The Imaging Channel

What Is Your TPO? Is It Just MPS?

This guest blog was contributed by Mike Stramaglio.

How long has it been since we all started talking to our customers about the total cost of ownership (TCO) of the equipment we sell? What a compelling way to help customers understand that it’s not just the cost of the equipment they need to consider; they also need to look at the cost of consumables and maintenance as well as the reliability of their devices. What if you apply similar thinking in evaluating your business and your TPO (total profit opportunity) by looking beyond the profit you make by selling devices and solutions to your customers?

Similar to the TCO pitch you give to your customers, you need to assess all aspects of your business with a keen eye on profitability. In last month’s blog, I recommended that you consider the information exchange that your business does outside of your MPS practice and contemplate how you link your service fleet, customer communications, industry knowledge and sales data into an integrated architecture that will empower your business to be more efficient and profitable and will enhance the value of your core product offerings while enabling expansion into new markets and opportunities. Those considerations are key elements in understanding your TPO and understanding that automation of your people, processes and technology will dramatically increase your revenue per customer and drive profitability to your bottom line.

Obviously, one way to increase your TPO is to expand your product offerings beyond MPS and move to more of a managed services focus on solutions you can provide your customers that are not print-related. Some of the key areas outside of the traditional MPS box are security, document management, “green” solutions and IT services.

With a managed services approach to security, you can increase your TPO with solutions that make customer devices, documents and workflows more secure. By the way, security is always in the top three priorities for any savvy corporate IT department. Where do you think MPS falls on that list of priorities? Corporations are also very focused on green initiatives. While it’s always great to do whatever we can to protect the environment, when I talk with CEOs, the green that they are focused on is money. With that in mind, is it any wonder that corporations are focusing on major print/paper reductions by implementing increased use of tablets and other technologies that greatly reduce the need to print? How will that trend impact your business? A great way to increase your TPO, help your customers be green and save green all at the same time is to help customers manage power consumption with solutions that can monitor and reduce usage.

We all know that one way to grow your business is to increase your company’s market share by beating your competition and adding new customers. But what about growing your TPO by increasing your footprint with your current customers? Have you ever considered helping your customers manage all of their connected technologies instead of just their printers? You already have the relationship, and you also have the core competencies required to manage assets. Why not extend your services practice to help them manage PCs, servers and cloud-based solutions? After all, the deeper you get into their business, the tighter the relationship.

Another way to dramatically increase your overall TPO is by fully automating your people, processes and the technologies you use to run your business. With the right automation in place, you can increase the efficiencies of your service techs. By providing them with tools that will allow them to receive direct communications from MFPs, such as alerts, your techs will be able to diagnose problems and take steps to resolve issues before your customer even knows there is a problem. Think of how that could significantly reduce the number of callbacks for your service techs. As you may know, 30 percent of the MFP service problems reported by customers can be resolved by simply turning the device off and restarting it. How many service calls could you avoid if you could restart the device remotely without ever having to roll a truck?

Similarly, what would it mean to your total profit opportunity if you had the ability to automatically drop-ship consumables to your customers by utilizing machine-to-machine technology that lets the MFP order consumables with no human interaction? Would that reduce your inventory either at your customer locations or your warehouse and increase your inventory turns?

With the skyrocketing cost of gas today – and they say it’s only going to get worse – managing your service fleet should be one of your highest priorities. Reducing the miles that you put on your trucks is another way to seriously impact your TPO. By implementing GPS technology with your service fleet, you’ll always be able to dispatch the closest qualified service technician and know exactly where your trucks are at all times. How much would it increase your overall TPO if you simply reduced fuel usage by 5 to 10 percent?

With all of the dramatic changes and increased costs happening in our industry, it’s no longer enough to look at ways to increase profits and revenues through the products and solutions that you sell. It’s now imperative to clearly understand where the hidden costs are in your operation while moving to increase your footprint with your current customer base by stepping outside of the MPS box and focusing on your total profit opportunity!

Contact Mike Stramaglio at mike.stramaglio@mwaintel.com.

Posted on 02/21/20120 comments

Eliminate the Pain of MPS With a Partner

This guest blog was contributed by Jennie Fisher.

There’s a services model sea change going on, and most are either wanting to get there in the future or trying to master it now. While there’s no “easy button” for changing from a hardware-focused business to a service-centric model, there are good reasons to evolve in that direction and better resources today than ever before to make it less painful.

According to our GreatAmerica Annual Dealer Study, 59 percent of respondents have implemented an MPS strategy within their business, up about 7 percent from last year. MPS was also hands down the most highly mentioned “most significant opportunity” for the coming year among our dealer respondents. Of those that have not yet implemented MPS, more than 50 percent of them plan to enter the MPS market within the next year or so. But where will they start? And who will help them get there?

Many in our industry have embraced Photizo’s Expanded Customer Adoption Model. When looking at Photizo’s four stages – 1) control the print environment, 2) optimize it, 3) enhance it and 4) converge other managed services into the equation – you can see that a different mentality is required of dealers to be successful today. Rather than going in and getting that MFP replaced, dealers have to think more holistically about their customer’s business and engage at a more strategic level.

It is also important to consider that in these changing times, businesses must do what they can to protect their market share. Under ideal circumstances when selling MPS, you’d simply go in and refresh a customer’s fleet from the get-go, but with so many other companies calling on your customers (paper companies/toner companies/VARs, etc.), it’s not that simple. It may now make more sense to go in and apply the “land grab” approach before someone else does. But a “land grab” (going in and protecting your relationship with your customer by getting all service and supplies under contract) requires a consultative sell.

Teri Dunn, a sales consultant with Print Management Solutions Group, is a big believer in the Photizo four-stage model and helps dealers sell MPS following a process that matches it. “In my opinion, having had experience in MPS since 1999, the model that should be followed is the Photizo four-stage model. Dealers can no longer subscribe to the vision of going in and refreshing equipment right away. All of the economic factors make starting with that first phase so important. Dealers need to understand the customer’s environment – deeply – so that they can actually manage the print – and then do the right thing for the customer in the refresh and optimization stage.”

But once dealers get a few customers under service and supplies contracts, they face some challenges. The administration piece can be tough to manage. Once they secure multiple accounts with multiple machines, the mounting number details associated with capturing, collecting and billing the clicks can be overwhelming. When I was talking with Dunn recently, she concurred with this observation.

“Dealers don’t always understand the headaches that can be associated with billing and collecting their service and supplies contracts. As they execute through all four stages of the Photizo model, it’s important for them to have a finance partner that can grow with them from the start. … (Dealers need) a program that can grow with a dealer throughout all of the Photizo stages, ” Dunn said.

