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Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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The Holy Grail of Banner Stands: Banners that Truly Lay Flat

 

Producing lay flat banner stand graphics

Lou Fiore, owner of Speedway Custom Photo Lab in Daytona Beach, Fla., has been kind enough to share some great ideas, which we’ve posted here at the LexJet Blog (LED Backlit Conference Room Graphics and Creating a Multi-Panel Display).

Printing banners that lay flatTo round out the trio of ideas, Fiore shares his process for making perfectly flat banners for banner stand displays, what he calls the “Holy Grail” of banner stands.

“Regardless of how lay-flat manufacturers say a certain banner material is, you usually get some curl, and it varies depending on the material,” says Fiore. “Recently, I tried LexJet TOUGHcoat Water-Resistant Polypropylene with GBC 5 Mil Octiva Low-Melt Emboss 50 Laminate. While at first glance, you wouldn’t think this is a good match since the laminate is applied at temperature, but the result is astounding, with absolutely knife-sharp flat edges.”

Fiore’s technique is to print the Water-Resistant Polypropylene on his Epson 9800, then the GBC Emboss 50 is applied using a sled at the lower end of its low-melt temperature range, around 170 degrees F. The laminate is allowed to cure for about an hour and the banners are then trimmed on a Keencut Sabre 2 General Purpose Cutter (120 in.).

Cutting and trimming banners“Initially, the edges appear to have some curl, but once the protective layer is peeled off of the Emboss 50, the banner lays absolutely flat and stays flat when it’s under the spring tension of the banner stand,” explains Fiore. “One nice characteristic of the Emboss 50 is that it’s a 5-mil vinyl, which is very flexible and not bulky. Plus, it has a very light crystal surface that doesn’t kill the pop of the print, yet it kills the reflection off of the graphic. I show this to my customers so they can see how beautiful the laminate is; that’s how much I like it.”

Thanks for the tips, Lou!

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Marketing & Sales
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Sweetwater: What Sweet Customer Service Sounds Like

Sweetwater deserves a spot on my bumper. When I apply a bumper sticker to my car I never use the space to promote a political position or ideology. Instead, I use the bumper as a means to promote and thus reward companies that provide amazing customer service.

Customer service for music instruments and pro audio
Thanks Sweetwater for the customer service that came with a 12-string pack, picks, iJam and new strings for my Henshaw Limited Edition Fender Telecaster.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a Sweetwater bumper sticker. Instead, I’ll share my experience with Sweetwater here at the LexJet Blog. While part of my reason for sharing is that great customer service should be rewarded by sharing it with as many people as possible, the other is to share some tips on what great customer service looks like, or in this case, what it sounds like.

I found Sweetwater whilst searching the Web for someone who carries the iJam and accepts PayPal. The iJam is a device that allows you to plug your guitar into your iPhone or iPad and play and record said guitar with GarageBand.

I ordered it expecting the typical online shopping experience, which is basically an email verifying the order, and that’s about it. What I got instead was a follow-up call from someone personally assigned to my account, Jason Koons, to see if I had any questions and to let me know he was available if I had any questions or needed any help with the iJam when I received it.

Jason wasn’t pushy; just helpful. The iJam shipped as promised, and was packaged with a catalog and some candy as a nice extra personal touch (I gave most of it to my kids; I don’t have a sweet tooth).

Jason keeps in touch via email ever so often to let me know about sales and new products at Sweetwater. Again, Jason doesn’t harass me and I appreciate the helpful check-up correspondence.

I’ve had problems here and there with products I bought online that didn’t show up on time (and one time not at all). In such cases I wasted a lot of time punching 0, 1, 3 and various other digits on my telephone keypad to finally talk to a human being, who is usually located overseas in a land that rhymes with Bindia. Not so at Sweetwater. I call Jason and usually get Jason, and if I don’t someone else is right there with my account information and ready to help.

My most recent order was a couple of sets of guitar strings and some picks. It wasn’t a big order by any means, so I didn’t expect the same service this time around. Wrong. Same service, despite the fact that my order was less than $20. They called to let me know that they didn’t have the exact same style of pick I ordered in stock and recommended a similar style. Fortunately, I’m not that picky (pun intended) and went with their suggestion.

Ultimately, Sweetwater has picked up a customer for life simply because they treat me like a person and not a number. I know they’re likely to get the order right the first time, and even if they don’t I’ll receive individual attention. Sweetwater doesn’t just say they value my business, they show it in tangible ways.

