During the past seven years, I've attended dozens of speaking events, helped hundreds of clients, worked thousands of hours, and generated an incalculable number of words about managed print services.
When Nathan Dube approached me with a few quick questions about "then versus now", Clone Wars, and the best things sales reps can do in 2017, I tripped into the Time Tunnel. What seems like yesterday is now nostalgic.
In the beginning, few were talking about, let alone selling, MpS. In the 'good ole days, those of us in, made it up as we went along.
HP(Edgeline) and Xerox(Page Pack) had MpS programs. So did Synnex and a few other organizations.
Customers were clueless when it came to DCA's, assessments, QBR's and proactive service. Nobody heard of "Print Policies".(not print rules)
Below is our first podcast. Thirty minutes of two veterans of the industry shooting the breeze. I'd like to do more of these in a more relaxed format - with a libation.
I guess the theme for this podcast could be "The Song Remains the Same."
Scuttlebutt generated by folks who make a living selling print/copy devices. Their argument goes something like, "... I've been hearing about the paperless office since 1978. It hasn't happened yet. It's never going to happen..."
On the other side, parties are pushing the paperless office as worthy goal. Headlines like, "...Five Reasons You Should Go Paperless..." and "Go Green, Go Paperless..." haunt news feeds and timelines across the internet.
Who will find themselves on the wrong side of history? Will businesses start printing like it's 1999 or does digital transformation impact everything BUT print and copy?
I'm going with the folks letting go of the past, challenging the present and riding technology into the future.
The paper less office is here, now. I've seen it in businesses across the country and in varied industries. My view is supported by the current standing of our Big 3; Xerox, HP, Lexmark. If the business world is so enamored with marks on paper, why are the jewels of our industry experiencing years of decline?
Is it because the world suddenly realized trees are not a renewable resource?
No, trees have always been renewable.
Is it because print and copy services are expensive?
No, cheaper than ever.
Is it because managed print services illuminated decades of overselling?
No. Customers do not care.
Business is moving away from printers and copiers because they are utilizing technology to enhance internal business processes. Businesses aren't going paperless to go paperless, their continuously improving processes resulting in reduced costs and less paper.
One of my axioms:
"The more paper flowing through your organization, the less efficient your processes."
The past illuminates the future - Green columnar paper.
Not that long ago, company financials were calculated on green paper. Sales, profits, operations plans were reviewed quarterly - 90 day old data was acceptable.
Then VisaCalc, MultiPlan and Lotus changed everything as hand calculations and mechanical pencils gave way to the QWERTY and mouse.
In an instant, general ledger reports could be generated in days instead of weeks.
In less than a decade, sales of green columnar binder paper dropped off a cliff.
Ask your CFO.
We weren't worried about saving trees or the Chewbacca's; new tools streamlined existing, paper based processes.
As a matter of fact, output skyrocketed as paper-based workers printed everything from invoices to recipes, financial reports, emails and resumes sat abandoned in output trays around the globe - the salad days of office print.
The Internet of Printers? No. The internet of Processes
Strange and wonderful things occurred over the last decade - 'clouds' support more efficient distribution of technology. The internet generation occupy cubicles and boardrooms; continuous improvement collides with digital technology every day. Focus has shifted from faster mechanical devices to streamlined processes.
Information flows from one department to another; from human process to human process. Today, the slowest component of business processes is the conveyance of information via paper.
As technology permeates business operations, organic efficiencies eliminate paper as a mode of information transfer. This is to say, implementing a paperless movement is not as effective as optimizing business processes when it comes to reducing paper use. It is an 'inside-out' versus 'outside-in' approach.
The theme is simple: instead of 'reducing paper usage' or saving trees, focus on increasing efficiency.
Have no doubt, as you eliminate redundancies, your paper, printer, copier, and supplies spend will decrease.
I remember the first time somebody asked me that question. I hesitated, a 20-something kid, trying to figure my answer and this guy’s angle. In the end, I stammered out an incoherent response; he was recruiting for A.L. Williams.
“More money.”
His answer to me was the best, “I’ll tell you what you want out of life in one word: More."
More work, love, sex, money, cars, kids, toys. More time.
More. Makes sense, in a 1980s kind of way, doesn’t it?
Let me ask you this: What do you want out of the imaging niche? More sales, more contracts, device, software, services sales, MPS, or managed services? More clicks?
Or just More?
Unlike the sustainable and always-growing pool of life insurance prospects...
