MFP Copier Blog

Early in the year I stated that 2018 started out poorly, had a very good February and a so so March.  It's only April 3rd and I'm already feeling the squeeze even with 14 selling days selling days left in the month. After years and years of having the month close early. The thought of it being only April 3rd and fourteen selling days left can mess with your sales psyche.

Net New

A few weeks ago I'm in an appointment as a referral for a net new account.  It's rather large with two color A3 copiers, three hi speed mono copiers, and a couple of other pieces of hardware.  There are four players in the field including the incumbent.  Over years I've found the hardest deals to crack are those deals where the client is satisfied with the incumbents level of service.

That was the case with this net new account.  During the discovery process, I determined that this was going to be a price buyer.  Thus I position my financials to give me the best shot at this $75K opportunity.  I presented our case about a week ago, and I asked the DM where we sat compared with the other three vendors.  I was told that all four quotes are within one hundred dollars per month!  I just found that amazing since I knew the pricing I gave was extremely competitive.  The account ended up staying with the incumbent because they were satisfied with the support, the brand and the level of service.  I can't blame em, I appreciate those accounts that do the same for me.  I was just amazed with all four vendors being so close.

Next

Another appointment for a net new account came last week.  Within  48 hours after meeting with the client they had made their decision.  There was a flurry of re-quoting because that client kept coming back asking to add this and that. I knew I was cooked when the adding of this accessory and that accessory took me to re-quoting.  I knew that some vendor was offering a sweet deal with all the options. The client wanted to make sure they were comparing apples to apples, thus asking for the re-quotes. Plain and simple I did not have position or leverage because of the brand of the existing device.  Another one bites the dust.

Another Day

Yesterday, I'm with an existing account for multiple placements.  We've had the account for fifteen years. During the discovery process I caught the statement that they'll also be receiving additional quotes. I then fell back to the value points that they've been happy with the brand, the service and the support right?  The answer was yes and I then asked why the need to get additional quotes?  My answer was, "we'd like to know what else is out there".  I left it at that because I know that they've been very satisfied with our services over the years.  Even though they will go out and get additional quotes I know we're in a good position because changing vendors means RISK.  RISK is the unknown when it comes to service, and support.  With this account, I just need to stay the course and let the ball travel.

March Madness

In my recent Sunday night newsletters I've referenced March Madness in the copier industry.  The end of March marks the year end for most if not all of the copier manufacturers.  Dealers are offered special buy-in prices before the end of the year and in many cases those special prices find their way down to the end user. The same is true with Direct, maybe not as much with the pricing but the end of year to pile on any an all sales to drive the year end numbers.

Am I a fan of March? HELL NO!  It's still cold, it's still snowing or raining.  I'm one happy camper now that March is over and looking forward to a great spring, summer and fall.

-=Good Selling=-

There's a neat link for "Copier Life Expectancy" below.  Again it's late and I need to prep for work in the AM.  Good Selling!!

It Easter night here in the East.  Just finished up watching one of my fav TV shows.  One to three inches of snow in the forecast for tomorrow. Not much time tonight to get in to detail about the threads below.

Enjoy the threads from 15 years ago this week.

Here's a short story for all. 

About a month ago my wife asked me to go shopping with her because of a recent snow storm here in the East.  I don't like food shopping, but at times I do need to do my part.  

My wife took me to some new fangled market, and I must admit I was floored with the quality and selection of the foods that were offered.  However what intrigued me the most is that 25% of all the products for sale had a custom color label. There were hundreds if not a thousand of these labels.  Oh boy!

With a loaf of bread in one and a container of Brazil nuts in the other I was off the races to find out what, were and how of the labels. I found the office and much to my surprise there was the owner and he was printing color labels. After a few questions I found out that they have four of these label printers (which only print black) and they outsource the rest,  Which means they are paying a hefty price for the labels. In fact each outsourced label has a cost of 9 cents and the client then has to run the black image (pricing) on each label.  Cost is about .12 cents for each label.  Now each label printer is printing 2,000 labels per week or 8K per store x4 stores for a total of 32K labels per month.  Need I say more? 

