Better prices and delivery time for guaranteed minimum print volume and customer training for job preparation are the most valuable initiatives. Large print customers value services and initiatives much more highly than smaller print customers. March 12, 2002 -- CAP Ventures and WhatTheyThink.com have released results of a survey aimed at determining helpful initiatives or activities their primary print supplier might provide. This survey was conducted with print buyers in February. Respondents represented a wide range of companies by various business and demographic factors. The sample of print customers included those from advertising, healthcare, retail, government, manufacturing, professional services and other key sectors. The sample included a mix of companies by number of employees and annual print spending with a bias towards medium and large companies. The survey asked print customers to rate how valuable they found a variety of initiatives or activities their primary print supplier might offer. Rated initiatives included: - Working with you to implement variable data printing for personalized marketing pieces - Implementing a digital asset management program for your images, graphics, etc. - Enabling web-based job submission and e-procurement of print - Setting up remote proofing (e.g.equipment, calibration) so you can generate digital proofs - Implementing an on demand print and/or fulfillment program - Training on job preparation for better quality, lower costs and faster turnound time - Providing better prices and delivery times based on your commitment for minimum annual print volume The most valued initiative was providing better prices and delivery time based on the print customer’s commitment to a minimum annual print volume (3.7 where 5 = extremely valuable). Close behind was providing training on job preparation for better quality, lower costs and faster turnaround time (3.6). What is very interesting to observe is the substantial difference in ratings by size of company. Large print customers (those spending $250,000 or more per year in print) valued all the initiatives much higher than smaller print customers (under $250,000 per year). Clearly, larger customers have more to benefit from these services (e.g. training, e-procurement) and have the resources to take advantage of them (e.g. digital asset management, personalization). Premium Access Members at WhatTheyThink.com can view complete results including charts, graphs and more detailed analysis at www.whattheythink.com. About WhatTheyThink.com: WhatTheyThink.com is the print and publishing industry’s leading online community. The company offers a mixture of free and subscription-based content for industry executives. Additionally, WhatTheyThink.com provides a robust content syndication program serving related web sites. For more information, visit www.whattheythink.com About CAP Ventures CAP Ventures is a strategic consulting firm for providers and users of business communication technologies and services. They deliver key research, analysis, forecasting, benchmarking, and strategy recommendations to make a competitive difference in our clients’ businesses. www.capv.com