Managed Print Services, Size Does Matter - Just Not In The Way You Think

2009

I have been getting alot of "size" questions lately.

You know, how big is too big, how small is too small?

Is "small" ok if there are multiples?

What, exactly, is too big?

And by the time I find out its too big, is it too late?

Titillating queries with scintillating responses.

The answer, of course, depends on your sweet spot.

Get your mind out of my gutter -

I'm talking about how you define a Managed Print Services prospect - by number of employees, number of copiers, number of printers, fax lines, scanners or what?

Depends.

Great. What does it depend on?

It depends on what your organization can handle - more importantly - it depends on you.

Let's compare this in the most simplest terms and reduce MPS down to CPC - a prospect for a copier is anyone who has volume, wants to buy, or fogs a mirror, right?

I am not saying we should, but why don't some in MPS feel the same way?

Why is there a difference between how we qualify a copier deal vs. a MPS Engagement?

These aren't rhetorical questions, there are answers.

One answer is some do equate MPS with CPC - not that there is anything wrong with that, equipment optimization and capturing print volume is one component of MPS; indeed, just the beginning.

And, this is big, "equipment and volume" are easy issues for a dealer or Selling Professional to get his head around.

So, if your company's definition of MPS is simply equipment refresh, right-sizing, and supplies management, why not go after the 7,600 images per month deals? (Yeah, I am pulling 7,600 images out of thin air, just like everyone else is doing. But let's proceed on this assumption.)

That's 19 accounts per month if you use the 150,000 image quota per month, per rep figure being bantered about currently.

Now, if we further extrapolate an average of 3,400 images/month/machine(my accumulated studies numbers, HP shares the opinion) to reach the 150k/month, we need to sell or capture 44 machines each month, spread across 19 opportunities - just over 2 machines per deal.

Huh.

The Assassin, "I'm afraid, Captain, it's Worse than you Think."

Mal, "...it usually is..." -

These 19 deals need to take place over 20 working days each month - One, 7,600 image deal each day.

How much time, if any, would you, the Selling Professional in the field, spend on pursuing a MPS Engagement with a client generating 7,600 images a month? Would you even pursue? Is it worth your time?

As a Selling Professional, some studies say, your time is worth around $180.00/hr. $180.00 to you, personally.

How many hours of your time, does it take to close one deal?

Let's guess:

Drive Time - .5 hour
First appointment - 1 hour
Follow up/appointment summary communication - .5 hour

Drive Time - .5 hour
Second appointment - 1 hour

Assessment/Survey/Study/Data collection - 4-6 hours(?)
Analysis - 1 hour
Proposal generation - 1 hour

Drive Time - .5
Presentation of Findings and Recommendations - .75 hour
Agreement Execution/Implementation - 1 hour(?)

Close to eight hours; that's $180.00 X 8 hours for every deal you work on; or $1,440.00. So for every deal you put 8 hours of time into, you should bring home, in your pocket, $1,440.00. The bad side is, you are going to put more than 8 hours into deals you will never close - it's inevitable.

Further, 8 hours per deal, multiplied by 19 deals/month, requires 152 hours total - there are 160 hours/month available.

Roll in all the Monday Morning Meetings, conference calls, "training" sessions, your 4 hours/week of cold calls, and the all mighty, ever important, client service/problem resolution(cleverly disguised as toner delivery) and we are all upside down.

I know the numbers above are debatable, that's not the point, it's the process I am trying to illustrate. Does this make sense?

"Show Me The Money" -

Let's look at how all this fleshes out in terms of greenbacks, shekels, lire, cabbage, money.

The possible commission on that revenue, 150,000 images/month, is $150.00. This doesn't look all that enticing, does it? (150,000 times 0.020, times 5% commission equals $150.00)

But if you keep a run rate of 150,000 images added each month, after 12 months, your MONTHLY RESIDUAL COMMISSION should be $1,800.00/month, riding 1.8 million monthly images.

At this point, if you didn't sell an image for the next 24 months, you would still be collecting $1,800.00/month.

And watch out, there are all sorts of schemes coming to the surface veiled as techniques "not allowing the sales team to get lazy"; sunset clauses, equipment revenue and percentage of quota gates, etc.

So, how big is too big?

I dunno. I do know there is no magic bullet, no singularity. Unlike the copier world, for the MPS Ecosystem, THERE IS NO SINGLE ANSWER FOR EVERYONE.

And by everyone, I mean we on this side, and those soon to be Partners, our Prospects.

The best thing to do is plug in your own numbers and determine your ideal "size".

Everybody else has got an agenda, why shouldn't you?

AI-Powered Einstein is Revolutionizing Salesforce: Is This the End of CRMs?

Say goodbye to pushy salespeople and hello to AI.

