Seems every morning is identical to the last one.  What keeps flashing through my mine is Bill Murray and Groundhog Day.  Still no end in site for the lock down in the tri-state area.  The infection rates continue to increase each and every day.

Enough about the bad stuff. Let's focus on the good stuff. 

Today was CRM day and what I called soft prospecting today.  The first course of action was to weed out the crap (all the small stuff) and maintain a better focus on those larger accounts. I admit that sometimes I'll try to put too much on my plate and that's when I fall behind in my prospecting.

Today's approach was to contact all of the stalled opportunities and those larger accounts via email.  My approach as to title the subject line with "I hope you are". The body of the message was this:

Hope you and family are well in these crazy times.  Stratix is open for business since we were deemed an “essential business” because we support hospitals and municipalities with IT services.  I’ll reach out to you when this craziness is over.  

Simple, not selling anything, needed to let them know we are open for business. In addition I wanted to let them know about our IT services.  I was keeping track of all the emails sent.  Somewhere around 4PM I lost track and I'm thinking it was in between 60-70 emails.  What I can tell you is that I had many replies (around 20%).  Thus I completed my goal for the day. I'm sure there will be additional replies tomorrow, I also understand that about 70% of businesses are closed in New Jersey. Those that were not deemed essential.  The plan is to keep at it for the next week along with my other activities.

The highlight of my day what the working lunch chat I had with Greg Walters!  We started at noon and went for the full hour. Zoom has us capped at 100 users, thus my apologies for all that could not log on.  We do have a recorded however the first 16 minutes was lost. I'll be posting that up in the next blog within the hour.

Greg and I are not selling books, nor are we selling our services, nor did we sell sponsor space (wow, that maybe an idea!), we just felt it is a good thing to do for our industry.

Good news!  We've scheduled another working lunch chat for March 31st, I'm sure we'll rehash some of the content we covered today, and we'll have some new content to cover for everyone.  You can register for that chat here.

You can view our video chat here.

What's on tap for tomorrow?  More passive prospecting!

-=Good Selling=-

Please forgive us, we lost the first 16 minutes of the recored video!. Imaging that two seasoned vets not getting the technology down. We had a blast and I hope everyone joins us for round two on MARCH 31ST at 12NOON EST. The registration link is on this site in our calendar section.

Day Six and not much relief in site in New Jersey.  We're still in lock down mode and now have the second largest number of infections in the US.  There's a few cluster of infections in New Jersey that keep growing at an alarming rate. 

As of today there are no infections in the town where I live, however I don't think that will hold up much longer since more surrounding towns are reporting higher infections.  Maybe the only savings grace is that we have the Ocean to east and the Bay to the north. In addition it's not beach weather yet.

My day consisted of a few follow emails in the AM. After that it was off to the races with content management training.  After failing the first test twice with a two zero's I opted for the old fashioned way of reading, listening and writing notes. After about 30 minutes I was intent on learning as much as possible about the processes, the workflow and the marketplace. I was interrupted with a call from an existing client about 10:30am. Hey, whenever my cell rings right now I'm happy to answer. In fact I was even answering calls from telemarketers!

After that call I took a break and went outside for twenty minutes or so.  You just can't be staring at the computer screen all day long. I live on a highway close to the Ocean and my back yard gives a breath taking view of the ocean, the bay and New York City.  Out front is the highway, I was astonished at the amount of traffic on the road. Only essential businesses are suppose to be open, yet why are so many on the road?  My guess, this is why the infections continue to grow along with the testing that's now being done in Jersey.

I was back at training up until lunch. My lunch today was a working one, I attended a webinar that went into detail as to how accounts, web sites and businesses get hacked. Not that I'm going to become a hacker, but rather that I want to increase my knowledge on the subject matter.  Right now it's all about change.  Even though I love the copier industry I know I need to broaden my horizons.

Can you believe this?   At 4PM I was finally finished with all of the courses and the tests.  After putting up a couple of crooked scores I PASSED and earned by degree!  I was so excited that I posted it on Linkedin and after this blog I will add it to my profile.  That's a hint everyone, we need to keep updating our profiles and stay alive on social media.

After 4PM it was time to start prospecting again.  I've got about 100 or so that I need to roll through and got about ten done before I called it quits.  All of my contacts were via email, I also took the time to move accounts to a later date that I know are closed.  Out of the ten emails I sent I had six replies, now that's pretty good. My emails were to just check in (those Linkedin guru's will tell you never to check in), but my emails were more about "hey, how are you, how is your family, be well in these crazy times".

