I just took a quick random sampling of dealer websites. Eight out of the ten sites I looked at were making a variation of the following claim, “We can reduce your output spend by 30-40 percent.” No doubt these are the same folks who are complaining that their sales reps only sell on price. It kind of reminds me of that opening scene from the movie Top Gun when they say that the pilots had become overly dependent on missiles and had lost their dog fighting skills. To that point, I think the majority of folks in this industry have lost their ‘dog fighting skills’ or more appropriately the craft of professional sales. Even those websites I referenced tell the story: Isn’t saving 30-40 percent of document output costs the MPS version of price selling?
Let’s take a step back for a moment and analyze the claim a little further. These websites are making a blanket claim. They know absolutely nothing about the prospect’s print environment, yet they are touting 30 percent savings; thirty percent of what? Think about it. The bulk of the print costs of single function printers is the toner cartridge – 60 percent or more. People have been buying cartridges for 20+ years. The remaining costs are service (about 25 percent) and equipment (10-14 percent). Again, our reps have taught companies to be shrewd consumers of service and equipment for the last 20+ years. So we have educated buyers using RFPs, the Internet, and even reverse auctions to drive down costs yet these companies promise another 30 percent savings on current document output costs. Seems like a bit of a disconnect to me.
Where do these claims come from? The most logical source for this claim is a conversion from OEM to remanufactured cartridges. I don’t really think finding folks that are still using exclusively OEM cartridges is much of a growth strategy. The only other option is to simply take less margin in the deals. Try taking less margin on a product that is openly marketed on the Internet from multiple sources. Like Dr. Phil says, “How’s that workin’ for ya?”
MPS is not a cost play. In truth MPS is outsourcing ‘lite.’ Look at outsourcing as delegation. Why do people choose to delegate tasks? Usually, tasks that are not mission critical, strategic, or value adding are delegation candidates. Further you could say that tasks that are menial, time consuming, cumbersome, or distracting are also great candidates. Companies may also choose to delegate or outsource functions if the company lacks the specific technical expertise to effectively manage the function or can acquire the expertise more economically than creating it organically.
Engage Maverick you are too close for missiles, switch to guns. MPS isn’t about the easy pitch – saving money; rather it is about convincing the client to delegate the servicing of their fleet. The craft of selling MPS lies in the rep’s ability to link the outsourcing motivators listed above with the prospect’s current situation. Successful MPS reps are skilled at asking probing questions that lead the prospect to the realization that the current state is broken and a new course of management should at least be investigated. This realization should lead to a well-defined list of issues with the current situation. This pain must be quantified. Now we have an actionable business case for change. Doesn’t it make sense to delegate the menial and time consuming task of managing the print fleet?
Register today for Strategy Development’s April 8-9 MPS Sales Workshop in Dallas and give your MPS specialists the tools they need to successfully sell MPS.
