MFP Copier Blog
3 Tips To Avoid Sounding Like Another Sales Monkey On The Phone
"Monkey see, Monkey do"
Paper shuffling, sweaty palms, time to go to the bathroom, nobody answers the phone, surfing the internet; the excuses run rampant inside sales bullpens. Sales monkey business has run amuck inside sales teams of all sizes.
Isn’t the ability to pick up the phone to potential clients supposed to be one of the defining features of a sales rep? Then why do so many do almost anything but pick up the phone to potential new clients.
Successful sales professionals do not make excuses! They understand excuses is kryptonite to their sales performance.
Here we come, walkin'
Down the street
We get the funniest looks from
Ev'ry one we meet
Hey, hey, we're the Monkees
And people say we monkey around
But we're too busy singing
To put anybody down
With a comedic twist, a prior post 3 Things Sales Reps Must Use So They Don't Look Like Sales Monkeys With A Loaded Gun pinpointed how sales professionals successfully integrate the use of three silver bullets - Customer Relationship Management Software, Content and their Clients as their fellow sales monkeys run amuck inside the sales department.
What does a successful quota-busting sales professional do every day?
"Successful sales professionals don't monkey around! They use the phone!"
It’s no shock to learn the very best in sales are incredibly focused, organized, and clearly plan out each day with a set goal in mind.
Part of this plan involves the use of the phone as they use to secure new business meetings. How you say things to a prospect matters more than what you say. According to Sandler Sales Training, "only 7% of communication relies on the content of what you say, whereas 38% of communication is about other attributes of communication such as tonality, etc."
Sales professionals set aside the excuses and refrain from monkey business. They don't buy into the "Monkey See Monkey Do" philosophy.
TOP SALES REPS AREN'T DISTRACTED BY SALES MONKEYS
Top sales reps successfully "ditch the pitch" and use these three things...
PRE-CALL RESEARCH
True sales professionals prepare for their phone calls. They've adopted the mindset of "Quality over Quantity". Pre-call planning success begins with small amounts of preparation.
Collecting a few key bits of information will help you gain valuable insight, if leveraged decisively, will separate you from all the other sales monkeys. When gathering this information, do so with the intent of trying to better understand the prospect’s challenges. Learn what makes their business tick and how you can become a problem solver for them. Demonstrate you have a vested interest in their success. This helps in driving an effective business conversation. Isn't this what you want?
There's a wealth of information inside company websites, business information sites and news outlets. With a few minutes of research, consider these questions:
- What is my prospect’s market strength?
- What are their top business concerns right now?
- How are they positioned to handle these concerns?
- Who are the key company decision makers?
- How can I help?
Position yourself as the expert. Quality pre-call planning is one key to success and survival in a highly competitive sales environment.
BUSINESS ACUMEN
I am a firm believer business people buy from business people; not just sales people. Let that one sink in for a second.
According to a Forrester report, "only 27% of buyers find that salespeople are knowledgeable about the buyer's specific business." Additionally Corporate Visionsdetermined, "customers believe sales reps are 88% knowledgeable on product and only 24% on business expertise."
Sales professionals must have strong business acumen skills to provide value and insight as they communicate with prospects during phone conversations. Sales professionals have no time for monkey business when they are on the phone.
Sales professionals transform themselves into a true business advisor. Whether face to face or on the phone, engaging with a higher degree of business acumen sets sales professionals apart from the sales monkeys.
Increase in business acumen allows successful sales reps to...
- Prepare for the sales process
- Understand their prospects business strategy and current financial situation
- Ask business situation questions, business challenge questions, and business opportunity questions
- Position value from the client's business perspective
Strong business acumen helps a sales professional to better understand a prospect's pushbacks, placing those objections in greater context, helping them to move a possible meeting forward on the phone.
Sales professionals understand the phone is still an essential tool in the sales conversation.
REFERRALS
Let's do some simple math...
If 25 cold calls gets 0 results and 50 dials gets 0 results
25 x 0 = 0
50 x 0 = 0
Sales professionals don't increase their activity to expect different results they change their activity to something that works.
Quality calls will yield quality results. Sales professionals leverage referral calling into a prospect from their current clients, their network, or one of their strategic partners.
Sales professionals are constantly developing and working their target prospect list. They leverage this list as it makes it much easier when they ask a current client, their network or strategic partner for help.
Sales professionals leverage their social networks prior to contacting prospects. Socially minded professionals realize they may be one LinkedIn connection away from their best sales opportunity. They ask their network to edify them by making an introduction on their behalf which facilitates a rewarding experience on the phone.
Please think about this... If you provide a high level of service and your clients know, like and trust you then why not ask them to help grow your business?
"If you are not taking care of your customer, your competitor will"
Bob Hooey
I encourage you to ignore the sales monkeys as they run amuck inside your sales department. Please don't allow them to become a distraction from achieving the phone success you deserve. The only thing worse than phone distraction is a sales monkey with an empty sales funnel.
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 and Kindle. 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, Social Sales Academy and on my podcast by clicking on Selling from the Heart.
Xerox "Unable to Adjust"
About four weeks ago I was told that that Global Imaging was going to be absorbed by Xerox in the next few months. In addition it was mentioned that this absorption would result with the loss of many managerial positions. In fact one of those managers called me to ask a favor in reference to a past issue that was posted on this site. It didn't take long for me to put two and two together and I agreed that most of what I heard could come to fruition.
After that initial conversation the last four weeks proved to be unfruitful with not a peep out of Global or Xerox.
That all changed yesterday
Early the AM I had a call from a former Global Manager that stated "the **** is about to hit the fan and I've had several texts from others confirming lay-offs with Xerox." I was then asked to reach out to my peeps and do some searching on the internet to corroborate the call and the texts.
