Would you like to benefit from the experience of other Managed Print Service (MPS) decision makers?  Imagine the insight you will gain could gain from speaking to decision makers who have years of MPS experience under their belt.  The MPS Decision Makers Summit meets the critical need for an unbiased, decision maker based forum for sharing tips, techniques, war stories, and practical advice on implementing MPS programs.  This intense two day summit will address the following topics:

• Best practices in negotiating MPS contracts - A user panel.
• Applying MPS in Small Business settings.
• Addressing corporate culture as part of the MPS program.
• Moving from optimization to business process improvement.
• Case studies - how they did it, what did and didn’t work.
• MPS best practices - learn from the pros.

The conference offers two days of best practices presentations, panel discussions, and insights which will provide you with the knowledge you need to make your engagement a success.  Early bird registration ($795) is now open.

The Event:

2009 MPS Decision Makers Summit
San Antonio, Texas
April 26-28, 2009

Register Online

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Edward Crowley

The Photizo Group

• MPS Resource Site (Sponsored by Photizo Group):  http://www.managed-print-services.com/
• MPS Blogs at http://www.printerindustry.blogspot.com

Maybe you are in sales, and you are reading this blog. Most people would generically classify me in IT. I might argue we are all in sales, but I’m not going to insult your intelligence.

Instead, I’m going to tell you what you are missing. I’m going to tell you what I see almost every single sales person walk by in every single ‘assessment‘, and what they always fail to counsel their clients in every single interview. It is low hanging fruit. It amazes me.

We let our clients browbeat us with price, or features, or some misperceived value they have stuck in their head which is often only slightly true.

Can I get an ‘amen‘ here?

So are you in sales, or are you in education? Let me ask this another way: Are you a baby-sitter, or are you the most educated person on how documents move in and through your client’s organization?

How can you know your client’s business better than they do?

This is a fair question. After all, you aren’t looking at their P&L, and most likely they aren’t going to show it to you - even if you are a “consultant” to their business.

What’s your next best alternative?

Ask questions - lots of questions. You job is to uncover truth… and you have to be passionate about:

1. Helping your client’s business like it is your own.
2. Seeking truth.
3. Showing your client what truth is in their business.
4. Being willing to walk if they can’t or won’t commit.

Armed with truth (answers) clients have to be prepared about what they are going to hear. Some, many, will be in flat denial. So you have to ask why they called you in.

And here’s where the turn comes that you are missing.

Very few clients are really solving security problems relating to documents. Oh, everyone talks about security - and sure you can sell them the latest whiz-bang data-overwrite kit for their do-everything-but-make-coffee paperweight in the “copy room”.

But did you SOLVE their security issue?

You have to understand that security is not a 1-stop shop. It is like that thing you try to  present to your clients called a “document strategy” right? Well, this is part of that.

The client has to take ownership of this overall strategy for it to be effective (see point on flat denial) and commit to doing something about it. That is the hard part.

Here’s a softball… sure your clients have firewalls at the gate, anti-virus loaded across their swath of computers, data-security kits, and they might even have “remote monitoring services” (this is where you say, “ooohhh - aaahhhh!”).

But what are they doing to secure that piece of paper coming out of that printer, copier or fax?

Folks, paper is a preferred method of information conveyance for a reason - it’s PORTABLE…

That nice, little 3-page document can be neatly folded and put right inside your pocket and there is not a thing they can do about it - or is there? This could be sales leads, or lease documents, HR records, or that oh-so valuable P&L they didn’t want you to see (but your Accounting Manager just sold it to your competitor).

“No, that would never happen in my company,” the client exclaims! (see point on flat denial - again).

So is it that easy? Maybe I am over-simplifying, but are you walking past security risks in your clients’ companies every day? With print auditing software, document management systems, and processes these risks can be greatly reduced (and help your client sleep a little easier at night).

Think about giving control back to your clients, about protecting their informational property. There’s what you missed - take it from the IT guy.

