3 Strategies to Save Money NOW in Your Copier Lease
There are three areas of opportunity to save money NOW in copier leases, regardless of expiration. Many of these techniques require knowledge of the copier/ document industry and finesse in negotiations with the dealers. If you wait until the expiration, the dealers will remain in control of your office.
The Copier Lease
The copier lease is the area with the least flexibility and is a vehicle that dealers use to constrain you into being stuck with them, regardless of their performance.
What can be done NOW?
Calendar empowerment windows to avoid unwanted entrapment by auto-renewal
Write letters of intent to end lease at expiration (LOI's)
Inform dealers that any contract escalations will be detrimental in keeping you as a customer in the future
The Maintenance / Service Agreement
The service agreement that usually can be renegotiated regardless of the maturity of the lease. The exception is when all of the service has been "prepaid" and is bundled in the lease. It is a common bad practice to bundle some of the service in the lease. This limits control, flexibility, adds finance charges and increases the sales tax by 80% or so. Also note that service contracts are the most profitable vehicles for dealers and rates are designed to fly under the radar.
What can be done NOW?
Negotiate lower cost per copy (CPC)
Adjust prepaid commitments
Leverage 3rd party service to lower costs
User Behavior
Improving user behavior is the most underused and effective techniques to lower document costs. Print controls can be automated and easily managed to bring immediate cost reduction without regard to contact constraints.
What can be done NOW?
Stop printing emails in color (70-90% waste for printing small blue hyperlinks)
PDF or other image (non paper) workflows
Send print jobs to most cost effective device
Create profit center from cost center with charge back accounting
The biggest message here is: don't wait to take control of you document spending waste. Copier dealers have many tricks and are better at selling than you are at buying. Sign up for a free cost analysis today.