From the articles, Salesforce not ready to unleash generative AI on its customers, Salesforce hits the hyper-space button on AI with Einstein GPT, Salesforce to add ChatGPT to Slack as part of OpenAI partnership, Salesforce’s Einstein GPT soldiers up in the AI arms race, Salesforce Announces Einstein GPT, the World’s First Generative AI for CRM

Executive Summary:

1. Salesforce's new Einstein GPT AI tool aims to reduce the amount of time required to sell and provide more personalized content for customers.
2. AI is changing the sales landscape by liberating buyers from pushy salespeople and allowing them to make informed decisions.
3. The integration of AI in sales will revolutionize the industry and lead to more efficient and satisfying experiences for both buyers and sellers.

My Impressions: CRM platforms such as Salesforce are being eliminated; So too, are selling professionals.

#Microsoft, #Meta, #Alphabet, #Salesforce, and more are gazing into the Last Event Horizon and they are scared.

Think about it: Artificial Intelligence manipulates data through processes applying algorithms, presenting information based on the processes and calculations. (An overly simplistic description)

• Everything we do in sales is a process.
• Everything we do in purchasing is a process.
• AI optimizes our processes by comparing them to every other similar process that has ever happened in history.

We have slipped the event horizon. Quicking a secular metamorphosis of the sales industry by leveraging data and analytics to provide customers with personalized recommendations and insights, while also optimizing providers' workflows and processes. This eliminates the non-productive and emotionally influential forces in the selling process, replacing the need for traditional salespeople with a direct communication channel between the prospect's AI system and the provider's AI system. (See Ecosystem)

AI is not just a tool or software solution anymore; it's eating all other forms of software and solutions.

From copiers to 7th-generation jet fighters, whatever requirement, including variables from pricing to retirement, the right solution is presented through this streamlined and efficient process. 

In this new landscape, the role of salespeople will be eliminated because 'my AI talks with your AI' and good things happen.

________

2009 - "Copier Industry: Change or Die."

I was sitting in on a super-secret, MPS industry insider Webinar the other day.

I admit because I am all things MPS, little surprises me when discussing the MPS Ecosystem - except the freakin obvious and blatant issues that have been right in front of me all along.

I was half listening to the presenter answer the question, "how do we, as dealers, go from a Stage One MPS(equipment-centric) dealer to a Hybrid Dealer?"

Waiting for the inevitable, "you need Ownership buy-in" or the tried and true, "you need a strong infrastructure to support your MPS Team" and the ever popular, "retrain your Sales Staff", I was half paying attention.

Nope. Nadda, zip.

The answer was,

"CHANGE PEOPLE. It's too difficult to re-train from a transaction-based sell to consultative-based sell."

Shall I translate?

If you are selling copiers today, you had better change your ways and go with a company that still thinks they can train you into a consultative selling cycle before they figure out it's too difficult to teach old dogs new tricks.

But it's worse.

If the salespeople can't be changed then sales management can't be re-tooled, so they must go as well. Up the food chain, it goes until it ends with the King Bottle Washer himself, the Owner - on top, and all alone.

Granted, we should consider all factors. For instance, the fact that right now, there are likely 7,000 dealers, out of 15,000 or so, who have embraced MPS.

The old statistic (Photizo) stated that 50% of the folks who don't embrace MPS will be gone - but things have changed.

"CHANGE PEOPLE. It's too difficult to re-train from a transaction-based sell to consultative-based sell."

Now, if you aren't changing to the Hybrid Dealership model, not the iTex one, you will be gone.

That means that even if you do embrace MPS, if you aren't all in, you will be all out. Understand?

I know what you're thinking, "Sure, you big goof, copier sales are changing, but MPS is just the latest marketing scheme designed to sell more units. Everybody will need a copier, forever."

If you are a reader of mine, you may remember an article or two where I go off the deep end proclaiming that one day, HP won't sell printers. Yeah, right, I'm nuts.

A little History Lesson:

There once was a company, a global company, whose selling model included always sending at least 3 company representatives to every sales call. This company was the behemoth of technology. Large, foreboding, industry-defining - they told their customers what to order and how much to pay.

Nearly every person on the planet at one time or another had heard of this company. They were the barometer of American Technology - what was good for them, was good for the country.

America sent men to the moon and the back of this company's knowledge.

It seemed at times, that they would be around forever - selling bigger, faster, and more expensive devices. Devices are in high demand and built by only this company. Their equipment defined business processes and demanded their customers bend to the needs of the machines.

Who?

International Business Machines, Big Blue, Big Iron, IBM. In 1977, IBM had 300,000 employees.

The PS/2, ThinkPad, System 36, AS400 - OS/2, token ring...all gone. When IBM made the decision to move from the hardware business to business process and finally into Business Services - people thought they were nuts.

Manufacturing plants shut down. Divisions were sold off. Ten's of thousands of employees are gone.

How do you think those "big iron" salespeople responded?

Do you think the same people who sold these colossi one day just decided to offer business consulting?

No. No, they did not one day just decide to offer business consulting.

