Denver Copier

If you have read through these posts at all, you will see a consistent theme where I have warned against the problem of “overbuying” for your needs… with some budgets shrinking, now people are facing the opposite problem more often.  I will have customers here in Denver tell me they are doing 4,000 to 5,000 prints per month and they want to look at a $400 to $600 HP device like this.  Don’t get me wrong, those can have their place, but it certainly is not for the person doing that sort of workload. 

There are several factors that need to be addressed in every copier sale if it is going to serve the needs of the customer as efficiently as possible.

1) What work actually needs to be done?

2) What volume of work needs to be done?

3) What steps are you willing to do to get job done?

4) What is the convenience worth if you are buying add ons?

5) Is the device appropriate for the job at hand?

Once these questions are asked, you can look at the 4 componets of cost, 1) The machine, 2) The Maintenance 3) the consumables and 4) The manpower costs and see what is the most appropriate device for the job.

We are happy to help if you need assistance getting these important questions answered for your company.

I have watched the purchasing decision for many of the copiers that are going out today change hands from Facilities to IT.  Often this is a tough battle of politics within a company where one person (the Facilities person) has one preferred vendor and the other (the IT specialist) has another vendor they like.  Both can feel an obligation to their business partners and don’t want to see people they have worked hard with get pushed out the door.  Why is this happening?

The primary reason is today’s copier is much closer to a computer than copiers 10 years ago were.  10 years ago, they were more like lighting equipment or another general commodity.  Now, these devices can print, copy, scan, scan to specific software, require being put on the network and essentially become an IT supported device.  What would I suggest a company do if facing this situation?

1) I would try and make sure all parties WORKED TOGETHER within a company.  Competition is good, so giving both vendors a real shot is a valid option.

2) Whoever buys the device needs to be involved in supporting it.  If they are not, then there will be bitterness that develops as one group will complain about everything they have to do now that they didn’t have to before. They complain because they weren’t even involved in the selection process.  If Facilities or Purchasing retains the final purchasing authority for the copier, they need to be given tasks which will make a poor decision affect them directly.  An example might be they are the ones to call for the service calls, etc…

3) Utilize the relative strengths of each group.  The most saavy customers we have use IT to really check out the machine and then IT passes us to purchasing who approves the final contract which is for the item the IT people recommend.  Essentially a company who does this is saying we think our IT staff is best equipped to tell us what will work and our purchasing department is best equipped to negotiate the contract to get what IT said will work best for us.

4) Lighten up a bit.  Everyone complains they are too busy for everything these days.  If a task is getting taken off your plate, relax a little and enjoy having one less responsibility.

5) If your company is going to re-delegate, make sure you bring everyone together and explain what you are thinking and let them voice concerns and work to eliminate those concerns.  Ultimately though, you may have to make someone unhappy to get the best device for your company. (This cuts both ways…  some IT people are only looking at the bottom line and not functionality in a copier as they don’t tend to use them much…  this can be just as bad…)

One of the most aggravating things for most copier customers is dealing with the leasing companies.  These companies do not make money via service and products like we do, they make it via interest and charges.  It is important to realize this and to prepare yourself so that you don’t end up paying a ton of money because you weren’t completely aware of the leasing nusiances.  I have included a .pdf here for our customers in Denver which should help you save hundreds to thousands of dollars.  We can help you make sure the lease you are signing for a new copier makes sense and meets your objectives.

Here is the money saving link:

Leasing Pitfalls

As usual, when HP does something, it changes the game.  When HP came out with the Laserjet M4345, other manufacturers who did letter / legal copiers  we building machines like this that only went 18 pages per minute.  HP built this machine and it became apparent very quickly there was a new dog in town in the copier world…  a dog who everyone likes and would be a force in this sector as well.

HP hit the nail on the head…  they sell more of this unit than almost any other printer manufacturer sells in their whole line.  It has also paved the way for other similar devices (i.e. the Lexmark X644e, Xerox WC 4140, Xerox WC 4260, Lexmark X646e, Lexmark X642e, etc…) to gain a major foothold in this market.  So, why did this machine becoming so popular?  There are some simple reasons.

* It’s fast at 45 pages per minute

* It’s easy to use.  It doesn’t have 1,000 options on the interface screen.  It simplifies things!

* It’s HP. If HP started selling pet rocks, they’d probably catch on again…

If you don’t need tabloid, HP has proven it’s a market leader.  For more detailed specs, please visit our sister site:

http://www.laserprintercenter.com/LaserPrinters/HP_LaserJet_M4345_MFP_series_1039.htm

Having at least 1 competitive quote is always a good idea. You can let your rep know by saying, I am asking for a quote from another firm here in Denver (hopefully DenverCopier.com) and I want you to have the chance to be competitive. Please give me your best shot, because I can’t keep rebidding this. This will make the rep who is inclined to fudge their prices upward to give you a more fair number.