Maybe We Shouldn't Get Into Managed IT Services

Are we marketing the edge of forever or yesterday's Enterprise?

I'm beginning to think the road to #digitalTransformation, for #TheImagingChannel, doesn't require stepping into the managed (IT) services niche. 

Maybe we've been looking at and been told the wrong thing by well-meaning yet misguided know-it-alls. (me included).  

I.T. isn't all that sexy. 

I know, I know, compared to #copiers, firewalls and anti-virus are #seductive.  

Wouldn't it be easier to deliver, and install coffee machines connected to the IoT? Or design and implement an IoT Connectivity Policy? Or how about looking to the fringe of technology beyond the curve? 

“Fewer clients. Less money. More attention. Caring for them.”

Speaking to the next generation of copier dealers - those who have survived, inherited, or still fly under their original colors - If every copier, printer, and paper document disappeared tomorrow, what would you do? 

What would you sell? 

Why MPS Now?

Managed print services prevented customers from paying too much for devices, service, and supplies and reduced the number of machines in the field. After decades of over-purchasing copiers, companies were paying much more than they should. Paramount to the MPS process was the assessment and every assessment, if performed honestly, found devices well under recommended usage.

The MPS movement was perceived by some as anti-copier, anti-output volume, and thereby, anti-industry. As a practitioner and a champion of “30% cost reduction,” I was a pariah to “peers” and a contrarian to prospects. It was a great time.

As part of a minority movement, we had little control over the definition of managed print. Indeed, prospects, dealers, software houses, and OEMs created MPS in their likeness – which is fine – but each version was supported by an agenda and narrative: “sell more devices, toner, and software packages.” Instead of fighting the system, I pronounced the death of managed print services with hopes of a resurrection in the future.

Read the rest, here.

Ask Greg is Back

A while back, I had an "Ask Greg" column writing for Xerox around Managed print Services where folks would write in and ask all sorts of questions and I would answer.

For the past few years, I've been writing a series titled "New to Copier Sales..." for The Imaging Channel, here.

I'm bringing it back.

I know that there isn't a shortage of 'know-it-alls' out here - the cyber-world has always been populated with bloviating pontificators - I'm not looking to compete with those folks.  All I know is that for the last 20 plus years, I've been involved with sales teams selling and prospects buying.  I've been on BOTH sides of the sales table.

The process is simple.  Ask a question, I'll give you an answer. The question can be about anything: selling copiers, managed print services, uniform rental programs website design, and anything in between.  "

For example, Fred Farkel from Flint, Michigan asks, 

"Greg, I've been in copier sales for 60 days and I haven't sold a thing.  My manager is all over me to sell something, anything.  How can I turn a quick sale?  Can I do anything to get my manager off my a$$? - Fred.

My response might go something like this:

"Dear Frustrated in Flint, 

Quit.

Yours very truly, 

G"

Of course, I'm kidding. (sorta)

"Dear Frustrated in Flint,

I am sorry to hear of your challenges in the 'thumb'.(Mid-Michigan)  Sales managers like yours are the bane of our industry. Regardless,  here are some ideas your manager should have already reviewed with you:

1. Hit up all your existing clients. 
2. Check lease renewals.
3. Comb the "New business" announcements looking for live prospects.
4. Approach family and friends for leads at their place of business.

Remember, you're looking for quick transactional, turns the above ideas are short term answers in a long term game.

PS - Seriously, if your sales manager is all over you so early, keep your resume up to date.

Do you have a question?  Click here.  What have you got to lose?

"Help me, help you."

Cheers!

HP Behind UAPs/UFOs:Department of Defense

Hewlett Packard announced today the existence of HP-researched and developed UAPs commonly known as UFOs.

Throughout the 70s, HP in cooperation with PARC, worked with DARPA to reverse engineer technology not sourced from any country. 

Speaking anonymously, an HP source said, "We've been testing gravity-generating engines for years and although we've been able to lift these devices a few feet off the ground, we have no idea exactly how these machines work."