Sure, Big Blue tried to retrain. At the time, IBM's training regiment was known to be the best in the industry, the best anywhere; weeks were spent in Armonk, NY.

How do you think that went? Well, one day, somebody somewhere looked at this new business model, looked at all the training that had gone on, and then, glanced at the net new accounts list - it didn't add up.

So, did they redo their infrastructure or vamp up the marketing? Did IBM hire a bunch of consultants and try one more time to retrain the sales team?

Nope.

They CHANGED PEOPLE.

By the way, the one who let this cat out of the bag, was with IBM back then. Huh.

This has all happened before, in nearly every industry; technology, transportation, entertainment, hospitality, automobile...publishing, music...every niche...airports, filling stations, grocery stores, and retail.

Why should our little, 3 decades old, industry be any different?

I for one think we need to CHANGE PEOPLE. By CHANGE PEOPLE, I mean to change the way you are, not the members of the team.

Copier folks, anyone who sells in this crazy mixed-up world of output, are the most resilient and adaptive bunch out here, in the real world.

We can change. You can change.

Study history, or be doomed to repeat it.

12/14/2009

New to Copier Sales: How to Use Your Sales Training

Everyone’s gone through sales training.

As a new copier rep, you’re going to be trained in the ways of selling, according to your new employer. 

To be certain, there are thousands of sales training classes, courses, programs, and coaches in the ecosystem. Selling has been happening since the dawn of time and people have been teaching others how to sell for just as long. There is no lack of generic and professional selling curriculum – some may argue there is too much. 

Your employer’s sales training program has been either developed in-house, outsourced to a training company, or a combination of both. 

It is your duty to understand their “proven” process, learn how they expect you to sell, and do so in the field. It is your personal responsibility to improve yourself with this training. 

My recommendation is to think of the corporate program as a base, or platform for growth – not the end-all of your experiential sales journey. The point of sales training is to help you sell. 

HP and RIM Announce Strategic Alliance to Mobilize Business on BlackBerry

PALO ALTO, Calif., May 4, 2009

HP and Research In Motion (RIM)(Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced they are establishing a strategic alliance to deliver a portfolio of solutions for business mobility on the BlackBerry® platform.

HP CloudPrint for BlackBerry Smartphones

HP CloudPrint for BlackBerry smartphones is a web services based solution that allows users to print emails, documents, photos and web pages using a BlackBerry smartphone, wherever they are – in the office, at home or on the road.

The CloudPrint service enables mobile users to easily print to the nearest printer. The service is printer-agnostic and driverless and requires simple Internet access. HP and RIM plan to make CloudPrint available to BlackBerry Internet Service subscribers as well as BlackBerry Enterprise Server customers.

The CloudPrint technology was invented by HP Labs, the company’s central research arm.

-------

In addition to the CloudPrint technology, HP's EDS Mobile Services will be available to help manage Blackberry's - they currently managed 500,000 Blackberry's.

And HP's Proliant servers are being pitched to support corporate Blackberry applications and HP's Operations Manager for BlackBerry Enterprise Server, is a software solution that helps centrally manage and monitor the entire Blackberry ecosystem, whether it is virtual or physical - servers, applications, mail servers, databases, etc.

It looks like a complete HP/Blackberry, business system.

New to Sales: How to Use Your Sales Training

Everyone’s gone through sales training. As a new copier rep, you’re going to be trained in the ways of selling, according to your new employer.

To be certain, there are thousands of sales training classes, courses, programs, and coaches in the ecosystem.  Selling has been happening since the dawn of time and people have been teaching others how to sell for just as long.  There is no lack of generic and professional selling curriculum – some may argue there is too much.

Your employer’s sales training program has been either developed in-house, outsourced to a training company, or a combination of both.  It is your duty to understand their “proven” process, learn how they expect you to sell, and do so in the field.

It is your personal responsibility to improve yourself with this training.  My recommendation is to think of the corporate program as a base, or platform for growth – not the end-all of your experiential sales journey.

The point of sales training is to help you sell.  This is partially correct.  Closer to the truth, sales training, in the dealer channel, is designed to help you sell your dealer’s stuff – it is what you signed up to do.

Regardless, all training is good training and... read the rest here.

Mayors Want You Back - "You can't stay home in your pajamas all day."

Are post-Covid cube farms the new plantation?

'You can't stay home in your pajamas all day!': NYC Mayor Eric Adams says workers must get back to the office because work-from-home policies aren't economically sustainable for the Big Apple and New Yorkers need to 'cross-pollinate ideas and interact'.

This is dangerous.  

From the mayor of NYC:

'We must get open, and let me tell you why,' Adams said in an appearance in Bloomberg TV last month. 

'That accountant from a bank that sits in an office - it's not only him, it feeds our financial ecosystem. He goes to the cleaners and get his suits clean, he goes out to the restaurants, he brings in a business traveler, which is 70 percent of our hotel occupancy.'

