If you have a web to print solution that has failed, this post tells you how you got here, what to do to avoid it, and most importantly how do you get out of the situation.
Did you purchase a web to print solution and now have an underutilized, partially implemented, half-backed implementation on your hands? Has your staff visibly given up on the solution and the vendor?
When do you leave that investment behind and move forward?
I of course don’t know the details of your situation but I’ve seen this scenario too many times to not be able to guess how you got there. Let’s first cover how you might have arrived where you are, what to do to avoid this situation moving forward, and if you find yourself in this situation today, how to move on.
4 Top Reasons Web to Print Projects Fail:
1. You rushed into the purchase because you had one customer demanding it
2. The vendor / product didn’t work or didn’t meet your required functionality
3. You never staffed the solution so it got implemented but never “owned”
4. You implemented the solution and customer adoption just didn’t happen
How to avoid these situations and how to get out of them if you’re in it:
You rushed into the purchase because you had one customer demanding it
How to avoid it:
A web to print solution is a new front door to your business, don’t shop for a new front door that only works for one customer, and don’t make a decision on a new front door in a hurried tactical fashion. This is important and strategic – make the time to get the decision right.
How to move on:
Step back and go through the steps of making the web to print solution decision process (even though you’ve already made one). Here’s a very brief step by step process:
1) Determine your target market commercial B2B vs. B2C or in-plant
2) Decide whether you want to buy (license) or subscribe (SaaS)
3) Determine what product types you want to support online
Based on the answers to these questions, first evaluate the vendor you have. If they fit the requirements – consider a restart. Be honest about why the solution failed, it’s easy to put all the blame on the vendor. A restart effort will go a lot smoother if both parties accept some responsibility for the failure.
The product didn’t work or didn’t meet your required functionality
How to avoid it:
Step back and go through the steps of making the web to print solution decision process (even though you’ve already made one). Here’s a very brief step by step process:
1) Determine your target market commercial B2B vs. B2C or in-plant
2) Decide whether you want to buy (license) or subscribe (SaaS)
3) Determine what product types you want to support online
How to move on:
If you don’t have the right solution, stop obsessing about the lost investment. The longer you wait to move on, the more you’re falling behind. Don’t let yourself be delayed because you’re so angry with the vendor. Ask yourself the really tough question; is there anything the vendor could do to repair the relationship? If you can’t imagine ever trusting them again then move on now, take note of what you could have done better (actually ask them) and then take that expensive learning onto the next vendor / partner. Don’t repeat your side of the mistakes and now you can shop for a vendor with very clear requirements and service level expectations.
You never staffed the solution so it got implemented but never “owned”
How to avoid it:
Web to print is a fundamental change in the way you do business, not a one-time purchasing event. The vendor simply provides the technology to enable YOUR ONLINE STRATEGY. They are not there to create, manage, execute on your online strategy. Somebody (possibly multiple people depending how large your organization is) has to become an expert on the enabling technology so that they can use it to execute on your online strategy.
I know web to print vendors sales people will tell you that web to print will reduce your labor costs – this is a long term goal of overall automation. In the short term you need qualified people to execute your online strategy.
How to move on:
Make ecommerce a priority in your business and give it dedicated and qualified resources (at least to get it off the ground). Create an incentive program that gives clear responsibility (ownership), accountability, and the time to make it happen. If this seems impossible in your current staffing arrangements, it’s easy enough to segment responsibilities within the ecommerce strategy and give them to several people in your organization. Make sure you setup a weekly meeting to facilitate collaboration as all the pieces have to work together.
You implemented the solution and customer adoption just didn’t happen
How to avoid it:
You won the deal, you implemented the B2B private portal solution – there is very little traffic on the site even though you bid the deal based on the volumes your customer quoted. Understand that even in business to business portals, the solution has to be promoted in order to drive adoption.
Bring the topic of promotion of the site into the sales process. Ask your customer how the users will find the services? Will there be a link on their intranet near where they procure other products and services? Can you integrate the login so users don’t have to register?
How to move on:
Go back to existing solutions; ask for a walk through of the site from the perspective of the users. Count how many steps it takes to find your solution, then place an order. Remove as many steps as possible. Engage with the customer to find ways to promote the site.
Great post as always Jen.
I think there some more explanation as to why Web2Print fails so often:
- Many of the available solutions out there are built with a single use case or customer in mind. It’s very rare in software development that you can take a custom solution for one customer and turn it into something that will work for everybody else.
