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How MSPs Can Leverage PagePack for New Profits
SPI Innovations explains how it turned a new print services practice into a sustainable revenue generator.
New Blood: High-Impact Professionals Can Boost MPS Sales
“Super Salespeople” aren’t the answer. Find seasoned pros who help customers achieve their print-management goals.
Straight to the Top: How to Reach MPS Decision Makers
Getting face time with top decision makers is one of the biggest challenges when selling managed print services. A leading sales and marketing consultant explains how to stack the odds in your favor.
Top Managed Print Challenges and How to Overcome Them
VARs and MSPs discuss the lessons they learned on the road to MPS success.
Is Your Sales Staff Ready for Managed Print?
One of the biggest challenges to launching managed print is getting the sales staff up to speed. Here’s how one expert accelerated the process.
Cash In on the ‘Ripple Effects’ of Managed Print
Print services aren’t the only revenue generators with managed-print opportunities. Learn how to profit from the ripple effects of new hardware and software sales and related IT support.
How to Add Print to Your MSP Portfolio
Managed services providers have an ace up their sleeve when it comes to selling print services—their existing customers. Here’s how one successful MSP taps this important group.
An MSP’s Guide to MPS: How to Make the Business Case
Industry research shows the time is right for managed service providers to move into managed print. Learn how to jumpstart sales and profits in this quickly expanding market.
Managed Print: What to Watch For in 2012
Check out predictions and goals from some of the leading players in today’s managed-print market.
VARs Learn How to Leverage Xerox eConcierge for New Revenues
Earlier this year when Xerox eConcierge(TM) debuted, many VARs recognized the potential this cloud-based printer supplies sales platform offered for creating new revenue opportunities. Now, VARs are seeing that potential translate into concrete results.
Move Customers From Consideration to Commitment
Veteran managed service providers know success takes perseverance, thorough knowledge of managed-print benefits and some old-fashioned selling skills.
How to Avoid Toner-Coverage ‘Gotchas’
Every managed services contract has its challenges. For managed print, one of the biggest is toner coverage if it doesn’t get the proper attention.
Featured Blog: From the Trenches
The Transformation of Greg_Walters
Greg Walters is a veteran technologist, passionately sharing his ideas and vision of how people interact and integrate with technology. He is a currently the MpS Practice Manager for SIGMAnet, a West Coast VAR/MPS, and a founding executive board member of the MPSA.
The Eyes to See
May 10, 2012
The current stage of MPS evolution includes covering your base and planning the future. Today’s MPS is moving beyond the “P” – do you have the eyes to see.
Managed Print Services vs. Managed Services
April 6, 2012
What’s the difference between managed print services and managed services? Better yet, what is the difference between the run of the mill copier dealership and the everyday VAR? In a word – Mutation. As in some warped Darwinian tale, managed print services and managed services are branches of the same tree. The MPS limb rising [...]
Managed Print and Managed Services: Find Your Way
April 3, 2012
Just as we start rolling with cold calling, first appointment setting, assessments, proposal generation and implementing standard MPS engagements, more comes up. Now we need to figure out how to move our MPS engagements from “simple” toner and service delivery into a “Managed Network Services” agreement. And we need to do this while maintaining our [...]
Showtime Planning
March 26, 2012
The convention season is about to shift into high gear with XChange 2012, iTex, Transform and World Expo occurring between April and August. This year feels to be one of the better years for MPS. Besides just offering another reason to go to Las Vegas or visit Orlando, what should you be looking to get [...]
Look at Everything
March 12, 2012
Spring is just a turn away – soon flowers will bloom and the soft promise of summer is just over the horizon. It’s the perfect time to plant seeds. How is that New Year’s resolution going? Are you increasing the number of MPS engagements or simply counting all your equipment sales as “MPS sales?” Are [...]
The Choice is Ours
February 27, 2012
Last month, the 24th annual Lyra Symposium was held in Palm Springs, Calif. A yearly kick-off to the convention season, the Lyra Symposium is a great roundup of the previous year’s OEM performance. The Lyra organization comprises some of the best analysts in the industry, and I have found them to be extremely honest and [...]
