If you missed out on the Kimosetter 410 promotion last year, now’s your chance.  The promotion for a a Kimosetter 410 complete bundled package is back again in 2012 for a limited time.  A special bundled price will get you everything you need to get started in affordable, processless, high quality, desktop CTP.  Call today!

There is no faster way to lose a customer than not keeping your commitments.  New customers don’t come easy so you want to make sure you keep your existing customers happy.  You’re better off to under promise and over deliver, than over promise and miss your commitment.  Whether it be a quote, a callback, a delivery or a completed project be sure to set realistic expectations that you can meet.  It can be very tempting to promise the moon when talking with a customer but it does more harm than good if you can’t actually deliver on your commitment.  You will lose credibility and quite possibly lose a customer.  Be true to your word and your customers will respect you for it.

Coming soon

How’s your customer service these days?  Have you really stopped to take a look lately?  There are many, many facets to customer service but getting back to customers in a timely fashion is a big one.  Are you responding to your customers, and your potential customers, in a timely fashion?  How long is a timely fashion?  One person’s perception of a quick response can be very different than the next person’s perception.

I make it a habit to respond to all customers the same day, or the very next day, even if I don’t yet have an answer for them.  Of course it’s best, if possible, to respond with the actual answer to their inquiry.  However, if that’s not possible, it is a good practice to respond quickly and let them know that you received it and you are working on it.  Within that response, set real and specific time frames for getting back to them.  “I’ll get that quote to you by Wednesday is much better than “I’ll get that quote to you in a few days”.  Some people’s idea of a few days can be more like a couple of weeks.

How about requests you may receive from your web site or via email?  Have you ever submitted a request for information from a web site or requested a quote online only to never receive an answer, or receive an answer weeks or months later?  Did it give you a warm and fuzzy feeling about doing business with that company?  As we get busy during the workday it can be easy to push those requests aside with sincere intent to address them later.  Next thing you know a couple of days have gone by and you have missed a golden opportunity to provide a quick response and a positive first impression.  On the flip side have you ever left a voice mail message or submitted a web request for a company you would like to learn more about or get a quote from, and hear back from someone the same day?  Or better yet, within hours (dare I say minutes)?  Now that’s an opportunity to shine.

I recently contacted an Internet bank and requested some older statements that are beyond the time frame in which they make their records readily available with a click.  Not only did they happily fulfill my request, they had my statements available for me in my online account within hours!  Now that’s exemplary customer service.

In today’s cost conscious market you need something other than price to set yourself apart. Why not provide exemplary customer service?  Providing exemplary customer service can be what sets you apart from your competitors.  It doesn’t cost much and there’s no special equipment to buy.  It just requires a little knowledge, awareness, training and a commitment.

Welcome to 2012!

As we turn the page on another year gone by what are you looking forward to in 2012?  I think an improved economy is at the top of all our lists.  We’ve all made it this far and I’m confident that better times are ahead.  I have high hopes for 2012.  I’m looking forward to a prosperous and abundant year both in business and personally.  There’s no value in negative thoughts and when they come, and they will, I’m turning them out and replacing them with optimistic thoughts for the new year.  Let’s look at some of the positive facts for the coming year.  Unemployment decreased to 8.5 % in December 2011, albeit a small decrease, it is still a decrease.  CEO confidence increased from 42 to 49 in the last quarter of 2011 and consumer confidence increased to 64.5 in December 2011.

Positive thoughts and a positive outlook lead to more positive thoughts and an increasingly better outlook.  Perception is everything.  We all can make a difference in our own little piece of the world (customers, employees, vendors, family and friends) and I am planning to spread a positive outlook and exuberant attitude in my piece of the world.  What are you planning to spread in your little piece of the world?  Vivaciousness is catchy.  Why not try it for a while and observe the results.

Do the recent price increases for offset printing supplies have you taking another look at CtP? If not, maybe you should.  If you haven’t invested in CtP yet then it may be time to take another look.  For many small shops the payoff just hasn’t been there.  It just didn’t make sense to invest tens of thousands of dollars in a new platesetter (and it still might not).  But with the increased prices for imagesetting film, plates, chemistry, etc. the return on investment for CtP might look a little more attractive.  Of course it’s different for everyone, but it’s worth taking another look at the numbers just to be sure.

If you’re evaluating your options be sure to take a look at the Kimosetter 410.  It offers everything you need for simple and affordable CtP.  The Kimosetter 410 is the roughly the same size as a desktop printer, it gives exceptional image quality and doesn’t require any chemicals.  You can realize the benefits of CtP and “go green” at the same time.  We offer an exceptional price on a complete bundled package, it provides everything you need to get started with the Kimosetter 410.  If you would like to find out more just give us a call at 866-895-4413 between 8:30am and 4:00pm Eastern Time.

Have you recently received a price increase for your imagesetter film, chemistry or printing plates?  If not, your supplier will be increasing prices soon.  It’s a perfect storm, so to speak.  The increased demand for the raw materials in these products has resulted in widespread price increases for imagesetting film, printing plates and processing chemicals.  Some manufacturers have already raised their prices and for others the increase is coming.  Here at Peerless we have already increased our prices.  Fortunately, we maintain low overhead, and high enough volume, to maintain prices lower than our competitors.  If you have received a price increase for any of your offset supplies including printing plates, imagesetting film, or chemistry, and are looking for ways to keep your costs down then give us a call.  We will be glad to help you and we will not be undersold.  Call and speak with one of our friendly staff today and find out what we can do for you.  Even the call is free:  866-895-4413.

We recently became a member of the Printing Industries of Ohio and N. Kentucky.  We are pleased to be a part of this organization and look forward to not only taking advantage of the many benefits provided by PIANKO, but also doing our part in contributing to further the goals of the association as well as the printing industry in general.  Last week we had the privilege of attending the Printing Week Celebration at Windows On The River in Cleveland, OH and observing the presentation of the Print Excellence Awards.  We dined on some excellent hors d’oeuvres while casting our votes for the People’s Choice award.  We would like to congratulate the folks at the Forest Corporation for receiving this award for the Northern Region.  We have already met some really nice people through our membership in the Printing Industries of Ohio and N. Kentucky and look forward to meeting many more of the members.

We’ve got select rolls of imagesetting film and offset printing plates that we need to get out of our warehouse before the end of the year.  We have further marked down the prices on this items.  Take advantage of these clearance prices on matte imagesetting film, hard dot imagesetting film, Konica imagesetting film and Ultima printing plates today.  Follow the links for pricing or call us toll free at 866-895-4413.

Update:  Prices have been drastically reduced on the few remaining rolls of film and boxes of plates in our clearance section!

Are you looking for ways to reduce expenses without sacrificing quality?  Times are tough but we can help.  We have unbeatable prices on rapid access fixer, rapid access developer, plate developer, plate finisher, blanket & roller wash and fountain solution.  Why spend more than you have to for your prepress and pressroom chemistry.  We supply high quality prepress and pressroom chemicals and we stand behind them with a performance guarantee.  If any of our products don’t perform as you expect we will provide you with a refund.  Call us today (toll free) to find out how you can start saving money right away on the chemistry products you use very day.  What have you got to lose?  Our friendly staff is ready to help you make the switch to our rapid access developer, rapid access fixer, plate developer and plate fixer to start your savings right away.  866-895-4413