MFP Copier Blog

COVID19 Remote Working Day One Hundred and Forty-Four of Selling Copiers

Another interesting day to say the least.  My order for 4 A3 color MFPs is still out there and it may have a bonus MFP when I get it.  At least that's the way I read it when we were on the phone the other day.

All day I was trying to get something to happen.  I knew I only had that one 4 MFP order that was solid for this week.  Of course it's Thursday and with the order not in hand is always a little concerning.  I'm positive I'll get it but there is always the question of when will I have it.  In any case the thought of putting of a zero for the week was not where I wanted to be.

I had that one net new appointment yesterday for the two A3 color devices that went well.  The proposal went over last night, the follow up call in morning where I left a message and then I had a call back around 11AM.  We spoke about issuing a know out credit for the existing device, however I was firm that I needed some sort of documentation. 

It was about 4PM and I didn't have a call back. I knew the need was urgent to get the MPF's as soon as possible.  I thought, do I wait another day for the DM to call me back to review the pricing or do I take matters into my own hands make something happen.  I thought it was best to make something happen because I knew there was an urgency to get the MPF's.  In the back of my mind was also that fact that the longer I waited the longer I had a chance of losing. At 4:30 I negotiated a deal with my self and offered a special discount to the client if they ordered today or tomorrow.  Tell you the truth it was kind of fun putting that in an email format.  Instead of asking the closing question on the phone or in person it was via email.  If you don't ask you don't get.

I received the email that they are ready to order about 7:30PM tonight.  Just a few minutes ago I responded with a thank you along with the time-line for tomorrow to get and received the documents..  Hoping all goes well tomorrow means a net new client and revenue of about $14K.

Tomorrow morning means another early on-site appointment for wide format.  Hoping for a very busy day to end the week.

The harder you work the luckier you get.

BTW, A3 MFP's are not dead yet!

-=Good Selling=-

COVID19 Remote Working Day One Hundred and Forty of Selling Copiers

A very interesting day for me today.  Today marketed the first day in 142 days that I spent the entire day in the field!  In addition I stopped by the office for a few minutes to pick up a small A4 black MFP that I wanted to deliver to a net new account.

My first appointment was early in the day with a net new account.  I had to be there by 9AM, thus it was time to make sure I left my home office by 7AM.  In most cases with traffic that trip to the office can take an hour even though it's only 27 miles.  Today that trip took 32 minutes with zero traffic.  Once I was at the office I had to pick up the small A4 and then get to my 9AM appointment.

The drive from the office is on one of the busiest non toll roads in NJ (can you believe there is a non toll road in Jersey).  In most cases the first 7 miles of that stretch at 8AM in the morning is stop and go.  Today the ride was a breeze with no slow downs,  just another example of peeps not on the road due to COVID.

My first appointment went well, I did not secure the other on the spot because there needs to be an approval from another DM.  I did not leave docs on-site because there was some additional configuring I had to do to present the right price.  The client needs the two MFP devices asap thus there will be a decision made by tomorrow.  I was also told that I would get a call from the other DM to beat me up some.   I just sent this proposal out a few minutes ago and it's a little after 7PM.

As far as other orders, nothing yesterday and nothing today. I had another confirmation that the order for three color MFPs is still going to happen this week with the possibility of a fourth one.

Over the last two days I've had zero time to prospect and it's more like I'm trying to clean the plate of opportunities that are available now.  At the end of this week I'll still have 50% of the month left to keep the ball moving forward.

My second appointment was for the delivery of the A4 which went really well.  Boy do I miss doing the training on these MFPs and that's because you never know what may come out of that time spent in their office.  Nothing additional came about today but it's my belief that all reps should train their clients on how to use the MFP's.  More questions usually means there may be another opportunity down the road.

My last appointment was with a long time client that was toying around with adding a second wide format.  They were looking for something that was pre-owned and color and I had to tell them I have nothing.  I stated I could cut a great offer for new but we're really not seeing many color wide formats coming off lease. A decent appointment, and probably an order in the near future. I just need to be patient and see what develops over the next couple of weeks.

Tomorrow means prospecting, cleaning up my to do list and keeping myself available to process orders when they arrive.

The State of New Jersey is still in Emergency Order and I don't see that lifting before the election.  If the other guy gets in well he has vowed to shut things down.  In NYC today the Governor shut down many schools and ordered non-essential businesses to close for at least two weeks or longer.

After 7 months I'm now at pro at this and if that happens here in NJ it's called conditions and there's nothing you can do expect to keep moving forward.

