#9 & #10 Managed Print Services Truth: Be the Ruler. "Stand or Fall"

9. Be the ruler

This is simple: Comparing yourself to others is a standard approach, but I suggest you look inside before looking to others. They’re simply guidelines; the only comparison that really matters is internal. Gartner, IDC, Canon, Ricoh, HP, Xerox, Toshiba, Konica Minolta, Sharp, OKI Data, Kyocera, Lexmark, IBM, Cisco, Apple — they all have their rules. With few exceptions, their rules are not serving us very well. Don’t ignore their musings; just be open and dubious. Make your rules, Your Rules. And then live by them.

10. Stand or fall

This is the big one. The above recommendations are simply that: suggestions. I’ve seen dealerships, OEMs and general business models over the past 24 years grow, stumble, recover and fade. I’ve watched IBM transform and Compaq assimilated. I was the first generation of VARs born in the 1980s and destroyed in the 1990s. I’ve helped dealerships grow and evolve and watched others crash, burn and be born again under a new moniker.

Change is eternal, transformation unavoidable. And like the Matrix, this has all happened before. Right now, the wolf is at our door. We are simply collateral in the big shift from slow, paper-based transfer of knowledge to instantaneous, screen-based modes of communication. While digital content is set to grow 18 times over, print is dying.

Now is the time to make a stand, to burn the ships at the shore or dust off that exit strategy you designed. If you look at the rules and don’t see a happy ending, get out. Save yourself. Give your employees the opportunity to grow beyond your little dealership. But if you do decide to stay and circle the wagons, get your rules set, and then ride with them.

Stand or Fall.

So ends our journey into 10 separate aspects and sides of the MpS ecosystem.

Managed print Services Truth #7 & #8 - Be Defiant, Be Basic "Thinking Out Loud"

Two defining qualities of any cutting edge, evangelist of change - what once was MpS - is Defiance of the status quo and the ability to cover the basics

7. Be defiant

Test everything every day. Your processes can always be better, and your costs reduced. Take a page out of Six Sigma or any one of the hundreds of business books, scale it down, and apply the lessons to your everyday business process. Make quarterly reviews mean something internally. And if you ever hear the phrase, “This is how we always do it,” refer back to that Lyra chart.

Transformation is continuous, and your improvement should be too. The number of imaging providers will decrease by half or more. Copiers are not what they used to be. Be ready for anything by challenging everything. MPS is bigger than toner and service, so you need to be ready to shift and move at the drop of a hat. What was done in the past simply does not apply today, so challenge the existing.

8. Be basic

Think about the days when you knew nothing about copiers or toner. Remember how it was to make it up as you went — how you demonstrated over-jammed originals, around faulty color and through spilled toner? Call up the days when there were no rules in toner — or copier — sales. What did you have? A phone, the Yellow Pages, Rolodex, and some ideas? A pager? What the heck is a pager? How did you survive?

I hate to say it, but get some of the grind work done; that means calls and marketing — in the trenches. Because like never before in history, we — providers and prospects — are on the same page. The field is level. It comes down to two people making something happen — a basic relationship built on solid intent.

Managed print Services Truth #5 & #6 - Be a Leader, Be Open

Titles don't make leaders.  Cutting your own trail doesn't make you a leader - but you sure won't be a follower.

5. Be a leader

If you’re employed at a dealership that promotes MPS but the guy at the top doesn’t know the difference between remote monitoring and remote machine management, quit. It’s time for executive management and ownership to climb down off the ivory tower and get dirty. The good ones will; the leaders already have.

If you are ownership, get out and explain to your team how you’re going to move the company forward, and then do it — every day. Reach out into the trenches, deliver equipment, make sales presentations and take service calls.

If you’re in sales, put together your plan for success and present it to your fellow team members on Monday morning. Don’t ask your manager if you can; tell him that you are. If you get push-back, quit.

Now is the time — if you decide to stay in this industry — to ride out the storm. Let it all hang out. It won’t be easy; there will be doubters and naysayers. Stay the course. If the system is gamed against you, get out.

Leadership comes from all levels, and vision leads to profit. It’s not the other way around.