- The printing industry has to at some point accept the fact that they’re not as unique as they think they are. A printing business is a business just like any other. Most printers are failing in most of the things they do, it’s not just their web2print implementations. Until they figure out that they can use experiences from other types of businesses as well, they’ll keep struggling with everything they do.
Sven – I agree, print has held onto a “we’re different” stance for too long. The urgency now is motivated by the fact that there are so many more alternative communication methods that didn’t exist 10 years ago. The alternatives are powerful in that they are almost free to deploy (social media), can be tracked virtually down to the click, and then when you do pay (AdWords) you only pay if people click on your ad. These are powerful advantages that print needs to compete with.
Everyone is talking about printers needing to become experts at other marketing tools, I think they better totally embrace eCommerce first. How can you present yourself in the digital media space if you haven’t even leveraged the digital infrastructure for your existing print business? Check out my article on this topic: http://whattheythink.com/articles/article.cfm?id=45755
Nicely done Jennifer
I see time and time again where “printers” are implementing solutions such as Web2Print with no results. The blame is placed on the product and vendor… I remember a nice little quote, “when you point at someone, you have 3 fingers pointing at yourself”… this is true, we need to take ownership of our fate.
Personally I feel the steps to success after decision (and commitment) look like this:
1) The company IMPLEMENTS the web2print solution for themselves. Think Biz cards, collateral, white papers, forms, etc…
2) The sales team, csr’s are REQUIRED to use the portal on a regular basis (and immediately after implementation). this will enable the customer facing team to be effective and comfortable with the solution, and will also provide the platform and ability for the sales team to provide a 5 minute demo to their customer… selling the value
3) The company create a quick demo of the solution and places it on their NEW youtube channel, linked to their web-site… expanding their social media presence and providing a 24×7 access for a quick demo for their customers.
4) you MUST sell the value… THINK like a marketing person… not what does your customer need, but what does your CUSTOMER’S CUSTOMER NEED… your solution will become your STICKINESS or DIGITAL VELCRO to your customer… making it less interesting for them to find cheaper print quotes, and more difficult for your competition. By the way.. if you don’t get into the Web2Print game soon, you will be just like everyone else and again fall into the commodity category.
5) you MUST fully understand and map the goals of the implementation for your customer and you MUST TEST TEST TEST, before you roll out to your customer. Assign several team members in your company to try the new site (different skill levels so you can feel the potential pain of your customer… think sales, csr, pressman, bindery operator… they all have different computer skill levels, just like your customer and this will find the holes)… this will ensure SUCCESS.
That’s it for now… please invest in the right solution for YOU soon and help keep print relevant.
Darren,
Great comments – I love the “digital velcro” term. I am a big fan of “dogfooding” – eat your own dogfood, http://thewebandprint.com/?p=115 use your own tools first – if you don’t adopt them how can you expect your customers to adopt them?
I don’t want to let anyone off the hook, but moving to ecommerce as a primary way of doing business is a difficult transition. The landscape can look extremely daunting. When I sold web to print solutions, I could sense the hesitancy – you’re asking printers to open a new front door to their business and then let a vendor be in charge of keeping the door working! What could be more scary?
I think printers need guidance, not in the form of feature lists, but walking through a clear online strategy that demystifies and simplifies the transition.
I assisted a large printer back in 2004 setup an e-procurement web2print solution. This uk (online) package was superb. Did what they wanted and more. However the secret to it’s success was that they created a new position and hired a person specifically to look after it, maintain it and provide someone customers could talk to. It was (and is) a resounding success. Customers loved the instant, 24-hr service it gave and it also eliminated customer defections.
Without someone new to tend to it, and had it been left to existing Mac or CSR staff to manage, it would have surely failed and vendor blamed.
Kevin,
Ownership at the print shop – you just described one of the keys to success. Dedicated staff to encourage everyone through the transition. I was involved with a large implementation where they didn’t staff it for 12 months. By the time folks started really working on it the relationship had soured so much it was almost unrecoverable.
Staffing is key, the timing of the staffing is also key. I would hire or choose someone to “own” your online strategy BEFORE you pick a vendor – that way they can be part of the process.
Thank you for this good article. Going back to the basics and not just “following the hype” is indeed what it’s all about. I’d say one more step back could be beneficial also: Looking at your own brand. Doing (more) business online is fine and dandy but you really need to look at the way your salesteam talks to clients. They need to change also.
Marco,
Going online should trigger all kinds of thoughts about what kind of company you want to be and that includes your brand. The online version should match up with the offline version, maybe going online forces you to clarify both?