-=Good Selling=-

The Week in Copiers Five Years Ago

the first week in October 2015

Looking back on all the threads during the last 18 years.  I wished I would have started doing this back in the early nineties.  By 2022 we'll have at least 20 years of the copier industry captured and indexed for those that need to know more.

Enjoy these threa

ds from five years ago this week

COVID19 Remote Working Day One Hundred and Forty of Selling Copiers

For all of those that look forward to my weekly email update I don't think that's going to happen this week.  I just need to take the mental break tonight.

The end of last week was pretty good. I ended up receiving docs from three clients. One net new small A4 black MFP, one A3 Color MFP from an existing client (yes they needed 11x17), and then another order form an existing client for W6700 wide format (replacing a Ricoh W3601) and I also knocked out a Canon Color MFP at that same account with a Ricoh A3 color (another account that required 11x17).  Finishing up somewhere around $25K for the week.  See Ray 11x17 is still needed!

I was hoping on getting another wide format net new account last week.  This account gave me the verbal on Wednesday and then had second thoughts.  After three days of playing catch up with the account he emailed me today telling me he has to think it over a bit more.  There's any underlying reason and not something I will discuss at this point in time.  Nothing to do with me or Stratix, it's more of a manufacturer thing.  If you want to know the details please feel free to PM me.  That deal was around $12K, well at least I have three weeks to try and answer the objections and get it to the finish line.

During the month of May it seemed like I had that Midas touch, every deal was smooth with no hiccups.  Every deal this month has presented it's own set of issues whether it's lease approval, lease rates, docs, legal name it all came home to roost today.  I spent the better part of the day walking through each deal to bring them to fruition.  I'm sure there's going to be some additional work that needs to be done tomorrow and the day after.

Today I also was told that I'll be received signed docs tomorrow for four color MFP's from an existing account.  This has been in the works for sometime and it couldn't hit at a better time in the month since I was forecasting $105K for this month.  I dropped that to $92K because of the net new wide format account that is in the weeds.

The order from tomorrow is another $25K, thus my the end of tomorrow I should be at $50K with three weeks left.  The plan is to get at least one more client to move forward with a $16K order.  I'm hoping to be at $66K for the end of the week.  I then have two weeks to find another $30K.  Going through accounts that I think have the chance to close I'm seeing that number at $66K.  Half of that will get me to my goal.

Today was also pretty cool since I received a lead!  Yay!  They don't come along that often and they are such a blessing.  Believe or not I'll be visiting that location on Wednesday of this week.  Can you guess what I'm bringing with me? .................................Paper order documents so the client can sign them on the spot if the time is right.  I will not go there and then tell the client, "uh sorry I don't have any docs and I'll email them to you".  Not going to happen.  In fact I'm bring two sets becuase I have a tendency to screw them up every now and then. This opportunity is not included in my numbers and would be a bonus.

Strange how the rhythm of sales works, for two weeks you slam your head against the wall and double think every action because nothing is working. Then all of that work and prospecting falls into place for a short time.   It still is and always will be about how hard you work and how bad do you want it.

I'm done still have some work to finish up for my day job and it's just about 8PM here in Jersey.

-=Good Selling=-

"The worst thing about current circumstances is the way there ending surprises the complacent."

Regardless of one's business or industry, the challenges are immense during this time of COVID 19. The Document Imaging Channel faces its greatest challenge since 1959 when the Xerox 914 made its first plan paper copy revolutionizing the document copying industry.

Now the question for the industry is this. Why will the industry once again be revolutionized?

Those searching for why things will be different will Create Relevance, and those focused on how things can remain the same will, by default Remain Status Quo.

The document imaging channel still has not agreed to participate with an obsession to revolutionize its deliverable based on why they should.  

"Innovation is a painful process and will exhaust most into complacency." 

I think about the many failed attempts of dealers and manufacturers' direct operations in transitioning into Managed IT Services or even embracing the realities of the monumental shift to A4 as examples. The leaders driving these transitions have not truly bought into the Why they need the transition. Or, are betting with total delusion that the core deliverable of print and its services will return to pre-virus levels.

If these leaders truly faced the realities in why they need to transform, they would become obsessed with their transformation. Through that obsession, these leaders would eliminate all that has held them back regardless of the pain in ripping off complancency's bandage.

"Conformity nourishes obsolescence."

Everyone knows that all businesses are based on the customers it serves, and yet in declining industries, there seems to be a denial mechanism blocking common sense. Everyone in the industry knows its customers have been decreasing in the needs of its core deliverable for at least a decade. However, still, the industry has not modified to that reality.