Before we start, let’s agree to use the official version of The Copier Sales Dictionary definition of ‘solution’: 

so· lu· tion   /

[suh-loo-shuh n]

–noun

Anything you sell other than just copiers. My copier proposal was half the price and I still got crushed! They said that even though we have been their copier vendor for the last 10 years, going forward it was in their best interest to give their business to a more knowledgeable company that can provide more than just copy machines but actual solutions to their business objectives. 

—Related forms

so·lu·tion·al,

—Synonyms key, resolution.

At countless sales meetings you have stood in front of the sales force and extolled the virtues of selling solutions. You regurgitated words like “applying industry leading expertise to…”, “develop and deliver comprehensive, customer-focused…”, and other similar facades when explaining the importance of selling solutions.

You have read all the industry analyst reports complete with the pie charts and bar graphs of industry trends moving towards the solution sale. You tweaked the compensation plan with additional incentives when a solution sale is closed. When all of this did not provide the expected results, you designated some of the more tenured reps to focus solely on the solution sale and you bestowed the sacred title of “Specialist” on their new business card. But still, no sales.

Figuring it can’t be you, it’s got to be them, you looked outside the organization for the answer. Enter the sales trainers and the one-week boot camps.  This was successful.  Successful in taking your reps out of the field for a week and further losing momentum. You were then convinced that you just needed to find the right person and the right person did not exist in your company. Seeming like a good idea at the time, you hired that ex-IKON / ex-Xerox / or my personal favorite, ex-Kodak burnout retread, to carry the company flag. This surely will guarantee your solution sales.  But the only guarantee that occurred was the outrageous financial guarantee you contracted to pay this impaired fossil.  After all this effort your solutions sales have not increased. In fact, your overall sales are down from the year before because all the changes distracted the focus of the sales team.

The Stalled Solutions Sale

The actual reason for the stalled solution sales is very simple. Copier sales people have historically never had to create a compelling reason or unearth a compelling business reason for the customer to buy.

Prove it? Of the sales that were closed last year, the overwhelming majority were triggered by either a lease expiring, a lease close enough to buyout and keep the customers price about the same, a competitor’s proposal to your current customer, or the customer complaining about the copier and demanding a new one. We have relied on the lease expiration date and customer dissatisfaction to create the reason to buy.

Still disagree? You sure you’re not just in denial?  Answer this: What percentage of the sales last year involved upgrading a copier that was initially a cash purchase and was not leased?  I bet it is a very similar percentage of printer management sales closed last year. The idea is the same. The customer owns all the desktop printers. They are not on lease. There is no stated existence of a magical time when the customer is required to make a decision on the future of the printer fleet. They do not receive a monthly invoice summarizing all the associated costs and a reminder that the lease expires in three months.  The only reason a customer would choose to procure a printer management program is a compelling reason that bridges the gap to either move towards a more desirable state or move away from an undesirable one. Copier sales people do not have experience, skills, and many times the desire to build that bridge.

What about software document management programs? If your reps can not develop a compelling case for a customer to modify an existing process (how they currently buy desktop printers, service the printers and procure the associated consumables) why would it be difficult to understand why they cannot sell software document management programs? This type of program is an entirely new process for the customer. I cannot recall a single sales appointment when a prospect has said,

I am so glad you are here. You see Max, 5 out of the 10 people in the accounting department will be expiring in 6 months and I was hoping you had a combination of hardware, software, and professional services that could not only supplement their existing responsibilities but I was really hoping to accelerate the entire document workflow process in that department. Did you bring a brochure with you?

How can we fault the reps? Just because their skills on the miniature golf course have been up to par, we expect them to play golf.  Sure, both activities use putters, require keeping your head down, and use those stubby little pencils without erasers to record the score. Heck, even the 18^thhole is the same as it determines how soon you will play again: If you hit the ball through the blue fairy’s trap door you earn a free game compared to draining one from the cheap seats for an eagle. In either case you can’t wait to play again. We are placing unrealistic expectations, on the reps to embody the sophistication of orchestrating a solutions sales type transaction just because you said to do it. Dead man walking.

If you do not develop an alternative to honing the skill necessary,  the only chance you have of consistent solutions sales will be waiting for the phone to ring and listening to the exasperated caller complain that every time they walk up to their accounting department to submit an order, the department starts making funny squeaking sounds, begins streaking, and then turns red right before deciding to stop working completely.

