Industry Tips: Compete on Value, not on Price

Have you ever visited a competitor’s website, scrolled through their products, and felt a knot tighten in your stomach when you see their prices?

You see a set of 500 business cards or a batch of A5 flyers priced just enough to cover your paper costs. Panic sets in. You immediately contact your sales manager or open your estimating software and begin reducing your rates. You tell yourself that you must remain competitive. You convince yourself that if you don't match them, you will lose the work.

This is a race to the bottom, and it is the quickest way to destroy a print business. I know this because I have been there. Back in my days running a print company, I used to benchmark myself relentlessly against my larger rivals. I would spend hours analysing their price lists, convinced that I had to match them penny for penny.

It took me a long time to realise a harsh truth. Their overheads, systems, and margins were nothing like mine.

When you try to compete with the massive, industrial-scale online hubs on price, you are fighting a battle you cannot win. They are buying paper by the truckload. You buy it by the pallet. They have automated workflows that require no human intervention until the box is taped shut. You have a skilled team member checking files and managing the process.

The Danger of Market Rate Delusion

One of the most common mistakes I see in my coaching sessions is the obsession with a perceived market rate. Print business owners tell me, "I can't charge that, Colin. The market rate is X."

But what is the market rate? It is a myth. There is no single price for a printed product because there is no single type of customer.

When you cut your prices to match the big guys, you are pricing based on their business model, not your own. You are stripping away the margin needed to reinvest in your kit, train your staff, and actually pay yourself a decent wage, and for what? To win a customer who buys solely on price.

Let’s be honest about those customers for a moment. Is the client who leaves you over a few pounds actually worth keeping? They are the ones who will complain the loudest, pay the slowest, and demand the quickest tweaks for free.

The clients worth keeping are not just buying on price – they are buying you. They are buying the fact that you answer the phone when they call. They are buying the fact that you will take more care of their projects before and after they go to press. They are buying the peace of mind that comes from knowing you will go that extra mile to deliver on time.

That kind of service costs money. It requires staff, time, and expertise. If you price yourself like one of the big guys, you cannot afford to offer that service, therefore, you end up with the worst of both worlds. You have the low margins of these larger print firms, but the high overheads of a service-led business.
You should stop focusing on what others are charging and instead determine your own rates. Develop a pricing system that safeguards your margins and your peace of mind.

Start with your true costs. Not just the raw materials. Factor in admin time, paper, ink, press time, finishing, packaging, and electricity. Then, add the margin you need to make a healthy profit.
If that number comes out higher than the big online hub, that is fine. It should be higher. You are offering a different product. You are offering a service-led manufacturing process, not a commodity. But this leads us to the second trap.

If we accept that we cannot be the cheapest, our natural instinct is to try and be the best. We want to justify that higher price tag. So, we look at our marketing, website, and sales pitch, and we reach for the most elaborate words we can find. We start shouting about “luxury!”

The Luxury Trap

Do we talk about high-quality and luxury too much in this industry? That was a question I was asked recently while reviewing a new brochure a client had produced to promote their products and services. Every other word was 'premium' this or 'high-end' that. My answer to them was a resounding yes, and I believed it was costing them sales.

There is a widespread misconception among printers. We think that shouting about luxury somehow makes us sound more valuable. We use it because we want to distance ourselves from the cheap, stack ‘em-high competitors we just decided not to price match. We want to show that we care about the craft. However, here is the truth about how that word resonates with customers. To a regular business owner trying to get a brochure produced, or a marketing manager with a tight budget, luxury doesn't necessarily mean good. It signals expensive, complicated and, worst of all, ‘not for me’.

When you brand yourself as “luxury”, you are essentially putting up a velvet rope outside your shop. You are telling the local SME owner or the start-up founder that they probably can't afford you. You are creating a psychological barrier before you have even started the conversation.

You might think you are signalling quality. But your customer thinks you are signalling a high price tag for something they just need to be functional and effective.

Speak Your Client’s Language

So, if we can't be the "cheapest" and we shouldn't brand ourselves as "luxury," what is left? The word you are looking for is trust.

Here is what works better. Speak to value. Speak to service. Speak to what it actually feels like to work with you.

I recently worked with a team that made this exact shift. For years, they had been pitching themselves as providers of bespoke, high-end print. Their business cards featured gold foil, and their website resembled a fashion magazine. It was stunning. However, their conversion rate was low, and they couldn’t see why. They didn’t realise that it all looked very impressive to other printers, but it was lost on their customers. Worse still, in many cases, it was intimidating them.

My recommendation was to change their promise to deliver bespoke, luxury items to a simple: “We provide straight-talking project support and a reliable service you can trust”.

That one change increased their engagement almost overnight. Why? Think about the psychology of the buyer. Most clients are terrified of messing up their print order. They worry they will spend £500 on brochures that end up looking terrible.

“Bespoke” sounds like it takes weeks, costs a fortune, and requires them to know what they are talking about. “Support you can trust” sounds like a relief. It solves a problem. It tells them: “We have got your back. We will check your files. We will make sure this works.”

That peace of mind is worth more to them than any premium label.

Some Key Steps

My advice to you this month is to take a step back and look at your business through the eyes of a potential customer. Look at your pricing. Are you chasing the bottom of the market? Are you terrified of being undercut by a penny? If so – stop. You cannot win that race. Re-calculate your prices based on your actual costs and the service you provide. Have the confidence to charge for the value you deliver.

Look at your language. Check your headlines on your website. Check your bio on LinkedIn. Are you selling your ego? Are you talking about your 'state-of-the-art printers' and your ‘artisan finishing’? Or are you selling the results your client actually wants?

They want jobs that arrive on time. They want colour that matches their brand. They want to know that if they upload a file with no bleed, a human being will call them to fix it rather than just printing it as it is.
When you combine a pricing model that protects your margin with a message that builds trust rather than barriers, you stop competing on commodities. You stop worrying about what the big guys are doing. You start building a business that is sustainable, profitable, and resilient.