“An early adopter and accelerated MpS practitioner, SmartPrint has implemented organic tools, and an all-encompassing services offering all presented via spot-on marketing programs. Jason [Jason Ganis, CEO of SmartPrint] and his team have elevated the MpS conversation in Australia and the world,” says MPSA president, Greg Walters.
SmartPrint appeared on the scene in 2001 in Sydney, Australia. Founders Jason Ganis and Justin McShane had experience with Canon, Ricoh, Upstream, and Xerox, but when they decided to start one of the most innovative and fastest-growing managed print service companies in Australia, they did it from scratch—they started without a single machine in field (MIF) only 12 years ago.
“We didn’t derive from a dealership or OEM, nor did we start to offer MPS as a value-add, we simply had an idea to offer up a blanket of support across desktop print and freestanding copiers no matter what make/model, under one simple cost per print,” said SmartPrint CEO, Jason Ganis.
Fast forward to 2013, the firm’s contractual MIF is projected to reach 8,000 by the end of this calendar year, with just shy of 1 billion pages under management. SmartPrint has exclusive partnerships with Ingram Micro and Dell Australia, who are now offering SmartPrint’s MPS product under a white label to their distributors and end-user customers. SmartPrint has increased its sales force with experienced MPS ambassadors in all Australian states and forecasted organic growth to be well over 100 percent. They also are evaluating some acquisition opportunities, which will see the firm’s MIF grow substantially.
The growth is truly impressive, but the innovative approach to partners is what you should be noting. In 2011, SmartPrint developed its own web-based CRM tool from scratch to aid authorized resellers and partners in packaging and proposing MPS engagements. The tool, Click MPS, claims to reduce quoting time to 10 percent of that for normal methods and is designed to provide all brands of equipment, in-house financing packages, value-adds and blended MPS offerings all under one roof – SmartPrint’s roof. (Yes, Smartprint even has its own financing firm, ifish Finance.) SmartPrint currently has 80 resellers, who are true supporters and advocates of the SmartPrint solution. These resellers have access to a white label SmartPrint solution as well as a SmartPrint senior Ambassador to assist and aid in the auditing and transaction process.
“I’ve been very impressed with SmartPrint’s business model. It’s highly innovative, allowing for both direct and indirect sales channels. This strategy of allowing would-be competitors to “white label” their solutions solves two market problems: It allows SmartPrint to gain additional market share by selling through existing relationships and reduces the risk of entry for SmartPrint partners,” said Ken Stewart, director of Photizo Group’s MPS Advisory Services.
The awards and achievements SmartPrint has earned are numerous. You would be hard-pressed to find another independent MPS provider who started from scratch and reached this level of success. So, what is the secret? Ganis attributes it to several factors.
1) Longevity – We have learned from our mistakes and had the benefit to mold a real show-stopping solution prior to the market wrapping red tape around it.
2) Blended Solutions – The last decade the World Wide Web, mobility and apps have shaped the consumer to getting “what they want, when they want it”, and SmartPrint is an expression of that! We are totally independent and have become a conduit for businesses to get ease of output with transparency, flexibility, cumulative buying power, unbiased ideas on workflow and blended solutions to fit their needs.
3) Elbow grease – A lot of hard work and always challenging ourselves to be the pioneers in MPS solutions have paid dividends for SmartPrint. We are forever thinking up new ways to get better solutions for our customers and I believe this is reflected in some of Australia’s largest companies and government entities utilizing our services.
So, why should you be watching SmartPrint? As Walters said, the firm has elevated the MPS conversation around the world. SmartPrint is innovative, incredibly successful, growing quickly, and could be a dangerous acquisition for an OEM. This company thinks outside of the box…and that has been a key to their success.
My next blog will review SmartPrint’s culture…what it takes from the CEO and the team to be a leading MPS provider.
