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R.J. Stasieczko

The Pull-Economy, it is just a Click Away

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The pull-economy is gaining momentum across many industries when will the Imaging Channel be impacted?

Let’s go back in time. Back when copying and print usage was growing. Everybody was printing everything. The information one read was read from paper, back then things just CLICKED away. Customers leased hardware and paid for service by the click. Print Manufactures sold their A-3 through distribution channels made up of independent dealers; some had direct operations as well. A-4, for the most part, didn’t exist except for segment one of course and segment one produced around ten pages a minute. 

Back in this time, A-3 copier manufactures, for the most part, competed strictly against each other. All manufacturers had the same equipment, and most of its distribution partners sold, serviced, and supported it in the same manner.

Channel sales Push the equipment to the end-users. The push economy was good to the Imaging Channel. Local independent dealers competed for market share. Both dealers and direct operations set the stage for how their customers would both acquire the equipment and service it. For the most part, sellers decided the deal structure and pushed the process to the buyer.

When we look back, we would all conclude one important thing. The end-users hardly at all decided on the equipment the equipment was pushed to them. Equipment was sold to the end-users using an in-person salesforce. A sales force which pushed the most beneficial self-serving program to the end-user. We always sold the highest cost equipment and program we could that’s what we were compensated to do.

So how will the past carry to the future as print equipment moves more and more to A-4 and even the A-3 will reduce in cost and require nowhere near the service intensity of its past? Less service intensive, and lower cost, with lower demand or need for products equals an enormous shift from the way things are to the way things will be. Buyers will have more choices to acquire, and the equipment acquisition complexities of the past will disappear.

I recently heard someone say that the imaging channel would not be disrupted by the current players it would only be disrupted by others outside who eliminate the need for the equipment itself. Ok, that is one day. I don’t intend to begin a paperless argument those discussions are distractions to real threats. I will say this the Imaging Channel will be disrupted way before that. The service annuity will continue declining in value, and the end-users will gravitate to the pull-economy these two dynamics will cause pain for some in the channel and reward others who prepared. Leaders of the channel can be the disrupters or can be the disrupted. The challenge will be the time to decide to become the disruptor is running out.

Today more than ever the Imaging Channel must prepare and extract as much profit from the current circumstances as possible. Truly understanding your profit potential takes data, not hype or delusional accounting methods. To prosper in the future, we must capitalize on today’s circumstances and take nothing for granted.

R.J. Stasieczko

For over 25 years BEI Services has been recognized as the world’s largest database of service metrics for the Imaging Channel. With hundreds of organizations, thousands of Technicians, millions of devices and billions of pages on the BEI Platform, the data and statistics we provide to our partners are unprecedented in helping them achieve best in class benchmarks along with increased profits. It is from the knowledge of facts in our Trademarked Worldstats Database which allows BEI partners to improve by accurate measurement eliminating the emotional noise of complacency. https://www.beiservices.com/

 
1 comment

In Memoriam of Copiers Terms and Features from Days Gone By

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'In memoriam' is a Latin phrase that directly translates as "into memory".

I really wasn't sure how to title this blog, and thought long and hard about how to get my message across in the title.

Back in August of this year I started a forum thread on the P4P Hotel forums titled "Copier Terms/Language from days gone by".  We had a few old timers that chimed in (including me) to post those terms and language that we just don't see anymore in our industry.

What started all of this,  was the word "skyshot". I had used it in a sentence one day in the office in and I noticed that no one knew what the heck I was talking about. Of course I had to explain, that a "skyshot" is when you leave the "platen" top (oops there are no more platen tops) in the open position and then press the copy button.  Today, you can do the same by leaving the document feeder in the open or up position.  The result is a black image over the entire document.  Well, not the entire document, because with most copiers aka MFP's there are "void" areas.  Oh, there I went again.  When was the last time you or someone mentioned a void area on the print?

Believe it or not there were times during our demonstrations when we produced a "skyshot" from the copy machine and then showed it to the decision maker.  Back then you had to have really awesome image quality and in most cases it was a gamble if you did the "skyshot".  It was kind a hit and miss since humidity and paper moisture played a big part in making sure the entire page was solid black.  Thinking back, the best blacks and "skyshots" came from Toshiba copiers. I hated demoing against those because the black was very dense and coverage of the page was exceptional.

Anyone remember CROP codes?  Have no idea what CROP meant, but with Sharp copy machines only you could press four different buttons on the key panel and access a meter read of the device.  Since the LED display only displayed two numbers at a time, you had to wait for the entire sequence to finish in order to get the full meter read.

"Knockouts" was a term that we used for large black areas on the page.  In most cases there was a black square and the type (font) would be white.  Thus, the reason for calling that image a "knockout".  I can tell you that I lost many sales because another device had a blacker or more dense "knockout" than what I was offering. Decision makers would actually save copies from the demo's to compare with other copiers.  We used to say, that if you left the demo without the order the chances of closing that order dropped by 75%.

Wow, "Dispersant", a little before my time, but I learned how to be a tech by working on old copiers that used a liquid dispersant. I guess you could call it a developer by today's standards. It was a mess to deal with and stained your skin and reeked havoc with suites, shirts, ties. You name it dispersant stained it.

I still have a large bottle of this in my garage and it's called "Fuser Oil".  Back in the eighties almost every device used fuser oil (clear, light weight oil) and we sold them like hot cakes.  If you had a plain paper copier you needed fuser oil.  At my dealership we had a hot shot supply sales person (Gene Trout), he would sell a few thousand dollars of fuser oil per month!  But wait, that's not all, fuser oil had many uses other than copiers.  We used it to clean the covers of the copiers (added a light sheen to those used copiers), used it to clean the power cord (when selling a used machine, a dead give away that it was over used was a filthy power cord). 

Outside of the office, fuser oil was great for cleaning and rejuvenating any and all rubber parts on your car. Excellent for adding a shine to your tires, in addition we also used it on the interior.  Yes, fuser oil was the "poor mans" Amour All.

My word, it's a "Plain Paper Copier"!  Plain paper copier was something that we used in our telephone scripts.  Before plain paper there was coated paper (dang, other term coated paper). "Coated paper" was much more expensive than plain paper and in most cases those copy machines that used coated paper had so so quality.  Everyone, I mean everyone had to have a plain paper copier. It was like keeping up with the Jones.

Betcha you didn't know that most copiers could not automatically produce a two sided copy.  The rule of the demo was "simplex" (there I go again with simplex).  Simplex means a single sided copy. In most copiers you could flip the copied paper and then flip the original on the glass, and then pass the simplex copied paper into the by-pass tray to make your own two-sided copy.  However, you had to know which side to face up in the by-pass tray and do you insert the "lead edge" or the "trail edge" first!

It wasn't until sometime in the eighties that the manufacturers manufactured copiers with "Duplex Trays".  Geesh, let me explain, once one side of the paper was copied, those pages were  stored in a tray in the copier.  When it came time to copy the back side the paper was flipped and passed through the imaging area again, thus putting an image on the back side of the paper.  Demonstrating two sided copying with duplex trays was painful. You told everyone it could be done and when asked to perform a demonstration, all we could do it cross our fingers and hope there was no jamming. 

The rule of thumb with all demo's was KISS (Keep it Simple Stupid), only demo what the decision maker was interested in seeing!

