MpS & Selling: Are You a Hunter or A Farmer? Lions Prefer Farmers...

In the beginning you thought there was only one. But there were two.

At first, you thought you were smarter than both. But you were wrong.

They were simple animals, no scheme, no plans. Again, you were wrong.

Then you called down "The Devil" - he helped get one.  But was consumed by the other.

Tonight, the blood soaked field is afire.

Tonight, you're alone. Tonight, you're "going to sort it out."

Solutions Sales: The FireBox 500..."Do You Want it In Red or Blue?"

"I do not have time to be probed..." If I had a dime for every time some hottie told me that, I would have a dime...

Matt Jones, MpS'r and partaker of the DOTC way, posted this little ditty over on LinkedIn - he made it.

Check his stuff out.

One of the greatest sales managers I have ever known, from IKON no less, once told me, "...sometimes we simply over complicate all this...we're selling copiers here, not the SpaceShuttle..."

Sometimes, you gotta just quote the box.






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You Think its Just About Printed Documents, Toner Hitting Paper? Wrong..."One Word, kid...Content"

May 2011 -

Get ready for a "new" term: "Content".

And all the eyes at AIIM roll.

Another broad DOTC stroke here - MpS, is losing the "P".

Because the P is diminishing, just ask Xerox, and the C(ontent) is starting to come into focus.

Oh...you didn't know that? You didn't get the memo? What, you're still selling MPS as toner and service on your single and multi-function devices?

Stuck in S1 and 2? And you're happy, may I suggest in a state of bliss?  Stop looking at her and listen.

What are you going to sell when your clients don't need to print?

How do you think they will feel the moment they discover you don't want them to stop printing?

When they wake up and recognize they are simply part of your 'revenue stream'? When their level of consciousness sees the bogus truth of  'mobile printing'. That's right, bogus.

Most importantly, how are you going to fend off somebody like me who comes into your 'secure' account blathering on about MIF reduction, vitalization, Unified Communication, Content, CISCO, Help Desk, and the NOC?

All this under a vision of  MOS: The Optimization of EVERYTHING...no, really everything...

Ferocious, ain't I? Does your head hurt yet? I understand this occurs right before it explodes.

Ok, let's simplify and start with a single word before we take on the Dark Galactic Rift.

One word: Content.

Managed Print Services Another DOTC Leopard - ReDux - Jennifer Shutwell. How to Steal MPS Clients

It's a re-intro and a re-post of her original article back in January, 2011.

Anything worth reading is worth reading again and again.

Jennifer is one those deeply profound veterans - she approaches MPS from the FM/Production arena.

Comfortable with enterprise level selling, Jennifer can maneuver the high halls of the Fortune 500.

She is an accomplished student of human behavior, easily applies her knowledge in the business world and shares with the MPS Ecosystem at large.

She is speaking at the 2011 Global MPS Conference in Orlando, on how to Steal an MPS Client.

 Enjoy.
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Business Acumen - Another Contribution from Leopard David Ramos. "The World of Selling"

4/24/2011

By Dave Ramos

I was listening to this consultant/trainer speak at a national show this past week and he made the statement “The world of selling hasn’t changed much in recent years.” Then he continued to dole out the same old tired advice, instructions, and stupid clichés that were taught decades ago…at least the guy is consistent (see, I always spin it in the positive).

The only problem with his philosophy is that those teachings are the reasons, that today, so many salespeople more than ever are struggling to survive.

Here is what I know. The world of business, in general, has changed DRAMATICALLY. Yet for whatever reason, one area of business that has been remarkably stagnant and continues to fiercely resist change is sales.


Make 2011 about your personal development in your sales profession. Leave the stale, crusty, techniques of the past behind. Focus on effective techniques and self-education that will truly have an impact on your career. Focus on building and expanding your business network. If the CIO is your target in the MS or MPS world, then you should understand the network CIOs live in and connect wherever you can.

1. CIO’s team – cultivate relationships inside the circle. Learn who their staff is and learn to leverage contacts one level removed.
2. CIO’s peers – they are trusted more than any other source of information. References and referrals count. Learn how to ask for them and leverage them.
3. Also other relationships they might have with trusted supplier partners, consultants, etc...