Opportunity knocks! (just wish I sold label presses) All the grumblings about page counts going down, the move to paperless is killing the industry. Frack that, we need to follow the migration of print!

At the top of each blog you'll see .  Clicking that link which is at the top of each blog will then bring you the collection of blogs for Color Label Press University.  It's pretty neat, you'll see all of the blogs that we've posted for an easier read and simple way to toggle from blog to blog.

Color Label Presses can be used as seeding devices in larger Print4Pay opportunities, or help that dealer or rep get a conversation going with an account where they have never had any traction with MFP's or IT services.  In addition, the competition is ripe for takeover.   Let us not forget about the GP!

The market for full color digital labels in huge and the potential to make some serious commissions is enormous.  BTW, isn't that why we're in this crazy business? 

Nothing Brings About Success Like Walking Through The Right Doors

Those close to me, who know the real me, know I have no problem asking for help. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness. It is an opportunity to expand your horizons. I'm flabbergasted by the amount of people who simply fail to ask for help.

I've made it my mission to educate, engage and excite all those inside the sales world. Sales leaders and their sales teams must stand up, unite and transform how they go to market in a world full of sales sameness.

I believe every single sales rep must articulate a strong value proposition and tailor them to different stakeholders. They must be able to devote a tremendous amount of effort to understanding the customer, their needs, their wants, their issues; packaging all of this up by focusing on adding value every step of the way.

I spent 27 years inside an extremely old school sales channel, laggard in nature and slow to adopt to modern ways of growing business; the copier channel. I've directed many pointed blogs at the industry such as, Sales Transformation... The Key To Success As A Copier Sales Rep I speak loudly to how copier sales reps must transform themselves. They must take it upon themselves to innovative inside a very slow to adapt sales channel.

I now direct this same message to every sales channel out there... How are you innovating? How are you adapting to what is happening around you? What's standing in your way?

EVOLVE OR FACE THE CONSEQUENCES

In life, **** happens! The spring of 2015, I found myself in a position where life took a massive turn. We all face challenging times in life. We can either let it consume us as we fade into a downward life spiral or we can use it as a launching pad to reinvent, reinvigorate and reignite passion; a passion to challenge ones mindset and skill set to start something new.

A special shout out to my close friend and mentor who started his journey at the same time Scott MacGregor, at SomethingNew.

I've had the fortunate experience of meeting many amazing people throughout my lifetime. A special thank you to my dear friend, Darrell Amy. Without a doubt, the most genuine, authentic and caring individuals I know. His belief in me and more importantly his ability to push me out of my comfort zone has changed me for the better, and I am forever grateful!

THE LAUNCH OF SOMETHING SPECIAL

Evolve or perish! Two words being thrown at sales reps all over the world. Evolve to me means trying something new, adapting and adopting; constantly being on the look out to improve everything about what you do.

With the heartfelt support of Darrel Amy, my business baby was launched to the sales world! The Social Sales Academy is fully committed to helping B2B sales teams integrate social into their sales process to ignite and fuel sales growth. We want you to get results. We’re passionate about doing this the right way, the genuine way, the authentic way! Straight from the heart!

ARE YOU CREATING VISIBILITY

"How do you expect to get noticed in a marketplace when nobody knows you exist?"

In a highly digitally business world, how do sales people get noticed? How do they rise above all others to stand out?

You have to be willing to put yourself out there. Integrating social is jet fuel to anybody in sales who uses it in conjunction with every other prospecting strategy. I threw myself out into the marketplace to get noticed. Combining a strict work ethic, I leveraged outbound strategies coupled with a commitment to social and marketed what I was all about inside the sales channel I grew up in, the copier channel.