Tomorrow starts the real work, sifting though my stale opportunities and figuring out who is open and who is closed.

Don't forget tomorrow is another working lunch for me and I'm having a teleconference with the KING of MPS (Greg Walters) and our discussion will be about "How to sell Copiers during COVID19". Again it's not scripted, there's no cost, and we're not selling a book.  Here's the link if you want to register

HOW TO SELL COPIERS IN THE AGE OF CORONAVIRUS

We've got more than a hundred registered and I'm hoping we can all comes away with some additional ideas to make it happen.

-=Good Selling=-

https://youtu.be/u4VPReWJzws

“Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust and hostility to evaporate.”

Albert Schweitzer

In today's business climate where many of us are operating with fear, anxiety and doubt; those that lead with an empathetic heart stand out.

Empathy is defined by Psychology Today as “the visceral experience of another person’s thoughts and feelings from his or her point of view, rather than from one’s own.”

It's mission critical to understand the true value of long-term relationships.

I believe genuine, real and raw empathy cannot be faked. If you're saying or doing something merely to check a box and to appear more involved or compassionate, you’ll lose out in the long run.

The time is now to truly connect

Connections and relationships matter way beyond what we traditionally believe. As humans, we seek to connect in order to find meaning. We crave a sense of belonging. Social networks and digital channels allow us to connect at hyper warp speeds, but it's the one to one human connection that's becoming more valuable than ever.

A deep meaningful relationship takes passion, purpose and patience. This does not happen overnight, in a week or in a month.

When we embrace ourselves first, when we can work on ourselves first and find fulfillment within ourselves, then we are able to open-up for a deep, meaningful relationship.

It's difficult to bring the best version of ourselves to the forefront if our hearts are broken and not healthy. 

Lead with your heart and not your wallet

OUTSTANDING EXPERIENCES, RAISES THE RELATIONSHIP

According to a recent in-depth Frost & Sullivan survey, 80% of customers base their choice of provider on Customer Experience. It has become the single-most important differentiator in making or breaking a brand.

"The need for personalized, relevant experiences are not only raising customer expectations, but making them more difficult to please."

You may or may not agree with me and it's quite alright... I believe all those in sales are in the memory and experience business.

The question I have for you is...

What kind of memories and experiences are you creating for your customers at this very moment?

Within the sea of sameness and mediocrity that exists inside the sales world, the customer experience does matter. Get it right and watch what happens to trust, loyalty and consistent repeat business. Watch what happens to the relationship.

What truly makes for a good experience? Is it speed, convenience, consistency and friendliness? I believe great customer experience leaves people feeling heard and appreciated. It's bringing the human heartfelt emotions to your customers.

Right now, at this very moment, how many of you are tugging on the heartstrings of your customers?

I ask you to think about the following questions...

• What promises are you making to your customers?
• What promises do your customers truly value?
• What promise have you made to yourself to build the relationship?

EMPATHETIC RELATIONSHIPS START WITH THE HEART

Turn to your heart. In sales, heart is ignored. “Heart-based” sounds "touchy-feely". Heart-based sounds weak and not cool. 

How can heart matter when competitors are making each sale more challenging than the last one?

A servant, caring and compassionate professional lives and leads with their heart. Heart is about place and comfort. They're in a place to make a difference. This shows and is exhibited in how they care for their clients. By living and leading with their heart, they create meaningful and unbreakable sales bonds that last a lifetime.

Heartfelt professionals are leaders: they build relationships, cast vision, and motivate people to act.

Open the cage and let your heart roam free with your client relationships.

OOZE AUTHENTICITY

Authenticity is one of the biggest challenges for many in a profession riddled with scrupulous, fake and disingenuous sales reps; that quite frankly many buyers despise them. However, authenticity separates a sales rep from sales professional, and this is what your clients want!

It's about moving from being viewed as untrustworthy to being viewed as authentic and genuine. Yes, you must become a bit vulnerable with yourself as this is where it starts. In order to build relationships and change the way people think, you need to understand who you are and what goods you bring to the table. 

Authenticity requires self-knowledge and self-awareness. Accept your strengths and weaknesses. Hold yourself accountable to you. Connect to your client's values and desires.

Plain and simple, at the core of a Selling from the Heart lies one word... CARE!

Building rock solid, deep and meaningful relationships is about one thing... giving a rip.

