Who you should be calling on in your prospective and current accounts?

Before we get started, think for just a moment about the answers to these questions…and be candid with yourself.

- Has it ever taken a lengthy period of time to get the first meeting in a new account?
- Have you ever lost an account?
- Have you ever lost an account without knowing why?
- Have you ever lost a key project?
- Have you ever completed a job successfully never again to win a quote?

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then you need to rethink your account development strategies because you are not meeting the needs of the print buying organization. The solution to that issue lies in the correct answer to the article title’s question.

So, should you be calling on the:

- The President or CEO
- The Purchasing Agent
- Director of Marketing
- Director of Advertising
- Marketing Analyst
- Designer or Creative Specialist
- Or any other title relevant to the life of a print project

Who is "the" print buyer? Any one of them? All of them?

First and foremost it is important that we listen to what decision-makers in print buying organizations are telling us. They are clearly saying that there needs to be a single point of contact for effectively coordinating the communication of job criteria, proofing or editing cycles and oversight of job progress.

Does this mean that they are or should be the only contact you have in their account?

In their words, "Absolutely not!". Their individual role is to see that their internal or external customers get the printing services they need, when they need them, at the quality and price agreed upon. They tell us, to a person, that they expect their print vendors to collaborate with their "customers" or "other points of contact" to see that the details and scope of the job meets their needs. They are looking for creative and innovative solutions to the pressure they are facing in their budgets, from their competition and the changes in their respective industries.

The question is how do expect to truly serve your customers if you do not understand their business? AND how can you learn more about their business and really understand their challenges and objectives if you only have one point of contact in an account?