"Nobody Wants To Work."

Maybe, if you treated employees better when they were working for you, they'd come back to you today.

"We can't find any good employees and we're just starting to come back."

"People do not want to work and who blames them? They can stay at home and make just as much as I would pay them!"

Well then, maybe you should pay them more.  Maybe you should have valued them more when they did work for you.  Maybe, you shouldn't have demanded they stay late, and miss their kid's soccer game.  

"Our employees don't want to come back to the office.  They are the least engaged."

Could it be that after nearly 100 years of office work, everyone is recognizing that engagement with a corporation is a one-way escapade?  

That corner office, 401k, and 12 days of vacation are all part of the trap.

Companies have convinced employees that long commutes, cube farms, terrible co-workers, hostile working environments, company policies that defy logic, 2.5% pay raises, overtime, water coolers, ping-pong tables, and company half-barrels are worth the cold dinners, missed little league games,  red-eye flights, brainless managers, and corporate disloyalty.

They've convinced you that your worth is determined by who you work for, how many hours you put in, and how loudly you tow the company line.  They had you believing that if you worked anywhere but under the florescent sting of an open floor plan, you wouldn't get anything done.

Remember the companies who just 12 months ago were saying, "We're all in this together.  We want what's best for all our employees." and are now treating the same employees like nothing happened you are shameful.  They worked in a completely unfamiliar environment and learned more about technology, human-to-human communications, and getting things done than a dozen of your "corporate training sessions" could ever muster.

Your revenues went through the roof.  Company travel costs approached zero - no client visits, no hotel, dinner, or drinks on the expense reports - FOR A YEAR.  Sure, bigger companies still paid rent - but utility costs tumbled, and what about all those government loans?

Every one of your employees who worked at home deserves a HUGE increase in salary, a bonus, or both and you know it. 

Additionally, the mantra, "Everything has changed because of the fear of COVID-19." is true - so why are you going to manage your workforce the same way you did in 2019?

But if we let our employees work from anywhere, we'll lose that personal touch and will kill our corporate culture."

Personal connection in the business world is a fallacy - it does not and can not exist.  Any bond established under the influence of business transactions is by definition, impersonal.  All the relationship-building, all the dinners, lunches, and drinks spent with a client or prospect are designed with one goal in mind, get their money into your pocket. 

Don't play the "personal touch" card in an effort to force employees back to the cages. 

By the way, working from anywhere doesn't kill the corporate culture, it IS corporate culture.

The argument for returning office workers back to the office revolves around:

1. A need for centralized management is built on mistrust and insecurities.
2. The Luddite view of "getting back to normal".
3. An effort to bolster commercial office space return on investments.

We are witnessing the struggle between indenture and freedom; between value and being unvalued.

The good news is that your skills are transferrable to organizations that want to be part of the future and understand monolithic structures of management are part of a bygone era.  Find those companies and go work for them - from anywhere on the planet.

Cheers!

Managed Print Services is Dead - "...alas poor MPS-Guy...I knew thee well..."

12/2010

I love it.

Just as everyone figures out how to spell MPS, industry pundits kill it.

Photizo called heavy growth rates in MPS Engagements through 2015 - of course, this was back in the "olden days" - 2009!

Last year at Lyra, consultants and statisticians explained that we will never return to the same levels of units (copier) sold, pre-2009.

Do you get that? Does anyone?

Why yes, some do...some have all along. HP buys EDS, and Xerox takes ACS.

Why paint MPS all black? Why kill MPS after just three short years? Why blacken the Sun?

I've said it before. Change releases fear and fear motivates.

Contrary to what the Imaging Intelligentsia bloviate, we are not witnessing the beginning of the End Managed Print Services - we are seeing the last gasp of "Print Services"(it's the "M" - stupid)

Two informational items were released this month:

The "Hunters vs. Farmers" Sales Metaphor - It's Dead: Let's Break Out of The Box

2009

Within the MPS Ecosystem, the struggle is moving between back-room infrastructure and field-level acumen.

Just like everything else the "experts" attempt to do, we selling professionals, are being classified; boxed in, and commoditized.

The questions now are, "What type of person do I need to employ as an MPS Sales Executive?"

"How many appointments should my team generate to reach a close?"

"What is a good monthly revenue/sales/profit number an MPS rep should hit?"

It is apparent that the "copier mentality" is only a fraction of what is needed to bring home MPS Engagements. That is of course unless you simply start defining your CPC agreements as MPS Engagements. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!

And by the way, if your manager/owner/principal is plugging MPS Assessments into your "normal" copier funnel, you know, "15 face to face meetings per week, 5 Demos, 3 MPS Assessments, 1.5 closes per week", you are far, far removed from an MPS Practice.

Managed Print Services is not a bolt-on marketing scheme.

So, does MPS need Hunters or does MPS need Farmers?

The answer is Both - The answer is Neither.

We need Professionals who can do both; who can do it all.

"Hunter" - Find it, Kill it, move on.

"Farmer" - Move in after the kill, bury it, water it, reap.

It may be just me but I tend to think of selling "farmers" akin to vegetarians. And as you know, another name for a vegetarian is a "hunter with bad aim..."

Hunter? Farmer? Hello, the 1950's called, they want their sales cliches back...keep this up and the ditto-machine will make a come back.

I don't care what anybody says, real MPS is different - it is a Hybrid process, Hybrid product, Hybrid service, Hybrid business model. How can we expect the same old selling models and formulas to prevail?

How can anyone presume to tell Selling Professionals how to go about selling MPS(Hybrid), if those selling professionals are not Hybrid themselves?

What? Huh? Am I saying that there is MORE to selling than PROCESS?

Am I?

Goodness gracious, great balls of fire! Should I feel a slight agitation around my neck? Like John had when Herod came by, ready to fulfill Solome's wish? (don't get it? Go here)

Yeah - sure, sales is more than process, tell that to HP/Xerox - I often wonder how the enterprise clients feel, knowing they are part of a "process". Perhaps they feel like Velveeta?

There are, without fail, little flecks of hope, sparkling in the distance whenever I hear somebody say they are looking to hire folks from outside the industry. People with Insurance or market/advertising sales experience - not a bad start, I understand the premise. But there are challenges here as well.

