We may have over 15 years in the printing business, but here at Plastic Printers we understand it takes more than decades of experience in a niche market to be truly exceptional in an industry. It's true, translucent business cards put our company on the map, but quality management and leadership are what make it exceptional.

Answering the Biggest Question of your Professional Life

No, we are talking about the purpose of life, and the answer isn't 42 (for all of the Douglas Adams fans out there). One of the biggest questions in a corporate environment is: what makes a company great?

This question leads to an obvious follow-up inquiry: how does this "it factor" make a company great? If the answer to the first question is leadership and management, then the answer to the second question has to boil down to results that are tangible and measurable.

According to the experts that has studied exceptional management, it comes down to following three basic rules:

Rule #1: Get your priorities straight. In other words, to differentiate yourself from the competition, stop doing what the competition is doing. Prioritize quality over price, not the other way around.

By simply undercutting the competition on price, you are limiting the amount of success you can achieve. Focusing on the quality of your product or service gives your business longevity and allows your success to be limitless.

Account managers at our company have said one of the most frequent comments they get relates to the price of our product. Translucent business cards are going to be pricier than the paper version.

The trade-off is that plastic cards get noticed almost every time and they leave recipients with a positive impression of your company. Instead of seeing the short-term expense, keep an eye on the long-term investment, not only in your company, but in yourself.

Rule #2: Profit comes before cost. These rules feed into one another. It’s not just about attaining greatness; it’s about retaining it. To do that, you have to figure out where your true value lies. Ask yourself, “Where am I better than my competition?”

The answer to this question will point you toward your revenue stream. This is the “it factor” your customers will gladly pay more for. It is OK to accept that exchange as long as the quality and value that customers are investing in remains consistent and improves over time.

At Plastic Printers, our quality never goes down. We value our product and our customers. You get what you pay for and more, including:

• Design help and improvement
• Free redesign services and templates to test out
• Hand-printed, high-quality translucent business cards
• Simplified and manageable promotional development
• An end result that adds ongoing value to your company

The reason a lot of start-ups fail is that they are solely focused on short-term payoffs.

They need immediate revenue because there are often large shortfalls in working capital. They lower costs to drum up business, which works momentarily. The problem with this stratagem is it sets a false precedent.

If you aren’t charging what your services are worth to gain a customer base, you run the risk of losing that base when you “hike up” your prices. In reality, you’re just charging what you should have been charging all along, but your customers won’t see it that way. They will feel hustled.

If you want to achieve and sustain an exceptional level of greatness, charge what your services are worth and don’t apologize for it. You’ll end up with a high-profit, high-volume, and valuable business.

Rule #3: There are no other rules. You’ve heard the saying, “don’t mess with success,” right? Well, a workplace is dynamic. Technology, employees, markets and trends all change, but as long as rules one and two remain the same, you won’t mess with your own success.

These rules have worked for our company, now put them to work for yours. Contact us for more tips and tricks of the trade.