MFP Copier Blog
MSP, MSSP and IT Notes Industry April 26th, 2021
MSP, MSSP, and IT Industry Notes
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Why partnering with ARCOA makes sense
Electronics Recycling is an important and profitable part of the IT asset lifecycle, but it can be overwhelming with all you already do, varying state regulations, and the limited resources at hand. That’s where ARCOA comes in. When you partner with ARCOA, you get all the benefits of a big company without any of the capital investment. We’ve been doing this since 1989 and have the expertise, certifications, and nationwide resources to get the most for all your clients’ retired IT assets. Plus, positioning your clients as environmental stewards not only elevates their appeal to consumers, it meets government requirements and avoids fines.
What partnering with ARCOA looks like
Our role is to make it easy for you to bring more value to your clients. We work with you to help stretch your clients’ IT budget by reducing the total cost of ownership of their electronics. We’re experts at identifying and implementing the solutions your clients need for the end-of-use remarketing, recovery, and recycling of their technology assets. The sooner you involve ARCOA, the sooner you and your clients will see better results.
Altec To Educate Users About How They Can Boost the Value of Their Key2Act Solution During ...
- exhibiting and presenting two sessions during Key2Act's Synergy virtual conference next week, April 26-30
- designed to help KEY2ACT users learn how to get the most out of their solutions
- Altec will present two sessions designed to educate Key2Act
- users about how to go paperless and automate processes in AP and other departments
BCM One Expands UCaaSone™ With Cisco Webex® Integration
- UCaaSone™, company's managed unified communications as a service (UCaaS) offering that runs on the BroadWorks® platform
- Founded in 1992, BCM One is a leading provider of NextGen Communications and Managed Services to IT leaders and channel resellers nationwide
For Fifth Consecutive Quarter, Persistent Named a Top 15 Sourcing Standout for Managed.
- named a Top 15 Sourcing Standout for Managed Services for fifth consecutive quarter by Information Services Group (ISG)
- ISG Index™ provides an independent quarterly review of the latest sourcing industry data and trends
- The ISG Index™ is recognized as the authoritative source for marketplace intelligence on the global technology and business services industry
Leading Managed Services Provider Offers Ransomware Protection-as-a-Service Based on ..
- Cloudian® today announced that Calligo introduced a new Ransomware Protection-as-a-Service offering based on a Cloudian-Veeam data protection solution
- Supports S3 Object Lock
- Group-IB claims ransomware attacks increased 150% in 2020
- Will continue to be one of the top global security threats this year
IDC predicts print fleet downsizing
- Estimates that in 2021, 35% of large global enterprises will reduce their printer fleet by at least 50%
- Direct consequence of remote working and learning brought on by government ordered lockdowns
- Forecasting a compound annual reduction rate of -4.8% until 2024
Veeva Unveils Quality Content Reference Model to Empower Companies with Proven Best Practices
- announced the availability of the Veeva Quality Content Reference Model
- design to advance quality transformation efforts and drive further standardization in quality management
- Veeva is the global leader in cloud software for the life sciences industry
Kyocera launches new apture solution
- Now offering Kyocera Capture Manager of KCM
- Intelligent process automation solution
- User management and access control
- Digital signature feature
- Content Manager offers auto classify documents based on predefined templates
- Data extraction to auto index documents using machine learning technology
- Convert scanned documents to MS Office formats of searchable PDFs
- Uses OCR (optical character recognition) engine from ABBYY Software of Russia
- Route captured data to proper personnel and send email notification
- Customized scripting
- Pricing not announced
CSP Global Announces Breakthrough in CyberSecurity, Launches LifeCycle, Asia's First Master ...
- Asia's first Master Managed Service Provider (MMSP)
- fully integrated, hassle-free standardized service-based cybersecurity solution for government institutions and enterprises
- a Microsoft report, cyber-security threats cost Malaysian organisations MYR49.15B in economic losses leading to 61% of job losses in 2017.
Kofax offers new version of AP Agility
- Intelligent automation solution for digital workflow transformation for accounts payable processes
- Pre-built connectors for procure-to-pay, financial accounting and ERP systems, such as SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Oracle, Infor, etc
- New invoice formats, extended document intelligence capabilities, workflows
- Capture, digitize and extract key data from documents in any format
- Validation, matching, resolving inconsistencies, coding and approval of invoices
Logicalis US Adds COO to Executive Team
- Announced Michael McClain as Chief Operating Officer (COO)
- McClain to oversee Logicalis' Managed Services, IT, Professional Services organizations and M&A strategy
- Logicalis US is part of the Logicalis Group, which has more than 6,500 employees and annualized revenues of $1.7 billion
TPx Launches Security Advisory Services for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses
- Announced expansion of services to include Security Advisory Services for small and medium-sized businesses (SMB’s)
- Claims 60% of SMBs going out of business within 6 months of cyberattack
- Pandemic has exponentially increased the cybersecurity threat, with 43% of attacks targeting SMBs
- TPx is a nationwide managed service provider focused on the success of small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) with approximately 25,000 customers in more than 50,000 locations across the U.S
ECS / My IT Acquires The Purple Guys
- ECS / My IT, completed acquisition of The Purple Guys ("TPG"), a Kansas City, Kansas-based managed service provider
- The combined organization, of nearly 120 full-time employees
- "With the acquisition of TPG by ECS / My IT, we'll be able to provide our client base enhanced solutions and offerings, broaden our geographic reach
CyberSheath Enhances Its CMMC Managed Services with CMMCEnclave, the Most ...
- introduced the next evolution of its CMMC Managed Services, including its CMMCEnclave
- CMMCEnclave is the first enclave with optional management of multiple levels of CMMC
- Covers all three dimensions of compliance — IT, governance, and security
- Established in 2008, CyberSheath is one of the most experienced and trusted IT security services partners for the U.S. defense industrial base
Xantrion Inc. Named to CRN's 2021 Managed Service Provider 500 List
- Named for the sixth consecutive year to CRN's Managed Service Provider (MSP) 500 list for MSP Pioneer 250
- The list is divided into three categories:
- MSP Pioneer 250
- MSP Elite 150
- MSP Managed Security 100
- Gartner is reporting that worldwide PC shipments are up 32% for Q1 of 2021 compared to same quarter last year
- Total of 69.9 million units shipped during quarter
- Top three vendors were Lenovo, HP and Dell
New hack for MFPs and printers?
- Forescout Security is warning of new set of vulnerabilities for IoT devices that get their TCP/IP stack code from third parties, including Nucleus NET, FreeBSD and NetX
- Could allow hackers to launch Denial of Service (DoS) or Remote Code Execution (RCE)
- Have named it the “Name:Wreck” vulnerability
- Over 100 million devices are potentially affected, including printers and MFPs
- “This can be an entry point, a foothold into a network and from there you can decide, basically, what the attack is”; stated Daniel dos Santos, Research Manager
- “One of the things that you can do is just basically take devices offline by sending malicious packets that crash the device
- “Another thing is when you are able to actually execute code on the device, that opens up the possibility of persistence on the network or moving laterally in the network to other kinds of targets”
- “gain access to enterprise networks and steal sensitive information”
- Healthcare could be among the most affected
Cybersecurity Update
- Mandiant Security Software published results of 2020 breaches
- 25% increase in ransomware attacks
- 78% of ransomware attacks had dwell time of 30 days or less
- 1% had dwell time of 700 days or more
- 59% were detected internally
- Tenable Research published report
- More than 18,000 common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) were reported in 2020, up 6%
- (this includes Ripple20 and others than impact some brands of printers and MFPs)
- 46% of breaches in healthcare were from ransomware attacks
- Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome on CBS 60 Minutes, stated that cyberattacks are now the foremost risk to the finance vertical.
- CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield’s Community Health Plan District of Columbia in D.C. notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after ransomware attack.
- Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority of Cleveland, OH notified 189,008 people that their info was exposed after ransomware attack.
- Guess Clothing notified an unknown number of customers that their info was exposed after ransomware attack.
- Brokerage firm National Securities Corp. of New York City, NY has agreed to pay $3 million in a settlement with New York’s financial services regulator over shortfalls that resulted in four cybersecurity breaches involving unauthorized access to email accounts.
- The Hillsborough and Bernards Public School Districts in New Jersey notified an unknown number of students that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.
- The Houston Rockets NBA basketball team notified an unknown number of customers that their info may have been exposed after being hit by by “Babuk” ransomware with 500 GB allegedly stolen.
- University Health of San Antonio, TX began notifying 2,704 patients that its billing services vendor, Med-Data, fell victim to a data breach.
- Coca Cola’s former employee Xiaorong You is on trial in Greenville, TN, for allegedly stealing confidential info and selling it for $39 thousands dollars
- Montefiore Medical Center of New York notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was illegally access by an employee.
- Red Deer Regional Hospital of Alberta, Canada notified 3,224 patients that their PHI was exposed after a breach.
- Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, D.C., on Friday revealed it had a breach of patient information last fall.
- Algoma Health of Ontario, Canada notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after ransomware attack.
Will Konica continue in its FORZA aspirations?
