It’s probably the most basic rule of sales and marketing: if you have a product or service to offer, you must first find a way to promote it. Simple, right? For example, someone recently stopped in front of my house and pitched his window washing service. He knocked on the door and pointed out that the outside of my house could do with a good cleaning. He was right, of course, so there was not much salesmanship required. My windows were dirty, he offered to clean them at a reasonable price, and I accepted his offer on the spot. A win-win situation.
The LRS solution - a different story
Unfortunately, it is not always that simple. Consider the case of LRS software solutions; though we offer a lot of great tools to help enterprises manage and control large output environments, we cannot simply walk into an organization and offer to fix or improve their IT infrastructure. First, we need to educate them about better ways of structuring the print environment.
Too often, people don’t realize they have a problem or understand the “pains” that we can help them eliminate. Other times, employees are aware of problems, but they don’t feel the need to fix them. “That’s the way it’s always been,” they say, shrugging their collective shoulders. On the off-chance a company already knows they have printing problems and wishes to address them, they frequently struggle to get management buy-in.
Fortunately, LRS has a large number of partners who already have a foot in the door and can educate their customers about ways to improve and standardize the print environment. A 2018 IDC study stated that 33% of the companies surveyed had multiple print management solutions. Sometimes organizations even have more than one print management solution within the same branch. For example, they may have one system for Windows print management and another for managing business-critical application output. Each of these systems is overseen by a different team, leading to inefficiency and excess cost.
Centralized control over enterprise wide printing
LRS offers a central solution layer that can manage documents originating on any platform — Windows or otherwise — from any location around the globe. Not only can large enterprises standardize on a single document output solution, but LRS software gives IT centralized control over enterprise wide printing. We offer a clear solution with even clearer benefits.
There is an old saying: “Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.” But this assumes customers know they have a rodent problem… and mice are exceptionally good at avoiding detection. Luckily, LRS works with a network of excellent partners who are trusted in the marketplace. When they explain to customers the nature and risks of unmanaged printing and explain that LRS has the best solution for that problem, people listen.
There is still a long way to go before every organization can enjoy an efficient and organized document output environment. But the way forward is every bit as clear as my now-immaculate windows. Working with our industry partners, our future — and that of our mutual customers — looks bright indeed.