Printing Solutions

The printing solutions market, which consists of printers, scanners, copiers and the supplies associated with them, is undergoing a change as vendors are trying to reinvent themselves and their channels to increase profits and overall margins. In the past year or two, almost all vendors have been talking of selling printing as a solution and not printers as a product.

Opportunities 

• Printing solutions, where you charge the customer per print, and provide printing as a service, is an opportunity which almost all vendors will expect their resellers (who address SMB and enterprise markets) to seize.
  
• Multi function devices (MFDs) offer huge potential in the SOHO and SMB segments.

Facts that may help you to sell 

• Every vendor has products and models with specific strengths and weaknesses. Consult your sales contact and get a clear idea about the total cost of ownership (TCO) of different models.
  
• Most customers do not understand the real TCO of a printer. Typically, the brochures talk about the number of prints that can be made with one cartridge. Hence, customers figure out TCO based on cost of the printer (acquisition cost) plus cost of cartridge (recurring costs). An equally important cost is the cost of the paper. You need to consider facts like paper jams, and print-outs not being proper. Costs also include the cost of downtime.
  
• You need to play a careful game when you explain the TCO costs of the printer you are pushing. Divulge information that is essential to make the sale. Sometimes the TCO costs need not necessarily favor the brands / models you are pushing.
  
• If you have a heavy-duty customer, it is better to opt for selling a model that is on a pay-per-print basis (see box on selling printing solutions).
  
• If you sell genuine cartridges to customers, instead of refilled cartridges, remember the selling points.
  
• Though refilled cartridges cost one-fourth they also  typically give just one-third the number of prints compared to genuine cartridges. (This is an industry average.) Hence, the savings are really quite little.
  
• Refilled cartridges may leak, or may print odd colors if not refilled properly. This can spoil the printer.
  
• In addition, print losses are more since sometimes the ink spreads—this is an additional cost.
• Apart from the cost advantage and multi-utility factor, MFDs save real estate space, and that is a huge selling point in cities.
  
• Sell color lasers based on the yield-per-page. While inkjet printers and their consumables are cheaper, the overall running cost of a color laser with moderate-to-large usage makes it a better option than inkjet printers. Always pitch color laser printers in such cases.
  
• If you are serious about selling printers, ensure that you also diversify into the consumables business, and, if possible, the office supplies business. 
  
• Almost all successful printer resellers keep a database of every end user to whom they have sold a printer. They estimate the average duty cycle of the printer, and call up the customer at regular intervals to check whether they require a fresh toner cartridge. 
  
• Remember the real money lies in the consumables and not in the hardware itself.

Marketing communications 

Most vendors provide marketing funds for releasing print advertisements if you are an authorized business partner. Use it wisely. Try targeted campaigns to specific segments such as advertising agencies, architects and designers.