I am a member of the Managed Print Services Association (MPSA). If you aren’t, you should be. As associations go, the MPSA is no better or worse than any other. As a collection of imaging and technology aficionados – some who sell, some who manage – all of us are attracted to the same industry. We find solace in the imaging world. “Association” is defined as an organization of people with a common purpose that has a formal structure. I’ve been noticing more affiliation programs lately; a few that come to mind are the Print Audit Premier, CompTIA MPS Community, Technology United and, of course, the MPSA. So it got me wondering, what’s going on in the industry to foster the organic creation of these groups, and are they sustainable?
Let’s take a look.
Print Audit Premier/Maven
This grouping is new and rallies around the ability to reduce costs associated with multiple MpS infrastructure packages and programs. Based on a monthly subscription, members have access to six separate Print Audit products to monitor or manage up to 50,000 devices per month.
Print Audit Premier Program’s genesis is cost reduction and ease of use for dealers looking for a simple-to-understand service at a standard, predictable monthly cost.
From the outside, this looks to be a typical discount-oriented group. But there’s more. The Premier service offerings go beyond software to include research and training as well as a functional, flat monthly cost format.
Technology United
TU is a collection of technology partners focused on providing technology services in the key areas of the MpS ecosystem. These services support MpS providers from the beginning of the supply chain all the way to the end user – everything from leasing to security to remote monitoring and management. In essence, a dealer new to the MpS side of the industry can trust this assembly of companies for all or a portion of MpS functionality.
This model is interesting to me because it not only addresses today’s needs, but it is also geared to address the concerns for future MpS.
Managed Print Services Association
The MPSA is a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization with the mission of educating its membership on all things regarding managed print services. Growing organically at the 2009 Photizo MPS Conference, it has flourished as the oldest and most recognized managed print services organization on the planet. The MPSA’s mission is to educate its membership, communicate within the ecosystem and share knowledge among its members.
A young organization, the MPSA looks to elevate the professionalism of MpS and stay relevant by exploring beyond today’s version of MpS.
CompTIA Managed Print Services Community
The CompTIA Managed Print Services Community is a strong, up-and-coming MpS-oriented group under the well-established and most prestigious name in IT services, CompTIA. This nonprofit organization has been around longer than dirt and is responsible for training thousands of technicians. Noble and sustained, CompTIA has a strong presence in the IT realm, and with the addition of the MPS Community, it looks to provide its members with a well-rounded environment – including an MPS component.
I’ve listed four groups with one thing in common: managed print services. Groups, associations, villages and even wagon trains have a singular, common attracting ideal that draws like-minded people together. In and above MpS, these groups are thriving because of a common interest plus one more thing: There’s safety in numbers.
I know there are dozens of similar groups forming in the ecosystem; it’s only natural.
My point is this: Transformative times cause tension, heat and fear. Even in today’s digital realm, where physical contact can be at a minimum, knowing there are others in the world facing similar trials is comforting.
In good times, groups like these are useful networking communities. Today, as the pool of clicks and prospects shrink, those who weather this storm alone are in for a long and painful voyage; loners travel uphill. Coalescing with comrades and forging integrated relationships where once there were none is a no longer a luxury; it is a necessity.
Look around you; are you all alone? Is it time to huddle up?
Posted on 05/14/20120 comments
The first known seismograph was invented and constructed by Zhang Heng in 132 A.D. The apparatus was some five feet tall and consisted of a hollow, barrel-shaped vessel. Within this container hung a pendulum. The device was very sensitive to motion, and as tremors rippled across the landscape, the pendulum would swing, causing a ball to be released from the mouth of one of eight dragons and fall into the mouth of a waiting frog. The sound of the ball striking the frog’s mouth served as notification of a seismic event. This was a graceful, simple and ornate method of remote monitoring.
It is reported that on one occasion, the ball fell, yet the locals felt nothing. A few days later, word was received of a terrible earthquake 400 miles away.
The similarities between Zhang Heng’s seismograph and today’s modern remote monitoring are remarkable. Each report an event after it occurs. Zhang’s contraption would not predict an event but did alert folks of a possible historical occurrence.
For us, this is changing. Even the most rudimentary remote monitoring software contains years of historical data, and some have a decade of data. The quest today is to convert this pile of data into information and use that information to predict the future.
Let’s take a look at three consecutive steps in this process:
1. More and more data through M2M is feeding Big Data,
2. This data changes into information,
3. This information results in business intelligence.
1. Your Big Data Keeps Getting Bigger (but not as voluminous as your ego … )
We’ve had remote monitoring software for almost a decade. You know all the players; I won’t try to mention them all, for fear of forgetting any. Think about it: Whether on your server or up in the cloud, each day, millions of output-related data points have been collected and stored. I would guess that only 15 percent of the data captured is ever used in an analysis or presentation, let alone to support a decision process. Granted, most of the data is machine-related – which is short-sighted and restrictive in nature – but it is something to build upon. With the surge in user behavior modification (BeMod), even more data is collected and available for collation and cross-referencing.
There is more.
Machine-to-machine software is exploding all over the globe. Not only do copiers talk to smartphones, but cars are communicating with other cars, and service vans are communicating with dispatch. Heck, we are now chipping cows – that’s “chipping,” not “tipping,” although I am sure that nocturnal activity will disappear only when the bovines do.
The amount of data you are collecting today will be less than what you have tomorrow. Big Data is not some amorphous phenomenon or something that happens to somebody else; it is real and used to influence our decisions about most everything.
2. From Data to Information (all those numbers aren’t worth a hoot all by themselves … )
This is important. What value is all that printer and toner delivery data if it simply remains data?
Algorithmic analysis is cutting edge for forward-thinking toner replenishment programs. Many of us have implemented our own methods to divine a precise ship date supporting just-in-time replenishment.
Let’s take an example from Supplies Network. Its Supply Management System uses a variety of data points from a customer’s environment to help set the replenishment notification on the number of days there will be toner remaining (typically seven to 10) based on the past usage pattern of that device. By turning volumes of data into information, Supplies Network can manage to exact thresholds for multiple machines residing on one address — reducing shipping costs and maintaining customer satisfaction.
