convincing users to buy laser printers 5

[shoalcreek]

I imagine I don't have to convince anyone here. But in the office, I still find it difficult to convince users to buy laser printers, instead of inkjets.

Last week, I sent a little sheet to a user. I showed her how many pages she would get per inkjet cartridge and how many pages she would get per laser cartridge. I also showed her the cost per page and that the inkjet would cost twice as much per page. She wasn't convinced and still wanted to buy the allegedly "cheaper" inkjet, which would actually be more expensive.

How do you convince users to buy laser printers? I personally can't believe that inkjet printers are still around. PT Barnum was right--there's a sucker born every minute.

 

[Glenn9999]

There is indeed a sucker born every minute. When you consider the average IQ is 100 (yes 50% below, and 50% above), it's not coincidental you'll have issues of thought with people.

But I digress. Remember, though, that marketing is solely based on taking advantage of these "issues of thought", in order to make them spend more money on things than they would ordinarily spend. These things are more likely to occur on the consumer end of things, because business-folk will typically look at costs more and figure these things out.

See this post I made on another forum for more details on the question from practical experiences. It's not just more costly because of the Gilette model, but for numerous other reasons too.

People, by and large, are just not logical thinking creatures and look at the $ signs up front. I'd even go for a B&W laser over a color inkjet simply for the facts of cost.

 

[shoalcreek]

In this particular case, the user is someone who does accounting work. She doesn't need color at all. I do have a color laser at home.

I have heard that some high-end inkjets deliver better print quality. And the HP Design Jet printers are just inkjets with a very wide carriage.

 

[Prothios]

I'm not sure from your narrative - did you show her a cost model for each printer?

I would draw something up in a spreadsheet that assumes a certain page count (per year), then show the total annual cost of each printer. Sometimes it's the "big picture" that will convince people, unless they just do not care!

 

[svanels]

the user is someone who does accounting work. She doesn't need color at all

IT is an supporting job, and the old saying the "The customer is always right" surely also applies to IT support.

If your customers feel that you are dictating how they should work, they will never listen to you.

If you cant explain in plain English that you have investment costs and operational costs and work it out in graph form (use color) what it will cost to buy and operate each type of printer for a period of two years, you will be stigmatized as bean counting IT @#!* who is not willing to solve his customers problem.

Maybe the person has to print the expenses of the IT payroll in red, because the boss likes it.
And why on earth everybody needs a printer on his desk? What about a networked laser color printer, so more people can benefit of it.
The next thing they will do is send their boss to force things down your throat, and keep watching how you go down.
It appears to me that there are no investment or purchase policies in place, imagine standardization rules...
It would be good trying to get the policies in place before you go hunting down innocent users..

Gossip of the week: New kid on the block took a shot from Mount Olympus (management)

Steven

 

[shoalcreek]

I did send the user a cost comparison. I don't see how I could have explained it better. Here is the text of the e-mail, which I have cut and paste:


HP's cheapest laser: P1006
Price: $99.99
Cartridge: $69.99 yields 2000 pages
Cost per page: .034995

HP's cheapest inkjet: D2460
Price: $49.99
Cartridge: $14.99 yields 175 pages
Cost per page: 085657
This doesn't include the cost of the color cartridge.

 

[shoalcreek]

Actually I should have made the Dom Perignon argument: "Inkjet ink costs more per liter than Dom Perignon." It actually does.

 

[svanels]

The bottom line is: The customer wants a color printer, not a lecture about costs, certainly somebody higher in the foodchain authorized this expense, after maybe a battle for 3 years.
If your job is to control cost, you probably would be the one signing the expense, your job is to make sure that the equipment works, the thinking is left to the higher gods.

You are exposing with this attitude yourself to Office Guerrilla. What if he/she goes to his boss with the message: "Boss you know that new printer we are waiting for so long... that new guy refuses to do the install, tomorrow he will dictate your salary boss, what are you going to do about it?"

Boss gets , because his authority is challenged and run down the hall to take some names...

Steven

 

[SQLSister]

Remember too that maintenance comes out of a different pot of money than purchasing. They may not have the purchase budget available to buy the printer with the higher initial cost.