There are many facets to customer service – an easy to use and navigate website, logistics, the right products and other supporting systems – but if you lack that all-important personal touch the rest is all for naught.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles, Marketing & Sales
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Promotions that Work: Free Fabric Wall Clings

Printing mobile photo apps for wall decorFree isn’t always truly free, but the free giveaway concocted by Color Services Photo Lab in Santa Barbara really was free and drove additional business to its doors. Marketed through email, the company’s blog and social media like Facebook and Twitter, with a twist of Hipstamatic, the photo lab’s promotion for free Fabric Wall Clings was over Memorial Day weekend only.

Fabric Wall Clings are prints on Photo Tex Repositionable Fabric from LexJet. Those who took advantage of the promotion were directed to the Wall Art section on Color Services’ website where they plugged in a coupon code and uploaded a photo to receive either an 11×11 or an 11×14 print.

Here’s where the iPhone app Hipstamatic comes into play; Color Services included 11×11 prints since that size works with the Hipstamatic format. Plus, Color Services is the official print lab for the Hipstamatic app, so the lab has custom-tailored products that work well with square images.

“Since the promotion we’ve had a number of orders for the Fabric Wall Clings and we just got a sizeable order for one today, including a 12″ x 4′ panoramic photo. We had 118 people take advantage of the promotion and about 45 to 50 of those were shipped internationally,” says Glen Hodges, owner of Color Services. “It was well worth it; we probably spent less than $500 to do it. It’s hard to figure out a way to market the material so that people can really understand what it can do. Getting samples in their hands through a free promotion did that, and brought them back to place a real order.”

Color Services prints the images with its Epson Stylus Pro 9900 on Photo Tex and then puts two coats of water-based lacquer to provide extra protection and give the images more pop. Hodges reports that through a combination of the promotion and simply showing it to clients – including commercial and interior décor clientele – the product is taking off following its launch in mid-May.

Pictured here is Color Services’ IncrediBooth Fabric Wall Cling product, which is printed at 5.5″ x 30″. IncrediBooth is a mobile app that recreates the photo booths of yore. Color Services has made a savvy play to weave the proliferating photo apps into its business, giving the company greater reach with creative products.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Marketing & Sales
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In Search Of… Customer Service

Best practices for customer serviceCustomer service is often pegged as the key to a successful business, but what does it really mean and how do you put it into action? It’s a question that AEC Printing in Flagstaff, Ariz., has been asking and searching for as it seeks to improve its customer service and ultimately grow its business.

“Customer service is our biggest priority. We can’t offer customers something they can’t already get online or at another printing company. The one thing we can offer is great customer service, which is something they can’t get everywhere. I thought we were doing a pretty good job until I started using LexJet and realized we could do a lot more,” explains Amy Dryden, owner of AEC Printing.

Dryden recently described her experience with LexJet customer service at her blog, Green Sprout. Since she has been constantly mulling over the customer service concept and implementing customer-oriented practices, her discovery of LexJet and its emphasis on enhancing the customer experience, capped by a phone call from Art Lambert – LexJet’s co-founder and owner – came at the perfect time.

Printing photos with a large format printer“My conversation with Art was great, because at the time I was thinking I don’t know if we can make this company any bigger, and he really made me remember why I’m excited about doing this and that we can make it grow,” explains Dryden. “I had been thinking about posting something about customer service anyway because I think about it all the time, and then I had a conversation with Art that was so relevant to what I was thinking about that I typed the blog up half an hour after I got off the phone with him. I thought we were doing a pretty good job until I started using LexJet and realized we could do a lot more.”

One aspect of customer service AEC has down pat is personal service. It’s easy to be impersonal in the digital age and let the computer handle most everything, but AEC has emphasized personal contact. Moreover, Dryden has empowered each employee to make independent decisions they think are best for the customer.
“You’ll never come in the door with a print job or a problem and have to wait to talk to me to get it fixed. My employees can do anything they need to do that seems like a good idea to make sure the customer is happy, and that’s helped a lot,” explains Dryden.

Perhaps the most important customer service element Dryden has found is simple clarity. AEC Printing takes a very straightforward, no-nonsense approach to its customers and potential customers, even going so far as to recommend they go somewhere else. Though AEC Printing does just about any type of printing imaginable, from large format to small format commercial printing, there are times when they know they can’t meet the customer’s needs to a tee.

