Kevin Morris, CEO at OneDOC Managed Print Services, is passionate about many things: Oklahoma football, great wine, excellent food, and managed print services. Quick to give a sincere smile, a firm handshake, and a story or two, it’s evident that Kevin’s success has a lot to do with his personality.
But there’s more
Maybe it’s because Kevin has been in the field selling managed print services since there was only one company doing so. Perhaps Kevin’s business acumen and straightforward approach will win more clients. But as Kevin says, it isn’t personality, business knowledge, or focus on costs that attract his customers.
No. Kevin has built a successful practice by talking with business leaders who share his vision in their own business. Kevin’s team finds people who believe in his business model.
How is this different? Many aspects of OneDOC’s business model attract clients; three come to mind:
1. Equipment Quotas
2. The Reduction Trend
3. Communication
No equipment quotas, no month-end crunch
When Kevin was building his managed print services practice, he recognized a flaw in the copier sales model. To maintain supply margins, copier manufacturers demand that dealers sell ever-increasing numbers of devices. These supplies feed fleets under multi-year agreements, including supplies. If a dealer loses discounts, he incurs huge increases in costs against a set revenue. Contrary to the core of managed print services, reducing costs requires the dealer to push more boxes. It also seems unsustainable because it fights the decreasing output trend.
Kevin was one of a few industry visionaries to recognize this and designed his practice around a new model. He only works with manufacturers under a ‘no equipment quota’ agreement. This allows Kevin the freedom to be hardware neutral and address each of his clients openly and honestly. He’s not selling hardware.
Doesn’t fight the trend, manages the reductions
Another clear trend few accept is the decrease in printed output. Outside the copier industry, people recognized the decrease in printed material. Newspapers, advertisers, magazines, and books all moved to the internet and digital advertising. The introduction of the iPad (and other tablets/BYOD) magnified the recession-driven downward trend. These trends are difficult to accept for organizations that have profited from so many copiers and so much print. OneDOC Managed Print Services manages clients’ fleets, understanding that the need for devices is falling. Customers do not need as many machines, and Kevin doesn’t fight this reality. Instead, he looks for areas of optimization and improvement.
Communication with clients at a higher level
Most managed print services providers exclaim the value of ‘periodic business reviews’.
Kevin’s approach is simple. Talk with each client on a regular schedule and help them understand areas of possible optimization.
Often, his business reviews eliminate older and underutilized devices. In the copier model, a sales rep would never suggest the removal of a device without a recommended replacement. Whatever the option, it must include the potential for an incremental increase in contracted volume. Sometimes a recommendation is to move a device to a new floor, other times he may suggest retirement of the device. As with every successful organization, many reasons support an effective business model. Paramount to Kevin’s client’s success is his team’s experience in many types of business models.
For OneDOC Managed Print Services, knowing different business types is a foundational belief. Next month, we’ll look at Kevin’s passion for business acumen and how his clients continue to succeed with OneDOC Managed Print Services.