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Who is the Right Vendor Partner for You?

Econoprint

When there are so many places to get your marketing, printing, signs, mailings and website from, how do you choose where to go? It can be quite an overwhelming decision at times, I’m sure. When you are in charge of where to purchase everything for marketing purposes, you get to decide; should you use that company that has everything you need at a one-stop-shop or do you go to a few different companies? I may be a little biased, but I believe the one-stop-shop is a huge time and money saver.

A true one-stop-shop in this industry is a place where you can get all of the items and guidance you would need to successfully market your business. From helpful designers, print services and even direct mail, websites and signage. There are plenty of great companies that will help your business succeed but they may only offer a fraction of the products listed above. Some companies can help with just marketing and then outsource the printing, signage or web. You might be thinking now, “Well I can get all of that from a vendor online.” You know what, you are correct; you can get everything you need from a vendor online, but what happens when something comes back not quite right? With an actual local vendor, you can work one-on-one with someone and explain to them exactly what you want. They will understand your brand and what you need, then take it from there. Often times they will offer suggestions that will best fit your needs, unlike the online vendors, where you are just another order.

 

Another advantage with having one vendor partner for all of your marketing needs is that your brand will stay consistent throughout all of the pieces you choose. So let’s say you chose to get your website designed by one company, brochures and business cards by another and your main storefront sign by yet another company. That is all well and good spreading the jobs around, but then the specific colors of your brand comes back differently on your brochures compared to your sign; your custom designed logo looks a little off on your website compared to the mailers you’re ready to send out. Now what do you do? You’ve already spent all of this time and money and nothing is matching up. All of that could’ve been prevented had you used just one company for all of those items.

 

Now you may be dreaming if you think every company can be your one-stop-shop. There are probably only a few in your area that can do everything but sometimes you can luck out by finding that diamond in the rough. If you have a company that can only do only a fraction of what you need, don’t be afraid to ask them for a referral to another company that can provide the other half. Most companies know others in related industries locally and most likely work with them when they cant fulfill the customers needs.

 

So which vendor partner(s) will you choose? The ease and convenience of using the one-stop-shop vendor, which can help you plan the best way to market your business, or a few different vendors where you might not get everything you were hoping for?