Detroit, Chicago, Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles, NJ - the places that locked down the hardest are going to PUSH for "back-to-office" mandates.

A quick response:

"No.

Perhaps we WERE in PJ's - but that's not any of your business.

Imaging Industry Information Looks at The Managed Print Services EcoSystem

One of my common themes with MPS is "how can any manufacturer get behind pure MPS when the goals of every engagement should be the reduction of both MIF and volume?

How can a dealer use MPS as a "marketing" scheme to leverage more hardware placements?

It just doesn't reconcile.

It seems GMTA - one of the Old Guard(no offense meant)Tom Callinan, has a great description on this subject. He says,

"...one of the long-term goals of MPS is to reduce the number of devices used by a company. What does this mean? It means that the industry players—those that depend on an already shrinking revenue pool—are going to deliberately accelerate that revenue decline..."

Tom has a good grip on the conundrum. Read the entire post here.

Managed print Services - The Future and Current Challenge: From the Board Room to The Street, It ain't happening...

7/2011

The MpS train is well down the tracks, the ship has left the dock, Jupiter 1 is Jupiter 2.

Clicks are being captured, fleets of single-function devices automatically fed and cared for - maybe even ripped and replaced - I wonder.

The MpS ecosystem is in balance, the OEMs are playing nice, they know their place in the world, and the channel(s) all have well-established, benchmarked agnostic, and profitable MpS programs.

Well, that's the rumor.

My network of friends and colleagues expand from RiKON to Xerox, HP to LexMark and the wave is reporting a disconnect.

A 'white space' between the yearly shows, 12-week/12-step MpS mentoring (my DOTC mentoring program will be simply 10.5 weeks and include sessions in front of a refrigerator, but I digress), corporate-sponsored MpS training programs, and You. We go to class, and forget everything three steps out the door.

More troubling, we buy into the vision, understand ourselves, and recognize a great future only to arrive back in the office face to face with the Sales Manager's funnel report, or marketing's latest telemarketing talk track.

"How many contracts are you going to write this month?"
"What accounts are up for renewal? "
"Do you have your elevator speech memorized?"  Poof!

It is the old wound.

Do you still demo copiers or devices?

How many of us sat in on training sessions that were nothing but rolling product commercials?

Or is the solution selling training around a piece of hardware?  You remember, "add value...show an ROI by reducing the monthly payment..." etc., etc.  Circa 1999, 1984, 1975...just like back then, retention is difficult and post-training support non-existent.

It's worse - there isn't any real motivation to maintain.  Your management, your ownership, is in survival not visionary mode.

Do not let them fool you - they are.

I have seen just about every, single Managed print Services program out there; been given the up-skirt view, as it were...from Encompass to PagePack, MDS(Ricoh) to...well, MDS(Canon).

They're all good.  Well thought out.  White boarded to detail and not reaching potential.

Here's the opportunity:

I hear from OPS, Canon, Oce, Konica Minolta, Ricoh, Ikon, and Indy dealers from all over North America.  New York, Texas, Florida, New Jersey, Iowa, Oregon, and Canada.

Even though MpS is established and  'mainstream for smart people, all the great slide shows and nifty programs aren't getting to the field. The message is garbled,  complicated, and ignored.

It comes back to the same old mantra, "MpS is different" - so how can we expect the same training and support models of yesteryear to provide an ROI in today's increasingly sophisticated and accelerating business environment?

We can't.

I was NOT a big fan of all those long-term MpS 'mentoring' programs just a year ago. It wasn't that I was resistant to the framework or mechanics of those program types, I was repulsed by the content.

The Content sucked then, but change has come to MpS.  Real TRANSFORMATION is out here.

I point to the recently announced chaMPS program, the ever oscillating program that is PagePack, and the mythical, over-the-horizon, OPS/Printillegent HP MPS Channel.

• PagePack has a 12-week mentor program.
• chaMPS has a long-term program to assist in dealer transformation.
• HP WILL have a Printillegent-Like hybrid program.

Neither is perfect, each progressing, but the bulk of responsibility for success rests squarely in the hands of the participants in each program.

It doesn't matter if co-op or MDF pays for the program, the commitment kicks in after the class and once your organization fully commits.  Sound familiar?

"Change or Die." - again.  For the dealer channels as well as the individual, MpS Selling professional - Power is coming down to you, to us the individuals. The world and market are moving from "Push" marketing to "Pull" leverage.  More on that later

I suggest now is the time to really commit to one of these programs - whichever one fits your world, now is the time.

Points to consider-

For the Dealer:

1. Rethink everything
2. Consider cutting overhead.  Get lean(er)
3. Commit, commit, commit
4. Pay all your reps the same way

For you, real-live, customer-facing folks:

1. Rethink everything
2. Consider cutting overhead.  Get Smarter.
3. Commit, commit, commit
4. Acknowledge that EVERYBODY in your organization works FOR YOU. 