"Push button color" was a feature/term that we used for copiers that had dual developing units in them. I think there were three colors which were black, red, blue and green.  With the push of the color button you would engage the color developer unit and the image would come out in all red, blue or green.  You could only keep two colors the copiers at one time.

Manufacturers thought they would add an editing board to enhance dual color copiers. OMG, you want to talk about a cluster ****!  The technology would allow you to produce two colors in one pass and the "editing board" allowed you to edit what portion of the image would be black or red.  Let me tell you, this was a whole heck of a lot of **** to learn.  A piss poor demo resulted in a NO SALE!

Did you know that most brand new copiers also came with a "copier cover"?  "Why do I need a cover?" A cover is a vital part in keeping your copier free of dust and contaminates when not in use.  You want to protect your investment. Thinking back the covers probably cost about fifty cents to manufacturer.  You see back then, demonstrating copiers was all about the sizzle!

What is the heck is a "key operator"?  Is that the person who guards the keys to the office? Nope, it was the person who was in charge of the copier.  Every office had the one go to person that you would give extra training to for paper jams, adding toner, removing mis-feeds and knowing how to uses the different features of the copier.  As a sales person you needed to make sure your key operator knew it all, because you did not want to go back and do the training all over again.

It's late and there are many more terms that I haven't mentioned, however I need to write some orders tomorrow.  Thus, we'll close with "clam shell design”. In the golden age of copiers, all copiers jammed. Don’t care who the manufacturer was they didn’t feed paper that well. Thus, a few of the manufacturers, well at least Minolta designed their copiers to open like a clam in order for the user to remove the mis-feed. This was definitely a feature you wanted to demo, and most attendees were marvel at the technology.

It was all about FAB (feature, advantage, benefit) and KISS (Keep it simple stupid)

Special thanx to all of the Print4Pay Hotel Members that made this blog possible!

-=Good Selling=-

 
4 comments
Dan Taylor

Hacking increasing by 1600%* - What is really going on with Data Security?

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Before you switch off as you consider security uninteresting, just remember that if you think about it George Lucas has made $5.3 billion out of a data breach story.

General Tagge  " If the Rebels have obtained a complete technical readout of this station it is possible, however unlikely, that they might find a weakness, and exploit it."

Before we start let us say we aren't self-appointed gurus, we are most likely just like you, a user/business person. During this search, we realised that we both knew very little before and that the threat is much bigger than we had previously understood.

In this series of articles, we will cover a number of topics around security

  1. What is really going on?
  2. Why is this happening?
  3. Who are they?
  4. What are the different types of threats?
  5. What can you do about it?

Switching Sci-FI metaphor to another film, The Matrix, if you were given choice to make.

  • The green pill would allow you to remain comfortably ill-informed, or
  • The red pill would allow you to escape into the real world, but living the "truth of reality" is harsher and more difficult, what would you choose?


If you had chosen the green pill you would be forgiven if you believed that security was the job of the security specialists. Many organisations follow the Hope Strategy, which HK Bain defines as “We lock our filing room, have a password policy on employee computers, and use a firewall on our network. We hope that’s enough to keep out the bad guys. Besides…why would anyone want to me after us?”

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As you chose the red pill and are continuing to read, the harsh reality that you will wake up to is the fact that security is a myth, and you pretty much need to assume you are being attacked right now.

It’s easy to dismiss the topic as scaremongering, in this series of articles I will aim to prove that it’s a serious threat that isn’t being taken as seriously as it should.

If the US Army is vulnerable its difficult to argue that any organisation is going to do better.

Lieutenant General Paul Nakasone of the US Army Cyber Command said “ My first thought was, ‘Wow, it only took them 10 minutes to identify a vulnerability. How long would it have taken for us to discover?”

The reality is that there are plenty of vulnerabilities out there and the only reason why you haven't experienced a breach is pretty much luck.

77% of all bug bounty programs have their first vulnerability reported in the first 24 hours. Hackerone

Are you hoping that private medical data is safe?

“We’re attacked about every 7 seconds, 24 hours a day," John Halamka, CIO of the Boston hospital Beth Israel Deaconess.

If you require further proof and are visual you can actually get real-time visibility into global cyber attacks from Norsecorp, which resembles another film from the 1980’s Wargames.

 “Even if you have the best security in place, there’s still a chance that you may be breached,” said Peter Toren, an attorney specializing in computer crimes at Washington D.C. law firm Weisbrod Matteis & Copley. Toren was also a federal prosecutor for eight years, in the Justice Department's computer crimes division.

4,000 ransomware attacks happen daily that’s 1,460,000 attacks a year. Department of Justice


Here is a chilling real example from a Fortune 100 company CIO following a cybersecurity assessment.

“It took the attackers only six minutes to circumvent the perimeter defences. From there, they achieved domain administrator privileges in less than 12 hours. In less than a week they fully compromised all 30 of our global domains. They harvested more than 200,000 credentials, giving them the ability to log in to the network masquerading as any of us—they could even change our investment elections in our 401(k)s or transfer money out. There was no place on our global network they could not go and only a handful of computers they did not have easy access to—only 10 percent of our manufacturing facilities are behind firewalls, segregating them from our network. The attackers were in a position to electronically transfer millions of dollars out of our bank accounts through our accounts payable system. Their tools did not set off any alarms—our antivirus software did not trigger any alerts. They had direct access to our manufacturing environment and could affect both the quality of our production processes and safety on our shop floors. They had access to our most sensitive intellectual property, including our past, current and future plans for major acquisitions and divestitures as well as the results of the billions of dollars we have invested in a decade of research and development. And, in the end, they were able to steal all the data. We were not able to stop them, or even see them in our network!”
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Why don't we hear more about this, many companies are experiencing breaches but may not necessarily be publicising the fact, or more chilling may not even be aware its happening.

According to PWC 90% of large UK organizations reported suffering a security breach in 2015 - 2015 Information Security Breaches Survey, PwC UK

The reality is that most security breaches go unreported.

More than 89% of security incidents went unreported in 2007, according to survey of about 300 attendees at this year's  RSA Conference.

In the past, we would all have been forgiven for believing we were all much more secure than we really are, and that security and my data was taken very seriously.

There is a belief that you "do security" and then you "are done", yet it’s a constant battle, with everyone in your organisation needing to be involved .

The situation is so serious that the Cyber Insurance market is growing exponentially

Lloyd’s of London has warned that a serious cyber-attack could cost the global economy more than $120bn (£92bn) – as much as catastrophic natural disasters such as Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy.

We will cover GDRP and its impact later on in the series. In the next article in the series, we will cover Why is this happening?

* Verizon Data Breach Investigation Report

 
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Larry Levine

Transforming How Sales Professionals Develop New Business by Integrating Social into the Sales Process

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Mediocre, average, unexceptional, ordinary, complacent - these aren’t qualities that usually come to mind when we consider successful salespeople.

What is one key trait to expect of salespeople who make an impact, achieve success and smash their sales targets?

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Being insanely curious is a required character trait if you wish to master business disruptions. All sales professionals put learning on overdrive.

A naturally curious salesperson can put themselves in the customer’s shoes, get to the bottom of their problem, and present a solution to meet their needs. 