HEART DOES MATTER

Heart is a place where one develops and gains strength. Those that embrace their heart will grow in purpose, profit and impact. Those that embrace heart will strengthen their client relationships with many stakeholders, producing long-lasting results.

I'm here to tell you that your clients crave a genuine, authentic, real-deal and Selling From the Heart professional. I urge all of you to lead a sales life full of authenticity and integrity rather than the pursuit of lining your sales wallet.

"Actions speak louder than words when serving with the heart"

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 modern 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.

You can find more material inside Selling From The Heart.

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.

In this article, I will share what I envision coming, and some things dealers can immediately do to soften the impact of that vision. As the Industry's Customers investigate and explore their current circumstances so, must the dealers who sell and service them. Any mis-alignment will prove way too costly now and in the future. 

Over the last couple of weeks, the industry has been dished a new reality. The work from home business model is now mainstream, and many, including me, believe there's no putting the Genie back in the bottle. This phenomenon and the looming financial crisis will bring awareness to the industry's end-users like never before.

My friends this is not a 2008-09 scenario. That crisis however bad; was based on businesses in a vertical. This crisis is a global shut down causing an evaporation of revenue from both hardware sales and the annuities from service and supplies the industry's cash -flow has stopped.

The longer it last the worst it gets obviously. Unfortunately, many organizations in the industry are not in great cash positions as they invested in growth through acquisition. Also many were already being squeezed as print volumes and hardware placements were declining as well.

The digitalization of the channel's end-users will ramp up, and this experiment in sending workers home to work remote will highlight many outdated paper-based business processes.

Those in the industry who start now will gain traction as things return somewhat normal. 

However, I do caution that all in the industry to be open-minded to what a new normal will be. Because for the Document Imaging Industry as many other industries, there will be a new normal.

Let's, not sugar coat our new realities; let's instead deal with them.

The impacts of the Virus on an already declining business model should cause concern. These new realities will be devastating to many of the channel's core go to market strategies. The channel's leaders are being introduced today to the channel's customers as they would have been presented in 2025. The channel's end-users are in-fact quickly finding themselves in the channel's future. Unfortunately, many of the channel's actors are not prepared.  

I have been bullish on the migration of A4 equipment replacing A3, and that movement got an at least a five-year jump start. The challenges facing the manufactures and the dealers who represent them will not be easily overcome. However, these challenges must be immediately addressed. It's time we stop worrying about saving old processes and create new ones that align the industry closer to their customers.

All businesses are built to provide a product, service, or sometimes both as in the case of the Document Imaging Industry. The good news is that the business of delivering products and services regarding helping businesses with workflows is not going away. What is going away is how the industry's end-users acquire and how they use the core product the industry sells and services.

Print equipment, its services, and its Leaders will be forced to align with the market's new realities. 

Right up to the Virus outbreak, the customers were mostly led by the channel's actors. The channel's product manufacturers and its dealers completely controlled the message to the end-users, and for the most part, the message was identical from all the channel's current actors.

Now many of the end-users are in a situation where they will quickly learn the realities of being oversold through outdated leasing platforms. The financial crisis the channel's end-users will find themselves in caused by this Virus. Will create a reality check for all their spending. End-users will question what they have and why they need what they have.

Many end-users will also find themselves financially challenged and will exit current contracts. Many of these end-user lease contracts have maintenance included in the lease payments. Without the leasing companies receiving payment, the dealer will not receive their service pass-through revenue. As end-users re-evaluate lease contracts, equipment needs, and volumes actually produced. End-users will begin asking many new questions.

Unfortunately, again the Leasing component in our industry will receive a mighty blow. This blow will push back to the dealers who will not receive pass-through service revenue as end-users neglect payments. Leasing companies will also tighten credit lines. Let's prepare and quickly implement aggressive cost controls and cuts.

Here are my immediate suggestions regarding Service cost controls for dealers during the Virus. 

1) Dealers should immediately turn off all auto ordering for both parts and supplies based on run rates. Run-Rates will drastically change as volumes evaporate.  

2) Dealers must prepare to align technical staffs immediately to what the data says is needed pre Virus and prepare for a re-adjustment soon. The gov't response will help dealers determine the needed exit strategies. Dealerships and manufacturers will have to adjust human capital through all departments.

3) Do not perform any unneeded calls. Preventive maintenance is not necessary during the shut-down, and frankly, the reductions in volume won't support the cost of service activity or parts used prematurely.

