Keeping print costs under control

For embattled SMEs continuing to fight the ongoing economic downturn, cost management remains a key strategic focus. Most SMEs claim to have control over all their expenditure. In reality, however, few have a precise handle on what they spend on printing.

In fact, for many SMEs, print is their largest unknown cost – and it can be a hugely significant expense, with estimates suggesting that some organisations spend between 1- 6 percent of their annual revenues on print costs.

There is clear potential for savings, with analyst Gartner recently estimating that “most companies could reduce their printing costs by 10-30 percent.” The issue is how can SMEs best achieve these reductions. For many, the best answer will be through managed print services (MPS) or the more slimmed down version, basic print services (BPS) – typically depending on the size of the organisation.

Gauging the benefits
These approaches make the often unseen costs of printing, not just of hardware and consumables but also of storage space and man-hours spent supporting and maintaining a variety of disparate systems, highly visible to SMEs. What’s more, they show them just how much they could save by bringing in the latest high speed, energy efficient products that require minimum support.

By tailoring their printing fleet to the organisation’s workflow and real needs, SMEs can enhance productivity and benefit from the latest print technologies, which will reduce their carbon footprint; contribute to a more secure print environment and save them money.

The long-term benefits of a managed print services implementation are often extensive. SMEs can typically reduce costs, as the approach gives greater visibility into the printing process, enabling IT managers to monitor overall number of prints and departmental splits.

Role of the reseller
Print resellers also gain from these kinds of implementations. With MPS, for example, consumables are supplied as part of a long-term agreement to which the customer signs up. So, offering MPS allows resellers to tap into a guaranteed revenue stream over a contracted timescale.

Adding MPS to their portfolio also allows them to improve their strategic market position, typically enabling them to make existing accounts more secure and win incremental business.

The explosion of interest in MPS, particularly from within the SME sector, means that users have increasing insight into the service and greater awareness of its benefits. Resellers are beginning to realise that if they do not have an offering in place they will lose out to competitors.

Equally, if they can deliver the service, they have an opportunity to win new business from competitors who do not currently offer MPS - as customers consider their options.

Resellers’ success in selling MPS, and increasingly BPS, will depend to a large extent on how they pitch the solution to prospects. There remains uncertainty in the marketplace as to exactly what MPS is – and again this confusion is more pronounced in the SME community.

Resellers need to cut through this confusion, provide a concise explanation of the approach and educate prospective customers about the solution’s benefits. Typically, they may only get one opportunity to win this new business, so if they misjudge their pitch in a particular case, the opportunity to sell to that customer may have gone forever.

They can, of course, strengthen their prospects by partnering with print vendors who combine a detailed understanding of the MPS marketplace with compelling product offerings.

Customer engagement
A key part of a reseller’s role should be to focus on a process of ongoing engagement to ensure that the customer’s business objectives are always seen as the priority, and the MPS solution can be tweaked or modified where appropriate in line with these goals.

After all, the best MPS solutions should be flexible, adaptable and tailored to the customer’s precise needs. Analysis, communication, reporting and review should be key factors in the engagement. An MPS implementation should never be a one-off event but rather should form the basis for an ongoing process of re-evaluation to ensure the SME’s changing business needs are prioritised and the solution provided is adjusted accordingly.