As with everything in business, issues can arise during the print approval process which can take time and money to overcome. To ensure that you’re being as profitable as possible, putting measures in place to avoid these potential problems is vital, and anything that can help with the organisation of projects is certainly useful.
Here, we explore some of the ways that you can overcome issues in your print approval process, and how this can help you to run your business more efficiently and effectively.
Dealing with missing information
One of the biggest issues that can occur within the print approval process is that information is missing from briefs which can lead to carrying out the job incorrectly. Before email, people would complete paper forms which had spaces for every single piece of information required which meant that briefs were complete, very detailed, and accurate. These days, requests tend to be sent across multiple informal emails which not only take more time to process but can also mean that important details are missed out, which will have a negative impact on the print job in hand. This results in having to go back and forth with your client asking for additional details, which can be frustrating and time-consuming for everyone involved.
Approval Pipeline can help you with this as all information is saved in one place, which means no more trawling through long email chains to piece together everything required by your client. This also means that anyone in your business can access the details, improving internal communication too.
Loss of version control
If multiple changes are being made to design over time, keeping track of what has been updated and when is vital in ensuring that everyone is on the same page. Without this version control in place, changes can be made by anyone with access to the files, and things may be altered which have not been approved or signed off by the client. This can lead to disputes over why the design does not look the way that is should, and it can be difficult to pinpoint who it was that made the unauthorised change. Disputes like this can be costly, in both time and money, so avoiding them where possible is certainly advisable.
When you choose to use Approval Pipeline in your print approval process, version control is implemented so that you can keep track of exactly what changes have been made, by who, and when. This also gives you the option to go back to previous versions if necessary, and you’ll have a great overview of how the project has progressed over time, and exactly how many different versions have been worked on. This can also be helpful if you limit your clients to how many rounds of amends they can have, as Approval Pipeline will be able to supply this information to you.
Too many people getting involved
When lots of people are involved in a project and multiple emails are being sent back and forth, it can be difficult to know exactly who has the authority and which actions need to be prioritised. In a world where people are receiving hundreds of emails per week, it’s very easy to get caught up in all of the noise, especially when there’s too much information or an overwhelming volume of updates that need to be looked at. There can also be the issue where there’s conflicting information given to you when one person is asking for something whereas someone else is requesting the opposite, which is certainly not constructive when trying to run a streamlined process.
Luckily, Approval Pipeline can help you with this too, as it can be set so that there is a single point of authority that has the final say and can sign-off projects when they’re happy. This means that you don’t need to spend time chasing different people for answers and can rely on one contact to give you any details that you require. It also eliminates the chance that you’ll make changes that you then have to go back and amend because people have conflicting opinions, and will dramatically decrease the likelihood of you having a dispute over amendments that have been made.
Now that you’re equipped with the information required to overcome issues in your print approval process, contact Approval Pipeline and find out how they can help you and your business today.