July 2, 2018

It’s 2018 two hundred forty-two years since the American Revolution ended and began the greatest government experiment in history. Our political landscape is no calmer today than it was in the beginning or, through the decades since its beginning. Our nation’s political partisanship seems to be the one consistent thing to maintaining our government. One should fear too much agreement over the peaceful diplomatic disagreements.

It seems that many have blended protest with disrespect then claim that freedom gives them the right to do both. If one has the freedom, they, in fact, have the freedom to protest. However, if one has self- respect, they understand the difference between protest and disrespect. The cost of freedom is always the blood and lives of dedicated soldiers who can’t imagine the cost to society of Freedoms alternative.

We are getting distracted from the argument of disrespect when we attempt to align a disrespectful act with a right of freedom. Yes, one is free to be disrespectful. However, when one elects to be disrespectful, it’s not about freedom it is about them being disrespectful. Our soldiers fought, and still fight and die for the freedom of the repressed, but none of our soldiers fought and died yesterday or, today for others to hijack freedoms purpose in-order to be disrespectful.

"Freedom is a Pass to Protest it’s not a Pass to be Disrespectful in the name of Protest." 

R.J. Stasieczko  

Dang, me and the entire industry must have been on vacation this week! 

Enjoy these meager threads from ten years ago this week!

Weekend Copier Notes from 06/22/08

Continued 1224 stuff...

Member

Scorotron

"If you go to work on your goals, your goals will go to work on you. If you go to work on your plan, your plan will go to work on you. Whatever good things we build end up building us"

Jim Rohn

Where has the first half 2018 gone? In a previous blog... Sales Leaders: In 2018 Your Reps Must Have a Business Plan Containing A Purpose, Plan and Goals! To all those in sales, it's time to break out your goals and plan from the beginning of 2018.

What do you mean you can't find them?

I trust you know where it is! Sales professionals know exactly where to find their plan while sales reps are still searching for it under piles of clutter and chaos. Stop the excuses!

Now that you have your plan, this is a great time to look back and review it. Rewind your mind and go back to January 2018.

Ask yourself a series of questions...

• How am I doing against these goals?
• Where am I against these goals?
• What do I need to do differently?
• What am I willing to change?

"What am I willing to commit to the second half of the year, in order to crush my quota?"

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS?

This is a great time to set your goals in front of you and develop a personal cadence to help you achieve your 2018 goals.

THE 3R'S TO CRUSHING QUOTA

RECALIBRATE

Set aside some quiet time and self-reflect. Am I on track? Am I doing what I set out to do? What small incremental changes if at all, do I need to make to hit my 2018 goals? What am I willing to commit to in order to insure I hit my goals? What does all of this mean to you?

These are all great questions to ask yourself as you look to recalibrate at the half-way mark of 2018.

If you're ahead of the game or not ahead of the game, I urge you to ask yourself; by achieving these goals what will this mean to you, your family, your career and to your employer? A true sales professional ties their personal and business goals together. They tie it to something meaningful.

It's all about recalibrating your activities. After you've reviewed your plan, take it and give it someone close to you so they can hold you accountable. This could be your manager, your friend, a fellow team member or even a family member.

RECONNECT

I know you have great relationships with your clients. My challenge to you is to take it to the next level during the second half of 2018. The first step is to set up meetings with your top 10 clients. Thank them for their belief in you and your ability to help them do better business.

With curious intent, ask them value based questions to help enhance your business relationship.

• What does value mean to you?
• What's the value I've been bringing to you?
• What have I done for you?
• What have been the benefits I've provided to you?

"In order to add more value you have to know the value you bring"

The questions and responses you receive will uncover additional ways to serve your clients. I guarantee you will learn something new, something different, start new conversations and who knows you may uncover a sales opportunity.

Mr./Mrs. Executive, "What would you say to other executives like you about the work I've done for you?"

Huge prospecting tip... Take all of these responses and create a sales campaign directed at your top 10 targeted accounts. Package these responses by aiming right at the hearts and minds of the executives who sit inside these targeted accounts.

Check out our latest Selling From The Heart podcast as we discuss "Quota Crushing Ideas for the Second Half"

RECHARGE

In order drive a healthy sales funnel one must have a healthy relationship funnel. Recharge your sales funnel by proactively prospecting within your client base. Drive new conversations, build new relationships and widely connect your social network to a minimum of 6 people inside every single one of your accounts.

Can you imagine the opportunities that exist as you map out who your clients know that you would like to get to know?

"You're one degree of separation from your best sales opportunity, unfortunately most in sales don't know because most fail to connect to their client's social networks."