Curiosity is the most powerful thing you own as a sales professional

Curiosity is essential because it can drive your sales reps ability to make new connections. The more engaged they become with prospects and your clients the more inclined they are to ask questions; the more they learn and uncover the more they can grow the relationship enabling them to hit their sales targets.

An insanely curious sales rep is always learning something new, allowing them to build upon their expertise. Prospects and your clients want to do business with salespeople who are true experts. Becoming extremely curious allows your salespeople to develop creative solutions to your prospects and clients problems.

INSANELY CURIOUS

Curiosity can be developed with the right mindset.

Words which come to mind with curious salespeople: intense desire to know something, eagerness, questioning, interested, detectives, thirst for knowledge and inquisitive.

Insanely curious salespeople are constantly thirsty for success!

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CURIOUS SALES REPS SMASH THEIR SALES TARGETS

Being curious means always wondering "why?" What is behind your sales teams why?

How many curious salespeople are on your team?

Curious salespeople think on a different plain. They identify and ask questions that solicit deeper results.

Becoming curious drives them down different roads, creating more opportunities for them to see things with fresh perspectives.

CURIOUS SALESPEOPLE KNOW THEIR VALUE

The average sales rep may think they know how to sell value, but it means nothing unless the value is built up from the customer’s perspective.

Insanely curious salespeople know what drives their clients’ decisions and how to create awareness of the value they bring. This is accomplished by developing a learning mindset to help your customers get what they need, an outstanding experience.

I truly believe it’s more effective to act as if no one knows you or recognizes the value you bring as this makes you have to prove it every day.

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Curious salespeople go face to face with your customers and ask...

  • "What value do my services, products or solutions create for you?" 
  • "What does value-add look like to you?"

Sustaining value in the minds of your customers requires persistence and extreme focus. This is what curious salespeople are all about... an obsession with understanding value.

CURIOUS SALESPEOPLE TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

Average sales reps are always making excuses for everything bad that happens to them. It’s the economy, the leads are weak, the competition has better products, buyers are idiots, we’re too expensive, our service is horrible; stop the excuses!

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Curious salespeople see all of this as learning opportunities. They learn to do something different and practice different ways of progressing towards achieving sales success. They view roadblocks as learning opportunities and become obsessed with the identifying as many ways as possible to improve.

Curious salespeople have a strong appetite for knowledge and eat information daily for breakfast.



CURIOUS SALESPEOPLE ARE CURIOUS ABOUT THEIR CLIENTS

The top sales professionals know their clients and potential clients deserve more than just a phone call with a rehearsed sales pitch. They recognize the importance of exploring their beliefs, their challenges, what drives them and most importantly, what they want to accomplish.

Innately curious salespeople are ready to ask the right questions, provide the right insight and respond with answers.

How curious are your sales reps in making sure your clients feel special before, during and after doing business with them?

  • Are they making your clients feel important?
  • Do your clients feel that your sales reps care about them?
  • Do your clients feel like they can trust your sales reps?

Curious salespeople focus on developing conversations, not sales campaigns. It is about opening up human to human conversation. It is not about your sales reps it is about helping your clients.

Attention to all sales leaders...

When was the last time one of your sales reps had a conversation with one your clients that didn't involve trying to sell them something?

Imagine the outcomes your sales reps would have by increasing their level of curiosity when they are with, doing work for and thinking about your clients.

What would it look like as they became more curious on behalf of your clients? What could they help your clients do better?

With curious intent, spend some time with your clients and ask them how your sales reps have been enhancing their experience with your company?

You may want to check out this episode of Selling From The Heart

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Picture your sales reps entrenching themselves in your clients world not their sales world.

STOP AND THINK FOR A MOMENT

The one thing separating successful sales teams and others who are merely surviving or should I say, being complacent; is their desire to learn as curiosity ignites it. Successful sales people never stop learning. In turn, they translate their new understandings into innovative ideas for their customers. 

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Help your sales team break out of complacent, default modes of thinking. Recycling old ideas with traditional sales approaches won’t help your sales team smash their targets or satisfy your clients.

Create a sales culture based upon curiosity. In the words of the great Walt Disney...

"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things because we are curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths"

Lead your sales team down new paths to help them smash their sales targets.

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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 LinkedIn stories. Integrating the use of 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 tell their story and communicate it out by integrating the use of social media. You can follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter, Social Sales Academy and on my podcast at Selling from the Heart.

 
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R.J. Stasieczko

What China Showed Me

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I had the honor of speaking at the RemaxWorld Summit held Oct. 12- 14th 2017 in Zhuhai China. In describing the expo size, one could only say huge; some might say, Bigley, this event was incomparable to any Imaging Channel focused event I have ever attended in my 30-year history in the Imaging Channel. There were booths, and when I use the term booth, I don’t mean a table with a colored cloth draped over it. These expo booths some the size of small apartments. Spread across five football fields of space inside the Zhuhai expedition hall. Within these booths, you would find print cartridge manufacturers, Chip Manufacturers, and Print management software developers to name a few. A visitor would believe that the world of Print is as lucrative as it was in 1980.

In front of the expo hall stood one of the most elaborate Sheraton hotels on the planet. I must admit before coming to China. I thought of China as a completely different kind of competitor. Like many, I visualize depressing factories where thousands of unhappy workers drilled holes in used H.P. cartridges and refilled them with toner disregarding any quality standards.

What I was not visualizing were Billion Dollar Corporations with extremely talented executives who have a deep passion for business growth and winning. These leaders are the true definition of an entrepreneur; These leaders are building state of the art manufacturing facilities, employing the best of best practices, and stay commented to constant improvement. China and its business leaders want recognition as a world leader just as other countries in the world do.

Zhuhai, China is the Printer Consumable and Printer Cartridge Chip capital of the world. Zhuhai is a small city a little over two million people. The modernization of Zhuhai is only around twenty years old. Its architecture would rival any city in the world. As I drank a local beer sitting on the patio at the Sheraton under the palm trees watching the valets parking Tesla’s, Mercedes, and even a Bentley well actually two Bentleys. Looking toward the waterway, you could see the many people walking along the state of art walkway which flanks the Pearl River Zhuhai’s roadway to the South China Sea. I thought to myself this modern, sophisticated city is not what I expected as I am sure many first-time visitors to China think.

One thing is clear the Chinese Business Leader does not lack any less desire for success than her or his worldwide competitors. The global world economy was defined more clearly for me during this trip.

The world all cultures share may differ in governments, languages, religions, and each defines their values. However, this global world of commerce we all share has one thing in common, and that’s business. Today all businesses will compete at new levels, some will be fair and some may not. Corporations will argue global competition such as geographic human cost advantages, or arguments of ones’ countries patient laws from another country or manufactures whose arrogance will argue only products manufactured in their country can be superior in quality. These arguments may continue, and some will be resolved. However, throughout the world the real power is in the hands of the consumers, and as the world continues to reduce in size by technology. Governments’ will have to decide what they are willing to modify or what to compromise to ensure their piece of the enormous opportunities the revenue of global trade provides not just to governments their people as well.

Zhuhai opened my eyes to the fact that no one country or hemisphere of countries have a monopoly on the Entrepreneurial spirit or business leadership acumen. As the world’s products end-users have more and more access to technology and the Push Economy continues transitioning faster and faster to the Pull-Economy the world we all live in will be the world we all shop in and is the world we all compete in.