A simple search on google for Xerox and the filter change to the past 24 hours showed at least four local news stories that the lay-offs had started. One of those reporters stated that the round of lay-off was more with management rather than Union employees (after all these years I never new Xerox had Union employees). Indeed something was happening in Xerox's Rochester, New York Campus. Yet more than halfway through the day there was no official word from Xerox.
Thus, I started posting some threads on the forums Xerox Global Rumors Today. Those threads are basically a mix of threads and links that I found on the web.
I don't like hearing about people losing thier jobs at any time. However, the economy is in a good place right now and I'm sure many of those talented people will be able to find a new home. In fact on a recent forum that I visited there were recruiters posting threads to snap them up.
I believe one of those threads mentioned up to one thousand peeps getting the pink slip, and some other threads had less. However, there was the common theme that the lay-offs were management positions.
I came across one thread that stood out among the rest. An anonymous person (they are all anonymous and I can't blame them) posed this question on a thread "3 Word Statement: Define the Cause of Xerox Decline". That person stated "Unable to Adjust". You can find all of these threads at the www.thelayoff.com
FYI, another one of those threads made mention of the lay-offs within the Global ranks also. "Believe nothing of what you hear and only half of what you read", someone told me that year ago and it stuck. I guess we'll just have to wait for some official announcements from Xerox in the upcoming days
Those of us in the copier industry understand that only the strong will survive the decline of office printing. There are too many manufacturers competing for a piece of pie that continues to dwindle. In major markets the race to zero frightens even me because I'm seeing cost per page agreements sold to clients that are unsustainable for dealers and direct branches. Along with hardware pricing that can be as much as 65 points off MSRP. Just thinking about that type of discount really makes me wonder how low the manufacturing cost really is for MFPs.
What's the future for Xerox? I have no clue
Would love to hear from others on this.
-=Good Selling=-
Architect in New Jersey Adds Ricoh MP W7100
front view
It’s not often that you can place a Ricoh MP W7100 in the field. In most cases the Ricoh MP W6700SP is more popular because of the lower price point from the Ricoh MP W7100. It’s also about the print speed too. The W7100 will print at ten pages per minute. The Ricoh MP W6700 prints at 6.7 pages per minute.
Our existing client had an older Ricoh W2470 (owned) and the Ricoh W5140 (end of lease) in place. However, their volume has increased to about twenty thousand square feet a month. Initially our thoughts was to just upgrade the W5140 with the Ricoh MP W7100. In addition the new Ricoh MP W7100 does not support the older Plot Works print software tool only worked with the W5140.
Recommendation
Our recommendation was to add our new Ricoh Print/Copy/Tool software because it would help our client manage print jobs. In addition users can print and edit any file quickly and easily, even if they didn’t have the application that was used to create the file. Ricoh Print/Copy/Tool software will also work with their existing Ricoh MP W2470 printer.
Sales Stories Sell... How Well Are Your Stories Being Heard?
"Stories are a communal currency of humanity."
Tahir Shah, in Arabian Nights
Everybody loves a good story, if you want to sell your products, your vision, or your ideas to the business world, you must recognize the power and importance of great storytelling.
You must become an expert in telling your own story! We all have a story and it deserves to be told. The question becomes, how well do you know your story?
Reflect on this for a moment... Most seem to tell stories just to tell them. However, when you start asking why people listen to and then share stories, often times there's a reason. It might be to encourage or inspire you to think differently.
Do you believe stories help you sell? Many in sales will agree, stories help us to sell.
So, if stories help you to sell then what makes up your sales story? Sit for a moment and think about it. Take a moment to reflect upon your sales story.
- Is my story relevant to my clients and prospects?
- Is there a point to my story?
- Is the message behind my story self-serving?
PEOPLE BUY STORIES
Stories are all about people and the relationships between them. Is your sales story worth telling? Can it influence your clients and prospects in some way? Can it take them on a journey to better business?
Michael Margolis is one of the world's leading experts in Narrative Strategy. A 2x TEDx speaker. A strategic advisor to Silicon Valley's biggest brands.
- People don’t buy a product, service, or idea; they buy the story that’s attached to it.
- Storytelling is our most basic technology, turbocharged through 21st century innovation.
- Storytelling is like fortune-telling. The act of choosing a certain story determines the probability of the outcomes.
THE HEART OF THE STORY
We all have many opportunities to tell stories inside the sales world. Think about every client meeting, every prospect meeting and every encounter when prospecting; the questions we're being asked form the basis of your stories. The question to think about... which ones matter, why tell your story, when to tell your story and what do you really hope to convey?
A true sales professional understands the story they tell is not about their personal greatness. They get to the core of what matters. They involve the heart. The stories they share are sincere, heartfelt and not canned.
Sales is the art of the help. Art rhymes with heart. Get your clients and prospects to hear with their heart.
Authenticity is the key to getting someone to listen with their heart.
AUTHENTICITY
Authenticity attracts. Unfortunately; low trust, rampant skepticism and B.S. meters are at an all-time when it comes to how many view salespeople. Authenticity is not an option any longer inside the sales world.
In a sales world increasingly filled with sales fakes and empty suits people yearn for a sales professional who is the real deal. I encourage everyone to cut through the noise and sales clutter by telling an authentic story.
Your story, it's more than a sales pitch. It's your brand voice. It's 100% all you - the way you walk, talk and live it with your clients and prospects. Your story, how are well are you sharing your story through LinkedIn, your sales website. This is one huge way to influence your clients and prospects to talk about you.
