MPS converts
unknown variable costs into known fixed costs, reduces help desk
calls, eliminates multiple vendor and department involvement tied
to supporting the fleet, reduces hardware downtime and efficiently
controls the printer supplies. The result is freed up IT
resources, elimination of the need for a company to inventory
printer supplies, extension of the useful life of the fleet and an
improvement in end user satisfaction.
Today, most companies have undocumented and/or fragmented budget
costs for printing and imaging, which tends to occur when IT,
Purchasing and Facilities rely on multiple vendors for their
printing assets and multiple manufacturers for their hardware
needs. They receive multiple invoices per month for consumables
and services, and the IT staff, which is increasingly understaffed
and over tasked in these tough economic times, is tied up in
non-value-added maintenance tasks.
When prospecting for MPS opportunities, you focus on an
understanding of the existing environment and seek agreement from
the prospect of the inefficiencies and problems they currently
face with managing their printer fleet. The value proposition we
teach focuses on the advantages of managed print services and how
with an effective MPS provider the pain-points will be addressed.
You also are focused on validating the ability of the party you
are meeting in effecting and approving change within their
organization. Without this it is pointless to move to the next
phase, the assessment.
This article assumes you have, at this point, gained support of a
decision making executive (at SD we call this person your
“advocate with juice” or your “champion”) and have agreement from
that executive on the pain-points of an unmanaged output fleet.
With your advocate in place and agreed upon pain-points, you have
built your business case for moving forward with the assessment
phase of the sales process…and here is where it all goes wrong.
The mistakes I see frequently by managed print specialists when
conducting assessments and the reasons for their low close ratios
on contracts are:
1. They want to use a non-disclosure before doing an assessment.
If you have an advocate with juice and have built your business
case through pain, why would you put an obstacle in place for
getting the assessment completed?
2. They take on doing an assessment for the 200+ printer
installation with their largest customer first. There is a
learning curve involved, so learn on the smaller installations and
work your new process for service and back office operations
3. They believe by using only a Data Collection Agent – (DCA) they
will collect the data faster and more accurately.
4. They believe DCA software will give them 100% of the
information needed to create a financial proposal. With today’s
technology you should expect the software to identify 80-90
percent percent of the prospect’s networked printers.
5. They miss key data by not conducting an effective walkthrough
of the prospects environment. A walkthrough of the facilities
helps identify connected printers not scanned by the key, local
printers, the remaining imaging and print devices such as faxes
and stand alone copiers and looks for redundancy in technology
i.e. printers, faxes, scanners and copiers all in the same
workroom or office location. It also allows you to talk to end
users about how they use the printers in their area and where they
store their “local” supplies.
6. This isn’t a slam on software companies, my point is, the
software is a tool but isn’t a replacement for doing the
walkthrough.
The points mentioned happen all too often and are the result of
the specialists either overcomplicating or trying to simplifying
the process by skipping the walkthrough and missing key data
necessary to ensure a high close ratio on contracts. Remember the
key goal of MPS is to manage then optimize your prospect’s imaging
and printing environment, and to balance cost, ratio of employees
to assets, and technology.
It is critical to assess the entire imaging and printing fleet,
not just the printers, but many specialists lose sight of that and
focus on desktops only. This speaks to the level of detail you
need in your walkthrough. In an initial walkthrough assessment of
an imaging and printing fleet of 50 to 60 assets it will take
between 90 to 120 minutes to complete, and there are variables
like the level of security and the layout of a building, but this
time is an average. You want to identify all scanners, fax units,
copiers, data center printers, digital duplicators, etc. within
the company.
Let’s quickly identify the tools to conduct the assessment and an
effective walkthrough to identify their imaging and printing
environment.
1. Rapid assessment key (RAK) or data collection agent (DCA)
2. Guide to pulling a device’s meter count: if you don’t have a
guide, participate in the BTA MPS Sales Workshop and you will
receive one as part of the materials distributed at the end of
program.
3. Digital camera or cell phone with camera: this data is very
effective in communicating their situation when you get to the
financial proposal. Visuals help communicate the story to everyone
involved, from finance to facilities to IT.
4. If available, the prospect’s floor plan: this is not a
necessity but is nice to have. Office layouts are typically
hanging by every emergency exit and can be copied with the
permission of your “advocate with juice.”
At the conclusion of your assessment process you should have all
the data you need to work through a strategy with the prospect and
create a compelling proposal for closing the contract.
You want to close more MPS contracts? Ensure your specialists know
how to conduct highly detailed assessments. Don’t allow them to
overcomplicate or simplify the process; be thorough but flexible
as each situation will be slightly different. And remember, it
will be impossible for anyone to justify MPS on a Total Cost of
Ownership (TCO) basis without the necessary information, so you
have to work hard to get it.
David C. Ramos is a consultant with Strategy Development, a
management consulting firm specializing in sales strategy and
process, advanced sales training, performance improvement
strategies, ( www.strategydevelopment.org ). David has over 14
years of experience in the imaging industry as a top producing
business development and management professional, holding
positions in the U.S. as well as Mexico. David’s career
experience spans from working for Xerox Corporation to IKON Office
Solutions, where he held various positions of increasing
responsibility including director of sales with responsibility for
8 sales managers and over 70 sales reps. David also worked at
IKON University as a senior trainer and co-developed IKON’s sales
training program. David offers experience in training and
development, selling leading edge technologies, strategic
marketing, and key account management in US and foreign markets
and can be contacted at
ramos@strategydevelopment.org.
