7 Deadly Sins Of Office Equipment Dealers

Transcript

ignorance selfishness stubbornness haphazardness cluelessness thoughtlessness A free e-guide from reactiveness Managed Print Services was supposed to be the Office Equipment Dealers’ salvation but it hasn’t always delivered. Here 7 industry experts weigh in on the biggest mistakes dealers are making in their managed print efforts. IGNORANCE Running assessments that focus only on printers while ignoring users who print. The last time I checked it was people that hit the print button – not the printer all by itself. Yet, far too often we ignore that simple fact when a customer asks for help with their print infrastructure. We are inclined to tell them they have too many printers without first understanding job sizes and types. We see they are printing 60% of their pages in color and don’t bother to see how much of that is just email and web print. We need to ask better questions, and we need to use better tools to help find the answers. There’s more to it than simply what’s in the meter reads. Author: West McDonald, Owner/Founder, FocusMPS HAPHAZARDNESS Lack of market strategy, or choosing the wrong MPS strategy. Have you ever offered to help someone with something, only to realize later how much hard work you had signed up for? Sadly, too many service providers have found themselves in this dilemma–painfully discovering all of the profit-draining land mines after winning the first, third, and even thirtieth MPS customer. George Harrison captured the essence of Alice’s conversation with the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland when he sang, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road’ll take you there.” You need to know where you are going and have a plan, or at least find a partner that does. This includes understanding your unique slant on solving a particular market problem, and mapping out how you will sustain the promise your sales team is making to your customers. Author: Ken Stewart, Practice Director - Services, Photizo Group STUBBORNNESS Pretending that hard copy output isn't diminishing. Deniers – “The End” isn’t near, it’s here. International Paper closes its largest US operation; 80% of the paper produced in this one plant was 8.5x11. Long time copier/printer/toner jockeys are retiring, turning into consultants or getting out of the industry. Complaints of ‘little or no talent’ (sales and technical) permeate so deeply, nobody pays any attention anymore. HP sheds 34,000 people, combines/buries IPG, reanimates inkjet (edge line), Toshiba is marketing an erasable ‘ditto machine’ and we somehow believe the “OEMs will drive the future” with business workflow? Why all this? Because PEOPLE DO NOT LIKE TO PRINT ANYMORE, hard copy is vanishing. Ignoring isn't ‘Stubbornness’, it’s ignorance. Author: Greg Walters, President, Walters & Shutwell Inc. 7 Deadly Sins of Office Equipment Dealers copyright 2014 Print Audit THOUGHTLESSNESS Not doing quarterly reporting on the value of their services to their customers. I have been seeing a lot of data lately that points to the potential for a gradual but steady decline of page volumes in the North American market. There are persistent pockets where volumes are on the rise, certainly, but this is the exception and not the rule. As pages decline, competition for those that remain will become stronger and good use of data for quarterly reviews is an excellent way to help shut your competitors out. A good MPS program which delivers on the promise of better uptime and automated toner fulfillment can be a double edged sword. Because you do a great job, MPS can appear “easy” and customers can be swayed to look at cheaper competitors. That is unless you present detailed and meaningful MPS reports on a regular and consistent basis to show the customer just how much work you are doing for them. Regular reporting to your customer base has an unexpected benefit: It opens the door to new sales opportunities. Don't expect your customer to intrinsically understand how much you do for them. Use great data and regular reviews to show them. Better you than your competitors. Author: Rob Thiessen, Vice President of Sales, Print Audit SELFISHNESS Focusing on equipment replacements and "box dropping" rather than the customers interests in reducing output and making workflow improvements. How often are we working online and get a random pop-up regarding something that you really don’t care about? I can’t tell you how many times I get vacation deals for places I don’t want to go, coupons for restaurants that I don't like, and refinance offers for vehicles that I got rid of 10 years ago. In today’s business environment we are bombarded with so many special programs that are not relevant to their audience. So many of us are guilty of bombarding our current customers in the same way. Every time they turn around we want to drop a new piece of equipment in an account and tell them how it’s the best thing since sliced bread. Contrary to popular belief, a new piece of hardware isn’t going to solve every issue. And even if it did, there are thousands of organizations that can provide the same hardware, so why buy from you versus someone else? The best business relationships are derived when we actually have an impact on our customer environments. When we immerse ourselves into their business it allows us to solve real problems and have significant impact. So the moral of this story is please stop being one of the annoying popups offering clients a new box that they don’t want. All of your customers will thank you dearly for providing business intelligence and the world will be a much better place. Author: Greg Brisco, Texas District Manager, Dove Data Products 7 Deadly Sins of Office Equipment Dealers copyright 2014 Print Audit CLUELESSNESS Not securing customers with value added solutions. Have you ever been to one of those hotels/resorts that think it’s ok to charge you $40 for an 18-year MACALLAN? Think Bellagio. To quote a fellow Canadian, “that don’t impress me much”. It’s just a drink so I head elsewhere for a cheaper version. Well, I recently returned from the INTEC Show at Terranea (www.terranea.com), located just outside of LA, where the drinks are expensive, but the value-add made it all OK. From escorting you to one of the best views on the continent with that drink, to building out your morning run, there was ‘added-value’ all over the resort. And while the total bill wasn’t small, I felt alright with the investment. The same goes for MPS – it’s not about toner, hardware, or minimums – people will head elsewhere for a cheaper version. To make this truly a value-add solution, think like Terranea. What can you do to improve the level of customer value with your client? I’d recommend shifting the conversation from the box to the user through workflow solutions (basic or advanced). They’ll see you differently and will appreciate the value when your asking price resembles a finely crafted single-malt. Author: Brian Stevenson, President, footPRINT Managed Services REACTIVENESS Not proactively managing both the supplies and service involved with printer fleets. Proactive management of printer fleets allows customers to do what they do for a living. No customer really wants to manage their printers. If they were good at it, there would be no need for MPS providers! Printers should just be tools in the customer’s minds – always available and always on. When you proactively manage supplies, the right toner shows up when needed – every time. When you proactively manage service, you come fix it before most users even know it’s down. Not convinced? In MPS, these costs are YOURS! Letting your customer order supplies and call for service is like handing your teenager your credit card–it won’t end well. Author: Doug Johnson, SVP–Strategic Businesses, Supplies Network Do you find yourself guilty of some of the 7 Deadly Sins of Office Equipment Dealers? If so, don’t despair, you are not alone and help is at hand! Contact Print Audit to learn more about how Premier can help or get in touch with any of the Industry Experts listed above. It is not too late to get started on the path to MPS redemption. 7 Deadly Sins of Office Equipment Dealers copyright 2014 Print Audit