Any ex-AFLAC agent is going to absolutely Laugh Out Loud when his MPS compensation plan doesn't have monthly residuals for life. The insurance industry invented that model for crying out loud.

And you are going to tell them that after developing a relationship he gets a one-time hit, a pat on the back, and a kick in the buttocks? Really? And this fresh, new, vibrant talent is going to break down your door, demanding a MPS selling position because why?

HA! But encouraging...

This is my thought; don't let "them" define you. Try, endeavor, toil against the meat grinder. And the best way to do this is to improve yourself, for yourself not your boss.

Does this mean attending company paid, useless, painful, Death-by-Powerpoint, speeds and feeds sales training classes?

Yes.

Does this mean picking up a book, if they still print them, about the latest, rehashed from the 80s, business strategies?

Yes.

Does this mean making every, single plant tour or walk-thru a field trip, learning not only how many output devices exist, but also how they run their business?

Yes.

Does this mean that everything you see and experience is yours, not your bosses, and improves you as a Selling Professional?

Yes.

Does this mean that one, tiny atom in my fingernail could be one little...tiny universe?

Yes.

Disruptive Marketing? Let's try Disruptive Defining.

Here's a message for all of us in the trenches, trying to sell MPS against ALL COMPETITION, including internal competition: The MPS Ecosystem is wide open for excited, daring, bold Selling Professionals - we work for the person in the mirror, not the one scrolling through the Monday morning sales meeting slide deck.

Don't think of yourself as either a "Farmer" or a "Hunter". Be both, Be better, be more.


Copier Sales People Destroy Managed Print Services Opportunities: Daily The New SalesPerson - Death of the "Close"

Thoughts from the CDA Meeting: Adapt or Die!

Ricoh and U - MDS vs. MpS: "MpS is 10%, MDS is 90% of the solution..." - I love it.

It's the infamous, IKON iceberg. Won't this thing EVER melt?

When the MPSA struggled for months to determine the definition of MpS we stumbled and bumbled our way in the dark.

Each of us had different views and perspectives: OEM's, Independent dealers, toner reman's, parts suppliers, consultants, and end users.  Oh, and ONE VAR.(Jus sayin)

I was impatient - we needed something NOW and I had a definition ready to go.

My version did not include reference to hardware, but the MPSA had to include 'devices'.

I didn't want the word 'print' but quickly acquiesced agreeing that 'print' allowed the concept to be easily identifiable.

Here is what we, the MPSA came up with:

"Managed print services is the active management and optimization of document output devices and related business processes." - MPSA, July, 2010

Here was my definition back then:

"...the act of managing components and processes associated with moving, saving and presenting information in the form of documents..." - DOTC, March, 2010

And here is my current definition of MOS(MpS):

"...the act of managing the optimization of resources and processes associated with information ..." - GRW, 5/9/2011

Why would I be so insistent about leaving 'hardware' out of the equation?  I don't want to be pigeon-holed, I don't think real MpS has anything to do with hardware or even PRINT.

Most importantly, I didn't want those who felt like I,  to find this weakness and project above the MPSA definition.

Well, guess what?  Ricoh and MDS, that's what.

"Managed Print Services" is dying. Let's Kill it Together...

5/9/2011

The 2011 Global MPS Conference is part of history.

I have a unique view of both the evolution of the show and our industry.

It goes a bit like this:

-Year One, 2009: What the hell is this thing called MPS?
-Year Two, 2010: I've made so many mistakes. How in the heck do we make the change?
-Year Three, 2011: Now what? There has got to be more.

So, as a proponent of MPS, as one of the first evangelists.  As a fully engaged, MPS Practice Manager.

As a  "thought leader", somebody who has spoken at each MPS Conference, sat on panels of experts, queried the titans, investigated every single MPS package, program, and type; as a dangerous, True Believer -

How can I possibly, in good faith, call for the destruction of Managed Print Services?

How?

Well, welcome back my friends to the show that never ends, step inside...

Good to Great Author Reflects on Xerox - Back from the Precipice of Doom

From the book, How the Mighty Fall and Why Some Companies Never Give In By Jim Collins.

On the Business Week site, excerpts from the new book, talk about the five warning signs of impending, corporate doom, the "Five Stages of Decline". How to recognize them and what to do when you do.

As an example, the first sign "STAGE 1: HUBRIS BORN OF SUCCESS", can be applied to everyone from AIG, the failed dot.coms, automotive union leaders, and all the way back to manufacturers of buggy whips.

I found his reflection on Xerox and Churchill poignant beyond the five indicators.

Enjoy.

"...When Anne Mulcahy became chief executive of Xerox (XRX) in 2001, she inherited a company mired in Stage 4. With Xerox's debt-to-equity ratio above 900%, Moody's (MCO) rated its bonds as junk. With $19 billion in debt and only $100 million in cash, Mulcahy described the situation as "terrifying."

Mulcahy had never planned or expected to become CEO, describing her ascension as a total surprise. The consummate insider, she'd worked for nearly a quarter-century at Xerox, never drawing outside attention. For Mulcahy, it was all about Xerox, not about her. In fact, we found only four feature articles about Mulcahy during her first three years as CEO, a surprisingly small number given how few women become CEOs of storied companies.

Some observers questioned whether this insider, this unknown team player who had Xerox DNA baked into her chromosomes, would have the ferocious will needed to save the company.

They needn't have worried.

Their first clue might have come from reading her favorite book, Caroline Alexander's The Endurance, which chronicles how, against all odds, adventurer Ernest Shackleton rescued his men after their ship splintered into thousands of pieces as Antarctic ice crushed in around it in 1916. Drawing inspiration from Shackleton, Mulcahy didn't take a weekend off for two years. She shut down a number of businesses, including the inkjet-printer unit she'd championed earlier in her career, and cut $2.5 billion out of Xerox's cost structure.

Not that she found these decisions easy— "I don't think I want them to get easy," she later reflected—but they were necessary to stave off utter catastrophe. During its darkest days, Xerox faced the very real threat of bankruptcy, yet Mulcahy rebuffed with steely silence her advisers' repeated suggestions that she consider Chapter 11. She also held fast against a torrent of advice from outsiders to cut research and development to save the company, noting that a return to greatness depended on both tough cost-cutting and long-term investment. She actually increased R&D as a percentage of sales during that bleak period.

