20 February 2019

Understanding print disputes

Disputes about the quality and service being provided by companies in this industry are growing. There are various reasons for this, ranging from sales teams promising the earth to get the sale, all the way through to customers trying to get out of the contract by arguing that the quality of the product was not to the standard required and as such refusing payment.

As a result, most companies in the printing and packaging industry find themselves in a position where an intractable dispute arises. The vast majority of these usually relate to print quality or problems with equipment or software and they can be costly if the dispute has to be settled in court, sometimes these fees are actually greater than the job in the first place.

By the time that the dispute has arisen the product has already been created and so the cost of the production has already been incurred by the business. However, the cost of this course of action is not just financial. The fall out of a dispute will have wide ranging impact on your business. This can be with the ending of a relationship with a previously loyal customer to word of mouth, where customers discuss past experience. This is potentially the most damaging as building up trust and a loyal customer base is often one of the hardest parts of building a successful business. Which is why, finding yourself in the middle of a difficult dispute can seem like your worst nightmare.

So what are the options for the company? The cost has already been generated by producing the product, so this has to be paid for, if not by the customer then by the company itself. This leaves little option but to try and get payment from the customer no matter what the potential fall out and the possible ramifications mentioned above. Is there any real alternative to taking the client to court and incurring the costs of solicitors and other legal fees.

To support companies in this position, BPIF Specialist Services offers a comprehensive Dispute Resolution service. Our technical experts have an extensive experience in providing a range of support, depending on the circumstances of the dispute. These include short reviews and reports providing an expert view to enable a printer or packager, print buyer or supplier, to verify their own situation and to understand the risks attached to proceeding or defending a claim. Also included are single party assessments offering a full assessment of the dispute, which may include onsite inspection of products or equipment, or random testing. These along with other services such as single joint party expert reports, expert witness reports, facilitation and mediation are the core elements of Dispute Resolution service.

7 top tips to help you avoid a possible print dispute: 

1. If the company is facing a situation that is heading to dispute, hold off and get some mediation first off. Mediators are required to approach all hearings on an impartial basis. The are trained by The Academy of Experts, who are the regulators of the work carried out by mediators. Getting someone who is totally independent of both sides will enable both to talk freely about what the issues are. The cost of the service is often shared between the two parties and can be held at a neutral location. The report that is generated by this meeting solves up to 75% of cases where a dispute is pending. This service is just as effective with small jobs as larger jobs and can often be done in a very short time span of a couple of days.

Another advantage of mediation is that it is a non-legal process which avoids the necessity for litigation but at the same time does not compromise the legal rights of the parties to the dispute should the mediation fail.

2. Know your customer. There are very effective credit software available on the market, finding out the credit history of your potential customer will give you at least an indication of who you are dealing with. Better to find out about the credit worthiness of a business before you start

3. Control bad debt. Do not let debts get to 90 plus days before you are calling the customer to find out what is going on. If it is a quality issue, the earlier you start to address this the better. The longer it is left the longer the debt is on your books and draining your cash flow.

4. Have a clear pricing structure for your sales staff, as price continues to often be the deciding factor for customers, companies have to have a detailed understanding of what the cost is of the actual job including the full production costs. Sales teams offering unrealistic product quality will just set unrealistic expectations. Good customer relations require comprehensive management of the client expectations. Gaps between customer expectations and realistic production quality often starts at the beginning of the sales process.

5. Develop a thorough customer feedback process. With one off jobs this is not so much of an issue, but with developing a relationship with a client, gaining feedback from your customers is essential. It may be that your clients are very happy with the service that you are providing, however if you do not measure you do not know. Early detection of dissatisfaction will enable you to address the issues and remedy or discuss before patience is lost and the customer turns around and rejects one job, when in fact the feeling of poor service has actually been developing over the course of a number of jobs.

6. Measure the process. By implementing clear processes from the initial sales process all the way through the production process and the final delivery of the product, a company will be able to measure each step. This allows companies to record where quality issues arise. By measuring the process, the company will be able to highlight problem areas and correct them accordingly. Driving continuous improvement in terms of production processes will not eliminate errors completely, but by developing efficient and repeatable workflows, the company will tighten production control, reduce waste and improve quality.

7. Ask for help. Running a business and the responsibilities that go with it need not be taken alone. The BPIF offer impartial independent advice. Initial conversations will not cost you anything, but it may help you avoid unnecessary costly intervention.

If you require support with a print dispute contact BPIF Specialist Services on [email protected] or 01924 203335.