When you think about MPS, Henry Ford probably doesn’t come to mind. So let me elaborate.
I heard a story once about “The Henry Ford Business Model” that sums up a lot of my feelings about working in the MPS space. The story goes something like this:
One day a reporter who didn’t like Henry Ford very much confronted him and said, “I don’t think you’re very smart.” Henry Ford replied by saying, “Why don’t you come to my office on Monday with a prepared list of questions and I’ll answer them all for you.”
At the agreed time for the meeting, Henry Ford welcomed the reporter into his office. They made some small talk about family and politics and the reporter grew impatient. He said, “Let’s get on with the interview if you don’t mind.”
With a smile, Henry Ford said, “Sure, give me a moment to prepare.” He walked up to the door, opened it, and in walked his lawyer, his accountant, his Human Resources manager, his VP of Research and Development, and a host of other people that worked for him. The room filled up with Ford employees. When all had gathered Ford said to the reporter, “Okay, we’re ready for your questions.”
The journalist, flustered, said, “I came here to interview YOU, not all of these people! Why are they here?” Ford smiled and replied, “I’m a smart man because I surround myself with smart people. Now what’s your second question?”
Print Audit is very fortunate to work with a lot of very smart people too. We’ve invited a bunch of them to help us write The 7 Deadly SIns of Office Equipment Dealers. It asks a series of important questions that every dealer should be asking themselves about their MPS practices. And mirroring the Henry Ford model, we’ve had the questions answered by the top minds in MPS today. The authors include Doug Johnson from Supplies Network, Ken Stewart from the Photizo Group, Greg Walters of Walters & Shutwell, Brian Stevenson from FootPRINT Managed Services, and Greg Brisco of Dove Data Products.
We hope you’ll enjoy this collaborative piece and that like Henry Ford, through partnership, you too will find some great answers to some tough questions. Happy reading!
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