4 Tips for Pitching Web to Print Storefronts
As a print provider, you understand the value of a modern, intelligent web to print solution. But many of your clients and prospective clients probably do not. The people making these marketing asset purchasing decisions don’t have the bandwidth or necessity to keep up with what modern print providers can do. They have no reason to keep up with the cutting-edge advancements in areas like digital print technology, omnichannel campaigns, automated web to print storefronts, and the like.
Your business, armed with a modern web to print solution, has the potential to revolutionize the way large enterprise companies manage and distribute their vast and ever-changing array of assets and materials. But they may have no idea that that is possible.
So teach them! Position your business at every opportunity to encourage your customers to think beyond just the initial price per unit, but rather to understand the added value and benefit of implementing this new technology. It’s in both you and your customer’s best interest to highlight what’s possible and deepen your relationship with your biggest customers by doing so.
These 4 tips will help you develop a pitch-perfect strategy for showing the value of your web to print storefronts to prospective customers.
Tip # 1: Go All Out on Your Demo Storefront
As they say with storytelling, “show, don’t tell.” The same goes for using your web to print storefronts to attract new clients. The fastest and most effective way to convince a prospect why your marketing asset management solution is worth investing in is to show them what it does. Your strategy when it comes to storefront demonstrations can make or break your success with web to print.
All that is to say, spend time configuring your demonstration storefront. The comparison to storytelling is not just skin deep. With this demo storefront you are trying to convey a story. The story of how a brand can streamline their marketing asset supply chain, control and monitor print and other asset ordering, and spend less time on tedious tasks like proof approvals and fulfillment logistics.
Your demo storefront should be set up so that you can walk a prospect through it and tell that story.
Tip # 2: Research and Prepare for Each Pitch
The first step in being able to effectively pitch, demo, and sell to your prospects on the value of your web to print storefront is doing your research. This is true of any sales strategy but it’s worth extra consideration when you’re planning on selling a solution that your prospect might not be very familiar with, such as web to print technology.
You need to be knowledgeable not just about the web to print solution you are using but also the specific ways that your solution can address the problems and struggles of your prospect. And because no two prospects are the same, this means taking extra time in the research and preliminary conversation phases to flesh out your idea of how your solution can solve their pain points.
This preparation is crucial, especially for big prospects with more complex needs. These are the potential clients that are the most valuable and the most achievable with a modern web to print platform. But you need to be ready to answer technical questions. The more tech-savvy clients are not going to let you get away with vague answers.
So, in summary, for those big prospects: Be prepared. Plan your demo. Ask questions at the beginning of the call. Start with a conversation to focus on what really matters.
Tip # 3: Don’t Talk About Features, Talk About Savings
You’ve got to be able to translate “web to print features” into “saving time and money”. This goes back to the major through line of this guide: the decision makers you are selling to don’t know the benefits and advantages of web to print technology, so you need to be able to explain it in a way that will connect.
This isn’t like simple print sales where your client wants something printed, asks for it, gets a quote, and then gets the print. This is a long-term solution that will become a part of their organization’s marketing supply chain and workflow. That takes more time, nuance, know-how, and guidance to sell.
Today, marketers make decisions primarily based on revenue, their marketing ROI. Their job is to generate qualified leads, customers, retain customers, grow accounts, and make those revenue numbers grow. What printers need to figure out is how to help marketers get there.
A big part of your job here is to translate technical terminology, print industry lingo, and software specifications into easily graspable, big picture takeaways.
Web-to-print brings simplicity to the ordering process. It gives your customers the ability to manage their marketing asset supply chain with more control and less time. This is the framing you should always return to and hang your hat on. How does your solution make their jobs easier, protect their brand, and save their budget?
Tip #4: Your Software Provider Can Be a Resource
The only group that knows how your web to print software works better than you do is your software provider. The team behind your web to print solution not only knows the bottom-line advantages it gives you and your clients, but also most likely are adept at communicating those points.
Just as you, as a print provider, aim to develop mutually beneficial, long-term partnerships with your clients, the business behind your web to print software should be a partner to you. That means you should aim to take advantage of all the resources and support your software provider has available, especially when it comes to pitching your web to print storefronts to potential clients.
A good web to print software provider will have support documents, training sessions, and other educational content designed to help printers succeed and grow using their web to print software. Leverage your software provider as a part of your strategy for making the most of your web to print solution.