This isn’t magic. It is the conversion of data into information leading to business intelligence.
3. Business Intelligence (without the eyes to see, information is worthless ... )
Get used to those two words: business intelligence. The mathematical analysis that once required reams of reports, handwritten data on ledger paper and days of “number crunching” is now routinely generated in seconds – on a screen. Today, enterprise-level organizations routinely make decisions — intelligent decisions — based on real-time data presented as information, demanding more from those who digest this information. Business leaders from the enterprise to SMB will have their fingers on the pulse of business as it happens.
So unlike those who employed Heng’s elegant machine, in some cases we will be ready to predict seismic changes moving off fault lines before the pendulum swings and balls drop.
Posted on 04/23/20120 comments
I pose this query with high seriousness and grace: Why would anyone in their right mind get into this crazy, mixed-up business we call MpS? Why?
The question becomes even more poignant when we consider individuals who were in imaging and got out, only to end up right back in it years later. The definition of insanity, isn’t it?
So it is through this prism I gaze upon the alleged VAR movement into our backyard. Would they pursue new revenue streams and defend their existing account base by encroaching the neutral zone? To be fair, seeking out new revenue in MpS is a worthy goal, and defending the client base – albeit fueled more by paranoia than substance – is a capitalistic staple. But knowing what I know now, I am a bit baffled.
Let’s compare the standard managed services provider (MSP) with the traditional copier/printer dealer. Here are some similarities:
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MSPs’ help desks are similar to the copier dealers’ service call lines.
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MSPs manage assets like PCs, laptops, servers and storage; the imaging industry tracks output devices.
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MSPs bill monthly; copier/MpS engagements are billed monthly.
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MPSs work toward service levels agreements (SLAs), and output device service contracts are managed against response and uptime.
Here are some systemic differences:
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Copier/printer technicians perform mechanical tasks on-site and are managed to call avoidance.
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Most, not all, managed services agreements cover monitoring and simple remote management of connected devices like hard drives and PCs.
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In the copier world, monthly billing is variable and typically invoiced based on usage (page count).
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Managed services agreements are either asset- or seat-based and fluctuate with the number of devices, not with what those devices produce.
The similarities may be attractive, but the devil is in the details. I suggest that a more advanced and successful VAR examine the above differences in detail and decide to pass on MpS.
Why? At least three reasons:
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Managed print services is difficult to understand.
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Why build something to support a mature, even eroding, market?
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Selling tablets, especially iPads, fits easily into a VAR’s or MSP’s existing managed services business model. Besides, everyone wants a tablet, not a printer.
Here is a breakdown of the above reasons:
1. “It’s too hard.”
Managing assets and the software installed on them is different from billing for every image generated out of a disparate fleet of output devices – multiple OEMs, different models and passionate end users. It’s akin to billing for every hard drive access in the cloud. As the client is not “billed” for the dispatched service technician’s time or the materials needed to close the call, each incident results in an increase in cost without an increase in revenue. At times, these devices can be diagnosed and problems can be resolved remotely from a network operations center miles away. If on-site remediation is required, the client is notified, and IT staff is dispatched. When the managed service provider is deploying an engineer, the call is typically billable – labor, trip fee, materials not under warranty, etc.
2. “The MpS market is at best leveling, though more likely declining. Nobody prints anymore.”
Print is receding. The largest print OEM in the world combined its once vaulted printer division into its slowing personal computing arm. Most VARs/MSPs loathe our fine output devices mix and rationalize it to those outside the industry, saying that we just don’t need to print as much. Print is shifting, but it isn’t completely down to zero. There is plenty of business to be had for the foreseeable future.
3. “I want to sell tablets at 8 points.”
Asset management fits well into most VARs’ existing business models. Load software, test, affix a bar code sticker, scan and ship. Simple. Tracking customer-owned assets, imaging devices, employee laptops or tablets is less stressful than figuring out why a toner cartridge didn’t get to the CEO’s receptionist in time. Taking orders looks really attractive when they start rolling in, even at 8 points.
It all boils down to this: Managed print services requires a commitment of money and resources into a mature or declining market niche: output. Our industry is messy, expensive, unsexy and shrinking. Contrast this with the attractive, growing mobility thrust, and any sane person would skip MpS, diving headfirst into tablets and the cloud.
When presented with implementing secular change for a slight monetary gain or continuing down the tried and true path, the VAR/MSP may choose normality; the preference is always status quo.
Anything else is insanity.
Posted on 04/09/20121 comments
Analog to digital, scan once to print many, monochrome to color, single-function to multifunction, embedded service agreements to managed print services – what’s the next big thing?
Is it content and business process? In a fashion, yes, it is. MpS, imaging, copying and the printed document have always been about moving data and information in the most convenient and economical manner – on paper and at about a penny a page. That was then; this is now.
Deeper inspection reveals a more basic, foundational answer to the question, “What is the next big thing?” The answer, my friend, is data, “Big Data” – really big data.
Let’s take a look at just how big Big Data can be. Consider for a moment every single device you’ve ever sold in your career. Then think about every other device or toner cartridge all the other salespeople placed from every manufacturer in the world since 1988. Imagine all the documents copied, printed or scanned from all those machines. Roll in the print streams that included your personal transactions: bank card statements, church donations, personal tax returns, dinners out, kids’ private school, gym memberships and toll road fees.
Toss on top of that big pile digitally created and rarely printed chunks of data: PowerPoint slide decks, Prezi, YouTube videos, CCTV videos, IP phone systems, Netflix, Facebook, tweets, test messages, chat-room logs, online magazines and newspapers – all those clicks, cookies, pop-ups, blog posts, comments, and let’s not forget emails and online meetings.
Now step back and look at it. Humongous, isn’t it?
But wait – there’s more. It grows. That heap is a mound, is a hill, a mountain, continent, planet, solar system, galaxy upon galaxy upon galaxy – the Dataverse. It has been growing for decades, and the rate of growth is accelerating.
