MPS: THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Great Article about printers and how printers are a HUGE part of the IT Budget!!!

Out of Ink, Out of Luck, Why Printers Get No Respect – By: Isaac Arnsdorf

Enjoy!

Cheers,

MPG

MPS: OKI DATA

A Great Marketing piece from OKI DATA Printing Solutions:

OKI PRINT SOLUTIONS: BUSINESS SURVIVAL GUIDE

MPS: Assumptions and Facts

MPS: FACTS & ASSUMPTIONS

 

            During the MPS assessment phase, the information discovered can change from the beginning of your assessment to the end of the assessment.  It is imperative to have a meeting where you and your customer verify what are facts and what are assumptions.  NOT VERIFYING FACTS AND ASSUMPTIONS CAN DESTROY A MPS DEAL.  Not understanding what are facts and what are assumptions can cause a lot of problems during implementation of your MPS solution. 

Some questions to ask to verify your facts and assumptions are as follows:

1.  Will the assumptions made in this assessment affect other aspects of the MPS solution and the customer’s business that you have considered?

2.  What happens to the MPS solution and the customer’s business if the assumptions prove to be incorrect?

3.  What evidence do you have to demonstrate that the facts are indeed correct?

4.  Has the customer signed off that the facts and assumptions are correct?

Remember, these are only a few questions you should ask when verifying facts and assumptions.  To maximize the MPS solutions, one must verify that the facts and assumptions are accurate and that the customer has signed off on them.

MPS: Just one piece of the puzzle

Managed Print Services is just one piece of the services puzzle that companies are looking for when it comes to not only printer and copier technology, but all technology in their environments. 

Here is what HP is offering:  HP Multivendor Support Services

MPS Process: Define- Measure – Analyze – Improve – Control

Here is a great a presentation on Managed Print Services.  I could not have said it better, which is why I am just going to give you the link.  Enjoy.

A Successful Managed Print Services Strategy – By: Larry Levine of Document Systems

Check out Document Systems

 

Cheers,

MPG

MPS: Monthly & Quarterly Review Meetings

In the MPS space, MPS representatives need to be consultants.  MPS consultants:

• Keep regular contact.
• Keep adding value.
• Keep the bar high.
• Keep growing the relationship.

 

One way to keep regular contact is by having either monthly or quarterly review meetings with your MPS customers. The main reason these meetings is to make sure all key metrics are being met, but it also to help identify other opportunities in the managed services space.  MPS is just one piece of the of the ever growing managed services pie.

During monthly or quarterly meeting MPS consultants should look for:

• Top ten most problematic devices
• Identify trending in page production
• Identify what drives peaks and valleys
• Fleet management
• Services and supply issues
• Workflow trends

 

     If you are not having monthly or quarterly meetings with your customers and I am talking about face to face meetings, not monthly emails or phone calls, you are missing out on major opportunities.

Cheers,

MPG

MPS News: “Toshiba Partners With Preo to Offer Customers Even Greater Print Management Tools”

 

Toshiba Partners With Preo to Offer Customers Even Greater Print Management Tools

MPS Commitment Stages

There are many steps to the MPS process and I have written about them at great lengths in recent blogs posts, but there are two steps, which keeps the customer committed and must never be skipped.  These two steps will help you as the MPS consultant to keep the customer focused and committed.

1.  Signing a mutual Non-Disclosure Agreement to start discovery

2.  Signing off on the cost model during cost consensus meeting.

I am going to talk about the “Signing off on the cost model during cost consensus meeting” because your customer needs to understand their costs before you can move forward with a proposal.  This meeting is a HUGE step because:

• It creates the cost baseline that both parties agree on.
• Assumptions are handled at this meeting
• Backgrounds questions and concerns are answered at this meeting
• This validates your proposal numbers in the end.  It gives strength to your value proposition.
• It moves you away from competitor’s data and customer’s data.
• The customer signing off on your findings makes the proposal process and moving forward easier.

 

A cost consensus meeting can be considered the biggest step in the MPS process, so don’t skip it and make sure you have your customer to sign off on the findings once they are mutually agreed upon.   Trust me, it will strengthen your proposal and relationship.

Cheers,

MPG

MPS: Document Express UK

 

In 2008 Document Express was appointed as UK’s First Channel Managed Print Service Provider and they have never looked back.  Here is a link to a great piece about Managed Print Services for Mid-size business.  I have talked about their website in earlier posts about marketing, but I recommend checking out this both links below if you want to learn more about MPS.

Document Express – Managed Print Services for Mid-size Organisations

Document Express UK – Official Website

 Cheers,

MPG

MPS: Know who you are selling to….

Here is a great article from the Wall Street Journal about how CIOs are perceived by other executives in their own company.  When you are selling to C-Level Executives you need to understand who STILL holds the ultimate vote!!

Why CIOs Are Last Among Equals – by By PETER S. DELISI, DENNIS MOBERG and RONALD DANIELSON

Cheers,

MPG