Jeffrey Hayzlett, co-founder of Webprint is the Executive Vice President and manages Webprint’s sales, marketing, and business development efforts. Mr. Hayzlett was formerly Executive Vice President for Business Development and Marketing at Colorbus, Inc. He is well known and well regarded in the printing industry and is a former member of the board of directors for the National Association of Quick Printers (NAQP, now Print Image International), a U.S.-based, international print-for-pay organization.

Jeffrey is also the founder and former chairman of the Quick Printing Industry Public Affairs Council which is comprised of the leading print-for-pay franchises. He served as president of Quick Printing Insurance, LLC, an insurance program formed by the leading members of the NAQP and he continues to act as Chairman of the U.K.-based printing industry insurance company, Printing and Imaging Centres Insurance (PICI).

He has authored numerous studies, articles, and issue papers concerning the future of the printing and copying industries. Jeffrey owned and operated two top-ranked quick print and copy shops.

Webprint has made several announcements recently indicating strong acceptance of your service. Can you explain this?

Webprint’s desktop-to-delivery solutions solve a number of key problems that have plagued printers that provide on-demand or digital printing services. As a result, demand for Webprint’s solutions has been high and very well received.

However, it bears mentioning that we feel that timing has much to do with Webprint’s early success. The printing industry is undergoing tremendous change fueled by the convergence of the Internet, affordable, high-speed, and very high quality reprographic equipment. Overlaying this convergence is a major shift in the way businesses communicate both internally and externally. Many indicators point towards a trend of more personalized and targeted communication for smaller audiences with less reliance on mass marketing.

These same trends has made it possible for printing customers with little experience in printing to prepare or "pre-flight" their own documents and submit them to the printer of their choice using the Internet. The result is that printers often must cope with wrong or missing fonts, mismatching application versions, and missing graphics requiring printers to either spend significant amounts of time reworking the documents or incur additional costs to get the documents to print as the customer intended.

By capitalizing on these trends and market needs, Webprint has developed unique product and service offerings that specifically address the industry’s requirements and pain points.

Are you targeting franchises only or are there other sectors you intend to focus on?

While we feel that franchise printers can provide a number of opportunities for us, they are only part of the $35 billion on demand market projected by 2003 according to a CAP Ventures study last year.

Webprint has been successful identifying and developing new markets for our solutions. While the company has initially focused on franchises and chain operations, we are seeing quite a bit of demand from other areas including facilities management firms and in-plant operations, for example.

One executive selling to franchises said that a deal announced at the corporate level really means nothing because the franchise owners make the ultimate decision. Your thoughts in context of the PIP/Sir Speedy deal.

We would have to disagree. While individual franchise owners do make the final decisions, if presented with the right offer, a company like Webprint can leverage endorsements and resources at the corporate level. Unlike, other franchised-based business, printing franchisers maintain very close relationships with their franchises and in fact most of them conduct quarterly regional conferences and seminars.

As an example, Sir Speedy and PIP corporate plan to introduce Webprint’s Internet printing system to their franchisees at their upcoming regional conferences. In addition, both companies are working closely with Webprint to develop and rollout joint sales and marketing programs.

We have reported a significant decline in print buyer confidence in the last two months. Other studies show additional financial pressures for today’s printer. With the current issues, how can Webprint’s product help?

Better workflow solutions only address one aspect of a printer’s business. Now, more than ever, companies must maximize profitability; increase equipment and personnel efficiencies while reducing waste or makeovers. Webprint’s Internet printing solutions are designed specifically to address many of the financial issues that afflict the on demand printing industry, improve workflow, to extend their brand, and enable management of customer relationships in an efficient fashion.

Give our readers a break down of the Adobe deal. What does it do for users of Webprint?

Webprint has integrated Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) and other Internet printing technologies with our own customized, desktop-to-delivery solutions for digital printers. Printers can now receive print-ready files eliminating the need to maintain multiple authoring applications while freeing up design staff for more profitable work.

This is provided by uniting the functionality of a print driver with the flexibility, robustness, and familiarity of a standard web browser. A printer’s customer can now submit a job directly from their application to the printing location of their choice, as easily as sending the document to their desktop printer. The customer can use any standard document creation program from Microsoft, Adobe, or Quark for example.

When the customer submits a job, the document is converted by the Webprint system into an industry standard Adobe PDF file and the customer is given an accurate proof of the document on-line. After the buyer has reviewed the document, a print-ready file is automatically priced and sent over the Internet to the printer’s location.

We believe that by using a free, print driver-based approach, end-users and print buyers can enjoy a familiar printing experience, and affordable, error-free job submission, with consistent results.

We understand that Webprint is in the hiring mode as others are trimming their work force.

Webprint learned early on that in order to sustain growth and reach our revenue goals we must maintain a lean organization and hire staff that have both strategic planning and hands-on skills. As a result we have a group of employees that are cross-functional and can operate at a number of levels. We are in fact hiring in key areas such as engineering and business development.

Explain your pricing structure. Does a company like PIP/Sir Speedy pay a yearly license fee or is it based on the usage from Sir Speedy's customers and employees?

For competitive reasons, all I can say is that our pricing structure is flexible and unique to a customers needs and business operations. We have support and buy in from major chains and franchises like Office Depot, Sir Speedy, and PIP. All indication is that our pricing is fair and meets our customer’s needs.

Is your product ready to be used by PIP's foreign locations and what other international plans do you have?

While we do have plans for international expansion, in the short term we are focusing on the U.S. market where we feel there is a huge opportunity—currently growing at a rate of 20% a year.

Webprint has a comprehensive offering of services. What area of your business appears to have the fastest adoption rate and interest to prospects?

Thanks for the compliment. Initially, there has been interest and demand for our products, which as I mentioned earlier, solve many of the problems facing the on demand industry today. Specifically, Webprint’s ability to deliver print-ready files, online proofing, automatic pricing, and weight calculation has gotten a lot of attention. However, Webprint also offers a comprehensive suite of services including customer care, training, and professional services.

When does Webprint anticipate a profit?

All we can say is that all of Webprint’s founders have previously started and run profitable companies. We fully expect this trend to continue.

With all the uncertainty in the e-solution print space, have you found it necessary to disclose financial data to convince prospects that Webprint will be around?

Right or wrong, many large prospects do ask to see financial data or speak with investors prior to committing to a business relationship. If companies like Webprint believe that this knowledge will further the relationship, or make or break the deal, then the company must make those decisions on a case-by-case basis.

To date, no one has required this level of financial data from Webprint, having made their decisions on the strength of our management, business model, and products.

Thank you Jeff for spending time with us.