Barbara A. Pellow

Despite COVID-19, business basics still apply. What’s new for printing service providers is finding creative ways to refresh and execute proven strategies. Here's how service providers are altering or updating their execution to improve business results.

Successful print service providers understand that change is mandatory and embrace it. As 2020 approaches, developing strategies that incorporate market changes will be vital to print providers’ success. Here are the top trends that will yield the most influence for service providers of all types and sizes.

Marketing attribution is defined as the science of using advanced analytics and key metrics to allocate proportional credit to each marketing touchpoint across all online and offline channels that have led to the desired customer behavior.

When the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival was in full swing last month, the wildly cheering crowd included several dozen in-plant managers who had traveled to Rochester, NY, to attend an educational event hosted by Xerox. Taking place a week after the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association conference, the two-day forum drew 56 people from…

The current economy can be viewed as a threat or an opportunity. For in-plants that have made the right investments, the economy has opened the door to some new and exciting opportunities.

You need to proactively and succinctly communicate the value that the in-plant is delivering to the organization in terms that all levels of management will understand.

Digital technologies and demands from users are forcing in-plants to adjust their service portfolios. Today’s market is all about adding value to the overall communications process.

In a difficult economic climate, organizations are seeking to improve business metrics by outsourcing operations that are not directly related to their core products.

THE IN-PLANT market is probably the most underestimated user of digital printing technology. The influence of the in-plant is apparent from an examination of the segments where on-demand devices are being placed. The in-plant market drove the adoption of black-and-white digital printing and currently accounts for 40 percent of high-speed monochrome print-on-demand cut-sheet installations. The in-plants are also leading the color charge, accounting for 30 percent of placements in the 24-59 pages per minute (ppm) production color segment and 20 percent of the convenience color copier/printers and production color devices in excess of 60 ppm. Just like the entire print-for-pay market, in-plants are

AS ALTERNATIVE media threaten print volumes, in-plants must take another look at their business models and adapt to the changing business climate. Revenue growth will depend on cost reduction through new workflow efficiencies, as well as new revenue sources from value-added services. Although hardware improvements will certainly play a role in advancing these objectives, the software driving these devices—along with other workflow solutions—will allow printers to differentiate themselves. Research indicates a growing divide between service providers that are growing their businesses and those that see their businesses in decline. Those who “get it” understand that continued growth depends on a three-pronged approach: