A client needs more business cards. Three of the five people on them have changed, the logo was updated last spring, and she cannot remember whether the last batch was on the heavier stock.
What should be one message becomes four, spread over three days, and the cards arrive a fortnight after she needed them.
Make the previous job findable
By order number, by date or by what it was. Clients do not keep order numbers, so allowing a reorder to be identified by description is what makes the process work.
Example conversations
These scripts use information a printer might publish. Your answers should come from your own pages.
Client: We need more business cards. Assistant: The team can reprint from the artwork held on file. Could you tell me the company name and roughly when the last order was, and whether anything has changed, such as names, numbers or the logo? I will pass it across so they can send a proof.
Client: Are you still holding our letterhead artwork? Assistant: The page explains how long artwork is held and how reorders work, including whether a fresh proof is issued. Could you confirm the company name so the team can check what is on file and come back to you today?
Client: Same as last time but with two new people. Assistant: That is a straightforward amendment. Could you send the new names, job titles and any contact details exactly as they should appear, and confirm the quantity? The team will proof it before printing.
Publish how long artwork is held
And what happens afterwards. Clients assume files are kept forever and are surprised when something from six years ago has gone.
Confirm what has changed, explicitly
Names, titles, addresses, numbers, logos and legal information on letterheads. Asking directly prevents a reprint of outdated details that the client then blames on the printer.
Always proof an amendment
Even a small change. The reprint that goes wrong is almost always the one where everyone assumed nothing needed checking.
Publish quantity breaks
Clients ordering five hundred cards often do not know a thousand costs barely more. Showing the breaks increases order values without any persuasion.
Explain stock and finish options against the previous job
What it was printed on last time, and what alternatives exist. Clients who want the same thing should get it, and the ones who want an upgrade should be able to see it.
Publish the turnaround
Standard and express, with cut-offs. Reorders are usually needed because somebody ran out, which means speed matters, and the deadline pressure is covered in rush print jobs and deadline questions.
Set up a reorder route
A page, an account or a simple form that captures the company, the item and any changes. Clients reorder more often when it is effortless.
Prompt before they run out
For clients on predictable cycles, a message before the usual reorder point is welcome rather than pushy, and it captures the order before they search elsewhere.
Artwork problems slow everything
They are covered in artwork and file questions printers answer daily, address changes often trigger reorders as in virtual office and business address enquiries, and holding account details carefully is covered in how financial advisors use chatbots to answer client questions.
Getting started
Publish how reorders work, how long artwork is held, quantity breaks and turnaround, then capture reorder requests at any hour. SpideyChat for print and signage companies answers from your published pages. Try SpideyChat on your own site, or read about capture on the features page.