4) STOP ORDERING EVERYTHING!! Now order only based on REALITIES AND DATA Eliminate much of your inventories. Your dealership should get down to only four weeks of usage. Many dealers are only turning their part and supply inventories 3 to 4 times a year in reality inventories should be turned 9-10 times a year minimum. Use this time to eliminate all over stock-based on outdated mindsets or uncontrolled disciplines in inventory management. Study your needs based on the equipment population and stop ordering parts based on the "think we need it program."

5) Dealer owners must make sure the parts and supply managers understand inventory control in a crisis. It's not business as usual, and the skills to manage this critical part of your business must match the current circumstances, not yesterday's. it will take a hands approach from owners and senior leaders.

6) There's never been a better time to get control of inventories. NEXERA can help guide service inventories. Also, NEXERA has a system to help dealers move excess parts to other NEXERA dealers. I can't stress enough for dealers to engage with NEXERA at this time. There simply isn't anyone in the world with the accuracy of their data. Who can help dealers control all cost associated with the service deliverable.

Dealers don't worry about maintaining what you were doing pre Virus; everything has changed. The time is now to manage through a micro-scope. Data Data Data must be the first three steps in everything you do.

Working together as an industry and looking to your peers for help is essential. However, the most crucial thing our industry can do to ensure it prospers in the future is to be open and honest about the realities we face and communicate along with taking the actions needed based on those realities. 

There will be a conclusion to this, and many things will be different. My passion says, let's create that difference and not fall victim to it?

"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!

MSP & MSSP Industry Notes

Sponsored by

Arcoa Group

ARCOA Group is here to help you successfully manage your IT Asset Disposition process. We help you recover value from retired electronic equipment through responsible methods of reuse and recycling.  We ensure proper handling of assets which may contain data, while being environment stewards for assets that have no reuse value and are headed for recycling. We’ve built a robust de-manufacturing process to offer additional options for asset value recovery by disassembling equipment for commodity grade materials, which can be diverted from landfills and be used to create new base materials. You can find out more here.

OnTask, Powered by Accusoft, Partners with Mid-America Document Imaging

• ONTask provides business process automation for clients
• Mid-America Document Imaging located in Minneapolis, MN and is a division of Mid-America Business Systems
• OnTask is an electronic form generator with workflow software that automates business processes
• Small business package starts at an annual cost of $2,400

Workforce Logiq Named “Best-in-Class” by Ardent Partners in 2020 MSP Solution Advisor Rankings

• Workforce Logiq located in Orlando Florida, offer AI-powered workforce intelligence technology
• Awarded “Best in Class” in Ardent Partners 2020 MSP Solution Advisor
• Ardent Partners is a research and advisory firm
• The 2020 MSP Solution Advisor helps talent acquisition, human capital management, human resources, and procurement executives better navigate the MSP landscape and maximize investments in the talent procurement market

Spectro Cloud Launches With $7.5 Million to Help Enterprises Realize the Promise of Kubernetes

• Spectro Cloud located in Santa Clara, CA and provides solutions that help enterprises run Kuberbetes their way, anywhere
• Spectro Cloud is founded by multi-cloud management experts and is backed by Sierra Ventures and Boldstart Ventures
• Kubernetes is an open-source container-orchestration system for automating application deployment, scaling, and management. It was originally designed by Google, and is now maintained by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation

FNTS Expands Disaster Recovery as a Service Offerings to Cloud Environments

• FNTS located in Omaha, NE. Provides cloud and managed IT services
• Expands existing Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) to include universal cloud environments, including public, private and hybrid cloud
• Global data expected to grow to 175 zettabytes by 2025
• 49% of the worlds data will reside in public cloud environments according to International Data Corporation
• According to Gartner the average cost of IT downtime is $5,600 per minute and $300K per hour

Segra Helps Customers Affected by Coronavirus Impact

• Segra announced today it is joining other carriers and honoring the FCC's (News - Alert) "Keep Americans Connected Pledge" to ensure connectivity to those customers negatively impacted by the Coronavirus
• For the next 60 days, Segra, and its subsidiary Lumos Networks, will not terminate service to residential or small business customers because of their inability to pay their bills due to the disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic
• Segra is one of the largest independent fiber bandwidth companies in the eastern U.S

FileTrail Expands Global Account Management and Business Development Team in the US and UK

• FileTrail headquarters in SanJose, CA. Provides information governance and records management software for law firms
• Announced hiring of Keith Schneider as strategic account manager
• In addition, the company has engaged Jon Roscow of Laureus Consulting in the UK to build awareness for FileTrail’s information governance and records management solutions and grow its customer base in EMEA

