Managed Print Service – An Idea for Your Business?

A managed print service is usually something provided by companies who would, in days gone by, have supplied leased photocopiers to businesses. There’s nothing to say, however, that a managed print service isn’t something you could offer to your clients. 

Consider something along the following lines:

1. Purchase the printers your clients require – usually, these would be monochrome or color lasers at the high-end of the market.

2. Establish a pricing structure whereby your clients pay for the installation, configuration and usage of the printer(s) on their site(s). You could agree to a fixed cost per page or per month, which could include toners, maintenance kits and other consumables. You could, of course, charge separately for those items as well.

3. Assume responsibility for the ongoing maintenance of the printers. In the result of a hardware failure, it would be your responsibility to supply and replace the relevant parts within an agreed upon timetable.

4. At the end of the contract period, take back the printer, which can then be leased to another client or resold to regain some of your initial capital. 

Obviously operating a managed print service won’t suit every IT business or, indeed, appeal to every client. But, depending on your own client base, you may identify this idea as one that would appeal to one or more of the companies you support. If so, why not put down some figures and see if a managed print service is something that could make a healthy profit for your IT firm.

Does your IT company offer a managed print service? Share your experiences of this in the Comments box below.

And to follow-through on the tips introduced in this short article, be sure to download your free copy of the special report on IT Service Contract Secrets for Getting More Repeat Clients and Recurring Service Revenue. 

Creative Commons Image Source: flickr jared moran