Written by: Rob Sethre; Senior Consultant, Photizo Group

Sales in the printing and imaging space have always been a complex challenge. Regardless of the product segment, printers or MFPs, the sales rep always had a lot to deal with. Even the ‘‘simplest’’ sale – a single device – required a great deal of knowledge and persistence.

Historically, copiers and printers both had lengthy feature sets that needed to be explained and justified. In addition to the core product specifications (the famed speeds and feeds), copiers had additional offerings: zoom features, creative functions and finishing options. Then came the networking and printing capabilities, color and more. Printers had fonts, forms, drivers and processor performance, as well as PCL and PostScript compatibility. And more.

In every product category, each new generation was driven by a common philosophy: offer a feature set that includes everything that the previous models offered and more. Lastly, the sales discussion had to include a cost justification, as well as competitive arguments.

Amazingly, a single salesperson held much of this information. Those experts knew their products intimately, literally climbing inside each newly launched model to ensure the best possible understanding of every feature and physical detail. Those sales reps prided themselves on their independence, navigating the sale from the earliest demos to the final financing and even into the installation phases.

On the client side, there was often a similar situation: many times, a single person would evaluate the offerings and make a purchase decision. Even though the MFP or printer sales reps typically were talking to different people (procurement or IT, respectively), a single point of contact was often sufficient, even in large organizations. Those end-user decision makers mirrored their vendor counterparts and knew the products, pricing and competition inside and out. The point-to-point sale and sales relationship was very much the norm throughout the industry.

There have been several intermediate developments, as more solutions were added to the offerings and as sales efforts began to address specific applications and vertical markets. Yet the ultimate complication of the sale is realized in a full MPS engagement, which will include a full fleet assessment, zero-based recommendations for multiple product segments and business processes, workflow and fleet management solutions, contracting and implementation planning. Even for the smartest and most experienced sales rep (and client decision maker), the task has grown to be too much for any one person.

In addition to all of these changes, the emergence of the MPS business model produces one more significant challenge: the shifting of the decision up to higher levels in the end- user organization. As documented by Photizo Group research, the MPS decision resides, more often than ever before, in the executive suite, with the CIO or CFO, for example.

This migration of the MPS decision up the corporate hierarchy brings new challenges to the sales organization. Not only does the complexity of the MPS product require a team sale, but the task of client management has evolved as well.

In some senses, the task is the same: a sale requires knowledge and trust, cost/value justifications and a certain amount of personal relationship and affinity. But the new CxO audience implies a new skill set and relationship skills to complete the process successfully. The same basic process needs to be adjusted to match the higher skill sets, interest levels and expectations of the new audience. Essentially, the sales organization has to up their game.

So what changes?

At the most basic level, the sales rep will need to present him or herself as a project and team manager. In contrast to the point-to-point sales discussions of earlier days, it should not be considered a disadvantage if all the answers are not available immediately. A traditional sales rep may be uncomfortable at the prospect, but that C-level client will not be critical if a well-considered response requires a feedback loop and team input. The sales rep that handles the open questions in a timely and well-coordinated fashion will demonstrate competence, build confidence and earn valuable respect.

Some vendors will struggle with CxO acceptance, even if they have developed advanced skill sets and project management capabilities. For example, MFP manufacturers with a strong copier heritage need to overcome the prejudice that they are not well equipped to handle advanced IT projects. In most cases, those capabilities are already excellent, but client perception often lags behind the reality of the situation. The sales organization, and most significantly the lead sales rep, must constantly work to demonstrate expertise and relevance. As the sales discussion turns to workflow and implementation issues, the team’s systems experts need to be presented.

Obviously, it is important to talk the language and address the key motivating factors of the CxO decision maker. This includes not only addressing financial issues for the CFO and technology for the CTO. The decision needs to be communicated at a strategic level and also demonstrate benefits that go well beyond any one area of responsibility: IT, finance, key functional areas, core business processes. If I can describe the benefit that the MPS engagement will offer to the overall business, then that CxO will be comfortable owning the decision. Otherwise, they may end up delegating the topic downstream. For the sales rep in a team-leading role, the skill of keeping the discussion strategic is much more important than product specifications, or even price points.

A well-developed MPS engagement for a medium-sized or larger client will most often contain some key elements from the third stage (workflow enhancement) of the Photizo Customer Adoption Model. In fact, these engagements will increasingly migrate towards the fourth stage, which extends beyond the realm of document processes into the broader space of overall business IT processes. The broad scope of these new engagements is a perfect justification for placing the client responsibility at the CxO level, as is the increasing necessity to include change management aspects. MPS is not just a more complex printer and MFP sale, it is addressing the core processes and strategies within an organization, which demands attention from the executive team to ensure success.

There are a handful of sales organizations that are already well positioned for the CxO sale, with defined, well-positioned sales teams, processes and skill sets. But many MPS vendors, even established names, are relatively new in the CxO sales space. Even if this is a new step, it will be important to remember that it is a new step for many competitors as well. The team should be presented as competent, experienced and highly coordinated. That approach will exude valuable confidence and project competence by introducing the team, providing references and, most importantly, by being responsive in a highly coordinated fashion.

On the client side, the team approach will be necessary as well. At the CxO level, that will probably be nothing new, as most executives put together functional teams for various projects. But it may be new for this category of print management and imaging business workflow topics. This will imply a new set of team members and new project criteria, as many client businesses have never been reviewed from the standpoint of document and imaging business strategy.

Interestingly, while the vendors may be relatively new at the MPS team project approach, their client counterparts may be absolutely new with this topic on the other side. Not only should this fact provide some level of confidence for the sales team, they should also view the client need for support as an opportunity as well. If they can help guide the customer in setting up their MPS decision team and promoting the concept internally, they are both demonstrating their value and helping the sale.

Rob Sethre is a veteran of the printing and imaging industry with more than 20 years of experience with leading companies in the sector such as Konica Minolta, Lexmark, Kyocera Mita and Lanier. He has held key executive positions within these companies and his experience includes a broad range of geographies, product groups and functional responsibilities. Before joining Photizo as a Senior Consultant, Sethre was Director of Printer Marketing at Konica Minolta.