Last time, we started the conversation about your 2022 sales plan. The question on the table focused on how well your plan was coming to fruition, especially as you looked at predicted profit margins and the reality of what landed in the bank as you reconciled your books each month. For companies using automated business intelligence and sales systems, the view into actual profits can be visible through the dashboards. However, many print companies do not have the intensity of automation that makes it easy to see what products and customers produce the best margins.

If you are in that group, you don’t have to guess! You can set up a review of your actual costs of production for each product and your average costs related to engaging with each client. Start with the sleuthing suggested in the previous article, and then we can get started on the next phase. Now we are going to do a deep dive into the costs of doing business with customers and how you apply discounting strategies to see if the best practices are in play.

If some of the customers in your book of business take more time than you think is warranted, you and your team are likely aware of the problem. There are always customers who need more hand-holding. They send files that are unprintable. They ask you to fix work, and that takes time. In many shops, it is considered the cost of doing business, but it is often missing from the cost of goods sold calculations that feed profit determinations.