For instance, IBM reports that in 2002, there were about 5 exabytes of data online. In 2009, that total increased to 281 exabytes, a growth rate of 56 times in seven years. By the way, 1 exabyte equals one billion gigabytes, and all the words ever spoken by mankind would fill 5 exabytes.
This is Big Data.
So what? What does all this Big Data stuff have to do with selling more toner or signing more MpS deals? Nothing … but everything.
The world is moving from toner to tablets, from paper to screens. It isn’t about coloring books for the kids, green-bar reports or printing magazines at home. We’re seeing the beginning of “viewing” versus printing. The new beginning is near; if HP admits the end of print, so should you.
Can the future of you business be Big Data? Here’s the secret: Considering Big Data is like staring at the billions of stars in the night sky with your feet on terra firma. The trick and excitement is getting out among those stars and wondering.
There is, of course, one more thing – well, in this case, two things: business intelligence (BI) and machine-to-machine (M2M) communications.
Big Data is simply a bunch of disparate, unstructured metrics floating around in space. Without a process or system to sort, slice, dice and present relevant views, the data is useless. Enter business intelligence applications. Tunneling from one database to another – say, from OMD to PREO – and easily presenting your customer spend versus service calls versus websites printed on time, on your iPhone or while you’re in Costa Rica, for example, is an example of BI. You may want to seek out and establish a relationship with some BI specialists.
Then there are machine-to-machine (M2M) communications. My fleet of devices communicated with the Synnex PrintSolve server – machine to machine. Perhaps your fleet communicates directly with your service technicians, perhaps not. Either way, our industry is home to one of the more advanced M2M players – MWAi. Connecting your devices to your infrastructure will open a portal to Big Data.
Once that happens, the sky is no longer the limit.
Posted on 03/26/20120 comments
There is a basic rule applied when writing: ask a question, and put forward an answer. It is a basic formula and one I try to adhere to. In this case, I can only ask more questions.
How will the latest lawsuit affect the entire industry?
I am not a legal expert, and I have very little exposure into the third party toner niche, but I am curious.
I hear about lawsuits of this genre all the time – it seems since 1999, I have read monthly headlines about Canon suing somebody over toner formulas or melting processes or some issue. Like many, I became numb and assumed the players recognized legal defense as operational overhead.
So at first, when I read about Canon suing “dozens” over a gear-thingie, I ignored it. Then I researched deeper and discovered what appears to be a difference. Canon has been suing smaller companies for years but this current suit is large, international and follows a similar, smaller and successful legal excursion against Ninestar.
Again, I am not well versed in patent law – what interests me are two issues:
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Timing
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General reaction
Timing
For years, possibly decades, the OEMs have tolerated the existence and growth of third party toner manufacturers. Printer installs grew, and the OEMs were making good numbers. Times have changed; print is decreasing, and the pool of opportunity is shrinking. Moving into a more vigorous defensive stance, indeed, ratcheting up the pressure on your competition by going on the legal offense, makes sense. Also, what is believed to be the largest remanufacturer in the world, Clover Holdings, has been named in this latest suit. Clover Holdings is owned by Golden Gate Capital, which is a private equity firm with $12 billion under management – deep pockets. And Clover throughout the past years has consolidated a few smaller concerns – WestPoint and Image1 for example – offering up a single target with multiple divisions.
General Reaction
Reaction from the third party folks I know is predictably subdued and nonchalant – it’s just “another lawsuit.” Industry analysts, on the other hand are watching very closely. This may be the opening salvo of a very serious and long drawn legal war, not simply another skirmish.
For me, from the outside, this looks serious. If Canon can successfully petition for a general exclusion order (GEO), the importation of certain OPC drums would cease. This would cripple OEM and channel MpS engagements – other than HP – and devastate the “big-box” office suppliers like OfficeMax, Staples and Office Depot, who are Clover’s larger customers.
The one silver lining may be that all this legal wrangling illuminates the fact that less people are printing so it might not be such a bad idea to slowly withdraw from the printing supplies business.
Regardless, it is worth noting that in all of the U.S. International Trade Commission’s (ITC) toner and inkjet cartridge investigations since 2010, those complainants that have asked for a general exclusion order (GEO) have been successful. If this case results in the same fashion, HP and Canon would then achieve what has to be a product manager’s ultimate dream – King of Supplies.
Of course, the king would be sitting upon a throne of sticks.
Posted on 03/05/20123 comments
This past Valentine’s Day, Morgan Stanley released a 96-page study titled “Tablet Demand and Disruption – Mobile Users Come of Age.” The study was dated February 14, 2011, so the report is technically a year old. Most of the content is around the development and distribution of tablets globally and their disruptive effect on different technologies. There are only three pages dedicated to the impact of tablets on print, but the findings are stunning. One particular line caught my eye: “Tablet impact on pages printed is the most underappreciated cannibalization story.”
The most “underappreciated cannibalization.” We are eating ourselves alive, and we don’t even know it. Well, some of us don’t. I do. You do. It’s the muckety-mucks up top that don’t have the eyes to see.
The report is exhaustive and presents an accurate view of the tablet market as it unfolded in 2011. Indeed, when the numbers were in error, the miscalculation was on the plus side – more tablets sold than predicted.
Until very recently, the facts around paper consumption, printing at home or the office and the paperless movement were muted and debatable. Yet we see the results all around us. Our OEMs are stumbling through the MpS maze, confused and terribly vexed. Our fellow dealers are equally befuddled and most likely on their third MpS director. Still, some are fooling themselves into believing the recession will end and everything will go back to normal.
This is not the case. The writing is on the wall; the business is never coming back. Managed print services reduces the clicks and MIF. The economic environment is forcing us all to do more with less – less printing. The consumerization of IT is leaving print behind, and the MpS motion is skipping over the reduction of print and landing on the elimination of print/presenting documents on a screen.
So what do you do?
Push harder. Get as many machines and customers as you can, because this is truly the last land grab; when the music stops, people go home. The idea is to act with urgency without looking desperate and to keep your eyes open for new opportunities. I am not trying to scare anyone, but I won’t advocate ignorance or inaction. If, for some strange reason, you’re not already in MpS, get cracking – today. Reach out to your toner vendor and deepen your partnership. Look to new partners, bigger providers or folks you didn’t consider before. Things change, don’t they?
