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Last week, we discussed how the Pandemic has reshaped work as we know it. Pre COVID-19, remote and hybrid work seemed futuristic, or you were considered “lucky” to have a work-from-home (WFH) job even though some people couldn’t fathom how you got any work done with normal home-life distractions. And now? In-office work seems to be the new “strange” while employers try different tactics to manage the new work landscape. As an employer, how do you navigate the possible effects the office, hybrid and WFH scenarios on your business, and how can you remain cost effective with the office printing equipment you provide your employees? The real question, is whether your business is proactive or reactive?

One thing I have learned working through the Pandemic, is how resilient we are. Being put on lock-down in March 2020 seemed like a cool temporary vacation, but as the weeks and months dragged on it became clear that the Pandemic taught business a valuable lesson and pushed the envelope when it came to #remote and #hybrid work. Zoom, Teams and Google Meet swiftly met the demands for face-to-face meetings and collaboration, but at what cost?

There are countless articles being written these days about the ways companies are improving their environmental footprints on the world, from PepsiCo reducing its use of plastics to Goodyear's journey to a zero-waste landfill. But have CPOs thought of the impact illegally-cloned Chinese printer toner cartridges have on the environment or on their supply chain? Probably not.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - it does not matter what your job title is within your company, as at the end of the day we are ALL in some level of #customerservice...the only difference being is WHO your customer is. So many people are "product-centric"....blathering on and on about their company's widgets or about themselves and don't take the time to LISTEN properly. They are too consumed with what they are going to reply with, rather than turning their focus onto the other person.

Anyone who has ever used an inkjet or laserjet printer at some point has had to wonder why the printer cartridges are so expensive. The OEMs want you to believe that their R&D costs are so high, that this is how they recoup their investments, and while this may be partially true, most people in the ink & toner industry know that the printers themselves are all lost-leaders as the real money is in the sale of their consumables. In fact, you can pickup a printer so inexpensively these days....it's almost like getting enticed by a gateway drug and getting hooked on having to pay for the cartridges over and over and over again. Here is a great quick video by Business Insider that goes into more detail....essentially, it costs more per ounce of printer ink than it does for an ounce of Beluga caviar.

Having a servant mentality is defined loosely as a person's dedication to helping others, without the expectation of receiving anything in return....it is truly an altruistic way to focus more on others than on yourself. Applying this to our personal lives can be easy....we can help out that neighbor who has been under the weather mow their lawn, pickup dinner for that new young family down the street who just had their first baby, or volunteer at a local non-profit.

There is a lot of discussion happening about the high level of value that Procurement must provide in order to remain relevant. No longer is spend reduction or spend avoidance enough. For the corporate strategy to succeed, Procurement and their internal stakeholders must be completely aligned in order to reach goals for spend reduction, increased innovation, and increases in cash flow, etc.

Is print dead, or has it proven to be resilient?