So it’s come down to this: After all the shiny new toys, life-changing technology, and incessant apologies for just about everything, overwhelmed and exhausted consumers are going back to time-tested basics. Doing business with people and companies you trust, like, and respect has become more important than ever before.

On many levels, consumers are going back to these basics because of so much they can’t rely on. Daily technology snafus on supposedly professional platforms, people telling you what you want to hear versus what they can deliver, asking three questions and getting only one answered, general inattention, and uncaring are just some of the challenges we face on a daily basis.

At this point, the thought of a reliable company that has your back can seem elusive. But they’re out there. The peace of mind that comes with a trusted, likable and respected partner is worth its weight in gold. Besides peace of mind, there are typically many ways that a reliable company will save you money and time.

In the custom digital label industry, chief among cost-saving services is having a service team able to ensure that the end product provides the most bang for the buck. Without compromising quality, knowledgeable label experts can help ramp up efficiency and keep costs contained – so that the final product does the job, looks great, and is pocketbook-friendly.

A search of credible reviews on Google and other select platforms will help establish where, how, and how often a particular printer goes the extra mile in providing high value for a competitive price.

When it comes to time-savings with digital label printing, everything from initial order to delivery merits a watchful eye and due diligence. Among questions to ask are:

1. What is the expected time from order to shipping? As a rule of thumb, look for 48-72 hours after proof approval.

2. How long does shipping take? Depending on urgency of delivery, a variety of shipping options exist from next-day to ground shipping taking several days. For online orders, free ground shipping should be an option if the labels are not needed immediately.

3. What is the track record for meeting deadlines? As with pricing, assess turnaround reliability and consistency via credible reviews on such platforms as Google, and look for comments pertaining to turnaround time.

Among other major considerations to ensure your digital label printer fully has your back are:

1. Documenting a true commitment to customer service versus grand-sounding (but hollow) gobbledygook. Does the printer walk the commitment or just talk it? Review the website, look at credible testimonials, and if possible determine if customer service ratings stay consistent over time or go up and down. Consistency is key to reliability.

2. Personal investment. Does personal service across the organization top the customer service list? This includes everything from having a dedicated account manager who will be a liaison throughout the process to being able to connect efficiently by phone for personalized service with a knowledgeable and helpful human being.

For those of you who still want to communicate with a live person instead of being relegated to email, chatbots, and the rest of the artificial intelligence world, you should be able to do it. And finding the phone number should be easy versus having to drill down through many digital layers to find a number – if in fact you can find anything at all.

Of course, those who prefer solely digital interaction should be able to get it via a robust multichannel system offering email, text, chatbots, etc.

3. Going the extra mile to achieve success. It goes without saying that quality, price and turnaround time commitments should be honored. But what about going the extra mile when faced with extenuating circumstances? It could be a seemingly impossible deadline that needs to become possible. Or, despite best efforts to stay ahead of the game, supply chain snafus still occur and solutions must be found. Then, of course, there’s the “where’s my stuff?” dilemma created when shipping goes awry despite best efforts to ensure timely delivery.

Instead of spewing excuses for failure, your printer needs to do everything possible to make it right in the most timely and cost-effective way possible.

At the end of the day, doing business should feel like a trusted partnership (or even friendship). Trusting, liking, and respecting are quintessential human qualities that can’t be easily duplicated by artificial intelligence, fabricated with a scripted customer service call, or faked by saying all the right things – then following through on none of them.


Mark Lusky is a marketing communications professional who has worked with Lightning Labels, an all-digital custom label printer in Denver, CO, USA, since 2008. Find Lightning Labels on Facebook for special offers and label printing news.