Why Do I Need To Use A Professional Business Printer?
Most businesses these days have pretty good in-house desktop printers. So why would they want to go to the ‘expense’ of using a professional business printer instead? Here are just some of the many reasons why:
- Saving you time – man hours that could be spent doing things you need to be doing when running a successful business.
- Saving you money – most jobs are more cost effective when printed by a professional business printer.
- Professional quality – normal office printers simply aren’t designed to produce print of the quality you would receive from using a professional business printer, like us. Professional quality print reflects the professional nature of your business, automatically informing customers that you are genuine.
- Professional finishing – we can offer a variety of different finishes to your print which give it that ‘finishing touch’ and make it look professional. Customers are always very impressed when you hand over a premium looking business card…
- Ease of distribution – supply us with your artwork files, and your delivery database, and we will do the whole job for you – print, pack and deliver to your customer’s doors, quickly and efficiently.
What To Look For When Choosing A Business Printer
When you’re looking at working with a business printer, there’s lots of things to consider and ‘interview’ them about to make sure they are the perfect fit for your business.
Yes you could use any printer out there, but by using a checklist of your requirements you can make sure you’re working with a company who is the perfect fit for you.
Are they local?
Consider if being local will be an issue for you. If you like to be able to pop in and discuss your needs in person, to see print in progress, to be on hand to sign off printed proofs or pantones, then using a business printer who is is fairly local to you is going to be key to a happy working partnership.
Can they print everything you need?
Not all business printer s actually print the same things. Some specialise in digital print whilst others lithographic print (Read this post to understand the difference). Some in direct mail whilst others large format print. Using a business printer who specialises in the products you are likely to want printing is likely to ensure you’re getting the best quality and turnaround, for the best price.
That said, there are a few printers, such as ourselves, who specialise in all these areas. Having machines for digital print, lithographic print, direct mail and large format print all under one roof, along with the skills and knowledge to make the most of them, allows us to service the vast majority of our customer’s print needs in-house.
Are pantone matching, metallic inks or specialist finishing important to you?
Is the answer to any of the above ‘yes’? Then be sure to discuss with any business printer you are considering working with, if they can offer these services or if they outsource them.
Whilst outsourcing is not a bad thing (in many cases it can help to keep costs low), it will increase turnaround times as you are reliant on another link in the chain. So if turnaround time is driving you, then this is something to be aware of.
Do they have their own in-house Graphic Designer(s)?
A business print company with their own in-house designers can be invaluable.
Even if you have a Graphic Designer you already use, having an in-house designer on hand to make any last minute tweaks when you spot something on the proof, to amend a few words for re-printing, or even just to adjust something in the background to make sure it’s print ready, will save you valuable time and money.
And if you don’t already have a trusted Graphic Designer you use, speak to your business printer about using their in-house designer. It can sometimes works out cheaper, and as they are part of the print team it can make the turnaround time of the entire job much quicker and smoother.
If they can’t do it, do they know someone who can?
The print industry is a community, usually if your business printer can’t print something for you then they know someone who can! Getting to know your business printer well, and building a good working relationship with them, will help them to understand how you want to manage items which may need outsourcing.
How To Make The Most Of Your Business Printer
Once you’ve found the right business printer to work with, we have a few tips over on this post on how to make the very most of them. It’s worth having a look, you’ll find some ways of building an invaluable relationship with your business printer that could save you money, make you money and make your business jump out from the competition!
Contact our #PrintGeeks
0800 093 2960
More interesting reading from us
Small Business Marketing and Why Print is Key
5 Ways Your Competitors Are Already Using Commercial Print
Looking For A Commercial Printer? Come In And See What We Do