For 2000 and 2001, Xerox posted a total of nearly $367 million in losses. By 2006, Xerox posted profits in excess of $1 billion and sported a much stronger balance sheet. And in 2008, Chief Executive magazine selected Mulcahy as CEO of the Year. At the time of this writing in 2008, Xerox's transition has been going strong for seven years—no guarantee, of course, that it will continue to climb, but an impressive recovery from the early 2000s..."
-------

So as you can see, the author has a firm understanding of historical, Xerox recovery - and he uses Bank of America as a blaring example of the Five Indicators of Doom - if we drop all the names, all the big companies, we can apply these Five Indicators to our individual situations.

In sales, the Hubris from Success, can bring the "best" down.

Striking a chord, the author reflects that "failure is a state of mind". Meaning, failure is not total until you refuse to get up again.

Another excerpt, inspired by Winston Churchill:

"...Never give in. Be willing to kill failed business ideas, even to shutter big operations you've been in for a long time, but never give up on the idea of building a great company. Be willing to evolve into an entirely different portfolio of activities, even to the point of zero overlap with what you do today, but never give up on the principles that define your culture. Be willing to embrace loss, to endure pain, to temporarily lose freedoms, but never give up faith in your ability to prevail. Be willing to form alliances with former adversaries, to accept necessary compromise, but never—ever—give up on your core values.

The path out of darkness begins with those exasperatingly persistent individuals who are constitutionally incapable of capitulation. It's one thing to suffer a staggering defeat—as will likely happen to every enduring business and social enterprise at some point in its history—and entirely another to give up on the values and aspirations that make the protracted struggle worthwhile.

Failure is not so much a physical state as a state of mind; success is falling down—and getting up one more time—without end..."
------

This phrase: "...Be willing to kill failed business ideas, even to shutter big operations you've been in for a long time, but never give up on the idea of building a great company..." rings bold, harsh and reminds me of HP.

Remember, Xerox once sold workstations and invented the mouse.

The #SalesRevolutionRebellion Is a Farce

The fake "sales revolution" attacks symptoms, not the cause.

"Lannister, Targaryen, Baratheon, Stark, Tyrell. They're all just spokes on a wheel. This one's on top, then that one's on top. And on and on it spins, crushing those on the ground."

Rebels and Revolutions - 

When individuals declare independence from tyranny, they put their lives, and the lives of their families on the line, risking everything for revolution, for future generations' independence.

For freedom.

Today, there's talk of a "Sales Revolution". Insurgents take to the nearest pulpit espousing "changing the way sales is done..." by being open, real, authentic, a trusted advisor, partnering to solve client problems - not a con man.  Noble efforts.

For them, it's not nine to five; it's always too always, elevator pitches, value propositions, and increasing effort 10 fold.

There are literally THOUSANDS of sales coaches and trainers in the world today.

Here are a few of the folks I respect and follow. Some are calling for sales a "revolution".  A few pitch themselves as 'rebels', "Leading the Sales Revolution":

• Copier guy turned trainer, Rick Lambert
• Marketer and builder of websites, Darrell Amy
• H8r of the empty leisure suit, Larry Levin
• That 10x dude,  Grant Cardone
• The Warrior of Copiers, Dale Dupree
• Passionate sales pontificator, Keenan

All are passionate and committed to their specialty contributing great content to the realm.

But -

EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF SELLING ADVICE IS MISSING THE POINT.

I'm not recommending the current sales training and consulting efforts are not valid.  I'm just saying there is so much more that can be done to 'save the industry'.

Of Smoke and Ice -

"Speeds, Feeds, Quota's, Commissions, Solutions. They're all just spokes on a wheel. This one's on top, then that one's on top. And on and on it spins, crushing those on the ground."

The sales revolution is an insidious movement because it is based on truth. Bad sales skills, low motivation, poor relationship building, aggressive attitudes, boring pitches, tedious corporate introductions, and unoriginal talk tracks, are real, yet each a  SYMPTOM of the sickness, not the cause -  - indeed, going to war against "bad selling practices" amounts to self-hate.

We're revolting against the wrong enemy.

The Real Monster -

"Xerox, Canon, Ricoh, HP, Lexmark. They're all just spokes on a wheel. This one's on top, then that one's on top. And on and on it spins, crushing those on the ground."

The idea is simple, the mission tragic - manufacturers' selling models must be taken down, defeated.  While we fight among ourselves over who can save selling, the real archenemy plods forward, assimilating more and more into its ranks.

Break The Wheel

WE DON'T NEED A SALES TRAINING REVOLUTION, WE NEED A REVOLUTION AGAINST THE ESTABLISHMENT.

It's the OEMs who push equipment quotas down the channel, and not just copier OEMs - every manufacturer has the same, Materials Resource Planning (MRP) based systems.

The model utilizes the following:

• MRP based quotas
• "Fear Uncertainty and Doubt"
• Purposely confusing and ever-shifting, commission plans
• "Kill it and Grill it" mentality
• Adversarial Selling construct 
• "Where there is a mystery, there is margin"
• "67% of salespeople do not reach quota"
• Features and benefits of training
• Solution Selling
• Sales Techniques...

A real Revolution(with a capital R) doesn't attack the symptoms, it takes on the creators of the Wheel. The hierarchies are organically crumbling, digitally transforming - gravity is drawing the towers down, but they fight.

As long as we continue to harp on old-fashioned ideas, as long as we concentrate on "new", non-standard training topics, we keep the chaos going - and that's just fine with the zombie kings. The dusted-off,  selling retreads are like 'opiates for the masses' keeping the "little people" hypnotized in their insecurities.

Do you want to lead a true revolution?  Then revolt against:

• Stodgy commission structures
• Outdated quota schemes
• Product-based, solution selling
• OEM dogma

Are you a self-proclaimed leader of the revolution?  Then:

• Produce videos telling the establishment to stop pushing old-fashioned ideas and programs.
• Write articles outlining the challenges of terrible infrastructure and processes.
• Establish standard, salary influencing, and sales training certifications.

