Want to generate recurring revenue from multifunction printers (MFPs)? Steve Spector, a business advisor at Xerox, offered a few recommendations to VARs attending a managed services luncheon in Boston today. According to Spector, here are seven questions VARs need to ask customers in order to turn an MSP sales lead into a buying customer.

1. First, cut right to the chase and ask the customer if they have a handle on their annual print costs (hardware, consumables, etc.). Most customers won’t, which opens the door for you to provide a printer cost assessment to the customer.

Then, go on to ask the prospect these questions:

2. How are you handling scanning, workflow and document management?

3. Are your multifunction printers (MFPs) or traditional printers on your network?

4. Are you confident and pleased with the supplier of the devices and cost of the related supplies/services?

5. Would you be interested in our product line for those printer solutions?

6. If we offered a print solution customized to your operation that bundles supplies and service, would you be interested?

7. Do you have an interested in discussing your print and document management needs in the next six months, nine months, 12 months or more?

Walk your customers through this worksheet, Spector suggested, and you’ll rapidly close business. Naturally, he pitched Xerox’s own PagePack managed printer offering, but Spector’s worksheet provides a good starting point for even non-Xerox partners who are moving into the managed printer space.

Still having trouble signing up customers for managed print services? Try pointing out these key customer benefits:

Resellers, in turn, gain the following benefits from managed printer services. The reseller: