When You Assess You Make an Ass Out of You and Your Prospect (Part 1)

If you've been around MPS for more than 10 seconds you have undoubtedly heard the term "assessment" thrown out. In fact if you hang around too long you're likely to hear the term ad-nausea.

I recall a debate about what should be a part of an assessment. Is it simply collect meters and toner cost or was there more? It's safe to say that there should be more involved unless you're a drill and fill working out of your garage.

Of course that led into those who questioned whether it was even necessary. But eventually those people saw the latest hardware SPIFF and forgot all about the MPS conversation.

I'd like to question something even a little more basic, the terminology. I have always been a firm believer in collecting hard numbers to eliminate any debate on the validity of the data. What baffles me are those that are advocating a 2-week meter collection and then use average street price to tell a client how much they are spending. And they are all over the place...software companies, manufacturers, even CONSULTANTS. I mean seriously, if you paid some guy and this is what he told you to do you need to go demand a refund.

I know this is silly, but let me put myself in a prospects shoes.

Sales Rep: "Mr. Prospect did you realize that you're spending over $3,000 per month on your printers?"

Prospect: "I'm not so sure about those numbers. How did you come out to that?"

Sales Rep: "Well we took two meter readings and then exterpol.......exptralpo.....etaxper..... calculated what that came to for a monthly volume. Then we looked up the average price for each of your supplies and divided the cost by the yield to get your cost per page."

Prospect: (After coming out of the trance)"Well I pulled my invoices and I only spent about 2/3 that number in the last 6 months. I'm not buying it."

Sales Rep: "Well sir, the software we use takes into account a lot of variables that you or I may not think of."

Prospect: "Like what? I can prove to you how much I spent."

And on the story would go. The methodology described is nothing more than a repackaged hardware mentality. Instead of just sell the copier, it's "just get the volume under contract"...and do it quick before they realize what's going on.

Now don't get me wrong, I am all for a fast and efficient sales cycle, but how about we be a little more intentional with what we do.

So, let's look at the definition of "assessment".

Assessment

1. The act of assessing; the act of determining an amount to be paid;
2. A valuation of property or profits of business, for the purpose of taxation;
3. The specific sum levied or assessed.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

Is it just me or does that sound like you're setting up a prospect to screw them? So what do we do? What is or is not applicable to the cost of printing within an organization?

In the second part of this article we will take a look at how to approach the "assessment" and work to find a better definition of the first step in an MPS engagement.