Outsourcing the things that are not considered their core strength can help dealers get into MPS with fewer frustrations and lower costs. Getting into MPS may not be simple, but it is easier than ever before with the resources now available. From experts in service, customer support, supplies and, of course, leasing, billing and collecting, your MPS success may not be as far away as once thought.

Posted on 02/06/20121 comments

The Wild West of MPS

This guest blog was contributed by Sarah Henderson.

Last week, I traveled to the West Coast to speak on an MPS panel and participate in roundtable discussions at the Lyra Imaging Symposium. The moderator of my first roundtable started with an interesting question: “Do you believe MPS is becoming a commodity?” The topic was a hot potato tossed around among MPS leaders from all facets of the industry. The consensus, though, came down to three points that we could all agree on:

1. True MPS is not a commodity.

2. Price pressure is a reality and will continue.

3. MPS requires a different sales process.

These three points were backed by examples and insights from MPS leaders who continue to implement successful MPS programs, giving considerable weight to the opinions expressed. Before accepting these points as fact, however, it is important to understand the logic behind them.

True MPS is not a commodity

The definition of MPS has been published by the MPSA as “the active management and optimization of document output devices and related business processes.” Not one of us at the table could recite this definition from memory. But even if we could have, it doesn’t matter what we think; the only thing that matters is how providers interpret this and deliver their solutions to the end user. There was a consensus that channels such as the traditional copier dealer channel, IT VAR channel and office products dealer channel often interpret the delivery of these services based on their traditional core competencies or their own bias.

Contrary to what is commonly believed in some circles, true MPS is not an old-school CPC program with lipstick on it. Instead, MPS needs to be about uncovering customer pain points that go beyond an initial cost savings and then bringing added value beyond the initial sale. Providers must realize that just because someone says they are also providing MPS does not mean that there is an apples-to-apples comparison being made. Review SLAs, understand your competitor’s programs, and learn how to differentiate your offering.

Price pressure is a reality and will continue

As the MPS market matures and becomes more saturated with MPS providers, there is and will continue to be someone out there who is willing to place devices under contract with pricing that looks upside down. Just like in the settlement days of the western United States, some MPS providers may view capturing clicks as one large land grab. The idea of capturing clicks under contract to lock out your competition is appealing in theory, but the roundtable agreed that deals with such eroding or even upside down margins do little to offer the dealer the ability to add value beyond supplies fulfillment.

Several of us discussed past scenarios wherein we have advised dealers to simply walk away from unprofitable deals. As painful as that might sound, some providers are simply locking down clicks at no margin, and you shouldn’t lose money competing to get that business. Instead, make a note in your sales software and follow up later to make sure that customer really receives the services they thought their MPS solution would provide. The consensus at our table was that providers should stop focusing on cost savings on the initial sale as the only value proposition for MPS. Instead, look at opportunities to provide fleet optimization, green and sustainability strategies as well as business process improvement through the term of the contract.

MPS requires a different sales process

Regardless of the hardware, software or supplies, the central success factor in MPS comes down to the MPS salesperson being able to adequately present the value proposition in a way that closes the sale. We all agreed that we see the most success with dedicated MPS sales representatives at the dealership level. After you identify this sales resource, that person will need to be trained on a more consultative sales process than they may have historically followed. For instance, MPS sales training should include how to conduct assessments and quarterly reviews. But no matter how talented or trained the sales rep, the MPS providers in all channels need to develop compensation plans that drive behavior that gets results in these types of sales.

Yes, you can teach an old dog new tricks; the proof was all around our table in the form of hardware leaders now offering professional services, software companies birthed from a supplier manufacturer and suppliers building key MPS pricing infrastructure tools to make their dealers more successful.

From the wild west of MPS discussions at the Lyra show, my observations seek to help provide you some additional ammunition to move your program forward with greater success. The process of aligning the culture and business plan of your company to embrace MPS is not an easy one. This roundtable of MPS industry experts was proof that it takes time and dedication from business leadership to move forward.

Contact Sarah Henderson at shenderson@westpointproducts.com.

Posted on 02/01/20121 comments

There’s an App for That

This guest blog was contributed by Mike Stramaglio.

Who would have thought that after all of the change and innovation that the Internet has brought to our lives and businesses, Web browsing would become “old school” or mundane?

In 2011, we saw continued exponential growth in smartphones and the beginning of the era of the tablet – with Apple leading the charge and Android catching up fast. Over the holidays, I was astonished to read that more than 700,000 Android devices are activated each day, and 3.7 million Androids were activated over Christmas weekend alone!

With all of this device growth and the excitement over the next cool “app,” software development has shifted away from creating a great Web presence to creating apps; and this change point will affect our lives for many years to come. Just think of how things have changed already. No longer do you need a desktop computer to access the Web; instead, you can use your phone, your tablet, your e-reader, your laptop, your netbook, and even your car to get pertinent, on-demand information instantly. Apps allow users to get specific information on a specific device without the need to browse or search. Apple’s tagline “There’s an App for that” really says it all.

Where’s all of this going, and how will affect our industry? Well, most of us already have a persona in the cloud so that no matter which device you happen to be using, you’re already synced up with your files, music, videos, pictures, email, calendar and contacts. How convenient is that? Imagine what it will mean when the machines that we work with every day – printers, scanners, and MFPs – also have a persona in the cloud? Well, it’s already happening. When you think about machine to machine (M2M) or machine to people (M2P) technology, it’s simply leveraging the cloud and the smart devices to automatically communicate pertinent information instantly. No longer does a technician need to go onsite to diagnose a problem; instead, they can communicate with the machine directly to troubleshoot, pull the history or check the status and then, if need be, make a “smart” service call with all of the right tools and parts.

The challenge is that with all of this smart communication going on between machines and people, there is way too much information to consume. In fact there is clearly an information overload today, and it’s not going to stop anytime soon. In a study titled “Extracting Value from Chaos,” IDC predicts we will see a 50-times increase in the world’s data in the next 10 years leading to even greater information overload. In 2011 alone, they reported that 1.8 zettabytes (or 1.8 trillion gigabytes) of data was created. This is the equivalent to every U.S. citizen writing three tweets per minute for 26,976 years! This is where smart applications come in.

An app typically helps users and devices to slice and dice all of the available information and deliver precise data that is pertinent to the user or device in a particular situation. Consider the apps you use every day and how they divide all of the information that you have access to and only deliver what you want, when you want it. Whether it’s your Facebook, banking or navigation app, each one browses the Web for you, and delivers only the information that you want/need.

So, as we look to grow our businesses and make them more efficient and profitable, we need to consider where we are applying apps and how they manage information effectively in an integrated architecture. For example, most of our industry considers MPS to be an integrated printing architecture, when in fact, it’s just an app. An effective integrated architecture for our industry needs to encompass a lot more than just MPS alone. Think of all of the information exchange that your business does outside of your MPS practice. How do you integrate your service fleet, customer communications, industry knowledge and sales data into an integrated architecture that will empower your business to be more efficient, profitable and enhance the value of your core product offerings while enabling expansion into new markets and opportunities?