Next, learn to do some research people. Did you know the #2 annoyance of technology buyers is reps showing up unprepared for meetings? Un-freaking-believable!!! You mean to tell me we go through all this effort to get a meeting then show up unprepared?! Here is a basic checklist that I use to test sales reps on their accounts prior to them engaging a prospect or client on an appointment.

1. Who is the account’s CEO, president or owner? Who are the key contacts by department?
2. What is the company’s highest priority goal or objective?
3. What is their mission/ vision/core values?
4. What is their key product or service?
5. Who is their toughest competitor?
6. What is the biggest problem they face in their industry?
7. Is there pending legislation that will affect their industry?
8. What is their greatest strength?
9. What is their strategy: a) Low-Cost b) Differentiation c) Niche Player?
10. Who is their largest customer?

Lastly, develop some business acumen. Business acumen can be described as an understanding of how a business works and what it takes to make it profitable. It is about comprehending topics such as amortization, assets, balance sheets, book value, cash flow, fixed assets, liquidity, margin and return on assets, to name just a few.

Here are a few suggestions:

1. Reading business publications and watch specific business channels can provide current information about business trends, markets, or economic factors affecting various businesses and industries.
2. Join a professional networking organization (there it is again, networking, sorry cold call lovers!) and association dedicated to sharing business information with their members can offer networking events, conferences, and seminars.
3. Attending evening or weekend courses focusing on business topics can build one’s knowledge on matters such as understanding financial statements and P&L (Profit & Loss), cash generation, or revenue growth.
4. Finding a mentor with a strong business understanding is a great way to learn how businesses operate. The mentor can be a co-worker, a former boss, or someone who is a member of the same professional association that you joined to do NETWORKING.

In today’s fast-moving world, we may face some of the same challenges, but the answers are constantly changing. If you do not continue your learning curve and have an open mind to alternative ideas and approaches, you will be left behind. Those who continually adapt are better at getting ahead, while those who insist on clinging to their old, “right” answers will become obsolete.

About the author: David Ramos is a sales operations consultant for Strategy Development, an industry management consulting and advance sales training firm providing sales, sales management, service & MPS information.  He also instructs a selling skills workshop called “Sell With Success”. You can reach him at ramos@strategydevelopment.com.

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Open Letter to all Sales Managers – Let the 1970’s Go, by Dave Ramos

by David Ramos, Strategy Development.

I focus on writing on topics that provide substance to the readers and my audience is usually sales/sales management professionals.

I hope this one lives up to my standard and I hope my passion doesn’t come across as though I’m crazy like a fellow “WINNER!” that has been in the media a lot lately.

But I just, have to get this off my chest.

I had a sales manager tell me last week that she wants me to help her people increase their ability to generate appointments.

 I said, “GREAT!”

She says “I want to work on phone scripts so that I have my people doing teleprospecting days.” I said, “you are talking to the wrong guy because I don’t believe that is the most effective use of your people’s time.”

Her response was “Huh?!”

How Not To Sell Managed Services: Cold Call Blitz?

The first person to get ten appointments gets to ring the cowbell and a Starbucks, $10 gift card!

Oh, the joy...but then again, I think I just threw up a little in my mouth, just now...

They are coming out of the woodwork.

"Business Performance Consultants" - wow.

Is your management team paying other people to come in and teach you how to sell?

How to present MPS?

How to 'demo' MPS?(Oh my gawd, just shoot me now)

Worse, is upper management putting together a Phone Blitz designed to 'kick-start' your MPS opportunities?

LOL! The First Rule of DOTC, keep your resume fresh.

Managed Services - Qualification is Very Important.

Fire your undeserving customers, don't lock them in.

Qualify at every turn. Call it "trial closing" if it makes you feel better.

To qualify a prospect, you must first know what you are, what you believe in and what you stand for.

And most of all, be prepared to see - no - search out reasons the person in front of you is not a prospect and does not match your ideals or what you stand for.

Again, I doubt very much, any of your OEM sales training ever stresses this, simple point.

Your 'solution' does not fit everybody.

Managed Print Services Practices Managers: Are You Selling MPS Internally ? - Over and Over again.

"She not here, she got married..."

"Married?"

"She at the church, she got married to Oily bo-hunk..."

"Married?"

"Married!, sheesh..."

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I mean, when it gets right down to it, selling managed print services is not that much different from selling any service. It is just that the people doing the selling are different.

For now.