STORIES THROUGH SOCIAL
A sales professional leverages the use of social media to help get their story out and into the marketplace. They realize in order to achieve maximum impact, they must tell the same cohesive story across all the channels that their clients and prospects engage on.
STORIES THROUGH YOUR NETWORK
A sales professional understands their story becomes more powerful when their clients tell it. Just like product reviews or client testimonials, stories told through the mouths of happy clients has the power to resonate with potential customers in a way that is indescribable.
BRINGING IT HOME
Learn to embrace authentic storytelling and you'll be greatly rewarded. The right people will notice and they’ll become your evangelists.
"Communicate your promise, this is your brand identity"
Telling an authentic story isn’t as simple as tweaking a few lines. It starts with some serious self-reflection as you look inward. With some self-awareness, you’ll be able to let down your guard down and simply start thinking about your sales story. It's begging to be told, I guarantee it.
I leave you with these two questions to help you kick start your story. Your clients are a wealth of help, you just need to ask them.
- Can you share with me three ways I've added value to your business
- Can you share with me three ways I've helped you to do better business?
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 and Kindle. 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, Social Sales Academy and on my podcast by clicking on Selling from the Heart.
Twelve Days of Christmas "My Copier Company Gave to Me"
Twelve Days of Christmas "My Copier Company Gave to Me"
I have two of these, one my wife did and I did another. I got her point of view, typical office worker scenario. My wife will be ready this so, thank you for your input dear!!!We'll see which one is liked best by all of you!
On the 12th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:
12 Scan2cloud apps
On the 11th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:
11 Cartridges of Toner
On the 10th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:
10 Boxes of Staples
On the 9th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:
9 Ways to reduces my click counts
On the 8th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:
8 Boxes of Paper
On the 7th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:
7 More Invoices
On the 6th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:
6 New Print Drivers
On the 5th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:
5 New Proposals
On the 4th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:
4 Buy it now emails
On the 3rd day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:
3 more phone calls
On the 2nd day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:
2 more in person visits
On the 1st day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:
1 Print Management Plan for all
-=Good Selling=-
Does anyone know the manufacturer of the copier in the picture? If you guess right I'll comp a free Premium/VIP membership for 30 days
This Week in the Copier Industry 5 Years Ago, The First Week in December 2013
Okay, we're back to doing three of these a wee. Where we look back on the threads from, 5, 10 & 15 years ago
Enjoy these threads from 5 years ago this week!
Canon U.S.A. Unveils Océ VarioPrint 6000+ Series of High-Speed, High-Volume Digital Production Printers
deliver critical savings to print providers. This black-and-white printer is ideal for burgeoning industries -- such as on-demand, digital book printing -- due to its registration accuracy, outstanding print quality, and flexible mixed-media feeding. With its productivity advantage on over-sized media, it is up to 60 percent more productive than current competing digital sheetfed systems. Focus on Sustainability Canon continuously innovates with environmental sustainability at the forefront. The
Blog Post
This Week in the Copier/Office Equipment Industry 10 Years Ago (4th Week of November)
with RFG). Our site is FREE, we do not require any fees, any donations, etc. For the last three years I have been the one to send the... What is SAP Printing? November 24, 2003 7:51 PM Topic by Guest SAP Printing What is SAP PrintingYears ago, the corporate computing environment consisted of a mainframecomputer (host), dumb terminals (workstations), and line printers. Then, in thelate 70s and early 80s, the use of computers started to migrate... SAMSUNG MAKES COLOR LASER PRINTER November
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e-Image Data Announces Lawsuit Against Konica Minolta for Patent Infringement
Oct 05, 2012 HARTFORD, Wis. – e-Image Data has filed a lawsuit against Konica Minolta and two of its resellers in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin for the infringement on patent number 8,269,890 B2, issued for the company's digital microform imaging apparatus. The patent protects the hardware for the ScanPro2000, a microform scanner used in the world's most prestigious libraries and private companies. The ScanPro 2000's patented technology allows it to: Have a
Topic
Fuji Xerox Expects Multi-Function Devices To Generate RM60 Million In Sales
effectively and contribute to a greener environment while maximising productivity and cost efficiency," he said. The devices, which combine green solutions and innovative technology, allow users to copy, print, scan and fax. They are priced from RM25,000 to RM60,000. Fuji Xerox has improved the faxing capabilities of these devices with auto distribution feature so users can send faxes to be automatically distributed to folders, email, forwarded to another fax or printed out. The ApeosPort-V C
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Fuji Xerox Korea Releases Facial-Recognition Digital Multi Printer
recognition process. If the user approaches the multi-printer, the machine senses a change in heat and movement, automatically shifting from an electricity-saving mode to a motion mode in just 3.1 seconds. The ApeosPort-V C775 also provides a translation service. If the user inserts a document that they want to translate into a multi-printer scanner, and select the language on the control panel, a translated document is printed out. It can support four languages including Korean, English
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Konica Minolta South Africa’s innovative solutions to SA’s literacy problem
initiator, Laetitia Coetzer, special projects manager at Konica Minolta South Africa. "International research indicates that one way to improve literacy and the overall academic performance of learners is for every school to have a well-stocked library." At present, only 8% of schools in South Africa have a functional library, with just one library costing R2.5million to set up, something for which neither the schools, nor the Education Department, have the money. "We wanted to do more, so engaged in
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TOSHIBA RECOGNIZES EXCEPTIONAL DEALERS AND INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTORS AT ANNUAL SALES CONFERENCE
IRVINE, Calif. (Dec. 3, 2013) — Toshiba America Business Solutions, Inc. ( http://business.toshiba.com ), a leading managed print services (MPS) provider and business printing solutions innovator, recognized eight of its top-performing dealers and international distributors during the company’s annual sales conference – LEAD 2013 – recently in Orlando. The awards ceremony culminated with the naming of Frank Grasso, chief executive officer of Brooklyn, N.Y.-basedTGI Office Automationas Toshiba’s