Accelerate Managed Print Services with the New Model

There is a bounce, a resurgence, a renaissance in managed print services. As the fear of Covid fades and offices around the world repopulate, albeit, by 40-60% of pre-Covid numbers, print and copy functions are grabbing temporary attention. But this uptick is fleeting and short-lived and not based on increased volumes or growing fleets of devices. Today's rekindled interest is based on managing the reduction of print and the increase of digital workflows.

Our traditional business theory of pivoting into managed IT or an adjacent niche was an idealistic idea in the MPS Model 2 (see below, Photizo) 

Today, expanding or diversifying services is less of an option and more of a survival tactic and a foundational plank of the continuing generation of Managed print Services (MpS).  

The circa 2012 model is still relevant, we just need to refocus and recognize new opportunities.

With this in mind, I've updated the model to include new innovations and directions for office technology.

Call for Speakers: UFOs, Mandela, Strings and Selling

 

Why I'm I looking for guest speakers/writers familiar with the following subjects to speak to a select group of my closest colleagues, during one of my Happy Hours?

• How could the supposed 'Mandela Effect' impact copier sales?
• Does the existence UFO/UAPs influence your prospects' buying decision?
• Is there such a thing as a "war in distance lands"?
• When strings are observed, is your sales funnel modified?

Nobody can deny the world is connected more than at any time in history.

Innovation in the Managed print Services Niche...

In most ways, the Managed Services and Managed Print channels look a lot like they did 5 years ago. 

Or do they? In this episode, we’ll explore innovation with two exceptional thought leaders on channel diversification. 

Listen in to get expert advice on how you can innovate and grow your business more while pushing back on stagnation and old thinking.

12 Aspects of Leasing a Copier - No You Can't Break a Lease

Leasing is math under contract. The dealer buys a device from distribution or manufacturer. The leasing company pays the dealer his cost, all upfront.

The leasing company bills the ultimate customer periodically until the cost of the machine to the dealer and profit is covered.  

Benefits to each player:

• Lease company - profit
• Dealer - profit all upfront
• Customer - monthly payment instead of a large, one-time outlay

Example:

A customer wishes to 'own' a large piece of equipment.  The purchase price is $20,000.00.  Instead of paying 20k all at once, the customer would like to pay over time.

The dealer would like to sell the customer equipment, installation, and software needed for the device to function.  The dealer cannot offer pay overtime to the customer directly.

The leasing company approves the client and the sale moves forward.

The Stages of Managed Print Services, 2007. The Model Still Works.

Back in the olden days, 2007 or so, I came up with three stages of managed print services.  This model was designed for my MPS practice, not necessarily for the industry, and I used it to help explain the MpS procedure to clients and co-workers.  In less than five minutes, the prospect had a basic idea of the stages, procedures, and expectations of our program.

As time went by, every OEM, MPS dealership, and software provider had their version of the MpS process. 

HP had a similar idea but the one from Photizo matched and improved upon my vision of the stages.  Photizo even came up with a more detailed approach reaching into a Fourth stage.

I'm not saying this is the ONLY managed print services model, it was mine.  There are just as many MPS models as there are definitions. All of them are good, each has shortcomings.

Ideally, I was trying to design a process that could be applied to more that managed print services like workflow solutions and business process optimization.  I figured every opportunity can be broken down into three stages, Control, Optimize, Enhance.

That makes sense, right?

Unfortunately, many of the models ended up being pure marketing as deliverables rarely matched the original plan.  Like most innovations in the industry, we first argue “it will never work for me…” then jump on the bandwagon. We then focus on price, commoditize the service into a box and accelerate the race to the bottom, dumbing down the concept and cutting pricing.

MPS became little more than automatic supplies delivery and on-site service, billed per usage.  Managed print services devolved into “managed toner delivery, at the lowest price…”

Regardless, today the industry seeks out pivot points with many players getting into managed services - something I've been a proponent of for a decade.

Naturally, because I was building an MPS practice inside a VAR, I was looking for a way to ease copier dealers into the IT realm, to include IT salespeople in the MPS equation, and fold managing output devices, business processes, and IT assets in one agreement. 