R.J. Stasieczko         

 
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This Week in the Copier Industry 10 Years Ago

This Week in the Copier Industry 10 Years Ago (Last Week of October 2007)

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As Friday came to close, there were only two (sales) of us left in the office by the time 4:30PM rolled around.  Why were we in the office at 4:30PM on a Friday?  That's easy, our month ends on Monday and we're still trying to get move **** forward. 
As we were packing up, the topic of demonstrations came up somehow.  There we were reminiscing about how awesome it was to do demonstrations.  The planning, the preparation, and of course the sizzle.  I'll admit it, I could present excellent demonstrations and close. I can remember telling myself that I'm not leaving this persons office without an order.  After hours of wrangling I got what I wanted.    Perhaps, I will do a blog on demo's this week. 
Enjoy these threads from ten years ago this week!
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Weekend Copiers Notes from 10/21/07

Floating Point Systems, and Barco Medical Systems o The remaining company was just purchased by Danaher Corp. for $2.8 billion. - Xerox is now shipping an optional external EFI Fiery print controller for its 4112 and 4127 production b/w MFPs. - Konica Minolta introduced, through its Instrumentation division, the CS-2000 spectrophotometer with the world’s best performance, capable of measuring down to luminance of 0.003cd/m2. - Toshiba now offering BlackBall’s Re-Search data management solution
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Konica Minolta SD-501 Booklet Maker

Is anyone familiar with this product, it is configured on the KM C6500? Im wondering if this is a tri-edge trimmer or a leading edge trimmer like the Ricoh BK-5010? Any help would be great.
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RICOH ANNOUNCES ENHANCED PRINT SECURITY

committed to creating new “document-centric” customer value that will revolutionize how individuals and businesses use digital and paper-based information. DSS offers a complete package of products, services and support programs to all of our channels, comprising of direct and indirect operations under the Ricoh, Savin, and Lanier brands. Ricoh Corporation, founded in 1962, is headquartered in West Caldwell, N.J., and is a subsidiary of Ricoh Company Ltd., the 71-year old leading supplier of office
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Why Am I Still Selling Copiers?

I'm not!! I'm selling multifunctional systems that can increase your productivity and save time (this way management can pummel you with more work). Yes, the technology of the copier has come a long long way over the past few years. But to get right down to it I don't know of any other job that lets me make my own hours, lets me go on vacation without telling anyone (hope my boss is not reading this) , hey as long as you have your phone, pda or pc you're working right, isn't that a rule? I get
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Kyocera Mita America Adds Two New High-Performing, Cost-Effective Document Imaging So

panel and print their PDF documents directly from the touch screen interface. For businesses concerned with document confidentiality, the KM-3060 and KM-2560 offer an optional Data Security Kit (C). This data security kit helps companies meet the privacy demands of today’s digital office environments by overwriting and encrypting documents stored on the standard 80GB Hard Disk Drive providing companies with a secure document solution. To enhance workgroup collaboration between end-users, Kyocera’s
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Xerox Announces First Full-Color Continuous Feed Printer;

launched today in Japan and is immediately available in Japan, China and the Pacific Rim. The new continuous feed device is available for order taking in a phased approach beginning in Europe during the first half of 2008, followed by North America and developing markets, based on customer demand. The Xerox 490/980 is anticipated to have a U.S. price of approximately $1.8 million per engine. "Businesses are always looking for better ways to reach their customers. Digital technology lets marketers
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Re: Big Tom Out as Prez at Ricoh

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It's fact. Also the Global boys tell me how easy selling Xerox is compared to other brands they have sold in the past including Ricoh. The power of a name!
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Ricoh and Server setup

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I have run across a couple of instances of when I put a Ricoh out on a server and use the RPCS driver that I get error messages when I print from the user station--typically saying that I must change paper size to A4 and then resume printing by resetting the job. When I load the driver directly to the station, it works fine. Any ideas?
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Copy Machine Sales Suicide with The 3-5 Plan

Over the years there have been a few articles in reference to why the 3-5 plan is bad for Dealers and I admit there are some pros and cons. However, I'm going to tell you why the 3-5 is bad for the customer and bad for the sales person! The 3-5 is basically three years of service and supplies rolled into a 5 (60 month) year lease plan. What's wrong with the plan? Lets look at this from the sales persons view. go here for the rest of the blog arts blog
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KonicaMinolta BizHub 920

KonicaMinolta BizHub 920 $21,300 cpc (no min) .0045
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Canon iR 7095

Canon iR 7095 $27,500 w/fiery S2 RIP, SaddleStitcher, LCC & Interposer cpc (no min) .0042
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Xerox WorkCenter Pro 255 w/RIP

Xerox WorkCenter Pro 255 w/RIP $10,000 cpc (no min) .0069
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KonicaMinolta BizHub Pro6500 w/Fiery

KonicaMinolta BizHub Pro6500 w/Fiery ADF, Saddle Stitcher, LCT $32,000 cpc (no min) .045 cpc (no min) .0???
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Toshiba info

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Anybody have any good competitive info on Toshiba products and in particular the e-studio452???
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Re: Big Tom Out as Prez at Ricoh

It is becoming clearer that Lanier is taking over Ricoh. The new name will soon become Ranier. With X/Global hitting Ricoh hard and Sharp taking a couple of distribution points (so far), it could get interesting at the big, red "R."
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Re: Sales Tips

The very first rule about selling anything is you have to believe in what you are selling. How many sales people do you meet and you know straight away that they don't believe in what they are selling because you can feel it when people are lying to you. I have quite often got that feeling from used car sales people because they often know they are selling you something that you will be having trouble with later. Most of the time people sell cars because they are having trouble with them or
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Re: Big Tom Out as Prez at Ricoh

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The immediate trend (KMBS, Xerox) is Japan direct to dealers in the USA. Global dealers are able to purchase for 30+% off of DMAP 6 equivalent. If Ricoh is going to survive this war they will have to eliminate Ricoh USA. Which got me wondering: What does Ricoh USA do for their dealers...really?!
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Re: Big Tom Out as Prez at Ricoh

I recentley spoke to local Global CFO, and he stated that they went to Xerox and demanded prices lower than the japanese manufacturers so they could compete. There are no spiff programs for sales people just rock bottom pricing. Keep in mind that most of the Xerox equipment is from overseas also.
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Re: Konica Minolta SD-501 Booklet Maker

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We also have 1050s in the field, but we have had a different experience from you. They run well, and our support from Konica has been superb. Our Ricoh support on the production-level B&W has been lacking, to say the very least.
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Re: Weekend Copiers Notes from 10/21/07

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quote: Some industry analysts are predicting that Hewlett Packard will purchase Kodak, to become an imaging powerhouse. A friend of mine sells NexPresses and lived through the sale of his division to Kodak from Heidelberg. He told me last week that he thinks his division is getting ready to be sold again.
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Re: KonicaMinolta BizHub 920

KonicaMinolta BizHub 920 $21,900 cpc (no min) .0040
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Re: Why Am I Still Selling Copiers?