Topic
Ricoh Vice President of Strategic Marketing Terrie Campbell to present at Business Imaging Expo
. For details on Ricoh's full line of products, services and solutions, please visit http://www.ricoh-usa.com . | About Ricoh | Ricoh is a global technology company specializing in office imaging equipment, production print solutions, document management systems and IT services. Headquartered in Tokyo, Ricoh Group operates in about 200 countries and regions. In the financial year ending March 2013, Ricoh Group had worldwide sales of 1,924 billion yen (approx. 20 billion USD). The majority of the
Topic
Canon Demonstrates Creative Application Of Latest Graphic Art Printers At Art Miami And Context 2013 Fairs
previous models. The new multi-sensor included with this printer provides outstanding color-density detection and allows for full calibration. In addition, the Color Calibration Management Console equipped in this devices, allows users to easily execute and monitor the calibration status of multiple printers on a network from one PC. High-Quality Imaging, Stunning Prints Taking print quality and accuracy to a whole new level, Canon's PIXMA PRO-1 printer delivers stunning, high-quality output
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KYOCERA launches new range of color scanners and printers
Drum. Kyocera continues its legacy with the new range of A3 MFP’s which has a Drum life of 1.5 lacs pages(3 times than any other equivalent competition product) 9-10.5 lac prints of Mainframe/Machine life(Highest in the industry). For the first time, Kyocera has introduced Color Scanning in its Segment 1 machines (20 ppm or below), which ensures flawless digitization of color documents. Each model is equipped with print box feature, a unique application provided with this new range of printers to
Topic
Ricoh Selects Wind River Simics for Development of Multi-Function Printers
- from design, test to debug. Ricoh is a global technology company that covers a wide range of businesses segments including office imaging equipment, production print solutions, document management systems, and IT services. Ricoh is using Wind River technology to develop their next generation MFPs that have printing, scanning and copying functionalities. "Ricoh is consistently working to deliver new innovations to the imaging equipment market as well as its peripherals and service market
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Toshiba Enhances e-BRIDGE Print & Capture Mobile App for Android Smartphones and Tablets
Toshiba Enhances e-BRIDGE Print Capture Mobile App for Android Smartphones and Tablets Mobile Print Software Incorporates Added Scan, Finishing and Eco Capabilities. Irvine, CA. - To address the needs of an ever increasing mobile workforce, Toshiba America Business Solutions, Inc. (http://business.toshiba.com) today unveils the latest feature-rich version of its e-BRIDGE™ Print Capture mobile software app. The leading managed print services (MPS) provider and business printing solutions
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Tech Data UK offers resellers easy entry into managed print with Xerox Supplies Services
Dec 03, 2013 (Menafn - M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) --Tech Data UK is working to introduce Xerox SuppliesServices (XSS) software to more channel partners and encourage them to build a managed print services business. By installing the XSS Discovery Agent software on a customers network, resellers can monitor using XSS Command Centre the levels of ink and toner cartridges on the entire estate of printers and MFPs. The service is cloud-based, so resellers can monitor their customers print estate from
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Kyocera Introduces Two New Breakthrough Color TASKalfa MFPs
, and maximize efficiency by employing the hallmarks of the TASKalfa brand: breakthrough technology, user-friendly features, and seamless compatibility with critical business applications. “The TASKalfa 7551ci and TASKalfa 6551ci are no-nonsense workhorses,” said Danielle Wolowitz, director, product marketing at KYOCERA Document Solutions America. “Both of these devices take MFP capabilities to the next level. They output large print runs at blazing speeds—with colors and details that bring a
Topic
SALES AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT POSITION
SALES AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT POSITION We are working with a major international software company with a dream for transforming information printed on paper into digital documents and transforming technologies into new solutions. Today, with their international offices, they operate in 16+ countries. They have the largest and most comprehensive suite of solutions for Print, Electronic Transactions, Electronic Payment Freight, and Supply Chain for customers and partners. Their products are
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Toshiba Smart Client Manager 2.0 Features Hard Drive Health Monitoring
/ToshibaUSA, on Twitter at twitter.com/ToshibaUSA, and on YouTube at youtube.com/ToshibaUS. About Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. (TAIS) Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., TAIS is comprised of three business units: Digital Products Division, Imaging Systems Division, and Telecommunication Systems Division. Together, these divisions provide digital products, services and solutions, including industry-leading laptops, tablets, HDTVs, Blu-ray Disc(TM) and media streaming products; physical and
Topic
Xerox named a winner at BLI’s 2014 PRO Awards
Buyers Laboratory (BLI), the leading independent authority in the document imaging industry, has named Xerox as a winner at its 2014 PRO Awards. The Xerox Colour J75 Press was acknowledged as a best-in-class production print device, specifically for outstanding colour in the light- to mid-volume production section. Having generated tens of millions of impressions on production devices from the leading vendors over several years, BLI's production tests reveal the attributes that distinguish the
Topic
Zambian company DIGIprint expands offering with purchase of latest Xerox wide format press
DIGIprint, the authorised Xerox distributor in Zambia, has broadened its offering to customers with the purchase of a Xerox Wide Format IJP 2000 press – the first on the continent – from Bytes Document Solutions, the authorised Xerox distributor in 26 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The purchase was driven by a growing demand for affordable wide format printing, as well as shorter turnaround times and high-quality print products. "Buying the first IJP 2000 press in Africa positions DIGIprint
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RICOH AND PHILADELPHIA EAGLES PARTNER FOR PEAK PERFORMANCE OF FRONT OFFICE OPERATIONS
and other operations. The extension reaffirms Ricoh’s position as the Official Document Solutions Partner of the Philadelphia Eagles, building on a partnership formed in 2010. The partnership includes management of the Eagles’ fleet of multifunction products (MFPs), production printing devices, laser printers and the supplies they consume. Advanced capture, mobile cloud and green printing solutions help keep information secure while enhancing on-the-go productivity and supporting the
Topic
