage and get best value from their spend?

The established players are struggling to make sufficient margin from third- and fourth-generation contracts to cover their costs, mainly because the cost of service should be closer to the 17.5% the agencies claimed in the 1980s and early 1990s, rather than the 5% print managers are claiming now.

Many are having to make up the deficit through rebates, other services and higher charges for print than declared. SME print management businesses have a chance to solve the problem through credibility.

Part of the reaction in market is to in-source. In-sourcing is without doubt the lowest-cost-overhead approach but still has its issues: it increases corporate risk, staff overhead and supplier count. Companies rarely invest in the IT and management support for the in-house team and there is also a danger of ‘going native’ and losing focus on great customer service. It shouldn’t be discounted, but needs to be well set up and managed to work effectively over time.

The other opportunity is just to do print management right. Offer clients an honest, well-managed print management solution. Tell them how you will deliver a cost-effective service and how they will benefit. Explain how you will buy smartly for them, automating and simplifying where possible and guaranteeing them best value. Tell them how much it really costs to run the team and what return you want, and how that will benefit them. Offer clients a single view on data and studio support services, as well as online ordering and web-to-print, but make ancillary offers that are easy to understand and take or leave.

The barrier to SMEs is language and belief. They must appear credible in the face of the very well-established and plausible larger print managers. If those barriers can be hurdled, then there is no reason a small-to-medium-sized print manager can’t give any established player a run for its money in any pitch.

The bigger players are growing and offering marketing services, communications management and global document solutions. But maybe customers want their print bought and managed well by people they know, like and trust.

Reading PrintWeek's Briefing on this subject here