Your boss, the owner, your OEM and their rep., and your distributors all have an agenda and plan.  As a matter of fact, EVERYBODY has a plan.   Even Robinson's Lost In Space had a plan - you should too - It's Your Ship.


Click to email me. 

The Death of Managed Print Services : Photizo Identifies The Fourth Horseman

Sept, 2009

TheEndOfTheWorld as WeKnowIt 

It was a free Photizo webinar about vendor-provided MPS programs and how somebody looking to get into MPS could evaluate all the choices. 

A simple, straight forward, easy to understand theme. Attending would be a good way of keeping up with what others think. 

Besides, I could work some spreadsheets and email while keeping one eye on the slide deck. The presentation was interesting, the questions posed engaging - the answers even more gripping. 

For instance, when asked about the future market growth for MPS, Ed responded by saying copier sales may increase by 3% by 2013, contrasted against a 28% growth in MPS. 

More importantly, of the 80% of dealers NOT providing MPS, 50% will disappear. 

 Ominous? Yes. 

But there is something more - a darkness slowing creeping over the MPS Ecosystem. 

At first, it's just the feeling that someone is watching you, then that slight prick at the back of your neck, the sudden chill - a kick in the breeze, movement at the edge of your peripherals - are those...hooves...I hear? 

---------------- 

A question was posed by somebody trying to reconcile the "box moving" mentality with this new MPS paradigm; Transactional vs. Relationship. And Ed hit it, 

"...whoever owns the service levels, owns the customer..." - makes sense and is self-evident. 

But then the question turned to the future of MPS - I think somebody actually asked Ed to define the 3 Stages, Control, Optimize, Enhance - "what would be the fourth stage?" was the follow-up question, it seemed to be a rhetorical one. 

But Ed has an answer. The Fourth Stage. 

The first board meeting of your Managed Print Services Association was held this past Friday. This is a significant event and trumpets in MPS as a real, defined philosophy and business niche. In order for the MPSA to begin, MPS needed to have some sort of definition - vague or otherwise, there had to be a common idea to rally around. 

Part of the definition formed around the three stages of MPS, observed by the Photizo group. To be certain, HP, Xerox, and all the other players in MPS either had or developed their own definition in "stages" or "phases" - but the basic 3 stages, Control, Optimize, Enhance apply to most MPS programs. 

As observed here on DOTC, the first two stages are sufficient and fall nicely into the traditional copier, office equipment model. The Third stage, Enhance, is a bit more advanced and demands more expertise. But the Fourth Stage is purely mind-blowing. 

Ed defined the fourth stage a managed print services Practice, managing the entire network. 

Imagine your remote monitoring software reading supply levels, meter reads, service events as well as network traffic, power consumption, and desktop PC usage. Imagine being hired by your client to optimize the network completely. Asset management, service calls, data flow - everything - managing the dynamic IT infrastructure. 

Yes, the Fourth Stage will take the "P" out of MPS - or will it? It is my opinion, that the Fourth stage will see the end of MPS. Hybrid firms swallowed up by the likes of EDS/HP, IBM, InfoPrint, and print devices showing up on Tivoli, UniCenter or MainView not PrintFleet, or Print Audit. The Fourth Stage is the Fourth Horseman - you know who rides and you know what follows. 

Have a nice day.

Ricoh can monitor Copier Power using IBM software

Ricoh's Embedded Intelligence System works with IBM's Tivoli Monitoring Networked Multifunction Products- And Why is This Important?

HP, Xerox, Ricoh and Dell: Something Wicked This Way Comes

The Imaging of Greg - "MPS Summit: What a Difference Three Years Make"

"Yup, I was in Vegas at the “Recharger show.”


Well, technically, I attended the 2011 Managed Print Summit, which to me, seemed even more out of place, until I looked at the scheduled presenters: Ed Crowley, Robert Newry, Mike Stramaglio, Jim Lyons and Greg VanDeWalker – all MpS regulars, each in the ecosystem from early on if not the very beginning.


And there were more. Jim D’Emidio, Ed McLaughlin, Mark Mathews and Jim Phillips – old-skool hardware and infrastructure dudes who each see the impact of MpS.


And the new guys? How about Brendan Peters from Intel, Tim Grimes from Research in Motion or Gordon Jones from Green Hills Software? Googlitize them if you don’t know who they are. For now, let’s just say wireless, intelligent devices and security software. Yeah, at an MpSummit, the day before the large toner cartridge show. Who woulda thunk?..."

Read the rest at The Imaging Channel



Click to email me.

Hatchet Buried - Another New Contributor To DOTC - David Ramos, Strategy Development

Wait...what...who? HUH?

The World "Zigs" and the Leopards of DOTC "Zag".

"...I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. 
Someday you'll understand that..."

The World Moves.

No matter how important we try to make ourselves,  arguing our  negative effect on the world, that we are bigger, more important and outside the ecosystem; violators.