However, if you are in MpS, keep selling and supporting your brand of MpS. Keep doing what you do and do it well. Pivot off your strength into other areas. If your crew delivers toner, think about document destruction or delivering water. I am not kidding.
Seriously look into managed services – coffee services, waste management, records management and managed IT services. You’ve got nothing to lose. Well, that isn’t 100 percent correct; you could lose everything.
Before you do, take a serious deep-dive look into your existing systems – holistically. Our industry has excellent consultants who are very good in certain areas – business, finance, sales. But few imaging experts can look at the entire operation through a managed services prism, so be inquisitive and discerning.
If you offer a more advanced MpS, engage an outside expert to look at everything. If you’re building up a practice and have been through one or two multiple-week mentoring programs, now is a great time to look deeper into all your systems and evaluate the effectiveness of past expansions into MpS.
Get a good, honest, deep look at your operations, then make a choice.
There is one more thing.
In the spirit of “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em,” have you ever considered reselling tablets in addition to copiers, printers, toner and supplies? If office supplies people can sell MpS, why can’t you provide tablets?
I’m just saying…
Posted on 02/21/20120 comments
Time is compressing.
It was just in 2009, a mere three years ago – or actually, just under 36 months – when MpS started showing up in its current form. At conferences, show floors were jam-packed with MpS propositions; Konica Minolta, OKI, Xerox, LMI, GreatAmerica, Digital Gateway, ECi, Compass, Strategy Development, M2M, Synnex, NER and many more were “all-in.” Granted, it wasn’t really MpS. The fliers had “MPS” stickers plastered all over them; the sales classes mentioned MpS selling cycles, TCO and the like; but the content was still copier sales, copier leasing, toner cartridges. Desk-side toner delivery/auto-fulfill, just fresh off the whiteboard, was being touted and sold. Yet some proclaimed MpS to be just another marketing point or passing fad, like black and white to color or analogue to digital.
Today, not even 36 months along, automatic toner delivery is a standard, remote monitoring happens every day, and MpS represents a secular change – not a fad. Now we’re talking about managed services, a help desk versus a dispatch desk, and content on screens versus marks on paper.
Time is compressing.
Take a closer look at the last six months, back to June 2011. Ricoh announced a $300 million investment into MDS and had just embarked upon their cross-country MDS cavalcade. Xerox was regrouping on PagePack. Office supplies moved from wallflower to center stage. HP lost its mind, but IPG stayed the course and started to digest Printelligent. Steve Jobs crossed the River Styx. Meanwhile, Apple sold 11.2 million iPads – and that was in one quarter, and not at $99 a pop.
Today, just six months later, Wall Street is not happy with our OEMs. We in the trenches are strapping deck chairs together hoping to float into the calm waters of managed services – wow. Twelve months ago, nobody knew what managed services was; today, everybody is an expert.
The point is this: Everything is moving faster than it ever has before. We are communicating with each other instantaneously on a global scale – and guess what? We aren’t printing agendas, letters or emails, and we don’t fax, but we’re all on the same page.
I contend that the lack of paper may have a bit to do with cost or convenience but is more related to speed and efficiency. In the amount of time it takes to pick up a print job – say, 4.9 minutes – 5,700 tweets are tweeted (TweetSpeed), 10,500 emails are sent (Pingdom), 1.5 million statuses are updated (SearchEngineLand) and 10 million Google searches are performed (SearchEngineLand). This makes even 120 ppm seem awful slow, right?
How do we, the people in an industry that was built on toner and fuser oil, survive in these content-driven times?
Hang on to your existing business while looking for the safe harbor of other models – that’s all. This is bigger than the shift from copiers to MpS; nobody will be able to fake their way through this storm. Re-examine your current relationships and open yourself and your business to new alternatives.
Consider managed services. There is a growing number of decent managed service providers who don’t want to sell direct – refreshing to think, isn’t it? Managed services is a high-margin, low-overhead proposition. There are no quotas and barely any OEMs to deal with – consider that.
As the cost of technology decreases – and it will – people are going to naturally move toward the fastest and easiest mode of communication available. Print is the slowest manner in which to transport information or convey a message. The world is moving faster; you need to as well.
There is, of course, one more thing: Don’t be hesitant about moving into the managed services space. The current skill set of your sales staff is sufficient because the managed services value proposition is simpler to get around than MpS. Here’s the dirty little secret: If you can successfully and profitably direct an MpS practice, running and selling managed services is easy. We just need to shift from the speed of print to the speed of thought.
Posted on 02/09/20121 comments
Here it is – 2012: the cusp of the end of the world as we know it. The MpS train is rolling, picking up steam and boldly going. It wasn’t so long ago one couldn’t find a soul who knew the difference between managed print services and the printer who printed wedding invitations. Today, the invitation printers are starting up “MpS practices,” pitching remote monitoring, desk-side toner delivery and service dispatch. Wow.
Back then, I would goad the office furniture folks getting into MpS: “What – are you going to deliver toner with the water?”
My snarky retort to the poor retail office supplies people was, “You’re selling MpS? Where is it? On a peg, next to the Wite–Out? Cleanup, aisle seven.”
Well, the mockery has ended.
Today, supplies stores and office furniture guys are offering MpS; old-school stationers are setting up global MpS programs, and – hang onto your hat for this one – the wide-format boys are getting in too. Oh, what a party it is turning out to be.
The floor is crowded, the music old, and the dance moves mundane. We’re getting burnt out.
Today, the LinkedIn forums are stuffed with questions posed and answered four years ago. Today, everybody who is in MpS has gone through at least three separate MpS training classes, and it doesn’t matter if the content was old, remanufactured, copier-sales classes; we’ve had enough. Brian Stevenson hit it pretty well with his “Death of the Hype?” blog here on The Imaging Channel. Personally – and I think Brian might feel the same way – I’ve forgotten more about MpS than the newbies know. And believe me, that is not a statement based in arrogance; it’s sad, really.
