4 Best Practices your Print Partner Needs
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Hiring a print partner to make sure that you get the highest quality print projects completed?
Here are some print best practices to ensure that you hire the right person or team:
1. Find A Printer Who Leverages Cutting Edge Technology
When choosing a print partner, you want to make sure that they’re leveraging cutting edge technology and all of their equipment is new and up to date. If your print partner is using printers that are 5 years old, you’re going to be missing out on recent advancements, and your documents aren’t going to look as polished as you want them to.
Bottom line, is if your printer isn’t using the newest and best technologies, they’re not going to be able to deliver the highest quality print jobs. When you’re interviewing potential print partners, ask them what printers and programs they’re using, why they chose them and when the last time they upgraded all of their machines and systems was. Do your research and find out what technologies are the most effective for the type of print job you need, and make sure that your print partner is using it before you make a commitment.
2. Hire Someone With Experience Printing Exactly What You Need
There are numerous types of print jobs, from business cards to saddle stitch booklets, and each potentially requires different programs, machines and level of expertise. Before you decide on a print partner, you want to make sure that they have extensive experience in printing the types of documents and collateral that you’ll be needing.
Ask your potential print partner to show you samples of work from previous clients that is similar to the type of work that you would need done. Ideally, they should be able to provide at least 5 samples of work that’s on par for the type of project you need printed. When reviewing, look at the WORST of the samples and ask yourself “if my print job turned out like this, would I be happy?” If the answer is no, they don’t have the right experience and you should look for another partner.
3. Avoid Surprises And Get All Your Information Ahead Of Time
One classic mistake that people make when hiring a print partner (or any other contractor, for that matter) is just assessing their partner on their skills and not getting all of the information they need about the working relationship to make the right decision. Obviously, you need to hire someone who has the skills to complete your print jobs well. But there’s so much more to a working relationship than that.
Before you start working with a print partner, it’s a best practice to find out as much information about their work style and communication as possible. So, for example, what’s their process for rush jobs? Will you incur extra fees if you need a job turned around in 24 hours? What do you do if you need a print job completed on a weekend?
Details like that might seem insignificant during the hiring process, but asking these questions up front will save you from some potentially disappointing surprised down the road. The more information you can find out about what it’s going to be like to work someone, the better you’ll be able to make a decision on whether they’re the right fit for your needs.
4. Insist On An Online Ordering Portal
When you’re hiring a print partner, you want to make sure that they have an online ordering portal. Having an online ordering portal is incredibly convenient, will keep all of your communications organized and eliminates a significant amount of work on your part when sending over print jobs.
How Can We Help?
At Rogue Print and Mail, our proven track record of delivering the highest quality graphic design and print services to professionals speaks for itself. With fast turnaround times, industry specific templates and designs, an online portal available for any groups that wish to work with us to be able to store and manipulate their templates, and an in-house team to guide you in all of your branding, design and printing needs, Rogue Print and Mail is the preferred design and print partner for many hundreds of professionals across Australia.
Or for further information, please call us on 1300 65 85 00 or email us on quotes@rogueprintandmail.com.au