No longer bogged down in definitions, solution providers can now focus on the benefits of managed print services.

Attend a Webinar, click on a blog or scan a B2B Web site these days, and you'll likely encounter "services" along the way. The concept is hot in a number of contexts, ranging from software-as-a-service (SaaS) to emerging cloud computing to a wide variety of managed services strategies.

The latter category is especially important for solution providers, according to the Everything Channel's Institute for Partner Education Development (IPED) 2008 State of the Managed Services Market report. Managed services currently account for 11.5 percent of the North American channel's total revenue, or a market worth $42.9 billion. IPED notes that current revenues are up more than 9 percent, or $31.3 billion, from 2006 and are poised to become 14 percent of total channel revenue, or $57.2 billion, by 2010.

How can solution providers that specialize in managed print-services engagements take advantage of all this buzz? The keys are to tap customer interest in outsourcing, insist on talking to the right decision makers, and cultivate sales reps adept at selling complex services contracts, says Tom Callinan, managing principal for strategy development at Strategy Development Inc., a printing and imaging management consulting firm. Here is some more of Tom's advice.

Q: There's a lot of interest around services these days. How can solution providers use it to promote managed print services among their customers?

A: Actually, there are two ways. One is to build on the managed services agreements you might already have for the network [infrastructure], let's say, and expand them to printing assets based on the credibility you've demonstrated in those other areas. This gives solution providers more revenue and more profits, and locks out competitors like copier and other print companies that are promoting managed services as well.

The second approach, which may offer less risk for the end user, is to start with a managed print services agreement and then, again by gaining credibility in that space, eventually go after the other managed services opportunities available for each account.

Q: So you use managed print services as kind of a pilot project for larger managed services engagements?

A: I wouldn't call it a pilot project, but yes, it's just a different entry point into the account. It's a nice way for customers to test you out as a vendor and for you to show that you do what you say you are going to do in terms of outsourcing part of the infrastructure.

Q: You organize seminars and travel throughout the country - what are you hearing from people in terms of whether all the headlines about services are making it easier to sell the managed print services idea?

A: Two kinds of buzz will help managed print services in the long term. One is managed services [in general], and the second is the eco[logical] trend and the worries people have about their carbon footprints and how much electricity they are using. That will play well for managed print services. But I think the biggest advantage today is that most IT departments are open to outsourcing their noncritical areas. They can't hire enough quality people. They are overworked. They can't get to the projects they want to get to. So they view outsourcing as a way to get some work off their plates and onto a service vendor's, particularly if that vendor can do the job for about the same [price] as what the customer is currently spending.

Q: Does that hold true for facility managers who also might be involved in these contract negotiations? Are they as open to service arrangements?

A: Not as a group. Usually what facilities managers are looking for is cost savings, while IT is looking for time savings. That's why I think IT is the better route - they are more open to outsourcing, and they are looking for a better way to do print management.

Q: So a good approach for a solution provider might be to get IT on board first and then use it as an entrée to other people the provider may need to talk to?

A: Bingo. And about half the time you don't need to talk to anybody else to get an initial contract. But once you get that contract, you can expand your share of wallet by going after the MFPs [multifunction products] and by optimizing the infrastructure, which are areas where you will need to get Finance or Purchasing or Facilities engaged.

Q: Are there common mistakes that you see people making when solution providers try to sell managed print service contracts?

A: There are a lot of mistakes being made. The biggest is that folks don't put together a business plan. They read about managed print services, and it makes sense to them. It looks profitable. So they do research Monday through Friday, and then they launch it at a sales meeting the following Monday. Unfortunately, they don't actually put pencil to paper to determine what investment they're going to need to make, what tools they're going to need, what competencies they have as a company, and what competencies they don't have that they will need to develop or buy.

I would say the second mistake is giving transactional salespeople managed services as just another arrow in their quiver. But it's a more complex sale. Salespeople, like everybody, are like electricity. They follow the path of least resistance. So if you give salespeople the ability to sell a transactional sale versus a complex sale that has multiple steps in the process, they are going to go for the transactional sale. So the second mistake is not to invest in getting managed services salespeople who go out and sell only service agreements.

Q: Is it usually better to get people skilled in services, rather than trying to bring your transactional people up to speed?

A: Usually, yes. Although the best skilled transactional sales reps can sell anything, they usually have different skill sets compared to someone who is used to selling a complex service.