Simply said… there needs to be an app for that.

Contact Mike Stramaglio at mike.stramaglio@mwaintel.com.

Posted on 01/17/20121 comments

Color Compatibles’ Profit Pool: Time to Jump In?

This guest blog was contributed by Dr. David Cameron.

Toner compatibles have always been a risky proposition. The potential of a substantial profit contribution increase, typically in the range of 40 to 50 percent per cartridge, has driven both the independent resellers’ willingness to use the compatibles and the aftermarket industry’s quality and reliability improvements. In recent years, the quality of monochrome compatibles (from reputable sources) has stabilized, and their acceptance in the market has likewise grown.

However, the adoption of color compatibles has lagged, given the rise in use of color in the office. Aftermarket color represents another large source of potential profit to the independent reseller, and there is a large potential profit pool that, if successfully tapped with low risk, can further increase the profit contribution from supplies. This is of significant interest to independents and aftermarket manufacturers alike.

Currently, color compatibles are slowly moving into the mainstream. I continue to hear mixed feedback from resellers: “We used compatibles in new HP MFPs but received several customer complaints in the first week,” and “We have had return rates as high as 15 to 20 percent (for color compatibles).” Stories of failure, customer frustration and other negative impacts amount to market noise that has slowed the adoption of color compatibles. We used to call this the “FUD” effect, or the negative impact of market fear, uncertainty and doubt that slows market acceptance.

The other side of the market equation is the supply side. The aftermarket supplier that can consistently produce a reliable product and cut through the “FUD” with a clear and unequivocally strong message has huge profit to gain as well.

The rising use of color in the office (estimated at more than 20 percent and growing) fuels the interest in finding a reliable source of color compatibles. At roughly 25 percent color usage, the potential profit impact of compatibles is equivalent to that of monochrome toner. There are signs that the quality of aftermarket supplies is improving; however, convincing evidence is lacking. Color compatibles are at a crossroads with regard to market acceptance.

The question is, “Are color compatibles ready for prime time?” We would like to hear your experience in using them and which sources have proven to be the most reliable. Your input will play into a research project currently under way, supported by The Imaging Channel, to assess the potential risk/reward. Let us hear from you.

Posted on 01/09/20120 comments

From Unhappy or Unemployed to $100,000+

This guest blog was contributed by Brian Stevenson.

Why do so many employees feel trapped in their jobs these days? According to the latest survey from Right Management, an unbelievable 84 percent of employees plan to actively look for a new job in 2012 (http://www.right.com/news-and-events/press-releases/2011-press-releases/item22035.aspx). When asked why, the answers seemed to indicate a general lack of trust in management – feeling their leaders lack a strategy to grow the business and expand the opportunities of employees.

Do you fit into the significant majority? If so, or if you are already on the sidelines waiting for your next opportunity, what options will you explore in 2012? One option that might be worth a closer look is self-employment in the managed print services industry.

Step away from your current unhappiness and hang a shingle on your door. Within 30 days, you will be in a position to secure clients and grow your own business. Five years ago, the option of leaving “The Man” and becoming an instant competitor didn’t exist in our industry. However, today things have changed.

A quick FAQ on self-employment in MPS:

Q1. My customers will need a service team. How can I handle this as a one-man team?

A1. There are many independent organizations that have coverage across the USA and Canada and are fully certified on HP, Lexmark, etc. In addition, many come with triage support that far exceeds your current/previous company’s capabilities.

Q2. My customers will need supplies. How do I get access to them on my own?

A2. The options here are varied and also cover North America, providing access to both OEM and aftermarket supplies. You can also leverage an automated toner replenishment system that truly works to the level you have been promising your customers.

Q3. I don’t want to manage call dispatch and customer support. What other options are out there?

A3. There are outsourcing options that provide a fully trained call center possessing a deep knowledge of printers and MFPs. In most cases, these call centers are dedicated to print and have more training on the devices than you. It’s likely the “noise” you hear from your new customers will be significantly less than you experienced in the past.

Q4. I need to bill and collect from my customer. Are there resources that can help me with this?

A4. Absolutely, and there are some terrific leasing companies that will tailor a solution to your needs, including the option to have the leasing company provide all of the billing and collecting while still allowing you to own your customer (which is critical).

Q5. I don’t have the experience on how to accurately price out a cost-per-impression (CPI) solution for my customers. Are there tools out there that can assist me?

A5. In an effort to remove your pricing risk, you can purchase your CPI solution the exact same way that you sell it. This way, you can have total certainty about your margins before you sign your customer up in an MPS contract.

Do you see where I’m going with this? Within 30 days, you have the ability to access partners that can support all of these key requirements, often at a level much higher than your current/previous company’s capabilities allowed. So why aren’t more people doing it? I think it’s FUD: fear, uncertainty and doubt.

Fear: Can I really sell without a parachute?

Uncertainty: Can I afford the time it will take to build a business from scratch?

Doubt: Is it really that easy to set up the business and begin selling within 30 days?

Well, only you can answer the questions about your selling skills and resources. If you have a proven track record of selling and understand MPS, you may be in a good position. Let’s take a look at some assumptive data; be honest with yourself about your capabilities and forecast whether your results would be higher or lower:

This assumption is based upon:

1. Selling six new customers per year,
2. Your average CPI (service and supplies) revenue per client being $3,000 per month,
3. Your average margin being 32 percent, and
4. Hardware revenue generating $300,000 per year, with a 20 percent margin.

Based upon these assumptions, your gross margin (income) in the first year would be $94,200. While it may seem like a lot of effort to make $94,200 (and it is), you have set yourself up for an excellent second year if you continue to perform at the same level. If you repeat the same level of success in your second year, your income jumps to $162,600. By the end of the fifth year, if you have continued to perform at the same level through the first five years, you will be managing 30 customers, and your annual gross income will be over $350,000. The chart below shows the CPI trend, and if you’d like to see the detailed math, please click here: http://footprintmps.com/from-unhappy-to-$100k-.html.

MPS is called the “Get Rich Slowly” model for a reason, as the first year is challenging, but make it through, and you’re on your way to a very successful income.

Now, this isn’t for everyone, and there will be some cost and time requirements involved to successfully launch your business. However, there are people and companies that specialize in all facets of MPS, whether it’s service, supplies, call center, website design, leasing, billing and collecting or customer support. The help is out there, and it truly is easier than you think.

The barriers to entry into MPS have essentially been removed for everyone. This is why nontraditional companies have joined MPS, ranging from MSPs to DMRs (think CDW). Many of these companies will become significant competitors in the managed print space without building any MPS infrastructure of their own.