I pounded the phone. I drove emails. I spoke at industry events. I wrote articles in industry magazines. I started blogging. I leveraged every single business development tool available to get noticed. I made this a non-negotiable deal. In the span of two years, I've written over 135 blogs, over 40 published articles and have spoken at events all over the United States, Canada and Australia.

I've worked with sales leaders and their teams throughout the United States, Australia and Canada. I've infused excitement and proof that social integrated into the sales process does work. I like to consider myself the biggest excuse remover out there!

I'm in the process of publishing my first book, Selling From The Heart... How Your Authentic Self Sells You (to be released by the summer of 2018).

I share this with all of you as you all have the capability of making this happen. We've all been giving the same sets of tools to use, it's how we choose to use them. The commitment I made to myself matters the most. My personal goal and commitment... I want to make a difference by helping sales people become the sales professionals I know they can become.

SELLING FROM THE HEART PODCAST AND JEB BLOUNT

April of 2017, the Selling From The Heart Podcast was born. This was another avenue for Darrell Amy and I to get our message out to the sales world. Our podcast is all about being genuine, being real, being authentic and speaking from the heart as we help the sales community all over the world.

The guests that come onto our podcast share our same mission and are advocates in selling from the heart.

It was this podcast that change my world... http://sellingfromtheheart.net...ial-guest-jeb-blount

 Jeb Blount, CEO of Sales Gravy. As the author of Sales EQ, Jeb shared his research about curiosity as a core sales skill on our podcast. Here's where it takes a turn... later that same evening I hear my cell phone ringing, looking at it and not recognizing the number I almost didn't answer but I did.

"Hey Larry, it's Jeb... Just wanted to call to say thank you again for having me on the podcast". I'm saying to myself, "Wholly crap!" For the next hour and a half we had a phenomenal conversation. The turning point in the conversation came when Jeb mentions to me that in April of 2018 he along with Mark Hunter, Mike Weinberg and Anthony Iannarinoare putting on the Outbound Conference. Jeb mentions, I've been following what you've been doing, what you've been writing about and I like what you stand for; would you like to share your story, your journey and how you have tied outbound with social strategies to get to where you are and speak at Outbound? Oh my freaking bleep, bleep, bleep, "Hell yeah Jeb I would be honored!"

Let me tell you this ... If you never put yourself out there, how do you plan on getting noticed? How do you plan on attracting new sales opportunities? How do you plan on rising above all others, your competitors? Become comfortable with who you are. Share the real you and not some facade in hopes this impresses others to help you get noticed. The path I chose and carved out for myself has be done my way! The authentic way! The genuine way! The human way by staying real and being real by saying things that need to be said.

People will see, smell and sense B.S. a mile away! If you can't be the real you then who are you?

MY STORY, MY WAY, THE WAY I KNOW HOW

I share this with you all for one reason and one reason only - you all have the ability to change your lives. It is believing in yourself, staying true to yourself and not allowing the voices of others take you down.

We all have stories to tell. We all have a voice and the message needs to be told our way, your way; your unique way as you help to change the lives of those around you.

I encourage every sales leaders and every sales professional to create a plan. This plan revolves around and encompasses leveraging every single business development tool available to help you get noticed in crowded marketplace. Think of your clients, your future clients, your network, your inner circle and your fellow teammates... How can you help them become better versions of themselves? How can you help them all in doing better business?

I know you have it in you. If a 53 year old guy can reinvent and repackage himself then I trust you can do it. Trust me it will change your life! I'm having the time of my life. I wish the same for you.

I hope this inspires you to take action. You owe it yourself, your career and your family!

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!

In 2016, I was recognized by ENX Magazine as, “The Difference Maker,” as someone who is making a difference inside the B2B office technology sector. I am passionate about helping sales reps succeed in creating their online brand image.

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.

“Painting your vision of the future requires the ability to paint over your memories with the paint of your imagination.”

