As we head deeper into 2022, leading businesses are setting their strategies to make the most of what lies ahead. And there are several key questions to address:

1. What will be the main drivers in our markets?
2. What issues and challenges are we likely to face in the current climate?
3. What opportunities are set to arise from those challenges?
4. How do we capitalise on those opportunities in a way that benefits our customers?

Of all of these questions, the last is the most important. More than ever, 2022 is going to be about customer benefits, customer satisfaction and customer experience. In this article, we’ll share our insights into why customer satisfaction is so important – and how to weave it into your own business strategy…

Gain a better understanding of your customers

To improve customer satisfaction, benefits, and experience, you need to know what your customers require from you. But how do you find out? 

You might get a reasonable idea from asking yourselves the four questions we mentioned in the previous section, but ultimately, the only way you get a true understanding is by talking to your customers directly. Approach them with an open mind, really get under the skin of their unique challenges, and work together to grasp the specific opportunities that arise.

Approach your customers with an open mind

Many organisations or suppliers will walk through their customer’s doors, armed with preconceived ideas of the ‘right solution’ and a determination to impose that solution. But this one-size-fits-all thinking does not allow for the unique challenges each customer may be facing.

Instead, you should engage with your customers. Ask them what their problems are – and listen. Formulate fresh solutions that purposefully meet their needs, work collaboratively to provide long-term support that truly works for them, and you’ll have a chance at developing a lasting relationship with a very satisfied customer indeed.

Encourage your customers to explore new perspectives

At Ricoh, we’ve found that when businesses are open to new perspectives, and are prepared to explore previously unimagined avenues, startling results can be achieved – far beyond a one-dimensional calculation of application and machine. 

“Challenging, pertinent questions from the Ricoh team made us think differently about the type of space we needed, to enable effective and efficient staff productivity; Ricoh’s approach and questioning set it apart from other suppliers and opened our eyes to the art of the possible.”

FRAIKIN HR MANAGER, HENRY HORSFALL

Such results can only lead to greater customer satisfaction, and a better relationship between you and your clients.

Four ways that Ricoh’s approach promotes customer satisfaction

Let’s go through some of the steps we’ve identified and explored as effective ways to support our partners in the print industry: 

• Bring best practice insights from across industry

Expertise, insight and different perspectives are extremely valuable commodities in 2022. Collaboration and discussion between a talented mix of people can lead to new ideas, fresh inspiration and positive action that shapes your business towards success.

We ask questions, listen, and share best practice learnings from across our varied customer base.

• Offer discovery sessions to unlock business value

Encouraging your customers to seek discovery sessions with your experts can help them think in new ways, sharpen their competitive edge, and understand that they will not be alone in their journey – that they have a partner to share it with.

We offer these sessions at our world-class UK Customer Experience Centre in Telford; where integrated hardware and software services and solutions are presented in ways designed to shift paradigms of thought about what is possible in industry.

• Put the right team in place to develop your own strategy

Just as important as providing your customers with support, expertise and services in a way that meets their unique needs, is exploring how you can support your own business and people, in a way that meets yours.

We put together a strengthened Strategy and Services Development team to explore opportunities for business growth, and for measuring the progress and levels of customer satisfaction that this delivers to our print partners.

• Commit to long-lasting relationships

Customers need to know that they can trust their supplier; that their supplier knows and understands them and their challenges; that their supplier delivers on its promises, solves problems, and helps it to operate effectively in business. All of this combined creates greater customer satisfaction and growth in the value of their business.

We have made this pursuit our priority, for both ourselves and our customers, in 2022.

Work with us to unlock your own potential and improve customer satisfaction

One of the best ways to take advantage of opportunities with your customers in 2022 is to work directly with a collaborative, people-first partner like Ricoh.

Ricoh has years of experience at working alongside your business to develop the right strategy for you, your people and your customers – integrating effective solutions and working practises for your organisation, through exciting initiatives like our Ricoh EDGE programme.

We’re on hand to listen to your challenges and share the latest business strategies, print innovation and industry insights with you. Get in touch to find out more.

Article originally published in Printweek January 24th 2022.

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So, if we all experience life differently, how can a print business hope to meet the needs of every one of their customers? Today, a catch-all approach is destined to fail – and so is a workforce that doesn’t have the diversity to represent and reflect the people your organisation is talking to.

You can’t innovate if you can’t relate. And innovation is at the cornerstone of success when everything is on the move.

Diversity versus the print industry

Diversity has been a challenge for the print industry for many years, but combating the status quo and driving change is more important now than it has ever been. As print businesses strive to gain a competitive advantage, modernisation – a journey of digital transformation – is getting ever higher on the agenda. And the reason is, fundamentally, printers’ customers have also changed.

This kind of change is a huge challenge, and if they have not already done so, print business owners must assess whether they are equipped to address such a momentous upheaval with the skills and experiences of their existing teams.

