A recent Print21 Online article about selling print in an economic downturn highlighted the fact that “It is a fallacy that customers buy purely on price in hard-times; they actually buy on value.” With that in mind, at IBS we always aim to give you the best value money can buy. This is reflected in our quality products, our commitment to exceptional service and now, with more special offers.

From now until the end of the year, we’ll be offering special deals each month on different products. These specials will be advertised in each edition of The IBS Independent, so keep your eyes open for them. We’re trying to tie them into each month’s suggested marketing activity, so you might even be inspired to improve your marketing efforts while benefiting from a great deal!

We’d also like to start opening our e-newsletter conversation so that you can participate. If you’re interested in submitting an article or have an idea or some feedback to share, please email kelly@ibscards.com.au

Till next month,

The team at IBS Design Resources

P.S. As most of our clients would already be aware, our ‘Win a Chance to Play for $100,000’ promotion has concluded with Sign A Rama Canterbury owners, Martin and Kristen Ludwig, winning a holiday to Kingscliff. Congratulations!

We’ve just started the beginning of the new financial year and it’s the perfect time for customers like accountants and tax specialists to really make a mark with calendars. But promote these to all your customers, as these prices are only available for a limited time and they’re a cost-effective marketing activity that will last 12 months!

Click here for prices, design templates and specifications.

Order before 31 August to enjoy these great prices!

We are introducing a new method for After Sales Support to increase the speed of rectifying the job and obtaining correct information immediately. As such, whenever you receive a job that you’d like to make a claim about, we will need you to fill out our electronic form. You can access this via our website www.ibscards.com.au/after sales support form/ or a link to it is now contained in all our despatch emails. This form will instantly be received by Tracy-Lee Wilton, who will then be able to investigate your claim and take swift action in relation to it.

Please note that as per our Shipping Policy, the form must be filled out and submitted to IBS within 48 hours of receiving your job. If your claim for support is urgent, please fill out the form and call us on 1800 062 550 to ensure prompt corrective action.

You might have dismissed sponsorships and strategic alliances as only something that big companies, such as McDonalds or Coca Cola, do. However both of these offer small and medium enterprises (SMEs) good branding and networking opportunities.

Sponsorships often work by a company donating money to an organisation in return for the right to be aligned with that organisation and its members. For instance, Jetstar sponsors the Gold Coast Titans rugby league team. In return for their support, Jetstar, as the naming rights sponsor, can promote its brand on the players’ jerseys, as well as whenever the team’s name is used. Jetstar likes this as it means the company can subtly reach out to their customers and prospects in an environment different from the market where they operate.

Another example is IBS’ sponsorship of the Enmore Design Centre’s graduating exhibition in late 2008. By providing financial support, IBS assisted the graduating class in exhibiting their design work to potential employers and the general public. IBS meanwhile, benefited from being able to advertise in the exhibition’s yearbook, was mentioned in the speeches and was able to reach out to potential new clients in the students and visitors to the exhibition.

A strategic alliance on the other hand, may not see an exchange of money. It is a partnership between two companies whereby each benefits from the other. An example might be a printing company and an events company pairing up to highlight business opportunities for one another. In exchange for forwarding all printing work to the printer, the events company obtains leads on potential businesses that may hold events.

If you choose to sponsor an organisation or build a strategic alliance, ensure you publicise this to all your customers. Put it on your letterhead, your ‘with compliments’ slips, inside your store, on your website, anywhere you can think of! It’s just as important that people who aren’t yet your customers are also made aware of your sponsorship or strategic alliance, as it builds credibility. Therefore ensure that the other party is making all their customers or members aware of your company too.

We know you’re looking for value, so we’re excited to extend a special offer to you for the month of August - 1,000 With Compliments slips or DL flyers on our ‘Stationery Class 100’ stock for $99 (instead of $121).

Simply quote ‘SPECIAL’ in the subject line of your email when sending your order and artwork to receive this offer. And don’t forget this special pricing is only available from 1 – 31 August 2009!

The tourism industry is well-known for using postcards as a marketing tool and selling them as souvenirs. However some clever accommodation houses are using postcards as an extension of their customer service.

Weather indication postcards
The postcards are designed with six basic pictures of different weather scenarios, similar to what you see on the television news – a sun, clouds, storm with lightning, rain drops, wind and a sun behind a cloud. There are also two small boxes with ‘min’ and ‘max’ beside them.

As a service to their guests, the accommodation house fills out the relevant maximum and minimum temperatures for the day and circles the relevant picture. They then pop the postcard underneath each guests’ door. By printing the postcards on our ‘Economy Class 310’ stock, the accommodation house receives excellent value at less than seven cents a piece (based on an order of 2,500 postcards) and goes the extra mile to ensuring their guests get the most out of their stay!

Please ensure you check your confirmation email carefully as soon as you receive it to ensure your order has been booked in correctly. As we have been endeavouring to improve our turnaround times, there is less lag time between the time of booking in your order and the job being placed on a run. As soon as your job is on a run, it is too late to make any changes. Therefore we ask all clients to call us as quickly as possible after receiving a confirmation email if you notice any of the details are incorrect.