I am sure many have decided, Toys R Us is just another example of outdated marketing strategies. Most have read much about how they refused to innovate. Well, Here’s my thinking. Toys R Us thought they were innovating. They based their marketing and their customer’s experiences on what they believed to be true instead of what the customer knew was true.

The number of organizations or industries who attempt to innovate from their memories instead of their imagination continues rising. Toys R Us is just one example of the refusal to comprehend how their once valuable value proposition has diminished in value. Just because yesterday’s parents used to fill up the minivan and travel to the toy store where their children had a ball running around in the madness of toy shopping. Doesn’t mean their kids when parents or their grand-kids will value the same experience.

“Innovation is not a practice of memory management it’s a practice of Imagination management.”

Things change, and companies don’t. Customer Experience has become a slogan for marketing departments not a reality for customers. When the means to any deliverable changes or is modified by an innovator. Listen to the noise from the legacy way hear their reasoning why the innovator will fail, or more importantly listen to the explanations why they believe the innovator won. You will soon discover those disrupted will describe their memories of why their customer experience is better, and the winning innovator only won because they were the cheapest. Reality check! I think there is a delusional leadership problem when organizations believe being less expensive is a fault or somehow doesn't qualify as a customer experience. Especially for commodity products or commodity services.

Toys R Us honestly believed that the experience their customer had in their stores was more valuable they the new experience of saving time and money buying toys some other way. Toys R Us tried innovating from the directions of their memories. Trying to fit what they wanted into what they insisted their customer wanted. The problem they didn't listen to the customer, and more importantly, they didn't take their lost customer’s advice. The toy buyer today decided that buying from home at lower prices is the better experience.

So, now the Ex- Toys R Us leaders and the Ex-RadioShack leaders drink coffee at Starbucks and brag how their customer experiences were so, much better than well, let's just say it “ better than Amazons.” The problem is their ex-customers didn’t think so causing the ex-customers to outnumber their once temporary current customers. During market disruptions and shifts, companies need to lead from their boardrooms not delegate to their marketing departments in an attempt to temporarily sell outdated value propositions. The one thing every leader knows although not every leader prepares for is this.

“Customers buy outcomes; the means to their achievement always changes.” 

Many industries are or will become victims of disruptive innovations if they continue attempting their responses based on memories. Don’t fall victim to the belief that your outdated value proposition still has the same value. Don’t fall victim to the thinking you are the better Customer Experience because you say so. Listen to your lost customer more than your current customer and imagine what your deliverable looks like without you delivering it.

“Once the mind is open to different possibilities, your imagination and creativity will vision new possibilities which were unimaginable to your memories.”  

BEI Services Business Development Mgr. 2017 ENX Difference Maker

Differentiating the price buyer from the value buyer was a conversation I had last week with one of our VIP/Premium Print4Pay Hotel members.

I'll start with why I found this to be an important topic.  If you follow or are connecting with many of the sales soothsayers on Linkedin most of them are missing the point when it comes to selling.  Note I did not mention sales but "selling" which is the act of closing the deal.

Most will say create value, build a relationship, and don't drop your price.  All I can say is WOW, how long have they been out of main stream sales or are they just throwing BS.  There are more "price" buyers now than there ever was.

Differentiate

I'm still in SMB sales after thirty eight years and have found that we (sales people) need to differentiate the price buyer from the value buyer in a short amount of time.

The sooner you can make that call, it will enable you to increase your chances to close both the price buyer and the value buyer. There's no need to walk away from the price buyers, identifying the price buyers early allows you to save time in the selling process. With all off the spiffs and bonuses that are available in our industry, the price buyer plays an important role in meeting quotas and achieving bonus levels.

I don't work for free and at times it takes just as much effort to sell one copier as it does to sell five.  However, I also believe it's better to make five dollars than no dollars at all.

If you're in a major market you know how competitive it is out in the field.  Identifying when you can an can't make GP can increase your orders!