But let me tell you why you may want to take note: MpS is withering. This doesn’t mean you are fading; it means the world around you is shifting. Unlike the transformation from analog to digital, which wasn’t really a transformation, this conversion seems to plateau for three months, and then burst in a different direction.
You’ve been hearing more about the “consumerization of IT” and the explosive use of personally owned smartphones and iPads in the workplace. A study by Deloitte predicts 5 million tablet devices will be purchased in 2012 – a big number for sure, and it’s growing. Compare this with the several decades it took for more than 5 percent of households to have more than one car, phone, radio and/or TV. The world is moving fast, and the line between work and personal time is blurring into oblivion.
Five million tablets equate to the loss of cartridge sales, clicks and service calls. The exact number is not as important as visualizing the overall effect. Can you see it? Leaner organizations filled not with “mobile workforces” but “independent workforces” technologically adept and familiar in the transfer of information without printing. It’s happening right now so quickly, yet MpS appears to be moving in slow motion, almost standing still.
What to do?
Don’t get comfortable. Keep transforming. Fight stagnancy.
See your future by looking at your clients. They are getting leaner; maybe you should too. When they talk about utilizing technology to be more productive and fluid, perhaps you should look at reducing your overhead by getting all your employees set up remotely. Check out the latest tablets and figure out how to integrate to the cloud. Heck, take a look at setting up your dispatcher at his/her home. Then watch your customer satisfaction go up and your overhead drop. This isn’t brain surgery; it’s rocket science.
There is, of course, one more thing. All of this technology allowing you and your employees to work from anywhere in the world reduces overhead yet demands more from executive leadership/ownership – and not more reports or analyses. This movement demands that you break away from the “management by walking around” style. You must learn to trust again, and I’m not talking about trusting your employees or executive team. Don’t be stagnant; learn to trust yourself. Again.
Posted on 01/23/20122 comments
Last year, I subscribed to Dropbox and Box.net. My primary reason was the ability to send documents to the cloud and access them from my TouchPad anywhere in the world. This worked great.
I created a master blog article at night, then reviewed it, finalized it and sent it from 10,000 feet in the air the next morning. (Mile High Club – sweet!) And there is more: I didn’t need to “send” the file as an attachment; I simply shared the folder with my editor. When she opens the file or document, I am notified. When she needs a new contract initialed, instead of emailing me a 12-page PDF, she simply drops the file into our shared folder, and the cloud notifies me of the new document. Revisions, digital signatures and final drafts are all handled from a tablet. Even the final “print” is on a website, not ink on paper. And I know I don’t need to point out how much paper was not used in this workflow, do I?
Dropbox will degrade email, Twitter reduces Google searches and blogging, cell phones obliterate the pay phone system, text messaging replaces cell phone calls, Netflix dissolves Blockbuster, the Internet kills newspapers, and MpS frees content from the restrictions of paper, wasting all those devices along the way. All of this, every single motion, is content-driven and accessible from a smartphone anywhere in the world – instantly.
It’s not so much MpS as it is moving content, and it’s not so much about moving content as it is about the new “mobility” movement: the freedom to do what we like, when we like, from anywhere in the world.
MpS leads the way in this because MpS is all about efficiently utilizing technology down to the individual.
Inside most MpS practices, we sub out much to the remote monitor and the DCA. Our software automatically triggers an order, and that order is tracked live from point A to your client’s desk. On my Droid Bionic, I can see a Xerox in one fleet functioning correctly and whether a toner cartridge in another fleet has been shipped, delivered or lost. This I can do from the beach, the car, at 10,000 feet or right next to the client.
Of course, there are two edges. This new mobile age cuts both ways; the number of printed documents – our revenue and lifeblood – is reduced. No matter how many “e-print” devices land in business centers, hotel lobbies or Starbucks, the lost volume will never be replaced. The number of virgin cores is shrinking, copier sales are down, and people are getting out of the industry. People are printing less and “viewing” more.
The other side of independent mobility is the freedom to conduct business under a much leaner business model. Building space alone can be reduced by 50 percent when employing tablets, laptops, smartphones and a corporate cloud. Indeed, for a period last year, my dispatcher was in Florida for two weeks with her laptop and smartphone. During her time away, all of our service calls were within SLAs; deliveries and installs were coordinated, service parts were ordered, and our customers were happy. Not one co-worker back in the cube farm some 2,500 miles and two time zones away knew she wasn’t physically in the state.
It works.
It works with MpS and will work even better with managed services. One doesn’t need to build, house and staff a data center or NOC; the machines will practically run themselves. Managed services is not as infrastructure–dependent. Servers may need replacing, but not every 25,000 images, so monitoring these is not as labor-intensive as supporting fleets of output devices.
There is, of course, one more thing: Remember my dispatcher (the one who makes everything work) who was away in Florida? Well, not only did she conduct all her job responsibilities with her phone, laptop and WiFi; she didn’t use a printer. Never did toner hit paper. Not once.
Posted on 01/09/20120 comments
25,969 years in the making – change on a galactic scale, transformation guaranteed. The shift from “copier dealer” to CopierVAR – or should that be “VAR copier”? – is upon us.
Will this shift be as impressive as the analog-to-digital move or monochrome to color? No.
The paradigm shift has been building for decades. The machines were churned out over three shifts and distributed to every corner of the world. Once landed, like a sleeping horde, they sat, innocuous, silent, mundane – moving paper and melting plastic by the millions. Too many machines; something had to change.
Over the past five years, we’ve seen our share of change, with MpS leading the way. Some have made the jump, others only pretend, and still others don’t care. In 2011, business models were upended, partnerships made, consolidation unavoidable; it was a tumultuous year. How could there be any more upheaval?
This is what I see for 2012:
2012, the rise of the VAR
Technology VARs have taken notice of MpS; in 2012, they will start getting in. We have eAutomate and OMD. The typical VAR has infrastructure software like ConnectWise, Kaseya, TechLab, Level Platforms, etc. In 2012, most of these packages will offer upgrades or partnerships, adding visibility into printers, into the MIB. VARs will then be able to see into our printers like we do with FMAudit, PrintFleet, MiraCom, etc. The IT community will hold their noses and jump into the fray, adding MpS to their managed services portfolio.