Embark on the battle between independent selling professionals and corporate structures - it is time.

Unfortunately,  this two-dimensional skirmish is nothing compared to what's coming.  The next titan of turbulence holds enough power to wash away 50% of the sales universe.

The 2011 Global Managed Print Conference - Why You Should Not Attend

Ed and the gang over at Photizo are going to kill me for the headline, let alone the picture.

Let me explain.

Three years ago few talked about real Managed Print Services - but Photizo was.

Toner re-man guys were saying, "...we've been doing MPS for 25 years..." - this before most defined MPS.

I am not kidding, at ITEX, 2009 one schmoe had the gall to say this to my face, and then try to sell me on remanufactured, color toner cartridges.

Indeed, so many folks tried to define MPS in their likeness, it became really funny to watch. And those doing all the defining had never DONE MPS.  But Photizo had The MPS Adoption Model.

Back then, copier guys were simply trying to stay alive - not much has changed today - the OEM's had no clue and the IT sector saw nothing wrong with 2 point printer deals, attached to CarePacks.  Okay, so maybe that hasn't changed all that much either.

The 2011 Global MPS Conference is going to be huge - to date, the number of registered matches the number of attendees at the 2009 Conference. 

When most  charge for the honor of speaking and need to piggy-back with other, failing conferences, how many shows do you know that are experiencing an INCREASE in attendance?

In the Imaging Industry?

Quigley - Another Analog Guy in a Digital World

A couple of weekends ago, I was fortunate enough to squeeze off a few rounds from a Sharps 1874 - you may remember the 1990 movie, "Quigley Down Under" with Tom Selleck.

The weapon had a prominent role.

At its peak, the Sharps was considered one of the best, long-range firearms in the world.

From the Uberti site, makers of Sharps replicas:

"...In 1874, after 700 Comanche warriors attacked 30 buffalo hunters in the Texas panhandle, the hunters used their Sharps rifles to exact a punishing toll. By the early 1880s, the long-range models had become the favorites of professional buffalo hunters because of their long-range capability..."

Indeed, even today, the long-gun is a fully functional, work of art:  double triggers, lever action, 34" barrel, 15 pounds she delivers a good kick, our black powder loads were clustering in 8 inches, 300 yards - we aren't that good.

The Sharps is cool - but the movie/sales metaphor?

Rugged individualism in the face of despotic ownership and management; Analog Guy, in a digital world full of other analog guys who think they're digital.

Huh?

Strange Twist - Managed Print Services is Redefined Again: Printing Industry of America

In an unpredictable and amusing way, HP's announcement today regarding the Printing Payback Guarantee, triggered negative reaction from the PIA.

You will remember the PIA is the Printing Industries of America.

They bill themselves as "...the world's largest graphic arts trade association..." and today chastised HP for leaving it's core business to start printing greeting cards.

Hang on, this is going to be fun...


From the PIA Press release...

"...It is with disappointment, therefore, that Printing Industries of America learned of HP's latest offering -- managed print services, which was advertised with great fanfare in this morning's Wall Street Journal. "We are always concerned when a major vendor in our industry deviates from its core offerings to venture into managing print solutions, which the private sector has competitively provided for hundreds of years," notes Michael Makin, President and CEO of Printing Industries of America..."

Go ahead, read it again...

HP is deviating from "its core offerings to venture into managing print solutions..."?

Whiskey...Tango...Foxtrot!

LOL! The PIA are the folks printing your wedding invitations, posters, handbooks,etc.

What is your definition of Managed Print Services?

I am pretty sure it is not online customer job tickets, soft proofing of files on line, job status, retrieval of jobs and files, instant notification of job arrivals and proof approvals, and a product catalog.

Wait. It might not now be, but maybe it SHOULD be someday---?

I was in absolute shock - stunned actually.

I didn't understand when murmurings appeared on Twitter about "PIA's negative reaction to HP's announcement" - who the heck is PIA?

Did Ben kill a fly during the press conference?

How could anyone respond negatively to a simple guarantee?

Alias, a PR was issued, and the third ugly head of ignorance around the definition of Managed Print Services spewed forth.

I doubt very much that my comment will be posted on their board - I have been accused of sometimes being "blunt".

The PR is here. Go now, enjoy. My comment, that will never see the light of day, or smell the sweet scent of ink, is below:

OMG!

There is no way an organization that has been around for "100 years" can be so stupid...right?

"HP...Compromising their position..."

LOL! Bufoons!

I would urge all PIA members to re-evaluate their membership if this is the kind of direction the PIA leadership hands down.

Stunning...absolutely stunning...

You could have at least Googled "Managed Print Services" - even on dial-up the correct information could have saved you this embarrassment.


Too much, do you think?

Lyra 2010 - The Rise Of Managed Print Services - Stage 3 and TheDeathOfTheCopier

Things are never going to be what they use to be.

I stopped in at the Lyra Symposium last week, in Palm Springs: The Road to Recovery.

The year is what it is so far, my schedule has been filled with activities associated with what I call, my "day job".

So, I was able to catch just one day, the day with all the MPS data and presentations.

I was present for 8 hours and can safely say, there were no copier reps in attendance; if by copier reps I mean folks who would be on the phone closing a single copier deal between sessions, which I do, there were none.

I also believe the majority of attendees may have sold face-to-face in the past, just not in the past 24 hours.

Be that as it may, the data presented by Lyra is priceless.

Especially to we who sell, we in the thick, in the smoke, in the fire.

I am not advocating every Selling Professional attend this and other symposiums, but, I do recommend getting synopsis or any other information you can, from your manufacturer rep or your sales manager (yeah, right, sure...).

Why?

Information is King in your personal, and professional development. Your "personal, professional development" might get lip service from management - but it is just that, lip service. When the chips are down, you tell me who gets the ax.

The more you know, the more you can see where your dealership/management is falling down and the easier it is to chart your own course.

My top five Value-Adds from Lyra- 2010:

1. Historical data mined from their extensive database of devices, monitored by PrintFleet, is presented in spaghetti graphs.
2. Detailed analysis of each copier and printer manufacturer's financial standing and projections.
3.  Unrivaled views of our industry, where it was, where it is, and where it might end up.
4. Current reflections and projections around the economic free-fall and the Day After.
5. And of course, especially this year, Managed Print Services and the "experts" who extol the virtues of MPS.

