Print and beyond:

The pandemic has apparently presented new opportunities for businesses to innovate and thrive during the current period. Numerous sectors that have understood this proposition have already started moving in the right direction, while others are still waiting for the storm to pass. Production printing is part of the former.

To adapt to these unexpected yet unique transitions, print vendors and their partners must do thorough market research to understand customer insights, address their evolving printing requirements, and identify the key areas where they can add value. This calls for mindful thinking, innovative strategies, and an agile approach to look at the current challenges and convert them into meaningful opportunities.

Here’s looking at some tips that print businesses can follow to thrive in the new normal:

Enhance the existing portfolio

Add new products and services to the existing product line aligned with the changing dynamics of the current market landscape. For instance, print-on-demand are slated to see an upsurge in the post-pandemic world. Hence, businesses should add this solution to their kitty in order to improve operational efficiencies, reduce overheads, and boost sales margins. The more equipped you are, the better you can deliver to your customers.

COVID-19 has also created a surge in demand for commercial printing solutions, with more and more customers looking for printing on applications such as labels, brochures, catalogues, photo books, and many more. To spread awareness around the new changes and modifications made in the previous business models and work culture, the need for agile Digital Production

Printing solutions is currently increasing and will remain significant in the following months too.

Follow an agile approach

Study the market changes and adapt them as quickly as possible. For instance, as COVID-19 pushed organizations to go digital, it is your onus to invest in the right technologies and adopt the latest advances to address customer issues at every point possible. Agile businesses who can understand and learn to embrace these changes will turn even a problematic situation into a growth opportunity. If things turn out well, they may find themselves in a position to leverage the first-mover advantage and cement their stance as a leader and become future-ready to face any challenge.

The need for awareness around digital printing solutions

Although it is crucial for businesses to invest in these advanced technologies to thrive in the new normal, it is equally vital for them to educate customers and spread awareness around the same. This can be achieved by hosting online webinars across different departments and giving every solution provider hands-on knowledge on these new products. Doing so will make them efficient in terms of usage and help them serve customers more seamlessly by addressing all their issues in a snap.

Therefore, the need to provide robust service support throughout the product life cycle is crucial for successfully achieving this digital transition. In line with this vision, businesses should make customer support teams and tech experts accessible to customers 24×7 to offer instant solutions even to their unique problems. To make this possible, they must go beyond using in-house communication tools and leverage third-party apps such as WhatsApp, MS Teams, or Zoom to ensure better and more fulfilling customer interactions.

Once the end-customer gets familiarized with these new solutions, it will certainly lead to increased adoption of digital printing solutions and accelerate digitalization across India. These strategies are all the more pivotal in the post-pandemic world when people strictly follow social distancing. Businesses need to serve their customers while also keeping them safe. At this point, digital printing methods have emerged as a game-changer. Evidently, these innovations have already started gaining traction not only among urban consumers but also among customers hailing from smaller towns.

Make current customers your top priority

For any business, making new customers costs more than retaining the existing ones. And both are equally important. However, during the current times, you must realize not all your customers might have the buying capacity as that of pre-COVID levels. As a result, utilize this phase to strengthen your relationship with existing customers by helping them instead of forcing them to use your service or buy your product.

You must ensure that the trust between you and your customers is intact at present to maintain and shape up long-term loyalty. For this, it’s essential to provide them with sound advice at every point and innovate your existing product and service portfolios, apart from what you have been offering them so far.

Conclusion

There is indeed no place for an analogue mindset in today’s digital world. But at the same time, businesses should realize that digital solutions are not a replacement for each of their traditional printing counterparts. Instead, these are just an essential addition to the existing product and service portfolio.

Therefore, every business needs to leverage the best of both worlds in order to thrive in the present business landscape and be ready for the evolving print needs of tomorrow. On top of that, being in touch with the customer throughout the product life cycle and helping them address their product-related queries will always play a key role in defining success.

While the pandemic has presented unique challenges to the whole world, it has also come up with new growth opportunities for businesses. Players who will follow the aforementioned strategies to embrace a mix of traditional and digital technologies will undoubtedly emerge as leaders, and those who won’t, will be outshined by its competitors. The choice is yours!

Businesses need to serve their customers while also keeping them safe. At this point, digital printing methods have emerged as a game-changer. Evidently, these innovations have already started gaining traction not only among urban consumers but also among customers hailing from smaller towns.