If you have the MPS knowledge, the desire to maximize your earnings and the commitment to work extremely hard for those first 24 months, the best-of-breed program you develop will compete favorably with any of your competitors selling MPS.

If you’re interested in learning more about the possibilities around launching your own MPS business, you should attend the upcoming “No Rules” MPS Workshop in Las Vegas on January 16, sponsored by the Managed Print Services Association (MPSA). It’s free for MPSA members and only $149 for nonmembers (which incidentally is the same price as a membership to join the MPSA). Many of the top reps across the country as well as leading MPS thought leaders will be there. Spaces are still available, but registration closes at the end of this week. Contact Joe Barganier at buckeyefenn@att.net to sign up.

Happy holidays, and all the best in 2012, wherever your shingle may hang.

Contact Brian Stevenson at bstevenson@footprintmps.com.

Posted on 12/15/20115 comments

Stop Selling and Start Storytelling: The Secret to Success in Winning MPS Deals

This guest blog was contributed by Robert Newry.

At a recent MPS event, the keynote speaker told an entertaining story about why only a genuine Gucci handbag, at five times the price of a good copy, would satisfy his wife. For him the physical difference was only in the stitching; for her it was the emotional value of the brand. At the time, I didn’t see much relevance in the story to our less glamorous world of office printing. Only when running a training course shortly afterward to a group of “wannabe” MPS sales professionals did I happen to refer to the “story” that a good assessment allows you to tell, and the penny dropped. To be successful in selling an MPS program, you need to be a storyteller, someone who can inspire the customer to make an emotion-based choice of competency to deliver over the cost to acquire. Telling a good story is why successful MPS salespeople, whether from small or large players, win big deals – often at higher prices too.

Given we are in the business world, the story has to be credible rather than fictional, and the skill is in constructing and communicating a compelling proposition. Yet few of the training courses out there teach us how to do this, mostly because storytelling is something we were meant to have learned in childhood. The problem has arisen out of the legacy of product selling that still permeates our industry. Although the days when selling was about functions, specifications and ending every sales call by giving the customer a brochure are fast diminishing, they have been replaced with simplified data-gathering and the customer being left with an impersonal and “templated” report. Sales managers around the world crave the standard report and automated proposal-maker – the only differentiation fast becoming the cover. For me, giving a customer an automated and statistic-driven report is like turning “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” into a description of the daily gemstone output of their mining activities! Clever observers pick up so much more from their assessment and deliver that back to the customer in a meaningful and personalized way, comforting the customer with their understanding and professionalism.

So for those who want to become the “Pied Pipers” of their territory, here are three fundamentals to get you going.

Every tale should have a twist

Any good storyteller has to grab and keep the audience’s attention. This can only be done by telling them something they didn’t already know, and the skillful storyteller will do this by releasing information slowly, hinting always of greater things to come and creating a desire in the audience to know more. The material for your storyline should come from a thorough assessment, but the data itself is not the story. I have seen some assessments where the provider believed that the customer would rate the value of the story in direct proportion to the weight of the report! The opposite is usually true. The customer is looking for insights, ministories of their own organization’s inefficiencies, not reams of charts and tables. One law firm we approached proudly told us they had a state-of-the-art document management system, yet when we walked around, we could see paper all over the place – the natural by-product of legal activity, we were told. Yet when we did the assessment, a few questions revealed that the scanning facilities on each floor were woefully inadequate, and the electronic filing structure did not cover all the requirements, so some staff members were still storing every paper record as a backup. After we told stories of blocked fire escapes and overflowing offices, the client was quick to award the next stage of the project. The trick is not simply the extent of the data gathered – rather, the way you use that data to demonstrate your competency and expertise. Toner storage cabinets become “mini Staples stores,” and discarded piles of paper by devices are “security risks.”

Visualize the value

We all know that a picture speaks a thousand words, and the best storybooks are illustrated. Yet, many of the presentations I have seen from providers trying to make their mark in MPS are static MS PowerPoint slides filled with charts and floor plans in the hope that the customer is impressed by the mono/color split or the volume by department. In a world of TouchPads and interactivity, the customer is far more impressed by a presentation that projects all the data on a floor plan, where walking distances to coffee machines can be demonstrated and user interviews as well as data can be combined with device volumes to show who are the print paupers and who are the print princes. By doing this, the customer becomes engaged in your story, and suddenly the situation is no longer a one-way delivery of statistics; instead, it’s transformed into an active discussion about the challenges and how they might be solved. In such circumstances, the good storyteller is no longer a salesperson but an advisor – someone the customer wants to listen to more and trusts now to get the job done.

Personalize the pitch

When my kids were younger, I used to regularly read them bedtime stories. The ones they liked the most were the ones where I added in different voices and tones for each of the characters. All I was doing was personalizing what was already a good story, but they loved the way this gave the story an extra edge and made it special to them. A good MPS presentation should be no different (well, you can skip the voices). Customers are comforted when you use their terms, speak about the business in their way and above all show true understanding of their environment. Taking the time to think about the data you have gathered and how that can be presented back in the most meaningful and insightful way will endear you to them. At the end of the day, what do you want your pitch to be: the cheap and cheerful paperback read in a monotone voice or the beautiful hardback (at twice the price) read with vitality?

In summary, telling a good story is what will impress the customer. But don’t go over the top. We are short-story tellers. Keep all reports to less than 10 pages and any presentation to less than 30 minutes. Go through your upcoming reports and presentations and check that they are personal, compelling and inspiring. Ask yourself each and every time: “Can I make this story any better?” If you have followed the advice above successfully, you should be on course for a happy ending and, with any luck, the customer should be asking for a signed hardback!

Contact Robert Newry at robert.newry@newfieldit.com.

Posted on 12/05/20110 comments

Print Demand-Shaping the Next Big Thing?

This guest blog was contributed by Dr. David Cameron.

In a recent DOTC blog, Greg Walters raves about the value of shaping user demand through behavior modification (BeMod) software such as PREO, Print Audit 6 and others. I know the PREO package best but believe the others are good as well. So what is new about end-user management software that is creating a buzz?

The unique value that this approach brings to the managed print services sale is the ability to change the conversation from the outset. An example of this comes from Peggy X (for privacy), the sales manager for Reliable Technologies, when she called to get an appointment with the CFO at a regional bank. She said, “Talking about the benefits of the BeMod software to improve staff productivity (Preo, in this case) made all the difference. The executive told me that this was a different approach and he was interested in hearing more about how it could help them save money and operate more efficiently.” She got the appointment and a new opportunity.