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Art, Your so right. People ask me when will I retired.(My wife retired 5 years ago). I said what will I do. Work part time a Walmart. I work the same hours now and make a lot more money and still having FUN. I like what I do and can't think of another job right now. I also travel down rural roads and I been selling in this territory for 26 years. I have a lot of great accounts and meet a lot of great people.
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Re: Canon iR 7095

Canon iR 7095 $28,300 w/fiery S2 RIP, SaddleStitcher, LCC & Interposer cpc (no min) .0045
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Re: Big Tom Out as Prez at Ricoh

Ricoh is starting to cut staff, heard the 16 were let go in Marketing and PSG and this is just the beginning.. this is from an email I got today from someone who was high up at Ricoh!
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Re: Big Tom Out as Prez at Ricoh

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quote: Global dealers are able to purchase for 30+% off of DMAP 6 equivalent Do you know this or is it a guess? 30+ points off Level 6 is a pretty deep discount for Xerox. Maybe 30 pts off LDP? My guess is a smaller discount with a "pot" of discretionary funds available.
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Re: Konica Minolta SD-501 Booklet Maker

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This is a Saddle Stitch Finisher (booklet maker) with face trim included. Handles up to 50 sheets (200 pages). Multi half fold, Fold & staple, Multi tri-fold. "Trim up to 12" x 18" size paper on stock up to 244 gsm (65 lb. bond/135 lb. index). Trim up to 50 sheets (24 lb. bond)" That's as much as I can find out for you from Konica's support materials. Offered on all of Konica's production models, b&w and color. We don't sell the production color models, but we do sell the 1050 and that model is
Topic

Gestener D sc545 w/Fiery

Gestener D sc545 w/Fiery (Sames as Ricoh C4500) $15,200 cpc (no min) .069 color cpc (no min) .011 mono
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Océ Expands Océ Pro-Select Media Line

to its Océ Pro-SelectTM line of instant dry media: Océ Pro-Select 8 mil Glossy Photopaper and Océ Pro-Select 8 mil Satin Photopaper. Additionally, Océ Pro-Select Universal Backlit Film is now shipping. The Océ Pro-Select media line is designed for 17- to 60-inch photo and proofing printers including models from Océ, Epson, Canon and HP. Wide color gamut and accurate skin tones plus superior shadow details with extremely low dot gain are standard with all Océ Pro-Select photopapers. Océ Pro
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W2400 Notes!!!!!!

Got this from Greg in an email, can anyone else verify this? Are you aware that for a W2400 the embedded controller is already in the machine. I just did 2 installs last week..You need the Print Option W3600, Scanner Option W3600 and File Format Converter to enable it to Print and Scan. Seems to work fine w/out the Ratio software. Batch printing TIFFS and PLTs are possible thru Webprint, but not PDF's (Ricoh is fixing this, I hope). I beleive Batch printing PDF's is possible thru Desktop Binder
-=Good Selling=-
 
0 comments
Sales

New Jersey HVAC Company Selects Ricoh MP W6700SP over OCE PlotWave 450

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Just about a week ago I was able to visit a client with an existing KIP 3000 multifunctional wide format device with hopes of providing a new Ricoh MP W6700SP.  Seems the KIP 3000 had received quite a workout over the years and was closing in the end of it's useful life.  After spending about fifteen minutes with the device and the operator,  I found that the KIP 3000 was purchased pre-owned,  and the volume was about 3,000 square feet a month, in addition the KIP 3000 has a dual roll paper feeder.

Our next step was to meet with the users of the KIP 3000 and to uncover any workflows for scanning, printing or copying.  Our discovery process enabled us to pinpoint the clients needs the following.

Clients Needs

  • Paper sizes included 30x42 and 36x24
  • PDF workflow for printing & scanning
  • Average monthly volume of about 3,000 square feet a month
  • Need for color scanning
  • Need for new device to have a dual roll feeder
  • Ability to scan to multiply destinations (server, folder and email) with the touch of one button
  • Ability of the new device to exit prints to the front of the device

You can read the rest here

 
5 comments

3 Value Based Sales Conversations To Engage The Modern Buyer

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I can hear it now “Buyers are treating us as a commodity”, “It’s all about price, price and more price”, “We don’t have anything unique to offer”….. This can all be prevented!

The modern buyer is better equipped than ever to drive salespeople toward commoditization. Prices have become increasingly transparent, comparisons are easily available and today’s technical differentiator is tomorrows "me too".

Most buyers don’t really care about your company or your product, however; what they do care about is if you can help solve their problems and bring measurable value to their business. Unfortunately, too many reps start off conversations by using outdated old school tactics such as talking about themselves, their company, their product or their features. How's this working? I bet it's not!

Do you all know why you get beat up on price? Plain and simple... It is your fault!

BREAK OUT OF THE COMMODITY BOX

Commoditization happens when the buyer does extensive research on prospective suppliers, you; then narrows down the field to the top 3 or 4 thus treating you all as commodities as you get whacked with the price hammer.

In a 2016 study conducted by Hubspot, they found that sales representatives are acknowledging the shift in buyer behavior.

"57% of salespeople agree that buyers are less dependent on sales during the buying process compared to a few years ago."

Don't allow this to happen to you. Inspire the buyer to make a decision in your favor based on new insights and new ideas raised within your sales messaging.

Enhance the level of your conversations to break out of the commodity box.

3 VALUE BASED SALES CONVERSATIONS TO ENGAGE THE MODERN BUYER

Sales reps need to think about offering real value to buyers by solving pressing business problems in every conversation. True differentiation in today’s complex business world shouldn’t be limited to having the best solution; value needs to be created by each individual sales rep themselves. Successful salespeople consistently add quantifiable value by educating buyers about their business, market trends and business drivers as they become seen as trusted advisors.

CONSIDER YOUR BUYERS PERSPECTIVE

The art of creating added value starts with the ability to see your business through the eyes of the buyer.

Consider what’s important to them and how your product or service will benefit them. What problem does it solve, how will it help them overcome obstacles to do their job better? Shift your focus to providing educational content. Provide examples and stories of how you helped others. Start focusing on your buyers' needs and start helping!

Conduct a thorough analysis of their buying behaviors which can lend insight into what is most important to them. This "IS THE ONE THING THAT MATTERS"; a helpful tip... buying behaviors can be uncovered by conversing with your current clients as well as some of their clients.

“Successful sales professionals not only understand their specific market sector and business critical issues but also help their clients visualize how they can solve their issues by using their products and services,” 
Harrington Starr , a London based company.

CONSIDER BUSINESS VALUE

Sales reps must discover what business problems are troubling buyers and then offer them sound advice. A true sales professional is always helpful. Instead of pushing buyers to buy, they offer advice and best practices within their area of expertise. By showing how valuable their knowledge can be for their business, buyers soon start to trust sales reps as a resource they can turn to.

Sales reps should zero in on a specific business challenge the buyer faces that they can in turn address and solve. You must be able to demonstrate you understand their issues and prove other companies successfully overcame similar situations thanks to your expertise.

Enhance your business acumen to drive valuable conversations by thinking like the buyer. Here are a few tips...

  • Look at the “big picture” within their organization. Uncover key business drivers and how this relates to producing profitable growth by helping them do their job better.
  • Work together with the buyer to communicate your ideas to other employees, managers and most importantly, the executives making the decision.