“We want to avoid situations where customers don’t get what they wanted. Rather than killing ourselves to meet their needs when we know we can’t, we’ll encourage them to go elsewhere. This is much better than having a dissatisfied customer who’s stuck with something they won’t be able to use. We do not allow people to have that experience,” says Dryden.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in News & Trends
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Weekly Update: Upcoming Shows for Graphics Providers and Photographers

Over the next few months there will be a trade show for just about any type of imaging work you do, whether you make signs, print or specify large format graphics, screen print, engrave or specialize in photography and photographic output. Moreover, all of the trade shows listed below offer continuing education and seminars on how to use your skills and capabilities to expand into other markets…

WPPI, Feb. 17-24, Las Vegas: Wedding & Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) will host its annual trade show and conference at the MGM Grand Hotel this year with more than 300 exhibitors and 75 speakers covering the full gamut of photography from capture to print and beyond. LexJet will live blog from the event with the latest news and items of interest from the show. Also, look for regular updates and show specials from LexJet reps Justin Craft and Michael Clementi at twitter.com/LexJet. Stay tuned here at blog.lexjet.com for more details on our Where’s Waldo (Craft/Clementi) and the special prizes and promotions available if you find them on the floor during the show as we get closer to WPPI.Special events graphics trade shows

FESPA Americas, Feb. 24-26, Orlando: FESPA, well known in Europe for its giant graphics trade shows, will come to America for the first time this year. Events at FESPA Americas include: Global Business Forum, Wide Format Print Shop Live!, Screen Masters Workshop, Digital Textile Conference, Wrap Cup Masters, Digital Debate at the Innovation Theater and more. Register online and you’ll get a free pass to the show.

The NBM Show, March 24-26, Austin, Texas: The NBM Show is an excellent venue to learn more about your graphics specialty and sample related markets, like screen printing and apparel decoration, engraving and vehicle graphics. The expanded education conference with more than 60 seminars begins Wednesday, March 23. The Austin show is the first NBM Show of the year, which will also travel to Indianapolis (June 9-11), Long Beach (Aug. 11-13) and Baltimore (Sept. 8-10).

ISA International Sign Exposition, April 28-30, Las Vegas: This annual giant expo produced by the International Sign Association may be a harbinger of the beginnings of an economic recovery as ISA reports that the number of exhibitors and pre-registered attendees is up sharply this year. The expo will feature 75 courses in business management, technical requirements and industry trends, as well as a number of special events, such as The American Wrap Star Contest (a Harley-Davidson Fat Boy will be given away in a sweepstakes drawing), a New Product Showcase and a Green Product Showcase.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in News & Trends
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Wide Format Inkjet Printing Business Intelligence at LexJet’s Updated Blog

As part of its recently re-vamped website at www.lexjet.com, and based on comments and suggestions from its customers, LexJet has updated and restructured its wide format inkjet printing industry forum and online educational resource at blog.lexjet.com.

The primary purpose of LexJet’s blog is to keep its customers and those involved in wide format inkjet printing updated about the latest industry news, tips and tricks and innovative projects and people, as well as best practices for sales, marketing and technology. LexJet’s Chief Information Officer, Pete Petersen, explains:

“Working in collaboration with Web developer atLarge Inc., we incorporated customer feedback and blogging best practices into the updated blog. We noticed, for instance, that it was difficult to leave a comment and interact with our authors and experts on the old blog, so we made the comments section for each post more visible and easier to use. The layout of the entire blog is much more consistent now so that you can navigate to another post and find the subject categories, comments and the most recent and most popular posts quickly.”

Previously, the subject categories were based on the market segments that utilize wide format inkjet printing, such as Photography, In-House Printing and Print for Pay. The new categories are more intuitive for the reader and are based on what they do as opposed to who they are.

The new categories are:

Inkjet Technology and New Products: Updates on the latest products and innovations for inkjet printing, including hardware, software, inkjet media and laminates and workflow tools.

Marketing and Sales: Marketing and customer service tips, plus upcoming seminars, conferences and webinars designed to build sales and maximize profitability.

Case Studies and Profiles: Find out who’s doing what and how they did it with wide format inkjet printing.

News and Trends: Trends, technology and news of interest from the wide format inkjet printing industry and beyond.

Tips and Tricks: Posts that detail how to make the inkjet printing workflow as efficient, productive and profitable as possible.

Twitter and Facebook integration has also been added so that readers can easily share stories and links with their colleagues and customers through those social media sites. And, users can follow the blog via RSS feeds or subscribe to email alerts when something’s been posted to the blog.

Petersen plans to post a series of articles on developing a blog and how the architecture behind it, such as plug-ins, maximizes search engine optimization and enhances the reader’s experience. “We’ll focus on how print shops can better market themselves and connect with customers and potential customers through the Web,” adds Petersen.

If you’re interested in being featured at blog.lexjet.com or have any suggestions, tips or tricks you would like to share, contact Regan Dickinson at regan.dickinson@lexjet.com or 941-906-3378.