---------------
The Number One piece of information, significant to me, personally -

The recession has bottomed out, but we will not get to pre-recession placement levels.

As a matter of fact, according to Steve and Lyra, we will be losing 2 million units in placement - they will never come back.

It's like 2 million copiers just died.

Huh. If only somebody had seen this coming and publicized his views somewhere easily accessible to others...that person could come up with a snappy title like, "Your industry is Dying"...or something...

IT IS THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT. - again.

Second, to MPS, the next big subject was the economy and the Road to Recovery.

The Industry -

In a nutshell, the industry leaders all sucked wind, some more than others, but still, they all ate it, in 2009. An occasional silver lining here and there, accounting trickery, but no surprises.

Steve Reynolds' presentation started by defining the Cyclical vs Secular effect of a recession:

Cyclical, meaning a temporary sharp drop followed by a sharp recovery

Secular, meaning the recession causes a permanent and fundamental change in behavior

I have seen for a year now, the economy changing the fundamental way businesses do business. Especially when relating to printing and documents - this is SECULAR.

To quote Steve, "...once enterprises have discovered and implemented more cost-effective processes with less or no printing, they will not go back..."

Indeed, monochrome laser printers, MFP, and color printer shipments will be flat through 2013. The only bright spot is color MFP with a moderate increase(approx. 250,000 units) between 2010 and 2013.

And if that isn't bad enough, Steve expects a price war to erupt.

You see, as the recession is declared "over", customers will creep back into the market with caution. Hungry vendors will be pressured into getting their share of the new demand.

The feeble and hungry will drop prices to move the product, the last gasp.

The strong and carnivorous will lower prices to kill the remaining, weaker players. It's a Japanese model practiced and perfected by Wal*Mart.

Imagine HP reducing their MFP pricing AND toner by 50%. An M9050 for 5k and $40.00 toner? Real, HP toner? Where's your MPS savior now, third-party toner guy?

Vector this with Photizo's and others' belief of a 50% failure rate, in the BTA channel, by those who have not embraced MPS we have ourselves an honest-to-goodness Perfect Storm.

Your customers are or already have realized they DON'T NEED AS MANY devices and that they don't need to stock thousands' worth of toner in closets.

Why? Because the recession made them look for areas of cost reduction, and the constraints of the last 4 quarters, forced all of us to do with less.

For example, did you lose customers because they couldn't get HP CM6040s even though they gave you a PO last August?

No, you, the VAR/Dealer didn't lose customers. You helped your client get through "these trying times" by encouraging patience and utilizing their existing systems.

Or maybe you helped your client extend his lease on a month-to-month basis. Copier still works?

We in the field didn't lose customers - HP and the industry, lost placements, lost "clicks" and lost face.

Managed Print Services -

Managed Print Services was all the rage.

Both Ricoh and HP talked about MPS, albeit from the Enterprise level. Well, to be fair, Tom Codd's (HP) presentation included one slide dedicated to HP's commitment to driving MPS expertise into the Channel - through Synnex, et el.

Another slide depicting HP's product lineup, in order to show the Canon relationship as a good fit, DID NOT SHOW EDGELINE.

Edgeline? What? Never heard of it...next?

Twice, the name "MPS" was assaulted as not adequate - especially the "P". The phrase "Business Process Outsourcing" was bantered about a couple of times.

It was felt that the current MPS ROI is immediate, but where does one go from there?

"One-word kid..." Software, the future is in software.

Yup, the Third Stage of MPS is, Enhance the Business Process. We barely get people into the 1st and 2nd stages and already stage 3 is upon us. Really? No, really? Business Process Optimization/Outsource?

Are we to expect a channel that still thinks color and duplexing are value prop's possess the wear with all to talk software and "business process"?

And SELL this? For Greenbacks? (which is just as good as money)

Right.

When a member of the audience asked, "...how do we motivate a copier salesperson to sell software?" the collective response was, are you ready for this, "...increase the commissions on software until you modify the salesperson's behavior..."

I nearly upchucked in my lap, right then and there. And I was a bit insulted. If I was holding a watered-down drink in my hand, I would have thrown it in their faces.

Is this all they, these experts, think to motivate the Selling Professional? A few more duckets?

We are truly doomed.

My summary:

MPS is now being swung around by the big players, the definition is being molded in their likeness and most of the data and "play" presented is a product of and pertains to, "Enterprise" level engagements. One exception that I can see, is Xerox. X seems to be working 'on'(instead of with) their channel, time will tell.

The economy is in a rebound, but our industry will never be the same. More ships will merge or sink, and more dealers will jump into MPS, listen to old skool consultants, run it as a Marketing Campaign and fail. Managed Print Services is a Secular change for dealers; it is not "just like when color came out..."

More MPS Professionals will end up working at OfficeMax, Staples, or RiKON.
-------------------
Click to email me.

MPSA webinar, "MPS What Went Wrong?"

I just attended the MPSA webinar, "MPS What Went Wrong?"

Gleaned Tidbits:

1. Comp plans helped kill MpS. It is more difficult to sell MpS when working within a copier-based comp plan. Why don't reps receive residuals on MpS contracts? If you say, "they'll stop selling..." you've got a hiring problem as well as an ineffective compensation plan.

2. Although there is a global decline in output, the panelists, are not seeing a big decrease in the SMB. Actually, some SMBs increase output with new MpS engagements.

3. Not much has changed since 2011. This is my personal observation. Although the panel consisted of some of the brightest minds in MpS, the subject matter was a product of some sort of time loop. We could have and may have, hosted an identical webinar back in 2012. What does this mean? It could reflect new players in the MpS realm or it could mean that few folks jumped on the MpS train back in 2009, or MpS is still elusive.

What is my big take-away????? 

greg@grwalters.com

First Magic Paper, Now Magic Fabric - One more nail(futuristic) in the Coffin of the Copier

One step closer to the Death of the Copier - "Magic Fabric"

The Propeller-Heads at M.I.T. are perfecting an "optical fabric" that can be used to "gather and image".