CONSIDER BEING CURIOUS ABOUT THE BUYER

Do not fall into the trap of assumption. Do not assume you know exactly what the buyer values in a solution and how they measure success. Become an expert questioner by layering your questions as you uncover and understand what "quality" or "risk removal" means to them as you put some quantifiable numbers around it.

Curious salespeople are always looking for opportunities to learn about the buyer, their markets, their industries their products and what is important to them.

For sales reps to become more successful, they must become obsessed with being curious. Your sales growth is going to come from helping the buyer grow their businesses. The only way to effectively do that is to constantly be curious. Never be afraid to ask why they are doing business a certain way. Get nosy, pry a little, ask great questions and win big.

TO CONCLUDE

A value added buyer centric conversation focuses on:

  • The challenges the buyer faces
  • The pain points these challenges present to them
  • How much, in quantifiable numbers, remaining in a status quo mindset will cost them and their company

Allow me to leave you all with this...

If you don't know the value you bring to your current clients then how can you engage in a meaningful value based conversation with a prospective buyer?

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 LinkedIn stories. Integrating the use of LinkedIn was my “game-changer” in the highly competitive copier world. With great pride I transform, challenge, coach and inspire Sales Teams to grow new business by helping them tell their story and communicate integrating the use of social media. You can follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter, Social Sales Academy and on my podcast at Selling from the Heart.

 
0 comments

This Week in the Copier Industry 10 Years Ago (Third Week of October 2007)

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Tens years ago Tom Salierno, also known as Tom, Jr lost his job as Chief Operating Officer of Ricoh U S of Ricoh Corporation from June 2006 to December 2007.   In the ten years after it seems that Big Tom was the chief culprit in Ricoh dealer acquisitions for Global Imaging.  Today Tom serves ae Chief Executive Office with Global Imaging.

Big Tom Out as Prez at Ricoh

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Don"t let the door..... Ricoh Americas Corporation Announces Organizational Changes WEST CALDWELL, N.J., Oct. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Ricoh Americas Corporation announced today a restructuring which is designed to flatten the organizational structure, improve communications and enable the company to be more cohesive and responsive in the future. The first of these changes is the elimination of the position of Chief Operating Office of Ricoh U.S., a division of Ricoh Americas Corporation. With
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Re: Big Tom Out as Prez at Ricoh

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He was clueless. They should have done this months ago. Ricoh is taking some big hits from Xerox/Global, KMBS & Sharp. They better wake up before it's too late!
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Sales Reps Needed

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Afraid of commission? Read no further! We are seeking born sales leaders willing to earn uncapped commissions. If you are confident you can do outside sales, have a “will do” attitude, are target driven and are hunter oriented, we have a career for you. You must be well spoken and personable. Send resume with cover letter detailing why you're the best to: Bill Hancher Pro Business Systems 7825 South Ave. Youngstown, Oh 44512
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Ricoh Americas Corp Poll #2

Since there has been a change in the COO and the CFO and now that Nori is CEO, how do you think things will pan out in the future for Ricoh Dealers?
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Canon imagePress C1 w/Fiery Q1 Rip

Canon imagePress C1 w/Fiery Q1 Rip $43,500 CPP Color $50 base .07 Mono .012
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Xerox DocuColor 5000

Xerox DocuColor 5000 $123,100 Color CPC $520 Base .049 Mono CPC .0129
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KonicaMinolta BizHub Pro C6500

KonicaMinolta BizHub Pro C6500 w/Fiery RIP $30,500 10K min color cpc .04 mono .011
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Xerox Nuvera 120 w/RIP (Demo)

Xerox Nuvera 120 w/RIP (Demo) $59,000 cpc 200K minimum overage @.0039
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KonicaMinolta BizHub w/1050 RIP

KonicaMinolta BizHub w/1050 RIP (Used) $39.000 mono cpc .00425 no minimum
Member

Reply

Re: test

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I have access. I have a question, is the cost of doing business with Ricoh going up since Oracle? My answer is yes!
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Re: Big Tom Out as Prez at Ricoh

Just the beginning...? It has now been a little over six months since the merger of Lanier and Ricoh into Ricoh Americas Corporation. During that time, there have been many changes in our organization and we have all experienced some of the good and some of the bad that change brings. The merger of two organizations having different cultures, systems and business methods is a difficult undertaking and what we have seen since April 1 certainly confirms that fact. I am aware of how hard all of
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Re: Big Tom Out as Prez at Ricoh

Ricoh Americas Eliminates COO Position along with Tom Salierno Ask me if I am shocked! NO, however it was a piece of interesting news. Eliminating a position to me is a polite way of saying you services are no longer required. Go here for the rest on my blog...... arts blog
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Re: Sales Tips

There is a general impression held by many both inside and outside the business world that salesmen are full of hot air. Many people associate the sales profession with the smooth-talking car salesman who wants to sell you a car that was owned by the proverbial little old lady who only drove it to church on Sundays. Reality is that most sales people are average everyday individuals who are friendly and considerate and have friends and families, just like people who are accountants, engineers
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Need help against IKON!

Can anyone provide me with a sales and service agreement. I don't care about the pricing however I need to research the language in thier contracts.
 
0 comments
Sales Hacks

Five Hacks That Will Help You Sell More Copiers (tre)

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It's late, just about 11PM here on the East Coast and I'm watching/listening to the Nationals & Cubs do or die game.  Let's Go Cubs!  Not that I'm  a Cub fan, but more of a hater for the Nationals.  I guess that's what happens when you're a lowly NY Mets fan.

K, so I have no idea where I got this next hack from. I do know that it was not one of my ideas.  Thinking that I may have read about doing this from some sales book that I read many moons ago.

Decision Makers

They come with many different titles.  In most cases we are meeting with C-Level execs with titles of CFO. CEO, CIO and probably a few others.  Most of us understand that in the first five minutes of any meeting, the Decision Maker is sizing us up.  How we dress, what we wear, how we walk, how we talk, how we look, are all taken in to account in those first five minutes.

However, it can also be about what we read in our spare or business time.

You're probably thinking how can the Decision Maker know anything about what we read?  True, the Decision Maker does not have a clue about what you read unless you perform a subtle hint.

K, that subtle hit would be to carry a copy of CFO Magazine in your bag.  Years ago,  I subscribed to CFO Magazine and to this day I still receive the magazine in the mail.  Each month I'll replace the old rag with the new rag  and take a quick read to see if there are any interesting articles that pique my interest.  In most cases there may be one or two that I'll read.

Thus, when I'm off on a new appointment and I know I'm going to be meeting with a CFO. I'll make sure that I pull the CFO magazine out of my bag and lay it on the side of the table as I'm looking for my notepad or brochure. In some cases I may just leave that in my bag, making sure that the CFO header on the magazine is showing.

I can't tell if the magazine has ever helped me garner a sale, but I can assume that the Decision Maker did see the magazine and drew a conclusion from seeing it.  In most cases I would assume that the Decision Maker would have thought, "interesting, this sales guy must really be in touch with what I do".

Over the years, there have been some articles that I've read from those CFO magazines that have increased my knowledge about the duties of a CFO.  Thus, when you do have that C-Level discussion there will be times when you will understand their language and their duties.

My point is, if that's all you want to do is to carry around the magazine and use if for show and tell, it probably won't help that much.  However, if you do read an article here and there and do the show and tell you'll have a much better conversation with that CFO.