While at World Expo this year, it was revealed that the imaging world has around 1,500 dealers/providers. The IT community boasts 15,000. How are you feeling now?
2012, the fall of the VAR
The IT channel will hit the same challenges we did four years ago, only worse. They will be fooled into thinking that software creates an MpS practice. They will continue to think selling managed services is as easy as adding it to the website and that responding to an MpS RFP is a marketing plan. VARs will find out how difficult it is to deliver a simple thing like toner – every day. Their technicians will see what it’s like to have 18 calls and live up to a real, next-day SLA.
They will miscalculate trunk stock, parts ordering, warranty and dispatch and try to unlearn “trip fees.” These new MpS providers will learn that printers, under a CPI service agreement, have one level of support, not three tiers. The accounts receivable department will shift from billing for every second to billing as an insurance policy. Work orders will drop through the cracks. They won’t collect meter reads for the first three months.
Then, they’ll overbill and not understand why their customers want to cancel their MpS contracts, NOCs and help-desk agreements. VARs will have difficulty dealing with adds/drops and will fear selling MpS into their existing client base. They will implode along the way, chasing that mystical 48 percent margin. And then they will get rid of the MpS practice – unless the organization is smart enough to put all the managed services under the MpS practice.
Fat chance.
2012, the rise of the “copier VAR”
That’s right, I said it, and I meant it. I’m here to represent it.
As much as those traditional VAR-supporting software packages now see printers, the more advanced and forward-thinking copier dealers now see switches, desktops and servers, and they want in. We’ve proven ourselves in the imaging industry; can it be that difficult to get some swagger out of the IT realm? We can dispatch and bill for meters or assets in our sleep. For our technicians, servicing cartridge-based devices is a breeze; we cut our teeth on Minolta and Ricoh. We also realize the little boxes don’t require as much service as our Canons or Toshibas (shhhhhhhh!).
One hurdle we may face is not having as solid a relationship with the IT team as their current VAR does. This means we would need to sell ourselves and our ideas. Huh? Of all the things I know copier people aren’t, it isn’t that we are afraid to sell ourselves, is it? We make it up as we go. We craft deals. We don’t see walls; we see ways around or through them. We tell stories. We make friends and we close deals. Do you want to be a “copier VAR”? Imagine the possibilities.
There is, of course, one more thing …
2012, the return of selling, and the rise of the sales star
We’ve forgotten how to sell. We pitch value props and elevator speeches and spend hours pricing configurations. We make .PPTs and print lists. We feel that because we secure the appointment, we get the deal. We think that RFPs are opportunities. We put prospects through a process, never getting to know them. We are cold, shallow and compensated not to care. Selling is not some dark art or a mystical craft. Selling is changing because buying has changed, and buying has changed because everything has changed. In 2012, we will remember to let go of the past and sell into the future.
Good selling.
Posted on 12/19/20111 comments
This is where the rubber hits the road: the proposal. "Press hard; you're making five copies" – remember when it was that easy?
Ah, yes. That all-encompassing, heart-pounding, Toastmasters moment. The culmination of months of presales, assessment, subject matter expert content, leasing approval, cost calculating, margin calculating, big deal pricing, hardware configurations, sales forecasting, funnel management, account diagramming, proposal generating, bond-and-rapport'ing, role playing and management harrasment all comes down to your very pretty toner on paper – single-sided, I'm guessing.
Did you let your all-in-one assessment package generate a cold, heartless piece of work? Did you utilize your dealership's rehashed copier proposal template? Or did you print out a simple price list complete with manufacturers' SKUs?
After whatever it was that you did in presales, doesn't it make sense to put something in front of the client that reflects your commitment and also shows great respect for your prospect's time – and is closeable?
Let's outline the basic reasons for a proposal:
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Explaining what you did
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Explaining what you will do
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Explaining how much it will impact your client
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Moving forward.
Explaining what you did
Simple. Outline the process you went through to gain insight into their world. Explain your assessment process, how long it lasted, the walk-around, the DCA, software installations, internal meetings and your application of business acumen, droppping quotes from end users. It doesn’t need to be extremely detailed – just a cusory explanation of your unique process.
Explaining what you will do
This is your promise. This is an illustration of what your customer can expect from you, including your MpS engagement, service-level agreements, statement of work, etc.
Outline your internal support/infrasctructure as it pertains to superior customer service. Introduce the escalation, toner-delivery and service-call procedures. Tell them how this works and show them the machine behind the curtain – just a little.
Explaining how much it will impact your client
Straightforward, right? Not really. You are defining impact in money, time and their level of commitment to you. For example, when explaining how your toner delivery works, you're going to ask them, "When one of your employees misplaces one of our cartridges, how should we respond? Should we call you directly?" Consider the impact the answer to this simple question entails – for both you and your client. Talk about the money; will your system save hard dollars? If so, explain how and how much. If not, simply review the overall cultural or procedural impact of your system. Explain and confirm your MpS vision and how partnering with you secures a future with less stress.
Moving forward – the close
There is a reason for all this: It is to make money and provide food and shelter for yourself, your family and the families of your co-workers supported by high intent. This is the point. Have everything ready to go the day after the proposal. All signature documents are in the proposal. All pricing is in the proposal. Timelines, team members, commitments and expectations are in the proposal.
Now is the time to get the approval, the commitment, the agreement to move forward; now is the time to simply ask, to make all this real or to smoke out any doubts and objections. Address them now with high intent and "disconnect."
What is 'disconnect'?
Your sales manager probably doesn't want you to act this way; he may not even understand the concept of 'disconnect,' but the good ones do. Completlely illustrated, closing with disconnect means not owning any emotional connection to the outcome of the close. For example, when you ask for the order, your mentality stands at the edge of being personally connected to the successful close and obtaining money for the work you've performed. You are ready for every possibility, and if the close does not go your way, you are not personally destroyed. You are not personally invested in the results. On the flip side, when you do sign an agreement and move forward and receive compensation for your efforts, you have no emotional tie to the reward; act like you've been there before.
