Yes, You CAN Start a Managed Print Business
Five Minutes with Jim Salzer
Sure managed print sounds appealing and lucrative, but how do I start?!
Well, few people understand how to win at the managed print game more than Jim Salzer, president of DocuAudit International, a managed print consultancy and printer services provider in Dove Canyon, Calif. And here, Jim spends a few minutes explaining just how easy it is to embark on a managed print offering, why the opportunity is out there, and why you should act now.
BT: What's your advice to IT resellers looking to add a managed print service for the first time?
JS: They have to sit down and develop a plan, formal or informal. They need to have a financial plan that says here is how much we think we can make, and here is how much we need to sell to get there. And you need to know the resources you can commit to it, such as marketing, so you can get the word out there so when your salespeople go out they have some help when they attack. It's all about a plan. Because, really, if you don't know where you are going, you are probably not going to get there.
BT: Should you go after just small customers at first? Just two or three printers? Or is it the same experience first time out if you deploy 200 printers?
JS: You start with small, current customers. People who know and have done business with you for a while. Doing big stuff right out of the gate becomes too complex. It requires more resources than you should commit all at once as you are starting out.
BT: That way you make fewer mistakes.
JS: You have to remember this is a learning experience. I ask people all the time, "how come you haven't done anything yet (in managed print)?", and they tell me they are afraid of making mistakes. You are going to make mistakes. You learn from what you do, and then you grow. I knew a group who began delivering managed print and started out by landing one big account, and it sucked up all their resources, and their focus. And no one was happy. Managed print is a net add. You do this because you are looking for net add revenue.
BT: So don't expect to take over the world immediately.
JS: No, but you have to commit 100 percent. You have to have a dedicated sales staff. If managed print is just one of 25 other things that they sell, managed print may not get sold.
BT: What is the most common mistake first-time managed print providers make?
JS: The most common mistake is they assign people certain responsibilities in the managed print portion of the business, and then management doesn't follow up. So you end up having a Lone Ranger who didn't create the managed print initiative but now has to implement everything on his own. Managed print is a company initiative, and there has to be focus. For example, I'll ask a company how they are marketing their managed print services, and they say they don't have the budget for it, which means it's the salesperson's job to market it. I'll even go to some Web site of companies that offer managed print, and the site says nothing about managed print.
BT: How do you take a print customer away from a competitor? (Edit note: We had asked Jim the wrong question! You don't "take" customers... Let Jim explain.)
JS: Only 5 percent of print customers are under a managed contract. If someone is engaged in a managed print contract today, you are not going to take that away. So, go find the 95 percent who are not under contract. The incentive right now for newcomers in managed print is to go to the existing customer base, and get them under managed print before someone else comes in and does so. That's what's driving it. If we don't act, someone else will come in and my customers will be under their managed print contract. We have a lot of people come into the (Xerox PagePack 3.0) program who have lost customers this very same way. Are you going to wait and become a target? You can score a few points on defense, but most teams don't win with great defensive powers.
BT: What is your outlook on managed print in 2010?
JS: The game is on. Everybody is in. The window is open and you better jump in quick. If you wait until 2011 you are too late.
About Jim Salzer:
Jim Salzer is president of DocuAudit International and has worked as an industry consultant worldwide with office technology manufacturers, distributors and resellers to help them develop and implement innovative sales and marketing programs. In addition, Jim has been a featured speaker at ITEX, BTA, Cebit and HP Partner events. With over 30 years of experience in the office technology industry, Jim has worked in sales, operations, top management in the dealer community and as a regional manager for one of the major copier/printer manufacturers. Jim is one of the industry's leading experts in documents assessment, providing consulting to both industry and corporate clients.