The message for MPS, MSP, and Help desk services sales is no different than selling Fax servers, scanning, email, accounting systems, or luxury submersibles.

There is a pattern, a rhythm, and a cadence for the approach, presentation, and engagement, we know this.

But what about selling internally?

Sure, selling a 1,500 device, Stage 1,2, & 3, a national account is tricky. But it's nothing compared to your talk track around your own coffee machine.

How do you convince YOUR help desk people?  How do YOUR bench techs respond to MPS?  And what about your BDM's?. Don't forget upper and executive management.

My one word?  Redundancy.

Are You Looking For a Good Managed Print Services Provider? How Would you Tell?

Congratulations, you see that you can reduce the costs associated with printing by 30-40% - now what?

Nestled out here, are some very good MPS providers.

Behind the device manufacturers' flowery marketing and dense poser-like foliage, the real MPSr's are here.

Here holding true to customer-centric values - evangelizing MPS as a process not a collection of machines.

Your search is challenging.

Should you call your current IT VAR, have purchasing get with your office supplies vendor, or, god forbid, call the copier dealer who roped you in for 60 months?

Do you really want to be negotiated into an agreement?

How about product demo's or assessments worth exactly what you pay for them?

Honestly, should Purchasing, who is probably responsible for the 30-40% waste in the first place, be in charge of an MPS project? Really?

No - REALLY?

Managed Print Services: The Case Against Auto-Generated Proposals

4/2010

"The heaviest proposal wins..."

"We gotta have the company history in this proposal..."

"And don't forget the spec sheets..."

"This will be easy, I can just use the last proposal we did, and search and replace..."

Sound familiar?

Let me ask you something, do you read books?

What keeps you interested?

It's the story, isn't it?

Somehow, your favorite writer or a nice article you spend time with engages you and tells you something new, yet familiar.

Now, do you think that article or book was boiler-plated into existence?

Do you think Stephen King, goes out, asks a bunch of potential readers what they like and what scares them, imports all that "data" into a tool, clicks "go" and out pops the next best seller?

"No, Greg, I don't think Stephen King clicks on "go" and a best seller pops out." - good answer.

Managed Print Services and The Boys of Fall

Fall, 1979.
35 Fullback, 24 Tailback.

First published, Fall, 2010. Al Bundy, eat your heart out...

As an avid reader of DOTC, and not my mother (hi Mom), you know I occasionally use Football as a metaphor - for MPS, Selling.

Of course, there is more to life than Selling MPS(when you find it, let me know) and it seems that football, American football(I can't believe I need to make that distinction) is and always has been, a metaphor for this American Life.

So it is with salespeople. Pushy, over-talkative, uncaring, fake. Stereotypical. Yes, some of that is deserved, but not for all of us.

Fake? What's with those industry pundits who last year provided copier sales training suggesting MPS was a fad?

Friday nights in America during the fall, 22 young men gather on a North/South patch of grass or dirt or mud or turf - 100 yards long, 53&1/3 yards wide - challenging each other.

On those nights, under the artificial glare, in the middle of it all, you never really hear the crowd - for me that was mostly true. We were simply out there doing what we had been doing since we were 7 years old. My Tailback had been there, in his position, next to me since the third grade. Buds.

Are You Selling Managed Print Services: One Print Solutions

August, 2010.

Over the past year, I have reviewed just about every MPS program out here - either for my own little practice or for articles and organizations.

I have seen them all.

Some are better, but all are good.

The one common theme I keep running into is this: we are all making this up as we go.

There are no standard processes, no benchmarks and no matter what any training or consultation firm tells you, we have never done this before, this is all new and there are no clear cut leaders.

No proven methods, only suggestions.

There is no easy way, or well defined proven path to MPS nirvana - yet.

Dynamic times like these are uncommon and we who are in them are lucky to be here, in this time. You see, there is no spoon, there are no rules...we can make them up.


Now, more than ever, we can determine our destiny.


Speaking of dynamic times, have you noticed all the Self Help programs coming out lately? Have you seen the late night commercials pitching, get rich quick, "like me" schemes.

Seen all those Scientology ads? And those new Amway Global commercials?

How about the reprise of one of the greatest motivators ever, Tony Robbins?

He's got his own show now!

Tony's good. But when it gets right down to it, everything is up to you and always has been.