There is, of course, one more thing …
When preparing to submit a proposal, how difficult is it to ask your prospects exactly what they would like to see? Not only does their answer give an outline of what they think they want, but it tells you what kind of people they are and how they view you. When a client responds, "I am glad you asked that. Please don't bring me a 400-pound chunk of paper with all sorts of marketing crap in it," how will you respond? "Sure, no problem. How about simply the master services agreement and pricing? That way, we can move forward before the next billing cycle. Sound good?"
It might be just that easy.
Posted on 11/11/20110 comments
Let’s revisit a good friend – the assessment.
It seems the practice of understanding the static data of your prospects' environment has become mundane and normal. Basically, this makes sense. Getting to know the landscape, the numbers, is part and parcel of every engagement.
Over the years, specifically the last four, many tools have come to market. The evolution of these tools is remarkable: basic spreadsheets, clipboards and fire-escape floor plans, then DCAs in the form of a dongle or USB. collection software that could record machine activity, usage, SN, machine age, all numbers and toner levels. Once the data is collected, algorithms with cost and service ratios are applied, assumptions are made, and the total expense is calculated.
This is all routine, standard server-based MIB collection, plotting machine locations onto PDF maps – right?
Invoice analysis? Cost discovery and ROI? Check. Internal cost analysis – will you make money on this engagement?
Well, let’s back up or merely take a look at the basics. The assessment usually serves these basic functions:
- Determines the requirements of the engagement.
- Allows the provider a reasonable determination of cost and the generation of a proposal price for profit.
- Builds a case for future opportunities.
Point one is foundational. "Requirements" are defined both as discovering the pain and outlining the requirements you as a provider will be living with. Setting expectations, recognizing possible challenges and deliverying on promises made – all products of a basic assessement.
Point two is nearly as important but should fade as providers understand their costs. Some may argue that understanding the true costs of an MpS engagement is the leverage point to the entire MpS practice – indeed, profit is won or lost in the operations, infrastructure. They get caught up in TCO/coverages, etc. I see baseline costs being determined and published in the more advanced MpS providers’ infrastructure.
The third point is more nuance and truly an aspect of the forward-thinking – i.e., beyond Stage 2 – MpS provider. Consider this: As you are assessing the print environment in the accounting department, your questions end with, “How often do you print? Do you use MICR?” A more effective and long-term line of investigating may start with, “Show me how you approve and process your payables. What accounting software are you currently using? How long have you been utilizing it, and when was the last time you upgraded?” Granted, these queries may not appear to be MpS – indeed, if you live in the Stage 1 and Stage 2 realm, I doubt you know the difference between A/P and A/R (I’m joking).
In this example, once you outline the process involved in approving and cutting a check, you are dipping into workflow. And even though you are looking to implement desk-side toner delivery with on-site service, you now have a clear picture of one simple process which may lead to future opportunities – future EDM, archiving, consulting, business process optimization or maybe help-desk opportunities.
At the very least, you are viewed as more than a “printer guy.” Once you open up to these other areas of investigation, you and your assessments shift from the “mundane and normal” into a three-dimensional valuable proposition.
Yes, just like our good friends, the assessment will always be there. And just like our lifelong friends, we all grow and evolve together.
Posted on 10/28/20110 comments
Selling MpS, as I hope you know by now, is no different than selling any other complex intangible, like insurance; how hard can that be?
Let's review an esoteric example of the cycle:
Step 1: first contact — “Hi there”
Cold call — don’t sell, attract.
Sell your value proposition, use third-party references and note cost reduction and increased productivity. Secure the appointment; shut up and get off the phone.
Step 2: first meeting — “Is that your fish on the wall?”
Bonding and rapport.
Introduce yourself, and be yourself. Don’t ask about that damned fish on the wall unless you are honestly curious or have a believable story to share. Qualify by recognizing and gaining agreement on a fit between your two companies. Outline your prospect’s decision process; get commitment to move forward. Trial close.
Step 3: presentation — “Trust”
Make promises.
Tell them what you're going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you just told them. Show them how you have kept your word in the past. Make them a promise and ask for the business.
Step 4: close/deliver — “Let’s dance”
Execute.
Secure signatures, outline delivery timelines, introduce your inside team and project-manage the entire engagement term. Schedule follow-up dates for the next year. Set the tone, cue the band, start the music and dance. You lead.
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Looks easy, doesn't it? Hold the phone there, though, tough guy. I love the above process. I didn’t invent it, but it is part of my documented process.
But really, what have you done? Have you engaged a long-term relationship with a client? Have you established a wall around your fragile new customer relationship? Will you remember your prospect's name on Valentine's Day? More importantly, will they remember you?
Welcome, my friend, to the "Unremarkable Zone": desk-side toner delivery and on-site service. Nothing more. Cash that commision check, and wallow in your bliss.
Know thyself.
If you are very good at getting toner to a desk, if your technicians are competent and freindly, if you've got rock-solid contracts — great. If you’re not sure about selling EDM and don’t have the time, money or inclination to hire project managers or engineers, so be it.
Keep going.
All I’m recommending is to keep it fresh and engaging for both your client relationships and your sanity. Oh, and profit. How can you keep it all fresh? How does one keep one’s relationship fresh? Stir it up a bit.
Here’s what I see:
1. The value of a technician — Your technicians interface with the client at the worst of times; make it a pleasure doing business with you. Train your technicians in more than wrench-twisting, managing trunk stock and C++ whatever. Help them to understand they are the front-line ambassadors of your company.
2. Cross-train salespeople with technicians, accounting with sales — Oh, yeah, this is a great one. Trade places for one day. Have the salesperson take a technician on a day of calls, including lunch. Then have the salesperson shadow the tech for a day — salesperson still picks up lunch.
3. Everybody sells — From executive management to the dock, everybody sells. Holiday seasons are fast approaching, with all those family dinners and events. This is a great time to give your team an answer whenever Uncle Ted or Aunt Peru asks, “What is it you do again?” or “Where do you work?” and the ever-present, “How’s business?” The response, from the top down, should be your company’s value statement. Everybody should know it, own it and believe in it.
