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Sunday, March 29, 2015

Never Go Out of Style: Managed print Services Inside a VAR

"You come and pick me up, no headlights
A long drive,
Could end in burning flames or paradise..." - T. Swift 
Mps Practice Managers, salespeople, BDMs, specialists, consultants, experts, evangelists, directors, principals, planning managers, and vice-presidents - I got a question for you:

If you had the chance to build an MPS practice, today, from scratch, inside a VAR,  how would you do it?

Where would you start?  Building a team? Compensation plans?  Assessment tools and DCAs?

What's your visionary statement?  Would you put together another, two-dimensional, old-school, top-down, business plan?  Really?

What about legacy accounting systems, dispatch, vendor relationships, existing BDM mentality, corporate philosophy/culture,  probes, NOC, SLAs, BDR, MS, and customer transformation off paper?  Can you lead or will past mistakes haunt you like the phantoms of Macbeth?

Inside this turbulence,  I'm sure some ask,

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Building an Managed print Services Practice: LA to Oconomowoc #MPS #copiers


By David Cameron; CEO, Cameron Consulting Group, March 27th, 2012

Greg Walters is a well-known blogger, rebel, truth-seeker, and now a consultant in the managed services field for print and IT.

This article focuses on his leadership and—at times—exasperating experiences in building an MPS practice inside a large West Coast VAR. Adding managed print services (MPS) was an uneasy fit that didn’t demonstrate its value until after Walters took over. As the MPS practice grew more than $1 million, the plan shifted and the practice was folded into the much larger managed services group to leverage common processes and resources. It is an open question whether the MPS practice will retain its edgy personality and strong growth rate as it goes mainstream as part of the VAR services portfolio.

Greg Walters took over the immature managed print services practice

Build a SuperTeam for Managed Print Services - 2013

First posted, 2013, here.

I’ve spoken to many successful managed print services providers over the past few months who have said that commitment is the key to success in MPS.

As a foundational step, I agree.

Yet to fully achieve that, organizations need a team of MPS specialists, which may either be created outright or grown organically out of necessity. Today, I outline six basic players in a successful MPS SuperTeam:

“The Hub” – This person is all-knowing, all-seeing. She understands vendor relations, sales, dispatch, warranty, invoicing, meter reads, monitoring, technicians—and can manage them all. She handles customers, runs the books and knows CRM inside and out. She works within the rules, but is not afraid to stretch them.

“The Face” – This is the internal MPS evangelist. A true believer, he sees the value of MPS in his world and in the customers’ realm. He typically does not “throw all the services against the wall” in an effort to see what sticks. He can carry an MPS conversation almost up to business process outsourcing and knows how to gracefully bring in The Knight.

“The Knight” – This team member knows more about MPS than anyone else. He understands the corporate MPS vision because he helped create it and continues to support it. The Knight could sell MPS on his own and one day just might. But he is a team player and knows his position on the field. When the practice makes money, presents a 48 percent GP/19 percent in Net Income, he credits everyone else. When the practice burns a slow, terrible, painful death he alone takes responsibility and the long walk.

“The Master Mechanic” – The ultimate technician; a tech’s tech. He knows how to handle EVERYTHING and keep the promises made by The Face. Experienced, tested and seasoned, this person is customer-centric, not afraid to learn the new technology and can dissect an old Konica blindfolded. The “Master Mechanic” can show a rookie how to install fusers or remove misfeeds. He is the rare technician. We all know one.

“The Majordomo” – This person is part of executive management and an MPS believer. He understands the impact of MPS on the entire organization in all areas: gross profit, service revenue and customer retention. This person will sell internally and run interference when ownership wants to “improve” the MPS process or assimilate the practice into the “bigger picture.” He’s a straight shooter who knows what battles to fight and how to address the King.

“The King” – This is the one person who can defy logic. It is his vision that “your” practice supports. If he feels MPS no longer fits the vision, you’re out. No matter the margin, market, or how much blood you’ve put in, it is his decision. He can say “yes” or “no” all on his own.

In my opinion, these are the primary positions. You will certainly have more than one tech, and you will engage a team of salespeople; possibly midlevel management, department heads and fellow practice managers. Your team is the core of the practice.

Contact Me

Greg Walters, Incorporated
greg@grwalters.com
262.370.4193