MpS deserved a screen in the N.O.C. Managed services was the future and MPS was the way to get there. 

The MPS Model.

Talking a Managed Print Services Renaissance with Greg Walters

From Carl Schell, Keypoint Intelligence.

Four quick questions about managed print services:

"The concept of managed print services (MPS) has meant a lot of different things to a lot of different people over the years, by definition and in revenue. Is it just about A4? Auto-replenishing of supplies? How deep and wide can it go? MPS has evolved to be anything a dealer wants it to be, for lack of a better way of putting it. It’s elastic, flexible. One thing we can all agree on, though, is that taking a consultative approach with customers leads to better relationships and greater financial success for all parties.

And because of that, it takes an exceptional listener to execute and deliver on managed print services. Greg Walters is that exceptional listener. While he started his career in IT, he’s been immersed in the print industry for a while now and currently finds himself working with clients on MPS deals, specifically—surprise, surprise!—A3. All of this is quite ironic seeing as, in 2008, Walters created The Death of the Copier, a website that’s still going strong."

Read the rest, here.

The Managed Print Services Renaissance is here.

"Whereof what's past is prologue; what to come,
In yours and my discharge..."

The die was cast a decade ago; the rise, fall, and rise again of managed print services was foreseen. Even as office printing wanes, and withers, we are amid a Managed Print Services (MpS) Renaissance and age of enlightenment.

"Remote work is accelerating the A4 shift at lightning speed, ransomware and bad actors heighten the need for analog backups (paper), user authentication and print tracking/control are becoming normal, and that all adds up to new ways of doing business and new opportunities to manage that print."

Those survivors stand at yet another precipice:

Do we move forward with managed print services, or do we leave it in the dustpan of history?  

How to Sell

This is great.  Start at 9:26 or listen to the entire piece.

It is the first time I've heard an academic explains how sales really work.

Give it a listen and take notes.

 

  

Click to email me.

How Will Work From Anywhere Affect Copier Sales?

I've been a work-from-anywhere person since 2009ish - I've presented from Sydney, Starbucks' parking lots, and poolside in Vegas.  I've evangelized the lifestyle from Detroit to LA to Charlotte to Oconomowoc, Wi. and points between and beyond.

So when the fear of Covid sent everybody home to work, my environment didn't skip a beat.  Remote selling, online marketing, virtual meetings, and Zoom sessions became second nature to the rest of the world. 

Welcome to my world.

As #WFH becomes standard, the powers that be will attempt to define, moderate, and ultimately fashion the model into their likeness.  That will not work.

This concept is bigger than this small tome.  Today, we'll talk about selling copiers(or anything else) in this new land of  "work from anywhere". - GW

###

Mayors Want You Back - "You can't stay home in your pajamas all day."

Are post-Covid cube farms the new plantation?

'You can't stay home in your pajamas all day!': NYC Mayor Eric Adams says workers must get back to the office because work-from-home policies aren't economically sustainable for the Big Apple and New Yorkers need to 'cross-pollinate ideas and interact'.

This is dangerous.  

From the mayor of NYC:

'We must get open, and let me tell you why,' Adams said in an appearance in Bloomberg TV last month. 

'That accountant from a bank that sits in an office - it's not only him, it feeds our financial ecosystem. He goes to the cleaners and get his suits clean, he goes out to the restaurants, he brings in a business traveler, which is 70 percent of our hotel occupancy.'

Detroit, Chicago, Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles, NJ - the places that locked down the hardest are going to PUSH for "back-to-office" mandates.

A quick response:

"No.

Perhaps we WERE in PJ's - but that's not any of your business.

Eight Ways to Sell MpS

 

How Long Until We See "Work from the office" mandates?

"We need people back to work."  Is this the new mantra? 

Is getting back to the office a matter of national security?

Could a "Back to the Office" mandate be in your future?

Why would back-to-work mandates evolve?

1. The powers believe in mandates.  
2. The powers know how to spin anything into a National Security issue.
3. Getting the economy going again is "a national security issue".
4. The powers are influential.
5. The powers know the populace is numb to being directed.

Consider Canada.