There's no secret that I am a supporter of ECI e-automate and they are part of my collaborative. A collaborative of industry leading organizations dedicated to helping our dealer friends during the industry's greatest disruption in its history.
I have no issues asking questions of the channels actors. My intentions are to discuss things no one else will.
Over the last decade we have all witnessed the attempts of FORZA to replace ECI e-automate as the largest ERP in the channel. A decade later ECI e-automate remains the largest ERP in the channel.
In a recent The End Of The Day With Ray! episode I discussed FORZA and how I see its SAP relationship. I did this as I continue to see marketing and rhetoric regarding SAP - as if SAP is FORZA.
Here's a link to that episode.
With all due respect to Konica Minolta's FORZA aspirations, I ask should dealers have reservations and questions regarding the future of FORZA?
I imagine during cost cutting an ERP system built for dealers in the document imaging channel would be on the shortlist. FORZA is a decade-old product, and I question when will FORZA accomplish all the things it has dreamed over the last decade?
Again, we all must realize that low-hanging fruit is usually at significant risk of being cut during cost-cutting measures, ESPECIALLY in a declining marketplace. Does FORZA generate appropriate bottom-line profits? If not how long will Konica Minolta continuing investing in unprofitable products?
Maybe Konica Minolta can share some successes regarding FORZA. How many dealers have come on the platform since they bought it? Another question is, how many have left and why?
The dealers moving from well-established working ERP systems to alternative ERP systems must question the real capabilities and the stability of the platforms they choose. This is also true of DCA tools. The time and cost in jumping from one ERP to the next must not be considered lightly.
Hoping, dreaming and wanting is not doing. During the industry's most significant decline in its history, dealers must be prepared for all possibilities.
If FORZA had a massive customer base, these worries would be less worrisome.
I will conclude that if Konica is selling off direct operations, I do not see any reason they would not sell off FORZA or even All Covered. Afterall in 2020 no one thought they would be selling direct operations. Oh, I did.
Ray Stasieczko
The Week in Copiers Fifteen Years Ago
The Week in Copiers Fifteen Years Ago
The Last week of April 2006
Sunday evening here in Jersey. The weekend is now over and it's time to prep for Monday and the start of my May sales campaign. The month of of May will have 21 selling days and no interruptions for Holidays. That's what I call a good month to sell.
Enjoy our awesome copier threads from 15 years ago this week
Bates Stamping w/Ricoh Copiers
Art Post (Guest) ·
I've had a few people ask me about this the last few days. I have recomended a few Bates Stamping solution w/Ricoh copiers. Here's my solution: We all know that we can not do a "bates-stamp" with copying on most of the Ricoh units, however all of our machines can now scan. I instruct the customer to scan the document to a folder on the network and then open the Bates-Stamp software and then select the icon for electronic documents, select the type of stamp that you need, after that you just
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Ricoh & Profit
Art Post (Guest) ·
4th-quarter net rises 24% Ricoh, a major Japanese maker of copiers and printers, said fourth- quarter profit rose 24 percent on increased sales of models that can copy, fax and scan. Net income was ¥31.1 billion, or $270 million, in the three months that ended March 31, up from ¥25 billion a year earlier. Sales gained 4.4 percent to ¥516.3 billion. Ricoh is aiming for record net income of ¥106 billion in the year that started April 1, compared with ¥97.1 billion a year earlier. Sales are
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e-STUDIO500P Monochrome Digital Laser Printer
Art Post (Guest) ·
Toshiba America Business Solutions Inc. (TABS) today announced the latest addition to its workgroup digital laser printer line, the monochrome e-STUDIO™500P. Designed to replace the e-STUDIO400P, the e-STUDIO500P offers faster processor and print speeds, increased memory and a higher duty cycle, making it ideal for large workgroups with high volume printing requirements. “The e-STUDIO500P strengthens our workgroup printer lineup with features designed to increase business productivity,” said
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Barron's: Shares could soar on color copying
Art Post (Guest) ·
firm for a future that will see most pages printed in color, Barron's said, noting that color generates five times the revenues of black and white. Nevertheless, Xerox shares have barely budged over the last two years due to stagnant revenue growth, Barron's noted. At the same time, net income and gross margins have been crimped by rising labor costs, aggressive pricing on some black-and-white office printers and a decline in equipment sales. Still, the shares are trading at just 12.4 times
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Re: BizHub
Shaja ·
Ricoh MFPs use 2 bit depth technology with 4 shades per color, vs. Konica's 8 bit depth with 256 shades per color. The Konica color engine (which came from the Minolta side, noted for their color technology) handles color better because it is built to. (What I see when I look at print samples of the same photo: the Konica color looks crisper and more "full bodied"; the Ricoh color looks blotchier and pixelated.) If you have a exacting graphics or marketing client, you can't just skate by. For
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Kyocera National Account Pricing
I received this from a customer who does not like the Kyocera Mita dealer, and thought I might have a use for it. I thanked him for it, and thought you guys might like it as well. This document has been archived, please send me an email if you purchasing elite membership. Elite membership will unlock all archived documents. art@p4photel.com Kyocera_Mita_State_Contract_Pricing.pdf
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Re: Aficio 1022 Document Server
The strike knocked out two copiers, 3 computers, and a cb radio. Office is a public housing authority. The director told me she was on the cb radio the same time the strike hit and a short burst of flames came out of the cb radio. One of our salesmend did not sell them surge protectors at the time of the sale 3 years ago. However, their insurance is replacing the equipment cost (good for me), but while waiting for their money to come in, they want me to recover their files on document server. I
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Re: Aficio 1022 Document Server
One of the training instructors at Ricoh told me I could attach a patch cable to the damaged machine and the other end to a similar machine. Type in the IP address from the web browser, and print off the files. Does this sound logical?
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Re: TOSHIBA E-STUDIO 282
Indy_Dave (Guest) ·
We are a dual line Savin/Toshiba dealer. Toshiba has very aggressive NFP pricing we use. What else do you want to know?
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Roll Feeders
This is a stupid elementary question, I know but here goes: I found a prospect with an old wide format copier using cut sheets. The could not see a benefit to having a roll feeder. For some reason, I was at a loss for benefits aside from saving on paper which they said they cut their sheets to size. Can someone help me with the benefits of why someone would move to a roll feeder? All I have are: 1. Better for multiple copies. 2. Rotate Sorting 3. Longer size capability. Thanks for any help.
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Smart net Monitor
Sugan (Guest) ·
I am trying to impliment smartnet monitor, but cannot get it to report on AS400 printouts, Windows 98 machine,AF220 machine and AP3200 machines in our company. Please advise me on a method to get a full printout of all copies and prints made per person and per machine. What other software except Print Audit can you suggest that will be able to resolve my problem. I have all ricoh products.
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Re: Vacation
I went on vacation this month to Myrtle Beach. I may go back next year, but I will remember not to carry the cell phone with me! In one week, 9 calls came from customers wanting additional training, 7 calls from the office because they had questions on leads that were coming in for me, and 1 call from the boss, asking if I was enjoying myself. When he called, I told him to hang on a minute while I lined up my putt. As for sales after the vacation, it was like I never left.
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Re: Scan to dxf w/480?
Here's what my higher ups said: Regarding the DWG/DXF/DWF option: Please note that this options allows for two added functions. 1. You can scan directly to DWF 2. You can print DWG/DXF direclty without having to have AutoCAD on your PC. That's it. There is no scanning to DWG or DXF -- since they are both vector file formats and one would need to have third party software to do a raster to vector conversion. It could be that some systems have integrated a raster to vector conversion package as
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Re: BizHub
garland79 (Guest) ·
Yeah, but the 5560 creative is about 30K I don't think I'll guote it against a 250, 351, 450 or even a Canon3220. Like someone said before, I should be the first one to contact the customer and not wait around for them to call me for a "price".
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Re: Aficio 1022 Document Server
Jomama (Guest) ·
As they are stored in the HD in a propriatary format, the only option, IMHO is the put it into another 1022 or similar machine and print them out, You can see what is on the HD from WIM but you cant print from there. I could be wrong, but I dont think so.
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Re: TOSHIBA E-STUDIO 282
How does Toshiba's NFP Pricing compare to our US Communities pricing and the DMAP6 cost associated with it?
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Re: Ricoh New Gel Printer
Art Post (Guest) ·
What is so bad about them, since I work for a dealer we are not allowed by Ricoh to re-sell these units. Art Post
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Re: Toner Coverage measurement
Neal ·
actually on the ricoh color systems in the tech rep modes there is one of the modes that gives you the fill percentage for any given document. I've used it before and it is pretty nifty.
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Aficio 1022 Document Server
Customer A's machine was struck by lightning frying the electrical components. Customer had 100 files stored on Document Server. Is it possible to retrieve those files by removing the hard drive,or wherever they are stored on the machine, and installing in another system to print out?