That humans can change the earth, freeze it, over heat it, drill holes in it's protective atmosphere, lower the sea level, raise the sea level - this cacophony of 'chicken little' rhetoric distracting us from the obvious - we don't matter.

Think I'm wrong?

While we install catalytic converters(devices engineered to choke my LandRover) and charge a buck per gallon "emissions tax" our "sacred mother earth" decided to move Japan eight feet closer to Cali.

If we took every single nuclear bomb, hell, every explosive device invented, used or envisioned throughout human history, we couldn't move that island nation an inch.  Put that in your Kyoto Accord.

And don't even get me started with May 18, 1980, 8:32 am PST - in a few hours, more toxic chemicals, carbon and "ozone killing" stuff was spewed into the air than ALL OF HUMANITY from the beginning of history.(Google it, no wait, Google, INC. is perpetuating the myth...)

"...don't amount to a hill of beans..."

So, it is within this context, out of a minor storm of controversy,  I introduce the latest contributor to DOTC, David Ramos.

Quite the lede, eh?

Unless you live under a rock, or are not part of the LinkedIn community, you've seen David's writings all over.

Strategy Dev. must have a pretty good S/M machine, a bit more "Push" than "Pull" for my taste - but that doesn't matter.

Content matters, and so far, I find David's content pleasing.  Appropriate content as measured against our own, high, DOTC editorial standards.

So it is with great honor, that I introduce to you, David's first DOTC article - Please Enjoy.

Click to email me.

Advice For New to Copier Sales Reps: Ask More From Your Prospects

In your new world of copiers, training is a big component of the ecosystem — so big it’s like drinking from a fire hydrant. By now you’ve probably come to understand that most of life’s challenges will not be solved with algebra or understanding inheritance and polymorphism — learning how to learn is the best lesson.

So it is now with your new copier position. You may be deft at taking notes, creating flashcards and memorizing basic facts, but I’ve got to tell you, not one prospect is going to establish a relationship if all you know are the paper weights and first-copy-out times for 100 different models.

Unfortunately, your dealer principal and sales manager will demand you know the specifications of every model on the show floor. It’s a tug of war between learning what the “industry” thinks is important and what your prospects see as relevant.

More important than specifications is learning everything possible from every business you visit — no matter the outcome. The first appointment is the time for introductions and getting to know one another; all it takes is 20 minutes to understand how your prospect runs the business and the challenges they face every day. Don’t waste time on your company introduction/value proposition slide deck — YOU are the company

Successful selling professionals utilize the “two ears, one mouth” strategy when getting to know the inner workings of a prospect’s organization. It may sound simple...Read the rest here.

Managed Print Services to Double: Dude, Let's go to Asia.

Managed print services to double in Asia Pacific

In an article released by CIO Asia, the Asian market for MPS is predicted to be $825 million in 2011.

This according to a recent study conducted by Springboard - the study titled, "Dude, Where's My Printer - Asia Pacific Managed Print Services Market and Forecast".

Who says MPS researchers don't have a sense of humor.

The article is here.

Some excerpts:


"...In the MPS competitive landscape, HP is the clear leader with a dominant market presence in the region, followed by Fuji-Xerox, which has "leveraged its robust set of MPS offerings and a strong partner ecosystem to strengthen its regional presence," says Springboard's report.

Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) will remain as the largest MPS market in the region, cornering over 25 per cent of the market and expanding at a CAGR of 19.3 per cent to 2012. Springboard says that, while India is behind China and ASEAN in overall market size, India is forecast to be the fastest growing market a compound annual growth rate of 22.6 per cent.

"These robust growth figures indicate not just a vibrant MPS marketplace, but they also reflect the emergence of MPS as the best growth bet for the print hardware vendors in the region, who have seen a decline of hardware sales amidst the economic slowdown," said Sanchit Vir Gogia, senior research analyst for services at Springboard Research.

"Enterprises in the region are eager to test and adopt the 'next level' of printing environment, presenting the MPS vendors with a growth opportunity in a difficult economic situation," said Mr. Gogia...

"The MPS model is still in its infancy in Asia Pacific and enterprises in the region need to be educated that this is much more than an alternative print hardware purchase model," said Phil Hassey, vice president for services at Springboard Research. "The challenge for providers is to ensure they manage MPS offerings prices and offer solutions as a long-term strategy, providing immediate and successful results for enterprises."
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Companies Embrace Efficiency to Tackle Inflation and Economic Uncertainty:Without Copier Salespeople

 

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Date: April 29, 2023

Greg's Words

For decades, we in the copier industry have been telling prospects our hardware "increases productivity and reduces costs". We lied. Well, we defined the narrative to fit our mission of selling 10 copiers a month. (or whatever)

The world is increasing productivity and reducing costs through more efficient workflows - and if you are simply selling copiers, printers, or MpS, they are doing it without you and viewing your relationship as a target for cost reduction.