Max Rosenthal is an analyst with Diversified Business Solutions, a BTA member company in San Diego, California. Diversified Business Solutions works with CFO’s of small- to medium-size businesses that are interested in accelerating the time to cash. He encourages your opinions and ideas and can be reached via e-mail or phone at 858.565.2737.

With only 3% of the 4.3 trillion pages printed by U.S. companies under any type of management program, the market is ripe for sweeping changes. As with any adoption curve, the innovators and early adopters have begun this transition.

However, the broad majority of business management either has not be educated on the benefits of managed print services (MPS) or they do not have the necessary empirical evidence to enable a change in their strategy. In other words, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Of those that do not have a document output strategy, it is this author’s humble opinion they will increasingly look to outsource non-core competencies and innovate by partnering with other companies focused upon particular vertical niches. For instance, do you clean your own offices, or do you hire a janitorial staff that will do it better and a more attractive price point?

There are two core areas that will be impacted in this transition; As with every change there will be winners and losers. Here’s the shake down:

1. This shift will create efficient offerings to reduce document costs for customers by introducing competition. Competition will force best practices to emerge and keep overall pricing for providers in check.
2. The balance of power will shift towards those companies with the ability to think holistically about helping their customers get a handle on their document costs while controlling their costs in a marginalized and matured market.

Even though customers might not be using industry jargon terms, like “MPS” to speak on the subject, the need is evident. Customers are becoming aware of the concept behind MPS. After all, you cannot manage what you do not measure.

Perhaps you, yourself, need more empirical evidence as to whether the winds of change are blowing. Here are some staggering statistics from some of the largest analysts, such as Gartner or All Associates, as cited by Jim Salzer, President of DocuAudit International:

1. Output volume is growing by 11% per year - along with associated costs.
2. For every $1 spent on production of a document, it takes another $9 to manage.
3. By 2010, half of the Forbes 2000 companies will spend more on power than hardware.

Given just these 3 statistics, coupled with the astronomical volume of pages being produced, it is clear demand for focus on this often discounted area of the business will continue to grow. Companies can no longer ignore the fact that document costs will erode their profitability dramatically if they do not manage their costs associated with production and management.

Push or Pull

At this point, the pioneers in providing MPS are still educating their customers (see article: Customers Don’t Know What They Don’t Know) on the benefits of consolidating their fleets of disparate devices, trying to work at strategic levels to encourage adoption across the enterprise.

Steve Munro of Digtal Gateway believes we are experiencing what he calls a “pull” effect, whereby those pioneering a solution often have to educate their customers in order to see results. On the flip side, as knowledge of the need is realized, a “push” effect begins to emerge and rapidly gains momentum, whereby customers begin either pushing their partners to offer solutions or find partners that can and will offer answers - and more importantly - results.

Once this ‘crossing of the document output divide’ occurs, those MPS providers that did not invest in the services and offerings necessary to participate will be reduced to a commodities based business with ever decreasing margins and detrimental business tactics when viewed in the context of long-term growth and health of a company

Prophecy or Paranoia

With all of this being said, what key indicators can you look to as proof MPS has gone mainstream? That is a very sound question, indeed. Let’s examine a few of the key signals that indicate momentum of this evolution is at hand.

• First, the industry’s niche outlets of information (ImageSource and Office Technology) have been talking about this for a few years now, and with an almost fevered pace almost seem to be dedicating entire magazines to nothing but MPS these days.
• Second, it’s on Gartner’s radar, who will be releasing their MPS magic quadrant in the very near future. This typically means there is awareness of the issue at the Fortune 500 level - at the very least.
• Third, rising energy costs, inflation, a looming recession, and environmental concerns create a breeding ground for cost cutting initiatives. As companies battle rising costs, they seek every avenue available to keep costs of doing business in line. If these indicators continue to put pressure on businesses, look for change to be accelerated.

But when will MPS reach its tipping point? It may be soon, but most experts seem to believe we have less than 2 years before the “buzz phrase” MPS becomes a traditional business term like TCO or ROI.

