Printing businesses · Referral marketing

The designer who drew the box decides which press prints it.

Most print work is handed to a printer by somebody who is not the customer. Graphic designers, small advertising agencies, wedding and event planners and corporate gifting firms place job after job on behalf of clients. GullySales builds the relationships with those trades and settles how commission is handled before it becomes awkward.

Tell us what you needor call +91 80958 58589

Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.

Realistic editorial illustration of printing businesses at work in India

What referral marketing means

Referral marketing is asking an existing customer to recommend you to someone they know, usually with a reward for both sides. It differs from a loyalty scheme because it brings in a new customer rather than a repeat purchase. GullySales builds the ask and the reward into a point where a customer is already satisfied.

Also for printing businesses

Sales and marketing for printing businesses, the overview.

Last updated 5 Oct 2026.

For printing businesses

Where it usually goes wrong, and what we would do.

“One designer places more print in a year than any single customer”
The designer has fifteen clients, all of whom need cards, brochures, standees and packaging. Win that designer and you get fifteen accounts you never had to quote for. Lose one of their jobs badly and you lose all fifteen at once.
“Event and wedding planners buy on the date, not the rate”
A planner needs eight hundred invitations for a fixed function and cannot explain a delay to the family. A printer who has never missed one of their dates is worth protecting, and they will send everything they have.
“Commission is normal here, so write it down”
Designers and planners in this trade expect a percentage and there is no use being coy about it. Agree the figure, agree whether it is on the job or on the print value, and put it in a message both of you can read back.

What we do

What we deliver for printing businesses.

Every deliverable, what it covers for you, and the result it is there to produce. Nothing here is an extra.

A list of the design and planning trades near you
Freelance designers, small agencies, wedding and event planners and gifting firms working in your area, with who has been approached and what they place.
Result: You know which introductions are worth pursuing.
A trade rate card the designer can quote from
Your rates for the jobs these trades place most, written so a designer can mark them up and give the client a figure without ringing you.
Result: The designer can quote the client from your card the same day.
Commission terms agreed in writing
The percentage, what it applies to, when it is paid, and what happens on a repeat order, settled with each referrer before the first job.
Result: Nobody is arguing about a cut after the job is delivered.
Sample kits made for the people who specify
A small box of your boards, finishes and foils with your name on it, made for a designer's desk rather than for a customer's reception.
Result: Your stock is what a designer reaches for when specifying.
Referral source recorded on every job card
One field naming who sent the work, filled in at order entry, so a designer's real contribution over a year can be seen.
Result: You can tell which relationships are earning their commission.
A thank you that does not depend on memory
An agreed gesture once a referred job is delivered and paid, the same for everyone, so no referrer feels quietly overlooked.
Result: The people placing work with you keep placing it.

Show 3 moreShow fewer

How the result is measured

Referrals received
Referral conversion rate
Cost per referred customer

Recorded as a baseline before work starts, so every later report has an honest comparison.

Read the full referral marketing page

How referrals reach a print shop

The customer who sends you most work is rarely the one who pays for it.

The freelance graphic designer: A designer places print for several clients. Give the designer a rate card to quote from, a sample of your paper and finishing, and a named person who knows their files by name.
The wedding and event planner: A planner buys by the date of the function. Show the planner what you can produce for invitations, backdrops and menus when the date is fixed, and who will pick up the phone when a proof is late.
The small advertising agency and the gifting firm: Both buy for clients and mark up your price. Agree whether they quote from your rate card or add their own, so a client who sees both prices does not lose trust in either.
The paper merchant and the machine mechanic: They see which press is busy and which is short of capacity. Tell them what job types you want, so a shop that cannot take a job sends the buyer on to you.
What never to do: Never contact a designer's client behind their back, quote that client a lower price or criticise the designer's files. A designer who loses a client to you stops sending any work.

Who it is for

This is written for these printing businesses.

Commercial offset printing businesses
Digital and quick-print shops
Packaging and label printing businesses
Large format and signage printers
Wedding and event stationery printers
Corporate stationery and print suppliers
Textile and garment printing businesses
Print-on-demand and personalised merchandise printers

Not for

It is not the right fit if.

You cannot set a trade rate that leaves margin, and a designer would drop a press that does not honour its terms.
You have no sample work to hand to the designers and planners who place print, which makes an introduction hard to give.

How it works

How the referral marketing work runs

The work itself, in order. How an engagement starts, from your brief to a written scope, is set out on our method page.

1
Read the margin and the relationship
We work out what a new customer is worth and what you can pay to get one, then check whether customers know others like themselves.
2
Find the referrals you already get
Your invoices, call notes and WhatsApp threads show who already sends people to you, and who they are. That sets the starting point and the first people to ask.
3
Write the offer and the rules
The reward, the definition of a valid referral and the payout steps are agreed in writing before anything is shown to customers.
4
Build the share path and the record
The message, the link or code and the referral sheet are built. Your team tests a referral end to end, from forward to reward.
5
Start with your best customers, then widen
The first asks go to people who have already praised you. What they say about the offer decides what changes before it reaches the wider base.

Where this fits

Three pieces of sales work, in this order.

This work sits inside sales process design, at stage 7, after the sale. The audit comes before it, and sales management keeps it running.

Step 1
Sales audit
Find where deals are being lost and what to fix first.
Start here if you cannot say where orders are lost.
Step 2 · you are here
Sales process design
One written way to sell, from first enquiry to repeat order.
Start here if every salesperson sells differently.
Step 3
Sales management
A target, a review routine and someone who owns the number.
Start here if the team has targets and no routine.

Tell us what you need Your brief is read before we call. Scope, fee and term in writing.

FAQ

Questions owners ask before they call.

Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.

Tell us what you need

Should we go direct to the designer's client for a better margin?

No, and it is the fastest way to lose the whole trade. Designers talk to each other and word travels through that community in a week. If a client approaches you directly, tell the designer before you quote.

What commission do printers usually pay a designer?

It varies by city, by job type and by how much work the designer brings, so do not take a number from anyone else. Decide what you can afford on your own margins, offer it plainly, and keep it the same across everyone so you are never caught out.

The designer's client rings us directly for a reprint. Who owns that customer?

Tell the designer before you quote and agree in writing how reprints are handled. Most designers expect the work to come back through them. If the client insists on dealing direct, say so openly and agree the commission.

Should our name go on the packing slip when a designer places the job?

Ask the designer. Some prefer plain packing, because the client is theirs, and some do not mind. Your own name on the carton is a small thing, but a designer who finds it unasked may stop sending you jobs.

How much does it cost?

There is no price list, because the work differs by business. The fee is scoped after we have read your brief and spoken to you, and put in writing before anything starts, split into our time, your media spend and production.

How long is the contract?

The term is agreed in writing after we have spoken, along with the fee and the reporting. It is never a default twelve months, and renewal is decided on the numbers against the baseline recorded at the start.

How soon will we see results?

It depends on the trade, the channel and what is already in place. After we have read your brief and spoken to you, we say what we would expect to move first and how it will be measured against the baseline. Nothing here is guaranteed.

Who will actually do the work?

The person you speak to before anything starts. We work from one office in Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru, with no account managers in between.

What do you need from us?

Your brief, and a conversation. After that, access to whatever this work touches, such as your website, your accounts or your enquiry record, and time with the people who handle your enquiries.

What if we are not happy with the work?

Tell us and the plan changes. Everything is reported against the baseline, so a number that is not moving is visible to both sides. The term is in your written scope, and the refund and cancellation policy sets out the rest.

From the blog