CMYUK is working on a number of projects to revolutionise how it sells consumables – recognising that media requirements are as individual as the customers and projects they are needed for.
“At CMYUK we see media as linked to applications rather than manufacturer ranges, and we wanted to help our customers look at them in the same way,” said Michael Crook, Commercial Director, consumables division.
The CMYUK team recently launched a new ‘best in class’ swatch book, structured by application rather than manufacturer. The samples are all printed in house using the company’s own technology and files. It’s being backed up by films of real life applications, with a QR code on each sample enabling customers to directly link to videos online. The films will also be shown on a big screen in CMYUK’s demo room alongside the printers themselves.
Bespoke application swatch books of the latest products branded with company logos are being offered to client reps to take to their customers – both promoting and protecting their business.
“Once people have decided to buy from us, we wanted to make it as easy as possible, using a process similar to how people now do their personal online shopping,” said Group Director Jon Price.
“When we send a quote, our CRM system now automatically generates an order pad in our online procurement system, keeping transaction costs as low as possible for both parties.
“Customers can use this to select which items they want to purchase, and the details including ‘favourites’ are saved for future use without people needing to select products again from scratch.
“We can also use this system to alert customers when new medias become available that may be of interest, either for applications they already deliver or related applications.
“We hope this ‘heads up’ will help support innovation and new market development for our customers as new products come to market.”
Michael Crook concludes: “We hope that all these developments will support our focus on media as a solution for an application, rather than as products in isolation. While much of the innovation in our industry may seem to be driven by hardware manufacturers, for us, you can’t underestimate the impact of developments in consumables, backed up by expert knowledge, experience and imagination.”