6. Be open

Educate yourself about everything other than print. You probably know more than you need to about copying. What about telephony and tablets? What about asset management and PC support? Rack versus blades? Would you be surprised to find out that some customers who utilize managed services are happy to simply receive a phone call telling them that one of their servers is broken? A phone call.

Do you know how naive you sound when you say you’re in MNS versus managed services? What’s your level of comfort with RMM or the difference between copier service SLAs and managed services SLAs? Why are you compensating copier service differently than MPS engagements? Plug into some new LinkedIn groups or subscribe to print magazines from outside the industry. Tweet, for goodness’ sake. Be open to new ideas. Get to know whatever it is you need to know.

#3 & #4 Managed Print Services Truths: Be a Partner, Be Lean "Come With Me Now"

Continuing our journey into the 10 Truths of MPS we look now to partnerships and overhead.

3. Be a partner

The tough times are making everybody re-evaluate their position in the ecosystem, and the best way to survive is to gather together with like-minded people. Partnerships open up your services portfolio; good partnerships bring with them even more connections and synergy. Isolation leads to desperation. Partner with your clients, toner provider(s), OEMs and fellow employees. If HP can work with third-party toner suppliers, why can’t you partner with a managed services provider? Or better yet, how hard can it be to become a tablet reseller? Today, it is all about partnerships and teams. Build a team that includes players from all over — from network infrastructure experts, software application specialists, property managers, bankers and shop owners. Full press your personal network and choose those you deem worthy.

4. Be lean

Tough decisions are coming, if they haven’t already. The economy is making a rebound unlike any other time in history, and the recovery will not include a spike in manufacturing jobs or employment. Look to reduce your overhead.

Do you really require a demo floor? Really? No, really? It may look nice, but ... really? Is it a stipulation of your dealer agreement? If so, throw that Lyra chart in front of them and push back. Nobody holds inventory anymore, so why are you? How tight are you on trunk stock and warranty exchanges? How many service calls have you made over the past 12 months on your fleet of laser/cartridge-based devices compared to your traditional copiers? Do you need so many technicians? Do you need three dispatchers? How many people in accounting?

I am not recommending you fire everyone in sight. I am recommending you look at the costs that could be reduced or shifted over to some of your partners and possibly move traditional infrastructure talent into your sales team.

For example, in my practice, I did not want to stock toner, take orders or coordinate the shipment of and maintain an inventory of toner cartridges. I did not want to — nor did I believe I should have to — bear the overhead cost. I evaluated every single fulfillment program out at the time from front to back. I looked at their process and the infrastructure the value-add provided and talked with the people on the ground.

I made the shift and demanded much from my new, integral partner — from delivery and customer relations to report generation. When I found somebody I could work with, that company became a full-fledged member of my team. It worked and reduced my overhead immensely. Lean, agile, clear.

Talk Managed Services - "Lost Stars"

November 2011.

This article is over three years old but the concepts and ideas prevail.  Not simply for the new people in the industry, but for all of us.  Gearing toward the IT world seems to be a universal attempt that never ends.  We keep going through the same scenario, altering and adjusting as we go. It isn't insanity, it's evolution.

Enjoy.

GRW

Would you like to sell more MPS? Start talking “Managed Services” not “Managed Print Services.”

Thinking the magic is in the “P” deserves a deeper look. Like it or not, the service we are offering for printing—the marking of paper with toner—is simply a symptom of our client's business process, an afterthought.

The “P” is an unsustainable aspect of the ecosystem dwindling with each passing day. Managed services are growing. Think I’m wrong? Take a look at the latest news from the IT side of the world.

Look up companies like ConnectWise, LabTech, Level Platforms—companies that provide client support and remote monitoring products to VARs and managed service providers. For them, managed-print services are the buzz, that Hot New Thing, just like it was for us—four years ago.

When companies like these finally see recurring revenue can be had at a 42 percent margin, how long before they add toner delivery and on-site support to their standard service level agreements?

And what will happen when they figure out, for instance, how to craft a 36-month, 90-day deferred, FMV (Fair Market Value)/dollar out, with a buy-out leasing deal—working with more than Cisco Capital Finance and Hewlett-Packard Financial Services?

