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)

What's in a name?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet? - Romeo and Juliet (II, ii,1-2)

Start looking on the internet for a definition of managed print services (MPS) and you will quickly drive yourself insane. Google it and you will come up with at least 25 million results. Start reading the blogs and the debate rages on.

So where do you start? Everyone seems to agree that MPS does include service and supplies for a fleet of print devices. After that.....not so much. Most will say that it involves a "strategy" for managing, monitoring and optimizing the devices. Okay, but it sure sounds a lot like the traditional fleet management services agreements.

A significant, but smaller, group say that you have to consider workflow and how the fleet of devices are utilized by the client. Then you can add document management and change management and behavior modification and outsourcing and the print shop and document lifecycle management and content management and I've already lost my mind.

Now the newly formed Managed Print Services Association is taking aim at providing a "definition" of MPS. I'm all for the creation of the MPSA and hope to be very involved, but you couldn't pay me to be the one to try and come up with that definition. My guess is that finding a definition will be like the pursuit of peace in the Middle East. It really sounds great, but for some reason every one keeps arguing anyway.

So how does one navigate these waters? Probably the most insightful comment I've heard regarding MPS was made by Randy Elliot from Dow Chemical. He made the comment during the creation meeting for the MPSA. His comment was something to the effect of he didn't see much point in any definitions or standards from the MPSA because what does it mean for him.......as a CUSTOMER.

I could feel the collective shock in the crowd of dealers, vendors and manufacturers as the comment was made. In the background was the sound of shattered dreams and crashing ivory towers. The MPS true believers (I'm still one of them by the way) had been challenged and struggled for a legitimate reason why it was needed.

So, what do we take from this. There is clearly value in MPS, whatever definition you choose to use (don't forget MPS is really the combination of many disciplines that had previously had a market in and of themselves). But maybe we all should step back and remember why we are all having this debate. It is about winning! We are all pursuing this to win at each of our own respective businesses. And how do you do that? By providing what the CLIENT is looking for and not what YOU are looking to sell them.

Do you need all of the vast capabilities that could encompass MPS? Honestly, no. Maybe you're happy being a resident of the cost per page world. Well, guess what? That is a part of MPS. Is that the total of what MPS is? No, but is a part.

At the end of the day, I think we all need to remember that the name MPS is nothing more than marketing. No doubt created by the same people who come up with the commercials that will make me skip a part of the Super Bowl for a bathroom break rather than a single commercial. It's just a repackaging of solutions that have been in existence for a while.

So go forth in peace and don't worry about the stinkin' definition. To quote my one of many sales managers.....

"Shut up and go sell something!"