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Lease return
Art Post (Guest) ·
Aficio 1018d, DOC FEEDER, 2 PAPER TRAYS + BY-PASS, FAX OPTION AND CABINET. 23,000 COPIES ON THE SYSTEM. I NEED TO GET $1,000 FOR THE SYSTEM, THE SYSTEM IS LOCATED IN NJ. IT IS CLEAN AND IN GREAT CONDITION. IF NOT WE WILL JUST RETURN TO GE ART
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lEASE RETURN 2035E
Art Post (Guest) ·
HAVE A SYSTEM in wisconsin, three years old, 2035e w/ dual paper drawers,Auto feeder, duplexer, and fax option. Iwill call on the meter read. Neeed $1,766 to give to GE, please advise if intrested.
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480W APS and Sort Issues
Just did a 480W demo and noticed the following: When you make a copy using APS, the 480W will not scan and copy unless the drawing is an exact size such as A,B,C,D,E. In order to scan a document that is not standard, you have to pick the paper width and then make copy. (Tech services confirmed that this is the way it is supposed to be.) Anyone know anything different as this seems pretty stupid. Secondly, on the old 470W, you could do sets and then the copier would give you the option to copy
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Need a dealer in Wisconsin
Art Post (Guest) ·
I may have a service oportunity for you and am willing to pay to have someone remove a 2035e and ship it back to me. Also may be able to get a 2035e with fax option for a good price. Need your help! Art Post
3 Telltale Signs That You're Taking Your Customers For Granted.
"We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude."
Cynthia Ozick
One enormous challenge for many in sales is the juggling of new business growth while trying to retain their current customers.
Choosing where to spend your energy and how to divvy up your time can be challenging.
Successful sales professionals understand the importance of maintaining outstanding customer relationships.
Why have salespeople become lazy when it comes to maintaining their customer relationships?
WHAT DRIVES LAZINESS WITH SALESPEOPLE?
Taking things for granted is an awful mistake we all make. A huge and unfortunate strategic error many in sales make is taking their customers for granted.
The biggest problem with taking our customers for granted is that they will find someone who won't. Never ever ever take a single customer for granted, especially in a world where there is so much choice.
Even satisfied customers require consistent attention and care
Once we grow accustomed to something we take it for granted.
How many in sales learn this the hard way? Once they go elsewhere, they then soon realize their value.
Are you forgetting about the little things, the simple things when it comes to your customers?
Customer retention, loyalty and the service experience you provide are the foundation to your sales survival
Don't take your customers for granted or you will struggle to grow your sales!
From "I Can't Live Without You", To Vendor
Your customers may feel the same way about what you provide them. They were enamored with you in the beginning and what you did for them, however; as the months and years passed you became commonplace.
They adapted to you. They forgot what life was like before you entered their business. Now, they take you for granted and your empty suit ways. You’re no longer that wonder. You’re now a vendor.
Hey salespeople... how do customers treat vendors?
They beat you with the price hammer. They whip you for concessions. They whip you for "freebies" and you let them.
Stop, think and then ask yourself the following...
- Why did they decide to do business with you in the first place?
- What was life like before they met you?
"There is absolutely nothing that can be taken for granted in this world."
Robert Anton Wilson
The Telltale Signs
How can you protect your customer base from erosion? Quite simple -Stop taking your customers for granted. Your current customer base has never more vulnerable than it is now.
I encourage you to flip this on its head, attack your competition and their complacent, taking for granted mindset; to drive enormous sales opportunities, conversations and growth.
In order to achieve success, let's remove the obstacles preventing you from achieving sales growth.
ASSUMING YOUR CUSTOMERS KNOW THE VALUE YOU BRING
Reflect on this for a moment...
- How do you really know you are delivering value?
- Are you really giving them what they really value more effectively than your competitors?
Are you sure?
In this competitive sales landscape, you cannot assume any longer. Just because they continue to do business with you year over year doesn't mean anything any longer. All this means is they don't know any better than what they know.
When is the last time asked your customer's "What value do I, our services and our products create for you?" I am waiting for your answer, still waiting, still waiting; this is what I thought - it has been a while.
Can we agree that your customers want to increase their sales and grow their customer base?
Grab a sheet of paper, ask yourself these two questions and then write down your responses to:
- How do I help my customer's gain a competitive advantage?
- What is my customer's perception of value in working with me?
To understand the meaning of value, you must first put yourself in your customer's shoes and see the world through their eyes.
ASSUMING YOUR CUSTOMERS REALLY KNOW WHO YOU ARE
Creating true, authentic and genuine relationships by spending informal time with your customers will help you to understand them and their businesses.
What’s important to them and their business; the return will far outweigh the investment.
How well do you really know your customers and how well do they know you?
With all sincerity, when you get to know your customers inside and out, you can personalize the attention you give them.
I am believer that true leadership in sales is the ability to affect change and influence people inside your current accounts.
The more you can lead with a servant's heart the better off you will be in the long run. The aim is to be seen as a trusted adviser. When your input is greatly appreciated by your customers, it’s less likely they will engage with your competition.
"Assumptions are the termites of relationships"
Henry Winkler
TREATING CUSTOMERS AS CUSTOMERS AND NOT CLIENTS
Throughout this entire article I have referred to customers as customers. How many have caught onto this?
Do you view your customers as customers, or do you view them as clients? How many view them as clients but treat them as customers?
How do you know when a customer becomes a client, or the other way around? When a client becomes a customer, this becomes a problem.
Are you building customers or are you building clients?
Customers buy things and clients seek advice! You can't go to Walmart and have a Nordstrom's experience.
Ponder this one for a moment the contrast between clients and customers - Ask yourself whether you desire to be paid for what you do for your clients or what you hand them, your products or services?
REFRAME YOUR MINDSET
Ditch the customer centric mindset and adhere to a client centric mindset.
You will attract and retain relationships, command premium prices, develop brand loyalty (YOU), create loyal client relationships thus generating more revenue over the life cycle of a relationship.
“Always remember that everyone with whom you have a relationship has an invisible sign on their forehead that says, ‘Make me feel important.’ Treat them accordingly.”
Eric Philip Cowell
I understand, I get where you all are coming from. Every day, I walk in your shoes. I am fully committed to helping your sales team integrate social aspects and heartfelt strategies into your current sales process to grow new business. I want you to get results. This is why I am passionate about doing this the right way, the genuine way, the authentic way! It's about understanding value before visibility.
Selling From the Heart is making a difference! I poured my heart into every page of this book and I think you're going to love it. You can find it on Amazon in paperback, kindle and in audio. You can click on the book image below and this will take you to Amazon.
In a world full of empty suits, I'm passionate about helping sales reps succeed by getting valuable before they get visible. I help sales teams understand the true value they bring to the market.
I appreciate getting the opportunity to share my stories. Integrating the use of social and sharing my story on LinkedIn was my “game-changer” in the highly competitive office technology world. With great pride I transform, challenge, coach and inspire sales teams to grow new business by helping them share their story and how they communicate it out by integrating the use of social inside the sales process. You can follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and on my podcast by clicking on Selling from the Heart.
Top Ten Reasons "Why Copiers Should Have Warning Labels"
I wrote this blog ten years ago. Thought it would be a fun read for us again!
Yes sir, 31 years in the business and counting...over those 31 years I've seen and heard some strange things happen in the copier business. Here's some warning labels that I'd like to see on copiers. BTW, most of these threads came from Print4Pay Hotel Members forum. Enjoy!
1. Warning: If you don't insert the toner cartridge carefully you're going ruin your clothes and your co-workers are going to have a good laugh.
2. Warning: Excessive weight (means your butt) on the copier glass will cause it to break and you will suffer.
3. Warning: Don't stare at the exposure lamp while the copier is running, it could cause temporary blindness.
4. Warning: Don't copy or print on to glossy ink jet paper, this will cause a major cluster %$#$ in the fuser.
5. Warning: Don't place your cup of coffee on the copier while waiting for copies or prints.
6. Warning: Don't put the wrong toner in the unit, if it doesn't fit.....where have I heard that before....it's not the right stuff!
7. Warning: Don't scan your face or any other body part since a digital copy will be held on the hard drive for ever!
8. Warning: Excessive use will cause the system to fail often.
9. Warning: Dispose of properly and in a safe manner, these systems are not eco friendly and to be used as a boat anchor.
10. Warning: The printing or copying of money will land you in jail, if you don't believe me than print some money, spend it and email us to let us know what happens!
If anyone would care to add to the list, feel free!! I'm sure there's a heck of alot more than this! BTW next week I'll have a Top Ten of the Funniest Copier Moments in the Industry. If you'd like to have one of your Funniest Copier Moments in the Industry published then log on to the Print4Pay Hotel forums, and post your thread along with the others. Dam, I can't wait to read the threads on the forums.
-=Good Selling=-
The Week in Copiers Ten Years Ago
The Week in Copiers Ten Years Ago
Last Week of April 2011
At times I've thought about how long I've been blogging about the copier industry. I wasn't sure how long it's been until I came across one of my blogs that I re-posted from the old site to the site we have today. Seems my first blog about copiers was posted on 1/7/2007. In 9 months it will be fifteen years! Time surely does fly by!
This was my first .....Has Ricoh Underestimated Color Scanning?
Enjoy these kickass copier threads from ten years ago this week!