They’ve heard our racket—living in a world of run rates, volume discounts, and five-point margins; MPS looks pretty good from their vantage point.

The battle lines are drawn. MPS is out of the corporate backwaters. All the noise we’ve made over here, in our small pond, is attracting the attention of some pretty big players. Remember the phrase, “…own the network, own the account…?”

These guys invented, installed, and support the network.

True, they loathe printers and copiers, recoiling at the thought of talking with “copier people.” They underestimate us.

Our edge is—or at least it should be—in vision, flexibility, and deal crafting.

Big thing is they see us coming.

10 Timeless Managed Print Services Truths - "I Wanna Get Better"

This piece first appeared in December of 2014, on The Imaging Channel.

After five years of managed print services, one would imagine a standard set of MPS rules would rise out of the fog. (I know, you’ve been doing MPS for 25,000 years) The debate over what exactly MPS stands for — not the acronym, but the vision and real value of managed print services - rages on.

Do you remember the great device-to-technician-ratio discussion of 2008?

Copier dealers had well-established ideas developed and honed for decades, but they didn’t apply in MPS. There are a number of “rules” associated with toner yields as well, but have they made you money or did they cost the last MPS manager his job? It is easier to see guidelines take shape rather than hard rules. Benchmarks are almost the same: MPS benchmarks are difficult to establish, and best practices simply hold us accountable to somebody else's model.

Four years later, at the 2012 Lyra Imaging Symposium, vendor scorecards showed lower profits and a majority of the industry OEMs have been utilizing the same rules since 1979. Today, they find themselves 41 percent behind Q4 2007 numbers. Stunning, isn’t it? What’s it called when one plays by the same rules expecting different results?

Roll in the evolution of less print: From 1991 to 2001, printing paper shipments increased 27 percent, but from 2000 to 2009, they decreased 27 percent; it is not that difficult to see.

MPS contributes to shrinking print and copy volumes, which in turn reduces the prospects’ need to buy OEM toner, parts, and machines, resulting in fewer printed pages, fewer printers, fewer copiers, and fewer virgin cores.

This has been and remains the biggest Catch-22 with MPS — the one issue OEMs can’t seem to get their minds around quickly enough: MPS contributes to the reduction of machines in the field, yet every single OEM has an MPS program in hopes of reducing the other OEMs’ machines in the field. Suicidal? No. Madness? Indeed. Transformative? Absolutely.

MPS moves fast

Time is accelerating as well. Yesterday’s enterprise was about print, copy, 60-month leases, CPC contracts, locking customers in, flexing, selling more capabilities for the same price, auto-renewals and built-in obsolescence — and that was less than 36 months ago.

Back in 2013, World Expo presented managed print services to a hungry audience. We were re-exposed to the MPS basics of toner, service, remote monitoring, and cost-per-image billing. Back then, discussing VARs and "managed network services" was fresh and new.

MnS is nothing more than managed services.

Technology evolves faster than we comprehend. It took a decade for everyone in America to have a car, a phone, and indoor plumbing. In only 12 months, back in 2010, Apple sold 14.8 million tablets and then matched that entire year in one quarter on the way to 40 million units in 2011 — which already seems a decade ago.

Everything converges and accelerates into the future at a dizzying pace.

There is barely enough time to breathe, let alone establish a set of rules. The good news is there are natural laws that — when recognized — can help us keep our bearings as we boldly move through this unexplored space.

Consider the following a few suggested guideposts along your MPS journey and business transformation.


1. Be aware
2. Be adaptable
3. Be a partner
4. Be lean
5. Be a leader
6. Be open
7. Be defiant
8. Be basic
9. Be the ruler

10. Stand or fall


1. Be aware

The first rule is simple: Know who you are, your world, and your place in it. Self-awareness is the foundation of all change. For example, if you are strong when it comes to delivering toner, use this as a foundation to grow on.

When you look at your client base and see a vertical, use that information as an additive to your business personality and value proposition. Take a deep dive and perform an assessment of your entire business operation.

