LMI Solutions works with its partners to tailor resources to their particular circumstances. \u201cRegardless of what level of MPS they are doing, we look at what it takes\u2014assets and competencies. Are they hiring the right sales reps? Are they trained properly? Do they have the right tools and the right marketing?,\u201d said Doug Johnson, chief strategy officer at LMI Solutions.<\/p>\n
Dealers often need expert advice to answer that question, and that\u2019s why service infrastructure providers like LMI Solutions take a consultative approach to sales. \u201cDiagnose before you prescribe,\u201d said Johnson. \u201cOur job is to help uncover the pain in their ability to deliver MPS and understand what their challenges are and then offer sensible solutions to solve or mitigate those pain points.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Luke-Goldberg.jpg\")
Luke Goldberg
Clover Imaging Group<\/p><\/div>\n
Moving away from a transactional consumption model to a service model also requires a change in how you sell MPS. That means showing customers the value of the services offered and having a predictable monthly fee. Dealers often make the mistake of treating MPS as a transactional sale. \u201cEven the simplest MPS engagement is more complex than a transactional one,\u201d said Johnson. \u201cThere are more steps, there are more gates you have to go through, and there are more stakeholders in the customer\u2019s environment.\u201d Those differences need to be taken into consideration when you think about how you build an MPS sales funnel, how you compensate reps, and even what you look for in a rep when hiring. \u201cIf you don\u2019t apply what\u2019s different about the model to your thinking, then you try to adapt your old model to it and you never get out of the gate well on sales,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
LMI Solutions is looking at seat-based billing (SBB) as a possible billing model for value-added services. \u201cFor dealers looking to go beyond monetizing just the output, there are a range of solutions that are easier to integrate into an MPS model if you\u2019re at a seat-based price model. It makes it easier to expand your offering and monetize more of what they do,\u201d said Johnson.<\/p>\n
Dealers who continue to offer print services that are more transaction based have options to improve efficiency and margins while allowing them to take steps toward a true managed services model. CIG, for example, has a new Automatic Toner Fulfillment (ATF) program that uses software to determine very precisely days to empty. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of money lost in our business when toner cartridges are replaced prematurely. This algorithm [in the software] lets us use the cartridge to its absolute fullest extent,\u201d said Goldberg.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As MPS offerings become more robust and sophisticated, so should the way you sell them. If you agree that the best way to get more from selling MPS is to add value, for example, then you should consider talking to more senior-level decision makers, if you aren\u2019t already. \u201cOne of the first things I always do [with sales] whether it\u2019s cost per page or SBB is to get them selling higher,\u201d said West McDonald, vice president of business development at Print Audit. \u201cThat\u2019s the only way to protect margin.\u201d This is especially true if you\u2019re currently selling to IT. \u201c[IT] is the wrong person. The IT person doesn\u2019t understand value. Only senior executives understand how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together,\u201d he said. Optimizing the way you sell MPS will likely require you to rethink your sales and marketing collateral. A clear understanding of who you are as an MPS provider–your capabilities and your market–will help you prepare better sales and marketing materials. Infrastructure providers typically will have ready-made resources that the dealer can use to market and sell MPS. CIG, for example, has marketing proposals and programs. \u201cWe\u2019ve created a full library of customizable, vertically driven videos that dealers can use for healthcare, financial services, and legal. They can use them as templates for their own marketing,\u201d said Luke Goldberg, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Clover Imaging Group (CIG). LMI Solutions works with its partners to tailor resources to their particular circumstances. \u201cRegardless of what level of MPS they are doing, we look at what it takes\u2014assets and competencies. Are they hiring the right sales reps? Are they trained properly? Do they have the right tools and the right marketing?,\u201d said Doug Johnson, chief strategy officer at LMI Solutions. Dealers often need expert advice to answer that question, and that\u2019s why service infrastructure providers like LMI Solutions take a consultative approach to sales. \u201cDiagnose before you prescribe,\u201d said Johnson. \u201cOur job is to help uncover the pain in their ability to deliver MPS and understand what their challenges are and then offer sensible solutions to solve or mitigate those pain points.\u201d Moving away from a transactional consumption model to a service model also requires a change in how you sell MPS. That means showing customers the value of the services offered and having a predictable monthly fee. Dealers often make the mistake of treating MPS as a transactional sale. \u201cEven the simplest MPS engagement is more complex than a transactional one,\u201d said Johnson. \u201cThere are more steps, there are more gates you have to go through, and there are more stakeholders in the customer\u2019s environment.\u201d Those differences need to be taken into consideration when you think about how you build an MPS sales funnel, how you compensate reps, and even what you look for in a rep when hiring. \u201cIf you don\u2019t apply what\u2019s different about the model to your thinking, then you try to adapt your old model to it and you never get out of the gate well on sales,\u201d he said. LMI Solutions is looking at seat-based billing (SBB) as a possible billing model for value-added services. \u201cFor dealers looking to go beyond monetizing just the output, there are a range of solutions that are easier to integrate into an MPS model if you\u2019re at a seat-based price model. It makes it easier to expand your offering and monetize more of what they do,\u201d said Johnson. Dealers who continue to offer print services that are more transaction based have options to improve efficiency and margins while allowing them to take steps toward a true managed services model. CIG, for example, has a new Automatic Toner Fulfillment (ATF) program that uses software to determine very precisely days to empty. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of money lost in our business when toner cartridges are replaced prematurely. This algorithm [in the software] lets us use the cartridge to its absolute fullest extent,\u201d said Goldberg.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[80,1649,1638],"tags":[2166,406,2409,303],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23467"}],"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\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23467"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23467\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23671,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23467\/revisions\/23671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/managed-it-pricing.jpg\")
As MPS offerings become more robust and sophisticated, so should the way you sell them. If you agree that the best way to get more from selling MPS is to add value, for example, then you should consider talking to more senior-level decision makers, if you aren\u2019t already. \u201cOne of the first things I always do [with sales] whether it\u2019s cost per page or SBB is to get them selling higher,\u201d said West McDonald, vice president of business development at Print Audit. \u201cThat\u2019s the only way to protect margin.\u201d This is especially true if you\u2019re currently selling to IT. \u201c[IT] is the wrong person. The IT person doesn\u2019t understand value. Only senior executives understand how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/mcdonald-mps.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Doug-Johnson.jpg\")