Our cousins to the north have always been the most polite society in our hemisphere.  Easy going, if not over-apologetic. So it was refreshing to see protests occur without burning buildings, smashing windows, or occupying city blocks.  

The juxtaposition of Canadian police horses stomping a woman and law enforcement kicking a protester while he was down was shocking.  It seems in Canada, authorities are more violent than the protesters - a testament to how far an unhinged government will go.

Consider Australia.

Australia, another western, free society has locked down society, built and populated Covid quarantine camps.  

They've banned singing and dancing. 

Enough cannot be said about the situation down under. One can only imagine what the next global crisis will instill.  All this took place over a willing populace.

Consider New York City "Shattered".

 

  "This town's full of money grabbers. Go ahead.  Bite the Big Apple.  Don't mind the maggots."

Eight Ways to Sell to Corporate Culture in 2022

Much is being said about how the work-from-home movement will negatively impact the corporate culture.

What is Corporate Culture:

"Corporate culture refers to the beliefs and behaviors that determine how a company's employees and management interact and handle outside business transactions. Often, corporate culture is implied, not expressly defined, and develops organically over time from the cumulative traits of the people the company hires." - Investopedia

Long established and organically grown, corporate culture resists outside influences - you, as a salesperson are an outside influence, especially in the post-Covid age. 

Today, implemented managed print services still presents a shock to the system and a threat to the 'how we've always done it' position.  

Visualize an MpS implementation as an enhancement to your customer's existing workflow.  

How can you cut through the fear of change, when that fear is on the global pandemic level?  Go with the flow.

One of the first articles I wrote was about implementing a managed print services program and the risks of ignoring corporate culture in the process. 

Back then, we were concerned about the impact of reducing devices on the way people felt about their jobs. MpS engagements were new; they changed the way toner was ordered and revealed how the number and location of devices could be a shock to the system.  

Today, implementing new services is a shock to the system because it threatens the 'how we've always done it' position.  

Visualize an MpS implementation as an enhancement to your customer's existing workflow and be 'like water.'

Workflow is about optimizing the processes of everyday business tasks. In other words, it’s how work gets done. Change is guaranteed, and the corporate culture at the organizational, departmental, or personal level can’t help but be influenced. 

I once heard a really smart guy say, “Culture kills process every day.” It’s something we should all keep in mind.  

Journalism is Dead

This morning's Rabbit Hole...some of the leading 'news' papers landing pages...what is the difference between reflection and projection?

It's just interesting...no mention of the Durham probe, which I find more interesting. And look at the MSNBC landing page...should journalism use adverbs, qualifiers, or sarcasm in headlines? "right-wing blockade...", "Why Republicans want Hillary Clinton investigated - Again.", of course, MSNBC is opinion-based so they get a pass.

I don't care particularly about content, it is remarkable seeing a pattern of coverage.

It's just looking at all the headlines, the nugatory subjects permeate all the industrial news media you gotta wonder if each editorial staff meets in the same room.

I'll let you decide.

Here are the landing pages for today, February 15, 2022:

Three Reasons Managed Print Services is Not Dead

When one defines Managed print Services as "toner and service for printers on a single invoice..." MpS is dead.

But if you believe that managing devices and the business process associated with output is MpS, especially as organizations are reducing hardcopy, then MpS never went away.

IT folks hate printers and copiers for many reasons. They're big and hot and dirty, connect to their sacred network, pose a security risk, and that's not all. The biggest gripe is out of all the software and hardware an IT department supports, output devices are closest to the End User. And end-user support is the worst - face-to-face conversations are challenging because they usually start off with the word, "Why doesn't...?" IT techs don't like to be challenged or questioned.

This is a vacuum and your MpS prowess helps you fill that void for your clients.

Anti-MPSr's fail to recognize, managed print services was always our way into the IT realm. Real MpS includes optimizing workflows, working with IT resources, removing challenges associated with moving information not delivering toner, and dispatching service technicians.

Three reasons for Real MpS is not dead:

Hybrid Office is a Trap

I recently commented on all the companies requiring employees to sign an insulting, 'work from home' agreement.