Ricoh Co Ltd : Now on the Web: Imagine the Year 2036
products and services with an eye to the future, in collaboration with creators, who map out the future with their imagination, will help to generate even more creative ideas and act as a driving force for change. The corporate tagline "imagine. change." embodies Ricoh's goal of leveraging the collective imaginations of its people to drive change and deliver new value to customers. | About Ricoh | Ricoh is a global technology company specializing in office imaging equipment, production print
Blog Post
My Top Ten Likes for the New Ricoh MP 2553 / 3053 / 3353
I did not have to price a system with scan/print and a document feeder. Thus the new "53" series enables these systems to have the same features as the recent "03" series of color systems that were launched from Ricoh this year. End result is that these systems should help win some additional market share in Segments 2 3. 250GB hard disk is now standard and also includes data encryption and overwrite. Document Feeder capacity increases to 100 pages. Scan color black images at 79 ipm (images
Blog Post
To Ricoh "What I Want for Christmas for 2014"
at Syracuse in the fourth century. The Saint Lucia ceremony is fairly recent, but it represents the traditional thanksgiving for the return of the sun. Often she is followed by star boys, who wear pointed hats, and carry star wands. 2013 marks the fourth installment for "What I Want from Ricoh for Christmas", last year I was fortunate to finally get a color wide format system that was able to print/scan and copy! In addition Ricoh finally delivered Ricoh ICE (Integrated Cloud Environment), woohoo
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Jc2563
Comment
Re: To Ricoh "What I Want for Christmas for 2014"
Hi Art, We sell the A4 product in Northern Ireland your talking about,we are a Lexmark Business Solutions Dealer and its a Lexmark XM7100 series, upto 70 page per minute staple, scan, print, fax etc all as part of a standard specification at very low CPC. For the desktop we sell the Lexmark XM3150, 42 page per minute A4 mono. 7 inch colour touchscreen and Low CPC also. Good products that are helping us win deals we couldnt win with Sharp or Konica Minolta products. Have a good Christmas from
Topic
Xerox Canada and Datawatch partner to unlock value of data for retail chains, other large enterprise
Canada Headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, with regional offices nationwide, Xerox Canada provides extensive, leading-edge document technology, services, software and genuine Xerox supplies for graphic communication and office printing environments of any size, in industries such as financial services, retail, telecommunications, healthcare, education and transportation. Xerox Canada offers and delivers an exclusive portfolio of leading managed print services (MPS), communication and marketing
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Managing Sales
Today, I found out that I'll now have to break in my 5th sales manager in less than 4 years. I hate to see anyone lose their job, all I can hope is that person lands and I'll be sorry to see that person go. Even though I've been in the industry for 33 years, it's only in the last 4 years that I've ever had to experience having a sales manager. The first few years of my career had the owner running the show, but there were no quotas, I can say that the only quota was that you made "x" amount of
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31 Ways to Close More Sales (#17 of 31)
I tell you some of the stuff that I'm reading about selling is......stupid! I agree that selling, and prospecting has changed, but when presented with the opportunity to sign the order...., well we need to get the order signed or not get paid. Being a valued business partner is a valid concern, however you can't become that partner if you don't have any closing skills or can't negotiate (if needed) 17. Call your Manager Close: Are you in a tough negotiation? Has the customer just given you a
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pid856broch.pdf
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Hit All Your Sales Goals in Just 5 Hours a Day
Bill is the successful CEO of the most effective sales organization in his industry. In just ten years, his company has skyrocketed from $0 to $50M with organic growth in the very traditional copier industry. He attributes much of his success to developing a first-class sales team and asking his salespeople to sell only five hours per day. But, what is the “Five Hour Sales Day”? go here for more special thanx to Adrian for emailing me this link!
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Xerox 5740APT Invoice.pdf
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Document Services Industry Veteran Peter Mier Joins OBRIEN as Director of Business Development Read more about Document Services Industry Veteran Peter Mier Joins OBRIEN as Director of Business Development
OBRIEN, a provider of industry leading solutions in regulated information management for nearly 40 years, announced today that Peter Mier, an industry veteran in the document management and outsourcing industry, has joined the company as Director, Business Development. In his new position, Mier will report directly to CEO Kevin O'Brien and will spearhead the company's print and mail division. With over 30 years in the document services industry, Mier brings to OBRIEN a wealth of experience and
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Ingram Micro Awards SAMSUNG with 2013 Smart Partner Award
committed to introducing new business experiences across a diverse spectrum of industries from retail to healthcare, hospitality to sales. We believe technology brings business and customers together — to better share, collaborate and discover new opportunities. With a market-oriented approach to innovation, EBD is a division of Samsung Electronics America (SEA), Inc., a U.S. subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Company, Ltd. (SEC). For more information, please visit samsung.com/business , call
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INTELLEDOX RELEASES INFINITI VERSION 8.4 FOR CLOUD AND MOBILE
Compuware Changepoint. It uses the native power of Microsoft Office while leveraging a sophisticated rules engine and powerful reporting features to produce compliant, data-driven documents and improve customer experiences. Unlike other business process automation software that can only produce outputs in one type of file or format, Infiniti generates documents in formats such as Microsoft Word documents, PDFs, PowerPoint presentations and XML files. These files can then be routed to a print queue
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OKI Data Americas To Sponsor And Participate In The Business Imaging Expo
4545 – The CX3535/CX4545 are high performance A3 color multifunction printers (MFPs) that provide exceptional color output, plus high-speed print, scan, copy and optional fax functionality for demanding, medium to large workgroups. C941dn – The revolutionary new C941dn digital LED A3 color printer meets a wide range of graphic arts and commercial printing needs, and features the first five station toner configuration with cyan, magenta, yellow and black, plus white or clear in the fifth position to
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GiriSiv
Blog Post
How Can a Scanning Workflow be Created on a Copier?
