Cultivating Relationships with Brands

Print service providers (PSPs) need to be less transactional, and more focused on building relationships. They need to be partners with their customers, not just order-takers.

Sound familiar?

It’s sound advice, but it’s also easy to forget that building relationships is easier said than done. It takes work to cultivate connections and even more work to keep them long term. Because of that, some commercial printers let that aspect of the business fall by the wayside.

Margo Yohner, senior vice president of growth and marketing for Commercial and Digital Print, of Chicago, Illinois-based R.R. Donnelley (RRD) notes, “On average, across the industry, I witness the relationship between printers and marketers as still largely transactional in nature. For example, printers get a request and execute on those needs with a fair price, great quality, and speed. Additionally, sellers will anticipate challenges, prepare an alternative plan, and are extremely transparent and communicative with their brand partners. The challenge here is that there is very little differentiation between printers and their sellers with this type of engagement. This type of relationship further commoditizes the printing industry and diminishes the value of the print channel in meeting the desired outcomes of those brand marketers.”

Shannon Uchida, marketing communications specialist of Portland, Oregon’s Premier Press, a PRINTING United Alliance member company, notes that it’s not that PSPs don’t want to build deep relationships with their customers, it just takes time and effort.

“Most print partners genuinely want to guide their clients toward the best solutions for their needs,” she says. “At the core of these relationships is trust — taking the time to understand their goals and challenges so we can support their success with thoughtful, strategic print solutions. ... The ideal relationship is a true partnership. We aim to become an extension of our client’s internal team — someone they can rely on just as they would a colleague. When trust is built, collaboration becomes seamless, and that’s when the best work happens.”

But how does a printer get to that point? How do you go from a transactional relationship to a partnership?

Building From the Ground Up

It all starts with the brand themselves — with their perception of print sometimes dictating the depth of the relationship, Alex Fechner, director of sales and marketing at Alliance member company Advertisers Printing in St. Louis, Missouri, points out.

“If the brand or marketer views print as a commodity or ‘necessary evil’ (yes, I have heard that one before), then the relationship is very transactional,” Fechner says. “In my experience, the brands that genuinely care about their image to their end user tend to have a way more collaborative and enjoyable relationship.”

Finding customers who understand that print needs to be part of their messaging, and who get the power and reach it brings to the table, is key. It’s not something that happens overnight, however. Training your sales team to connect with brands that get excited about the possibilities of print, rather than just those looking to put in orders, is a good first step.

The next step to building great relationships, Yohner says, is to try getting involved in a brand’s printed project earlier in the process. If a PSP doesn’t have any information until the final file is sent, it’s probably too late.

“In a perfect world, we would be involved from the earliest stages of problem identification or dissatisfaction, helping brands think through how we can work best toward their ultimate business or marketing outcomes,” Yohner says. “At a high level, those could be objectives like lowering their total cost of ownership, improving cash flow, increasing revenue, or mitigating risk. When marketers view our relationship as strategic advisers, we’re able to unlock possibilities that might otherwise get overlooked in a transactional engagement.”

That is also easier said than done. Uchida points out that one of the biggest barriers is the difference in printing knowledge across industries and roles.

“Some clients come from design or creative backgrounds, while others may have never worked directly with print before,” she says. “The key is not to assume what they know — ask clear, open-ended questions, and use those conversations as an opportunity to guide and educate. Often, our clients discover that far more is possible than they initially imagined.”

One thing to keep in mind is that this isn’t a one-and-done process. Asking those questions and making suggestions of how to improve past campaigns — with ideas for how to implement them in the next one — will get a PSP started. The more a team goes to the client with suggestions, ideas, pitches, or even just small changes that could save them money and increase their ROI, the more likely the client will be to reach out earlier next time. Getting into the early stages of a new project is the end goal of relationship building, and every small step in that direction is a win.

However, Yohner cautions that PSPs shouldn’t jump right into that conversation, or they run the risk of making the brands think they aren’t genuine.

“The biggest communication barrier is the immediate perception of print sales representatives as having a self-serving agenda,” she says. “To overcome this, printers must be extremely ‘other-oriented’ from the initial engagement, and demonstrate genuine interest in helping the brand achieve its objectives. This involves understanding the client’s industry, their specific challenges, and crafting messages that resonate as helpful rather than purely sales-focused. Additionally, avoiding jumping straight into solutioning about print capabilities is crucial. Instead, the focus should be on active listening and asking insightful questions to understand the client’s needs first. A wise strategic seller of mine once said, ‘You win in the discovery stage.’ I think there is a lot of truth to that statement.”

Fechner also cautions PSPs not to assume the customer understands even basic printing terminology that might seem obvious.

“Clients who have been in printing a while know the small rules for each one of these instances, but that is on us printers to educate our customers better,” he says. “We overcome these challenges through effective communication and explaining how our process works. We have hosted lunch-and-learns for customers, which has been helpful for us and them.”

He adds that the biggest mistake he sees other printers make is “assuming the marketer knows the printing process well. This happens the most with people who are new to the industry. Printing involves numerous details and variables that must all come together for a job to be successful and timely. And sometimes that takes more time and communication than they assume — the Amazon effect is real.”

And while in-person open houses and lunch-and-learn events are great ways to educate brands about what print can do for them, they aren’t the only tools in a PSP’s box.

Fechner advocates for using short videos, for example. “No one wants to read webpages anymore. If you can get your message out with a quick explainer video, go that route. PSPs have to do a better job of educating their existing and future customers on how they can help them (and themselves) best.”

Uchida points out that PSPs need to make sure they’re asking the right questions.

“For example, if a client needs direct mail, we might ask if they want it personalized,” she says. “If they’re planning an event, we might offer promo items or signage to enhance the experience.” Beyond that, she says print is ultimately a sensory experience, and PSPs need to take advantage of that.

“Don’t just tell — show,” Uchida advises. “Print is visual, tactile, and experiential. It adds depth to a moment or brand interaction that digital can’t replicate. Share samples, send photos, and spark your client’s imagination. If they can see it or touch it, they’re far more likely to believe in its impact. Helping them visualize the potential of print is one of the most powerful tools we have.”

Finally, Yohner believes PSPs need to refocus the conversation. To build a true relationship, it has to be about more than just the current job, or about trying to get a few more impressions.

“The best way to educate customers about the power of print is by bringing insights around common challenges specific to their industry and positioning print as a solution that aligns with their objectives — if print is truly the right solution,” she says. “I would much rather see a seller make the right recommendation over a self-serving recommendation that may not ultimately solve for the brand’s needs. Buyer’s regret will only create mistrust between the printer and the brand, resulting in perhaps short-term revenue gains versus a long-term valuable partnership. To bring meaningful insight, the seller must understand their world and speak their language, and then showcase how print can solve their specific problems.”

Building relationships with brands and clients takes work. It takes changing the mindset, and knowing that it could take weeks, months, or years to become their first and most trusted partner when it comes to crafting their marketing communication messages.

But the payoff is deep, lasting connections that go beyond price. It means they aren’t going to walk away when someone pitches a transaction that might be a few cents less but ultimately doesn’t address their needs. It means when difficult conversations about rising costs of paper and ink have to be had, they are more willing to work with their printer partner to find a solution that benefits everyone, rather than just walk away. Cultivating relationships with brands is a long-term strategy that will pay increasingly powerful dividends as the years roll by. And it’s never too late to get started.