These professors have created a polymer fiber that can detect the angle, intensity, phase, and wavelength of light hitting it, information that can be used to re-create a picture of an object without a lens.

Without A Lens.

Digital or analogue. A4 or A3. Copier, Fax, MFP, MFD, Mopier, plotter, scanner, Edgeline or ColorCube - they ALL HAVE A LENS.

When we remove the lens, we kill the copy part of a copier - or do we?

Original article, MIT, here.

Shades of Greg: 2015 "Top100 Summit" & The Death of Managed print Services

"Live a life less ordinary

Live a life extraordinary with me

Live a life less sedentary

Live a life evolutionary with me..."

These thoughts are my personal critique of an industry, not an individual.

Weeks ago, over one hundred leading MpS providers congealed in Park City, Utah to discuss the future of MpS.  It was a great educational and entertaining event - recommended.

This event was one of the best I've attended in years - only the MWAi show from last year, stands above.  West put together a great agenda and was able to recruit a diverse set of industry luminaries.

Here's a quick list of observations from The Top 100 - "MpS is Changing" conference:

• The venue: Superb.
• Event organization: Stellar.
• Promotion: Unparalleled.
• Presenters: Both gargantuan and irrelevant.
• Content: Both significant and forgettable.
• Off-line conversations: The best in over a decade.

For a detailed tracking of the event, talks, and feedback, see Ken's, Art's, West's, and Andy's most accurate reports.

The video, recorded, edited, and presented on-site, nearly live, is one of the best promotional pieces in the niche.  It was organic and fun. See it here.

Enough of us patting each other on the back, like we’re all buds. Here's a two word summary of the show:

"Points Missed."  

It has been said our niche moves at the speed of an HP Series II - I don't agree with that 100% of the time, but after this conference, I'm having second thoughts.

I've stewed on this for what seems years - why do so many still believe in the old models?  Why don't they see what others see?

In a juxtaposition with the best content I've witnessed,  the audience comments were befuddling.  I sat there, shaking my head, not at the presenters(mostly) but frustrated over the 1970 mentality of the audience. Still!

Here it is.  A list of call-outs from my perspective:

"Automatic Toner Fulfillment": 2007 called...

"If you sell hammers, everything looks like a nail" so, if you sell re-man toner, all the world is an empty printer, right?

ARRRG.

Getting toner to the right desk at the right time is something we've cut our teeth on, back in 2007. Staples delivers more toner to more desks, on time, "automatically" than anybody else and they use people. Automation for automation's sake is not visionary.

The fact that we are looking at ATF as a new advantage, in 2015, is trite - Clients expect every MpS program can 'get toner to the user' as a mundane function.

There is no such thing as "MNS": Really. 

This irks me on a personal basis.  Nobody in real IT refers to anything as managed network services; it is simply managed services. Whenever we say "MNS", we look like wanna-be, IT knuckleheads. If you're IT contacts don't flinch or roll their eyes every time you say "MNS" they are being polite.

Stop it.

Epson Bags of Ink: Not disruption, turbulence.

This is the BIG miss of the show.

When the Epson dude referred to his ink bags as "disruptive", I think most in the room assumed it was we doing the disrupting.

Immediately, calls of, "how can I make money the old fashion way, when I sell the machine and lifetime ink all upfront?"

The answer is, "you can't make money the old-fashioned way..."

But here's the miss: we won't be using ink-bags to disrupt, this disrupts Managed print Services.

It's the other way around: bags-o-ink AND "Instant Ink"(DOTC, 2011) will move the channel closer to irrelevancy.  Not because wet-toner is better than dry-toner - the iceberg here is "Lifetime Supply".  Buy a printer and never purchase toner or ink again.  All the costs, revenue, and profit are upfront.  An offering, so simple a monkey could sell it.

The 'lifetime' model will remove MpS from the lexicon because there is no need for a relationship.

Those MPS consultants and OEM programs that stress toner as "the most important component" of MpS have led us down the primrose path.

This one issue, redefined as "MpS" is slipping from the dealer channel into the hands of surviving mother-ships.

"Toner" is not a relationship and the biggest reason OEMs say they need an independent dealer channel is to maintain the relationship.  Well. The relationship is getting thinner every month.

Think about it, the 'lifetime ink' business model eliminates:

• Meter reads  - no billing
• Monthly billings - see above
• Deliveries - UPS
• Phone orders - machines phone home
• Service calls - these things don't break
• Quarterly reviews - why?
• Contracts
• Independent Dealers
• Etc.

If I were getting into managed print services today, I would become an Epson reseller and push those guys to start releasing model after model, ASAP, before HP kicks their super-duper, closed loop MpS machine into gear.

I mentioned this during the Q&A, and nobody understood what I was saying.

...chunks...blown...

points...missed...

Watch Epson.  Watch HP MPS.

In The End: It's Not Me, It's You

I've seen great things in our niche.  I've seen companies make the leap, shun the old ways, and thrive.

I've also seen organizations espouse the future, make cosmetic changes and fail - the road back to 1991 is littered with used-up MPS Directors.  Settling into the old ways of selling copiers, hiring sales managers from yesterday's enterprise, 'trapping customers', paying salespeople a pittance yet expecting them to be professionals, and forcing equipment quotas on their customers - is the easy thing to do.

These types fade away or get swallowed by a bigger dealer.

I've been ringing the bell for years - "MPS is the gateway to something bigger than toner and copiers...".  I evangelized the new ways only to see big equipment manufacturers hijack and kill innovation, searching for more shelf space and stickier schemes.

It is the way of things.

But it doesn't need to be your way.  Many have made the shift, pivoting off the copier and into fertile markets.  It isn't easy to break free the ordinary ways, but it's got to be done.

Conferences that break the mold, separate the future from the past are few and far between - this Top 100 is one of the less ordinary get-togethers.  If you were there, you are one of the less ordinary people and nowadays, the Life Less Ordinary is the life evolutionary...

Let's go.

Click to email me.

#ManagedPrintServices: What if the OEM's Threw a Party, and Nobody Came?

2010

I had, yet another, epiphany the other day while sitting in front of a prospect, reviewing his fleet over my 8-page "Approach Document", poking through the pain, and proposing an MPS S1 Engagement.

I realized that this and every, single, assessment have had one thing in common - overcapacity.