Crossing the Lines
February 9, 2012
Team building is one of the most important factors for MPS success. It seems obvious, but most struggles around MPS come down to people solving problems. Isn’t it always? People are the weakest and strongest link in your chain. So what can be done to keep employees engaged and productive? When I was with one [...]
The Ride Along
January 30, 2012
As you know, everybody is into MPS now – uniform companies, water providers, office furniture, retail office supply locations, wide format companies, every single OEM, VARs, and finally the big print production houses. In 12 months, there has been record growth. It’s bound to level off. It always does. Well, this time is not like [...]
Conversation is King
January 18, 2012
Just a few weeks in and 2012 is off and running. The MPS cavalcade continues everybody marching in lock step. The infrastructure is in place. Weeks of training completed last year, sales campaigns initiated, “managed print services” mentioned more often than copier models on your website – well done. Your staff can complete an assessment [...]
Will You Grow or Contract in 2012?
January 10, 2012
Tumult and struggle, transformation and acknowledgement fade in the rearview mirror as we move out of 2011 and into 2012. The end of 2011 brings us much hope, as does every year-end. How are you different today versus January, 2011? What will you look like next year this time? For that matter, what will we [...]
Talk Managed Services not Managed Print Services
November 28, 2011
Thinking the magic is in the “P” deserves a deeper look. Like it or not, the service we are offering for printing—the marking of paper with toner—is simply a symptom of our clients’ business process, an afterthought.
Continue reading: Talk Managed Services not Managed Print Services »
Common Problems with MpS
November 22, 2011
I travel the MPS ecosystem—last stop was Sydney, Australia—and I hear just about every single reason why MPS doesn’t work for customers. Not only do I get to hear all the reasons for failure, I also see how some VARs define their MPS practices into success by defining down MPS—essentially moving the goal posts closer.
Qualification is Key
October 5, 2011
Selling managed print services requires plenty of up-front activity. Not just the “1,000 phone dials get 100 conversations get 10 appointments” kind of pre-sales work. I am referring to the kind of toil that ranges from assessment, walk-through and configure to price up, present, close and execute.
Focus and Vision
September 21, 2011
Last month was one heck of a month; HP, Google, Oracle, Apple, Motorola – each transforming.
Greg Walters is a Sellout
August 26, 2011
I recently attended a managed print conference in Vegas–the Recharger World Expo–and it was a trip in the Delorean to “Back to the Future.” Just like three years ago, the fear of change oozed out all over. The “drill and fill” pedigree doesn’t guarantee MPS success. Who woulda thunk? The silver lining was people honestly listened to the speakers – for the entire session. I am sure seeds of innovation were planted, will grow and will bear fruit one day. The toner guys are last group to get in, they are here now.
The Ride Along
As you know, everybody is into MPS now – uniform companies, water providers, office furniture, retail office supply locations, wide format companies, every single OEM, VARs, and finally the big print production houses. In 12 months, there has been record growth. It’s bound to level off. It always does. Well, this time is not like [...]
Customers Need Help Managing Their Printers
Having a clear understanding of who a managed print customer is, and who is not, has a lot to do with being profitable, says managed print provider Tom McDonald of NSIserv.
Take the Xerox Challenge
Think Managed Print Numbers Don’t Add Up? Take the Xerox Challenge in the short video demo.
The Xerox Solid Ink System — Close-Up
This video gives you the trade-show experience of being shown exactly what the Xerox Solid Ink System is. Check it out.
What’s Under My Hood?
Ever popped the hood on a smokin’ hot Xerox Phaser 8560 MFP? This video will have you saying “been there, done that.”
IT VAR Explains How it Succeeds with Managed Print
Succeeding with managed print requires patience, perseverance and the backing of a solid partner program.
Overcoming the Unexpected
Solution provider Mike Parmet shows how certain customer surprises can be dealt with easily under the right managed print program.