ECS Named to CRN Top 100 Security MSP in 2020

• ECS headquarters in Farifax, VA. Provides advanced solutions in cloud, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), application and IT modernization, science, and engineering
• Awarded Security 100 for CRN’s Managed Service Provider (MSP) 500 list
• CRN's Managed Service Provider 500 list recognizes the top technology providers and consultants whose forward-thinking approach to providing managed services is changing the landscape of the IT channel
• Three categories that include Elite 150, Pioneer 250 and Security 100

Israeli cybersecurity firm Checkmarx acquired for $1.15 billion

• Checkmarx a Ramat Gan-based cybersecurity company
• Acquired by preeminent global equity firm Hellman & Friedman (H&F) valued at $1.15b., the largest ever acquisition of an application security company

Cybersecurity Update

• Corvus Institute announced that ransomware attacks in the healthcare vertical in the U.S. have increased 350% during last quarter
• UK (University of Kentucky) Health System notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after cyberattack
• The Department of Homeland Security announced that Charles K. Edwards, and Murali Yamazula Venkata, both former employees, were indicted for allegedly stealing government software and databases and then attempting to resell it back to the government.
• Cybereason announced it has discovered a new malware, called njRat, which is used by hackers to infiltrate networks of other hackers, so they can access firms that have already been hacked.
• FBI arrested Kirill Victorovich Firsov for allegedly operating a dark website that sold stolen confidential information, including PHI.
• Facebook paid a $55,000 bounty to Amol Baikar of India after he responded to a contest to find a serious security vulnerability in the Facebook platform.
• Whisper, an app that allows users to confidentially share an anonymous confession, was hacked exposing 900 million messages and their users.
• Microsoft has a bug with SMBv3? Fortinet stated “The vulnerability is due to an error when the vulnerable software handles a maliciously crafted compressed data packet. A remote, unauthenticated attacker can exploit this to execute arbitrary code within the context of the application.” o Possibly impacted by the CVE-2020-0798 bug are:  Windows 10 v1903
  •  Windows 10 v1909
  • Windows Server v1903
  • Windows Server v1909
  • “Users are encouraged to disable SMBv3 compression and block TCP port 445 on firewalls and client computers”
• Hackers are impersonating employees from Vanderbilt University Medical Center of Nashville, TN to send out email phishing attacks
• Palo Alto Networks research claims that up to 83% of hospital devices that use Windows OS are using outdated operating systems and are therefore vulnerable to hacking
• Google announced it has released a new software tool designed to identify potential USB keystroke injection attacks
• ESET announced that a Russian threat group known as Turla (aka Waterbug, KRYPTON, Snake, Venomous Bear) is using 2 new pieces of malware to launch attacks
• Jay Public School District of Oklahoma announced it was hit by ransomware, possibly exposing info on an unknown number of students.
• Cheyenne Regional Medical Center of Wyoming notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after email phishing attack

My morning started off the same as the last three mornings. 

"Got out of bed, dragged a comb across my head, made my way downstairs and drank a cup (coffee)."  That lyric is from the "A Day in the Life" by the Beatles and a song that was featured in 1967 from Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.  I thought that would be an appropriate lyric to start our blog with because I'm thinking there are many more mornings to come that will be identical to the last four.

I heard from a good source today that within 72 hours or less New Jersey  will issue an order for "Shelter in Place", just like California and Illinois.  All non-essential businesses will have to close except for healthcare, gas, grocery, stores. Other companies that can remain open would be the ones that support healthcare, police, fuel and food stores. It's my understanding that many of us will be in that group.l

Today I was able to clean my CRM.  The cleaning focused on scheduling calls and emails, updating emails and capturing emails to my constant contact account.  Next week I plan to send emails that will focus on educating my accounts about business continuity, collaborating and different software programs that enable a paperless workflow.  In four days I haven't printed one document although I've scanned all of my paper based files that I took from the office.

I did lose a deal today, at least that was a little bit of action.  I know why I lost and don't need to go into details about it in an open blog.  We all lose every now and then and I've always been a proponent that you need to lose in order to win.

Of course there was some email activity back and forth, mostly support for some clients that were still operating.  The plan for next week is to write content and get it out to the masses,. Couldn't be a more perfect time to get that done.  The plan thereafter is to generate weekly content for prospects and to get that out once a week.  I will continue that plan for the rest of the year.

Same deal for lunch as the rest of the days.  A little bit of news, food, chat with the wife, walk our dog and then back to work.  By 2:30PM I was shot, tired of looking at the laptop screen and I just felt mentally wiped out from this week.

