When You Assess You Make an Ass Out of You and Your Prospect (Part 2)

So you want to do an assessment, huh? So you enjoy short-changing your clients? No....then don't do a stinkin' assessment! Look, assessments are like a**holes...Everyone's got one and they all stink!

Okay, not everyone. But 99.9+% do. There aren't many people out there who do more than get toner cartridge cost and run a rapid assessment key. Armed with this high quality data they make assumption after assumption after assumption after assumption that shows, with 100% surety, that they can save this client 30% on their current costs. Oh dear Lord, what a miracle!

I've given up the assessment fight and just decided to find a different word. I'm tired of being lumped in with all the reps that do the same "show up and throw up" story in front of every client. Don't associate me with those limp attempts at "consulting".

The fact of the matter is that salespeople who use a quick and dirty "assessment" not only short change the prospect, but themselves as well. By not doing a thorough job of identifying the true cost of operating the environment salespeople leave costs, and potential margin, on the table in an effort to get pages under contract. When you understand where documents originate from, and the purpose that they serve, worlds of opportunity present themselves. Suddenly you stop playing the commodity game.


Since the CFO is my primary contact point why not choose a term that they are familiar with, something that has some meaning behind it? Of course, if you do not understand the CFO language you can quickly show yourself as a poser trying to use big words you don't understand.



Let's think about this. We want to deliver an impactful message to the CFO. What is a term that they understand and could have some meaning to them? Well, just about every CFO has some kind of accounting background. So what are accountants most known for in business. I would venture to say audits. So let's take a look at the word audit.



au⋅dit 

–noun
1. an official examination and verification of accounts and records, esp. of financial accounts.
2. a report or statement reflecting an audit; a final statement of account.
3. the inspection or examination of a building or other facility to evaluate or improve its appropriateness, safety, efficiency, or the like: An energy audit can suggest ways to reduce home fuel bills.
–verb (used with object)
6. to make an audit of; examine (accounts, records, etc.) for purposes of verification: The accountants audited the company's books at the end of the fiscal year.
8. to make an audit of (a building or other facility) to evaluate or improve its safety, efficiency, or the like.

Dictionary.com UnabridgedBased on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009



Hmmm...how appropriate is this? Let's examine #3 above. "The inspection or examination of a building or other facility to evaluate or improve its appropriateness, safety, efficiency, or the like". Not bad. Obviously we're not examining a facility, but if we substitute process in its place we may be on to something. But what does this mean?



If you talk with auditors about the process of auditing they will tell you that it is NOT about numbers. It is about examining processes. For an auditor to go through and check all the numbers processed in a company would take forever. Instead, what they do is examine the process that figures go through within a given company to determine if the process is appropriate for the desired outcome.



What does this have to do with MPS? The answer is that by engulfing ourselves in meter readings, supply costs, support costs, etc. we are missing the bigger picture. It is a very myopic view of the world. The value lies in understanding not how much is being printed and what it is costing, but rather in understanding the associated processes. What is the purpose of a given document (or better yet the information it contains), why is it being printed, is it necessary to deliver the desired outcome?



If you can understand the answer to these, and other, questions you are begining to uncover the real business opportunity that MPS (or whatever you want to call it) presents. By stepping back and looking at the bigger picture you provide you and your client with more valuable information and the ability to deliver more impactful solutions to address issues of more importance than "What are you paying for your supplies?".



So dump the "assessment". What good is it doing anyway? I guess it's good for prospects who can take your information and write their CPP RFP from it, but what are you getting out of it?



"There are no shortcuts to any place worth going."

- Publilius Syrus (~100 BC)

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.