How diversity leads to a competitive advantage

For many in the print industry, this huge challenge is one they are not prepared for. Yet, attracting new skills and new ideas is now an urgent requirement to ensure you can claim or retain a competitive advantage. 

Leading brands like Ricoh have already battled through this process. Ricoh identified that building a more diverse talent pool was fundamental to its success, both for its own approach to the many markets it operates in, and also for the benefit of its customers – who can gain by extension from Ricoh’s own injection of fresh thought. 

Data suggests that diversity drives innovation by up to 20% – and it’s innovation that will lead print organisations into the future.

The importance of perspective

Perspective is everything. The only way for your business to look at things from the right angle is to make sure you’re looking through the eyes of someone who understands your customer’s wants and needs. As a female Sales Director in the print industry, and part of a leadership team where half of us are women, I’d like to share how diversity drove success for our business.

“We are already finding and developing new and effective ways of working with our customers that utilise this new mix of skills, outlook and experience. This is relevant for our customers in the print industry because the diversity that we represent is a mirror of their own customers, whose backgrounds and personalities and motivations are varied. We can, therefore, help printers to interpret and understand what their customers are trying to achieve. We understand the voices of their customers because in many instances those voices match our own.”

Tanya Howe, Sales Director, Ricoh Graphic Communications

Why is diversity in print innovation crucial right now?

Different types of markets are emerging, and even though in the past customers have been served well by traditional print sectors like transactional print, it is now vital that print businesses actively support niche print services in both the commercial and corporate space. 

These different markets have a new range of clients that have different behaviours, experiences and characteristics and that in turn requires a renewed perspective and position.

Listen to Ricoh’s Anything in Print podcast with the BPIF on talent and diversity in print

Three stages for the future at Ricoh

Going forward, bringing diverse perspectives to bear on digital transformation within the print industry will be a key part of the way Ricoh builds and sustains client relationships; especially as they continue to develop their consultative approach through programmes such as EDGE, which was launched last year. EDGE delivers a three-stage process of:

• Discovery – where clients assess the barriers to production efficiency, with a focus on people, processes and production systems.
• Transformation – when new or improved structures, roles and responsibilities are created to build on the discovery findings.
• Sustainability – which promotes embedding that transformation as a culture and not a one-off review.

What other benefits does diversity have on the print industry?

It’s not just the print industry that benefits from a focus on diversity. This approach brings many additional benefits to any employer, and a wealth of research exists to back this up. 

McKinsey, for example, has shown that gender, ethnic and cultural diversity on leadership teams can improve financial performance. It also makes your company more attractive as a prospective employer to Millennials and those in Generation Z if they see this diversity already exists in your workforce. Beyond that, diversity is directly linked to profitability and is likely to increase it by 25%.

It’s down to richer and deeper conversations which lead to mutually benefiting strategies, building relationships that last, lower customer churn and sustainable business operations.

Moving forwards with a people-first partner

Our experience at Ricoh has only strengthened our commitment to diversity. We have found our organisation to be more willing to challenge the way things have always been done. We believe that this is giving us a competitive advantage in the marketplace, and with humility in our hearts, we think that print businesses that go on the same journey to build a more diverse workforce will also enjoy that advantage. Fresh talent and fresh ideas don’t just arrive on the doorstep though; you must go out of your way to attract it and nurture it, and therein lies the challenge for print.

Looking for inspiration on how to grow your business in 2022? Start by listening to our Anything in Print podcast on nurturing the next generation in print.

And you can also check out our ‘Anything in Print’ online brochure to discover a new world of opportunity!

Article originally published in Printweek November 22nd 2021.

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The recent past has caused big problems for business. Not just in terms of finance or stability, but also in added pressure from customers to meet higher and higher expectations: a pressure that is rising all the time. So the commercial print business adapted, introducing more efficient workflows and automation to reduce costs and new innovations in colours, finishes and textures to create more engaging print solutions.

So, as we turn towards 2022, we can see the glow of opportunity and optimism that’s there for anyone willing to grasp it. By continuing to think boldly and imaginatively about what you want to achieve, it’s possible to create a positive digital print future.

This article will help you develop these future planning strategies – and make the most of your chance to grow your digital print business.

What makes 2022 a vital turning point for print?

We’re coming to a major sink-or-swim moment in the print industry. After a tumultuous 18 months for individuals and businesses, now is the time for printers to seize the moment. To take the initiative and move forward with big and bold plans for their digital print future.

We must take positive action in the faith 2022 will be kinder to us and Brexit complications will be overcome. Covid will be conquered. And structural shifts across our economy, society and industry will continue to develop. 

This is happening now, and will only accelerate. Make sure your digital print business is seizing the moment.

How are structural shifts affecting the digital print industry?

We’re all aware of how fast technology is advancing in our everyday lives. The same is true for the print industry. Digital transformation has been on the agenda of leading businesses for a long time now, but in reality, it’s a process that’s affecting every facet of life and society.