Check this out, I met this guy, Gary a bit back. Now I had heard of Gary before he reached out to me, so I knew he had some sorta wiz-bang thing in MPS.

A "new" program. Yeah, right...they're all new.

What impressed me was the "every MPS Sales Person a Tiger" mentality inherent in his system.

In a nutshell, Gary can provide all the infrastructure a typical, MPS practice needs - more accurately, all the infrastructure an atypical MPS Selling Individual requires.

Think about that for a second.

Do you hate training the newest sales manager?

Has your MPS compensation plan structure changed over the past 8 months?

Do you still hear the old argument "MPS is just like color was..." knowing that it isn't?

How are all those MPS training classes working?

If you are in the trenches, you're doing assessments, cold calling, working leases up, perhaps calling in some EDM specialists (each one adds 30 days to your cycle), managing your funnel, AND meeting a hardware quota - is that really MPS? Should a hardware quota REALLY be part of an MPS compensation plan? Really?

And what of the mythical 50% GP on MPS engagements? The dealership is not getting 50% on hardware, the dealership still has the same amount of service technicians, meter reads and invoices going out each month.

Why should your MPS profit margin CARRY the lower margin equipment sales?

For the back-end rebates?

The One Print Solution offers up all the backroom infrastructure.

It is scalable and the system is designed to work with selling professionals who can pull MPS engagements together - all the sales, analysis and presentation - and shift the support to a third party. Splitting the profit.

No inventory
No service overhead
No admin overhead
No H/R

Here is just a taste of the services provided:

Sales Tools & Training

-Comprehensive Training Program
-Sales Leadership and Mentoring
-Formulated and Branded Marketing materials
-Deal Crafting Services
-Blending and Deal Scenario Tools
-Great America Leasing
-All Deal Docs

Infrastructure

-Contract management
-Creation and document package review
-Monthly base and Overage billing
-Device Administration
-Leasing Documentation, Approval and Administration
-Accounts Receivable and Cash management/Funding
-Vendor and Accounts Payable Management
-Full Account Management
-All other activities as solution requires/Full Back end Support

Do not get me wrong - this NOT for everybody.

This is a very big step and all angles must be considered.

Go on over to the site and look for some more information here on DOTC.


Update, 2016.

Click to email me.

Are you Selling Managed Print Services? Are you Good at It? Have I got an Idea for You; If You're Tuff Enuf

August, 2010

MPS is driving in all sorts of different directions and forcing everybody into making choices.

Not just Fortune 500, multi-national copier manufacturers, but the independent, local copier dealers, too.

And there is more - I am a big believer in the unique problem solving skills and sheer resilience of good, professional sellers.

Today, if you are selling in the MPS niche, you've already made some choices about your future.

How's all that working out for you?

Do you have a Manager? Is he a Managed Print Services Manager/Director?

Do you attend Monday morning Sales meetings? How about Friday at 4:00PM Sales meetings?

Let me ask you this, do you know more about MPS than you manager, VP of Sales or dealership owner?

How do you like your General Manager or Vice President riding with you on sales calls?

Funnel Planning, anyone?
Strategic Account Planning?

Are you successfully selling MPS? How much you bringing into the “house”?

Here’s the situation and this is not for everyone.

The MPS model is rife with alternatives – most set up for the dealership – I see no programs designed specifically for the Professional Managed Print Services Selling Individual. And MPS Training is not what I am referring to.

MPS is the “Wild, Wild, West” – we are all making this up as we go. There are no standards, little benchmarks, no well worn path. Times are perfect for the rugged individual; the self-assured, knowledgeable, MPS Selling Professional.

Could this be you?

Is this you?

How would you like to make ALL THE PROFIT on your MPS engagements?

Intrigued?

Email me.

Are you tough enough?

Click to email me.

How To Buy Managed Print Services: All the Pretty Packages

June, 2010.

Turning from within, looking out - We on the inside of Managed Print Services:

It isn't All About Us.

One interesting subject that bubbled up during some off-line conversations at the 2010 MPS-Con was, "We need more end user, client, customer involvement and input."

Indeed, during the first face-to-face meeting of the MPSA Board, reaching out to end users was topic we explored.

So it is in this vein, that I present a narrow view of MPS - from the prospects' perspective.

A few points to consider when looking to buy Managed Print Services:

What, exactly, should MPS prospects look for in a provider/partner?

