The Separation Begins: Managed Print Services True Believers Leaving the Pack

It's in your DNA.

We knew it, you knew it, there should be no surprises.

Nobody grows up wanting to be a "copier salesperson". (I read this somewhere.)

We had higher hopes and dreams; future policemen, Presidents of the United States, Firemen, Doctors or Nurses - but someone who "sells"?

A "fast talking", pushy, slippery salesman? Proprietors of Office Equipment, no less?

Thirty, forty years later, you're lucky not to be living in a van, down by the river.

But here you are now, selling copiers and moving into MPS - the "final frontier" in imaging.

Today, you are faced with another choice.  The MPS Ecosystem is moving on, the players separating.

Which way do you go?  With whom do you travel? 

What is best for YOU - not your boss, owner, VP, company, or industry.  "They" don't want you to think this way.

"They" want you to stay in a box, until you're in a box - the final box - the most patient box.

It's all about YOU.  Well, no, that's not entirely correct - In here, it's all about me.

The copier OEMs have been big fish in a shrinking pond for decades.

Dictating everything from when digital hit, why color costs more than black and white, what machine fits into which made up Segment, built in obsolescence,  why we pay MPS reps differently, on and on.

They have been singularly responsible for the now clogged, stogy and dying dealer channel model.

Demanding hardware quotas while preaching "solutions".  Expecting 'show floors' and paying for 'speeds and feeds'  training classes.  Cold Calls.

As this industry shrinks, it's time to look elsewhere...to another pond...to "jumping the bell curve".

There seems to be a inkling by more then a few, that MPS is "dying". That Managed Print Services is the latest "passing fade" nothing more then puffery and marketicture.

True, MPS my appear to be fading. Much like all those life boats appeared to be fading away from the Titanic.

But MPS is fading off into the future.  Separating and leaving the blissful throngs of yesteryear in its wake.

Here's what is happening:  Managed Print Services is being marketed as "Managed Toner Services".  Starting and stopping with Stage 1 &2.

When you believe in this model, you do not need to worry about supporting the copiers, or the Wide Format, or the production devices.

When your boss takes this stance, he can fit MPS into his existing box.  The comp plans don't need to change, he doesn't need to re-train reps or invest in higher quality.

He will be able to quantify and commoditize a process, by defining it as a collection of goods to be sold.

If you, personally,  hold to this mantra, you will never need to worry about SOW's, EDM Projects, Implementation Meetings and

You will

 ALWAYS BE COIN OPERATED.

Is this what you want?  Is being easily manipulated in your DNA?

How do you respond?

I'll tell you.  You accept your current position and make a choice, "should I stay or should I go".  Not in the leaving your current employ sense, but more should you stay on your current path, sense.

Vexing, isn't it?  Terribly so.

Three bullet points:

Self Improvement -

Get to know everything you can about general business and start with your existing customers.

You should know how they conduct business and begin to see the common aspects within all your clients' businesses. Learn how things work in your organization; define the system.  Do you know how your company processes checks?

Are you learning something new, everyday?  Get a book and read it.

Self Value -

Get out of the 'coin operated' mode.

Sure we need to pay bills.  Keep the money issue at status quo and look to other ways to enhance your financial position in life.  Don't act like a cog, even though you may be a cog - temporarily.  Review and update your resume.  Define activities you currently perform as points on your resume. Search out personal references from your existing contacts.

Self Promotion -

I can't really believe I need to say this today - but I will.

Stop hanging out on FaceBook and get into LinkedIn. Tweet, post, read, and contribute online.  Start building an ecosystem.  Remember, its your ecosystem and will follow you wherever you go.  Plan accordingly.

Three simple ideas that will start you on your way to enhancing your position in not only MPS or even copiers, but in life.

That's because there are bigger issues out here.  Bigger than MPS, S1/2/3/4 or 5.

MPS is splitting, another choice before you.  Unlike our childhood, today we make more informed decisions.

Save yourself.  You're the only One who can.



This was first posted on DOTC, 2011.

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