AI eats workflows 24/7 and will decimate everything from middle management to the C-Suite.

More than how the internet shook things up, bigger than that gift from Prometheus, and vastly more liberating than the invention of the Wheel, Generative AI is shifting our world, changing how we work, chit-chat, learn, and more. 

Hold onto your linen, because the speed of this tech revolution is faster than light. These jaw-dropping tools we're ogling at today? They'll be old news by year's end since they're leveling up like crazy and getting mixed into other gizmos and services at breakneck speed. 

Buckle up, buttercups, 'cause we're in for a wild one...

Key highlights: 

• Companies like AT&T and Meta Platforms are focusing on efficiency and productivity improvements in response to economic challenges. 
• AT&T's Project Raindrops initiative aims to simplify and eliminate unnecessary business processes, saving employees nearly 3 million hours a year. 
• While the impact of small improvements on the bottom line is difficult to quantify, research suggests that saved time is often reinvested in the company as additional work.

_________

"...You All Read this Tome for different reasons...I'm asking more of you...sure as I know anything, I am to misbehave..."

12/8/2011

"...Let's be bad guys..."

Brick and mortar is dead.  

The ways of the past are limiting.  Still, the Ways are promoted, adhered to, and pushed down from the AllianceArchaic.

We who abide, sleep in the cubical that has become life.  Suckling the metal teat, swallowing the dogma and false promise of a heartless Utopia. Blissful. One day, we wake up selling copiers.

Those of us who see, rile and squirm under the thumb. We are misunderstood chastised and subjugated.  Seen as different, defiant.

Contrarian.

#ManagedPrintServices: "I feel a lot of love in this room..." just not A3&A4

March 8, 2017.

"All Roads Lead to MpS and MpS Leads to All" -  I've been saying it for years.  At first, it was a joke.

I drop phrases like, "You know, copiers were the first devices on the internet of things.(MWAi)"

Or...

"In my world, voice mail is a document..."  In a room full of IT types, the response is silence.  Yes, that is a third eye growing out of the top of my head.

Here we are, March of 2017 and not much has changed since 2007.  Everyone 'does MpS', but few understand the expansive realm.  

Managed Print Services, MPS Training and Best Practices: I'm Calling Bullshit

2010

Ok, we all know anyone who claims to have been "doing MPS for 15 years" is nothing but Bravo Sierra - how was anyone trying to reduce costs associated with output back in 1995, re-inking ribbons on an Epson LQ-1050?

Really? Copiers were not even DIGITAL in 1995! Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot!

And if one more ding dong sales consultant tells me that "...MPS is all about TCO..." - but doesn't include costs incurred in the Third Stage of MPS, I may just hurl right then and there.

Do not even get me started on re-hashed IKON Circa 1990 leasing, "Image Management Plus", customer for-life, schemes - exactly how many lawsuits did IKON fend off back then?

100's?

So this is what we've come to: years of usage statistics, decades of observed business behavior, and so much data about how the world prints, stores and creates documents yet we still do not have any real-world benchmarks. No guideposts.

Hell, we don't really have any Guides.

Correction, "guides" do exist. Most just don't know shit about shit and keep telling us they do - that is if you pay them. And the more we pay, the more horsepucky comes out.

Welcome to MPS.

Tigerpaw Talks July 13, 3PM EST

Learn about the Leading Influencer of Infrastructure, in the DOTC Office Technology Partnership Ecosystem.

Leaving Old Waters: Charting a new and profitable course 

If you think you’re stuck with a business management platform and provider that makes you miserable, you won’t want to miss this event. 

Join Tigerpaw CEO James Foxall and VP of Customer Success Trevor Moses on Wednesday, July 13 at 3pm ET to learn:

• How office equipment dealers win with Tigerpaw’s investment in some of the top talent and partnerships in the industry 
• Exciting new ways to automate your business that aren’t even an option with your current platforms 
• How using one ERP to manage all your lines of business powers growth, even in a challenging economy 

Register here: 

https://tigerpaw.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4VYFAnxUTaOYMIBmJRYS0A

The End Of MPS, The Beginning of MpS

Recent market data for the global hardcopy peripherals (HCP) market saw a 10.6 percent yearly decline, though MPS growth has continued across the world. HP shows an 18.6% decline in unit shipments, Y/Y. - IDC, 2016

It doesn't need to be said, does it? The office environment has been moving away from print for the past decade. I know it, the OEMs know it, and in your heart, you know it too.

Managed print services is a trailing indicator, 'growth' is a statistic anomaly - expanding in a shrinking pool - there are no new clicks.

You want to survive and thrive in the technology industry. It's easier to sell copiers and implement a managed print services practice than it is to bring a managed services practice but the IT world represents growth and opportunity.

What should you do?

"...Come With Me Now..."

Years ago, I preached the coming of managed print services as the wave of the future.