Controlling Printing Costs: Yes You Can
Mike Trevisan of Atlantic Office and Laser Products dashes the myth that printing costs are uncontrollable
Jim Salzer, PagePack 3.0 Program Mentor
Jim Salzer of DocuAudit International talks about his role in the program and some of the topics he’s tackling as a mentor for the PagePack 3.0 Certification program.
Print VARs Discuss PagePack 3.0
Recent attendees of a Xerox PagePack 3.0 Certification event talk about what full-fleet print management means for their businesses and what specific advantages they get out of Xerox managed print services.
VARs Talk: PagePack 3.0
A snapshot of comments by recent attendees of a Xerox PagePack 3.0 Certification event.
Xerox’s Paul Herman: PagePack 3.0′s Main Components
Everything Channel’s Dan Neel and Xerox’s Paul Herman discuss managed print solution providers really need to know about PagePack 3.0′s main components and features.
Avoiding Managed Print Contract Pitfalls: Getting Coverage Right
Cost per page contracts are a great idea, but you have to know how to structure them. In this segment, Everything Channel’s Dan Neel and Tom Gall of Xerox discuss avoiding pitfalls of estimating coverage.
Customers Want Cost Savings? Asset Optimization Is The Answer
Everyone knows that in today’s economy, many customers want cost savings. Here’s how to turn that conversation into a strategy for growth with asset optimization (versus asset consolidation). Everything Channel’s Dan Neel and Xerox’s Gary Gillam talk about this interesting idea.
The Green Machine
IDo your printing and imaging clients know that Xerox’s Solid Ink technology produces 90% less waste than conventional printer ink and toners? Aside from top-quality ink, the environmentally friendly benefits of Solid Ink are worth noting.
Business Transformation Study – March 2010 – Taking the First Step in Managed Print
Topic One: Adding Managed Print Affordably "Our first week in business we sold 2 million managed print pages." That's a true statement by a Xerox Peak Partner who runs a growing and profitable managed print services business in South Florida. You can add managed print services to your existing solution provider business - or start [...]
Field Study Hard Look: MSPs See Managed Print Ready for Prime Time
If George Lucas, the director of the Stars Wars saga, and James Cameron, the director of Avatar, waited until computer technology caught up to their visions before they made their films, how should you be thinking about managed print technology?
Business Transformation Field Study — Managed Print: What Customers Want
Wonder how it feels to be right on the cusp of making a move into managed print? Here’s one solution provider who shared the experience with us.
Business Transformation Field Study — PagePack Basics
Ready to investigate Managed Print Services as a Xerox partner? Here’s a quick run through of the major advantages the PagePack 3.0 Managed Print solution from Xerox delivers.
Managed Print Master Class
Our series has demonstrated the value of Managed Print Services, but now let’s look at some of the extreme challenges, and show how they can be overcome — or at least, endured.
Quoting and Marketing Managed Print Services
Effectively quoting and marketing your managed print services can grow your profits by double digits when done right. Here are some tips from Terry Williams, president of ATS.
Advancing Your Managed Print Business
Creating an effective sales strategy is a key part of building a successful managed print services business. See how Garrett Peaslee of Secant Technologies did it.
Why Managed Print Makes Sense Now
Topic Two: The best managed print sales pitch: Simplicity & cost savings
Showing customers how their unmanaged print environment has a negative impact on their business’s bottom line is working as a successful managed print sales strategy in the field.
Why Managed Print Makes Sense Now
Business is picking up after a year-long slump and, more than ever before, customers have begun asking if there is anything they can do to save money on their printing costs. Customers are even asking by name if there is such a thing as “managed print” options.
Market Shift Increasingly Favors Managed Print
A tectonic shift in the way technology products and services are delivered to customers is taking place right now. The shift is towards managed services, and while the shift is industry-wide, those who sell printing and imaging technology quite possibly have the most to gain from a managed services transition.
The Managed Print Power Play – PagePack 3.0
Master IT CEO Michael Drake is a managed services provider in Bartlett, Tenn., whose business model is to buy up as much of a customer’s IT infrastructure as he can (yes, own it), then charge the customer for total managed services while taking the burden of infrastructure management right off the shoulders of the now very happy customer. Profitable?