It isn't all that simple.

As difficult as it has been for us to define MPS, discover best practices, establish process and stay profitable it is more challenging for our prospects to understand where they fit into the MPS EcoSystem.

So, if you are looking for a MPS partner, how should you go about it?

IMHO -

1. Determine what you know, and what you don't know.

- Have a rough idea of how many devices you currently use
- Have a rough idea of how you currently support your "fleet". Get use to calling your printers and copiers a "fleet".
- Try and get a feeling for how things are working within your organization, today. How many people are involved in managing your printers, your supplies, your copiers.

2. Get an idea of where you want to go; reduce cost, reduce overhead, make your life easier, etc.

- For example, if ordering toner cartridges for all 135 of your printers is the pain you are looking to relieve, define it.
- Are you looking for cost reduction? Then define what a reasonable savings would be for you.
- Recognize the difference between "hard" and "soft" cost and the impact of each.

3. Consolidate the Decision Process into One Entity

- This one is a bit more difficult, but will cut down on the time it will take for a decision to be made. Either give ALL the decision power to IT or establish an evaluation team of purchasing and IT. This may seem trivial, and will not degrade your process if you do not go in this direction, but for your company to take advantage of a complete MPS Engagement, consolidating the decision entity, is paramount.

What to do and ask, during your meeting with a possible MPS Provider:

1. "What is your Process?"

- This is a good question. Have him answer verbally, without marketing slicks, to start. And then reflect; How comfortable is his presentation? Do his ideas make sense?

2. "Tell me about your assessments."

- As with the "Process" question, what you are looking for here is a clear understanding of how and to what depth this candidate performs assessments. The static data is easy to collect - be prepared to have software loaded onto your network. I would be looking to hear something about "business process" or determining "why certain documents are printed" as well as volumes, paper usage, supply closets, etc.

- If you want to trip him up a bit, ask him why he doesn't charge for his assessments. Is the resulting recommendation worth the price of the assessment?

3. "How do you handle copiers, printers and MFP's in your MPS arrangements?"

- There is no wrong answer. What you are looking for here is honesty, composure and his scope. MPS providers, good ones, understand that they cannot be all things to all people; there are limits. You want to find his.

I feel the basic idea is to look for a partnership, not a vendor. MPS is a very dynamic and wide ecosystem, there are a great many opportunities for cost reduction.

But as the dynamics of business change, most vendors will not keep up.

A partnership is a two-way relationship that is more flexible.

This is what you want in a MPS provider; a partner with vision.

MPS today will not be the same MPS 10 or even 3 years from now. If your MPS partnership can evolve with the changing business and technology environment, that is great.

If your partner is most like not going to evolve into more than simple hardware and supply management - that is fine as well - it is just best you know this, going in.

Again, MPS isn't really brain surgery, it's more like Rocket Science.


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The Death of Printers: I've Been Saying It For Over a Year - HP Will Not Be Selling Printers

In an article by Jon Fortt, at Brainstorm Tech, HP's Bruce Dahlgren illustrates a future without printers; without printer sales people.

Indeed, Jon's article, title, "The death of a (printer) salesman" is ominous.

If not a bit cosmic.

I had a conversation the other day with an MPS Visionary who is starting to think that not only is MPS changing the copier channel, it is changing the Selling Model - Wow.

As sited here on DOTC, the shift has been underway from copier sales to more Business Acumen ever since MPS got "hot".

Here is the article, enjoy.

The death of a (printer) salesman
Posted by Jon Fortt, senior writer
March 30, 2010 7:00 AM

"In the near future, most big businesses won't actually buy printers. The shocker: HP is looking forward to that.


Enterprise printers aren't going away. But soon, most big companies will pay for the output, not the box. Photo: HP.

Bruce Dahlgren's job at Hewlett-Packard is to sell printers to big customers. Well, sort of. During a recent huddle in a conference room at Hewlett-Packard headquarters in Palo Alto, he was talking about what will happen when big customers stop actually buying printers.

Sound unthinkable? It’s not. Rather than purchase equipment that gets old and breaks down, these days a growing number of companies would rather let someone else own and manage the office copiers and printers — make sure they’re up-to-date, stocked with supplies and arranged in the most efficient way — and instead just pay for the work the equipment does. The model is called managed print services, and it’s all the rage.

