According to one recent study, only about 20% of smaller businesses use managed print services in the modern era. Of those that don't, approximately 35% say that they will either "definitely" or "probably" consider moving in that direction at some point in the next year.

So why, then, are you having such a hard time selling managed print services to your own clients?

The answer is clear: you're probably approaching things from slightly the wrong angle. Selling managed print services, at its core, is about convincing someone that this is a solution that they cannot afford to go without for even one more day. It's about showing them what they've been missing in a way that resonates with them and excites them. It's less about cold, hard "selling" and is more about having the right conversation at exactly the right time.

This, of course, requires you to keep a few key things in mind. 

Stop Selling Services and Start Selling Value

By and large, if you want to effectively sell something as sophisticated as managed print services you need to be able to go beyond the technical specifications and cut right to the heart of the matter. Essentially, you need to stop selling the services themselves and start selling the value that those services provide.

Start a discussion with your own customers and find out a little bit more about how they handle their annual print costs. Talk about not only elements like hardware but also consumables, accessories and more.

Dive deep into their management workflow. Try to get a better idea of how they handle something like scanning. Once this discussion begins, it'll put you in a far better position to identify the pain points that these customers are having. At that point, you can easily position MPS not as a "better option," but as the right option to solve those issues, meet those goals and help achieve any other objective the customer may have.

You need to change the perspective of the conversation, to a certain extent. Focus less on the broad approach of "here is what MPS is and what it can do" and approach things from the point-of-view of "here is what MPS can do for you that nothing else can."

Show, Don't Tell

When it comes to effectively selling managed print services, one of the major hurdles you'll have to overcome take the form of the many, many misconceptions that people have about these types of solutions in the first place. Many people believe that printers don't need maintenance, for example - which, as an industry professional, you know just isn't true. It never was.

Based on that, frame your conversation in a way that both A) shatters the preconceived notions that a lot of people have about the topic, and B) continues to illustrate that ever-important value as outlined above. Don't just tell them that switching to MPS is a way to save money - show them just how true that really is.

Talk about the thousands of dollars of supplies that they probably have sitting on storage shelves right now, quickly approaching its expiration date, due to inefficient management workflow. Break down the "hidden" costs of consumables, pieces and parts that people don't think about but that truly add up over time. Show them in a personal way not just that they're spending money on maintenance on a regular basis, but show them how quickly those costs add up.

The more myths you can shatter - and the more personal you can make the discussion - the better chance you'll have at selling managed print services to the widest possible audience. 

Unique Solutions for Unique Clients

At this point, it's safe to break things down into a more feature-oriented sense and talk about some of the things that managed print services can do that their existing solutions cannot. But once again, you need to make things as personal as possible and directly connect every feature back to the client in a very literal, emotional sense.

Don't just talk about what remote monitoring is. Talk about why this particular client needs it. Talk about the productivity gains they'll get by always having the right amount of supplies on hand. Talk about how they don't need to spend time worrying about whether their toner is running low, or they never again have to get caught without supplies because whoever was supposed to be keeping track of these things was asleep at the proverbial wheel.

More than anything, talk about how features like remote monitoring (and others) allow business leaders to focus less time on their printer supplies and more time on actually running the organizations they've worked so hard to build in the first place.

This is how you shift someone's perspective away from "that sounds cool, but unnecessary" and into the world of "that sounds like something that I cannot afford to live without."

Your Partner in Managed Print Services

At Clover Imaging Group, we fully believe in the power that only managed print services can bring to the table for all of your clients in terms of flexibility, cost effectiveness, ease of use and more. We also pride ourselves on being a true partner in your own success in every sense of the term. That's why, as one of our valued resellers, we want to make sure that you have access to everything you need to establish the most beneficial relationship with your own audience possible.

If you'd like to find out more information about how to effectively sell managed print services, or if you have any additional questions that you'd like to discuss with someone in a little more detail, please don't delay - contact Clover Imaging Group today.