Print Management "Truth and Lies"

I think your giving three seperate yet totally intergrated defintions of Print Management shows just how great a disconnect there can be when dealing with our customers in regards to providing a PM solution. I was recently doing a discovery with a company's CIO and while a PM solution had been addressed with the previous CIO and accepted as one, the new CIO saw it merely as a way for the current vendor to lock in recharged toner cartridges and service at a hefty price. From what I've seen from the local dealers they have a completely different perception of what a PM solution really is...

So what really is a PM solution?? Is it all 3 or more or less?

i would say the answer is yes....
PM is really what your customer thinks it is, so it is really up to us during the discovery stage to find out just what the customer's viewpoint is on the subject. Obviously with the CIO I was speaking about, just providing recharged cartidges and including service on the printers wasn't footing the bill, however, for some that may suffice. It's like everything else in our business now, as the professional we have to be the one to diagnose(?) and to recommend the course of the "treatment" once we've completed the discovery.

I just think of Print Management (or Managed Print Services) as the extension of copier programs into the print environment...all service and supplies for a set cost per copy (or in this case print). Sometimes it includes hardware, sometimes not. The other aspect we bring to the table is the establishment of automatic ordering by the device thereby eliminating the need for pre-paid inventory and all the problems associated with it i.e too much, too little, obsolete, employee theft, etc. We also establish for them the ability to track inkjet for the first time which creates a whole world of benefits.
There is a place for it (PM) but there is also alot of room for abuses.

I agree with the abuses, more on that later. So have we determined that PM is just that, putting a cpc on all print devices and performing service and managing their inventory?

This was posted on the Sharp p4p this morning:

Today at 08:25 AM #4

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My impression of print management is........

Yes it gets the dealership deeper penetration of account. Dealer has complete picture of accounts paper usage, who is printing, what is being printed, how can the current process be done for less expense

However it's advantage for the account is

as needed toner delivery, every Tom Dick and Harry are not ordering toner
because of reduced ordering customer has reduced number of bills to pay
most important for customer is they have "one throat to choke" when something goes wrong

quote:

Originally posted by Art Post:
most important for customer is they have "one throat to choke" when something goes wrong

My God, that's what I came here to post... "One neck to hug, one throat to choke".

That's important for the customer, no more questions about "who do we call for this machine? how about that one? what about the one in the corner?" for all of those questions the answer is the same.

Lots of people SAY managed print services, but deliver a contract with toner included. I think if you really want to MANAGE print services, you need to look at the customer from an enterprise level (even if they only have one location). This means examining document workflow, volumes, equipment, placement, etc.

When you offer that to your customer on an on-going basis (not just at the time of the sale) I think you can call it Managed Print Services.

One of the other components which can be part of the managed print process is the financing side. We just recently finalized a total CPC contract with a long term client and the number one reason they were really interested in going this way is to get "off book" financing. Our deal is a cpc for a 48 month term and we carry the hardware as well as the service and supplies...for them it is only a quarterly (paid in advance) invoice for a volume of prints...no lease, no long term responsibility for the hardware. Took some work to finance it right but it can be a very attractive deal with the right client. By the way, this creative solution helped us keep out a competitor who was offering a very low click charge on a more conventional deal. The client decided they liked working with someone they know when the whole package was in the hands of the known dealer.