Each in-house print shop had different experiences during COVID. Some were shut down almost completely, while others may have handled double duty like I did. We found ways to stay connected so things could get done as they were needed.
Now we are pretty much all open again, but maybe short handed. Not to mention other sections of our organization may be as well. In one case that I know of one person is doing the job of three. All this does make things busier all the way around, and can cause things to fall into the cracks. Sometimes when I reach out, I have been met with “I’ll call you back, I have four things going on right now”, and the call never comes.
A few years before COVID hit, one of my former bosses sat down with me to get to know how I ran the shop, and what I thought were problem areas. Running a one person shop, I was always busy, and could not easily figure out the right time to take time for myself. His recommendation was to make a calendar of all the repeating work I could think of, and add to it as I go. What this did for me in the short time was find the holes to take my vacation. Now that calendar is a valuable tool.
With people being so busy because of varying reasons, the calendar is reminding me, and some of them, of jobs that are coming up. For instance we have a canoe race every year. One of the most important print jobs I have is printing the numbers for the canoes. This usually happens about the same time, but this year the call did not come, that is until I reached out. I made the call saying it had popped up on my calendar. They were grateful for that, because they were overwhelmed and short staffed. Now I call each of the print buyers when something comes up on the calendar.
Another thing you can do with this calendar to help your customers is make a list of jobs. Currently I am making a list for each school of what jobs I usually see each year that are needed by them before they reopen after summer break. This list will be a shared file between the buyer from each school, and myself where we can add or subtract items. The list will also be used to show which jobs are completed so that no one tries to double order a job (unintentionally).
Above all, offer to help. Yes, you are the primary printer for your organization, but we all know people will go outside. It seems to happen more when things are overwhelming for a customer. Offer, or remind them that you can help. Even if you cannot do the job in your shop, you can follow/broker the job for them. Your shop already knows all of your organization’s branding. This means you are in a great place to make sure that the branding line is held, and they are not worried about how it will look. Making it one less thing for your customer to worry about.
In the end, our shops are all here to help our organizations inwardly, and outwardly. Remind your customers of that, but right now don’t overwhelm them. With some new tricks like these, not only will they remember you and your shop. They will also remember that you are a valuable solution to help them, and the organization, to succeed.
Since 2005 Walter Ryan has been part of the Central Services Division for the City of Bangor, Maine. He began his journey in print when he did some job shadowing during his Senior year in high school with Furbush Roberts Printing in Bangor, Maine. He then attended Central Maine Community College in 1990 learning the ropes of prepress, and press techniques. After graduating in 1992 he worked in the private printing sector for thirteen years.