Why MPS Now?

Managed print services prevented customers from paying too much for devices, service, and supplies and reduced the number of machines in the field. After decades of over-purchasing copiers, companies were paying much more than they should. Paramount to the MPS process was the assessment and every assessment, if performed honestly, found devices well under recommended usage.

The MPS movement was perceived by some as anti-copier, anti-output volume, and thereby, anti-industry. As a practitioner and a champion of “30% cost reduction,” I was a pariah to “peers” and a contrarian to prospects. It was a great time.

As part of a minority movement, we had little control over the definition of managed print. Indeed, prospects, dealers, software houses, and OEMs created MPS in their likeness – which is fine – but each version was supported by an agenda and narrative: “sell more devices, toner, and software packages.” Instead of fighting the system, I pronounced the death of managed print services with hopes of a resurrection in the future.

Read the rest, here.

Ask Greg is Back

A while back, I had an "Ask Greg" column writing for Xerox around Managed print Services where folks would write in and ask all sorts of questions and I would answer.

For the past few years, I've been writing a series titled "New to Copier Sales..." for The Imaging Channel, here.

I'm bringing it back.

I know that there isn't a shortage of 'know-it-alls' out here - the cyber-world has always been populated with bloviating pontificators - I'm not looking to compete with those folks.  All I know is that for the last 20 plus years, I've been involved with sales teams selling and prospects buying.  I've been on BOTH sides of the sales table.

The process is simple.  Ask a question, I'll give you an answer. The question can be about anything: selling copiers, managed print services, uniform rental programs website design, and anything in between.  "

For example, Fred Farkel from Flint, Michigan asks, 

"Greg, I've been in copier sales for 60 days and I haven't sold a thing.  My manager is all over me to sell something, anything.  How can I turn a quick sale?  Can I do anything to get my manager off my a$$? - Fred.

My response might go something like this:

"Dear Frustrated in Flint, 

Quit.

Yours very truly, 

G"

Of course, I'm kidding. (sorta)

"Dear Frustrated in Flint,

I am sorry to hear of your challenges in the 'thumb'.(Mid-Michigan)  Sales managers like yours are the bane of our industry. Regardless,  here are some ideas your manager should have already reviewed with you:

1. Hit up all your existing clients. 
2. Check lease renewals.
3. Comb the "New business" announcements looking for live prospects.
4. Approach family and friends for leads at their place of business.

Remember, you're looking for quick transactional, turns the above ideas are short term answers in a long term game.

PS - Seriously, if your sales manager is all over you so early, keep your resume up to date.

Do you have a question?  Click here.  What have you got to lose?

"Help me, help you."

Cheers!

HP Behind UAPs/UFOs:Department of Defense

Hewlett Packard announced today the existence of HP-researched and developed UAPs commonly known as UFOs.

Throughout the 70s, HP in cooperation with PARC, worked with DARPA to reverse engineer technology not sourced from any country. 

Speaking anonymously, an HP source said, "We've been testing gravity-generating engines for years and although we've been able to lift these devices a few feet off the ground, we have no idea exactly how these machines work."

Accelerate Managed Print Services with the New Model

There is a bounce, a resurgence, a renaissance in managed print services. As the fear of Covid fades and offices around the world repopulate, albeit, by 40-60% of pre-Covid numbers, print and copy functions are grabbing temporary attention. But this uptick is fleeting and short-lived and not based on increased volumes or growing fleets of devices. Today's rekindled interest is based on managing the reduction of print and the increase of digital workflows.

Our traditional business theory of pivoting into managed IT or an adjacent niche was an idealistic idea in the MPS Model 2 (see below, Photizo) 

Today, expanding or diversifying services is less of an option and more of a survival tactic and a foundational plank of the continuing generation of Managed print Services (MpS).  

The circa 2012 model is still relevant, we just need to refocus and recognize new opportunities.

With this in mind, I've updated the model to include new innovations and directions for office technology.

Call for Speakers: UFOs, Mandela, Strings and Selling

 

Why I'm I looking for guest speakers/writers familiar with the following subjects to speak to a select group of my closest colleagues, during one of my Happy Hours?

• How could the supposed 'Mandela Effect' impact copier sales?
• Does the existence UFO/UAPs influence your prospects' buying decision?
• Is there such a thing as a "war in distance lands"?
• When strings are observed, is your sales funnel modified?

Nobody can deny the world is connected more than at any time in history.

Innovation in the Managed print Services Niche...

In most ways, the Managed Services and Managed Print channels look a lot like they did 5 years ago. 

Or do they? In this episode, we’ll explore innovation with two exceptional thought leaders on channel diversification. 

Listen in to get expert advice on how you can innovate and grow your business more while pushing back on stagnation and old thinking.

12 Aspects of Leasing a Copier - No You Can't Break a Lease

Leasing is math under contract. The dealer buys a device from distribution or manufacturer. The leasing company pays the dealer his cost, all upfront.

