So, I’ve been
sitting here for what seems like an eternity, looking at a blank
screen and blinking cursor in a vain attempt to develop a
storyline for this month’s Flash Report. Both the monitor and
cursor are mocking my efforts. I’ve been to the press release
sites. I even visited our own new site (
www.PrintNewsNetwork.com
). Frankly, I’m not excited.
Then, it hit me. Maybe I’m not excited because there’s nothing
exciting happening! Look at some of the year-end reviews in the
trade magazines. Each publication tries to describe the ten most
significant events of the year. Look at January 2009. Change only
the date to January 2010. Voila! You have your new article -
unchanged except for the date.
We’re still talking about:
1. Managed print services (MPS) represent the only real area of
growth for the dealer.
2. The volume of full-color images is growing faster than their
monochrome counterparts on a percentage basis.
3. Vendor-sponsored dealer meetings have been scaled down or
eliminated – further reducing any possibility of new information.
4. Industry consolidation continues. Consider Xerox/Global,
Ricoh/Lanier/ Savin/Gestetner/IKON/ Monroe, Konica/Minolta/ Danka
and most probably Canon/Océ.
5. Dealer margins for hardware, service and supplies continue to
be squeezed.
6. Revenue per sale continues to drop.
7. The placement rates for A4 products outpace the rest of the
industry segments.
8. Industry executives continue to play musical chairs, moving
from one company to another.
9. None of the industry copier-based vendors are making money,
regardless of what they say. At best, their revenue figures are
flat. HP appears to be the exception
10. Inkjet cost per page (whether liquid or solid) continues to
drop while quality improves, making this technology a viable
alternative in the office space.
So, there are ten trends. Same trends last year and this year. I’d
venture to say, we’ll see much the same list next year as well.
Why? One reason is that we haven’t learned from the oft-repeated
quote, “Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat
it” (George Santanya). There’s something to be learned from each
of the items on this list.
For example, we’ve been beaten to a pulp over the fact that MPS is
a good thing. So, what are we doing about it? Do you have a viable
MPS strategy? How will you refresh the printer fleet? Are you
truly offering MPS or a warmed over version of facilities
management (FM) or fleet plans?
What about A4 products? Yes, margins are slim. But, consider this:
would you rather sell these products or compete with them?
Offering A4 products lets you tell your customers that “you can
now afford to copy wherever you print.” The message until now was
that “you can afford to print wherever you copy.” No doubt, every
one of your customers has a lot more places where they print than
copy. Sell into this space and earn a little less per unit, but
place a ton more product!
What about color? Have you worked out the problem of toner
consumption as coverage changes? I can’t count the number of
dealers who have been burned because their consumables cost as
part of a CPC program was greater than anticipated. Your vendor
should help you here if they expect you to help them play in this
market.
Here’s the bottom line. You can go down the list of “top” trends
and either treat them as interesting, albeit less than relevant
facts, or you can treat each of them (and others as well) as a
wakeup call encouraging you to examine every line item of your
business model and wring from it a series of new and profitable
strategies.
Lou Slawetsky, CEO
of Industry Analysts, Inc. - a marketing and management consulting
firm for the office automation industry. visit their web site –
www.industryanalysts.com.