MPS is a strategy, but can mean many things to many individuals. However, it is not a paranoid delusion to get customers to buy more ‘stuff’ - although many would care to distort the truth in their favor. Even though the definition is somewhat debated, the reality is that customers are in need of help. As they themselves wrestle with if they should even care, and how to mop up the mess that is inevitably discovered once the reality of need sinks in.

There is a long road ahead of both provider and customer, but the best in the business are on a path to create best practices in order to cross the digital output divide and truly help customers.

Image courtesy of Luca Galuzzi

Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. Ken is also the Director of Technology at Kearns Business Solutions.

How many times have you been attempting to talk to a potential client and they are just not picking up what you are putting down?  You can tell the light bulb just hasn’t turned on as you are presenting…

Now, how many times have you been sold to by someone you didn’t think understood your problem, your need, your “hot button”?

For those in the document imaging business dealing with, struggling with, or embracing what has been termed as Managed Print Services (MPS) or even electronic Document Management Systems (eDMS), this is all to often the case. The customers just are not getting the concepts.

What is even more frustrating is when I support account managers that just don’t get it either. They haven’t flipped that switch to helping in a more consultative manner. Don’t get me wrong, these reps aren’t trying to sucker clients into buying something they don’t need, but they are an empty suit - throwing out buzz words like “right-sizing” , “TCO” (total cost of ownership), and my favorite - “solutions”.

When I ask, just what is a “solution” anyway? I get all manner of answers, but the bottom line is that there is no 1 definition of “solutions”.

So I would ask, what are you selling your customer if you don’t know? That’s the first question; you must know yourself and your line up to be effective in helping your customer solve - get this folks - THEIR business problem.

Not your business problems; their business problems.

Next, how do you sell to a customer who doesn’t have that light bulb moment about your “solution” to their problem - or doesn’t think they need your “whiz-bang”?

Education

Education is the key to enlightening customers. It isn’t enough to tell them they need it, they have to understand operationally how they need it, how it impacts them, and how they can be better with your solution than without.

Education requires investment, on your behalf, as well as caring for your customer. There is no shortcut to relationship building, and you wouldn’t want that.

You have to teach your clients the difference in a McDonald’s hamburger and a Filet Mignon, you have to show them the value of a marriage with you versus a one-night stand.

Folks, if you are not talking the same language as your customers - and your customers don’t get the emotional and operational impact of what you are selling, you are not going anywhere.

The 1-2-3’s of MPS

In summary, your customers aren’t talking about MPS strategies, cost reduction strategies as it i relates to document output costs (printing, faxing, copying, etc.) - and they aren’t talking about eDMS (scanning, indexing, workflow, etc.)

Why not?

Simple, education.

Three to five years ago, many customers didn’t know what ’scanning’ was - unless you were talking about a police radio or reading a book very fast. Through the advent and proliferation of technology, this is now a must have in just about every office in America - and it comes with the MFP of your choice… there is almost no option. Scanning is now the power-locks and power-windows of the document industry.

That’s where you want to be, but you have to 1) BELIEVE it can benefit your client and 2) TEACH your clients how to achieve results with their ‘new solution’.

Let’s face it, they may buy from you once, but if they didn’t achieve results, as promised, you will have violated that sacred bond and dishonored your relationship with that client.

Teach, show, educate your customers on what they are missing - what they don’t know!

Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. Ken is also the Director of Technology at Kearns Business Solutions.

Ask any owner or manager in the typical document imaging company and they will tell you that they spend enormous amount of time and money developing the concept of ‘solution selling’ within their sales teams.  From hired consultants to expensive courseware, they look for ways to change the make up of their sales staff from the stereotypical used-car salesperson (like Herb Tarlek on WKRP in Cincinnati), to a consultative sales professional.  This is the second in a 2-part series about how you can develop solution selling prospecting skills within your organization.

In the first part of this series, we developed a list of targeted accounts by reducing the total population of businesses in our area down to a select few.  We did this by looking for companies that have the need for a solution sale and receptive to the concept.  It is also essential that during this process you are willing to say no to companies that do not see value in you as a sales person, and are only interested in competing on price.  Finally, the process of reducing the total number of prospects we targeted did change the type of prospects we were working to win.

