Print quotations that win without being cheapest on the page

3 days ago
3 min read

Introduction

A print quotation reduced to a quantity and a price invites exactly one comparison, and a trade printer with a web press will win it. The buyer is not being unreasonable — they were given nothing else to consider.

A quotation that includes the stock, the finish, the turnaround, the delivery arrangement and a named contact is a different document. It gives the buyer grounds to choose on something other than the unit figure, and it makes a genuinely different specification visible rather than assumed.

Most small printers lose work they should have won because the quotation was too thin. Thickening it costs nothing but a template.

1. Print quotations that win without being cheapest specify everything

Detail is the whole argument.

Name the stock precisely

Weight, finish, brand where relevant. Buyers cannot compare what you did not name. A buyer comparing your quote against a cheaper one on unnamed stock can see the difference. Unnamed stock is usually the cheapest available.

State the finishing explicitly

Lamination, folding, binding, trimming. Anything omitted is assumed to be included, and then disputed. List it even where it is obvious to you.

2. Quote the turnaround as a commitment

This is where a local printer wins.

Give a date, not a lead time

Delivered Thursday reads differently from five working days. Buyers work to dates. Then hold the date.

Say what your cut-off is for that date

Artwork by a stated time. It makes the commitment credible and protects you when files arrive late. Say the date moves if artwork does.

3. Offer options rather than one figure

A single price is a yes or no.

Quote two or three specifications

A standard, a better stock or finish, and a premium. Buyers frequently take the middle when they can see what the difference buys. Put them side by side, not on separate pages.

Show the unit cost at more than one quantity

Buyers commonly order more once they see how the unit price falls. Give three quantities as standard. It costs you nothing to calculate.

4. Make the artwork position clear

This is where jobs go wrong and margin disappears.

State the file requirements

Bleed, colour space, fonts, resolution. Put them on the quotation rather than assuming. Half of all files arrive wrong.

Price artwork correction as a line

Fixing client files is real work. Quoting it openly is better than absorbing it and better than surprising them with it. Give a rate rather than a vague warning.

5. Compete on the things a web press cannot do

Name them rather than hoping they register.

Include what you actually provide

A physical proof, a hand delivery, a person who answers the phone, storage of their files for reordering. These are real and they are invisible unless stated. Three lines on the quotation is enough.

Say what happens if it is wrong

A reprint policy, plainly worded. Say who pays for the reprint and when. Buyers who have been let down by an online supplier value this disproportionately. Say it in one sentence.

Conclusion

A quotation that is only a quantity and a price gives the buyer one thing to compare, and a web press will win that comparison every time — so specify everything: the stock by weight and finish, the finishing explicitly, and the turnaround as a delivered date with a stated artwork cut-off.

Offer two or three specifications and three quantities, because buyers take the middle when they can see what the difference buys and frequently order more once the unit curve is visible. Put your file requirements on the quotation and price artwork correction as its own line. Then name the things a web press cannot supply — a physical proof, hand delivery, a person on the phone, stored files, and a plainly worded reprint policy.