"NOTHING is more important in a database than integrity." ESquared

 

[jaymaechtlen]

I use an inkjet at home, because my pagecount is low and I want color.
I also get replacement ink tanks for about $2.50 each, quantity one.
It even duplexes on the rare occasion when I want that.
For me, the $400-600 for a duplexing laser printer will never pay back based on per-page cost.

If/when I need a much higher page count, then it's laser time!

cheers
Jay

 

[svanels]

Shoalcreek, maybe I have been sounded a little harsh to you, but IMHO these are the situations you will face out there in the jungle.

1) What was your assignment? You got your directives from your supervisor.

Did he say:
[ul]
[li]arrange a printer ?[/li]
[li]arrange a cheap printer [/li]
[li]that SOB from accounting wants a color printer but force him/her a cheap laser[/li]
[li] show him/her a cost calculation[/li]
[/ul]

If it is the last option you have done your job, but you need to deal with the given that Everyone has the right to have his own opinion and you are giving an advice, they are not obliged to follow it.

Option 1 and 2, you have not done your work, and it can be used against you when you have your review, your boss will be more than happy having reasons not to give you the raise you (in your opinion) deserves.

Option 3 - You are in deathmarch orchestrated from above, you were sent out to fight your boss battles, you are "cannon fodder", your boss will deny everything, and you will end up frustrated. Normally I sent the boss to fight my battles



normally I send the boss to fight my battles.

Steven

 

[fredericofonseca]

In some companies, one way to "force" them to go to the laser prints is to impose a rule whereby the user/department buying a printer also has to buy supplies for 6-12 month worth of printing.

Doing this forces them to reevaluate their needs, as they may end up paying in advance the FULL cost of their printing.

I have done this with some customers, and they ended up buying the laser instead.

Regards

Frederico Fonseca
SysSoft Integrated Ltd

http://www.syssoft-int.com

FAQ219-2884
FAQ181-2886

 

[ChrisHunt]

Here is the text of the e-mail, which I have cut and paste:

HP's cheapest laser: P1006
Price: $99.99
Cartridge: $69.99 yields 2000 pages
Cost per page: .034995

HP's cheapest inkjet: D2460
Price: $49.99
Cartridge: $14.99 yields 175 pages
Cost per page: 085657

If that really is all you said to them, that may be the problem. People who read this site are geeks - give us the numbers and we can see what's happening. "Normal" people tend to respond better to words (even people who work in accounting, believe it or not). So if you'd added a few sentences explaining your calculations and their implications, maybe the penny would have dropped.

Still, maybe the customer has other motivations. Maybe she has a need for colour printing. Maybe she's got one of those printers already, is used to it, trusts it to do the job, and doesn't see any reason to change. Critically, if the spending the money doesn't have a big impact on her personally, it's unlikely to motivate her decision one way or the other.

If I was seeking to persuade her, I'd take a slightly different tack. I'd point out that by the time she's printed out 700 sheets (i.e. a bit less than halfway though her second pack of paper), the inkjet will have cost more than the laser. She'll also have had to change the ink four times - whilst the laser won't yet have used half a toner cartridge.

I'd also point out the handling advantages of a laser - load a big block of paper in the hopper, forget about it vs. balancing small amounts in the rear. Get output neatly piled up in tray on top of printer vs. have it spewed out onto the desk in front of the printer. Maybe the particular laser/inkjets under consideration don't have these issues, but most of the ones I've seen do.

The bottom line is - try to cast the issue in terms of "How does choosing A over B make my life easier?", rather than "how can I save my benevolent employer a few cents per sheet of paper?" The former tends to be more of a motivating factor for most people.

Finally, I wouldn't sweat it too much. If you've put all the information in place for people to make the right decision, and they make the wrong one, you've done your job. Life's too short to worry overmuch about such things.



-- Chris Hunt
Webmaster & Tragedian
Extra Connections Ltd

 

[Dollie]

Is this for users inside the office or working remotely in home offices?

If it's inside the office, simply give them no choice. If it's outside the office, all you can do is try to influence their purchasing decisions.

If it were me that you were trying to sway, I'd be asking who is coughing up the money for the new printer that I don't need because my current one is serving my purposes.

