An In-plant Open House That Scored with Customers
Customers are often unaware of the full range of services an in-plant can provide. That can lead work to drift elsewhere, simply because the in-plant isn’t top of mind. Holding an open house is an effective way to close that gap, giving customers a firsthand look at your shop’s capabilities, expertise, and value while reinforcing the in-plant’s role as a trusted partner.
That strategy was on display at an open house hosted by the State of Tennessee’s Document Solutions operation. Tammy Golden, assistant commissioner of Document Solutions, said her team designed the event around a football theme that reflected its emphasis on teamwork and accountability.
“Our core values spell out TEAM – Thorough, Engaged, Accountable, Motivated – so we played off of that,” Golden says. “We called it a VIP All Access day.”
State agencies were invited to book group tours and receive themed tickets for entry. The concept carried throughout the operation — from signage to employee name badges. A raffle for two Tennessee Titans tickets added to the excitement.
The open house was built to be interactive from start to finish.
“The coolest thing was that when they first came in, we had our photographers get a picture of their team,” Golden says.
As customers toured the facility, they watched that photo move digitally through the workflow.
“They got to watch as our designers inserted their photograph in a book cover template digitally,” she says.
In the production area, customers helped print, bind, and trim the finished piece themselves. The result was a personalized copy of the Document Solutions Playbook — a guide to doing business with the in-plant. This gave attendees a tangible reminder of the services available and a clear reason to bring future work back to Document Solutions.
Bob has served as editor of In-plant Impressions since October of 1994. Prior to that he served for three years as managing editor of Printing Impressions, a commercial printing publication. Mr. Neubauer is very active in the U.S. in-plant industry. He attends all the major in-plant conferences and has visited 200 in-plant operations around the world. He has given presentations to numerous in-plant groups in the U.S., Canada and Australia, including the Association of College and University Printers and the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association. He also coordinates the annual In-Print contest, co-sponsored by IPMA and In-plant Impressions.