Konica Minolta Launches Compact bizhub C25 All-in-One Printer for Desktop Convenience
Art Post (Guest) ·
workgroups, home offices and small businesses that require printing, copying, scanning and faxing from the convenience of their desktop. With fast output speeds of 25 pages per minutes (ppm) in color and black and white, the bizhub C25 offers a sleek design in an ultra compact body measuring 15.9 x 22 x 19.8 inches (W x D x H) for space-saving desktop placement. Featuring the Konica Minolta Emperon® print system and the Simitri® HD color polymerized toner made from Biomass, a renewable organic
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Konica Minolta to deliver secure-printing systems to
Art Post (Guest) ·
unauthorized access and improves office document/print workflow. Password-protected documents can be printed upon various types of user authentication so only the user can collect a document from a printer. Technical problems with the systems will be automatically reported to Konica Minolta service technicians. The systems are delivered by Konica Minolta’s German Business Solutions division, a supplier of full solutions for printing workflow in company offices.
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Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A. Promotes Rick Taylor to President and Chief
Art Post (Guest) ·
opportunities within Konica Minolta's sales organizations in Canada and Mexico. "When I reflect upon Konica Minolta's success despite the recent economic downturn, I am extremely proud to represent the best team in the industry," said Taylor. "Konica Minolta is entering an exciting time in our history, and I pledge to our stakeholders, business partners, and customers that Konica Minolta will work tirelessly to continue growing market share while delivering on our mission that they can count on Konica
Topic
Global MPS Conference Continues to Gain Momentum as Largest Managed Print Services Ev
Art Post (Guest) ·
panel, which includes other high-profile executives from Canon, Ricoh and Xerox. “HP is committed to the growth and success of the managed print services industry, and one way we can show our support is to get behind educational events like the Global MPS Conference. The full agenda covers all kinds of topics that are important to MPS professionals everywhere, and we look forward to networking and sharing ideas throughout the conference,” said Feldman. Record Registrations Reflect Strong Interest
Survey
Aside from the ability to print ledger, I'm trying to gauge the need for A3s in most offices.
What percentage of your A3 Copiers produce enough pages per month to offer better TCO than A
GIntel ·
Topic
AUXILIO Expands Managed Print Services Contract with New York’s Saint Joseph’s Medica
Art Post (Guest) ·
care systems that does not sell print devices or software, AUXILIO provides its patient care customers a distinct advantage of partnering with an MPS company with the focus, experience and knowledge of the culture, nuances and specific needs required in a hospital’s print environment, and enables it to work with the widest range of print-related equipment vendors to ensure optimal solutions and highest performance at maximized savings. About AUXILIO, Inc. AUXILIO, Inc. is the pioneer of managed
Topic
First Edge Solutions Deploys Océ VarioPrint Ultra Digital Printers and
Art Post (Guest) ·
First Edge Solutions Deploys Océ VarioPrint Ultra Digital Printers and Océ PRISMA Software to Help Achieve 25 Percent Growth Combination delivers print speed and workflow critical to customer satisfaction and quality essential for compliance TRUMBULL, CONN. April 25, 2011 – Océ, a Canon Group Company and an international leader in digital document management, today announced that First Edge Solutions has deployed four Océ VarioPrint® Ultra systems along with Océ PRISMAproduction® workflow
Topic
Top Ten "Why Copiers Should Have Warning Labels"
Art Post (Guest) ·
Top Ten "Why Copiers Should Have Warning Labels" Yes sir, 31 years in the business and counting...over those 31 years I've seen and heard some strange things happen in the copier business. Here's some warning labels that I'd like to see on copiers. BTW, most of these threads came from Print4Pay Hotel Members forum. Enjoy! 1. Warning: If you don't insert the toner cartridge carefully you're gonna ruin your clothes and your co-workers are gonna have a good laugh. 2. Warning: Excessive weight on
Topic
EFI Introduces New UV-Curing Digital Inkjet Printer With "Cool Cure" Technology
Art Post (Guest) ·
VUTEk GS3250LX, as well as EFI's integrated end-to-end workflow solutions, visit http://www.efi.com . About EFI EFI (http://www.efi.com) is a world leader in customer-focused digital printing innovation. EFI's award-winning solutions, integrated from creation to print, deliver increased performance, cost savings and productivity. The company's robust product portfolio includes Fiery® digital print controllers and solutions; VUTEk® superwide digital inkjet printers, UV and solvent inks; Rastek™ UV
Reply
Re: Xerox Marketing Campaign April2011
When looking at the C300 vs Xerox "Free" printer comparison, it appears that Ricoh conveniently left out the Ricoh service supply costs in the calculation. Is that how you guys see it as well. It makes me doubt the rest of the data.
Reply
Re: Xerox Marketing Campaign April2011
JasonR ·
quote: Originally posted by Old Glory: When looking at the C300 vs Xerox "Free" printer comparison, it appears that Ricoh conveniently left out the Ricoh service supply costs in the calculation. Is that how you guys see it as well. It makes me doubt the rest of the data. Seems that when I add service/supply for the C300 in, it winds up being very close to the Xerox prices. It's still lower, perhaps enough to win a heads up comparison lower, but it's more like the difference in most competitive
Topic
Scan to SharePoint
Art Post (Guest) ·
Scan to SharePoint Today we want to focus on a couple of questions we’ve received via email or during our Webinars. The “Scan to SharePoint” feature of UDOCX is primarily used by our customers to store business documents like contracts and purchase orders into general or specific SharePoint destinations. “Scan to SharePoint” by UDOCX simplifies the storing process of documents and turns the MFP (All-in-one printer/scanner/copier device) into an entry point for SharePoint. Instead of emailing
Topic
Lexmark extends color workgroup product line with new MFPs
Art Post (Guest) ·
right to discontinue selling these toner cartridges any time after it discontinues service support for this printer.
Topic
List your favorite funny copier moments
Art Post (Guest) ·
Who will be the first! We'll then vote on the top ten!
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MPC 2030 Wireless Connection
Art Post (Guest) ·
Here goes, customer wants to print wireless and scan wireless. Problem: Cost of the Ricoh wireless solution. I thought we could add a wireless print server that would connect to the USB port for wireless printing and scanning, here are the specs: TRENDnet TEW-MP1U Wireless G Print Server Device Type: Wireless Print Server Interface: USB 2.0 Form Factor: Desktop Wireless Network Standards: IEEE 802.11g IEEE 802.11b Wireless Data Transfer Rates: 54 Mbps Wireless Network
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the pico-letter v8.03 - HP’s Trojan Horse
Art Post (Guest) ·
Considering that HP is one of the clear Managed Print Services leaders, at first glance it can be amazingly hard to envy the vendor’s role in the MPS market because of its massive install base of easy-to-manage and often-consolidated printers. In a best case scenario, HP or one of its channel partners wins an MPS account that mainly uses non-HP devices, leading to net new hardware placements and pages. However, in basically every other MPS win scenario, the client already has a fleet of HP
Topic
Average Monthly Page Volumes
GIntel ·
Aside from the ability to print ledger, What percentage of your A3 Copiers produce enough pages per month to offer better TCO than A4s?
Topic
Average Monthly Page Volumes and A3 vs A4 TCO
GIntel ·
Aside from the ability to print ledger, I'm trying to gauge the need for A3s in most offices. What percentage of your A3 Copiers produce enough pages per month to offer better TCO than A4s?
Member
Jackson
Member
exit148
Member
Genuwinespud
Member
ned braden
Reply
Re: List your favorite funny copier moments
Several years back, I installed a fleet of Gestetner 60ppm MFP's in a large private school in DFW. The day after they were installed, a teacher decided to make transparencies (this was only 6 years ago, but they still used them) on the new machine. She made the mistake of grabbing transparencies that were not approved for use on a high-speed copier and proceeded to melt several transparencies onto the fusing unit. Not realizing what happened, she just thought the new machine was broken. So
Reply
Re: List your favorite funny copier moments
yeti ·
Years ago had a Lawyer come into our warehouse all angry yelling that her Fax machine we just sold her did not work at all. So we took the fax back to product support and did some testing and could not find anything wrong with it. After listening to her rant about documents not being sent we kindly asked her to come back to demonstrate what she was seeing as an error. she takes a sheet of paper fed it in, dialed the test number, hit send, and started yelling "See the paper just spits back out
Reply
Re: the pico-letter v8.03 - HP’s Trojan Horse
Printfun ·
This is a great article, Art. (Art-icle)? Not being an HP dealer, we have definitely changed our MPS playbook to include service, support and supplies for these printers. This is especially true for those customers who have IT departments that are completely unreceptive to any other brand. Even in those cases, if we are doing our jobs correctly, we are usually able to persuade the higher-ups to place some of our workgroup equipment by showing the benefits in cost, efficiency and lessened IT
Reply
Re: Xerox Marketing Campaign April2011
Art Post (Guest) ·
I saw that also, which changes all of the numbers, someone goofed! From what I heard to today, this is going to be a mjor marketing campaign for the free printers. I'll make sure I blog about it as much as possible. If anyone has additional information about the free printer program please send me a link or the documents!
Reply
Re: the pico-letter v8.03 - HP’s Trojan Horse
Art Post (Guest) ·
Printfun, thanx!!! Please don't give me the credit all I did was add the link. GAP is awesome!!!
