Remember, poor quality costs
There’s an old-fashioned phrase “penny wise and pound foolish”, which dates back to the 1600s and warns against focussing so hard on saving your pennies on small things that it ends up costing you pounds in the longer run. The lesson is no less relevant in contemporary times and when applied to rands and cents, especially when budgets are tight, and customers are looking for quick wins in the savings department.
We see it time and time again when customers opt for third party and even counterfeit consumables to cut on toner costs. But, it’s essential to remember that printing is a partnership between a printer and its toner, it takes good quality on both sides to produce a quality print. Using inferior quality toner is a bit like buying a Ferrari and fuelling it with cheap black-market petrol. It might save a few cents, but it’s going to cost you dearly in the longer term when the dirty fuel begins to erode your car’s mechanism.
This is also the case with printing. I completely agree with what Kyocera UK says in this article“selling cheap compatibles to clients is in fact creating a false economy.”
The article says “Cutting costs shouldn’t damage your reputation and create spiralling, long-term rolling costs. Ensure both you and your customers don’t get less than you bargained for by recommending and rolling out non-branded consumables – because you might be surprised to find out that the lasting damage of counterfeits can be felt in your machines and your pocket for years to come.”
We have seen this in South Africa too - the ingredients in counterfeit consumables can’t be guaranteed, so it’s prudent to remind our partners that many clients buy consumables based on their green credentials, and environmental accreditations are only awarded on the basis that the equipment is combined with its original manufacturer consumables.
In the end, poor quality costs. It costs the client, our reputation, our time and print quality so aiming to cut costs by selling unbranded consumables isn’t worth it.
Paul Wendlandt - Customer Services Support Manager - KYOCERA Document Solutions South Africa
