Welcome to 2010.
I recently finished another sales flyer for one of my client's and I got a phone call from my printer. Said that they just had finished printing 2500 pieces and saw that the expiration date was 3/31/09 (not 2010). I said, "Arrgggh! Let me call the client." I explained the situation to my client and she said, "I must of shown a dozen people in the office the proof and no one noticed it!" She was very nice not to point a finger but to get the problem solved (and quickly). Rather than reprinting the whole thing we made a big adjustment on the mailer side of the piece (see the "before & after" images). We made a second black plate and ran it on top of the printed piece to get an easy fix. It was in the hands of the mailing house in two days.
My client, was happy with the solution that we came up with and I ended up giving them a discount on the job. This shows them that I am not just passing the buck but that I am taking partial responsibility. That is only good business!
This is a good example of why I wouldn't recommend printing with someone on-line. I always explain to my client that the cost would be less than half rather than have it printed locally. But I always give them the WARNING that if there is a typo or there is a problem with folding/cutting of job you are screwed.
1. I wouldn't have gotten the original call to say that my piece had the wrong date on it. And especially if you have them do the mailing.
2. Hard proofs usually cost additional and delay the job by 2-3 days.
3. Even if I would of caught the typo after they delivered the piece. I couldn't have sent the final trim & folded piece back to them to fix. I would of have to have it reprinted and (with shipping) the piece wouldn't get back to me for another 10 days (there would also be an additional overnight shipping charge). Not a good resolution. This is a time sensitive piece. In this situation, to keep my client, I would lose money on this job by covering the cost of the whole print job. That is one thing that a small design/marketing firm cannot afford to do.
© 2010 Michael Johnson - Inkspot Graphics. All rights reserved.
