Dirty Little Secret #1 — Make the Base Prints too High

October 10, 2008/marketingteam/Comments Off on Dirty Little Secret #1 — Make the Base Prints too High
We deal with customers constantly who have a great copier, have great service and think they are getting great pricing, but there is a dirty little secret in the copier world which helps the vendor make money and costs you money.  Basically it is signing you up for more pages than you need.  Here are some of the ways it will be worded…

“You want to make sure you have enough copies on your plan so the prices don’t change every month.”

“If you can sign up for more copies (more than you use), we can get you a better rate”

There are other ways this could be worded, but you get the idea.  So, let’s say your Denver branch has a copier which averages 12,000 prints per month and it’s pretty consistent.  You copier guy might reccommend a 15,000 page per month plan so “you don’t go over.”  Doesn’t sound terrible, but if you still only do your 12,000 per month…  you are getting billed for 3,000 prints you aren’t using.  If you are getting charged the industry average of $.012 per print, this will cost you $432 per year for nothing. 

My “rule of thumb” is to sign up for 80% of your monthly average unless your average is REALLY stable or your volume is sure to increase.