In fact, it’s a big part of the reason Dahlgren is at HP (HPQ) in the first place.

Soon after HP CEO Mark Hurd arrived at the company five years ago, he recognized that the vaunted imaging and printing group wasn’t doing a great job with large businesses. Part of the problem: IPG executives were used to marketing to consumers, and lacked deep experience in enterprise sales.

Vyomesh Joshi, the printing group’s executive vice president, once told me that it was humbling, but he realized he needed Hurd's help to turn things around.

In a controversial move, Hurd brought in Dahlgren, a former colleague at NCR (NCR), to lead the enterprise printing business and spearhead managed print services. (Because of a legal dustup with previous employer Lexmark (LXK) regarding a non-compete agreement, he had to take some time overseeing Europe before settling into the role.) Since then, Dahlgren has been scrapping with the likes of Xerox (XRX) for share in the market.

So far the services business has grown to the point where HP manages 19 billion pages per year. The total value of all managed print services contracts stands at about $5.5 billion. Revenues have recently gotten large enough that HP executives review it separately from the other printing operations.

A race to print money

The spoils of the managed print services war should be considerable. Photizo Group, a research firm, estimates that by 2013 it will more than double into a $60 billion global market, and more than half of all enterprise printing devices will be under a services contract. Dahlgren says that today, only about a third of HP’s enterprise customers have begun using managed print services at all, and another third are evaluating it. “So I don’t shy away from a $1 million contract,” Dahlgren says. “Because I know that once we get in there, this thing really expands.”

In this environment, the company that locks up the most market share could eventually wield decisive influence over which enterprise printer and copier brands thrive. If HP wins, it gets to eat a big piece of Xerox’s business. If Xerox wins, it gets to do the same to HP.

So it makes sense for the printing giants to jockey for market share grab now, especially since businesses don’t want to buy equipment anyway and companies like HP can promise coveted cost savings from switching to the services model. But what happens when that stage is over, and investors still want profit growth in the imaging and printing segment?

Dahlgren has an idea of how it might work. He offers a customer as an example: HP had begun managing most printers and copiers for a hospital when someone noticed that the station for printing the hospital’s ID wristbands was located right near the admissions station. That would make it possible to print each patient’s picture, in color, right on the wristband.

Not only would it make it easier for hospital staff to check them, it would add a valuable layer of security. And in the print services contract, HP can charge more for the new wristband-printing service — similar to the way the cable company charges more for premium channels. Says Dahlgren: “Wouldn’t it be cool — we’re not there yet — but wouldn’t it be cool if when a doctor printed out a patient’s information, there was actually a picture there?”

It would be cool. And apparently profitable for HP, too."
----------------

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Friday Fun Video - This is How One Sells a Caddy!

Odd thing is, the Red Chinese did this - those crazy, newbie, capitalists!



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The Game Continues - Big Copier Players Battle for 3 Point Business: Sign on To Be Premier Purchasing Partners' Whipping Boy

You're perched in a crowded lobby waiting for the appointment you landed two weeks ago.

Next to you is your Sales Manager, on your lap, your Pitch Book.

Across the lobby, a large, disheveled man is torturing the circa 1950's plastic chair; a desperate example of the ultimate carpet sales person.

Next to him, a hot little number with what appears to be floor covering samples by her side.(resilient)

A thought flashes through your mind as the receptionist calls your name, "thank goodness I sell output solutions and not floor wax..."

The dirty secret?

You are all waiting to pitch the same person.

Good Luck with that.

Announcements, from the "wire":

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - (Business Wire) Premier Purchasing Partners, LP, today announced new agreements for flooring carpet and resilient.

New agreements for carpet have been awarded to J+J/Invision of Dalton, Ga.; Mannington Commercial of Calhoun, Ga.; Masland Commercial Inc. of Mobile, Ala.; Mohawk Industries of Marietta, Ga.; Shaw Industries Inc. of Dalton, Ga.; and Tandus US Inc. of Dalton, Ga.

New agreements for resilient have been awarded to Amtico International of Atlanta; Armstrong World Industries Inc. of Lancaster, Pa.; Mannington Commercial of Calhoun, Ga.; Mohawk Industries of Marietta, Ga.; and Shaw Industries Inc. of Dalton, Ga.