11x17 at 1% of volume; duplex at 4% of volume; fax machines physically next to MFPs with fax capability next to laser printers; 5-year leases; fuser assemblies and toner sitting next to oh so many client's Canon/Xerox/Ricoh/Konica/Copier-De-Jour.

I thought to myself,

"What's going to happen when everybody realizes they don't need a copier?"

Last week I sat in on a Lexmark MPS webinar - the OEM doesn't matter as much as the customer (always) - Columbia.

As a matter of fact, 60 seconds into the show, I felt I wasn't going to make it past five minutes. I mean, I expect to be "pitched" but a read speech? I swear it was pre-recorded. OMG.

Toughing it out, my staying power was rewarded.

Mike Leeper, Global IT, Columbia, presented a frank, honest, and downright refreshing story of his MPS implementation. Two years into a successful MPS Engagement breaking 10 years of status quo.

Now, I am familiar with the DOW Chemical MPS and Nationwide MPS Project, so I have a good framework for comparison. Both DOW and Nationwide are successful, cost-reducing examples.

I won't bore you with the many details except these:

1. Moved decision process out of Facilities
2. Past decision process was very hardware-centric
3. Print Vendors were just like "...used car salespeople..."
4. Printing was considered boring
5. Success hinged on selling internally and continually communicating
6. Network-only devices considered
7. Project reduced costs by 37%
8. Reduced printed output by 1 million images
9. Effectively "killed" all the previous copiers(DOTC) - zero remained

The last two should send chills up the spine of every OEM and induce the booted, incumbent to hurl - through his nose.

MPS engagements like these are the Pure MPS - how can you commoditize this?

But wait, commoditizing is exactly what the manufacturers want - get all this MPS stuff boiled down to the most basic, simplistic, lowest common denominator. Make it easy enough for a monkey or copier rep(jk!)to sell.

Create tools that kill the art of MPS, and stifle creativity and growth by automatically creating proposals and QBR marketing slicks. Just press F7.

Cram MPS into the old, "slay it and move on" sales model. As long as that MPS engagement includes 11x17, an unused duplex, and a fax machine with every copier.

Back to my prospect.

As happens with like-minded folks, conversations travel the spectrum of technical subjects, tangents really. Some would say, tangents get in the way of the close. Yeah, right.

So we talked about the Agile methodology, Google, SaaS, dual-monitors, MPS(reducing output), CIOtalkRadio.com, and the new control end-users share via social networking.

How, today, the ultimate buyer has more choices and how everybody is collaborating. I told him MPS really expanded around the world because of the new social media - the buzz started online.

I expressed my belief that finally, in my little world of copiers/output devices, the shift from Supply (copier OEM) to Demand-driven(ultimate end-user)is taking place.

The party may not be over but fewer and fewer will be attending...

I think he was being polite when he agreed with me.

Either way, we decided to move forward with an MPS S1 Engagement.

So, now that I have a close, I guess I should strike out and "slay" another one, right?

Takes every kind of people...

Click to email me.

22 Suggestions To Save Your Managed Print Services Practice

Kill it.
Chop it up.
Let it dry out.
Use as fertilizer.

Deja Vu: 

a : the illusion of remembering scenes and events when experienced for the first timeb : a feeling that one has seen or heard something before 

You're not fooled, are you? You've heard the talking heads. Like those who claimed Trump "would never, ever occupy the White House" - the copier industry has similar know-it-alls.

The establishment talking points are pretty clear:

• "Talk about the decrease in images only when necessary and in most cases quote decades-old data."
• "Say anything to make your machines relevant - fabricate rationalizations."
• "Keep the same processes and 1970's business plan while promoting your new and different business model. "

I know, I know the above doesn't apply to YOUR dealership, does it?  You've been expanding while the rest of the industry tanks.  You're on a 'growth through acquisition' trajectory and your culture is second to nobody's.

1. Then why do you still consider A3 and A4 different?
2. Why don't you commission service contracts?
3. If you're so cutting edge and ahead of the curve, why do you sell MNS or MIT instead of Managed Services?

They're just questions.  

If you're looking to resurrect your MpS, the good news is you recognize a problem - you're not ignorant.

The bad news is, you are probably too late:

1. Treat A3 and A4 volume the same in every MPS engagement
2. Comp reps on combined A3/A4 volume
3. Find the best MPS vendor for your company. HP, LMI, SNi, PrintSolv, whoever.  It doesn't matter, partner with somebody who matches your definition of managed print services.
4. Roll the MPS infrastructure into Managed IT services
5. Rename the practice "Managed Services"
6. Stop calling it 'Managed Print Services'; start referring to Managed Services - even when the only assets under the agreement are output devices
7. Incorporate an Output Study in every, single network assessment
8. Rename 'network assessment' to 'Technology Assessment'
9. Always bill for Technology Assessments
10. Embed your data collection agent into your network assessment tool
11. Employe/support a separate team of technicians to service ALL output devices
12. Separate COMPLETELY, from the existing Service Department
13. Intake all copier/printer support calls through your IT help desk
14. Train the Managed Services Team to sell
15. Fully engage your vendors
16. Establish Managed Services 'revenue gates' in your sales commission structure
17. Pay the Managed Services team salaries which make it difficult for them to consider leaving
18. Pay a monthly residual, for the life of the engagement 
19. Give the MS manager P/L control and responsibility
20. Compensate the Managed Services Practice managers based on profit(P/L)
21. Forget about ALL the copier dealership business models
22. Establish a direct link between the Managed Services practice and your software/document management division.  This means incorporating end-user, workflow-oriented questions inside every Technology Assessment. (MpS is BPO)

Insanity: 

a : a severely disordered state of the mind usually occurring as a specific disorder
b : doing the same thing, expecting different results

Twenty-two suggestions, points of light in the night sky.  

How, or even if, your organization can connect the dots, is the biggest query.

- DOTC, 2017

Why Do We Idolize The Worst Sales Characters, Ever

I've done it, you've seen it.

Heck, you've probably viewed a clip or two during one of your Monday morning sales meetings intended.

I get it.

These Hollywood caricatures display the gumption of legends - cold calling, motivating speeches, wild excesses of the selling life. Success. Power. Influence. Acceptance.

