{"id":11600,"date":"2015-03-09T09:55:37","date_gmt":"2015-03-09T16:55:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/?p=11600"},"modified":"2016-09-15T10:02:26","modified_gmt":"2016-09-15T17:02:26","slug":"faltered-states-where-dealers-and-resellers-make-the-biggest-mistakes-when-selling-mps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/uncategorized\/2015\/03\/faltered-states-where-dealers-and-resellers-make-the-biggest-mistakes-when-selling-mps\/","title":{"rendered":"Faltered States: Where Dealers and Resellers Make the Biggest Mistakes When Selling MPS"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Accident\"The document imaging landscape is littered with dealers who have tried to figure out how to properly do MPS \u00a0and faltered. This month in the print version of ENX<\/em> <\/a><\/strong>I wrote about how the document imaging industry can help dealers achieve success selling MPS.<\/p>\n

However, to search out help one has to be faltering in some way and acknowledge that you <\/em>do need help. But what exactly is it that prevents dealers and resellers who are offering MPS to fall short? You may already\u00a0know the answers to that question\u00a0if you\u2019ve ever attended an industry conference where MPS was on the agenda\u2014and what conference doesn\u2019t include MPS in their educational sessions these days? If not, some folks from the document imaging industry have some ideas.<\/p>\n

Doug Johnson, president of RedSage Group and formerly SVP, Managed Print Services for Supplies Network cites a few things that typically drive lack of success. One is sales reps without the proper education, training, or skill sets.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a different selling model than selling commodities,\u201d states Johnson. \u201cThat\u2019s the biggest challenge and most may not even have people on staff with the right profile to sell confidently on a services-based model vs. a commodity model.\u201d<\/p>\n

The other issue is the lack of the owner or principal of the dealership, something MPS gurus tend to point out over and over again.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have to recognize this is a fundamentally different business model\u2014different skill sets, operational requirements, and different competencies,\u201d emphasizes Johnson. \u201cIf they don\u2019t put the time and effort ensuring everything around the selling process and the operational side, make sure that\u2019s all lined up sales reps will behave on how they\u2019re paid. They\u2019re coin operated; if you tell them to do something, even if you provide the training, but there\u2019s no infrastructural support or compensation to make them successful, they go back to selling the way they\u2019ve always sold because that\u2019s how they make their money.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn our experience, dealers who have tried doing an MPS program on their own are usually struggling with the implementation of sales processes or other similar areas,\u201d notes Ray Loisel, senior vice president MPS, West Point Products. \u201cIn addition, they often falter at the pricing deals, contract management, and supply fulfillment as mentioned before. These are all areas in which our team of experts can leverage our collective expertise to get them on the right track.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mike Lamothe, founder of Office Document Consulting, an organization that provides dealers and OEMs with strategic support in MPS\/MDS, sees another area where dealers falter with MPS and that\u2019s how they handle Big Data.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve got FMaudit, for example, but they\u2019re not using that data or there comes a point where the customer says \u2018We want QVR (Query View Reporting) or business reviews, how do you support that?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not just the data, it\u2019s how it\u2019s processed, understanding what it means, identifying underutilized devices, and taking that data and integrating it into ODC\u2019s software to perform an assessment.<\/p>\n

Lamothe acknowledges that some dealers do a decent job with this data, but most try to interpret it themselves without using the tools available to interpret it for them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen taking it to the customer is another hurdle and they stumble over proposals and aren\u2019t offering a professional approach,\u201d he says. \u201cThere are tools that provide that level of professionalism. If that piece breaks down, that\u2019s where we get further into trouble with the end user customer and commoditize MPS.\u201d<\/p>\n

Where West McDonald, vice president of business development, Print Audit sees dealers stumble is when they are asked to do assessments. \u201cFor any decent size customer the first thing they want you to do is come in and tell them what\u2019s wrong and then come up with some recommendations. On the assessment side, that\u2019s where most dealers stumble. Part of it is assessments aren\u2019t easy, particularly if you\u2019re not using the right tool sets and methodologies to be able to deliver some kind of workflow message to the customer. That\u2019s one of the things Print Audit customers and others using tools like ours enjoy\u2014a focus on the user print behavior. Taking the assessment from a consolidation approach to a user workflow approach, that user workflow approach for assessments can be done much easier than an assessment for a physical environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gary Willert, president of LMI, often finds the structure of a dealer\u2019s existing MPS operations an issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat does the sales team look like or where do you need manpower in order to be successful?\u201d he asks. \u201cThose are probably your smaller dealers although it can be a larger dealer too. It\u2019s an investment. Do you hire specialists? What does that person look like vs. your existing sales people? That\u2019s an age-old question that I don\u2019t think anyone truly understands what the best approach is until they start trying different things. That\u2019s where compensation plans are key, setting quotas, making sure they have the education for their sales people to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Bill Melo, chief marketing executive, Toshiba, implementation is a major stumbling block.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this point with the space being fairly mature, the value proposition is pretty well recognized,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