What is Workflow? Workflow is the movement of documents and information throughout anorganization in-order to make decisions and complete any required processing that they create". I found this on the FileBound site. I know that most of my clients are using theirmultifunctionalcopiers to scan, but it wasn't until the launch of the new Ricoh Metis multifunctional copier series that I felt that I needed to dig deeper with my prospects and clients about how they are using the scanning on the
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Actionable Intelligence Enters Fifth Year with New Website and Special Promotion
subscription price of $299. This is a limited-time offer that will end after January 31, so potential subscribers should take advantage of the savings while the offer lasts. About Actionable Intelligence Actionable Intelligence is the leading source for news, analysis, and research on the digital printer and MFP industry and the original and third-party consumables business. Actionable Intelligence provides clients with customized research and consulting, as well as up-to-date news and strategic
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Cabinet Announces Upgrade to WEB Browser-Based Document Management Solution
– Cabinet specializes in industry-specific configurations designed to help businesses quickly achieve paperless solutions that scale with business growth and deliver bottom-line savings. Every business has the right to go paperless. With Cabinet, yours can. Learn more at http://www.cabinetpaperless.com or on Twitter at @cabinetSAFE . ### Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/...12/prweb11396194.htm
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Ciber Wins Managed Services and Project Management Contract with One of the Largest Associations in the U.S.
establishing PMOs for other large organizations -coupled with our experience delivering in a managed services model - were key to this engagement," said Tony Phillips, senior vice president of Sales at Ciber. "Our 15-year relationship with the association also gives us in-depth understanding of current-state processes and procedures. That provides ample leverage for successful completion of a project this large and complex." Ciber will dedicate a team of senior-level project managers and business
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Envelopes on MP C3003
I have a client that needs to get a color MFP to run business envelopes and the square invitation envelopes. I'm not worried about the standard business envelopes but am uncertain as to whether this can run the invitation envelopes. I would go down the path of a dedicated envelope printer, but they only have room for one machine need to run 80 lb. cover stock as well. Does anyone know if this series can run this type of envelopes?
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Fujitsu Launches "PaperStream IP" Image Enhancement Solution
to help organizations boost their document capture productivity and create long-term ROI." Built on decades of technology refinement, PaperStream IP improves on numerous industry enhancement features while bringing many other specialized features to market such as edge repair fills in torn and ripped paper, multi-stream capability for fast output of different color formats simultaneously without slowing down scans, and blur correction for smooth dot matrix print and better OCR and reproduction
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Global Document Management Systems Market to 2016 with EMC, IBM, Microsoft & OpenText Dominating
vendors, increasing security concerns. The key vendors dominating this space include: EMC Corp. IBM Corp. Microsoft Corp. OpenText Corp. The other vendors mentioned in the report are: Alfresco Software Ltd. Hewlett-Packard Hyland Software, Inc. Oracle Corp. SpringCM Inc. Xerox Corp. Key Topics Covered: 01. Executive Summary 02. List of Abbreviations 03. Introduction 04. Market Research Methodology 05. Scope of the Report 06. Market Landscape 07. SaaS-based and On-premise DMS 08. End-User
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SunGard Availability Services Strikes Third Quarter Sweet Spot with Customer Migrations, Delivers Customizable IT Solutions Read more about SunGard Availability Services Strikes Third Quarter Sweet Spot with Customer Migrations, Delivers Customizable IT
and business continuity management software. With approximately five million square feet of datacenter and operations space, SunGard Availability Services helps customers improve the resilience of their mission critical systems by designing, implementing and managing cost-effective solutions using people, process andtechnologyto address enterprise IT availability needs. Through direct sales and channel partners, we help organizations ensure their people and customers have uninterrupted access to
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Two Intronis Executives Recognized as Leading Experts in Managed Services by MSPmentor
CHELMSFORD, MA -- (Marketwired) -- 12/05/13 -- Intronis, Inc., a provider of world-class cloud backup and disaster recovery (BDR) solutions for the IT channel, today announced its Co-founder and Vice President of Channel Development Neal Bradbury, and Vice President of Sales Rob Merklinger have been named to Nine Lives Media's 2013 MSPmentor 250 . The 2013 MSPmentor 250 list represents the world's leading managed services experts, entrepreneurs and executives. Bradbury and Merklinger are
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U.K. Court Approves Reduction of Capital for Kofax plc
IRVINE, Calif., Dec 04, 2013 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Kofax(R) plc, a leading provider of smart process applications for the business critical First Mile(TM) of customer interactions, today announced earlier this day the U.K. Court confirmed the reduction of capital as part of the Scheme of Arrangement to effect the change of domicile of the parent company of the Kofax group of companies to Bermuda. In order for the Scheme of Arrangement to become effective, this U.K. Court Order and Reduction Order
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Whitlock Announces Promotions in Executive Leadership
Vice President, joined Whitlock as the Vice President of Sales in September 2012. His engaging leadership style has resulted in stronger relationships with Whitlock’s key customers and partners, and has delivered significant improvements in business development, sales and supporting operations. Jack provides strategic direction to Whitlock’s Regional Directors and Account Executives, and has become a champion of the Whitlock culture and brand. “The entire Whitlock team is better prepared to both
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Managed Security Service Market (CPE, Cloud/Hosted and Hybrid ...
Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports. Contact Sheela AK 90 Sate Street, Suite 700 Albany, NY 12207 Tel: +1-518-618-1030 USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453 Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com Web: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Blog: http://www.tmrblog.com/ Blog: http://tmralbany.wordpress.com/ SOURCE Transparency Market Research
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Netology Chooses Xand for Cloud, Colocation, and Disaster Recovery Partnership
facilities, Mr. DAgostino said. The strong presentation of Xands data centers not only impressed our team, but has also helped Netology grow its brand by allowing us to show our clients the level of investment weve made in our infrastructure security and redundancy. In addition to state-of-the-art data center facilities, Netology also cites Xands high level of customer service as a key differentiator. The personal touch from Xands sales and support staff has been consistently helpful to Netology and our
Value Prop Out of Alignment? Disruptors bet on that
It seems when looking at disrupted industries you see the familiarity of a false sense of comfort. When products decline in need, they also decline in value. Those two things are tied together. Value propositions are hypnotic; they can hijack the common-sense of reality during market shifts causing the disease of Product-Centric Thinking.
The speed of innovation disrupting a deliverables current circumstances continues increasing. Today innovation not only changes the customer’s desired outcome. Innovation also changes the customers means to the desired outcome. These innovative changes to the means are what causes the collapse or, the massive disruption to legacy deliverables.
An example of disruption:
People still hire vehicles to take them from point A to point B. However, many of the traditional means to this achievement were utterly disrupted. The value proposition of the Taxi industry and Car Rental industry is now a whole lot less valuable to the many who left for the better experience provided by the rideshare deliverable.
Don’t let your perception of your value-add become out of alignment with your customer's viewpoint. More importantly, don’t make the mistake your perception is correct. Things continually modify with or without the permissions of those threaten by the results of the modification. Sooner or later the way the customer wants to achieve their desired outcomes will in-fact modify.
Many Innovators are re-inventing the outdated means to those customer desired outcomes. Innovators who focus on the customer’s desired outcome are Customer Centric. They can think backward from the outcome the product provides to the means of its achievement. They understand it’s not the product which has value it’s the desired outcome a product provides which customers value. Those who focus on the product are, A Product-Centric mindset which starts at the product putting the product ahead of the customer. Product-Centric organizations will insist that the product itself has the value and will ignore the realities of their customers.
Our friends in the Taxi Industry continue to be Product-Centric. They refuse to focus on the customers desired outcome so, as Uber celebrates its 10th Birthday. The taxi industry has done nothing to re-invent themselves watching their value continue to decline. The arguments we hear from the taxi industry are all about why the new way sucks. The taxi industry will continue fading into oblivion if they keep focusing on the product instead of the means to the desired outcome the product provides.
Can your deliverable be disrupted? Of course, it will be.
One of the hardest things for any value-added sales and service organization. Is reacting in time when their customers become out of alignment with them regarding their value. They waste time arguing why continuing to deliver the past is better than anything the future could deliver to the present.
A company becomes obsolete when it focuses on delivering the past to the future instead of delivering the future to the present.
The industry I am close to referred to as The Document Imaging Industry is itself in threat of an unknown disruptor welcoming its customers. Many in its ranks focus on the products, not the products desired outcomes, or the means to reach those desired outcomes. This Product-Centric thinking is causing many distractions to real threats. Many in the imaging Channel misunderstand that their product is also how they deliver and service as much as what they deliver.
Those whose delivery mechanism gets disrupted only built a defense against competitors they knew while refusing to imagine new competitors; competitors who don’t follow the battlefield rules of the old way and until now have never been in the old ways landscape. So, when they do come they surprise everyone who was unimaginative and unprepared.
Without the ability to imagine what could be we are limited to what it was or currently is. The unknown competitors are merely unimagined, and it’s better to introduce yourself to them in your imagination before they present themselves to your customers.
When a business limits their beliefs to what ’s possible, they face what the innovator saw as probable.
Ray Stasieczko
How Scannx Changed My Fear Of The Library Coin Box
I'd like to thank Monte (p4photel member for sending me this blog the other day. After 15 years of writing blogs for the industry, it can get interesting to try to write about something new. Monte delivers with this nice blog about copiers and coin boxes
How Scannx Changed My Fear Of The Library Coin Box
I don’t know about you but in my 20+ years of experience in our industry whenever a client came to me wanting a solution for a public library that included a coin box or some other pay model I ran for the hills. I’ve installed a few of these in my career but they were few and far between and I never really made a decent commission for the time I spent. A while ago I learned of a new solution that is inexpensive and makes much more sense for these installations. The company is called Scannx. I had the opportunity to have lunch with the chairman Murray Dennis and he demonstrated his product to me. We should all have this arrow in our quiver to respond to RFPs or vending installations.