Reply
Re: Xerox Marketing Campaign April2011
Seems that when I add service/supply for the C300 in, it winds up being very close to the Xerox prices. It's still lower, perhaps enough to win a heads up comparison lower, but it's more like the difference in most competitive quotes, not "half"![/QUOTE] The difference, at the very least, is that after 36 months, the Xerox warranty will have run out and they will also still be paying the exorbitant supply prices. On our side of the ledger the equipment portion will be gone. Any comparison needs
Topic
Lexmark today announced three new end-to-end, back-of
Art Post (Guest) ·
us at www.lexmark.com/backoffice . About Lexmark Lexmark International, Inc. (NYSE: LXK) provides businesses of all sizes with a broad range of printing and imaging products, software, solutions and services that help customers to print less and save more. Perceptive Software, a stand-alone software business within Lexmark, is a leading provider of enterprise content management software that helps organizations easily manage the entire lifecycle of their documents and content, simplifying their
-=Good Selling=-
The Week in Copiers Five Years Ago
The Week in Copiers Five Years Ago
Last Week of April 2016
Tough week this week along with a tough month. Being under the weather for a full week does not help, but rather than calling out sick I stuck to the plan. In the end the I was not able to eat the bear this month. However May looks to be stacked!
Enjoy these awesome copier threads from 5 years ago this week
Why I Am Now a Social Selling Believer
Art Post ·
Why I Am Now a Social SellingBeliever by Print Audit Last week I had the pleasure to spend my time with Larry Levine and Darrell Amy in Phoenix, Arizona and San Francisco, California at the Copier Sales Social Sales Academy Roadshow. They have taken a bunch of sales reps, sales managers, VP’s and owners of copier dealerships through a course on getting the most out of LinkedIn. Read more of this post
Blog Post
When Did Selling Three Copiers a Month Become Acceptable?
Art Post ·
Just because you're at work, does that mean you're working? Over my many years in the copier business I've seen many copier sales people come to work, and I guess that's sort of an accomplishment because they at least they showed up. I've also encountered many sales people who don't know how to work. I'm thinking their comprehension of work, is that they showed up, they made a few calls, knocked on a few doors, took a late lunch and then knocked on a few more doors close to home. These sales
Topic
Forbes Names Konica Minolta as one of America's Best Employers of 2016
Art Post ·
Managed Content Services (MCS). Konica Minolta has been recognized as the#1 Brand for Customer Loyalty in the MFP Office Copier Market by Brand Keys for nine consecutive years. Konica Minolta, Inc. has also been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for four years in a row. For more information, please visit: www.countonkonicaminolta.com and follow Konica Minolta on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter @konicaminoltaus. # # # Press Contact: Kristina Marchitto, Public Relations Manager
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Konica Minolta Contributes to Digital Transformation in Action at AIIM 2016 Conference
Art Post ·
a range of IT strategy, support, project and cloud computing solutions across all verticals. Konica Minolta has won numerous awards and recognition, including placement in the Leaders Quadrant on the Gartner 2014 Magic Quadrant for Managed Print Services (MPS) and Managed Content Services (MCS). Konica Minolta has been recognized as the#1 Brand for Customer Loyalty in the MFP Office Copier Market by Brand Keys for nine consecutive years. Konica Minolta, Inc. has also been named to the Dow Jones
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Konica Minolta Welcomes Children to 'Take Our Sons and Daughters to Work Day' Program
Art Post ·
computing solutions across all verticals. Konica Minolta has won numerous awards and recognition, including placement in the Leaders Quadrant on the Gartner 2014 Magic Quadrant for Managed Print Services (MPS) and Managed Content Services (MCS). Konica Minolta has been recognized as the#1 Brand for Customer Loyalty in the MFP Office Copier Market by Brand Keys for nine consecutive years. Konica Minolta, Inc. has also been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for four years in a row. For
Blog Post
“When I get old, I hope I remember my copier salesman days.”
Ray Stasieczko (Guest) ·
I'm not sure if Ray and I have ever met, however, we've been connected on LinkedIn for quit a few years. Ray, is also one of those old copier dogs like me. Just the other day he posted a blog about the good old days of selling copiers. Thus, I asked Ray if I could re-post that blog here. We've got Ray's permission to re-post the blog. Enjoy! “When I get old, I hope I remember my copier salesman days.” I thought it might be fun to share some stories from my career as a copier guy. I will admit
Blog Post
3 Ways Copier Sales Reps Can Protect Their M.I.F. (Machines in Field) Integrating The Use Of LinkedIn
Is there customer loyalty in business today? I sincerely believe it is harder today to keep your clients happy than it was 10 years ago. We can thank all of the social media outlets for attributing to this. It has been engrained in copier sales reps heads retaining your customers is low-hanging fruit. However, understanding how to create loyal customers so you can retain them is one of the most important things for a dealership. For starters, it’s critical to know the fastest ways to lose
Comment
Re: “When I get old, I hope I remember my copier salesman days.”
copyme ·
Ray, that's a great story! Thanks for sharing it, Art! I do remember those days but initially I was more in theIBM, Xerox, Silver Reed, Sperry Remington, Brother, Hermes typewriter sales arena, then IBM and Xerox memory typewriters, then IBM word processors, then Canon and Sharp and Xerox fax, and finally as a Xerox then Ricoh / Savin copier/mfp rep. Man has technology evolved!
Comment
Re: When Did Selling Three Copiers a Month Become Acceptable?
Art Post ·
Tom Koenig posted: Well said Art, I have always appreciated the effort you put in. Thank you, Have a Great Day Thomas Koenig District Business Manager Dealer Division - Northeast Region RICOH USA, INC. 5 Dedrick Place West Caldwell, NJ 07006 Cell: 570-439-2864 Thomas.Koenig@ricoh-usa.com TY Tom!!! I love selling Ricoh's for you!!
Reply
Re: Toshiba An Utter Mess, Consumer Electronics Exit Confirmed
Art Post ·
Could Toshiba be the next Sharp? No mention of copiers and or printers as a core product.
Topic
Xerox Reports Latest Financials, Provides Update on Transformation and Separation
Art Post ·
was 10.2 percent, down 2.5 percentage points. First-quarter operating margin of 7.2 percent was down 1.3 percentage points from the same quarter a year ago.Gross margin and selling, administrative and general expenses were 29.9% and 20.6%, respectively.Adjusted gross margin and selling, administrative and general expenses (excluding certain retirement related costs)were 30.3% and 20.1%, respectively. Xerox used $25 million in cash flow from operations during the first quarter, in line with normal
Topic
Toshiba An Utter Mess, Consumer Electronics Exit Confirmed
Art Post ·
equipment business to Canon. Their latest write-down comes after Toshiba wrote down the value of its stake in US nuclear unit Westinghouse in the wake of the $1.3bn accounting scandal. read more here
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5 Productivity Systems Perfect for Salespeople
Art Post ·
Productivity hacks are great -- after all, make one small change and you can recover days or even weeks of lost time. But sometimes one quick fix isn’t enough. You need an entire system: A brand-new way of organizing your tasks and time so that you’re meeting deadlines, focusing on your priorities, and maximizing your workday. There’s tons of productivity systems out there, but many of them aren’t ideal for sales reps. We know you’re busy -- don’t waste time figuring out which systems won’t
Topic
Salespeople, Your Buyers' Communication Preferences Are More Important Than Yours
Art Post ·
Even with the rise of social media and the ubiquity of business email, a phone conversation is usually still the best method of communication, especially for selling and buying. But that doesn't mean salespeople should ignore the preferences of their prospects by insisting on a phone call right away. I think the phone is a superior way to communicate with prospects when I'm selling. But when I'm researching solutions, my personal preference is email. I've been on the receiving end of too many
Comment
Re: When Did Selling Three Copiers a Month Become Acceptable?
Well said Art, I have always appreciated the effort you put in. Thank you, Have a Great Day Thomas Koenig District Business Manager Dealer Division - Northeast Region RICOH USA, INC. 5 Dedrick Place West Caldwell, NJ 07006 Cell: 570-439-2864 Thomas.Koenig@ricoh-usa.com
Comment
Re: When Did Selling Three Copiers a Month Become Acceptable?
Art, what a great post! Within this industry I have seen way too many people think they can waltz right into a sales job and start making big money and it will be easy work. Staying motivated and hard work is the best recipe for success.
Topic
Inkjet Summit Names Canon Solutions America Top "Company to Watch" for Third Time
Art Post ·
MELVILLE, N.Y., April 27, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canon Solutions America, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Canon U.S.A., Inc., today announced it was voted "Company to Watch" by attendees of the Inkjet Summit 2016 , which was held April 18-20 in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. The recognition was presented to the company's Production Print Solutions team during the Awards Dinner on the final night of the event. "The 'Company to Watch' award signifies an intense commitment to the advancement of
Topic
Manufacturer CWO?