Mistrust, insecurity, and control.

The work-from-home environment is a direct threat to the management and corporate status quo and will be fought, tooth and nail by politicians, mayors, old-school corporate leaders, and middle management.

• Why do we need managers, when there are no employees in the office?  
• How is it that for two years, employees worked at home and their productivity went up?  
• How can employees be efficient and productive without a manager looking over a shoulder or an executive giving a lunchroom speech?

Trap!

In boardrooms across the country, virtual boardrooms, executives are devising ways to entice and force employees back to the fields.  But nothing will work, the die is cast.

They will use Hybrid as a 'compromise' knowing the movement will fail, leading wayward toilers back to the secure, comfortable, office environment.

Then, crank up the 'velvet handcuffs' - couches in the office, windows for everyone, no cubes, etc., etc., etc., and invite everyone back.

Always feed the media narrative pushing in the opposite direction to pull people into the fold.  

Devious.

Three Reasons Hybrid Office Will Fail and Why

Hybrid work models are the best of both worlds. Hybrid work refers to employees returning to the office throughout the week. They may come in every Tuesday and Thursday, choosing to work Monday Wednesday Friday, and work from home Thursday and Friday. This is flexible and great. 

Like always, there is more to the story. For management, hybrid means they keep control because they see their workers face to face. For employees, the ability to work from home, at least, facilitates more freedom, happiness, and greater productivity. 

But there are problems arising from hybrid work environments. 

With 24 months of #WFH and #Hybrid work behind us, data is starting to trickle in revealing some interesting challenges with the practice. More than 80% of workers polled say that hybrid is ‘exhausting’ for employees, according to a TinyPulse survey report. 

Is It Workflow? Or Is It Just a Tool?

DOTC, 2013

Tool: 

“something (as an instrument or apparatus) used in performing an operation or necessary in the practice of a vocation or profession.” – Merriam-Webster. 

Back in the good ol’ days, before MpS, a few smart folks started referring to scanning as the on-ramp to document management. Not a bad way to look at it, and not a bad way to turn an ancillary tool into more than what it is – that's called marketing. It’s akin to selling copiers as “document management engines,” when all they really do is put marks on paper. It’s selling an idea, not the machine. 

Today the new dimension in managed print services – workflow – is undergoing the same marketing treatment. As the rush toward this niche intensifies, intrepid voyagers be aware: 

There is a difference between workflow tools and workflow. I'm not belittling the attempt to get involved in this business or suggesting some sort of “workflow” purity. I bring this up because, unlike managed print services, your prospects and clients have an understanding of workflow and what to expect. They may not formally label it as workflow, but they will recognize the benefits of making a change in the way things have always been done.

If you present scanning software as a workflow solution, you'll end up disappointing everybody, and two years from now, we'll be reading articles about the “false promises of workflow.” It is important to know the difference between a tool and a philosophy, between a pitch and an idea. 

To illustrate further, let’s take a look at some examples: 

New to Copier Sales – Use Local Events to Share Your Expertise

We used to call them “networking groups.” Local Chambers of Commerce and small business groups would put together an after-hours event, inviting local businesses to connect with each other and prospects. They met once a month and ended up being full of real estate agents and insurance salespeople handing out business cards and trading stories over drinks. It seems almost old school, but I think these types of get-togethers are more important now than pre-COVID. 

But there is a difference and I’m suggesting you take advantage of the subtle shift in connecting with prospects. Hosting a small group in a casual, off-site meeting over coffee or adult beverages is a great venue for high-quality meetings.

This is not a huge production, so there’s no need for big planning meetings or marketing pieces. You’re just Jane/John getting together for an informal chat with peers.

You can host these small gatherings.  It’s easy when you consider the following:

Read the article here.

Managed Print Services is an Opportunity. Always has been...

Ray is okay.  

But he beats up on anyone who is not one of his sponsors.  He criticizes everyone from HP to the MPSA.  HP is an easy target but the MPSA is a non-profit all-volunteer organization.  He specializes in targeting people who do not pay to be part of his cabal. Indeed, one of his current companions fell victim to his vitriol until they paid and joined his clan.

