Print Efficiently, The Print Show and even smaller customer focused events such as the one we recently held with Fuji – these are all designed to maintain continuous communication with current and potential customers.

The success of these activities is always difficult to quantify. Yes we undoubtedly secured sales that stem from visitors seeing us at these events but whether they would have been achieved independently is always harder to be sure of.

Doing nothing is not an option. The digital age encourages much more online research and communication but nothing can replace person-to-person contact or a live machine demonstration.

However, time is precious.

Operations are being run by fewer staff which makes external meetings increasingly scarce.

Business owners simply don’t have time to look at market trends and developments to see how they could impact their business down the line.

More frequently customers request a service and the operation then looks at how it can offer that. Or the decision to invest is often made in response to an immediate need because of aging existing systems.

In an era where too frequently figures are sought for return on marking investment, it is easy to lose sight of the importance of keeping a consist presence in the market that supports long-term customer engagement.

Each activity is not easy to quantify. Customer confidence is an almost impossible perception to measure but it is vital in the purchasing process.

Yes we achieved some sales at these recent events but far more important is the visible support we have shown the UK industry and the message conveyed in our long-term commitment to the success of our customers.