Develop rapport and drive meaningful conversation throughout your client base. Interact and become part of their networks. Lead with education, lead with insight, lead with your heart and truly care about building stronger; more credible relationships with your current clients.

What will drive your sales funnel the second half of 2018? Your current clients will drive your funnel. The more you know about your current clients and the more they know about you the more opportunities you'll uncover.

"The more you know the more you grow"

A sleepy sales funnel is a terrible thing to waste"

CRUSH QUOTA

This is the perfect time of the year to reflect, refocus and reinvigorate your goals for the remainder of 2018. Make the commitment to yourself and become proactive in working your plan.

Hold yourself accountable to those activities that will move the needle and prioritize them.

Lastly, develop a consistent daily cadence. If you can't hold yourself accountable then how can you expect to crush your quota the second half of 2018?

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!

I'm writing a book. The title is Selling From the Heart! I'm pouring my heart into every page of this book and I think you're going to love it.Enter your email address here in this hyperlink and you'll be updated as the book is released. You'll also become part of our launch team. As a thank you, I'll have some special bonuses waiting for you! 

You can find more advanced training material inside the Social Sales Academy website.

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, Social Sales Academy and on my podcast by clicking on Selling from the Heart.

Growing autobody company, Carubba Collision, integrated their accounting software with a document management solution to optimize its accounting processes.  The results: a corporate accounting department able to meet the demands of a growing business without additional staff.

Established in 1955, Carubba Collision is the largest body shop conglomerate in upstate New York with 16 locations across 11 cities. The company is dedicated to assisting customers with insurance claims and works hard to restore its customers’ vehicles to pre-accident condition, appearance and performance. Over the last two years, Carubba Collision entered a high growth phase opening 4-6 new locations a year.

Requirements

To manage this growth, Carubba’s new Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Sean Penner, took a closer look at their existing software platforms. Since they were currently using capturing software, PSIcature by Psigen, to bring invoices into QuickBooks for processing and DocuWare, their document management software to store the invoices, it was determined that a tight integration could easily be leveraged through workflow automation and staff training.

Solution

CFO, Sean Penner, worked with his Authorized DocuWare Partner, ComDoc, to review DocuWare’s functionality and decide which features could best be utilized by Carubba. The Authorized DocuWare Partner provided hands-on training for all employees on the use of DocuWare and implemented tighter software integrations such as an “Invoice Look Up” button in QuickBooks which would take the staff directly to the needed invoice in DocuWare. They also added the “Connect to Outlook” feature which allowed the staff to easily send, receive and upload documents via email.

Benefits

“A general training on the basics of storing and searching in DocuWare and giving employees proper access, made a huge impact on employee buy-in resulting in an increase in our accounting department’s efficiency,” said Penner.

Carubba’s accounting staff was absolutely thrilled with the new work processes because it took away the tedious tasks like filing paper documents. They now have the ability to research a question and respond without ever leaving their desk. This goes a long way in improving customer service.

Today, the bulk of Carubba’s invoices arrive in paper and are scanned and automatically indexed. DocuWare is increasing employee accountability because it gives management an audit tool to review invoice accuracy. Documents are no longer filed. Carruba holds onto paper documents for 30 days, then shreds them.

Conclusion

Carubba is very happy with its DocuWare solution and hopes to expand it to its Human Resources department. As a final thought, Penner stated, “We’ve eliminated a couple of hours per employee per week by getting rid of manual, paper processes. It’s hard to quantify how many hours we’ve saved but the bigger benefit is that we’ve been able to add more stores and grow our business without adding operational costs such as more staff in accounting.”

Learn more about DocuWare here

If you've been around as long as I have, then you're old!  No, really it's that you've seen or heard about some of the coolest marketing programs from our beloved copier manufacturers.

One program has recently has a ton of chatter on the Print4Pay forums lately.  That's the KonicaMinolta All inclusive unlimited click program.

I first heard of the program through one of my Linkedin connections and he was touting how awesome the program is for clients. In fact he's authored his success on the One Rate Program.  Sounds awesome and any program that sounds awesome means that I need to dig a little deeper and understand the offering.

With help from multiple Print4Pay Hotel members I was able to secure the details of the program.

Is it an awesome program for Direct Reps to talk about?  You bet your ass it is.  Unlimited clicks will get anyone's attention these days, especially those clients that are tired of getting billed for overages.

Thus, there is a lease cost for the copiers and a monthly cost for service and supplies.  The service and supply cost is different for each model.  You add the two monthly costs together and that's the total monthly cost with unlimited clicks.

