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SLIDE 1
SELLING and CONTROLLING PRINT OVER THE INTERNET 1. INTRODUCTION Thank you for inviting me to speak at your IPIA conference. If I may say I believe that trade associations like the IPIA are great institutions in that they bring the most interested players and movers in an industry together in such a good spirit of co-operation. Before I joined GDI, with its membership of the IPIA, I personally was and indeed still am involved with the BAPC. Years ago one of the speakers at a conference completely changed my thinking. Larry Hunt, an American print shop owner and I think he was then President of the Nat. Ass. Of Quick Printers very brashly, in a manner only Americans can get away with, told us to go back to our stores on the Monday and put up our Self-service prices from 4-5p to 10p. He said Don't get priceitus. Don't make up our minds for the customer. Try to get into their minds. They don't mind paying if they have use of a good machine, pleasant environment and helpful staff. I went back and thought, sod it! and did it. And guess what? First month average business in cash terms as previously, so there was a lowering of volume but by the next month the volumes returned and we had double the income. From then on I have tried to think and act like a customer, not a supplier. Hopefully the way of thinking I picked up from Larry will come across, helping resolve some of the current issues surrounding selling printing on the Internet. Whilst preparing for today I spoke to several contacts in other firms to seek their help and advice. Thanks to those of you here today who have helped. I asked one particular person, who will remain nameless, how his business was coping. Terrible, he replied, what with computerisation, digitalisation and now the Internet it's hell, even the customers who never pay have stopped buying!
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