Integrity in a Printing Company and in the Business World

    

Over the last couple of weeks the topic of integrity has popped up in a few different posts that I have read. I especially liked the blog pintegrity-in-a-printing-companyost that I read on CampusSplash.com written by Steve Loflin, the CEO & Founder of The National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS) in Washington, DC. The post really got me thinking about integrity, integrity as it relates to business in general and more specifically to our printing company. Developing long te rm business relationships and partnerships is our goal at TPI Solu tions Ink. We want our clients to know and trust that we maintain the highest level of integrity in all areas of our business and business dealings.

I decided to look up the word integrity in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, so here's the definition:

in·teg·ri·ty  noun \in-‘te-grə-tē\

  1.  firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values: incorruptibility
  2. an unimpaired condition: soundness
  3. the quality or state of being complete or undivided: completeness

The type of integrity that I am talking about today isintegrity-in-a-printing-company described in the first definition. In the blog post written by Steve Loflin he came up with seven points to measure personal integrity. I’d like to use those same seven points to measure business or printing company integrity.
Here goes:                                  

  1. Always tell the truth. The truth is the truth. 
    Honesty is always the best policy. Will you make the deadline or not? Do you do the perfect binding in house or do you sub it out? Tell the truth. If you don’t it will come back to bite you.

  2. Work hard and remember that cutting corners will never pay off in the end.
    Give each client your best and each project your full attention. Do you preflight every file that comes in for every job big or small? Do you get that written “okay, good to go” each and every time you run a job? Inevitably it doesn’t pay off to cut corners and if you do it will more than likely cost you monetarily and otherwise in the end.

  3. Say you don’t know, if you don’t know.
    So simple yet so many people seem to have a fear of admitting that they don’t know it all! This goes back to point one and honesty. . .just say “I don’t know, but I will find out.” Simple and clients will respect you for it.

  4. Say you are sorry if you make a mistake.
    People, admit your mistakes, own them, learn from them, say “I’m sorry” and then move on!

  5. Spend all of your time with people who challenge you positively and make you proud.
    Well, in the business world this is not always possible. We all have to deal with many types of personalities and many different situations on a daily basis. My take on it is be a positive force in your printing company and be proud of the product you produce and the services you provide.

  6. Be nice. It isn’t that hard to do
    Lately, I often find myself using this old cliché with my teenage daughters, “you get more flies with honey than vinegar.” It’s true! Be a nice person and pay kindnesses forward.

    and Steve’s last point is:

  7. You never know when someone is watching, observing or challenging you and your integrity. Is your integrity always showing?
    Well, I’ll just leave it at that!

How important is it to you to work with a business that you consider to have great integrity? Have you come across situations as a print buyer where you have questioned the integrity of the printing company you were dealing with?

 

 

About The Author

Carrie is currently the President and Co-Owner of TPI Solutions Ink. She is a graduate of RIT with a BS in Printing Management. Carrie has over 40 years experience in the printing industry.