Ricoh Loses another Top Exec

Today we are announcing a change in our direct field sales leadership as Mark Bottini has decided to resign his position as Vice President of Direct Sales for Ricoh U.S. to accept a senior leadership position at an outside company. I want to thank Mark for his many contributions to Ricoh and IKON. He started his career in sales with IKON over 20 years ago and has held many leadership positions at the Area, Region and national level. His leadership, commitment and enthusiasm have been instrumental in our focus on sales growth and our key strategic initiatives, and most recently in our field leadership integration. Over the past year since we've integrated our field leadership team, he has been a driving force in building a strong team and foundation for future growth which will benefit us as we move forward.

Dave Greene will assume leadership for our U.S. direct sales as Vice President of Direct Sales effective immediately. Dave has been with Ricoh for 28 years in a variety of leadership roles, including leading Ricoh Business Solutions and overseeing our strategic sales initiatives. Most recently, Dave assumed the leadership role for our dealer channel, and with today's communication, we expect to announce a new Vice President of the Dealer Channel shortly. Dave brings a strong skill set and background to this sales leadership position and I am confident he will continue to drive our growth strategies and improve our operations in the U.S.

I am also pleased to announce that Terry Sukalski has been promoted to a new role as Vice President of Field Sales reporting to Dave. In this role, Terry will lead our field sales organization, focusing on sales and strategic execution. Terry will continue to lead the Central Region, and the Region Vice Presidents in our direct channel will report to him. Terry brings a strong background with nearly 13 years of Ricoh and IKON experience to the role. He has held a variety of leadership positions, including many sales and sales management positions and leadership roles at the Area and Region level.

In addition to Terry, reporting to Dave Greene will be our strategic and vertical sales leaders, including global, federal, legal, production and healthcare, as well as commercial sales, inside sales and sales operations.

Mark will remain with Ricoh for the next 60 days, and he will work closely with Dave and Terry to help ensure a seamless and effective transition.

Please join me in congratulating Dave and Terry on their new roles, as well as thanking Mark for his many contributions and wishing him all the best in the future.

Thank you,

Kevin Togashi
Chairman and CEO
Ricoh Americas Corporation

Your comments above demonstrate the frustration that many RFG (Ricoh / SAVIN / Lanier) Dealers are feeling, which began when Ricoh acquired IKON.

Since then, many Independent Dealers have picked up another Product Line, or bolstered their business with the other Vendor(s) they were already carrying.

Ricoh is simply not stable, especially for Independent Dealers that sell Ricoh / Savin / Lanier.

Yet, even the IKON / RBS direct side is faltering and the musical chairs amongst 'leadership' will show that the new Ricoh Americas Corporation has no vision for the future, which had been focused on IKON / RBS (i.e. Direct)and MPS (i.e. MDS).

All the Leaders have left the building, in one manner or another, and Ricoh simply can't return to the days when Dealers were provided with outstanding service and support.

After laying off 70% of the Dealer support folks, and appointing a 'Direct-centric' guy (David Greene) as Dealer VP last month, you have got to finally realize that Ricoh does not care for it's Dealer channel.

Great products alone will not help Independent Dealers grow their business in this environment and I think the investment and support of IKON will now become more evident to all.

As they love to say in Pine Brook, "Bottom's Up!"

What I take exception with is the fact that they immediately filled the spot for Direct and left the Dealer VP open.

As yet another East Region DSM resigned this week, along with a talented Sales Trainer within Marketing, Ricoh executives were making preparations to unveil the new VP of Dealer Sales.

David Greene is now happy to have moved over to Direct, and appreciative that Bottoni left his position because he could not stand the pressure and politics.

Other IKON underlings are now becoming more vocal with their discontent as the power struggle continues and IKON darlings begin to feel the heat.

Get your popcorn ready, we are in for another good show!

Corridi??

You guessed correctly!

Now that yet another 'IKON' guy has been named the Dealer Division VP for Ricoh, will it result in a final nail in the coffin for Ricoh's Dealer channel?

Jim Corridi is the infamous Ricoh employye that managed the large IKON business before Ricoh acquired the GIANT.

It was Corriddi who helped IKON grow their business to 46% of Ricoh's total revenues at one point, which harmed may RFG Dealers during the process.

As one example, Jim negotiated a deal that allowed IKON to buy the majority of their Parts & supplies from KATUN, yet still enjoy the deepest M&A discounts for any customer AND REBATES paid on the Parts & Supplies that IKON had to buy from Ricoh because KATUN (and others) did not carry them.

Jim was also the Golden Boy of James W. Ivy (former Ricoh CEO) who met his demise during the horrible scandal, wherein he molested his children for years.

We'll see what grand plans Jim has for RFG Dealers, or shall we say "schemes?"

Ricoh's chickens are coming home to roost!