Two Minutes Can Save You Hundreds of Dollars

Do you have a preferred print vendor? The Tri-Cities...er...Great Lakes Bay Region (don't get me started) has a number of commercial print shops to choose from and chances are, if you do much print buying through the year, you have a favorite. It's great to have a relationship that you know you can rely on. You make a phone call and your rep is there to save the day. We're actually really lucky in that out of all of the shops there are several that offer a great combination of excellent quality work and a very high level of service.

The downside of having these great relationships is that sometimes you just quit bothering to comparison shop. When is the last time you quoted your job at another printer? Don't misunderstand me, I'm a very loyal client when it comes to print shops, but different shops have different equipment and may or may not be the best fit for a job. There are many shops who can print an oversize poster, for example, but some of them are better-suited to it than others and the shops who are better-suited for a job, generally can offer better prices as a result of economies of scale. It's rare that your print rep is going to tell you that maybe another shop is a better fit for a job (although it does happen from time to time). Who can blame them? They're paid on commission so they have a vested interest in keeping the job in their hands, no matter what the cost is to you.

In an economic environment like we currently find ourselves in—especially in Michigan where so many businesses are hanging on by a very thin thread—we need to be sure that we are making the most of our money.

Take the time to have another shop quote your next project. It's sad to say, but some shops are really hurting right now and they are very aggressive in their quoting. They are more interested in keeping their presses running, so they are offering great deals.

I recently designed a brochure for one of my larger clients and, as is my practice, I quoted it at the two shops who were the best fit for the project. I knew that either shop would do a great job, so no matter which direction I went I would not be sacrificing quality. I was really surprised, though, when I got the quotes back. One shop was almost double the price of the other shop (at lower quantities). At the quantity we ended up printing, the cost difference amounted to over $700, which was about 30–40% lower than the other shop. In the end we got a product that everybody was very happy with and I saved my clients a chunk of change all because I took the time to send one e-mail.

Time to write one e-mail: 2 minutes.
Cost savings: $700

If you don't have a sales rep from another shop, feel free to e-mail or call and I will give you names and numbers for several shops.