Premier Purchasing Partners has signed supply contracts with Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A. Inc. and Ricoh Americas Corp., both of New Jersey, and Connecticut-based Xerox Corp.

Under the agreements, the companies will supply printers, copiers and facsimile machines to members of the Premier health-care alliance.

Premier Purchasing Partners is a unit of Premier Inc., the largest health-care purchasing alliance in the United States. The parent company recently announced it would make Charlotte its corporate home, moving its headquarters from San Diego and adding 300 jobs here over the next five years.

Premier currently employs 750 in Charlotte.

The company represents 2,200 nonprofit hospitals, including Carolinas HealthCare System, Gaston Memorial Hospital and Stanly Regional Medical Cente.

Go Copiers!
----------------------

You and I both know that somewhere in the bowels of Konica Minolta, Ricoh or Xerox, some poor schmoe is "high five'n" another schmoe, congratulating each other on "landing the Premier deal" - you just know it.

Pity the newbie-rep who gets to respond to the RFP.

Managed Print Services: Owners/Manufacturers/Sales Managers DO NOT READ THIS: Selling Professionals Only

The blame game is starting up - and as you know, sh*t rolls downhill.

Are you starting to hear the following:

"How many DCA's are you installing a week?"

"How many assessments are you conducting a week?"

"How many face-to-face, C-Level meetings are you having a week?"

"fill-in-the-blank, say's if you close 50 MPS deals a year, you'll be making over $200k!"

"So and so says to get in front of C-Level's or your deal will never get off the ground..."

"What's her name says forget about C-Level, they don't feel the pain, get to the IT guy..."

"don't worry about the compensation on your MPS deals, we'll figure that out as we go..."

"oh, and how many machines are you installing this month?"

I can count perhaps half a dozen, MPS Specific training programs in the ecosystem - third party trainers and consultants.

Add in manufacture programs and you get to around a dozen different MPS training programs - I calculate that adds up to nearly 1,500 PowerPoint slides - LOL!

Have you been a victim of one of these charades?

The More Things Change, the More Things Stay the Same -

If you are in the field, trying to sell this hot, new thing called MPS - how is it going?

Did the two day training class you sat in on help?

Are your scripts killin?

Is your Value Proposition dead nuts on?

Do you have a SOW? Scope document? Standard meeting Agenda?

Do you still have questions about strategy and tactics when it comes to MPS?

Is your sales manager just as new at this as you are?

How about your principals or executive management, can they even spell "MPS"?

No? Nothing? Nadda?

Huh, that's too bad. Or, is it?

Questions, questions...they're just questions.

The same questions selling professionals asked when the first fax machine came out, or back when the first photocopier hit, the personal computer, spreadsheets, light bulb, automobile, steamship, loom, printing press and buggy whip - all paradigm shifting, business model redefining, hybrid generating, advances.

And as much as we all want to believe this MPS thing is "new", it really isn't. It all goes back to the basics, everything good does.

This is nothing to get alarmed over, indeed this could be a generational opportunity for us - for us in the field.

Here's the deal. Your manager and owners alike are at the same level of MPS awareness you are - actually, they are worse off unless they go into the field as you do, every single day.

Each appointment you have, every call you make, every time you talk about MPS, read about MPS, each of these events add to your personal, knowledge base. Tell me you don't learn something new with every "assessment" you perform? Not about assessments, but about the business you are assessing.

Specifically - these instances are "resume enhancing experiences". Wha..wha..whaaaaat?

The world is changing.

Managed Print Services isn't changing the world, bigger things are. The world of brick and mortar is starting to dissolve - are you still conducting 30 demo's a month in your big, expensive showroom?

IBM figured it out two recessions ago and HP is on it now - the world won't need as many distributed pieces of hardware as it once did.

Cloud computing, the Death of Newspapers, iTunes, Androids, Moore's Law and You -

In the 1950's I guess it took maybe 20 admin's to support one or two sales people. From typists, to accounting clerks, order processing, filing, management, out to production.

I have no idea what the ratio is today, but considering all we can do with a laptop and a Blackberry, I can imagine the number of support staff is or should be,much, much lower. (I still remember an email string containing 74 different people on just one of my orders at IKON...74 people touched one order!)

Everyone is doing more with less.

As the number of non-customer facing employees dwindles, the value of those who do, increases.

Consider that statement again.
.........