He is opinionated and not afraid to say what is on his mind a quality I typically admire.

This time Ray is pouncing on a person promoting managed print services as an opportunity.  I don't know why Ray hates managed print services, but he does.  Defining managed print services as only toner and services is short-sighted - that's how Ray sees MpS.

I won't link to the original, you can find it on your own.

Below is my response, for whatever it's worth.

###

Okay, Ray 

- people think of you as a troll, because you act like one. 

Take it from a guy who owns "The Death of The Copier" inside the copier industry. In the early days of DOTC, I was vilified for even mentioning MpS because it "took away" volumes by reducing the number of images generated. This is true, but I was not referred to as a troll - "pain in the ass", yes.  Bully, no.

Unfortunately for you, your tone and word choice come across, at times, as boorish. Like a bully, or curmudgeon. This garbles your overall message which at times is relevant - but this is not one of those times.

Your argument against MpS representing opportunity is incorrect - but so too is the viewpoint you demean.

There is an opportunity with MpS when defined as more than toner and supplies. MpS is BPO, it is IT, it is ITAM, it is IoT and it is and always was a bridge into the MS realm.

“Managed print services is the active management and

optimization of business processes related to documents and

information including input and output devices.” - MPSA

Unattainable panacea? It would appear so, but MpS is not dead(to my surprise), just ask our friends at Lexmark and Sharp.

New to Copier Sales – Use Local Events to Share Your Expertise

The COVID impact is creating turbulence and waves of change moving through all facets of life. One of these waves is flowing through the ocean of business meetings and face to face appointments. You, as a new copier rep, can catch a wave to more success. We used to call them “networking groups.” 

Local Chambers of Commerce and small business groups would put together an after-hours event, inviting local businesses to connect with each other and prospects. They met once a month and ended up being full of real estate agents and insurance salespeople handing out business cards and trading stories over drinks. 

It seems almost old school, but I think these types of get-togethers are more important now than pre-COVID. But there is a difference and I’m suggesting you take...

Read the rest, here.

Managed print Services inside a VAR. A long time ago...

Managed print Services inside a VAR.  A long, long time ago.

New to Copier Sales: How to Write a Blog or Article

You’ve heard it before: “You’ve got to create content.”  Your LinkedIn feed is probably littered with all sorts of influencers pitching their personal branding and content generation classes.

Distinguishing yourself through content is undeniably effective, but how? Adding one more task to your selling process is daunting.  But writing about how you’ve helped others is a great way to project expertise and build credibility. Above all, writing can be a catharsis.

That’s the trick to good content — write for yourself, to yourself.  There are two basic audiences: those in the industry — coworkers, vendors, and the like, and those on the other side of the table — prospects, and customers.  Talking with either audience requires relevant ideas, subject matter, and empathy. Put yourself in their shoes. For example, if you recently had a great prospecting or cold-calling experience, tell the story. The odds are good that not only will your peers find it interesting, your prospects will as well.  

Remember, they sell things too.

Read the rest here.

What is a good bourbon for beginners

I get this question all the time and my response is typical, "What are you drinking right now?  What is your choice when you go into a bar for whiskey?"

this doesn't mean you shouldn't seek out folks who have been on the path before you; Those who have developed a palate like you're attempting to do.

It doesn't matter if the response is Jack or Jim or scotch, an Irish whiskey, or even nothing.

I ask this to get them to establish a base of their current taste profile. The question is for them, not me.

Back the Beginning -

For a lot of us, Jack and Coke was our first. 

I went with it as a kid, starting with Jack Daniels on the rocks as an 18-year-old.  On my 21st birthday, I received five, 5ths of JD - I established myself as a Jack Daniels dude early on.

I went through the usual whiskey adventures; Jack and Coke, or rocks, or Yukon Jack.  I settled on what I called a "Mountain Jack", Moutain Dew, and Jack Daniels.  It would be another 40 years or so until I discovered the real connection between Mountain Dew and whiskey.  

Irony.

Back to the Future -