Not anything negative, it's just my opinion...

 

[shoalcreek]

Nobody has ever mentioned that they have a need for color printing. I was asked to get a cheap printer for a user who is here maybe five hours per day. She assists our main accountant.

The only benefit I can see from an inkjet is desk-space usage. An inkjet takes up less space than a laser. I doubt that the user in particular has much use for color.

Incidentally, the allegedly "cheap" inkjet that we got didn't even come with a black cartridge. That was $15 more that we had to spend right away on that piece of garbage.

Fredericofonseca had the best suggestion--have them buy six months worth of ink, etc. This may have gotten them to buy laser. I also tried to explain to them that inkjet sometimes dries up if it isn't used all that much. Thus, a laser printer is better even for a person who does light printing.

ChrisHunt also had a good suggestion about the frequency of re-loading paper. I should have thought of that. I do think I made the argument that they would have to buy ink more often.

I will also add one other thing--I think the really cheap inkjets do lousy print jobs. The paper is often wet.

As a tech, I was hired by the CEO of this company to do what I think is best overall for the company. It went against all my integrity as a tech to order an inkjet printer. I presented the information the best I could. I didn't want to argue because it wasn't my budget, and I am still quite new here.

Maybe they will learn their lesson--maybe they won't.

 

[SQLSister]

There are other reasons besides cost why someone who needs a printer in her or his personal work space might not want a laser printer.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/78455.php

"NOTHING is more important in a database than integrity." ESquared

 

[svanels]

SQLsister maybe we have to revert back to good old noisy dot matrix printer?

Anyway coming back to the point:
The big advantage of an inkjet is having color at a (cheep) price. We are geeks so we assumed that it was a color issue.

Important is that your client is happy, about lessons learned:

You need to build-up credibility with your clients, if they experience you as cooperative, solving their problems fast etc.., they will start listening to you, and in the future consult you before they buy something computer related.

You have a color laser at home, would you trade it for a black and white laser printer?
Not always the user reveals all his requirements, which may be still in a vague cloud somewhere in the brain.

I think everybody knows that relative that comes asking for help to buy/supply the "first family computer" that must be cheep, nothing fancy only for type writing for the kids, no internet or graphic stuff...
You bust your @#$% finding a budget 2^nd hand or free surplus unit, install it and after two days getting a call that the games they purchased do not work.
You then find out that they tried to run the latest greatest resources devouring action shooter on the budget dinosaur you supplied ...

Maybe in this case that person could have shared the printer of the main accountant. IMHO a networked solution could be the most cost-effective solution, no extra asset, just expanding the possibilities of the things in place.


Steven

 

[EdwardMartinIII]

Maybe in this case that person could have shared the printer of the main accountant. IMHO a networked solution could be the most cost-effective solution, no extra asset, just expanding the possibilities of the things in place."

Niiiiice!

The best solution to needing new hardware is to connect to existing hardware that does the same job. A hardware solution that requires no hardware to implement!

Edward

"Cut a hole in the door. Hang a flap. Criminy, why didn't I think of this earlier?!" -- inventor of the cat door

 

[wlfpackr]

I gotta respectfully disagree with svanels. Your customer is the company you work for, not a single user. I cringe at the thought that one of my techs know of a way to save our company quite a bit of money and they keep their mouths shut b/c of what the end-user wants. End-user's come and go, it's all about the company and its bottom-line.

I think your problem is that you are telling the wrong person. A user doesn't care about costs and budgets, management does. I'd go to them first and say, on average user X prints Y amount of pages per month. Here is the cost of option A versus option B, blah, blah, blah. I can't think of a single manager at our company that would turn their nose up to cutting printing costs by 40%. I take that back, there probably are a couple of idiots here that would!!

=================
There are 10 kinds of people in this world, those that understand binary and those that do not.

 

[svanels]

wlfpack, I disagree, the company can't be your customer, because you are employed by the company. If you are an outsider providing service... that is something else.
Any handbook on quality control, certification etc.. will second that.
The customer is every person you work for. If you don't respect their opinion, they will not respect yours.
By the way respecting the opinion of others does not necessarily means agreement.



Steven