Then, I saw managed print services as an on-ramp to business process/workflow optimization, teaching simple, workflow analysis embedded in the standard assessment.

Next, evangelizing managed services as the new frontier for copier/printer providers, I recommended third-parties like Collabrance and Continuum.

Today, I've come full circle and looking at managed print services basics. The tools I've seen, and I've seen or worked with almost all of them - are impressive.

Here are some of my observations:

1. Heavy - cumbersome to use, demand time from MpS practitioner
2. Print-data, intense - print only, some end-user, but no outside asset data
3. Sales static - the 'map' and client data remain in the sales silo, or not easily transportable into contracts or service
4. The Tool 'does the thinking for you' - plug the data in and out comes a current and recommended state in a 300 page Word doc

I see lots of TCO tools, column reports, graphs, and dashboards and I think we can do better. I'm looking at how I conduct assessments and the tools I would use in the field. Additionally, I'm taking a holistic view - I'd like to know how the fleet is performing in terms of service calls and profitability. 

Finally, I'd like to be in a position to offer my clients an engagement that includes ANY asset type.

With this in mind, we've designed a tool that:

1. Collects data from multiple databases: DCA, service desk, dispatch, accounting system
2. Helps you easily conduct assessments and present mapped proposals
3. Enables you to create, and doesn't do the thinking for you

Point #1
Real management software displays ANY asset; printers, copiers, desktops, laptops, phones, projectors, oxygen bottles. But more impactful, is our ability to draw together related, yet disconnected data. For instance, we show the number of service calls placed on an asset, the install date, the number of toners delivered, revenue and profit generated; for the universal MIF, client fleet, or individual asset.

The solution must work within your managed print services ecosystem - the 'map' not only supports new sales, but integrates through sales to service to management to ownership; salespeople engage and asses, service utilizes mapping, and management looks into real-time financial information with the tap of a screen.

Point #2
With or without a DCA/Thumb drive, a practitioner conducts interviews and records findings. Manual entry of device data(manufacturer, model, volumes, etc.) is achieved through the use of the onboard survey tool. Machine data files may be uploaded or directly integrated, but is not necessary.

Point #3
Some existing systems deliver everything from a prospect's total cost of operation to a final proposal in Word leaving the "specialist" with nothing more to do than email the proposal or deliver pie.


I cannot tell you how often I’m asked for an ‘assessment’ or ‘mps contract’ sample. I’ve conducted assessments on paper, laptops, and in my head but I still use a basic outline of questions. 

“We interviewed 25 employees and 62% of them responded that service calls are not being completed within 72 hours. 87% felt ordering toner required three to four hours to complete.” 

Atlas - MpS. Assessment Logic*
We’ve incorporated a survey function that can be administered for each asset. In the case of a non-integrated - no DCA software - simple machine data collected on one screen. This isn't a data dump, the questions included collect relevant information you need to create a compelling proposal. I’ve also included basic workflow questions and sales related queries.

Once the survey is completed, the data is attached to that specific asset - the answers can be used as analysis. For instance, “We interviewed 25 employees and 62% of them responded that service calls are not being completed within 72 hours. 87% felt ordering toner required three to four hours to complete.” could be one of your compelling arguments for change.

Atlas - MpS. Contract Completion*
The sales and service teams rarely communicate but an integral part of a great customer experience is the effortless transition from proposing to implementing. One important issue is to correctly communicate data proposed, like existing device serial numbers, location, point of contact, beginning meter reads, CPI, etc. The information is captured during the assessment and proposal stage - why not simply populate a .PDF of your engagement?

Why not have the digital version of your contract available for signature immediately after the presentation? Atlas - Mps has this capability to complete your contract. Print it if you like, or have your client digitally sign right then and there. Email the completed form to your contracts department and have the account set up before you get back to the office. Ring that bell.

Atlas - MpS. Print Policy Framework*
Ultimately, a fully engaged, high level managed print services engagement results in a Print Policy.
Atlas - MpS, will create the blank Print Policy template and present data to support the generation of content.

Once the print policy is in place, Atlas - MpS helps you managed the engagement against the goals set forth in the policy. The information is real time, specific data points are monitored and statused as either “in or out of policy”.

No more quarterly reviews - review the fleet and goals of the program at any time.

One More thing…

Atlas is adept at integrating disparate databases and managing IT assets. Once you begin to utilize Atlas - MpS, the door opens into the IT realm. We’re not suggesting you invest in a data center, or engage with a third party to provide help desk, end-point monitoring services. We suggest talking with your IT contacts about “Asset Lifecycle Management”. You help track their IT assets, manage technology upgrades and equipment refresh with Atlas all for a monthly subscription. We can help you.

Atlas - MpS is different, simple and dynamic, helping managed print practitioners solidify their position in imaging, while opening opportunities outside of print.

Find Your Way.

Reach out to me. greg@asset-atlas.com

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