The Who, What, Where, When, Why & How of Print

Did you know that if you were to fill your car's gas tank with inkjet ink, it would cost $150,000?

What do you think is the average number of pages printed by an employee each year? It’s a staggering 10,000 pages!

One of my goals this year is to get better at asking new accounts if they’re burdened with overage charges. If they are, I’ll dive straight into my Who, Where, What, When, Why & How of Print to help eliminate those overage charges on my competitors' equipment. That’s fracking awesome!

The Who of Print:

• Who printed that document?
• Is that document confidential, and was it left out on the copier?
• How did our competition beat us to market with our new product?

Knowing who printed a document creates a traceable trail to the responsible person. Companies can face fines for leaving confidential documents out in the open, and intellectual property like trade secrets can be printed and stolen. By identifying the "who," fines can be avoided, and thieves can be prosecuted.

The Where of Print:

• Where was the document printed?
• What printer was used?
• What port and IP address was involved?

Understanding where documents are printed provides insights into the costs associated with each imaging device.

The What of Print:

• What were the names of the documents printed?
• Were those documents confidential?

The When of Print:

• What was the date and time stamp of the printed document?

The How of Print:

• What application was the document printed from?

With the Who, Where, What, When & How of Print Analysis, CIOs can access valuable data about their organization’s printing habits.

But analysis is just the tip of the iceberg! We also need to ask “Why” documents are printed the way they are, such as:

• Why are internet pages printed in color?
• Why is Document A printed single-sided?
• Why don’t printed documents include a time and date stamp?
• Why isn’t the document name or user’s name included on printed pages?
• Why aren’t documents protected from unauthorized printing?

The Power of Print Rules Software

Print rules software can transform your customers' print habits, reduce paper consumption, and eliminate overage costs on copiers. Imagine the impact—we’d be heroes!

Maybe we’re not asking the right questions when we survey potential customers. I suspect many end-users experience overage charges on their devices.

We often hear that nothing frustrates customers more than receiving unexpected overage bills at the end of the year. By being proactive and offering solutions to control printing, we can turn those frustrations into loyalty.

It’s no secret that I’m a fan of rules based printing. More clients need to invest time to learn more about rules for print.

My 2025 Goal

This year, I aim to open more conversations around overages and the Who, What, Where, When, Why & How of Print to create real value for my customers.

-=Good Selling=-