Part 2 - Create Trust Relationships

In part 2, we are going to go beyond the selection of the prospect to the actual prospecting of the account.  As you distill your list of targeted accounts you should be working to develop relationships within these organizations.  The operative word in this area of prospecting is relationship, because the level of relationship within your accounts is a determining factor in how successful you are in completing a solution sale.  Approach prospects as if, without warning, you were selected by NASA to fly the space shuttle after a 1-hour training course.  If this happened, you would listen intently and then ask a lot of questions, and take detailed notes.  You would also spend every moment of your time with that person thinking up new questions to ask so as to cover all possible outcomes.  When you do this in a customer meeting, you will create what is known as a Trust Relationship with your contacts.

Trust Relationships are nothing more than a connection with your contact that is based on mutual trust.  While personal relationships with contacts can come in all forms, Trust Relationships are much more clearly defined.  For instance, maybe you have a personal connection with your customer in that you both play golf or both like the same sports team.  These types of connections are good if they happen naturally.  However, a Trust Relationship is completely independent of this personal connection.  Some argue that you can’t have a Trust Relationship without the personal connection.  In other words, if the customer doesn’t like you they won’t buy from you.  While it is true that people will sometimes buy from people they like, more often they will buy from someone they trust, and you don’t have to be friends in order for them to trust that you are the best person to advise them about their document output strategy.

A Trust Relationship requires four ingredients: time, honesty, attention to detail, and follow through.  All of these ingredients are controlled by the sales person, and all are the foundation for the consultative process moving forward.  If any one of these items is missing you are almost assured that the sales process will break down.  Alternatively, if you develop these aspects within your customer relationships, they will come to see you as the subject-matter expert, and rely on your expertise to make decisions about how they should handle their document imaging systems.  In effect, you become their go-to person for all questions relating to document management - they trust you.

Another aspect of the Trust Relationship is that you will discover problems the customer has in managing their document output devices, as well as their entire document workflow.  From simple billing or service issues to larger systemic dysfunction you will see or hear much of the internal workings of the organization from your primary contact.  This is your opportunity to learn about the pains the customer has, and over time, how to heal them.  Your efforts will eventually lead you to act as a consultant within the customer’s organization, rewarding you with sales and profit and providing the customer with a resource upon which they can depend.

Summary

Prospecting is the most important aspect to the solution sale.  Why?  As detailed in this series, who you are prospecting will determine what the sales cycle, revenue, and gross profit you will achieve.  So begin the process by eliminating the ‘Shady Hills Rest Home’ from your list of targeted accounts.  Instead, focus your efforts on accounts that will value you for your knowledge and expertise.  Then begin to create Trust Relationships with these accounts.  Over time, you can display to them your honesty, attention to detail, and follow through in managing the customer-vendor relationship.  Finally, when the opportunity comes to compete for their business, they will call on you to act as a consultant to their business.  They will view you as a solution to their problems.

Jeff Pitney is a long time veteran of the document imaging industry and has worked in both sales and sales management capacities for manufacturers and independent dealers alike. Jeff also runs Pitney Application Design, building websites and custom integrations for web-based solutions.

Ask any owner or manager in the typical document imaging company and they will tell you that they spend enormous amount of time and money developing the concept of ‘solution selling’ within their sales teams.  From hired consultants to expensive courseware, they look for ways to change the make up of their sales staff from the stereotypical used-car salesperson (like Herb Tarlek on WKRP in Cincinnati), to a consultative sales professional.  This is a 2-part series about how you can develop solution selling prospecting skills within your organization.

Before we get into the details, you should realize upfront that the value of solution selling does not discount the validity of other strategies.  Similarly, do not subscribe to the ideal that solution selling is the only way to be successful in the document output industry.  Rather, you should value solution selling because it is a defined process that can be duplicated by virtually any salesperson, new or experienced, to achieve results.  By definition, as a process it can be implemented across all levels of a sales organization and utilized by management as a tool to measure results, leading ultimately to a more professional, polished, and customer-driven sales organization.