GIntel ·
Hey Gang, Try to wrap my hands around the Cash with Order / Check with Order discounts for the various brands. I have a few figured out (Canon 3%, Sharp Toshiba 5%), but trying to understand CWO rates for the following brands: Ricoh (2%?) Samsung Konica Lexmark BSD Kyocera Xerox Any details would be much appreciated. Thanks, Jake
Comment
Re: When Did Selling Three Copiers a Month Become Acceptable?
Often times, by the time a new rep realizes that there is a difference between "activity" and "productivity" it has become too late.
Topic
Visioneer Unveils Color Duplex Desktop Scanner with Software For Scanning and Organizing Thousands of Pages per Day
Art Post ·
ability and reliable paper-handling of ID cards, checks, legal-sized documents and long medical forms," said Jim Tamo , senior vice president of global sales and marketing, Visioneer. "We designed the D40 with an extra-wide automatic document feeder to handle warehouse pick tickets, auto dealership contracts and similar forms used with line printers. The Patriot D40 can scan the form without customers first having to tear off the sides of the document, saving a lot of time and reducing the risk of
Topic
Hon Hai set to hold talks with Sharp in China
Art Post ·
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is to hold a sales meeting with Sharp Corp at Foxconn’s plant in Shenzhen, China, next Monday in an effort to help boost the sales of the Japanese company’s products worldwide, a top Hon Hai executive said yesterday. “We plan to discuss sales in Taiwan, Southeast Asia, India, China and Hong Kong during the meeting,” Hon Hai vice chairman Dai Cheng-wu (戴正吳) told reporters on the sidelines of a Sharp product demonstration event at one of Hon Hai’s factories in
Topic
4 Negotiation Tactics That Straight-Up Suck
Art Post ·
Negotiation is sometimes thought of as a competition between two opposing parties -- a process that’s not entirely antagonistic, but also couldn’t exactly be called collaborative. This mindset is particularly understandable -- and dangerous -- in sales. During a tough month or quarter, it’s all too easy to slip into the mindset that your buyer is just a roadblock to hitting your quota, and that attitude lends itself to a combative approach to negotiation. read more here
Topic
Canon ITS to Showcase Clavister Solutions at Japan IT Week
Art Post ·
appliance sales. Part of Japan IT Week, the country’s largest IT show, IST is a key event for risk and security management professionals and those who work in information systems, corporate planning, audit and legal affairs. Japan’s IT security market is the second largest in the world, forecast to grow from $4 billion to $10 billion by 2020. “IST is the leading information security event in Japan, so it is a high-profile platform to showcase our partnership with Canon ITS and our world-leading
Topic
Stratasys Unveils First Artworks Designed With New Breakthrough J750 3D Printer
Art Post ·
April 25, 2016 08:57 AM Eastern Daylight Time MINNEAPOLIS REHOVOT, Israel--( BUSINESS WIRE )-- Stratasys Ltd . (Nasdaq:SSYS), the 3D printing and additive manufacturing solutions company, today announced that it has collaborated with esteemed designers to create the world’s first 3D printed artworks on the company’s breakthrough full color, multi-material J750 3D Printer, launched April 4. The 3D printed pieces – ‘Wolfkiam’ from Nick Ervinck and ‘Polyomino’ from Jose Sanchez – are the first
Topic
RGS Boosts Wide-Format Color Printing Services with Two HP PageWide XL 8000s
Art Post ·
, while increasing efficiency. With the HP PageWide XL 8000 printers, RGS has been able to far exceed the print quality of its previous technology, while streamlining operation. RGS, a member of the RGS Group of Cos., selected HP large-format printing technology to handle all of its large-format color printing services because of its quality, speed and versatility. The HP PageWide XL 8000 printers enable the company to produce business presentations, architectural renderings, posters and other color
Topic
Sharp reportedly to lay off 1,000 employees after Hon Hai deal
Art Post ·
Tokyo, April 28 (CNA) Sharp Corp. is planning to lay off about 1,000 employees as part of its efforts to strengthen its financial structure after the loss-incurring Japanese firm inked an agreement to sell a majority stake to Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (鴻海) earlier this month, according to a news report. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) said that although Hon Hai had said it would retain as many of Sharp's employees as possible after the acquisition deal, as the Japanese firm's
Member
Fir_reps
Topic
I should have walked away from this deal.....
Art Post ·
Get this, I finally get a lead and it's for a new new construction company and they are looking for a wide format copier/printer/scanner system and a color copier. I called and got all of the needs in advance and scheduled an appointment to present and close. For net new we have a special comp plan, pretty much means I make more selling at cost than adding GP (go figure). Thus, I'm walking in with my best pricing scenario, except for another two percent. However, this is a deal for two systems
Topic
MICR laser printers
Art Post ·
Please correct me if I'm wrong. But can't almost any laser printer take a MICR toner cartridge? Meaning I could sell a Ricoh printer as long as there is a remanufacturer that provides a MICR cartridge.
Topic
Battery Backup for Ricohc6502
Art, Ever heard of a battery backup for a Ricoh c6502? I'm involved in a deal for 5 canons and this small canon/Ricoh dealer is throwing in this backup? He asked for 220V so, I am assuming the box is actually the c8002. I'm looking to buy one from a non-competing Ricoh dealer. Andrew
Comment
Re: “When I get old, I hope I remember my copier salesman days.”
Great one Ray. The first copier demo I did was a Savin 840 liquid copier.
Reply
Re: Battery Backup for Ricohc6502
The rep quoted it as "included" but told him he could only get it from a Ricoh dealer and that it is an $1,800 option. Mind you, he's selling Canon equipment. The accounts print shop is 3 years away, and the account isn't concerned about multiple vendors. I'm glad to see you have the same concerns about this as I did.
Comment
Re: “When I get old, I hope I remember my copier salesman days.”
As a senior veteran of the copier wars I can report that you never get the toner out of your blood. Every decade has there bumps, but when I started, SCM only had liquid coated paper copiers ( you know that smelly stuff). Xerox was the only one that had plain paper. Now that was a difficult sale.
Topic
Ricoh Flex Credits?
GIntel ·
Hey Gang. Wondering if anyone could sharedetails on Ricoh's Flex Credits, specifically what products are covered right now and what the credit values are. I have this list from 2015 ( http://screencast.com/t/poJSXujk ), do you know if this is still correct or if the products and valueshave changed? Thanks, Jake
Reply
Re: Sharp reportedly to lay off 1,000 employees after Hon Hai deal
Art Post ·
This represents a 5% reduction in the workforce.
Topic
BTA’s FIX: Cost Management for Service 2.0 Scheduled for June 11
Art Post ·
( www.bta.org/FIX ) as a post-event workshop to the association’s 2016 BTA National Conference ( www.bta.org/BTANationalEvent ), hosted by BTA Mid-America. FIX attendees will receive free registration to the 2016 BTA National Conference and BTA’s 90 th anniversary event, BTA at 90: A Celebration ( www.bta.org/BTA90 ). Successful BTA dealers use their service departments to maintain profit margins as new equipment sales margins decline. FIX, BTA’s popular service workshop, teaches attendees how to compute
Topic
New Oce Plotwave's?
Received this end of last week! " Dear Canon Solutions America Channel Partner, Announcing the Notice to Stop Shipments on the Océ PlotWave 340/360 Products This newsflash announces that the availability of the Océ PlotWave® 340/360 systems are approaching zero inventory. A final Stop notice will be issued once inventory is depleted. A GO bulletin announcing the successor printers to the Océ PlotWave 340/360 will be issued along with the STOP notice." Past experience suggests that they are
Comment
Re: “When I get old, I hope I remember my copier salesman days.”
Art Post ·
Love the crabby demo!!! I had a few crazy demo's too, but can't seem to remember them
Comment
Re: “When I get old, I hope I remember my copier salesman days.”
Foxtrot ·
Great story and the moral of the story is - be creative...
Reply
Re: New Oce Plotwave's?
Art Post ·
nothing here, however we're not an OCE/Canon dealer. Has anyone else heard of something new?
Reply
Re: Manufacturer CWO?
GIntel ·
Thanks Guys, Art, is Ricoh confirmed at 2%? Is that what you meant in your "should have walked away from this deal" blog?
Member
Art Mitchell
Topic
5 Ways to Get a Meeting With Anyone
Art Post ·
Ever feel like your dream client is somewhere up in the clouds, completely unreachable? Is it possible to get in front of someone like that? Absolutely: with contact marketing. Not to be confused with content marketing, contact marketing is a fusion of marketing and selling. The term refers to specific marketing campaigns that are designed to connect with specific VIP prospects, whom you would otherwise not be able to reach. We learned about the concept in our recent interview with Stu
Topic
drupa cube Program Announced
Art Post ·
Messe Düsseldorf North America 150 North Michigan Avenue Suite 2920 Chicago, IL 60601 drupa cube PROGRAM ANNOUNCED drupa cube, the event and congress destination at drupa 2016, the world's leading trade fair for print and cross-media solutions, will feature some 60 keynote speeches, panel discussions and presentations by international experts (Hall 6, Stand D03). drupa cube sets itself apart from other industry congresses around the globe with its focus on visitor target groups from the
Topic
Global Cloud-based Managed Services 2016-2020 - Lack of Integration Expertise - Key Vendors are HP, IBM & NTT Data Corp. - Research and Markets
Art Post ·
challenges PART 11: Impact of drivers and challenges PART 12: Market trends PART 13: Vendor landscape PART 14: Key vendor analysis For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets....search/gjvn56/global Contacts Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716
Topic
AMETEK Electronic Systems Protection Announces Promotion of Dave Perrotta to Director, Business Manager
Art Post ·
for the business equipment, imaging, audio visual, and gaming industries. AMETEK Electronic Systems Protection is a unit of AMETEK, Inc., a leading global manufacturer of electronic instruments and electromechanical devices with annual sales of $4.0 billion. To learn more about AMETEK Electronic Systems Protection, visit espsurgex.com
Selling Copiers in the Eighties with Kimberly Hinkley
Hey everyone! Our new blog/interview is with Kimberly Hinkley. Kimberly is a long time Print4Pay Hotel member and is currently active in our industry.
