37 www.printmonthly.co.uk January / February 2024 - Issue 346 • Are there any products you'd like to order from us that we don't currently sell? • Are there products we do sell that you'd like to place with us but don't currently feel you can? If not, please give a reason? Usually, this might just be down to price and needs a discussion to negotiate terms. • Is there anything we could do better to enable us to win more of your business? You get where I'm going with this but these are some ideas to get you started. I appreciate some of these can be difficult questions to ask but if you can get them to open up and give you the answers, you're well on your way to hopefully increasing their spend with you. You can set these up in software like Survey Monkey or if you have a Mailchimp account, they now have a new feature for conducting surveys. Once you've set it up, email it to your current customers with some kind of incentive like a discount voucher to use on your website. I’ve gone through this process with many printers now and we have a 100% record of identifying money being left on the table. I hope these points give you, Print Monthly readers, something to think about and perhaps can help you too to uncover some hidden print sales within your business. 3. Customer Segments When you’re reviewing their customer reviews, look at the types of people who are commenting. Could there be a trend with schools, colleges, and universities leaving positive reviews? Are they focused on specific geographic areas that you should be? Are any of your customers popping up on there? Are they providing a service to them because you are not? 4. Competitive Strategies Lastly, have a look at what your competitors are doing to stand out. What value proposition are they focused on? Is it a free next-day delivery service? Dedicated account managers? Free artwork checks? Credit accounts? Discount on the first order? So, Which Competitors Should you Analyse? The first thing you want to do is choose a variety of competitors to analyse. I’d recommend starting with five. Pick the ones you come up against most frequently but it’s also important to keep an open mind when choosing. Don’t just think about who looks exactly the same as your business, consider some indirect competitors too. These are companies that might not offer exactly the same as you. It may be similar but both are still targeting the same audience. Check the Charges Take a look at how they are charging. Pricing is a really sensitive topic and the last thing you want to do is get dragged into a race to the bottom. It is important however to know how you are placed against your competitors. If you are pricing yourself too low, you could be leaving money on the table that they are picking up and if you are charging too much on certain products, you could be losing those price-sensitive customers. It's a fine line to master but by going through this process, you'll have a better idea about how to position yourself in the market. Survey your Customers One of the most valuable things you can do when it comes to competitive research is to interview your customers. Getting feedback from them directly can not only give you a better understanding of how they view your company but also you can gain their opinion of your competitors too. Here are some of the questions you should consider asking: • How often do they typically order print? • What is their annual spend? • If they are comfortable sharing, which other printers do they use? • How would they prefer you kept in contact with them? Phone/Email/Zoom, etc. INDUSTRY TIPS / THE ONLINE PRINT COACH
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