Yes, I took some "me" time or what I like to call therapy time and put a couple of hours in making some jewelry.  I just may need to that business in the near future.

Ray S and I did have a chance to chat today, we didn't have time for the video. We were able to chat about things we've heard and seen over the past few days. It was good to finally chat with someone in the industry.

I was able able to have a private chat session with five other Print4Pay Hotel members today.  The general consensus is that this virus will not only change the imaging business but it will forever change the way we do business. If we go through a prolonged event many clients will develop paperless workflows. The good thing is that many will need help with the developing the bad means that we will see a dramatic shift with imaging devices.  At the start we could have a flurry of additional A4 devices as one P4P Hotel member told me today, buy mark my words things will change at lightning speed.

I remember a talk track from years ago at a Print Audit event in Utah or maybe San Diego.  That talk track was centered around how each recession has reduced the amount of paper printed in the office.  If I remember correctly the next recession could bring a 10% reduction.  After this is all over it may be more than that.

I hope that a miracle arrives next week and it seems there is some promise with mixing a malaria and a Z-Pak (azithromycin).  I will pray that this can be a workaround that gets all of us back to work.

I'm glad the weekend is here, time to recharge and get back at it on Monday. We never quit right!

Would love to hear from others what's going on in your area. What's working what's not working, what's the news in your state.  Would love to hear from everyone!

-=Good Selling=-

Starting today my wife is now working from home,  thus I had the pleasure of setting her office up in one of our spare bed rooms.  I really do hate being the IT guy at home.  Never fails that it's my fault that when there's a network or connectivity issue.

Never the less that telechat appointment I had for this AM cancelled early and rescheduled for next week.  The only saving grace to the day is that one of my clients asked me to provide them with final docs for a wide format MFP. Not holding my breath but maybe just maybe one good thing can happen to close the week.

One item that is starting to worry me a little is that I'm seeing more clients looking to purchase rather than lease.  I saw a lot of this back in late 2007 which was the time prior to the Great Recession. We can all hope and pray we're not going to see that again.

My day started off with those two emails that I just mentioned.  After I got the revised quote out the way I started on the last three sessions of the webinars that I was tasked with.  Just about an hour in to one of the webinars I received a text from one of my team mates needing help with the possible knock out of a KIP wide format with one our Ricoh wide format MFP's.

I probably spent about 30 or 40 minutes walking him through what I would look for in order to knock out a competitors device.  My team mate was also able to email me a copy of the current lease along with the cost per square foot. I'll try and get this up in our quotes section of this site on the weekend.  The reason why I want to post it is because I've never seen so many different cost per square foot charges for color.  The one missing item that we needed was the monthly volume of the current device.  Hoping we can get that tomorrow so it's doesn't linger.

Remember it's still the end of the quarter and the elephant is in the room waiting to smack down your deals. It's that time when manufacturers drop the crap out of their prices in order to hit their annual budget.  It also never fails that these deals end up making it to the clients desk also.  This time of year always presents some issues with some crazy pricing for hardware and cost per page.  

I went back to the webinars till about 11:45AM.  Along comes another email from another client I'm working on. There's a competitor in that account and dropping their pants to get the deal.  Alright I understand to many peeps that copier is a copier and they are all alike. NO, they are not all alike and in most cases there are reasons why the competitor has a lower price.  From 11:45 till about 1PM I worked on a side by side comparison for the client in an excel format.  It's my job to pick out the good, the bad and the ugly and present it. In this case there was a whole lot of UGLY with the competitors MFP.  Just about 6:30PM I received a copy of their quote which I'll review tomorrow and prep notes for Monday.

After lunch was CRM time! Oh how I love working on my laptop with that small ass screen for hours. My eyes took a beating today.

My goal was to clean it up along with gathering emails for my own constant contact campaign.  One of my goals is to weed out the crap, focus on the bigger stuff and grow my email list.  I spent the entire afternoon on this and by 5:30PM I gave up.  I'm probably going to have to spend another 3-4 hours on it tomorrow. The only saving grace about tomorrow is that it's going to 75 here in Jersey and the weekend is upon us.

The plan is now to educate, research, and build additional opportunities for the next three quarters.  I'm hoping by the end of March we're through this virus thing.

One other item, Ray S and I are scheduled for a 1PM video chat that he'll be posting on his YouTube channel. I'm thinking it should be fun.

-=Good Selling=-