MPS no matter how overhyped and how mature of an offering it\u2019s become remains relevant to the office technology dealer channel. Because of that it\u2019s always good to know the many ways in which things can go wrong.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The document imaging landscape is littered with dealers who have tried to figure out how to properly do MPS \u00a0and faltered. This month in the print version of ENX I wrote about how the document imaging industry can help dealers achieve success selling MPS. However, to search out help one has to be faltering in some way and acknowledge that you do need help. But what exactly is it that prevents dealers and resellers who are offering MPS to fall short? You may already\u00a0know the answers to that question\u00a0if you\u2019ve ever attended an industry conference where MPS was on the agenda\u2014and what conference doesn\u2019t include MPS in their educational sessions these days? If not, some folks from the document imaging industry have some ideas. Doug Johnson, president of RedSage Group and formerly SVP, Managed Print Services for Supplies Network cites a few things that typically drive lack of success. One is sales reps without the proper education, training, or skill sets. \u201cIt\u2019s a different selling model than selling commodities,\u201d states Johnson. \u201cThat\u2019s the biggest challenge and most may not even have people on staff with the right profile to sell confidently on a services-based model vs. a commodity model.\u201d The other issue is the lack of the owner or principal of the dealership, something MPS gurus tend to point out over and over again. \u201cThey have to recognize this is a fundamentally different business model\u2014different skill sets, operational requirements, and different competencies,\u201d emphasizes Johnson. \u201cIf they don\u2019t put the time and effort ensuring everything around the selling process and the operational side, make sure that\u2019s all lined up sales reps will behave on how they\u2019re paid. They\u2019re coin operated; if you tell them to do something, even if you provide the training, but there\u2019s no infrastructural support or compensation to make them successful, they go back to selling the way they\u2019ve always sold because that\u2019s how they make their money.\u201d \u201cIn our experience, dealers who have tried doing an MPS program on their own are usually struggling with the implementation of sales processes or other similar areas,\u201d notes Ray Loisel, senior vice president MPS, West Point Products. \u201cIn addition, they often falter at the pricing deals, contract management, and supply fulfillment as mentioned before. These are all areas in which our team of experts can leverage our collective expertise to get them on the right track.\u201d Mike Lamothe, founder of Office Document Consulting, an organization that provides dealers and OEMs with strategic support in MPS\/MDS, sees another area where dealers falter with MPS and that\u2019s how they handle Big Data. \u201cThey\u2019ve got FMaudit, for example, but they\u2019re not using that data or there comes a point where the customer says \u2018We want QVR (Query View Reporting) or business reviews, how do you support that?\u2019\u201d But it\u2019s not just the data, it\u2019s how it\u2019s processed, understanding what it means, identifying underutilized devices, and taking that data and integrating it into ODC\u2019s software to perform an assessment. Lamothe acknowledges that some dealers do a decent job with this data, but most try to interpret it themselves without using the tools available to interpret it for them. \u201cThen taking it to the customer is another hurdle and they stumble over proposals and aren\u2019t offering a professional approach,\u201d he says. \u201cThere are tools that provide that level of professionalism. If that piece breaks down, that\u2019s where we get further into trouble with the end user customer and commoditize MPS.\u201d Where West McDonald, vice president of business development, Print Audit sees dealers stumble is when they are asked to do assessments. \u201cFor any decent size customer the first thing they want you to do is come in and tell them what\u2019s wrong and then come up with some recommendations. On the assessment side, that\u2019s where most dealers stumble. Part of it is assessments aren\u2019t easy, particularly if you\u2019re not using the right tool sets and methodologies to be able to deliver some kind of workflow message to the customer. That\u2019s one of the things Print Audit customers and others using tools like ours enjoy\u2014a focus on the user print behavior. Taking the assessment from a consolidation approach to a user workflow approach, that user workflow approach for assessments can be done much easier than an assessment for a physical environment.\u201d Gary Willert, president of LMI, often finds the structure of a dealer\u2019s existing MPS operations an issue. \u201cWhat does the sales team look like or where do you need manpower in order to be successful?\u201d he asks. \u201cThose are probably your smaller dealers although it can be a larger dealer too. It\u2019s an investment. Do you hire specialists? What does that person look like vs. your existing sales people? That\u2019s an age-old question that I don\u2019t think anyone truly understands what the best approach is until they start trying different things. That\u2019s where compensation plans are key, setting quotas, making sure they have the education for their sales people to be successful.\u201d For Bill Melo, chief marketing executive, Toshiba, implementation is a major stumbling block. \u201cAt this point with the space being fairly mature, the value proposition is pretty well recognized,\u201d he explains. MPS no matter how overhyped and how mature of an offering it\u2019s become remains relevant to the office technology dealer channel. Because of that it\u2019s always good to know the many ways in which things can go wrong.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[2409],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11600"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11600"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11602,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11600\/revisions\/11602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}