The Managed Print Service Party Has Started: Endless Summer or Summer of Discontent?

Yes, I know - the original quote is "Winter of Discontent" - my apologies to the "Bard"

A post on the "Adventures in Office Imaging" blog by Expert Laser Services piqued my interest because it was about a post on the Photizo blog and related to "MPS Newbies".

While adding the "Adventures..." blog to my roll it struck me, there was a time when I had just 3 blogs on my roll - because they were the only ones talking Managed Print Services - that was just over a year ago.

Today, hundreds if not thousands of us are betting on an Endless Summer.

For better or worse, the MPS party is getting crowded and everyone is trying to dance to the music.

In the past 30 days there have been so many Managed Print Services related announcements my Google New Alerts nearly burnt up.

I'm not going to list out all the announcements, that isn't important.

What is important is how the market is responding - is it?

Are prospects calling you asking you for Managed Print Service advice?

Are they begging for an "Assessment"? No?

Are they still worried about first copy out time?

The buzz has been building since ITex - and now it seems that we(all of us on this side of the desk) have locked and loaded- ready to rock the MPS world.

The way I see it, the current iteration of Managed Print Services began around 2006.

And as much as some say they "...have been doing MPS for 20 years..." the application of asset and life cycle management, work flow analysis, right-sizing and work flow optimization to office output, are recent additions to the original definition of MPS.

The dust is settling. The Second Wave of MPS execution is beginning in earnest.

And still, we struggle.

The BTA is desperately seeking Alpha.

MPS Sales Classes are no doubt filling up.

Have we gotten to the point where the only ones making money in MPS are the "consultants", the "MPS Marketing" firms and the "MPS Sales Training" companies?

When the music stops, who will still have a chair and will the hangover be more then we can bear?

Death of the Mouse

We are usually talking about output or presented information - but for every output there is some input.

The Mouse is Dead - Long live the mouse.

Check this out.

Nikkei Sees 40% decrease in combined Profits:Canon, Ricoh, Fuji, Konica Minolta

Profits Fade At Top Copier Makers As Toner Sales Thin

TOKYO (Nikkei)--Japan's four leading precision machinery makers -- Canon Inc. (7751), Ricoh Co. (7752), Fujifilm Holdings Corp. (4901) and Konica Minolta Holdings Inc. (4902) -- are expected to see their combined operating profits sink 40% in fiscal 2009 as sales of toner and other high-margin office supplies languish.

Couple this report with information back in May from Erupoe:

"...British companies selling and leasing Japanese manufactured goods have been forced to up their prices after negative GBP to Euro and Euro to Yen exchange rate trends worsen, forcing­ an ­inc­rea­se in cost prices..."

And...

"Genuine parts?­­­-

The cost price increase inclu­des all genuine parts and toner supplied by the photocopier manufacturers. This means businesses offering leasing of copiers are suddenly seeing substantially increased costs to replace toner and service these devices. Some companies might be tempted to use sub-standard parts and toner to try to keep costs down.

Many of the parts and toners that are not genuine brands are manufactured outside Japan and so do not have the same problems of negative exchange rate trends. These products therefore remain cheap to purchase. However,­ most reputable and reliable photocopier companies would only ever use genuine parts and toner.

Non-genuine parts and toner can not only make the manufacturer's warranty invalid but are often of sub-standard quality meaning that the prints they create are of a poor standard and they may ruin the device or decrease its lifespan.­.."

Managed Print Services Assessments - They Do Not Work, Stop Doing Them

2/2009

My first assessment was for 1,100 units. The next one was for 823. And my third assessment was for 523 devices.

A 25 machines assessment took 30 days.

That was over a year ago.

Insanity.

You would think I would have learned.

An early Photizo study revealed that doing an assessment gave you a 50% chance of closing the engagement.

While at the Managed Print Services Conference in San Antonio I agreed with this statistic and mentioned that I closed 50% of the studies/assessments that I performed.

I neglected to say that after no longer doing Assessments, my closing rate went up to 94%.

Interesting, eh?

With just about everybody pitching MPS and free assessments - one needs to ask how much value can something that is free honestly carry?

And let me tell you this, if I do get into a position to be the "second" one in a deal, I get all the data that the person before me obtained - all of it, the spreadsheet, costs, and everything.

So what to do, what to do...

Ask questions, don't do an "assessment".

Take a tour of the complex, don't perform a "survey".

Install your "Supplies Monitoring" software, not your "Data Collection Agent".

Write your findings down and discuss them with your client, in two pages or less; don't let your software generate a stodgy, canned, boilerplate with spreadsheets. Run from PowerPoint.

Use your brain. Use your mind, not a spreadsheet. Present ideas, not proposals.

Just my 0.020 worth, but after all, it is my blog.

Sell-On!

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D-Day, June 6, 1944 - The Longest Day