Digital Expertise Forges a Closer Customer Bond

My article printed in the inaugural issue of the NAPL Business Review; May 2006, Pg 22

Sometime back in the last century, when regular unleaded was $1.25 gallon (ah the days) a large manufacturer in a conservative business began an experiment that would turn out to be a shot heard ’round the world.

The company employed a good number of customer service reps whose job was to respond to calls from consumers who wanted product information about a potential purchase by sending them a catalog. It seemed like a good process, but there was a flaw: The catalogs were often out of date and contained old product and price information.

Ironically, the correct data was available on the company’s website, where prices and descriptions were accurate to the minute. This was good for the Internet shopper, but it was only available to those who took the time to search for it, and it didn’t reflect well upon the brand if the printed and electronic information didn’t match.

A Better Mousetrap
Recognizing the problem, some CSRs took the problem to a company marketing person, who listened and began analyzing catalog printing, fulfillment, and postage costs. He could see that the company got a very good price per catalog because they printed so many, but he wondered what the real cost was when tons of catalogs were obsolescing as they sat in the warehouse month after month.

Surely there was a better way, he thought, and he developed one. Within a year the company created a system that let CSRs turns the timely website content into accurate responses to consumer phone calls. When an inquiry came in, a CSR now went to the website, selected the latest product data, and included it in an immediate personalized email response to the consumer that thanked him for the call, let him know product information was on the way, and even included a reference to information that came up on the call, such as the event that may have triggered interest in the product – e.g. moving or remodeling, etc. Each night, all the day’s requested information was printed digitally and mailed within 24 hours. The result: Not only were consumers getting more accurate information, but follow-up studies showed that they were 30% more likely to purchase the product when they received the updated and personalized responses.

What the company had done was capitalize on the benefits of print’s selling power and electronic data’s timeliness and leverage their combined attributes with the variable data capabilities of digital printing to make a more powerful customer response. It was one of the first documented cases of creating digital collateral.

In its simplest terms, digital collateral is sales and marketing material created from digital assets. It is more effective than other types of collateral because it is flexible, timely, protects the brand image, and, perhaps most importantly, allows frontline employees – channel reps, CSRs, agents, field sales – or even the consumers themselves to create more useful, targeted, and compelling sales information.

It works better than “one size fits all” promotional materials, is more cost effective because its targeted approach leads to more revenue per piece, and eliminates the waste and storage costs associated with huge-press run collateral.

In the example above, consumers received information that was accurate to the exact models they were interested in without having to wade through dozens of pages of non-relevant data; the material included a listing of the dealers closest, further moving them to purchase action; and it was personalized – both with information derived from their call and signed by the CSR with whom they had spoken.

Anticipation was heightened because it was preceded by a brief email thanking the consumer for calling and telling him information was on the way. And the cost of digital printing was more than outweighed by the saving s from mailing two to three sheets of paper rather than a large, heavy catalog.

Content is King
Business clients will generally respond to this example with enthusiasm for the possibilities of this new process; printers who know that their success is dependent on their ability to be a graphic communications supplier and client partner will understand the possibilities in being able to lead their customers in new, profitable directions by marketing their digital expertise. The last catalog you printed now exists as content in digital file form in your system and “content is king” because it can be repurposed for your customer in a variety of ways – value added opportunities that can bring in new income for your company without one sheet of paper going through a press.

Don’t confuse content (message) with output (medium). Content can be
delivered in any output form: print, email, Web, mobile phone, text message or (fill in the blank in two years).

Content is not the paper stock, UV coating, embossed logo or type of ink used. It is the information – and its value is based on its relevancy (accuracy and timeliness) and its accessibility.

Some of this content your customer has always had in the form of product specifications, features and benefits, purchase histories, and consumer addresses and profiles. Some content is new or coming from new sources: channel partners, marketing reports, mailing lists, sales reps, CSRs, or consumers themselves. Part of your digital expertise will help you connect information from these sources with your files and your client’s databases.

The key to capitalizing on this opportunity is to understand that the collateral your client asks you to print is simply a part of a much larger marketing and sales process. Be curious enough to want to know about the entire process, and then become a “deconstructionist” to pick it apart. Where is the process breaking down Where is the unnecessary cost? Often, and increasingly, this is in the postage and storage/waste costs.

Up and Running
What does it take to get an integrated digital collateral system up and running?

Because the value comes from understanding, integration, and usability, it’s not something that you can do using an off-the-shelf software package that will work with every customer. This is a customized, value-added service and it may involve a team of system administrators, database creators, information architects, programmers, html designers, business analysts and quality assurance professionals-- and both client and printer project managers to thoroughly understand the business need and develop a tailored solution.

Is it worth the effort? One client for whom our company recently
redesigned a system reported a 300% increase in print volume after just four months – and projects it will double in a year.

Keep in mind that once your client has invested the time and money to work with a supplier to deploy a well-developed integrated system like this, he is not going to leave and start over with another supplier. More often, once clients roll out a system, they want to add more materials into it and more functionality around it.

One large printer, for example, is looking for an upgraded digital collateral system for its client that allows client reps more flexibility in creating better versioned mail packages for its customers. It is critical that this system interface in real time with the customer database and have multiple approval layers. This printer believes that, with an upgraded system, this client’s orders may double to approximately two million pieces annually.

We have worked with another large digital printer to develop a comprehensive integrated system for deploying templated html email, customer surveys, and micro sites, utilizing the same client data that drives millions of print pieces such as product–specific data, regional promotions, Lease vs. Buy messages, ownership references, and more. The printer and client worked together to develop the system so all the risk was not on the printers’ side.

Over the years, we’ve also worked with some digital printers to become part of an existing integrated systems built for specific clients. Almost without exception, once a client invests the time and money to build an integrated system that works well, he sticks with it. These systems foster consistent growth and investment by the client in the supplier. Entering on this kind of printer-client endeavor is certainly not as simple and easy as taking an order over the phone, but it is a growth area that will become an increasingly important segment of a successful printer’s businesses.