How to Sell Variable Data Printing with Confidence

Confidence is critical to selling anything. Just as animals can sense fear, customers are quick to perceive a lack of confidence on the part of a salesperson. Once this happens, customers’ apprehension levels increase and the sales process rapidly deteriorates. Offering and executing variable data printing (VDP) jobs, while turning a profit, can have so many uncertainties that exuding confidence is a challenge –

• Can I deal with the customer’s data efficiently?
• What if I bring up VDP job and can’t deliver what the customer ultimately wants?
• Will he want a special effect or something else I can’t do in-house?
• Are my staff and software up to the challenge?
• How many hours will all the data and file work take?
• Where do I go if I have a problem with some part of this job?

Any or all of these questions can certainly be confidence-busters. If it’s not obvious, the questions all boil down to a simple point: how do I create the VDP print files and how much will they cost? If the answers to all of these questions were clear and simple, the confidence in selling VDP would be much higher. 

 

Printers commonly outsource all sorts of work such as data cleansing and mail presorting. Why? They do it because they can’t do the work in-house or they can get it done cheaper/better/faster by outsourcing it. Why not outsource the VDP print file-related work, or, at least, all of the parts that raise questions and reduce confidence? 

Even print shops regularly selling and printing VDP jobs can have issues: a customer wants a tough special effect, the in-house is out for a week or there’s just too much work to do. Again, outsourcing would be the answer to keep things going.

Where do you find this outsourced VDP resource? You’re already there.