Part 1 - Selective Targeting

Above all else, the process for prospecting is the most important aspect of a solution sale.  Who you prospect, and the manner in which you do it, will determine what the sales cycle, revenue total, and profit will be possible in an account.  This is an area of sales skill that is often talked about, but rarely taught.  It is a bit like golfers who go to the range every day to practice hitting with their driver, yet only practice putting occasionally.  The hardest shots aren’t the long drives where you have an open field in which to play, but the short chip shots, where you have to have pin-point accuracy in order to sink the ball.

One of the reasons for this is that most golfers approach the game like it is played, from the tee to the hole.  In many respects they should do the opposite.  View the game backwards, from the hole to the tee, in order to have better results.  Similarly, sales people should focus the majority of their efforts on prospecting, and targeting the right accounts, rather than spending time on the close.  If you prospect the wrong accounts or start the sales process with the wrong approach, you will predetermine the value the customer places on you and your service even before the sale process has begun.  Consider again Herb Tarlek from WKRP in Cincinnati, and his list of customers.  Companies like “Shady Hills Rest Home and Gone With the Wind Estates” don’t inspire visions of great businesses that are looking for a valued, trusted partnership.

Above all else, the process for prospecting is the most important aspect of a solution sale.  Who you prospect, and the manner in which you do it, will determine what the sales cycle, revenue total, and profit will be possible in an account.

Spend time to research the organizations you seek to do business with, and then develop a strategy to compete for their business.  The more you know about your prospects, the better you are able to communicate with them  on a level that they will understand and appreciate.  Use the customer’s website, scour news articles, look for industry associations, and then consider their competitors.  Depending on the company size, look at competitors or similar organizations in other cities, and then relate this research to the customer during your conversations.

In researching accounts, you have to be willing to reject customers and be very selective in the companies you decide to target.  We have all heard that adage that, “sales is a numbers game”, and that is still very true in solution selling.  This is why it is especially important that during your selection process you weed out the companies that will be price-focused or not value a consultative approach.  Because the consultative approach to selling is a time consuming process, you can’t afford to waste time on accounts that will ultimately decide on factors out of your control, such as price or product features.

In the same respect, many sales people make the mistake that after doing the work to weed through their prospect lists, they can reduce their activity (cold calls, mailers, telemarketing, etc.) because they have a refined list of potential clients.  The reality: sales is, and always will be, a ‘numbers game’ that is subject to the law of averages.  The more people you see, the greater potential for sales.  The selection process is hard work, but it does not mean that you can reduce your typical daily sales activities.

Further, as you select and target accounts, it is essential that you have a system to organize this information over time.  Given the use of long-term contracts in the industry, it is a matter of survival to track the timing of contracts, important morsels of information about the customer, and key data about your contacts.  (The system for organizing this information is outside the scope of this series, but will be the subject of future articles).  Having a system in place not only will help to develop the prospect into a customer, but also for sales management to measure the effectiveness of their sales staff.  Likewise, as you begin to develop relationships with your prospects, and then consult with them on their needs, the system you use to organize your data will be essential to your success.

Stay tuned for the second part in this series and learn how to create trust with your prospects - July 15.

Jeff Pitney is a long time veteran of the document imaging industry and has worked in both sales and sales management capacities for manufacturers and independent dealers alike. Jeff also runs Pitney Application Design, building websites and custom integrations for web-based solutions.

My friend and colleague, Corey Smith, just asked a question, “Who is your audience?”

He just launched a new service for printer and copier dealers over at Copier Catalog, which promises to be a very sound set of services offered to the independent dealer channel. He is evidently offering a blog there as well, which I don’t know how he finds time to write for all of his interests (good on you, sir).

Corey goes on to ask if businesses, in general, know who their audience is when designing their content and websites, offering this sound advice:

1. Use no jargon.
2. You need the sale more than your customer does.
3. Your clients aren’t interested in what you are interested in.
4. Your content alone won’t drive traffic.
5. Your clients don’t know all about what you sell.

This extends beyond the content on a website and into the field… sales reps in many industries, and specifically in hardware and software businesses, don’t get my needs as their potential customer, as a general rule.

