Should You Be Selling Directly to the CFO?

We all like to skip the middleman and cut right to the chase, and in some cases that requires going directly to the top. In fact, according to a recent article on CFO World, it might be against your best interests to try to sell MPS to the print-services manager. Maybe it's time to go directly to the CFO.

A lot of companies have an in-house print services manager who has built a close relationship with a local printer. Chances are, they haven't looked around at other options or renegotiated prices in a long time," he says. Busky concludes that organizations have to be awakened to the costs of a lax print-services situation, and that is why InnerWorkings targets its pitch toward the CFO.

"Printing is a non-core function for most businesses, so outsourcing it is logical," he says. InnerWorkings' approach is to replace the in-house print services manager with a contracted one. That person then uses InnerWorkings' proprietary database of 8,000 printers to find the best price for each print job's requirement. "We call up the right equipment in the right geography for the right price," he says.

The company claims its approach can save 10% to 15% in direct print costs, and another 5% to 10% in payroll savings. He adds that the database can be directed to comply with corporate mandates, such as doing business with minority-owned or woman-owned printers.

The "he" in this case is Joseph Busky, a CFO himself, for service provider InnerWorkings, Inc. The firm had revenue in 2010 of $482 million, so Doc took notice.