Here's what's good for sales person to chat about:

• Unlimited clicks. Yup unlimited, make as many as you want (program not available to Print4Pay accounts)
• Never ever get a bill for overages clicks.  Which means you have a predictable expense 
• Never have a bill for toner
• Never feel that you've been robbed because you did not meet your minimum quarterly or annual meter volumes

Here's what's not so good for the sales person to chat about:

• If a client use of supplies rises above the typical use pattern (determined by KMBS) the client would need to pay for improper or excess use
• Parts replacement could be new or refurbished
• KM may increase the payment at the end of the first year and every successive 12 month period by a maximum of up to 10%

I'm a huge fan of programs and this program offers what clients want.  Clients are tired of overage clicks and not being able to have a predictable expense.  Even if the escalation increase is 10% per year on the hardware and the maintenance/supply costs, there are many prospects that are just tired of the click cost.  

If you look at the client that has multiple copiers and has a lease payment of $1,000 per month, that second year monthly cost may rise to $1,100.  That's $1,200 additional dollars out of pocket.  The third increase could rise to $1,210 per month, fourth year at  $1,331 and the final year could be $1,464. That's a nice little money maker especially when clicks are declining in the office.

I have to tip my hat to KonicaMinolta. It's a really cool program and is something different for their reps to talk about. Unlimited clicks will gather someone's attention!  In addition, it begs the question of "why not do business with us today, because no one else will offer this great program".  Well, that's the way I would position it.  

As with any program there are pitfalls.  The possible increase of 10% per year, and the over consumption of toner could be a deal breaker. However, to this day, I've never seen an SMB account fired for using to much toner.

-=Good Selling=-

For the last forty-five days I've been closely monitoring the impeding tariffs that are to take effect on July 6th of 2018.  

About two months ago the United States had 1,333 lines (products) that are imported from China. That list was recently reduced to 818 lines.  One of those lines is for "copier parts and copier accessories".  For those that are not living under a rock, we know that most of Japanese copier companies have manufacturing facilities in China. If you're not sure just check out the serial plate on one your existing copiers and it will tell you the country of origin.

Below is a recent clip from a NY Times article:

Although the United States economy is especially strong, the tariffs are expected to drive up prices for American consumers as well as for businesses that depend on China for parts.

It seems the only other is industry Publication that's  posting anything is Action Intel (last post date was April 3rd).  Action Intel did some research into one of the sub headings of the classification and believes that the tariffs will also include most imaging consumables. I urge you to read this article Will U.S. Impose Tariffs on Printer Consumables Made in China? This was published on April 3rd, but much has happened since then.

I paid a visit to The United States Trade Representative site and there you can see the most recent June press release. Below is a cut from that release and link.

USTR has determined to impose an additional duty of 25 percent on these 818 product lines after having sought and received views from the public and advice from the appropriate trade advisory committees. Customs and Border Protection will begin to collect the additional duties on July 6, 2018.

In this press release you can also access the current list of 818 products that is set to start on July 6th.

More Tariffs ?

After the release of the 818 lines of products, China exercised their power and added additional items and tariffs to goods that the US imports to China.  Keep in mind that the original list of 1,333 lines included not only "copier parts and copier accessories", however, it also included "copy machines". 

If the trade war escalates I would tend to think that the list of products will be increased to the original 1,333 lines of products.

Other than some chats from existing Print4Pay Hotel members, it seems that most are not aware of the impeding tariffs. A recent call to DSM on the east coast asking about price increases was met with something like, "haven't heard anything about this and this is the first time I heard about it".  Since that call it's been silent. I also offered up a call to a P4P'er on the west coast and asked him to pepper his DSM with a few questions.  The response from the west coast DSM was, "we don't act of threats".  It's obvious that this DSM has no clue of what's about to happen.

Can the US cancel this before July 6th? Of course they can, however, it seems like the US is in this for the long haul. I'm a betting guy and I would bet that the tariffs will go into effect. I guess the next question will be about how long they could last and of additional products are added.

A few days ago I was on the phone with another Prin4Pay Hotel member and we chatted about what manufacturers would be hit harder with the impending tariffs.  We agreed that they were three or four high profile manufacturers that would have some issues.  Not going to mention names, this blog is more about educating all on what will happen on July 6th.

I have questions as well:

Will the cost of maintenance & supply agreements increase?

What about MPS programs?

Will all of my copier accessories increase also?

Will the Japanese manufacturers ship more products from Japan?

When the tariffs go into effect, how soon could we see increases?