Are you flexible, open, and adaptable enough to look at how you have been running your business and then change it?

Caution is recommended here; there are just a few full-scale business assessments in our industry. “Full-scale” refers to every facet of your business: finance, sales, inventory, infrastructure, partnerships — everything. This is different than the standard “How are you selling?” and “How does your service desk work?” evaluations.

This transformation from copiers to MPS to managed services is a magnifying glass. If your current systems are flawed, adding a new process will turn cracks into crevasses.

Also, get to know your customer’s environment outside of printing. Look at the workflows, recognizing choke points and other areas for improvement from a business perspective — not a toner, services, or print perspective.

• Are they looking to move to IP phones or tablets? 
• Check to see if they are outsourcing their IT support today and how much they pay. 
• Do they feel the money is well-spent? 
• Do your customers use Twitter? 
• Do they write or read blogs? 
• Be aware of your world and the world around you. Open your eyes.

2. Be adaptable

The days of churn and burn are nearly at an end; this option is a dead end, but that doesn’t mean doom and gloom. The opportunities and directions are endless, but flexibility in all phases is necessary to survive and thrive. Compensation, for instance, has been reasonably stable over the decades.

Can you look at paying for performance differently? Are you flexible, open, and adaptable enough to look at how you have been running your business and then change it? For instance, if you are under the traditional toner supply model with notifications coming directly to you, consider and be open to a different model. If you see more documents heading toward screens instead of paper, would you consider reselling or partnering with a tablet's OEM? Adapt or die.

Join us over the coming weeks as we review the remaining "Timeless Truths".  Oh, the fun we will have.

MBA's will lose you money & karma is for those who wait..."Chocolate"

"Shark Tank" is the latest "walk in a room, be berated and leave" TV show.  Think, The Apprentice, The Voice, and The Gong Show all rolled up into 47 minutes of thrill packed demonstrations.

Entrepreneurs (everybody is one now days) pitch their idea to the 'sharks', asking for funding in exchange for ownership.  If the sharks like what they see, they may bid against each other in an effort to get a piece of the possible up side.  If they don't like a proposition, they drop out.

One of the sharks, Barbara Corcoran, was interviewed by LinkedIn revealing some interesting ideas about intuition and partnering.  Barbara built a real estate empire in New York, employing 1400 folks before selling her company for about $60 million.  Today, she advises and runs up and coming businesses.

She knows what she does best and where her weaknesses lie - when hiring or partnering, she seeks out those who have qualities she does not and utilizes her intuition on all decisions. She doesn't actively seek out MBA's - she's lost money with them in the past.

"She didn’t wait for karma to come around and bless her at some later point; she got mad and she fought for what she wanted now."

I equate her attitude toward MBA's similar to my view about benchmarks.  Why utilize other people's  academic musings.  The world changes so quickly, book knowledge or user surveys cannot keep up.

Sure, standard mechanisms of accounting and finance apply; there are plenty of talented people excel in the science of 'double-entry'.  When the environment is stable, meandering or static comparing today to yesterday in order to see tomorrow, is prudent.

But it ain't that way anymore, is it?  Turbulence is everywhere.  Looking aft only tells you where you've been and listening to people who measure tomorrow from yesterday is a siren call.

I follow her example and advice: let others live the normal.  Believe in what you feel as much as what you think - most of all, hear yourself.

What are you doing in your business?  Are you adding up the numbers, working harder to get more done?  Are your wheels spinning?

If you could alter anything, what would your gut tell you to change?

How Barbara Corcoran Spots Success from LinkedIn

How the New World of Work is Innovating through Representation

12/26/14

When the American colonists rejected the rule of monarchy, much of the world considered the rebellion doomed to fail. After all, the colonies were young, possessed a small army, and lived under an experimental governing structure. The disobedient rabble—the grassroots—would fall into line once the British military might come to bear. 

Well, we all know how it ended, don’t we? And it all started with those considered to be “at the bottom.”

Fast forward 250 years, and while the discussions of today’s new world of work revolve around information mobility rather than taxation without representation, this idea of grassroots movements driving change is still embedded in our culture.

