"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." "The ...

MARKETING
Are You A Marketing Service Provider … Yet?
Here’s the Last Piece of the Puzzle By Nancy Arnold, ICED
In the last couple of years, printers have finally begun to
see the necessity of becoming Market Service Providers.
The first initiative was to become a Print Service Provider,
but that proved too limiting; print was only part of what
a client needed. Customers were then going elsewhere for
other pieces of their campaign, and maybe finding other
sources for print as well.
Thus the name Market Service Provider (MSP) was
coined – a title that says “I can provide you with a
complete marketing package – from the simplest brochure
to a complete Web presence.”
But did you really embrace that new title – really?
Joe Manos with MindFire, in a piece he wrote for
Digital Nirvana in February 2011, captured how many
printers feel about being an MSP, and maybe you can
identify with this … on at least some level.
“I identified a possible reason that Print Service Providers
(PSPs) (note: now called Market Service Providers)
don’t “embrace change” and continue to
use the same approach for
their business,” said Joe.
“I call it the
Fear Factor.”
He then noted a short
list of “Fear Factors” that
printers have shared with
him over the years:
Fear Factors
1. The FEAR of failure
2. The FEAR of change on their business
3. The FEAR of change on their customer
4. The FEAR of their competition
Nancy Arnold
5. The FEAR of change on their employees
6. The FEAR of a new technology impact in
their organization
7. The FEAR of commitment to something
new and the learning curve
8. The FEAR of “can the sales team sell
new offerings”
9. The FEAR of any change on core offerings
8 PARTNERS Summer 2011
“If you continue to look
to the past, the future will
pass you by.”
– John A. Zenkewich