Selling Copiers in the Eighties with Kimberly Hinkley
Art: How did you find your way into the copier industry?
Kimberly: It was about 1985. I started part-time at a computer graphics distributor in southern California entering commission payout data for the sales team during college on an early IBM computer. We sold computer graphics controller boards, Matrix film recorders(early 35mm slide generators for the movie industry and presentations before Powerpoint!) Matrix film recorders were used by Pixar to create Tin Toy (1988) the animated short film. We sold the first laser printers, dye sublimation printers and thermal wax printers. At that time the movie studios, marketing agencies and banks were the early adopters. I saw how much the reps were making and moved into a sales position calling on a dealer base. One of our dealers was a Sharp fax and Panafax dealer and eventually a Ricoh dealer. They offered me a sales position and I joined their team in Orange County California.
Art: What company or manufacturer did you start with, what was your title and what year did you start?
Kimberly: The dealer I went to was an early adopter of color technology and we were a Ricoh dealer and also became a Xerox color VAR. We actually went to Xerox offices and trained their sales teams on color! I was a color specialist. The first couple of months were tough and the dealership actually stopped paying me! But that next week I closed (3) major deals and never looked back! Customers at that time were Cal Tech, Unocal, IBM, Home Savings and Loan, Orange County Register (newspaper) and move studios such as Paramount.
Art: What brand(s) did you sell and what was your favorite model to sell and why that was your favorite?
Kimberly: Sharp, Panasonic, Ricoh and we became a Tektronix dealer big time. We sold the first 12x18 solid ink printer(Phaser III) that would print on any type of stock. It was revolutionary and we had customers pre-order before it released at full price of about $25K! I was one of the top 5 in the country for selling those darn solid ink printers!
Art: What was the percentage of copier sales people that made it past two years and why made them last or not last so long?
Kimberly: I would say 25%. In those days you really had to verticalize because not every industry could afford color and you had to become an expert on color and color matching as your customers were from entertainment or marketing. If Warner Brothers needed a certain pantone grey for Bugs Bunny you needed to try and get to it to match! You had to have an understanding of Photoshop, Pagemaker, EFI controllers and if anyone remembers Colorbus and Management Graphics Solitaire.
Art: What did you like the most about your job in the eighties?
Kimberly: We were cutting edge- We even had the Sharp color fax (you had to have two). I think they were about $15K a piece. You were the provider of info since your prospect couldn’t research it “on-line”. You had to do demos and samples. You had to know the PC and eventually the Mac.
Art: What did you dislike the most about your job in the eighties?
Kimberly: Probably the product demos since you never knew what quality or color the customer expected and you had to be pretty accurate. You never knew what file type they were bringing to print from. We had everything from plastic surgery before and after photos and photos that would be presented at trial (I had to print a dead body photo on a Canon bubblejet wide format for one demo!)
Art: What was the compensation plan like, was there a salary, what is just commissions or was there a mix of salary and commissions?
Kimberly: I don’t remember commission structure and the salaries were low. My first position was a draw type structure and for awhile we were paid on supply orders as well.
Art: How did you go about finding new business, and what was your favorite of those methods and why?
Kimberly: Referrals, we also did quite a bit of advertising in industry publications. Phone calls. In those days there was no GPS of course so I had a Thomas guide for Orange, Los Angeles and San Diego counties.
Art: What was the first sales book that you read that and what did you take away from it?
Kimberly: I don’t remember the first book- but always liked books such as “Good to Great” and books on companies with great history behind them
Art: What type of car did you use for your demonstrations and how many demonstrations would you perform in a week demonstration?
Kimberly: As a color specialist ,we actually were able to get most people to come into the office in the early days. But the fax reps did plenty of demos wheeling around a Ferno Salesmaker cart and placing them in a van. I joined Lanier in about 2000 and at that time they were just phasing out the need to have a station wagon or van.
Art: Can you tell us a couple of funny story about selling copiers in the seventies?
Kimberly: Well we had a gentlemen bring sample files to print that were of scantily clad women. We had a language barrier and I wasn’t sure what he was bringing to the demo. When I inserted the disk and the image popped up I jumped to see if anyone was in our front lobby since we had glass windows! That was a shock. Some of the early customers that were using color were from the adult entertainment industry. We called on the company that rates the videos (kind of like the Oscars-lol). While in the lobby waiting I picked up their magazine and opened it up and just about fell off my chair!
Art: What is the biggest problem you seeing facing the industry today?
Kimberly: Well of course the natural one of declining service revenues for print/copy and some of the low pricing that we see on bids. In the last few months, I have noticed long time customer/vendor relationships dissolve and I wonder if some of our competitors have not been able to weather the Covid situation as well as we have. This opens up opportunities for us to gain market share as customers are looking for other alternatives.
Art: If you had to would you do it all over again, if so what would you change?
Kimberly: I had a chance to join Xerox in the early days- kind of glad I didn’t. I have worked with some great people especially during my tenure at Lanier (the best trained sales team) and now with Toshiba. Been through a couple of mergers -Canon/Oce and Ricoh/ Lanier. Such a career of experiences.
Art: What’s the one piece of knowledge that you’d like to share with new reps entering our industry?
Kimberly: Try to find a vertical(ideally an industry that interests you) so that you can become familiar in their paper flow, terminology and requirements for documents. Now everyone is a potential customer and it is overwhelming. Nothing wrong with starting with larger companies as they have “professional buyers” who should have a better understanding of service and value, rather than a person who is making the decision and has never been involved with making a copier purchase. I can’t stress enough about having business acumen, reading business news and understanding what is going on with the financial markets. If you are explaining lease versus purchase and FMV and $1.00 out you need to help navigate and appear that you know what is going on. Have confidence in your product, enthusiasm and know that you still can make a very good living in this industry! I have for 36 years!
Kimberly Hinkley is currently Branch Sales Manager for Toshiba Business Solutions for DFW/West Texas. Please feel free to connect with Kimberly on her linkedin page or you can leave a response her.
Thank you Kimberly this awesome!
-=Good Selling-=
COVID19 Remote Working Day Two Hundred and Seventy-Eight of Selling
COVID19 Remote Working Day Two Hundred and Seventy-Eight of Selling
Copier, Managed IT & Content
Sorry for no blogs in the last three days.
It's the last week of month for me and I'm still trying to find a way to crush my number for the month. Seems that April will be a boom or bust month no matter what happens in the next three business days.
What hasn't helped is that I've been down for the count with some type of bug for the last 30 hours or so. I'm really hoping this clears for tomorrow since I have a quarterly sales dinner to attend tomorrow.
Not much has changed since last week. I have two orders in for a total of $16K and I should have an order tomorrow for another $12K for an A3 color. The icing on the cake will be the Managed IT deal if it goes down.
I have a half a dozen or so small deals that may come to fruition this week along with an appointment tomorrow to secure a small A4 order. Still trying to figure this one out since getting A4's is like similar to getting a ticket for a Broadway play (there are no tickets since Broadway is still closed). I'm guessing it will be an on the spot call on what we're going to sign for.
The larger opportunity that I've been working on took a bit of back seat today. The DM and I touched based and stated they are swamped. I was promised a follow up on Thursday or Friday of this week. I didn't press for a time on either of those days because I knew of some back office events that were happening for them. With that I thought it's best to let the ball travel for a few days. That opportunity is $64K. Like I stated it will be BOOM or BUST for April.
New Jersey
Just as I thought, our Governor extended the Health Emergency Order for another 30 days on April 16th. I'm betting dollars to doughnuts that he extends the HEO for another month because he has not delivered any statements as to what the numbers should be in order to open the state. I guess this is what happens when you live in a "nanny" state.
I can't worry about what I can't change, however with everything else I can make things happen. The saying "losers wait for things to happen and winners make things happen" is so appropriate for what we're going through in New Jersey.
Prospecting
Prospecting has been weak so far because I haven't been up to snuff health wise. I managed maybe 10 calls and 10 emails along with visiting one location today for a quick drop-off.
Tomorrow
I have the one appointment at Noon about and hour away. Thus time from 8AM-11Am will be spend prospecting via my CRM. This is a heck of a lot to get caught up on. After my appointment I have to leave for our Corporate Office in Wyomissing for our Quarterly Sales dinner.
