How Should You Differentiate Your Managed Print Services Solution From Traditional CPP Offerings?

While many Managed Print Services (Cost Management) Solutions are billed on a Cost-Per-Page (CPP) or Cost-Per-Copy (CPC) basis, you should explain to your customer that these are billing methods and not necessarily synonymous with a Strategic MPS Solutions; you need to get proficient at communicating these differences to your corporate clients.  Many times, CPP and CPC programs are nothing more than a billing approach to traditional repair and maintenance services with the customer simply being sold equipment, service and supplies, on a cost per page basis. The reality is that many Print Management companies who offer MPS solutions are not generating the kind of meaningful data necessary for the effective manage of a print environment, data that would enable them to reduce and avoid costs.

Obviously, these companies are not managing print as a business process. In fact, many of them are still very traditional in nature with a traditional mindset and therefore have little incentive to improve processes and lower costs. Educate your customer; let them know that the cost to print a document not only includes the cost of hardware, toner and repairs, but also includes preventative maintenance, inventory carrying costs, delivery expenses, IT support, help desk support, electric, administrative and transaction costs, among others. Ask the following opening questions:

If you’re under a CPP or CPC prgram today, do you know what your rate actually includes? Are there services you should be receiving, but are not? Do you know how much it costs you to print a document in your organization? On a per page basis, how much is it costing you to repair your print devices? How much is it costing you to receive preventative maintenance on your print devices? Are you receiving preventative maintenance? Do you have the tools to audit your current process? How do you monitor the yields that you get on each toner cartridge that you buy? Does your service provider collect, manage, and analyze data on your print environment? Do they share that data with you?

Remind them that a strategic Managed Print initiative, regardless of the billing mechanism, enables cost avoidance. Is their current provider able to analyze their print environment, and know whether it makes sense to buy new equipment or not? When do you buy; when do you replace? What right sizing makes sense? How can you better optimize your existing fleet? How are decisions being made? Are they taking a enterprise view of the print process?

The answers to most of these questions are usually the same, “I don’t know.” Let them know that there is a big difference between cost per page billing and a Managed Print Solution – with MPS, and the right partner, they will know the answers to all of those questions, because data is captured, analyzed, and utilized for the sole purpose of driving process efficiencies into the management of their print environments.