Today, individuals feel comfortable reaching out directly to C-suite executives of major companies or organizing and managing global conversations and events via social media platforms. In today’s transformative digital world, people have the same access to the same information as everyone else around them – anywhere, anytime. It’s an even playing field of knowledge and accessibility that did not exist at any prior point in our history.

Merry Christmas...2014

Yes, I know, its WHAM!

This real old skool funny music stuff cracks me up.

The song came out in 1986: 24-25 years ago.

Right about the time most of the experts were just getting into MPS - right?

LOL!

Merry Christmas -

Words Of Power: The Difference Between Product and Service

When I first saw this video, I immediately recognized the difference between selling product and providing a service.  I saw it in the lady who changed his value proposition from

"I am blind. Please help." 

to

"It's a beautiful day and I can't see it."

A simple variance.  Not a lie and if anything, the purest of content; without spin and heavy in perspective.

How are you presenting your value proposition?  Are you true to you - at a deeper level - or are you simply forwarding, "We sell managed print services"?




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Xerox Sells IT Outsourcing

During a Friday announcement, French IT company Atos SE revealed it is purchasing Xerox's IT outsourcing business in a deal reportedly valued at $1.05 billion in cash.

From an October 2009 statement regarding the ACS acquisition:

"...Xerox executives say the IT outsourcing portion of the ACS buy is integral to expanding the company's BPO offerings. "The lines between document outsourcing, BPO and ITO are blurring," says Paul Hartley, Xerox's vice president of corporate business strategy. "In fact, a robust IT infrastructure is paramount if it is to serve as the backbone of a BPO operation."

“Atos is a company with whom we’ve had a long relationship in several capacities. Selling the ITO business to Atos gives our clients around the globe an expanded, world-class suite of IT capabilities that complement Xerox’s industry leading BPO and document outsourcing solutions.” said Ursula Burns, Xerox’s chairman and CEO. “This transaction is another step in our ongoing portfolio management strategy and increases our focus on those areas where we can deliver the most value and expertise to our clients”.

What does this mean?

For the trenches, not much.  In a larger sense, Xerox is now able to focus on document based BPO and Document Outsourcing.  Xerox ITO services is was part of the ACS acquisition back in 2009:

The deal looks to be good for both Xerox and Atos; opening the US IT outsourcing market to Atos and allowing Xerox to collaborate with Atos and present Document BPO services to current clients.




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The Beginning of Managed Print Services Media: 2010'ish(?)

When you hear people say things like, "We've been promoting managed print services since the very beginning..." or "Our web-services are the best because we come out of your industry..." or even "We've been there, we've sold MPS and know what you need in lead generation, keyword utilization, and PPC programs. We've been in social media from the very beginning..." remember this video.

That's Ken Stuart and me on the banks of the San Antonio, right after a thrill-packed day of MPS pioneers at Photizo II.   The attendees were a collection of "cutting edge" MPS'rs and a great time was had by all.

"I blog because I like to read what I blog..." - GW

Ken and I were there, guess who wasn't.  The crusty old guys who today consider themselves oracles of marketing.  The self-proclaimed experts of all things "managed" - from printers, users, workflow to IT services (nobody but the uninitiated refer to managed services as "managed network services") are those who mocked MPS back in 2009.

This was then. This is now.

• How is your web presence going today?  
• Do you have a solid ROI?  
• Are you transforming your business away from copiers?  
• Are you that bold?
• Then why is your presence the same as everybody else?

I've put together a constellation of luminaries primarily focused on your success.  We've sold toner, copiers, paper, printers, MPS, MS, service, EDM, and fax servers.  

Just like you, we've struggled with EAutomate, incorrect meter readings, and billing, OEM quotas, and tardy service technicians.  We understand you don't have the time to understand or worry if your web team can translate your value proposition into a solid web presence.

Behold and be regaled:

Cool links:

"FOR IT PROVIDERS: MANAGED PRINT SERVICES COULD BE THE 24TH CHROMOSOME"

"I SAW MANAGED PRINT SERVICES FUTURE AND ITS NAME IS BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN."

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