Printing Business Solutions  As part of ENX Magazine’s ongoing series of interviews with dealers who are sharing their MPS experiences, I spoke with President and Owner Chris Bartnick and Sales Manager Corbin Dooley of Printing & Business Solutions in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Also joining us in the conversation was Jeff Rosseth, OKI Data Americas Strategic Account Manager and Jackie Paralis, Senior Marketing Manager for Channel Development, OKI Data Americas. PBS began in 1949 as a seller of Graphic Art Products. Christopher Bartnick purchased the company in 1997 and renamed it Printing & Business Solutions. “It was the time when the paperless office concept was gaining momentum. PBS began selling and servicing digital duplicators, copiers and fax in addition to network administration. My goal was to maximize the number of services and products we could sell to our current client base. It is always more cost effective to expand the business we were doing with our current customers than to find new ones. Chris Bartnick President/Owner of PBS “A couple of years ago I started actively looking for an OEM vendor who could provide all the needed print and imaging equipment, software application and utilities for a Managed Print Services with the knowledge to seamlessly partner with PBS. As a small, privately owned corporation, I did not have the ability to invest thousands of dollars into software applications, back office integration and resource training with which to launch a full-scale MPS program from scratch. I realized the necessity of finding an OEM vendor who could provide a comprehensive suite of services, support and equipment without huge start-up costs.” Chris Bartnick continues, “After a year of research I realized I was most impressed by the new OKI Printing Solutions equipment offerings and their newly released Total Managed Print™ program offered by OKI Data Americas, Inc. Their fully featured MPS program is totally web-based. No software investment is required and no up-front costs are incurred. No special administrative staff training was necessary. Total Managed Print™ actually simplified our administrative duties. The process of capturing and counting the clicks made on the equipment that was covered by our MPS agreement was completely automated. Our billing process became a seamless extension of the Total Managed Print™ web-based system.”                                                                                             Corbin Dooley                                                                                 Sales Manager of PBS PBS Sales Manager Corbin Dooley explains their MPS sales process. “Our MPS sales strategy started with contacting our current customer base. We already have a base knowledge of their business and they in turn know us. Our sales reps identify appropriate candidates who ideally have between 25 and 250 print-on-paper devices. There are exceptions to every rule, but we at least have a starting point. Normally we have an ongoing relationship with a contact, but in some instances, we may be working with a new department or person within a particular account. Our original meeting is to survey them to find out about their printing, copying, scanning, faxing and other document handling processes. By the end of the meeting, our goal is to receive permission to conduct a RapidScan for initial data capture, and then schedule a return visit within 30 days, for the 2nd scan. Corbin continues, “During the entire process of starting our MPS program, Jeff Rosseth, our OKI Data Americas Strategic Account Manager has been our MPS mentor. Jeff has helped us every step of the way by training, guiding us through implementation, accompanying us on customer visits, sharing equipment knowledge, and helping us learn how to interpret and use the statistics provided by RapidScan tool. Jeff is always just a phone call or email away. He schedules regular visits and is always available to lend a helping hand as we advance our MPS selling skills. Jeff has enabled PBS to easily transition into successfully selling the OKI Printing Solutions line of products and implementing a successful MPS program.” RapidScan gathers, calculates and analyzes the digital printing usage of all devices on the server. Using Network Discovery technology (standard SNMP), RapidScan is able to convert clicks into comprehensive reports providing information on: • Cost of operation • Areas of cost overrun • Proper device utilization • Identification of key factors driving costs • Areas of immediate cost savings • Lifecycle maintenance • Industry trends and best practices • Cost comparisons to similar organizations • Green IT standards • Recommended refresh/redeployment plans • Alternatives for implementation: straight acquisition, • • CPP program or Managed Print strategy • Best-in-breed devices PBS President Chris Bartnick describes his part of their MPS selling process. “After the 30 day RapidScan assessment process (or longer if appropriate) we receive from OKI Data Americas a comprehensive, detailed analysis of all findings with strategic business recommendations to consider. I take this information and I personally review the findings as I have a broad financial business background. This enables me to focus in on both short and long term savings the customer will be able to achieve. No smoke and mirrors, no unrealistic promises. “The next step is to arrange for me to personally meet with the president, CFO, CIO or other senior employee who is a decision maker at the client’s location. Normally our sales rep is able to arrange for a senior executive to senior executive meeting. As PBS president, I bring an understanding and practical knowledge for managing a company. This also gives me the chance to get out into the field and meet one-on-one with our key customers. It is an excellent opportunity to build long-term business contacts and referrals.” Jackie Paralis Sr. Marketing Manager Oki Data Americas Chris continues, “As we present the RapidScan findings, we also restate the importance of optimizing equipment duty cycles, critical need for remote monitoring and predictive management, impact of product depreciation, cost savings to be realized from consolidated billing and elimination of desktop ink jets that are not directly connected to their server. We are finding the tight economy is actually helping our sales effort. People would rather lose their personal printer than jeopardize job security. “At the end of these executive meetings, we present written documentation of our proposed changes, including specific, realistic cost savings that our MPS program can achieve. Our closing ratio is very high. 70% to 80% of our sold proposals include new OKI Data Americas equipment being placed. We are also locking our customers into working agreements of 3 to 5 years which helps stabilize PBS’s cash flow. “Before our executive meeting is over, we also mention briefly the future cost savings that can be realized by implementing managed document services. We leave the door open for future discussions. After the MPS program is up and running and actual savings start to be realized, we will revisit the client with additional savings opportunity.” The OKI Printing Solutions Total Managed Print™ enables PBS to help clients reduce costs by: • Modernizing their fleet of equipment • Right sizing their document fleet output • Consolidating devices and supplies for improved efficiency • Simplifying supply ordering processes • Relocating printing equipment to optimize device utilization • Standardizing device platforms • Controlling the use of color imaging • Simplifying meter collection & billing processes • Conducting periodic usage & savings reviews quarterly or bi-annually Corbin emphasizes the importance of ongoing customer contact. "The PBS-MPS agreement includes continuous, periodic reviews. The Total Managed Print™ program enables us to easily attain and review on-going statistics. When we see a shift in usage we can contact the customer and make any appropriate changes. This provides us the ability to change out or add additional equipment during the term of the MPS agreement. We do not have to wait until the traditional 3 to 5 year end of lease to be able to upgrade to new, more efficient products." PBS owner Chris Bartnick reflects, "During this past year, becoming an authorized OKI Data Americas dealer and using the Web based Total Managed Print™ program has enabled our entire company to improve sales, increase business efficiencies, and formalize long term business agreements with our clients." Printing Business Solutions 419 W. Boden St. • Milwaukee, WI 53207 tel. 414.747.1110 Oki Data Americas, Inc USA 2000 Bishops Gate Blvd. • Mount Laurel, NJ 08054-4620 tel. 800.OKI.DATA (800.654.3282) fax.856.222.5320 www.okiprintingsoluitons.com