Many have elected to continue buying more declining market share without an obsession to increase customer spend through diversification. Those who did this and continue doing it will face severe stress through this pandemic as it continues to push print customers to new digital platforms.

The time has to be now for dealers and those manufacturers with direct operations to become obsessed with transforming their market strategies based on the, Why they should. Continuing in overselling A3 and refusing to add diversification will cripple all aspiration of continued relevance. The Document Imaging Channel has to defeat the status quo and must look past wants comfortably.

It starts by asking different questions.  

It is probably safe to say that when the industry's analyst asks questions of the industry's customers, they are not seeking an answer built of imagination; they feed a question where the answer they get describes the past continuing on in the future, over being eliminated by the future.  

Being Future Proof means massive readjustments towards reinvention. The reinvention of an industry starts with the reasons why then the how. Nothing new will come when everything old is more important than exploring what's new. Or, when old-mindsets fear what they do not understand and refuse to explore the unknown.

As we all witness the many challenges for not only business but all aspects of life. It is important to open one's mind to all possibilities. Remembering that possibilities are not just about improvement possibilities may also be about disasters.

The document imaging channel's future is where the leases on all the past glories more than likely were not renewed. The future should not be analyzed by looking through mirrors or memories. It seems so many analysts look at the past and present and project what they see in the future. Visions of the future require imagination and a willingness to explore what else is possible outside current circumstances. 

"It is more important to look into the future in search of how things changed without the past relevance regardless of how painful those changes are."  

No one has a crystal ball, but everyone has an imagination, and everyone has the ability to open their minds to the realities around them. As the pandemic continues to challenge everything, leaders must continue to challenge themselves and honestly with logic examine their business's future relevance.

"Beware of the visions of those unimaginative for they use their memories in creating them."

As a caution when you see the reports of some analyst describing a future where current circumstances remain. It is important to understand the questions on the surveys and the imagination abilities of the analyst. Unfortunately, most analysts are focused on bringing the past to the future. In contrast, nearly all visionaries focus on bringing the future to the present.

I penned this the day Sears and Kmart merged "A Company becomes obsolete when they focus on bringing the past to the future instead of bringing the future to the present."

The industry's end-users are in charge of its future. We all watched blockbuster make bad decisions. They refused to accept the value of Netflix's subscription model, and they refused to explore or, worse, ignored the realities to the momentum of Netflix's better experience.

You may have great relationships; however, your customers are searching for better experiences. Don't misjudge the value of the experience, for better experiences continue replacing many great relationships. 

The document Imaging Channel must look to their end-users. It is there they will discover why they must modify; this pandemic is the catalyst to introduce the channel's customers to alternatives. Those alternatives will be based on better experiences, and those better experiences will answer Why and hopefully the answer will spark the obsession needed to transform. 

In closing: You may find an article written three years ago titled "Before How there's Why" of additional value. see the link below.

 https://www.linkedin.com/pulse...-why-ray-stasieczko/

"Status quo is the killer of all that will be invented."

Ray Stasieczko 

CEO/Founder TEASRA,The Innovation Channel and Host of The End of The Day With Ray! https://www.endofthedaywithray.com/

The Week in Copiers Ten Years Ago

the first week in October

I wasn't even aware of the factoid from our site.  We have more than ten years of copier proposals and quotes stored on the site. Maybe one day I'll have the time to research the data and cost per page and hardware prices and post the results.

Enjoy these threads from 10 years ago this week

MSP, MSSP & IT Industry Notes

October 4th, 2020

Sponsored by

Arcoa Group

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.

TPx Brings Managed Detection and Response to Managed Security Services Portfolio

• TPx announced today that it has strengthened its managed security services with the addition of enterprise-class managed detection and response (MDR) to its MSx Firewalland MSx Endpoint services

MSx Firewall now includes:

• Secure SD-WAN, which leverages cost-effective bandwidth and encrypted traffic while also layering on security inspection
• Monthly vulnerability scans
• High-performance next-generation firewalls that deliver greater throughput at lower cost
• Fully managed, self-managed and co-managed options

MSx Endpoints now includes:

• Security Awareness Training, including monthly phishing simulations and courses with automated reporting
• DNS Protection that protects remote users and devices from Internet threat

eMazzanti Shares 4 Ways Managed Services Improve Cyber Security

• A NYC area IT consultantdiscusses four ways that using a managed services provider (MSP) improve business cyber security in a new article on the eMazzanti Technologies website
• “In late 2019, (ISC)2, a major nonprofit organization of cyber security professionals, conducted a study of the cyber security workforce. The study showed that the skills gap continues to widen. In fact, to adequately meet the data security needs of American organizations, the cyber security workforce would need to increase by 62 percent.”
• “Another significant way that managed services improve cyber security involves system monitoring. A reputable MSP will provide monitoring not just during business hours, but 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Using machine learning, for instance, your MSP can identify unusual activity and proactively address issues even before a breach occurs.”