But there's more to the story, isn't there? The movies tell the entire story, but we don't replay those bad bits do we? No manager is going to show Bud's perp-walk in Wall Street. Nobody is getting motivated watching the federal cops pull into the J.T. Marlin parking lot complete with busses and tow trucks(Boiler Room).

And sure as shooting, no one remembers the ending of Glengarry Glen Ross, when Shelly Levene steals those leads.

Consider the following examples:

"Greed is Good"

Major Wall Street player earns millions through purchasing and breaking up family owned companies supported with insider information. Protagonist seduces young upstart anding ends up in prison.

- Wall Street

"Put that coffee down! Coffee is for closers."

Real Estate agents complain about the leads, smart-dressed, hit-man comes in from HQ to deliver a high pressure, all or nothing, speech intended to get sales back on track. Salesman descends into chaos and steals leads.

- Glen Gerry Glenn Ross

"...act as if..."

Sharp dressed, smooth talking broker initiates new employees into the world of shady deals and illegal trading. Cold calling taken to a new low, one scene depicts a broker lying to a prospect, along with a cheering team of cohorts, and bamboozling a victim out of thousands. The movie ends with federal agents storming HQ complete with tow trucks to recover the fleet of ill-gotten automobiles.

- Boiler Room

These stories end in flames, yet sales 'mentors' still run around telling newbies to, "Sell me this pen."
Why do all sales people know "Coffee is for Closers"? Why do we cheer when Vin Diesel lies his way into a sale? Yeah, sure, we'd love to deliver that Alec Baldwin speech, or kill it on the phone like Leonardo DiCaprio. We project ourselves into those situations - understanding the dramatic and sexy scenarios - who wouldn't?

Why?

I'll tell you why. Motivating you to sell more, no matter how, is good for the OEMs and ownership. Sure, it feels good to you, right? That feeling is false and manipulative. I get it, we need to sell to feed our families and survive - that's the way the game is set up - and watching a fictitious "selling animals" provides a fleeting moment of entertainment and hours of motivation. But it is propaganda. It isn't real. If it is for you, chances are, it will end badly.

Showing rundown videos of yesterday's demons is just another symptom of the slow to change selling ecosystem. I'm not sure what we should utilize in place of these video's but there must be something; there must be thousands of quick, 30 second video's of new sales consultants spewing nuggets of re-treads.

Change, real change through turbulence, must occur at ALL LEVELS of the ecosystem, not just in the trenches. Selling will become more relevant, consultative and fulfilling after the pillars of the status quo resign to the future and ceasing to show criminals and thieves as selling examples is just the beginning.

Red China Will Spy Through Your Printer and Kill With Toner

2018

Communism: In political and social sciences, communism is the philosophical, social, political, and economic ideology and movement whose ultimate goal is the establishment of the communist society, which is a socioeconomic order structured upon the common ownership of the means of production and the absence of social classes, money, and the state.

Capitalism: Capitalism is an economic system based on private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Characteristics central to capitalism include private property, capital accumulation, wage labor, voluntary exchange, a price system, and competitive markets.

I've been thinking about this ever since the drywall from China was reported to be radioactive.

We all want cheap stuff - Walmart runs that idea into the ground as does Amazon.  But for me, it has been difficult to rationalize the success communist China is experiencing with Capitalism.  U.S. Capitalism brought down the Soviet Union and Block; U.S. capitalism succeeded in Viet Nam when our hamstrung military did not.  It seems to me that blue jeans, rock and roll and Mcdonald's is enough to dissolve the Great Wall.

Mao Zedong

But Communist China is still Communist China and communism abhors capitalism. 

Today, why are we surprised to hear that the Red Chinese have implanted secret spy chips in the motherboards of some of the most widely used servers in the world.  How much easier it is to plant a chip anywhere inside a printer or toner cartridge?

In addition to opening up our clouds to Red China, we've purchased killer dog food and poison drywall.  

More disturbing, in order to do business in the land of Mao, international companies must share proprietary technology with their Chinese competitors.  We've been doing just that for nearly a decade.  Is it any wonder the new Chinese fighter jet looks like ours?

What does all this mean?  What can we do?

• STOP selling toner from Red China.
• STOP buying clones from Red China.
• Shun everything coming from Red China.
• Highlight HP and Xerox's American heritage.
• Tell end-users of possible harm resulting from Chinese clones or toner.
• Remove Lexmark from all US Federal, State, and local Government contracts - Education as well.  This is a difficult notion - I know many good people at Lexmark.  But it isn't the same Lexmark, is it? (NineStar).

The 'copier industry' is clichéd and uneventful, yet often, because of our technology pedigree, the output device and document management segment are at the tip of the spear in business innovation.

It seems odd to mix geopolitical issues with managed print services, but here we are.  We were always integrated with politics, global issues, and future tech - we could be the first to call out Red China.

More:

Killer Toner
MpS, Terrorism and Third-Party Toner

MpS & Selling: Are You a Hunter or A Farmer? Lions Prefer Farmers...

In the beginning you thought there was only one. But there were two.

At first, you thought you were smarter than both. But you were wrong.

They were simple animals, no scheme, no plans. Again, you were wrong.

Then you called down "The Devil" - he helped get one.  But was consumed by the other.

Tonight, the blood soaked field is afire.

Tonight, you're alone. Tonight, you're "going to sort it out."

MPS InsightPro - I'm a Pro, You Should be Too...

There was a time when the only MPS information one could find, was is supplied by direct marketing firms with content referring to advertising print jobs.

Then, slowly, the trainers got involved, starting to pitch MPS as nothing more than CPC in different garb.  Releasing loosely disguised marketing pieces as white papers.

InfoTrends wasn't there.

Gartner, didn't care.

CompTIA was years away from getting in.

There was no PagePack, Twitter or FaceBook

Back then, if you 'googled' Managed Print Services, nothing came back.

But one day, a few returns started to populate the Google alert you set up for "Managed Print Services"(ok, I know I was the first one ever to do this, back in the day)

And somehow, a complete Managed Print Services article appeared.  The brainchild of some firm whose name you didn't know how to pronounce.

You 'googled' φωτίζω and saw the light.