It’s rather frustrating having to either spell out my needs “Barney-style” (that’s the purple, kid-friendly, dinosaur folks), or be told what they think I need…

I used to be a client of my company before I came to work in my present position at Kearns Business Solutions, and do you know why they won my business and I became their champion in my organization?

1. My account manager listened to my needs and asked questions to understand them.
2. My account manager had a plan - a strategy with stops along the way to rest.
3. My account manager talked about things me and my company wanted to hear.

Folks, I knew my account manager had products and services to sell, that’s why I asked them to come in and talk with me. The difference though is that even though I was there to be sold to, I wasn’t there to be “told to”.

I came to work at Kearns almost five years ago for one solid reason - I wanted to be part of an organization that cared that much about its customers.

Don’t come in and try to sell me on something when you don’t care about my needs or don’t understand my needs. I’m the one that is doing the story telling… I’m the customer… Help me buy something by showing you care about where I’m going.

Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. Ken is also the Director of Technology at Kearns Business Solutions.

I’ve been receiving a lot of positive feedback on the MPS articles I’ve been posting, and it is an evolutionary strategy that deserves some attention. Many outside of the output industry do not appreciate a lot of the hard work that goes into designing output strategies, and let’s face it, many of the representatives in the industry haven’t done those that care a lot of favors either.

My goal is to shed light on some of the common questions I run across and offer advice based upon perspectives made and broken in the field.

You will notice in the sidebar that I have added a subscription link for RSS readers as well as those that would prefer an e-mail format.

image courtesy of: Aaron Ovadia

In my recent article, Managed Print Services: the Theory, the Tools, and the Targets, I spent some time talking about those theoretical tools you should have at your disposal during an MPS assessment. Those of you interested in Managed Print Services (MPS), are keenly aware of the plethora of data gathering tools.

In my wide-reaching and varied research to bring technology to the hands of those on the front line, I have found a set of software tools that I would classify above all others, those produced by Print Audit, The Print Management Company.

It is important to note that I have not been paid, nor have I been asked to write this article. I believe very strongly in both the products offered and the company itself, so these views are my observations. This is not an advertisement.

My company first started with Print Audit’s Assessor program several years ago, and found that it produced extremely accurate result sets lending credence to our output assessments. Next, we began utilizing the Rapid Assessment Key (RAK), primarily because I could put one in each account manager’s hands for half the cost of the closest competitor - and the data was just as accurate. Now we were armed for both large and small account penetration.

However, Print Audit has once again stepped up to the plate and offered a new solution to accommodate for both pre- and post-sales management of output fleets, Facilities Manager (FM). Here are the top 5 reasons you should add FM to your MPS toolkit:

5. Print Audit’s OEM relationships:

Relationships with the manufacturer’s is extremely important. Print Audit has sought non-disclosure agreements with almost all (if not all) the major printer and mfp manufacturers to ensure the data reported is as accurately as possible. This ensures you can run your business with confidence.

4. Usability is obvious:

Along with accuracy, usability of a solution is paramount to adoption. Not only is the interface to manage your device fleet easy to navigate, the reporting is among the strongest in the industry - complete with wizards to help you create powerful reports delivered to your e-mail inbox  or presented on your monitor when you request them.

3. The price is right:

Not less than 18 months ago, similar solutions were at a premium price - a price most medium business could not afford. This was quickly becoming a barrier to entrance. Print Audit solved this problem by entering the market with aggressive pricing.

2. SaaS (Software as a Service):

As proven by SalesForce.com, the SaaS model is extremely viable. It allows companies to utilizing the benefits of software while not encumbering the overhead involved in maintaining it.  Print Audit chose to launch FM as a Software as a Service (SaaS) model, thus reducing the acquisition cost for those dealers who chose to focus on their core competencies rather than managing a server farm and software updates.

1. Culture:

I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again: Culture is king… In working with Print Audit firsthand for the past 3 years, their staff have about the soundest character around. From account management to support, I always get response and always get answers.

It’s one thing for a company to produce a solid product, but for a company to consistently be there for you as a person talking to another person, is just about unheard of.

Other Resources:

More information about Facilities Manager.

Visit my company’s branded offering, RemoteFleet: printer fleet management. I should mention the site was designed and coded by Dealer Marketing Systems.