NuMSP Presents the First AI-Based Managed IT Service, Now Available for All New Orleans Area ...

• NuMSP announces it is now available to support local businesses in the New Orleansarea
• All business owners in the New Orleans area can now get a free network services assessmentwith no commitment

General Dynamics Information Technology awarded $306 million Department of Veterans Affairs ...

• General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT), a business unit of General Dynamics announced today it was awarded the File Conversion Services task order under the Veterans Intake, Conversion, and Communication Services (VICCS) program by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Benefit Administration (VBA)
• The single award under the VICCS indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract is valued at $306 millionover five years
• GDIT will leverage managed services and artificial intelligence to digitally convert historical veteran records, automate data extraction of existing records and process Official Military Personnel File requests in support of veteran benefits claims processing

Carahsoft Awarded Information Technology Enterprise Solutions – Software 2 Contract to Support ...

• Carahsoft announced the;ve been awarded an IT Enterprise Solutions -Software 2 (ITES-SW2) contract with the US Army Computer Hardware3 Enterprise and Solutions (CHESS)
• The contract is effective through August 30, 2025 with a five-year option period for a ten-year total period of performance

STL Acquires Wendelin Consulting Group, Inc., an Illinois-based Technology Consulting Company

• STL announced today that it has agreed to acquire Wendelin Consulting Group, Inc.
• Acquisition brings STL additional professional and technical consulting capabilities to complement and expand its existing Managed IT services throughout the Midwest
• Wendelin will join the STL Management team as the Chief Information Officer, where he will focus on the growth of a Client Solutions team that provides strategic management of STL’s partners

ePlus enhances its Managed Cloud Security Service portfolio by adding Alert Logic MDR

• ePlusannounced that it has strengthened its Managed Cloud Security Service portfolio by adding a market-leading managed detection and response (MDR) solution to its lineup of capabilities

Fabasoft Approve Garners Top Positioning in SoftwareReviews' ECM Leaders Quadrant

• Fabasoft Approve is a cloud-based software product for managing technical documentation and data in industry
• SoftwareReviewsis a division of Info-Tech Research Group, an international IT research and consulting firm

Document Management Systems Are Not All Created Equal: Graham Selects WorldView as Their ECM Vendor

• Graham Healthcare Group launches WorldView Ltd. as their document management solution
• Selected WorldView to help their Patient Records Teams optimize their day-to-day

Comodo Announces Cyfyx as First Master MSSP Partner in North America

• Comodo announced a partnership with Cyfyx Cybersecurity, as its first Master MSSP in North America
• Comodo and Cyfyx will bring Comodo’s entire range of cybersecurity solutions, including the Dragon platform with advanced endpoint protection (AEP) and SOC-as-a-Platform (SOCaaP™) to the MSP ecosystem
• Will enable any MSP to turn into a full MSSP without upfront capital expenses or additional hires, driving additional high-margin monthly recurring revenue (MRR) and growth

Konica Minolta Named to MSSP Alert’s Top 250 MSSPs List for 2020

• Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc.(Konica Minolta) announced today that MSSP Alert, published by After Nines Inc., has named Konica Minolta and All Covered, its IT Services Division, in the top 100 of the Top 250 MSSPs list for 2020
• Marks the fourth-annual list honoring leading MSSPs, managed detection and response (MDR) and Security Operations Center as a Service (SOCaaS) providers worldwide
• The rankings are based on MSSP Alert’s 2020 readership survey combined with the digital media site’s global editorial coverage of managed security services providers
• The list has expanded from 2019 (200 honorees) and 2018-2017 (100 honorees) amid MSSP Alert’s continued, organic readership growth

Tech Data Taps Ex-Lexmark, Lenovo Exec to Health Endpoint Unit

• Global distributorTech Data is bringing on former Lenovo and Lexmark executive Sammy Kinlaw to head its endpoint business in the Americas region