All this isn’t new, right? Three little ideas on how to keep it fresh.
Posted on 09/19/20110 comments
My subject was going to be a rather simple illustration on approaching the IT director – but then HP did what she did. I was on the “how to approach the IT director” theme when Steve Jobs sent out his letter. And I was still pushing cold-calling the IT dude when news of Warren Buffet injecting $5 billion into Bank of America hit the Twitter stream.
Just then, the two-by-four of reality smacked me in the forehead.
The world is as much about selling to the CIO as it is about change – more specifically, transformation. The continued economic uncertainty, political unrest, global social upheaval and general craziness isn’t just a rough patch; it is transforming each and every one of us in distinct and unseen ways.
So as you smile into your desk mirror and spin up 100 dials, just remember, every “No” not only gets you closer to a “Yes,” it transforms you; so did Steve Jobs, HP, Warren Buffet and Google.
Ours is a unique industry; the powerhouse OEMs typically are not considered “drivers” of the financial, manufacturing, Internet or technology industries – except in technology with the Xerox of old and today’s HP. So it is that we, the individuals, are a reactionary force – at times like a ping-pong ball in a shaking shoebox. We respond to what the OEMs throw down from on high; they respond to their perception of the marketplace.
Like it or not (and I do not), our destinies have been heavily influenced, if not dictated, by the Big Boys – the OEMs. Our personal transformation has been by design – engineered, in a sense. Like “replicants,” we hit the streets with manufactured memories, predestined functionality and expiration dates. As events beyond our control spin into and out of our realm, their gravitational force tugs and pushes at our unique, personal transformation.
Well, hang on: It was one heck of a month for events beyond our control, for transformation. Consider these five milestones in August:
Bank of America – Warren Buffet injects 5.5 million.
Why is this important to you and all of us in the industry? How’s all that open credit working for you? Another bubble is going to hit, and this time, banking has nowhere to hide; they will transform.
HP – The largest PC company in the world is getting out of PCs.
And that’s not the best of it. HP killed off their tablet after only 49 days in the market, euthanized their smart phones, then spent $10 billion on the cloud. HP sneezes; we all get Zombie Flu.
Since the Hurd exit, HP has lost 40 percent of its value. Mother Blue is in dire straits and lacks the leadership/vision to transform.
And as I write these words, rumors of resurrection – not much more than three days later – are popping up on the Twitter stream. Too late.
Apple – Change is guaranteed; time moves.
Talk about a transformative force. Love him or hate him, Steve Jobs and Apple transformed everything. From the presentation of content to music and magazines, Jobs put forward technology with a human touch. How this void is addressed will ripple across all ecosystems for years to come.
Google buys Motorola’s Mobility – Is nothing sacred? The answer is no.
A “search engine” company, Google wasn’t even an application company, let alone a mobility concern. Google is buying defunct paper mills all over the globe – excellent physical platforms for significant data centers for the cloud. Convergence is a term of yesteryear; transformation is the new convergence and the new collaboration.
Everything changes.
August was a hell of a month – one for the record books. Unlike transformative phases of the past, the current shift affects all of us individually.
Technology and society are converging faster than thought. The old imaging-world power structure is caving in upon itself, condensing.
The time is now. Take a look at your position – your personal position – and get ready.
Posted on 09/02/20110 comments
Oh, boy ... look out. Double Dip Depression is here.
You see it, hear it; we're in it. Just the other day, I was driving through a business park – empty – and a tumbleweed literally blew through the parking lot. It was a bad movie.
Today, banks have the bailout money, but they ain't lending. We can’t hire staff without taking a major leap of faith – not in the candidate, but in the system. AMEX, MC/VISA – they’ve got us all by the short hairs, and they don’t let us raise our personal “debt ceiling”; get the scissors out.
Five years ago, there were three U.S. automotive companies; today, just one – and GM don't count.
The times are tough, and our troubles are artificially extended. The current administration doles out plenty of blame and zero leadership. Do people still blame the “test” for poor scores? “The test is unfair,” they say. Really? A product of little leagues not keeping score.
Was it that long ago when we were blowing out quotas? Offices, businesses, mortgage companies and churches were buying a copier, fax or printer for each employee.
Everybody had a job. “Green” was in.
We owned two houses, three cars; bars were crowded on Wednesdays; Vegas was packed every day. Folks who couldn’t sell their mother a box of football candy were making bank, pushing paper.
That paper – that tainted-turned-toxic paper – brought it all down.
Remember those times? Feeling depressed? Suck it up; we’ve got work to do.
There has never been more opportunity for us – the individual selling professional – ever before in history (I know – 25,000 years of history; don’t get me started).
MpS changed everything. We changed our perspective on the print environment, with most of us shifting our gaze off the black marks and toward content, acknowledging the entire ecosystem. The change was a secular impact on our model, our established processes and us as individuals – a shift in power. It is still shifting from OEM to dealership to the individual. The heavens have been blown into stars, falling to us.
Okay, a bit touchy-feely, but my point is a simple one: Now is the best time to improve your unique, individual position. Not your position at work or your position in the MpS ecosystem – your standing, your position in life.
A new age of selling is upon us, and if you're in MpS, you are the vanguard, the tip of the spear, “boldly going” where few selling professionals have gone before.
There are no experts. This is virgin growth. We are on the frontier without guides, yet we have eyes, and our unfiltered and clear vision makes us the experts. Do you see that?
Think about this the next time you are being lectured on closing ratios and hear that very expensive talking head drone on about, “It’s a game of numbers,” “Every ‘no’ gets you closer to a ‘yes’,” “Flex them in,” or “How many dials did you make today?”: Now is the time to sell yourself before your company. Now is the time to expand your outlook before product training.
The battle is not easy. There are those who lament their misfortune, looking to drag us down. And the old guard, the centralized power establishment, will fight the change, will degrade and demote you and your beliefs. The machine doesn’t sweat, bleed or feel. This doesn’t matter; it cannot win.
Why? Analog is bigger than digital.
So while some of your contemporaries are transfixed on the Double Dip Depression, get a good book, study our world and go boldly forward.
Posted on 08/15/20110 comments