Remember the Staples “that was easy” campaign? An entire campaign dedicated to telling the customer that Staples values the customer’s time. Brilliant. The customer’s priorities are in the right place; on their business objectives, their time, their sense of ease and comfort in doing business with you.

Yet, time and time again we make business decisions based on what’s best for our business and not for our customers. Some printers are still resisting the move to online ordering or what I now call self-service enablement of your business. The printer will say, “if customers order online, we don’t get a chance to consult with them.” True, and what if the customer doesn’t want to have a consultative discussion every time they place an order? What if the customer’s strong preference is self-service because then they can do the task at their convenience and pace?

Web-to-print is all about customer convenience, it really isn’t about the printer at all even though an electronically placed order often is a better candidate for automation. With a strong web-to-print offering, a customer has several options for engagement with you, on some days they may choose to pick up the phone, on others they may do it themselves online (given the option).