Xerox and Staples Collaborate to Boost Small Business Productivity: Introducing New Self-Service Printing
As a small business owner, you understand the importance of productivity and efficiency. Improvements in these areas translate into wins for your company, the juice that pushes you ahead of the competition. And do you know who else understands productivity and efficiency? Xerox and Staples! In today’s interview, I am sharing the latest development in their 20-year partnership, a solution that meets the needs of small and medium business owners who are looking for simple and quick printing services.
Xerox and Staples: A Partnership Spanning 20 Years
For this interview, I spoke with Renee Carter, the Vice President of the Mid Products Business Unit for Xerox. We met up inside a Staples store to celebrate the launch of a new Xerox printer (and so I could try it out myself!)
As Renee explains, Xerox has a long-standing relationship with Staples; for almost 20 years, Xerox has worked on solutions for Staples which have enabled Staples to better serve its customers. These projects have been aimed at improving productivity and the way that small and medium-sized businesses work.
This latest project was extra special because Staples came to Xerox with unique requirements. They were looking to create a self-serve printer, available to customers inside the Staples store. Xerox had to focus on these requirements in order to provide the right technology that would deliver a stellar customer experience.
As the Xerox Connect blog mentions, this was no easy task. In fact, the collaboration between Staples, Xerox, and Electronics for Imaging (EFI) took nearly two years! But in August 2016, 3,000 of these devices were placed in Staples stores across the country. In the interview below, you can learn about the printer and watch as I test it out.
Printing and Productivity Go Hand in Hand
In the section above, we mentioned that Xerox had to work with unique requirements given to them by Staples. Those requirements actually came straight from Staples customers themselves. By listening to the voice of the customer, they found they needed a printer with specific capabilities that was easy-to-use and could get people in and out of the store quickly.
Xerox accomplished this by making a printer that:
- Includes the most frequently used features: scanning, printing, emailing, and faxing. Most business owners do not need additional functionality, which would just make the device confusing to operate.
- Has a simple set of icons on the top display that is clear, concise, and allows you to use the printer without assistance.
- Gives customers the option to print from hard copy as well as from cloud or email.
- Integrates the payment system within the device, so customers can pay right at the printer without having to stand in line at the cash register.
The features of this Xerox printer allow Staples customers to come into the store, handle printing quickly and on their own, pay via a debit or credit card right at the printer, then leave to tackle the next task on their to-do list. It is an efficient system that can make small business owners more productive.
After trying the printer myself, I can attest to the usability of this self-service printing station. I was also impressed by the speed and quality.
In addition to encouraging you to try out the new Xerox printer, I think every small business owner can learn a lesson about how Staples approached this project. Design, usability, features—it was all based on the voice of the customer and by doing that, they enabled Xerox to deliver a printer that is on-point with customer needs and requirements. As Renee says in the interview, “You can never go wrong listening to your customers.”
“You can never go wrong listening to your customers.”