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Plan B

January 31st, 2018 - Posted by Ellen Hurwitch, Director of Operations - The Americas

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As some of you that have read my blogs on the red-tie.com/blog site, you will remember that when we last left off I was getting busted for speeding. Not an unusual event for me, I’m afraid. So, you would think that I would have thought of a way around getting stopped. Maybe buy one of those fuzz buster thingies.

I was going to write a blog with the help of customers this month, but everyone got real busy (which is fine by me because it means the print industry is doing well), so I had to rack my brain for an alternative topic.

I was a girl scout when I was younger, but having dropped out, I wasn’t around for the “contingency” badge building. In other words, I am not adept at having a Plan B ready to roll if the need be.

And that need is here and now, so what better a topic than talking about having a Plan B at the ready. I’m sure some people are always prepared for the worst case scenario – that’s Boy Scout motto – “Boy Scouts Are Always Prepared” – but I don’t think people spend much time coming up with alternate solutions in case something may not work out. It’s obvious I didn’t when it came to my speeding.

It may sound negative, and worrisome “worst case scenario”, but I think in every aspect, one should have a back up plan. Including with a web to print project.

Why, you ask, would it be important for a Plan B in creating storefronts for your customers? To start with, if you don’t have the software and you have a customer looking to order online, you’d be like me. I like to drive fast, and I did not have the required tool to stop myself from getting pulled over.

As more and more print goes digital and away from traditional offset, the opportunities that come with digital print make having a web to print software a natural. This is also a good time to take your existing art and prepress departments and train at least a couple of employees in the software. Why more than one? Back up! Plan B!

Let’s say that you have a new client who would like to see an ecommerce solution built for them and up and running within 2 weeks, and oh by the way, there are 30 products, 15 of which need personalization and all need 3rd party approval. As I said, a lot of my customers are very busy these days. A back up plan, in this instance would be contacting their RedTie account manager to enquire about managed services. The managed services team can be your back up to get a site up and running in short order!

How about the prospect that is like the license plate for Missouri, which says “show me”? In other words, they want to see a demo site. Now! To be prepared for this you can always set up a demo site in advance and then change the banner to reflect the different prospects’ branding as needed. No need to reinvent the mousetrap!

There are also printers that have more than one web to print solution. Just like they have more than one press. This ensures that they are covered for whatever their customers and prospects require.

There are lots of reasons to a Plan B. I have only named a couple. But sometimes, you’ll find those Plan B’s are good enough to be Plan A’s! All it takes is a little pre-planning.

Or in my case, pre-buying that radar detector!