Jim Kahrs
As the title of this article implies, the best Managed Print Service (MPS) reps are built not found. As MPS gains more exposure, acclaim and momentum, more dealerships are looking to jump on the bandwagon. As with all other programs in your dealership, your level of MPS success will be determined by how well you manage MPS from beginning to end. This must take into account your policies, procedures and processes in admin, service and of course sales. As sales will be the catalyst to launch any dealership into this new market having a strong sales plan is critical. So, how do you build MPS sales reps?
Hiring reps from other dealerships rarely works and this will be even more evident with MPS. A rep may know the buzzwords, but that doesn’t ensure success. When hiring a rep from a competitor you usually have to guarantee substantial income with or without sales success. When you reward someone with large guaranteed earnings regardless of sales production you will get little or no production. And if they’re that good, why are they leaving?
Some dealers have gone the route of hiring rookie reps and training them as MPS reps. The problem these dealers face is twofold. The learning curve is the first issue. A rep has a great deal to earn and cutting one’s teeth on MPS sales is difficult. Secondly, keeping the new rep excited and winning as they learn the business and work through the early stages of print audits, needs analysis meetings and proposals can be almost impossible. New reps often have a hard time learning what is needed and have trouble seeing the true potential that MPS can have. All too often these reps leave after a few months taking your entire training investment with them.
So, what’s the answer? One workable solution is to create a different atmosphere and a career path in your dealership. Different level positions can be created. These would include junior reps, associate reps, senior reps, and specialists.
New reps start out as junior sales reps sharing a territory with a senior rep. Their job for the first three to six months is to learn your dealership, prospecting skills, sales skills and product knowledge. The junior rep is charged with prospecting in the territory shared with a senior rep. Their focus is calling on new accounts only.When they uncover sales opportunities for low-end machines (in the case of copier/MFP dealers this could be anything from 25-ppm systems or less) they work these deals with the sales manager and keep the sales themselves. When they uncover opportunities for larger copier/MFP sales they work these with the senior rep and the two of them split the commission.
When they uncover MPS opportunities they turn these over to the MPS Specialist and receive a finder’s fee. The key to success with this first stage is to measure and reward the junior rep’s production based on the sales prospecting and skills development activities more than sales volume. This can be done by tracking their sales activities and providing skills and knowledge tests along the way. If you need to offer a guaranteed income when hiring a new rep the best method is to give a standard salary and meet the needed income level with a draw against commission. For the first few months the draw can be monitored against prospecting activities. To do this you would set up weekly activity targets that must be met. A common way of doing this is to assign point values to each activity and require a certain number of points per week.The rep’s draw would be contingent on achieving the points quota. If a rep is 50 percent of the points quota he or she would get 50 percent of the draw. This will allow you to reward production and quickly determine if this new rep is going to have the work ethic required to succeed. It’s amazing how quickly a lazy rep will be identified with this system.
The junior rep would remain in this position until they have met certain criteria that you’ve determined in advance. For example, once the rep can schedule at least eight appointments per week for three straight weeks, has met the weekly points target for three straight weeks and passed the product and skills tests you’ve designed they are ready for a promotion. This takes the guesswork out of the timing for everyone.
Once the junior rep has met the above promotion criteria it’s time to take the next step. You may now assign a territory or a portion of a territory and move the individual to the position of associate rep for another three to six months. During this time you would apply a compensation plan that puts more focus on personal sales while keeping attention on prospecting activities. The associate rep is typically still charged with calling on new accounts only. Current customers in the territory would reside with a senior rep. However, every opportunity they uncover is theirs to work and they receive full commission. The sales manager spends a lot of time with the associate rep coaching him and building his skills. The territory assigned can be one the rep will eventually take on permanently or it can be a temporary one.
The benefit of having the rep start in the territory that they will eventually keep is that they will be building momentum with their prospecting activities. The benefit to using another territory is that you can have the rep work an area that is convenient for the manager or one that doesn’t have as much long-term potential. Either option can work. An associate rep would be assigned sales quota on a ramped up schedule. For example they could be assigned a quota of $10,000 the first month and increase in $10,000 increments for the next two months. Once the rep has met the quota for three straight months they would be promoted to account executive status.
At this point the rep can go one of two directions; he can both be promoted to a senior rep or to a specialist position and placed on the corresponding compensation plan. As a senior rep he would be assigned a territory and managed accordingly.
This brings us to the specialist role. Those of you that have been in the industry for some time might recall the process that was rolled out when color copiers were first introduced. Since the sale of a color copier was far more complex than that or a black and white unit many dealerships employed the efforts of color specialist. This model lends itself well to the MPS market. There are a few major issues that dealerships face in the transition to MPS. First, no dealership can afford to abandon their current business model to chase MPS. That would be suicide. Your current model is what pays the bills and keeps the place running. That said you need to set up an MPS plan that will not detract from your current model.
The next issue is the dramatic difference in how MPS revenue comes into the dealership and the effect they have on compensation models. You cannot pay MPS reps the same way you pay regular copier/MFP reps. Finally, the knowledge needed in MPS is very different than what is needed for copier/MFP sales.
This leads to the conclusion that specialists are the best way to achieve success. Now back to the original question – how do you build MPS reps? You build these reps by focusing on the plan above and moving senior sales reps or associate sales reps into the MPS specialist role. At this point in their career these reps understand the dealership, the basics of the copier/MFP/printer world, know most of the lingo and can handle themselves in front of a prospect. A compensation plan designed specifically for MPS sales in then put in place and they begin their on the job training.
Following this method will not only position your dealership for success in MPS but it will ensure continued success with your current business model. Running the two side by side will allow you to see where things are working and where they are not and you can adjust accordingly.
About the author: Jim Kahrs is president and lead consultant of Prosperity Plus Management Consulting, Inc., an organization that helps office systems dealerships improve their operations and attain personal and professional goals. He has been a leader in the office systems industry since 1987 and has been recognized as a top sales producer, sales manager, operations manager, dealership executive, and business consultant. Jim can be reached at jkahrs@prosperityplus.com or info@prosperityplus.com