BeMod software changes the conversation. Now you are talking about understanding the print environment from a user point of view. Devices remain important to enable the business processes but are secondary. The point is making the office staff more productive and achieving more efficient use of printing technology. As Justin West, MPS manager at Nationwide said during a recent seminar, “The user is everything.” He believes that giving the user information often enables them to work more productivity, and BeMod software fits that bill.

If you are not familiar with this type of product, check out the websites or call them. There are unique differences between them that, in my opinion, center on whether it is a user-managed solution that applies to a single business or is a dealer-managed solution that can look across your portfolio of business. This extends the idea of BeMod software to enable resellers to manage all aspects of the print environment. All packages of this type offer monitoring of user behavior – i.e., who is printing what, when, for which application, etc. However, end-user management software adds a new dimension to the MPS services model that is worth looking at.

Demand-shaping is affected through the end-user feedback system. The value of the approach is well documented and can pay back the investment in a ridiculously short time – i.e., typically in months instead of years. The theory is that informing users of print choices based on cost, environmental impact and other factors will positively affect their behavior. It works. Again, there are differences between solutions, some offering redirection of print jobs to lower-cost devices and others advising the user of more efficient printing means. I favor the gentler approach, which seems less disruptive to the working staff, but the other arguments have merit as well.

The downstream benefit to the reseller of end-user management software is in the quarterly business review, again changing the conversation to focus on office staff productivity. Again, the conversation shifts from device movement, changes, additions, deletions and volumes to printing activity by department, group or individual. The questions now focus on whether the technology is right for a functional group based on demand and need. This seems closer to businesses’ interest in productivity and efficient use of technology to get work done.

Is it the next “big thing”? Good question. I think anything that changes the conversation, helps you get the next appointment and offers sustained value across the engagement and life of the contract is an important differentiator. I suggest that you take another look at the BeMod software offerings and see how you can use it to gain an edge in your next sale.

Posted on 11/15/20112 comments

Death of the Hype?

This guest blog was contributed by Brian Stevenson.

It’s great to be here this week as a guest blogger – my first with The Imaging Channel.

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but everywhere I look, it’s doom and gloom hitting our industry: the death of this and that, iPads ruling the world, HP imploding, more printer consolidation happening. Is the new device “ratio” 100:1 yet?

With all of this hype, I’m a bit shocked we’re still here. Then I found this post from IDC suggesting printed pages are expected to grow slightly over the coming few years. Interesting.

Change is absolutely occurring … but has been for years. Businesses have shifted from “print and distribute” to “distribute and print.” Advances in technology have allowed software to play a further role in reducing waste – no pages left orphaned at the printer, no duplicate printing of a document. Today, business process optimization (BPO) is becoming a focus for many companies as they seek efficiencies and cost savings.

So is it the end, or are we simply moving into an era of intelligent printing?

There is no doubt the emergence of the tablet and other forms of technology will pick up a larger percentage of the images. Don’t be scared by this change; embrace it. See it as an opportunity to shift your company from being in the print business to being in the “image presentment” business. You have adapted in the past, whether it was the move from analog to digital or the more recent transition to MPS, and the future won’t be any different. As the industry moves forward, you will still need to anticipate the evolution of technology, and being a true advisor and partner to your customers will become critical to your future success.

At some point, the vast majority of images will be presented on something other than paper. However, with the amount of information being consumed still doubling every 24 months, it’s safe to assume that printed pages will continue to be relevant through our working lifetime and beyond.

Take a look at another industry: energy – or more specifically, electricity. When looking at the alternatives for powering our planet, many would argue that a cleaner, renewable resource like the sun or wind would be preferred over coal, the leading culprit of CO2 pollution. However, the world sees coal production increasing through 2030, albeit at a slower growth rate to virtually all other energy alternatives.

The challenge with paralleling print and energy could be as much political as it is cultural. However, the reality is that an overnight move away from coal isn’t possible, nor is it good for everyone. Same goes for paper. Technologies now exist that provide various new methods for presenting images, and that’s good. But let’s not forget that paper is still the preferred viewing method for the significant majority of the population and will continue to be so for decades to come.

There are many that forecast coal will be relevant for another 223 years. Is it possible that paper will too? I believe it’s time to announce the Death of the Hype.

Contact Brian Stevenson at bstevenson@footprintmps.com.

Posted on 11/07/20111 comments

Stop Leaving Money on the Table!

This guest blog was contributed by Tim Brien.

According to a recent article in MSP Mentor, only 20 percent of the top 100 managed service providers currently offer managed print services (MPS). That fact reveals two things: 1) There is limited awareness among MSPs about the unique advantages and revenue-generating opportunities inherent in including managed print as part of their suite of services, and 2) there is plenty of room – and tremendous opportunity – for MSPs to establish themselves and stake their claim within the MPS arena.

The integration of MPS into key market segments is still gaining strength, and MSPs have much to gain by offering managed print. What MSPs should understand is that all channel segments are looking to get into MPS – copier dealers, hardware and consumable distributors, DMRs and retailers, to name a few. The competition is rapidly increasing, and the window of opportunity is limited, so don’t get left behind.

Why the hesitation, then? In order to get into MPS, IT VARs have traditionally had to augment their existing infrastructure to manage print solutions. In order to be properly equipped to provide this type of support, MSPs must identify the gaps in their current capabilities to deliver managed print and measure the expenses associated with procuring these capabilities versus the resulting ROI. The good news is this: With today’s rapid convergence of the MSP and MPS markets, the availability of turnkey service solutions and complete MPS business models that can simply build onto your existing infrastructure are rapidly becoming available to MSPs with little to no upfront investment costs.

There are a number of MPS solutions featuring a broad range of offerings from which to choose. A cloud-based solution (such as OKI’s Total Managed Print (TMP), for example) provides a cost-effective, complete MPS business model that can also be utilized at the individual component level to augment the MSP portfolio of IT offerings. This type of flexible, modular solution gives MSPs a unique and competitive edge by providing a wave of new opportunities for developing both immediate and long-term, recurring revenue streams while maximizing workflow efficiencies for their customers.

I speak at tradeshows and conferences regularly about improving the managed services environment through innovative software solutions and services. Some of the feedback I receive is that managing printers, copiers and document output seems like a lot of work and expense with minimal associated profit. I couldn’t disagree more.

Managed print solutions provide partners with the means to increase margins and revenue streams quickly while generating real and quantifiable savings for their customers. It’s truly a win-win situation. By partnering with the right vendor that can provide an end-to-end solution, the heavy lifting has already been done. All you need to do is help your customers save money and maximize efficiencies through the provision of print management and optimization services.

Twenty percent is quite a small percentage, but I view this number as a challenge, in that it’s imperative to present the remaining 80 percent of top MSPs with the compelling story that if they’re not offering MPS as part of their overall service offerings, they’re leaving money on the table – money that their competitors will gladly pick up. Consider these statistics:

· MPS revenue globally was nearly $31.6 billion in 2010 and is projected to exceed $68 billion by 2014.

