Rocky road
You can assume that business will be tougher over the next 18 months. Therefore, plan accord-ingly. If you are one of the users of the existing 9,000 digital print engines, or if you pur-chased at or just prior to Drupa, what are you going to do differently to sell the output in a tougher market?
Those printers that purchased a digital machine just because everyone else was doing it, thought it would automatically supplement their offset work and did not have any idea where the work was coming from, are probably going to be in for a shock over the next 18 months.
While most suppliers have business development tools, they tend to treat business development very differently. Xerox is the leader with 76 separate tools. Canon probably comes next, and Kodak and Konica Minolta rely heavily on consultants. In the good times, suppliers usually offered their tools and consultancy at the time of purchase, and do not really actively offer the same services six months to a year after the digital press has been installed.
Canon UK uses external consultants, including James Shand, Kodak offers its own ex-independent consultant Chris Wood, and Xerox depends heavily on sales staff to explain its tools. One of the advantages of using consultants who are also used by the suppliers is that they are likely to be experienced at what they do, and as you directly employ the consultant, it should not cost more than the consultant’s standard rates.
Standing out
Business development with which you may need help includes an audit of your business, how to find and hire digital print sales people, how to grow print volume, and, very importantly, how to increase the revenue you can charge per print by using variable-content services. If you did not do it before you purchased your digital press, now is the time to put together a belated mini business plan, so that you really understand your best selling points. Incidentally, fast delivery and quality are pitched by everyone.
We must differentiate to accumulate
Two months on from Drupa, you could be forgiven for believing that we are in the middle of a major recession, and there is no digital print business to be had. True, the financial services and housing industries - two traditionally big print customers - are not likely to be booming for some time, but the work is still there for those companies that have made their businesses effective and efficient.As one of the leading prop-onents of digital print, the UK is thought to have nearly 9,000 digital print engines installed, and with many of the major suppliers including Canon, HP Indigo and Xerox reporting significant sales at Drupa, this number is still growing.