How To Make the Call

Over the years, I've learned to use my eyes, ears and a few questions that help me identify what kind of buyer I'm meeting with.

1.  If you're meeting with a "C" level exec, before you go in for the appointment take a short cruise around the parking lot. If the parking spaces are marked for execs check out the types of vehicles in those spots.  Porsche, Mercedes, Range Rover, Maserati, Audi all indicate that someone is a value buyer.  When at the reception desk pose this question, "that's a beautiful Maserati in the lot, who does that belong to?" It may not be the "C" level exec you're going to meet with, but if it is, you've used your "eyes" to help put a check in for the "value" buyer.

2. In most cases I'll ask for a tour when I'm in a larger office when there are multiple copiers.  Yup, we're there to identify the make and model number of each copier, and to check the meters.  Look a little closer to the paper that they use.  Are they using a brand name of paper like Hammermill, or are they using Staples or Office Max paper.  Hammermill or brand name paper puts another check in the "value" buyer.  

3. While you're on the tour you'll most likely see laser printers, in addition to the printers take some time to see what type of toner cartridges they're using.  If you're seeing all remanufacturer cartridges then you'll be putting a check in the "price" buyer.

4. Listen to your client, they will give you clues. One of the clues of a price buyer is that they'll want to rush you through the presentation process. If that's they case a check goes in for the "price" buyer. I've also noted that arrogance and rudeness is also associated with the "price" buyer.

5. Ask these questions in this order.

a. What brand of copiers did you have before these Ricoh copiers? If they answer Ricoh, that will tell you that they "value" the brand. If they answer with any other brand that will tell you there is no brand loyalty (most likely a price buyer)

b. Who is your current service provider and then who was your previous service provider?  If there current service provider (dealer or direct) is the same as their previous service provider.  That will tell you that they have brand loyalty along with dealer or direct loyalty.  They are a "value" buyer, however there is a strong loyalty to the brand and the service provider.  You may want to ask, "I see that you've had the same brand and service provider for many years. Is there something wrong with the current copiers or service provider"?

If their current service provider is not the same as their previous service provider. Then, I'm putting a check in for the "price" buyer.

You'll need to figure it out on the fly. Don't too waste much time on the "price" buyers, give them your best price the first time.  Assume the order and move forward with closing.  Let them stop you, if they don't stop, then you keep writing!

You can't sell everyone, but you may pick off a few "price" buyers by not playing the price game.  The quicker you can obtain the order will get you closer to the next "value" buyer.  

For those "price" buyers that you do pick off, they will see the value of your support and service over time.  That time allows you to turn that price buyer into a value buyer the next time around.

-=Good Selling=-

It' about mid-day @ the top of the NJ Shore in Highlands.  Sun is shining, wind is strong with white caps appearing in the bay.  It should be the start of flounder season, however the weather hasn't been anywhere close to co-operating.  We need sunshine, low wind and air temps 50 plus.  In addition we're to be hit with another Nor'Easter Tuesday into Wednesday.  OMG, when the frack is spring going to get here?

In the past I've told everyone the value of being able to see competitive quotes.  Cost per page for color, cost per page for black, terms, lease rates.  Did you know you can figure out the lease rate that was quoted as long as you have the monthly lease cost and the purchase price?  Email me if you need that.

Here they are!!

MP C3504ex Quote

Ricoh MP C2004ex for February 2018

Ricoh MP 2555 with ARDF Quote

Ricoh MP C3004ex quote for February 2018

Ricoh MP C407 quote for February 2018

Ricoh MP_C3004ex quote.pdf

Ricoh MP_305SPF_Quote

Bid Analysis for Canon_Sharp_Xerox 11_2017.xlsx

Maine bid opening Toshiba_Konica Minolta_Xerox_Ricoh.pdf

Recent Canon Bid Pricing for 2017

Enjoy!