You can also do this with CEO magazine, CIO magazine and any other C-Level magazines that you can find.  Again, the key is too read the articles from time to time.  You'll be amazed at how much this can help your career and those first five minutes.

-=Good Selling=-

 
0 comments

Ricoh W6700SP Pricing Proposal

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Just thought I would share this recent proposal for the MP W6700SP pricing proposal with everyone.  Would like to hear any thoughts or comments about this proposal also.

You can view the MP W6700SP pricing proposal here or below.

Seems to me like everything is included, although pricing is average and the maintenance/supply pricing seems to be above average. 

Thoughts?

 
5 comments
Copier Proposals

Konica Minolta Bizhub 951Pricing Proposal Award

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Just thought I would put a few points out there with a recent State of Florida contract award for the Konica Minolta Bixhub 951.

For starters, I have no clue how many copiers are included in this award. It may be one or one hundred.  However, what we do have is the purchase/award price for the KonicaMinolta Bixhub 951 and a few accessories.

Those accessories include:

Paper feed unit

100 Sheet Stapler Finisher

ESP Power Filter

Professional Service Unit (not sure what that is)

Amazing

I still can't get my head around how service and supply pricing can be that low.  This quote for service and supply cost per page is the lowest I've seen in the last year.  As some say, the race to the bottom is here and I guess there's still a lot you can get for under a penny.

Oops, just saw it on the quote, it was for four devices on a 36 month lease. Almost two million pages over that time frame. 

If you're interested in seeing how low they can go, you can view the KonicaMinolta Bixhub 951 Award here.

Keep in mind that it might be a good idea to purchase a Premium Print4Pay Hotel Membership. BTW the pricing is ridiculous.

-=Good Selling=-

 
0 comments
R.J. Stasieczko

A Growth Strategy or an Exit Strategy both take an EBIT Strategy

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Well if you are in the Imaging Channel you were either bought out or at the least been approached to sell. The acquisition frenzy is the buzz these days. The landscape of the Independent dealer is changing. The large venture-backed dealers are buying up more and more of their competition. Most dealer organizations within the channel have already decided on a Growth Strategy or an Exit Strategy, and some have decided on a Maintain Strategy. Global Imaging Systems a Xerox company defines its acquisition formula on their website as this. “(Adjusted Operating Profit x Multiplier) – Debt + Excess Cash.” “Operating Profit refers to your company’s most recent twelve months of Earnings Before Interest and Taxes. This is also referred to as EBIT” http://www.gisx.com/acquisitions/

Whether you Sell or decide to Grow the first thing you must do is get the balance sheet in order and make sure that the organization's profitability is at the highest level possible. Why is the Imaging Channel believing the non-sense that single or low double-digit EBIT is acceptable? After all, selling your company is a multiple of earnings figure. Oh, there are the stories of the seller who got a five times multiple of revenue and sailed off into the sunset. The bottom line in 2017 a print-centric organization with no other annuity-based service deliverable will not sell for revenue unless of course, they have a 20 percent of revenue of EBIT because in that case, the buyer would pay a five maybe six times multiple of EBIT which by the math would equal or exceed their revenue. 

So the easy thing is getting the EBIT to 20% and doing it by the end of 2018. Those who do this will have the best opportunity to succeed in either that Growth Strategy or the Exit Strategy. If dealers looked deep into their organizations they would find the increase in profit potential is in their Service business; Technicians, Parts, and Supplies. Everyone in the channel knows the sales engine is not where your organization's profit is, and there is very little EBIT contribution from sales departments. I discussed this topic in an earlier article attached in the link below.

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

So before you sell, or even Buy a dealership understanding the potential service operational cost savings is extremely important. Think about it for every dollar returned to the EBIT could be worth five maybe six. Why would anyone want to acquire a business without proper due-diligence? Of course, they wouldn’t. However, the definition of proper Due-Diligence has many interpretations. Some will use emotions, and some will use numbers.

“During diligence to understand the facts, emotions can hijack common sense.”

If we all agree that the potential EBIT increase will come from reducing operational service cost here are some questions to create thoughts, and hopefully, if you’re a dealer principle you have the interest to seek the answers backed by real scientific data and do it personally.  

Here are my Questions

How does your organization manage technicians start and end time? What are the average start and end times of the technician staff? What is your percentage of hours worked against hours available for technician staff? How many more machines could your team service if all technicians worked 85% of their hours on service calls? What metrics are used to determine the need for an additional technician? What is the total number of hours you technicians are paid to work? What is the total payroll amount of all un-accounted technician hours over the acceptable 15%? How many sales representatives could you hire with those wasted dollars?

When was the last time a technician was terminated for deficient performance? Do you grade your technician’s performance? If so how many have a C or below? Do you pay technicians a performance bonus? If so, what percentage of technicians earn one?

Does your organization display the results both good and bad of technical staff publicly, in the way sales departs are publicized? If so what do you highlight?

How does your organization coordinate technicians call load, do you have territories? Do you have a computerized mapping system? Who audits technicians service tickets? How do you manage technician travel? What is the average drive time between calls? 

Who decides on car stock? Do you use a proven software management tool which can determine parts needed based on worldstats, or do technicians manage by the “This is what I think I will use system”?

Who in your organization knows exactly how many inventory dollars are in your technician’s car stock, and more importantly what is the dollar amount of the parts in their car stock which has not had usage in 90 days,180 days, more than a year? How often do you inventory car stock? What is the percentage of parts in the warehouse to total in all technicians Car stock?

What is the percentage of callbacks your customer's experience? Do you know the reasons for callbacks? If so what percentage of callbacks are based on technician not having the needed part to complete the call the first time?

What is the cost per copy of technician staff’s W-4 total when divided by your total copies produced? Do you know the monthly output all customer totaled for B/W and color? If so do you track, and how do you use that information?

Who in your organization knows the dollar amount of inventory parts with no usage for over a year, 18 months or longer? If your parts write off is more than 1% of total dollars ordered are there any compensation penalties for those responsible for inventory management. What is the percentage of the dollars in part obsolesces against your total parts purchases? Do you track that Monthly, bi-annually, or annually?

Who in the organization knows the dollar amount of parts in inventory which will become obsolete monthly, what’s the average you write off monthly or does your organization wait until the end of the year? What do you do with the parts you write off?

Does your organization have an accurate list of all obsolete parts in your inventory or do you classify these obsolete parts as non-inventory then stack them against the wall in the back of the warehouse?

How often does your organization look at your top 100 highest cost to service serial numbers? Do you know what percentage of serialized serviced equipment is costing you more than a worldwide average? What is the average cost per copy of parts on your production color units?

When was the last time you reviewed the percentage number of your FCE or First Call Effectiveness? And are you aware of the metrics used and why?

Please visit the attached article for more on the importance of FCE and how it impacts cost.     

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

Some questions for the venture capitalist or those dealers growing through acquisitions.

When acquiring a competitive dealer do you install and evaluate the information of any service performance analytics software which answers all the above questions? When buying a common market competitor do you use a mapping tool to effectively determine what percentage of acquired base your organization could absorb into your current staff’s workload?

In an acquisition do you buy the obsolete parts from the seller? If so where do you dispose of the obsolete inventory? Do you define territories for the technicians from the acquired company before you merge or after? What is the average parts inventory turn on acquired companies? What is your goal for inventory turn? How do you determine if the acquired companies service leaders are more qualified than your companies service leaders?