· For MSPs, inclusion of managed print solutions will help boost revenues by 20 percent or more while driving markups of 50 percent – all with minimal effort and no added costs or infrastructure.

One final statistic: MSPs will miss out on 100 percent of the benefits of MPS if they continue to hesitate in committing to this cost-effective, revenue-generating, easy-to-use solution. Why wait? Act now and quit leaving money on the table!

Contact Tim Brien at tim.brien@okidata.com.

Posted on 10/24/20110 comments

Overcoming the Hurdles of MPS Pricing

This guest blog was contributed by Sarah Henderson.

Of the life lessons I learned in athletics, one that still remains with me as an adult was my experience learning to jump hurdles in track and field. My coach knew I had the jumping ability, taught me a proper approach and reminded me before that first race to just count my steps and have faith I could do it. But seeing those wooden planks in front of me at the starting line caused me to freeze up and overthink the race.

I have observed a similar reaction in our industry as the MPS team at West Point Products works with dealers to implement managed print services (MPS). Dealers in multiple channels understand the value proposition, have a business plan, hire and train talented sales staff, identify key industry partners and get excited about booking business, and yet we still see many dealers’ MPS programs stall or not experience the traction desired.

A hurdle to overcome in successfully implementing and growing MPS is finding a consistent and accurate way to calculate pricing. Two of the most common questions we field from dealers are “How do I price these deals?” and “How do I know I am profitable?” These questions come back to a common denominator: understanding the total cost of ownership (TCO) of the fleet of equipment dealers are going to place under contract.

In order to understand TCO, a dealer must take the time to get a clear understanding of the customer’s current print environment costs. This should include equipment (both purchased and leased), consumables such as toner and ink, service costs (both internal and outsourced) and other miscellaneous expenses. In many MPS engagements, the dealer will be taking equipment under contract that they are not experienced in providing service for. This creates a dilemma for dealers new to MPS regarding how to calculate TCO.

As you might expect, some approaches are better than others and will lead to more success. Here is a quick review of just a few options we have seen in practice:

The “Leap of Faith”

For dealers who were early adopters of MPS, there was a time period in which many innovators simply forged forward with contracts on faith. Through trial and error, dealers honed best practices for pricing MPS by gaining a more complete understanding of their own service burdens and their comfort level with the type of equipment they would be willing to put under contract. The results were sometimes deals that had to be reworked midcontract, deals that ended up losing the dealer money, or deals that were not as profitable as originally expected. These mistakes helped dealers better hone their internal pricing practices as a best-case scenario or, in some cases, resulted in dealers determining that MPS wasn’t right for them. The worst-case scenario, of course, was that the deals would prove to be devastating to the dealer. Fortunately, this dealer discomfort also resulted in some companies working to provide more turnkey solutions that established as many predictable pricing components as possible.

The “Spreadsheet Matrix”

Many dealers have an MPS spreadsheet they maintain to help them calculate TCO. Some of these are homegrown or developed by industry trainers and can be helpful as you work to visualize the fleets. The challenge of these spreadsheets is they can require dealers to manually update supply costs from their suppliers of choice. In addition, dealers also need to either manually calculate their service burden based on their own historical service performance or by applying data they obtain from a third-party provider.

For some dealers who use this approach, the result may be that they focus on a limited number of models of printers or equipment choices they prefer to place under contract. The maintenance of these spreadsheets will also result in administrative expense to the program. The manual entry required also adds additional staff time during the assessment phase and can draw out the sales process. For dealers who desire to launch MPS without having to immediately add headcount, this approach may cause frustration with salespeople who prefer to sell rather than enter data into a spreadsheet. It is difficult to blame good salespeople for that.

The “Calculator”

As the pricing challenge continues to dominate MPS discussions, industry partners have stepped forward to offer a variety of pricing tools or calculators to assist dealers. Dealers need to evaluate these tools to determine if they will produce the results they are looking for. A comprehensive TCO tool will offer you time savings by importing your fleet data directly from the remote monitoring software. It should also give you flexibility in adjusting current costs by device type, shifting volumes to new equipment you may wish to add and calculating your desired cost per page within a proposal or sales support documents of your choice. But beyond that, your calculator should offer you the most accurate service costs possible that are specific to the device model/type. Look for calculators that prepopulate consumable pricing from your supplier and also offer flexibility if you need to place something different due to a unique customer requirement. The right TCO tool will eliminate the need to maintain your own pricing spreadsheets and will also reduce your risk in pricing by providing you accurate servicing based on industry standards or your own dealer statistics.

If nothing else, dealers should at least consider what tools are available to them before completely abandoning the MPS business model. Dealers should seek out the right partners to assist them moving forward rather than dismissing the model as being too difficult to execute. Without a doubt, MPS can be an intimidating program to get off the ground, but the right tools and coaching can make the transition much easier. I still have a faint scar on my right knee from that fateful track meet where I failed to clear the first hurdle and met the cinder surface in an ungraceful fall. But I got up and finished the race. Afterward, I sat with my coach bandaging my knee, and the advice he gave me then I’ve found still holds true today – even for those in MPS: “You know you can be successful, so learn new approaches and get back out there.”

Contact Sarah Henderson at shenderson@westpointproducts.com.

Posted on 10/06/20110 comments

Need to Complete your “Technology Pie”? Piece of Cake!

This guest blog was contributed by Tim Brien

Not all IT service providers deliver complete end-to-end technology support and services – especially if you have limited resources and increased responsibilities. Like many within this space, you may still believe that outsourcing these may be too costly, too time consuming or not provide sufficient profitability for your business. This couldn't be further from the truth, as the addition of managed print services (MPS) can easily expand your penetration within existing accounts, increase customer satisfaction and retention, create new opportunities for recurring revenue streams, and mitigate the risk of competition through longer-term contracts.

What is managed print services?

Managed print services is the active management and optimization of document output devices and related business processes. For managed service providers (MSPs) and managed print providers (MPP) alike, managed print services (MPS) is the last piece of the network “technology pie” to be addressed, although the opportunities within MPS are substantial.

For MSPs, inclusion of managed print solutions will help you boost revenues by 20 percent or more while driving markups of 50 percent with minimal effort and little to no added costs or infrastructure. And the growth potential is remarkable – in 2010, global MPS revenues exceeded $31.5 billion. By 2014, that number is projected to reach more than $68 billion, with 54 percent of MPS revenue generated by small to medium-size businesses. Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it?