Other than you, personally, who else will benefit from your increased value?

Your next "employer" that's who.

A better question might be, "will you even need an "employer" in the first place...?"

The "Hunters vs. Farmers" Sales Metaphor - It's Dead: Let's Break Out of The Box

2009

Within the MPS Ecosystem, the struggle is moving between back-room infrastructure and field-level acumen.

Just like everything else the "experts" attempt to do, we selling professionals, are being classified; boxed in, and commoditized.

The questions now are, "What type of person do I need to employ as an MPS Sales Executive?"

"How many appointments should my team generate to reach a close?"

"What is a good monthly revenue/sales/profit number an MPS rep should hit?"

It is apparent that the "copier mentality" is only a fraction of what is needed to bring home MPS Engagements. That is of course unless you simply start defining your CPC agreements as MPS Engagements. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!

And by the way, if your manager/owner/principal is plugging MPS Assessments into your "normal" copier funnel, you know, "15 face to face meetings per week, 5 Demos, 3 MPS Assessments, 1.5 closes per week", you are far, far removed from an MPS Practice.

Managed Print Services is not a bolt-on marketing scheme.

So, does MPS need Hunters or does MPS need Farmers?

The answer is Both - The answer is Neither.

We need Professionals who can do both; who can do it all.

"Hunter" - Find it, Kill it, move on.

"Farmer" - Move in after the kill, bury it, water it, reap.

It may be just me but I tend to think of selling "farmers" akin to vegetarians. And as you know, another name for a vegetarian is a "hunter with bad aim..."

Hunter? Farmer? Hello, the 1950's called, they want their sales cliches back...keep this up and the ditto-machine will make a come back.

I don't care what anybody says, real MPS is different - it is a Hybrid process, Hybrid product, Hybrid service, Hybrid business model. How can we expect the same old selling models and formulas to prevail?

How can anyone presume to tell Selling Professionals how to go about selling MPS(Hybrid), if those selling professionals are not Hybrid themselves?

What? Huh? Am I saying that there is MORE to selling than PROCESS?

Am I?

Goodness gracious, great balls of fire! Should I feel a slight agitation around my neck? Like John had when Herod came by, ready to fulfill Solome's wish? (don't get it? Go here)

Yeah - sure, sales is more than process, tell that to HP/Xerox - I often wonder how the enterprise clients feel, knowing they are part of a "process". Perhaps they feel like Velveeta?

There are, without fail, little flecks of hope, sparkling in the distance whenever I hear somebody say they are looking to hire folks from outside the industry. People with Insurance or market/advertising sales experience - not a bad start, I understand the premise. But there are challenges here as well.

Any ex-AFLAC agent is going to absolutely Laugh Out Loud when his MPS compensation plan doesn't have monthly residuals for life. The insurance industry invented that model for crying out loud.

And you are going to tell them that after developing a relationship he gets a one-time hit, a pat on the back, and a kick in the buttocks? Really? And this fresh, new, vibrant talent is going to break down your door, demanding a MPS selling position because why?

HA! But encouraging...

This is my thought; don't let "them" define you. Try, endeavor, toil against the meat grinder. And the best way to do this is to improve yourself, for yourself not your boss.

Does this mean attending company paid, useless, painful, Death-by-Powerpoint, speeds and feeds sales training classes?

Yes.

Does this mean picking up a book, if they still print them, about the latest, rehashed from the 80s, business strategies?

Yes.

Does this mean making every, single plant tour or walk-thru a field trip, learning not only how many output devices exist, but also how they run their business?

Yes.

Does this mean that everything you see and experience is yours, not your bosses, and improves you as a Selling Professional?

Yes.

Does this mean that one, tiny atom in my fingernail could be one little...tiny universe?

Yes.

Disruptive Marketing? Let's try Disruptive Defining.

Here's a message for all of us in the trenches, trying to sell MPS against ALL COMPETITION, including internal competition: The MPS Ecosystem is wide open for excited, daring, bold Selling Professionals - we work for the person in the mirror, not the one scrolling through the Monday morning sales meeting slide deck.

Don't think of yourself as either a "Farmer" or a "Hunter". Be both, Be better, be more.


Copier Sales People Destroy Managed Print Services Opportunities: Daily The New SalesPerson - Death of the "Close"

Thoughts from the CDA Meeting: Adapt or Die!