What's wrong with people?....

bigdave

bigdave

Well-Known Member
Ive recently put in 2 proposals to 2 different companies, one for a run of business cards and one for a run of flyers. Both received samples from me and both loved them. I even went to great lengths explainging the differences between litho and digital, card stocks, finishes and the relevent pricing structures. Both clients seemed to understand what I was saying but both have come back and told me theyve found the design and print cheaper elsewhere so wont need my services. Thats fair enough, and just out of interest Ive asked them the name of the company theyre using.... any guesses....


..Vistaprint!!...


Really!?! I can't believe either of them are daft enough to believe theyre going to get anywhere near the same quality! what the hell is wrong with these people!

Rant over
 
It is a kick in the nuts to get this kind of thing back, especially when you have spend time explaining what quality actually means! Same is true of 'free' website builders etc. Funnily enough though, we have had two prospects come back to us recently having tried the 'cheap and cheerful' route and failed miserably. That is satisfying :icon_biggrin:

Makes you wonder how many others have not had the guts to come back and admit they were wrong and having wasted hours learning a 'drag and drop' web builder only to find out that their efforts somehow don't look as good as the examples on these sites.

You'll have your satisfaction sir :icon_wink:
 
I have this occasionally. Although I usually find that it's a decision that's been made by someone higher up the food chain, rather than the person I've been dealing with - that actually makes it less horrible.

Sorry buddy, all you can do is grin and bear it. At least they responded to your last email/message offering a quote, even if it was to tell you you hadn't won it (*hint hint* ;p)
 
I have had this in the past, but bear with it, you have a good chance of getting them knocking on your door again when they reveive their cards.

I seem to be at the other end of the routine, I regularly get people coming to me who have had a vista run done and now want some 'proper' cards

Mark
 
What everyone else said really. Vistaprint will be sh*t. You can always send them a well-written email saying so and that when they want decent business cards to give you a ring.
 
We have a term 'Vista print refugees' which sums up exactly Mark's comments in the previous post. People learn from experience, just a shame the experience is not necessary.
 
The really sad thing is that I'm starting to question whether I can even compete, as nobody seems to want or recognise high quality print. They just wan cheap and I couldn't bring myself to offer that end of the print spectrum. It would defeat the point of me going into business but I'm starting to think that if I don't get a foot in the door with these clients soon, there wont be business to be in.
 
bigdave said:
The really sad thing is that I'm starting to question whether I can even compete, as nobody seems to want or recognise high quality print. They just wan cheap and I couldn't bring myself to offer that end of the print spectrum. It would defeat the point of me going into business but I'm starting to think that if I don't get a foot in the door with these clients soon, there wont be business to be in.
Click to expand...

Just keep trucking, mate. Like people say above, they'll be back.

Margins may look awful thin right now, but there's always scope. My biggest client wouldn't let me quote on anything for months because she was convinced that I 'couldn't possibly beat the prices we have already'. I cut them in half and still make a healthy profit - but not through any particular brilliance of my own, just dumb luck!

Would say that:

1. March is often relatively lean (end of the tax year?) April probably will be as well this year due to the whole 'let's all go on a two week holiday at the same time because Wills and Kate couldn't get married at the weekend' cavalcade of bullshit. Don't let that put you off.

2. Personal experience suggests that margins will be pretty meagre for a few months until you establish your presence. This is as good a reason as any for keeping your overheads as low as possible, which should be pretty simple for a reseller, but often isn't because of what we will generously call 'not seeing that one good order does not a business plan make'.

3. You already know that Boss's reseller scheme is a good one. Explore others during your downtime as well.

--PB
 
I am starting out in the UK and finding its slow going etc, I did start a business in South Africa a while back and generated a few clients with dirt cheap rates. I kept those clients for years and by the time I left south Africa they were all paying good money and kept coming back for large software systems. One guy sticks in my mind who gave me a system that allowed me to enploy someone solely for that job for 6 months. Was quite nice. I think my mistake in the end was not expanding as I tried to do it all myself - just burnt out..
 
Just been browsing Elance & saw something that I thought would make you all laugh:

Screenshot2011-04-03at233732.png



Hmmm... anyone really good at logo design fancy a rush job for a fiver?... lol
 
Don’t knock it, if you did one logo design per PDF (Black on one page, colour on the other) that works out at £3.06 a design. After tax say about £2.30 a design. That kind of money’s what I’ve been after for the past 18 years! ;)
 
I'm afraid to say that most people wouldn't know good design if it bit them in the arse.

You only have to think why anybody would watch soaps, read the Sun or follow football - you just have to accept it and try to find the few with decent taste.
 
Put your prices up.

You might as well lose a job for a lot (if they're going to Vista *rap print) than for a pittance!
 
I completely sympathise with you. We also spend time and effort explaining everything to customers, sending samples and clarifying the printing process, you can't win them all but that level of service will pay off eventually. Most of our customers don't run off to Vistaprint, but we get a lot of Vistaprint "refugees" too, sometimes they want us to use VP artwork too! Once they realise the VP cards are made of paper they will be back. Buy cheap buy twice!

We have one lady who has had several hour long conversations with everyone here over the last 6 months, going through lots of different ordering possibilities for a decent order of folders, booklets and leaflets. She has had several sample packs, but never placed an order. I hope she will one day and make it worth all our patience...
 
Ha very funny. We quoted to design and print a price list. They came back and said our design cost was too expensive and she was placing with some one else. When the files came to us for print they were in RGB no bleed and, they only supplied the back ground images, so we still needed to set the price's and charge for this, so they ended up paying twice for 1 job. Cheapest is not always best!
 
If I had BigDave's problem I might offer two levels of service, a Vistaprint 'digital & clipart' cheapie and a professional service. If you go into somewhere like Specsavers they do cheap frames & lenses and rely on selling extras - anti-reflective coatings, thinner lenses etc. to relieve you of your money. Win cheap and trade up. :icon_sneaky:
 
squeezee said:
If I had BigDave's problem I might offer two levels of service, a Vistaprint 'digital & clipart' cheapie and a professional service. If you go into somewhere like Specsavers they do cheap frames & lenses and rely on selling extras - anti-reflective coatings, thinner lenses etc. to relieve you of your money. Win cheap and trade up. :icon_sneaky:
Click to expand...
That's not an uninteresting idea....

I think, from my wide reading in the forums, that we can all agree on a couple of basic points:

1. Nobody likes Vista (must be something about the name... everything it's connected with turns to testicles)

2. Cheap does not always equal good.

3. We all deserve to be treated better.

Basically I'd make a great politician - my platform would be that I was the guy who was brave enough to take a stand against those things that everyone hates :icon_lol:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top