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Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Purchasers: You Wanna Know How to Work With Them? Read Their Book!

4/2009

In the movie Paton, the good General has read Rommel's book, 'Infantry Attacks' and in doing so, is able to anticipate and defeat the German in a key battle.

As Rommel's tanks retreat, the classic quote goes something like, "...Rommel, you magnificent b*stard, I read your book!"

As far as I am concerned, the Purchaser is the absolute LAST person you want to see, if at all, in the selling cycle.

But, for those of you who insist, I recommend you read their book. Find out what it takes to become a CPM and what exactly Strategic Purchasing means.

In this spirit, I submit to you an article written by Nancy Hitchcock over at Purchasing.com, New MFPs help meet cost-reduction goals and Green concerns.

Ricoh, Toshiba, Konica Minolta, Xerox and Sharp get good coverage - all A4 exposure and the article will give you a flavor for what some Purchasers may find important when considering MFPs.

Take for instance this passage: "...As companies strive to improve efficiencies and cut costs in this economy, office products buyers are taking a closer look at capabilities of new multifunction products (MFPs) which combine printing, copying, scanning and faxing in one device..." - Could this statement be any more "dated" ? Hello, the 2001 called, they want their copier brochure back.

Also:

"..In response to buyer demand, manufacturers of MFPs are designing systems that maximize workflow efficiency by offering faster print/copy speeds and making the systems easier to operate. They are also enabling organizations to add high-quality color to their documents at an affordable price to reduce the time and expense of outsourcing print jobs. High-performance products are packaged in smaller, more affordable machines. More advanced features enable users to automate workflow by distributing scanned documents to e-mail, FTP sites, archived folders and document management applications, for instance..." - Visionary, truly stunning...

Enjoy here:








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5 comments:

  1. It copies, prints, faxes, scans, slices, dices and makes coffee... now THAT would be a multifunction device.

    Some of the A4 devices mentioned are interesting. Past that... YAWN!

    ROFL regarding "As companies strive to improve efficiencies and cut costs in this economy, office products buyers are taking a closer look at capabilities of new multifunction products (MFPs) which combine printing, copying, scanning and faxing in one device."

    So does this mean all of the sales reps in the industry are gonna party like it's 1999?

    ReplyDelete
  2. 1999!

    I swear, Disco is coming back this summer. Leisure Suits, Studio 54 - and then in the fall, Urban Cowboy - mark my words.

    ReplyDelete
  3. And bell bottoms... don't forget those stylish bell bottoms...

    Sheesh.

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a surprise. A blogger taking shots at a trade magazine! Did you know that Purchasing Magazine has been around for nearly 100 years? Do you think this blog wil lbe around in 10 years? 5?

    And in terms of outdated behavior--nice freaking headband, dude. Leapord print? Really? That's the picture you selected to post on your blog? It's like Rambo takes on Fire Island.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anon -

    Thanks for commenting.

    I wasn't taking a shot at the entire magazine, just most of the people who read it.

    And of course this blog won't be around in one hundred years. If your level of intelligence is norm for it's readership, I doubt very much your beloved rag will be around 5 years from now.

    Yup that's my picture.

    Yup that's my name.

    Whadda you got ?

    Hiding behind the ever so clever, "Anonymous"...

    Go order some more paperclips and get over yourself.

    Come back soon, kiss kiss...

    ReplyDelete

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