Why does anyone still have pre-printed brochures?

From a recent business development appointment with a prospect in another city:

"I would give you a copy of our brochure but it's out of date.  We had 5,000 printed and now probably have about 3,000 left in a box.  All our stuff is now on-line."

Okay, on-line is fine.  But it can't be the only place your colleteral material resides.  If you don't have a color printer, invest in one and some decent design and print your collateral material in house.  That's been our policy for years and it has been very effective for us.

Case in point:

Referral source calls with a prospect but said prospect wants information about us and our experience in their industry.  We, of course, prepared special materials directly for this engagement but also tweaked our corporate brochure to list industry experience specific to the prospect's industry (which we possessed).

Upon receipt of the package, this referral source told us: "You guys sure know how to put your best foot forward." 

Without on-demand printing capabilities, we would have been at a severe disadvantage.  If all our collateral material had been on-line, and therefore, more than likely generic, we would have not gotten the engagement – and we did.   If your firm is still using pre-printed brochures, put the money elsewhere.