The leasing company bills the ultimate customer periodically until the cost of the machine to the dealer and profit is covered.  

Benefits to each player:

• Lease company - profit
• Dealer - profit all upfront
• Customer - monthly payment instead of a large, one-time outlay

Example:

A customer wishes to 'own' a large piece of equipment.  The purchase price is $20,000.00.  Instead of paying 20k all at once, the customer would like to pay over time.

The dealer would like to sell the customer equipment, installation, and software needed for the device to function.  The dealer cannot offer pay overtime to the customer directly.

The leasing company approves the client and the sale moves forward.

The Stages of Managed Print Services, 2007. The Model Still Works.

Back in the olden days, 2007 or so, I came up with three stages of managed print services.  This model was designed for my MPS practice, not necessarily for the industry, and I used it to help explain the MpS procedure to clients and co-workers.  In less than five minutes, the prospect had a basic idea of the stages, procedures, and expectations of our program.

As time went by, every OEM, MPS dealership, and software provider had their version of the MpS process. 

HP had a similar idea but the one from Photizo matched and improved upon my vision of the stages.  Photizo even came up with a more detailed approach reaching into a Fourth stage.

I'm not saying this is the ONLY managed print services model, it was mine.  There are just as many MPS models as there are definitions. All of them are good, each has shortcomings.

Ideally, I was trying to design a process that could be applied to more that managed print services like workflow solutions and business process optimization.  I figured every opportunity can be broken down into three stages, Control, Optimize, Enhance.

That makes sense, right?

Unfortunately, many of the models ended up being pure marketing as deliverables rarely matched the original plan.  Like most innovations in the industry, we first argue “it will never work for me…” then jump on the bandwagon. We then focus on price, commoditize the service into a box and accelerate the race to the bottom, dumbing down the concept and cutting pricing.

MPS became little more than automatic supplies delivery and on-site service, billed per usage.  Managed print services devolved into “managed toner delivery, at the lowest price…”

Regardless, today the industry seeks out pivot points with many players getting into managed services - something I've been a proponent of for a decade.

Naturally, because I was building an MPS practice inside a VAR, I was looking for a way to ease copier dealers into the IT realm, to include IT salespeople in the MPS equation, and fold managing output devices, business processes, and IT assets in one agreement. 

MpS deserved a screen in the N.O.C. Managed services was the future and MPS was the way to get there. 

The MPS Model.

Talking a Managed Print Services Renaissance with Greg Walters

From Carl Schell, Keypoint Intelligence.

Four quick questions about managed print services:

"The concept of managed print services (MPS) has meant a lot of different things to a lot of different people over the years, by definition and in revenue. Is it just about A4? Auto-replenishing of supplies? How deep and wide can it go? MPS has evolved to be anything a dealer wants it to be, for lack of a better way of putting it. It’s elastic, flexible. One thing we can all agree on, though, is that taking a consultative approach with customers leads to better relationships and greater financial success for all parties.

And because of that, it takes an exceptional listener to execute and deliver on managed print services. Greg Walters is that exceptional listener. While he started his career in IT, he’s been immersed in the print industry for a while now and currently finds himself working with clients on MPS deals, specifically—surprise, surprise!—A3. All of this is quite ironic seeing as, in 2008, Walters created The Death of the Copier, a website that’s still going strong."

Read the rest, here.

The Managed Print Services Renaissance is here.

"Whereof what's past is prologue; what to come,
In yours and my discharge..."

The die was cast a decade ago; the rise, fall, and rise again of managed print services was foreseen. Even as office printing wanes, and withers, we are amid a Managed Print Services (MpS) Renaissance and age of enlightenment.

"Remote work is accelerating the A4 shift at lightning speed, ransomware and bad actors heighten the need for analog backups (paper), user authentication and print tracking/control are becoming normal, and that all adds up to new ways of doing business and new opportunities to manage that print."

Those survivors stand at yet another precipice:

Do we move forward with managed print services, or do we leave it in the dustpan of history?  

How to Sell

This is great.  Start at 9:26 or listen to the entire piece.

It is the first time I've heard an academic explains how sales really work.

Give it a listen and take notes.

 

  

Click to email me.

How Will Work From Anywhere Affect Copier Sales?

I've been a work-from-anywhere person since 2009ish - I've presented from Sydney, Starbucks' parking lots, and poolside in Vegas.  I've evangelized the lifestyle from Detroit to LA to Charlotte to Oconomowoc, Wi. and points between and beyond.

So when the fear of Covid sent everybody home to work, my environment didn't skip a beat.  Remote selling, online marketing, virtual meetings, and Zoom sessions became second nature to the rest of the world. 

Welcome to my world.

As #WFH becomes standard, the powers that be will attempt to define, moderate, and ultimately fashion the model into their likeness.  That will not work.

This concept is bigger than this small tome.  Today, we'll talk about selling copiers(or anything else) in this new land of  "work from anywhere". - GW

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