The growth drivers for MPS are resulting from the convergence of the MSP and the MPP into the same space. Through the implementation of managed print services, MSP partners can realize the benefits highlighted above (Increased revenue, profit and customer retention), and their customers realize significant savings, achieve predictable monthly expenditures while consolidating the number of vendors they have to deal with.

Where do I begin?

There are many MPS offerings in today’s marketplace from which to choose. Finding one that fits into your organization’s current business model and will support your emerging needs is key to your success. It is essential to have an end-to-end, TMP solution that is both turnkey as well as modular, will automate those processes currently being performed manually, is brand and device independent in its analysis and recommendations, and provides for continuous optimization of the client’s environment.

Integration of a MPS program will enable partners to offer a variety of value-added services and proactive solutions to meet the critical challenges that customers are faced with. Together, partners and their customers will forge a long-term and mutually beneficial relationship based on a single MPS platform.

But with these opportunities come additional challenges, namely infrastructure, resources and timing. In order to become a MPS provider, you will need the following: a data capture and assessment tool, a billing system, remote monitoring capabilities, seamless integration into your existing business processes, and, ideally, a national service and support network with the ability to provide automated supplies fulfillment and support for mixed fleets. Easy, right? It can be.

For those organizations that “get it” and desire to enter the MPS arena, the question is not “why?” but “how?” How in the world are we going to develop or acquire all these systems, tools, services and resources; compile all this research and data; and train our sales and administrative staff to handle it all? How long is it going to take us to get this done, and what is it going to cost? The task seems daunting and more than a bit overwhelming, I realize, but it doesn’t have to be.

Ah-ha!

I speak at MPS conferences regularly and meet individuals representing companies probably not unlike your own. Their “ah-ha” moment usually comes when I advise them that there are turnkey managed print services solutions available in the market today and, thankfully, all of the “heavy lifting” has already been done for you.

Such a moment came recently for a MSP organization from California. I was participating in a panel at a conference in Florida just a few months ago. Two colleagues were attending the session; both were curious about managed print services but were reluctant to engage in the process due to (1) uncertainty about their ability to service customers in that capacity, and (2) concern about the costs, in terms of labor and finances, associated with doing so.

As part of my presentation and the panel discussion at this event, I stated, “If you’re providing only one piece of the technology pie to your customers, not only are you leaving money on the table but you are doing your customers a tremendous disservice.”

I went on to describe how MPS is the solution for providing a more comprehensive and holistic suite of services to your customers, and that by doing so, companies will realize immediate and long-term revenue streams. Furthermore, I assured the attendees that if they were not inclined to move toward this business model, their competition surely is. That was their “ah-ha” moment.

Following the presentation, we spoke off-line, and they began providing managed print services to their existing clients – both large and small. With little investment in terms of training and resources, they began implementing the OKI Total Managed Print MPS solution, and within a very short period of time, realized immediate rewards – not only in terms of increased margins and revenue for themselves but also in terms of real and quantifiable savings for their customers. It was a win-win situation born of an “ah-ha” moment just 30 days beforehand.

So if you’re not offering managed print services, you’re missing an important piece of the pie.

Contact Tim Brien at tim.brien@okidata.com.

Posted on 09/26/20110 comments

Search Engine Optimization FAQs

This guest blog was contributed by John Pulley.

Why does your website need ongoing optimization?

If you’re like the majority of business owners, your inbox is inundated with numerous messages promising to make your website appear on the front page of Google. In this day and age of online marketing, most of us realize the inherent value of being on Google’s front page for our businesses and sales opportunities. There must be something going around the viral circuit, because I’ve been asked by numerous business owners, “Once we get to the top of the searches, why would we need to continue doing ongoing SEO?” – a valid question for those who are not acquainted with all that is involved with getting that ranking. For those of you who may not understand much about SEO, my hope is that this will be a good primer for you as you move into or are already actively working on your website’s SEO.

There are a multitude of factors involved in getting to the top of search engine rankings, and below you will find a few of the many factors that play a part in your need for ongoing SEO.

Being No. 1 means you took it from your competitor

Kudos to you for your accomplishment! Today’s knowledgeable business owners know that being on the top of search engine pages is vital for getting to new prospects who are no longer using the Yellow Pages to find vendors. Think about the last time you did a search online. Did you choose a vendor from Page 4 to get information from? Most likely no. The majority of surfers click on someone from the first page of their search. So now you’ve knocked off your competitor, but you can bet that they are going to do all they can to get back there – knowing that that position will gain them new business opportunities.

People search many different terms to find information

If prospects all used the exact combination of words to find your products and services, you would be able to capture an incredible source of leads. However, we know that different people search in different ways to get to you. For instance, some people may search for “Atlanta copiers” while another group may search for “copiers Atlanta” … not to mention the use of “MFP,” “MFPs,” “copy machines,” and the list goes on and on.

Having a Google-certified SEO expert to determine the most-searched-for terms in your specific cities, counties or states will be key for maximizing your reach online. Expert tools allow you to know all the terms that are related to “managed print services” and how many prospects have searched for them. For instance, some areas may search for “printer management” more often than “managed print services.” Like knowing where the fish are biting and dropping your hook and bait where they will bite, having insight into what keywords the majority of online searchers are using will allow you the greatest chance of successfully getting your business onto their screens.

Getting to the top of multiple searches must be an integral part of your SEO strategy. Getting there for one term will not suffice as a legitimate marketing tactic.

Tags, titles and descriptions

Another reason ongoing work is necessary is because there’s value in keeping up with not only what is being searched for but also assuring that those terms are appearing in appropriate locations on your website. Knowing, as they say, is half the battle. The other half involves the correct placement of terms in the content management system of your website. Like the blueprint of a home, your content, tags, titles and descriptions let search engines connect the terms searched for with the information in the front and back ends of your sites.

Search engine algorithms are constantly changing

The algorithms used by search engines are always changing and being tweaked. What worked last year, or even last week, may not work now. There was a good article written by Rand Fishkin about the changes in rankings factors and their value to getting on the first page. Click here to read more.

You may have noticed in the last few months that Google Places now appear in almost all of your searches. This alone created quite a buzz among those of us working in the industry, as they not only break up the results but also have a completely different set of rules for how to place there.

Without constantly tracking changes like this and aggressively altering your strategy, you’ll likely lose your No. 1 position in the rankings. Corey Smith wrote an article last year that explains a bit more on this subject. Click here to read his article.

Link building strategies

Search engines rely on links to find new and relevant Web pages. They will crawl every page of a website and index that site as well as the links that it contains to see where those links lead. The more links to your site that are found online, the more your site gains relevancy in the eyes of search engines. That being said, getting your links on many websites is tricky business. Search engines are very critical of the types of links you have coming in. Topical and authoritative sites linking to your website gain you much traction, while links on sites that are not relevant can cause your ranking to slide.