CalTech Completes MSP Verify Certification with SOC 2 Type X Audit

• CalTech today announced that it has successfully completed the MSPAlliance's MSP Verify Program (MSPCV) certification and SOC 2 Type X
• MSP Verify Program offers vendor agnostic certification for Cloud and Managed Services Practitioners Worldwide; Provides Quality Assurance, and Stamp of Reliability for Current, Potential Customers
• The UCS consists of 10 control objectives and underlying controls that constitute crucial building blocks of a successful managed services (and cloud computing) practice
• MSPAlliance® is a global industry association and accrediting body for the Cyber Security, Cloud Computing and Managed Services Provider (MSP) industry

Midmarket IT Challenges Identified in New IT Spend Management Benchmark Report

• vCom Solutions, released its first IT Spend Management Benchmark Report, based on the results of a survey of 175 mid-market organizations
• Report also reveals that when asked to rank their IT focus over a 12-24 month period, IT management identified Mobile, SaaS, and Collaboration

CETech is Top Winner in Both “Best IT Outsourcing Firm” & “Best IT Cybersecurity Firm” in ...

• CETech announced today that it was the Top Winner in the categories of “Best IT Outsourcing Firm” & “Best IT Cybersecurity Firm” in Rochester
• The “Reader Rankings” awards are presented each year by the Rochester Business Journal

NexusTek Acquires IT Services Firm, Symmetrix Solutions

• NexusTek, announced that it has acquired Symmetrix Solutions, an IT services company headquartered in Denver, CO.
• NexusTek is backed by private equity firm Abry Partners based out of Boston, MA

DocuWare Cloud Solutions Ensure Business Continuity for Thousands of Remote Workers

• DocuWare grew their number of new cloud customers by 24.3 percent compared to the same period in 2019
• DocuWare saw continuous usage of its cloud platform from customers through the wave of lockdowns in the first half of 2020 with every week showing millions of documents added and tens of thousands of users accessing their business information
• Volumes have increased 50% and 30% respectively as of September
• Estimated that the global mobile workforce will reach nearly two billion workers by the year 2022
• DocuWare conducted a survey of over 500 US business owners/managers to evaluate how well they were supporting their mobile workforces
  • 73 percent of businesses said they considered cloud-based tools “very” to “extremely” valuable during the COVID-19 pandemic
  • 29 percent reported feeling completely prepared for their employees to work from home
  • 18 percentof businesses surveyed felt they were “mostly” or “completely” unprepared for their employees to work from home
  • 21 percent had not implemented any digital tools for remote work

Cybersecurity Updates

The Week in Copiers Fifteen Years Ago

the first week of October

It wasn't until the last day of this week that I finally had three orders cross the finish line.  With those orders in the book it seems like October can be a great month again.  Just 64 selling days left until the end of 2020. Interesting thread below because it's been 15 years since Oce acquired Imagistics.

Enjoy these threads from 15 years ago this week

I had no intention of writing a blog tonight.  Today was more like a exercise in futility.  

I've got $110K on the my opportunity board with about $90K in committed verbals in the last week.  Yet I haven't been able to turn the corner on any of them yet.  Over the past two days I've let the ball travel with a few, placed a few calls and emails with nudges to get docs. 

It's more like what does it take to get these documents when I want them?  That's the key, in most cases you never get them when "you" want them.  They come when the client has the time to move forward.

I haven't lost any and I don't foresee losing more than $20k of the $110K.  The $20K is out there for two opportunities. One I'm not sure of their timeline and the other has competition knock on the door.

At times I get so tired of the follow ups, the nudging, the wording of the emails and the messages.  

Today I felt kind of lost in my own day.  Looking at the list and asking my self what else can I do?  After 40 years of doing this I still have days like today and I'm sure there will be many more of these in the near future. 

COVID

COVID19 numbers are on the rise in NJ especially in the two Counties I sell in.  Our Governor gives no direction for B2B businesses for the population of offices.  More businesses are still remote with a small percentage (smaller companies) that are full staff.  

Prospecting More

Like i stated I found my-self asking what else can I do?  The only answer that came to me was to keep prospecting and keep trying to find new opportunities.  Thus I pushed forward and kept making the calls and the emails. At the end of the day I ended up with two appointments on-site! I'm not scared of going on-site and I'll take the necessary precautions.

Experience

From experience I know the funnel will burst, it's not the question of "if", the only question is "when". Yup, I do plan to be around when the funnel explodes.

I had one of these days last week also where I kind of wrote about the same experience.  I feel that writing about helps me to continue and may help others to keep moving forward even when things are not going your way.

I have no words of wisdom, nor a link to a cool blog tonight.  All I have is that we can't give up, giving up is not an option.  I remind myself of these quotes.

The Harder You Work The Luckier You Get

As Long as You Work Hard, You Never Know What the Tomorrows Will Bring You

-=Good Selling=-