5 Major Benefits of Working with a Print Broker


5 Major Benefits of Working with a Print Broker
 April 15, 2017

“Do you have the in-house equipment or work as a print broker?”

This is a question that often comes up when we meet with potential clients about print projects.

The answer is: we used to have the in-house equipment and are now a print broker, followed by a brief company history.

Before our company was founded in 1996, our president was in the printing business. In 1996, he founded the company that would become the Visual Impact Group of today as a printer.

As our services expanded beyond printing and into technology, it made more sense for us to become a print broker and leverage our relationships with other printers instead of maintaining in-house equipment.

This allowed us to move from in-house equipment for fulfillment to a more agile, creative environment and expand our print and digital design and development services.

With over 20 years behind us, and still offering print design and fulfillment, we’ve been through all sides and facets of the print process.

As a print broker, here are 5 major benefits we can offer:

1.      You get the benefit of our print broker experience, from both the printer perspective and the client perspective.

Printers approach bids differently.

We’ve been on both sides of the bid process, so we can identify potential miscommunications in the printing bids and clarify specifications ahead of time. This ensures the quote you receive is true to your product specifications and is right the first time.

Additionally, you can count on a smoother print workflow. We’ve been there – a lot. So, we can help identify and solve potential problems in design, specifications, and/or production before they become problems.

We know how to take a print project from planning to fulfillment smoothly and efficiently and we leverage that knowledge to your benefit.

2.      We maintain long-term relationships with our print partners (so you don’t have to).

We’ve developed long-term relationships with printers who have a variety of specialties.

We maintain those relationships, which not only saves you time, but it also avoids the guesswork that comes with trying to choose a new print partner.

As a printer and now a print broker, we’ve gotten to know our print partners very well.

So, when it comes to delivering on your project, we know exactly which printer specializes in that area and has the right equipment and team for you.

By working with an experienced print broker who really knows print, you’ll know you’re getting the right team for the job, without any of the guesswork or headaches.

3.      We can leverage those relationships to negotiate competitive pricing.

Because we’ve built and maintained long-term relationships with our print partners, we get some benefits for being loyal customers.

The biggest one is we have more leverage to be able to negotiate competitive pricing for your job.

Because we are more than a print broker (since we also offer creative services and marketing in-house), we can control costs a bit more than if we were getting estimates for design and fulfillment, instead of just fulfillment.

Plus, we tend to have some leverage in turnaround times as well.

4.      No discrepancies or misunderstandings between ship date and delivery date.

A common mistake when companies are submitting information for a print estimate is listing the required delivery date of their print materials as the date the materials need to be printed.

This causes a discrepancy between when the materials are printed and shipped versus when they are delivered. The time between completing print materials and receiving them needs to be accounted for in the estimate, so the printer can deliver on time.

An experienced print broker will be aware of this and will be able to act on your behalf to meet deadlines and avoid headaches.

5.      We are employed by you, not the printer.

Yes, we may have long-standing relationships with our printers, but we are employed by you.

You are our customer and as such, we will prioritize your needs.

We’re not about to start ruining relationships with you or our printers, but we will go to bat for you.

We’ll leverage our relationships to make sure the customer comes first.

 

Navigating a print project alone can result in a lot of confusion, headaches, and frustration. With a print broker on your side, you can look forward smooth sailing.

 

Need a hand launching your next print project?

The VIG team is here to bring it safely into port!