This has coincided with a growth in digital and mobile marcomms channels, and the accelerated growth of online shopping caused by the pandemic. Now, brands and retailers must fundamentally change the way they operate so they can respond to these new customer demands. The print sector is no different.

How are leading digital print businesses planning their digital future?

The most successful digital print businesses have realised that their most valuable commodity is their customers. In short, the lynch-pin of everything they want to achieve. As a result, they are making decisions focused on their customer’s evolving needs, learning those needs through research and in-depth discussions with those customers.

Once they have discovered the requirements of their audience, they meet them with imagination, creativity, innovation and an enterprising spirit. They’re investing in technology, people and skills that will enable them to meet these demands, grow their business and capitalise on a digital print future that will provide significant growth. And perhaps most importantly, they’re viewing competitors and suppliers as collaborative partners rather than rivals.

Listen to Ricoh’s ‘Nurturing the next generation in print’ Podcast 

Why working with a partner could be the key to your digital print future

We must all face it, the industry is changing.

Instead of outputs, we now work in a new digital print industry that is motivated by valuable outcomes. Hushed conversations about data and deliverables take place in front of clean machines that unobtrusively hum and click. Strategy is discussed and applied using a suite of smart solutions, all directed towards achieving the customer’s purpose most effectively and most economically.

But to make it work effectively and efficiently, this new digital print future needs fresh industry perspectives. Therefore there is no better way to get those perspectives than by collaborating with the right partner.

Introducing Ricoh, your collaborative, people-first partner

Ricoh has years of experience at the cutting edge of print devices and techniques. Specialising in working alongside your business to develop the right strategy for you, your people and your customers – and integrating effective digital print solutions for your organisation.

We can never be sure what is around the corner. But we do know that trends such as digital transformation are only going to accelerate. Ricoh has recently undergone its own digital transformation. Now, we’re perfectly placed to help our digital print partners – not just with technology, but with strategic consultancy and digital services that enable them to reposition successfully. Indeed, many of our print customers are coming to us for help with IT infrastructure, cyber security or workplace audits.

Article originally published in Printweek October 18th 2021.

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Digitisation is happening at a pace never seen before. McKinsey estimates that 10 years’ worth of technology adoption took place in just the last three years. All the while SMBs have been fighting some of the most challenging conditions seen by modern business. A potent mix of global health, economic, and social issues, as well as rising brand disloyalty among consumers. Trust is hard to come by, and many SMBs have been relying on digital transformation projects to deliver more.

So, what should digital print businesses do to help their SMB clients? They must help them make the most of their recent investments and take a longer-term, more consultative look at print with the needs of the future workplace in mind.

Digital Services Partnerships should be leading the revolution

In September 2020 Goldman Sachs found that 73% of small businesses saw development of their digital capabilities as a top priority. A year on, digital adoption shows no signs of slowing down. Technology and digital services are driving transformation that unlocks efficiency, facilitates agility and flexibility, accelerates growth, and creates accuracy. 

There’s growing evidence that SMBs that embraced technology were better able to weather recent economic and social challenges. And that’s mirrored by customers, with 88% of consumers surveyed by McKinsey expecting to see companies accelerating digital initiatives. Therefore as a result, around one in three SMB leaders said that the pandemic had brought forward their digitisation efforts or sped-up existing tech projects. In conclusion, growing SMBs are investing more in technology, and digital print technology resellers should seize this opportunity.

What Ricoh digital print partners can do to support SMB recovery and growth

SMB leaders are making technology investment decisions based on delivery value at the speed of need. Here’s how you can tap into that desire for short-term change as well as preparing clients for future challenges:

• Adding new services and solutions to your existing offering immediately creates new reasons to talk, especially with existing clients. As a reseller, you only need to understand the service or solution not deliver it. Freeing you up to provide useful advice and achieve quick wins.
• As part of Ricoh’s existing business partner network, you can look beyond reselling print devices and open up conversations about a range of broader document solutions and digital services to support your clients’ future workplace, including DocuWare and Workplace Services like Ricoh Spaces.
• Talk about Ricoh’s journey. A decade ago, we began a transformation from purely print to a full Digital Services company designed to support organisations across most of their functions. That includes IT, HR and the workplace, business processes, and communications – as well as our existing print services. Partnering with Ricoh is part of that journey; we help resellers grow their businesses by creating opportunities to deliver more to clients.

The workplace is changing. Help your clients adapt

Accelerated digital adoption among SMBs is here to stay. Ricoh UK CEO Phil Keoghan recently wrote about how hybrid working is less a challenge and more an opportunity as we embrace this ‘new normal’. Working together anywhere requires a holistic, people-focused approach, and Digital Services Partnerships are uniquely placed to guide clients through the technology they’ll need, and how to embed it across the business for recovery and growth.

Together, we can help SMBs navigate how employees use existing technology, what’s working currently, and what they could do to improve.

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