We all use brokers every day...Think about your last grocery shopping experience - did you go to several farms to purchase your meat and vegetables? Did you visit a factory to buy cleaning supplies and a dairy to select your cheese?
If you’re like most people when you go grocery shopping have you go to a grocery store. The role of the grocery store is to collect all the products that you would like to purchase under one roof, give you some choices that allow you to compare price options, and make your shopping trip have more efficient and cost-effective.
In fact, we all use brokers every day...Think about your last grocery shopping experience - did you go to several farms to purchase your meat and vegetables, then to a baker to get your bread? Did you visit a factory to buy cleaning supplies and a dairy to select your cheese?
In fact, most purchases we make involve some kind of broker. A furniture store, an office supply store or a clothing retailer all act essentially as a broker for the various manufacturers, designers or suppliers.
Why does It make sense to use a print broker?
When it comes to printing, many consumers take the opposite approach to their other purchases and spend time and resources researching a supply for a particular printed product - business cards, postcards, signs, brochures, or promotional materials for instance.
In a highly specialized industry, with so many variables affecting quality and cost, trying to research and navigate all those options to purchase print services directly can be a very inefficient way of going about things.
It begs the question: Why have you not used a Print Broker?
You may not even be familiar with the concept of a print broker and that’s understandable - they aren’t that common. The role requires a store times kill set and experience level that most retail print shops don’t possess.
A print broker is typically someone or a firm that both have practical experience in the printing trade and industry as well as a passion for the latest in printing technology. They have developed a network of suppliers that each specialize in a particular printing process. The print broker uses their experience and network to obtain the best price and quality for your specific print job.
In essence, Print Brokers play the same role that a retail store might in that they give you easy access to a wide variety of suppliers and print products and options around pricing and quality all under one roof.
So what can a print broker do for me?
Convenience - Whether you have one small job or several complex requirements you can make one call - saving you time and resources. A print broker is able to handle all your print requirements from stationery to signage as well as specialty print jobs like cheques or apparel, so rather than finding several suppliers, you can call one supplier for all your printing needs.
Recommending Products - Print brokers are in constant contact with their suppliers and in the case of MLB Print Management, they make regular site visits. They are aware of new products and print applications and can often recommend products that you may not be aware of.
Understanding the printer's requirements - Do acronyms like PDF, JPG, PNG, TIFF, PSD and terms like bleed and trim marks make your head spin? Dealing with several suppliers and their various technical requirements for the graphics/document files you need to provide them can be difficult and time-consuming. A print broker can simplify the process for you because they understand the requirements for all their suppliers and they can walk you through these requirements upfront to save you time.
Managing the Print Job - Once you arrange your printing through a broker, the broker takes over the management of the job until it’s delivered or installed. This saves you time and effort and gives you one point of contact for any questions or changes you might have throughout the process.
Saving you money - Because a print broker has several options for each type of print job, they can broker you the best price and quality for your specific requirements.
Print Liaison is led by owner James Malliarakis. James has worked in the print industry for over 30 years. James has an enviable network of print suppliers across Australia that can handle everything from business cards to Large Format print jobs with ease.