Back in the old days if you wanted a copy of a book or a document that was in a public area you need to make a copy of it. Today why not scan it? It’s less expensive, is better for the environment and is easier to service a scanner as opposed to a printer. The Scannx solution is hardware configured with software. Plug-and-play. The hardware is a scanner attached to a workstation that is preconfigured with the Scannx software. The scanner is designed for book and page copying and the user interface for the software is simple and easy to use. By simple I mean a 3 grader could easily understand how to scan! You can scan to your email, cloud repository like Google drive, USB and many more options. There are editing tools, image enhancement and the ability to convert the document to a PDF, Word or even MP3 format. There’s even an option to convert the word file format from English to one of many different languages. Of course, there’s a small fee for the library patron to use this service and monies are collected in one of many different ways including coin and electronic methods.
While I don’t spend much time in libraries today and have done little business with them, I now have the perfect solution and an incredible differentiator when I’m responding to an RFP. Does a library really need to offer its customers the ability to copy in 2019? Why not scan it? If I really want to print it, I can use the MFP in my office or my printer at home.
Here’s to a strong finish to 2018!
Attention Sales Leaders: What Could Your Team Do With $7.2 Million Of Sales Opportunties?
"Opportunity is missed by people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work"
Thomas Edison
Observe those successful in sales, and you'll soon notice they're good at the art of conversation. If you think this sounds easy, think twice. Having engaging sales conversations takes a tremendous amount of skill, practice and patience.
With so many leaning heavily on social media for their interactions, the less face to face communication is practiced, the less skilled your team becomes in having business conversations. If your business relies on your sales team to win clients, the better their conversations become, the higher their business acumen becomes, the more opportunities they're likely to uncover and the more likely they'll be able to convert sales opportunities into profitable clients.
“It’s not about having the right opportunities. It’s about handling the opportunities right.”
Mark Hunter, author, speaker and lead expert at The Sales Hunter
Before your team puts their sales shoes on, you might take a step back and look at your sales process. Does your sales team know what distinguishes a sales opportunity? How well are they prioritizing their time and channeling their sales efforts where they get the most returns?
IT'S ABOUT STARTING CONVERSATION
Conversation, it serves as the foundation in the creation and maintenance of relationships. It serves as the gateway, if navigated successfully, can lead your team to the information or results they want.
On the surface, conversation is a simple exchange of thoughts and ideas, but even more important, it carries rich opportunities to build and strengthen bonds, uncover new information, and present it in a way to help create more sales opportunities.
So, why do many of your sales reps struggle to open up a simple conversation? Shift the focus from "all about what your sales reps want" and "all about your company" to all about the other person, their interests and their desires; showing them your sales reps care.
REAL CONVERSATIONS
For the most part, many in sales today fail to engage in genuine conversations with their clients and prospects. They rely upon pre-formatted questions and rehearsed answers which to me resembles watching a tennis match, moving your head right to left.
"Are sales reps truly conversing?"
Real conversations require your sales teams' full participation. It's the space where two human beings participate in a conversation. A genuine conversation is where reality unfolds.
How do your sales reps achieve this authentic experience of conversation, in order to help them increase their sales opportunities?
Authentic conversations mean your sales team must drop their sales defenses and stop acting like and reeking of commission breath. Yes, it's about having them become vulnerable, allowing the conversation to proceed in a humanistic manner. The possibilities and opportunities for engagement become endless.
REAL CONVERSATIONS YIELD REAL SALES OPPORTUNITIES
Authenticity is at the center of Selling From the Heart professionals who don’t just “talk the talk,” they also “walk the walk.” They back up their positive, empowering words with action; benefitting their clients and prospects. I encourage your sales team to stay true to themselves and do what they say they're going to do.
CONVERSION OF ONE NEW CONVERSATION PER WEEK
Authentic and real conversations are the crown sales jewel. Imagine your sales reps having these on a daily and weekly basis? How could this help in growing sales revenue and profits?
Let's use a sales team of 15 with an average deal size of $10,000. If we can attach a $10,000 potential sales opportunity to each new conversation, what could this mean to you and your sales team?
1 new genuine conversation per week per sales rep = 15 conversations/opportunities
15 conversations week over week per month = 60 conversations/opportunities
Every single month this is $600,000 worth of sales opportunities, generated by having heartfelt and caring conversations.
Over an entire year this pans out to $7,200,000 worth of sales opportunities.
I will allow you to play the conversion game but I think you get it!
- An overachieving sales team
- A happy and healthy sales team
- A no bitching and moaning sales team
- Happy leaders
- Happy clients
BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER
A simple conversation, the most overlooked sales tool for connection and change. If every member of your sales team can choose to be present with the conversations they have with your clients and prospects, they'll soon increase their engagement levels leading to an increase in trust.
I will leave you with this to think about... Are your sales reps
- Establishing a trusting relationship with their clients and prospects
- Showing genuine appreciation for their clients and prospects
- Building for their sales future
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 and Kindle. 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, Social Sales Academy and on my podcast by clicking on Selling from the Heart.
This Week in the Copier in Industry, The Last Week of November 2003
Looking back there was one incredible thread from 15 years ago and that had to do with a new member that refused give information that we required in order to approve them for membership.
Those days were the early days from when we transitioned from an MSN community to a real web site. Back then all we had was the forums. Graham & Ted were also key players in getting the forums launched back then.
Enjoy the threads from 15 years ago this week and make sure you check out that thread! Membership to the P4P Hotel
-=Good Selling=-
This Week in the Copier Industry 10 Years Ago, The Last Week in November 2008
I guess the BIG news of the week from ten years ago was ere 50 cuts that Ricoh performed that week. However, that was right after the IKON purchase and within four months (end of Japanese) there was to be major cuts with high level legacy employees. Seems to me that one of the covenants if the Ricoh purchase was that all high level Ikon peeps would replace those at Ricoh. AS Vince would say "that's my two cents".
Enjoy all of the threads from ten years ago this week.
-=Good Selling=-