Many, many more factors must be attended to

Your website’s architecture, bounce rate, headers, site speed, URLs, fresh content as well as negative factors such as poor content, excessive use of keywords, hidden or cloaking spam, and many more factors must all be evaluated and held in a precarious balance to achieve and maintain successful rankings online.

Contact John Pulley at jpulley@dealermarketingsystems.com.

Posted on 09/20/20110 comments

The Value of Brand Equity in Your Consumables Business

This guest blog was contributed by Luke Goldberg

In the 20 years that I have been in the aftermarket imaging supplies business, I find it remarkable that so few manufacturers and distributors on a national or international level took on a branding strategy. Ironically, it is the smaller, presumably less technically capable regional players who typically put their reputations on the line when they put their brand name on their boxes.

There are a number of factors that have precipitated this lack of true branding in the imaging aftermarket, most of which stem from a fundamental lack of confidence in the quality of the product. In the early days of the toner/ink remanufacturing business, poor quality was combined with horribly ugly packaging that screamed inferiority loud and clear to prospective users. It was the proverbial white box with a toner handprint or ink fingerprint bearing no name to signal the maker of the product. Over time, the packaging improved and the quality along with it (at least to some extent), but still, there were no real brands to speak of.

There is no question that the preponderance of pseudo-brands we see in the market from manufacturers and distributors alike is a result of still lingering doubts regarding quality. If you mess up with a pseudo-brand, you might have another shot with a different product. If you are a manufacturer, your name is on the box, and the product fails, that user will never take a chance on that item again. This creates for the intrepid few manufacturers who have boldly branded their products – a self-correcting mechanism that requires quality and consistency for success.

If you support a brand from a quality company, you then know what you are getting each and every time versus the pseudo-brands, where you can encounter the “cartridge of the day” scenario. It is inherently impossible to engender consistency with your consumables when you never really understand what is in the box, who made it, and where it comes from.

In addition, in today’s business climate, which is wrought with IP challenges from OEMs, it is incumbent on you to know if the product in those boxes is respecting OEM IP. Again, if you don’t know who is making it, you might be unwittingly supporting products that are not protected by our industry’s legal right to repair.

Lastly, if you do opt to support a brand, the maker of that brand owes it to you as a partner to help support it with marketing support, videos, co-op dollars, etc. It really isn’t arguable that brands carry more value and connote a better user experience than generic products. If this wasn’t true, then the biggest companies in the world would be out of business.

Hitch your wagon to a company who believes strongly enough in the product it makes or sells to put its name on it. It is hard to believe that any business selling toner either within an MPS program (where roughly 75 to 80 percent of the CPP originates from consumables) or transactionally (where everything is based on repeat business) would invest so little time into understanding whom and where its products are made. You owe it to yourselves and your customers to do more homework because not all toners are the same, and quality isn’t an assumed benefit. A brand isn’t a guarantee of quality, but at least it creates a mutually synergistic relationship in which you win or lose together.

Contact Luke at lukeg@mse.com.

Posted on 09/12/20110 comments

Why Customers Don’t Buy

This guest blog was contributed by David Cameron

Relevant market insight is priceless and can come from unexpected sources.

“Our greatest competitors are not other restaurants, but TV sets,” said Governor Hickenlooper of Colorado, the former owner of a successful chain of brewpubs [George Will, Washington Post, 09/01/2011]. He had the foresight to open a restaurant in downtown Denver when it was not the “place to be.” His keen market insight led to placing advertising for other restaurants inside his pubs to build downtown customer traffic.

Applying this idea to the managed print services (MPS) market, we know that MPS penetration, particularly in the SMB market, is still relatively low, less than 30 percent. Asking the same question — “why aren’t customers buying?” — yields insight about this market, too.

Why don’t many CFOs and CIOs buy MPS?

Reasons for reluctance to purchase, which are supported by end-user buying behavior research and numerous executive interviews, include:

• They are not aware of it – Photizo Group end-user studies show that executive awareness is up. However, there is a difference in awareness and really understanding the benefits and value. How many customers do you call on that haven’t heard of MPS already?
• MPS is not a top IT priority – CIOs indicate that it is not one of their top priorities. (fourth or higher). Why don’t they recognize the value that MPS can bring? Maybe they don’t believe it.
• Economy is down, budgets are constrained – only the most important IT projects are funded. But hey, can’t MPS save them money? Why don’t they get this?
• Easier to do nothing – despite rising awareness many executives don’t see a reason to change. This is the big unnamed competitor, i.e., the TV comfort zone, for this industry. Executives need to understand the value to their business is real and immediate. How can we make this meaningful to them?
• Feeling oversold on equipment – this is an unfortunate hangover from aggressive sales. I don’t know how prevalent this issue is but I hear it mentioned by channel executives. Also, it may be exacerbated by the rush to gain savings through a consolidation strategy.
• Sounds too good to be true – that must be an awkward moment with the customer. Why do they feel that an offering is not believable? Is this a case of overselling?

This list suggests that new customers are not convinced of the value and benefits in an MPS offering. More succinctly, they haven’t been convinced that it can help their business in the short term to save money, improve productivity, protect the environment and simplify their lives. There is also an undertone of trust issues, particularly the oversold and blatant disbelief concerns.

A go-to market strategy is needed to overcome objections and unspoken concerns. Key messages and actions must focus on demonstrating value, benefits and trust. The customers’ objections need to be put on the table and addressed fairly. This also can be touched on by marketing material, but executive concerns must be identified, aired out and overcome. How can you build their confidence that you offer differentiated value that is real and can be realized now?

Marketing and sales messaging must deal with the customer’s interests and concerns.

• Demonstrate how MPS can save them money in the short term. Perhaps start with what it has saved for others in their industry, in their city or by their peers.
• Minimize the upfront costs to start the contract. Kevin Morris, president of OneDOC, tries to keep the cost of startup low. Not only does this make good sense, but it also builds the customer’s confidence that you are a trusted partner.
• Show how MPS savings can fund other IT projects. In a tight economy the CIO’s budget is probably constrained and showing a way to stretch the budget will get attention.
• The trust issues are more difficult to address quickly. Suggestions are to start small, repeatedly demonstrate value and creativity in helping solve their problems. It is important to smoke out their objections and concerns. Dealing with them fairly and honestly will help build their confidence that you will treat them fairly, too. This one will take time.

Market adoption of MPS in the channel is still low. There is a large group of customers that want to be convinced that the value is real. Also they are most likely to believe it from someone they trust. Now is the time to show how they can directly benefit from MPS to fund higher priority IT budgets and offload the “distractions” of printer calls. In the process of demonstrating value you will need to deal effectively with their concerns and overcome their reluctance.

Contact David Cameron at david.cameron@ccg1.net.

Posted on 09/06/20112 comments