Well, it does not take a Rocket Scientist to figure out the importance of knowledge driven by data. I am confident that if dealer principles or the leaders of V.C. firms would dedicate the time to answer these questions using factual data. They would discover on their own many more questions to ask themselves and their management teams. More importantly, they will have the ability to influence behaviors based on facts, not emotional noise. 

The service departments are the life-blood of the Imaging Channel, and all its leaders need to get involved deeply in the evaluation of the facts around their service cost. It’s the Service Department of your business where your EBIT is feed, disciplined and raised. No one wants their EBIT to remain a pre-teen, everyone wants to raise their EBIT to at least 20 - percent that is, am I right? Returning excess operating cost to the bottom line is what astute business leaders do.

R.J. Stasieczko

For over 25 years BEI Services the world’s largest database of service metrics for the Imaging Channel. With hundreds of organizations, thousands of Technicians, millions of devices and billions of pages on the BEI Platform, the data and statistics we provide to our partners are unprecedented in helping them achieve best in class benchmarks. It is from the knowledge of facts in our Trade Marked Worldstats Database which allow BEI partners to improve by accurate measurement eliminating the emotional noise of complacency. https://www.beiservices.com/so...n_incentive_program/

 
1 comment

The Mirror Never Lies...YOU Are The Reason Social Isn't Working For Your Sales Team!

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The digital business world is constantly changing as social media outlets allow companies to be perceived as interactive and relevant to prospects and their clients. There is a demand for a more personalized message from companies, especially so from executive leadership and management.

"In today's hyper-connected, information driven world, CEO's and senior executives alike are expected to have an active social presence. Brand image, brand trust and a company's long term success depend on it"
Ann Charles, BRANDfog Founder & CEO

In a recent survey by BRANDfog they go on to state that "83% of U.S. respondents believe that CEO participation in social media can build better connections with customers, employees and investors." Connections create relationships which resonate with clients and prospects inclining them to be more attentive to your corporate brand. 

It's time for transformation inside the sales departments of today. Your sales reps are contending with an increasingly competitive marketplace, an ever-expanding range of products and services, new channels of customer engagement and an expanding list of competitors. The power has shifted from sellers to buyers. They are better informed, better educated and always connected to a world of opinion, advice and information; all thanks to Google, mobile and social technologies. Now the customer controls the conversation.

Attention to all EXECUTIVES your sales team must adopt a 21st century approach to the sales profession.

As much as technology continues to change, the sales process and tools your sales reps use must propel them well into the 21st century.

Google, LinkedIn, Twitter and all the B2B social platforms have forever impacted the sales profession like no other piece of technology or software over the past 25 years.

Whether you believe it or not meet the new additions to your sales team...

I encourage you as leaders to rethink your sales team's sales process and align it to that of the buyer's journey. In order to do this, there must be a fundamental and renewed focus on driving tighter alignment between people, process and available technologies.

SET THE EXAMPLE AND LEAD THE WAY

"Successful leaders will no longer be measured just by stock price. Managing and communicating with shareholders, employees, government, community, customers will be table stakes in the future. They are talking about your business anyway. Why not be included in the conversation?"
Peter Aceto, CEO of ING Direct Canada

In a study conducted by Weber Shandwick, they found social media use on the part of CEO's essential because it allows them to narrate their company news. Here is the link to find out more.

 

The single biggest reason social aspects of selling aren't resonating with your sales team is YOU! You haven't bought into it. For whatever reason, either you don’t like change or you don’t think it’s important to leverage technology to maximize client acquisition, open more doors for your sales team, and to increase your client retention.

SET THE TONE FOR YOUR SALES TEAM

Regardless of what your sales team is doing with social now, your clients and the public will always take its biggest cues from leaders. So if you aren’t active on social then you’re essentially overlooking a gap your competitors will jump at a chance to fill.

Credibility, as leaders you must openly and continually communicate your values, using different platforms such as social. When you as the leader engage and leverage social this becomes magnified creating a ripple effect throughout your sales team.

Unfortunately, many executives under-communicate their values. I encourage you to broadcast your values through the social megaphone.

YOU ARE THE FACE OF YOUR COMPANY

As the leader you are steering your company to growth and profitability.

"Why do you hide behind a marketing curtain, your website?"

A short website bio, usually without contact information, makes most executives appear inaccessible. If your goal is to be a customer-facing and customer-focused company then showcase yourself, your personality, your values, your knowledge and expertise leveraging social. This goes a long way in defining you!

Becoming active on social puts your ear to the digital ground. When you’re active on social, you’re plugged into what’s happening all around you. You can’t afford to get that kind of insight, intelligence or information secondhand. You can’t put a price on staying ahead of the pack.

Are you getting the vision and how this relates to your sales team becoming active integrating social into their sales process?

SOCIAL ALLOWS YOU TO NETWORK

Social platforms are another way of opening up a conversation and networking out in your community.

When you are active on social media you put a powerful platform for messaging and driving conversation to its best possible use. You form better relationships with the public, your clients, prospects and most importantly your sales team.

Think of your current clients and the people they know. Social networks have become woven into our society. What better way to drive incremental sales revenue than to be introduced into the networks of people already doing business with you, your clients!

Can you say, REFERRALS? I thought so!

With the right engagement strategy, social-savvy executives can foster meaningful conversations and grow relationships which turn into real business opportunities. An active social presence effectively means there’s a networking event anywhere or anytime.

Can you imagine the ripple effect this can have to your sales team? Roll up the sleeves and become the role model for your sales team.

BECOME A BRAND AMBASSADOR BY DRIVING CONVERSATION

You are the top forward-facing brand ambassador of your company. Incorporate the plethora of social platforms to share your personal story about your accomplishments as well as your company’s brand story around why you do what you do, what you stand for and more importantly who you help.

With confidence, I can say you will generate conversations that can be converted to opportunities. We all know nothing happens in sales without opening a conversation.

I am sure you'll agree relationships are the building block of any successful business. Leaders who take the time to follow, connect and converse with peers, clients and businesses by interacting with content or replying to a conversation can generate trust and legitimacy leading to conversion.

Become more social and generate sales opportunities for your business.

IN CONCLUSION

Social media use inside your sales department is no longer optional. Every member of your sales team including yourself must embrace, use and understand the role social plays in enhancing the sales funnel.

For those executives who establish a presence on relevant social platforms; there exists an opportunity for tremendous growth and success while solidifying their place within the fast paced digital business world.

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 LinkedIn stories. Integrating the use of LinkedIn was my “game-changer” in the highly competitive copier world. With great pride I transform, challenge, coach and inspire Sales Teams to grow new business by helping them tell their story and communicate integrating the use of social media. You can follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter, Social Sales Academy and on my podcast at Selling from the Heart.

 
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Ricoh MP C4503SP Copier Quote

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From time  to time pre-owned and or used Ricoh multifunctional devices are offer up for sale or lease.  This particular Ricoh MP C4503 is used.  The device accessories listed include the internal finisher/stapler, a fax option, ans a two tray paper bank. 

Lease pricing and purchase pricing is included in the quote.  Click here to view this quote.

-=Good Selling=-

 
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