Top 100 Summit Executive Council Creates SBB Business Model for Managed Print
February 16, 2016
Calgary, AB - February 16, 2016 - Print Audit®, along with 29 dealer and distribution partners, has completed a 12 week Executive Council for the development of a viable Seat Based Billing (SBB) model for Managed Print. SBB for MPS has been designed as an alternative to the highly commoditized CPP billing method currently employed by the industry. SBB offers stronger protection of dealer profits while at the same time delivering additional savings for customers through efficiency improvements.
One of Print Audit’s key missions is to “Save the office equipment industry” and SBB will help to deliver on this. Declining pages per user, fracturing OEM stability, increased competitive pressures and the commoditization of the traditional CPP model are forcing the office equipment industry to develop a new business model for the future of Managed Print. The SBB Executive Council has come up with a model that will drive a new era of MPS.
“The existing CPP model for MPS has been around for over 15 years and dealers have been looking for new ways to grow their businesses in challenging times.” stated West McDonald, Vice President of Business Development for Print Audit. “SBB will give office equipment dealers a way to increase their total profits while shutting out less advanced competitors. We are all very excited to have completed a viable SBB model so that progressive dealers can start taking advantage of SBB today.”
Seat Based Billing comes with a host of benefits for both dealers and end-users alike:
- 100% budgetable printing costs: No more counting. A fixed monthly fee per user for managed print.
- Cost reduction through workflow improvements: Delivers customer savings while increasing dealer total profits.
- Unified billing: The same billing model for MPS, Managed IT Services, and DMS.
- Improved security: User-based accounting and print tracking.
The SBB Executive Council was created at the Top 100 Summit. The Top 100 Summit is an event where dealer principals gather to build and refine the business model of the future. To learn more about SBB and to see if you are eligible to attend the exclusive Top 100 Summit, visit http://www.printaudit.com/top100
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My take on this -
SBB isn't going to save the industry, but it might help "re-invent this business".
“A Print Policy is the documented outline of procedures, illustrating the organization’s current output-related decision-making processes. This policy is endorsed at the highest level of executive management, contains milestones, and supports the organization’s business goals.”
Step One
A majority of organizations do not put in place a formal Print Policy. The process is complicated but the payoff is worth the effort. The first step with most projects of significance is the most important. So what should you do when starting a Print Policy project?
Every journey begins with a step. In designing a print policy, the first step is understanding who you are, what you do, and why you do it. “Knew” thy self.
Why does your organization exist?
This is not a trivial step. Building a program that supports the goals of the organization, adds to the relevancy of the project in a universal manner. This is important. As end users begin to hear about change, they will ask, “Why?”. Once your project goals match the organization’s, presenting the ‘why’ is easier and understood by all.
For example, if your mission includes, “…improve the health of the community….” crafting a message to explain how your print program improves the “…health of the community…” is clarifying.
All you need is a few people around the table, a clean whiteboard, and the company’s mission statement. That’s all. Started by asking, “How is this print project going to help us show we are contributing to the health of the community?”
Don’t overthink. Give it 40 minutes and settle upon a project value proposition statement. The statement is your talisman, a touchstone in the project. As the project progresses and questions arise, reflect back to the statement for guidance.
This exercise results in a most important deliverable — in a word relevance.
Your IT project is not thought of as a top-down, IT-driven set of corporate rules. But rather a goal the entire organization can aspire to achieve, with the help of IT.
Today’s turbulent business conditions present an opportunity for IT.
The right set of circumstances exists for IT to contribute to the health of the company and establish relevance with a concise and relevant Print Policy.
"Roll the Dice" I often describe the office print environment in one word, "overcapacity".
Even as manufacturers (Ricoh, Xerox, Canon) start to make smaller footprint devices - it wasn't that long ago when copier reps would mock those little devices - businesses have more print and copy capacity than they need.
My point: we've been over-purchasing (or over-sold) print devices for decades and it's because the decision process has been unmanaged.
Well, that's not one hundred percent accurate - copier acquisition, printer procurement, supplies fulfillment, and service request procedures have, for the most part, been managed - they've just been managed by VENDORS AND SUPPLIERS.
Not customers.
Think about it -
Who tells you the lease buyout figure?
Who determines the "best" device for your needs?
Who conducts the 'agnostic' assessment?
Who interfaces almost daily with your end-users? To you they are end-users, to the vendors, they represent 1,500 images a month.
Expecting your copier, printer, or toner supplier to build a program that supports your cost reduction program is like expecting the wolf not to eat the rabbit.