-=Good Selling=-

Today, I declare like the patriots in Boston back in April of 1775, The Revolution has begun. So, let the A4 battle for market dominance begin.

I had the pleasure to share the BEI Services data at the Lexmark Roadshow in Boston. As the Copy/Print Industry continues to modify, BEI’s data highlights some of the reasons A4 equipment is driving much of the many disruptions coming to the print services deliverable.

The battles of this A4 Revolution will be fought in the conference rooms of the complacent, there will be skirmishes between salespeople trying to push yesterday’s technology as the end-user customers try pulling what their predefined needs. There will be sacrifice demanded from service providers as yesterday’s extensive services are replaced by new technologies which are more and more void of service.  

“In the future customers won’t evaluate how good your service is, they will buy products that don’t need service.”

The revolution has been long coming, and many have been hiding way too long behind those “Big Paper Drawers.” This A4 Revolution will cause A3’s mortality to finally see its end. Print Equipment Manufacturers will be struggling as their dealer’s orders for A3, are replaced by the end-user customers’ demands for A4.

Soon dealers will be throwing over the preverbal ship into the preverbal harbor the boxes of old sales manuals filled with old billing models, the parts and supplies from old A3 models, and the boxes of the undeveloped aspirations of production print. Yes, the A4 Revolution has started and those who believe that the oversized systems stand of the A3’S Army will prevail against the speed, agility, and price points of the A4’s Militia, are not listing to the sounds of the cannons as they practice for the celebration when 80-85% of all A3’s are defeated by the merits of A4 Melita.

As many manufacturers continue with their stubbornness in making more of things they want. Instead of making things the end-users want them to make. Organizations like Lexmark can and will seize the moment. Lexmark is not getting sidetrack into assimilating A4 into an A3 world like so many other manufacturers.

The Revolution has started, and there is no going back. The Imaging Channels current circumstances will modify continuously, and there is no stopping the A4 militia, soon the A3 warriors with their big paper drawers will sink to the bottom of that preverbal Harbor called Too Stubborn to Modify.

Don’t fall victim to the disruptor become the disruptor.

“You can be the vendor with the greatest relationships and lose to the new unknown innovator who delivers a better experience.”

R.J. Stasieczko

I though it would be a great time to write about Ricoh Global Scan NX V2 Serverless solution.  At time to time I've struggled with when and where to have that conversation with an existing or prospective client. Hoping that this document can help in our quest to solve complex business problems with scanning.

GSNX V2 Serverless

GSNX V2 Serverless allows the administrator to set up pre-defined workflows on the MFP screen that guides the user to scan to the correct destination in the correct format, with the correct file name, all automatically. 

The user has the ability to browse a folder structure to place the scan in the right folder without having to go back to their desks and move it manually. 

The administrator can ask the user simple questions or have them pick from a pre-defined list of options to name the scan file correctly every time. 

GSNX V2 Serverless can leverage the Searchable PDF function of the MFP (optional) to create Searchable PDF files automatically, without the user needing to set anything. 

As the name implies, there is no software that needs to be installed in the customer’s network.  All functions are running on the MFP.  Great for environments without a server.

If the customer later decides they would like a more advanced workflow, a Global Scan Server can be added to the environment to enable features such as full OCR capability (Word, Excel), Barcode scanning, automatic data extraction with Zonal OCR, scanning to Document Management Systems, etc.

Ten Discovery Questions

1. How are you currently capturing, processing and archiving your documents?
2. How are you managing your legacy documents and files?
3. For business processes that still use paper, how are physical files incorporated into your document or content management system?
4. Where are your paper-driven processes slowing down work flow or hurting your business?
5. How much are your paper-based systems slowing down billing and revenue collection?
6. Do you scan hardcopy documents on a regular basis?
7. Do you need to organize legacy hardcopy files in an electronic archive?
8. Do you have document workflows that are error-prone?
9. Do you send and receive scanned files to and from branch or remote offices?
10. What volume of transactional documents (bills, invoices, purchase orders, statements) do you scan every month?

Bonus Discovery Questions

• Do you use enterprise document management (EDM) software?
• Would it be helpful to receive fax documents electronically?

Closing

When I'm meeting with prospects I would say that 90% or more are scanning the old fashioned way.  Scanning to their email or scanning to their folder, then opening the file, naming the file and in many cases then moving the file to another location.

Offering Global Scan Serverless can get you the leg up on the competition since most reps will not even dig that deep. In addition you may be able to generate additional GP because you are saving time in the process of scanning documents.

Special thanks goes to a Print4Pay Hotel member that helped me with this.

-=Good Selling=-