No words of wisdom or sales stuff today, just trying to rule my day instead of letting the day rule me.
-=Good Selling=-
MSP, MSSP and IT Notes Industry April 19th, 2021
Why partnering with ARCOA makes sense
Electronics Recycling is an important and profitable part of the IT asset lifecycle, but it can be overwhelming with all you already do, varying state regulations, and the limited resources at hand. That’s where ARCOA comes in. When you partner with ARCOA, you get all the benefits of a big company without any of the capital investment. We’ve been doing this since 1989 and have the expertise, certifications, and nationwide resources to get the most for all your clients’ retired IT assets. Plus, positioning your clients as environmental stewards not only elevates their appeal to consumers, it meets government requirements and avoids fines.
What partnering with ARCOA looks like
Our role is to make it easy for you to bring more value to your clients. We work with you to help stretch your clients’ IT budget by reducing the total cost of ownership of their electronics. We’re experts at identifying and implementing the solutions your clients need for the end-of-use remarketing, recovery, and recycling of their technology assets. The sooner you involve ARCOA, the sooner you and your clients will see better results.
PixelPlex Launches a Document Management Platform that Eases How We Manage Documents
- PixelPlex, revealed DocFlow, its latest release of blockchain-based solutions
- DocFlow features top-notch smart contract systems
- Claims highly secure & guarantees 100% data authenticity
Hyland Software buys 2 competitors
- Maker of OnBase document management and electronic content management solutions, announced it has completed acquisitions of Alfresco Software and Nuxeo Software
- Nuxeo is a content services platform and digital assets management provider
BoxBoat Announces DevSecOps Managed Services Momentum with their BoxOps Platform
- Announced significant Managed Services revenue growth by greater customer adoption of its BoxOps platform
- BoxOps is BoxBoat’s DevSecOps managed service platform
- BoxOps is a managed Kubernetes
- Automatic infrastructure updates
- application autoscaling
- cloud service integrations
- SLAs
- BoxBoat Technologies is the premier DevSecOps and digital transformation consultancy
Rackspace shifts its managed services approach with "Elastic Engineering"
- Reported on ZDNet
- Announced a new service model for delivering managed cloud services
- “Elastic Engineering” gives customers access to a "pod" of Rackspace cloud engineering experts
- Rackspace is offering Elastic Engineering support for Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
- Sold as hours, can then scale up as needed
CRN Names Corsica Technologies to Its 2021 MSP 500 List
- The Channel Company, has named them to its 2021 Managed Service Provider (MSP) 500 list in the Managed Security 100 category
- fourth time in a row that Corsica Technologies has been named to the list
- second year in the Managed Security 100 category
Ricoh placed in the 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Managed Workplace Services, North America
- Announced that it has been positioned in the 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant report for Managed Workplace Services, North America for the first time
- Gartner evaluates 20 vendors to enable sourcing, procurement and vendor management leaders to select the best provider for managed workplace services
- Gartner defines managed workplace services (MWS) as a subset of the IT outsourcing (ITO) market
- MWS includes traditional end-user outsourcing (EUO) as well as new digital workplace services to provide cloud-first, automated and integrated support to end users
- Gartner Magic Quadrants offer visual snapshots, in-depth analyses and actionable advice that provide insight into a market's direction, maturity and participants
- Formerly known as PrinterLogic, Vasion is headquartered in St. George, UT
- Launched Vasion ST, a software-as-a-service digital transformation platform
- Integrates tools to digitize content and automate business processes
- Capture, workflow, e-signature and storage solution
- Based on technology acquired when company bought Maxxvault
TBI Partners with Managed IT Service Provider, Effortless Office
- Announces the addition of Effortless Office to their provider portfolio
- Effortless Office is a Channel-only, national managed services provider
- Blends legacy environments with hybrid cloud solutions
nDivision Awarded Three Year Managed Services Contract Through its Fortune 50 Global ...
- Announced today that it will be fulfilling the services for a three-year 6 million dollar Infrastructure Managed Services and Managed End User Helpdesk contract
- contract replaces several existing contracts which its partner is currently billing at approximately $520,000 per year
PlexTrac Closes $10 Million Round to Fuel Growth of Cybersecurity Workflow Platform
- Announced $10 million in Series A funding
- Venture firms Noro-Moseley Partners and Madrona Venture Group led the round with participation from StageDotO Ventures
- Will use the funds to continue to build the team and grow the platform
Japan's Toshiba president steps down amid acquisition talks
- Nobuaki Kurumatani tendered his resignation at a board meeting
- Kurumatani headed the Japan operations of CVC Capital Partners, which proposed the acquisition last week
VertiGIS Acquires Facility Management Software Partner KMS
- Announced the completed acquisition of longstanding development partner KMS Computer GmbH
- KMS is a computer-aided facility management (CAFM) software specialist based in Dresden, Germany
- VertiGIS is backed by global, technology-based investment firm Battery Ventures
Foxit and Toshiba Announce Strategic Partnership for End-User Productivity and Enterprise ...
- Announced a strategic partnership with Toshiba Tec UK Imaging Systems Limited to leverage Foxit's PhantomPDF and Enterprise Automation solution
- Toshiba will leverage PhantomPDF to make significant improvements to workflow, productivity and user experience
- PhantomPDF is available on desktop systems, mobile devices, and the cloud
- Laserfiche, headquartered in Long Beach, CA, is provider of document management and electronic content management solutions
- Its cloud-based ECM won the 2021 Product of the Year Award from Cloud Computing magazine
PaperCut launches cloud based product
- PaperCut, headquartered in Australia, introduced PaperCut Hive, a cloud-native print management solution
- Providers server-less secure print release
- Uses Edge Mesh technology
- Pricing not announced
Ricoh launches Return to Work solution
- Launched the Return To Work Security Services
- Combines consulting, technology and services to address return to onsite work environments
- Kiosk-based access screening at employee, visit, warehouse and plant entrances
- Wellness screens, temperature checks, mask compliance and hand sanitizing
- Personnel density and physical distancing analysis and planning tools to reserve and modify the availability of reservable spaces such as socially distanced desks, common rooms, warehouse spaces or occupancy limited meeting rooms
- Access to analysis and materials to incorporate into customized training programs
- Access to past visitor logs
- Pricing not announced
IBM's Independent Managed Infrastructure Services Business to be Named Kyndryl
- Announced that Kyndryl will be the name of the new independent company
- Will be created following the separation of its Managed Infrastructure Services business, which is expected to occur by the end of 2021
- Kyndryl also announced that it will be headquartered in New York City
Visual Edge Announces National Launch of Visual Edge IT Managed IT Services Digital Journal
- Announced the national launch of Visual Edge IT managed IT services
- "We have onboarded more than 5,000 new managed IT services customers and are excited to be able to provide these end-to-end technology solutions to more new client
- Visual Edge IT offers 24/7 remote monitoring and administration of networks, service desk, data backup and restore
Cybersecurity Update
- Capital One notified 100 million customers that their info was exposed after former Amazon Web Services (AWS) employee Paige Thompson posted data on GitHub after illegally accessing the info.
- HealthNet of California notified 1,236,902 patients that their PHI may have been exposed after cyberattack.
- Check Point Research is warning of a new malware that attacks Android based mobile devices
- Is in an app on Google Play store that entices users by offering free Netflix subscription
- LinkedIn is warning that a hacking group, named Golden Chickens, is using email phishing attacks on LinkedIn members,
- The Bricker & Eckler Law Firm of Ohio notified an unknown number of customers that their info was exposed after cyberattack.
- Brown University of Providence, Rhode Island notified an unknown number of students that their info was exposed after cybersecurity incident.
- California Health & Wellness (CHW) of Sacramento, CA notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after a cyberattack.
- The Centers for Advanced Orthopaedics, headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, reported an email hacking incident affecting over 125,000 individuals.
- The City of Lawrence, Massachusetts notified an unknown number of citizens that their info was exposed after ransomware attack.
- Elekta Health, headquartered in Atlanta, GA, notified patients Southcoast Health’s cancer centers in Fall River and Fairhaven, Rhode Island and patients at Rhode Island Hospital and the Lifespan Cancer Institute in East Greenwich after a ransomware attack.
- Epilepsy Florida in Miami, FL notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after ransomware attack.
- La Clinica De La Raza of Oakland, CA notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after cyberattack.
- Cornerstone Municipal Advisory Group d/b/a Manquen Vance ("Manquen Vance") of Troy, MI is notifying an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after cyberattack.
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Health of New York City, NY, notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after cyberattack.
- Mott Community College of Flint, Michigan has notified 1,612 individuals that files containing their protected health information were obtained by unauthorized individuals prior to the use of ransomware on its systems.
- Remedy Medical Group, with locations in northern California, notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after cyberattack.
- Squirrel Hill Health Center of Pennsylvania notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after cyberattack.
- Stanford University School of Medicine in California notified an unknown number of patients their PHI may have been exposed after cyberattack.
- TriHealth of Cincinnati, OH notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after cyberattack on vendor.
- University of Miami Health in Florida notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after cyberattack.
- Yeshiva University of New York City, NY notified an unknown number of students that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack