MFP Copier Blog

Another three days and we're bringing you Part Four in our blog series for our Color Label Press University.  Just and FYI for everyone.  At the top of each blog you'll see .  Clicking that link which is at the top of each blog will then bring you the collection of blogs for Color Label Press University.  It's pretty neat, you'll see all of the blogs that we've posted for an easier read and simple way to toggle from blog to blog.

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

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

Color Label Press University "Glossary for Pressure Sensitive Labels"  Course One

(Sponsored by Muratec a Konica Minolta Company)

Bounce:  The abnormal reaction to compression, which results in erratic rotational movement of the cylinders, causing missed or imperfect impressions. Can also occur with a rotary die causing imperfect die cutting.

Break:  A term used to denote a tear in a roll of face material or release liner. Such defects are generally spliced and marked by a protruding flag.

Breaking:  The operation of passing material over a dull edge which 'breaks' the adhesive layer, retarding curl and improving water absorption when remoistened for use.

Brightness:  The reflectivity of a sheet of paper for blue light measured under standardized conditions on a particular instrument designed and calibrated specifically for the purpose. Strictly speaking, brightness is not a colormetric quantity.

Burn:   Common term used for printing plate exposure.

Bursting Perf:   A fold perforation that permits mechanical bursting.

Bursting Strength:  The pressure required to rupture a material specimen when it is tested in a specified instrument under specified conditions. It is largely determined by the tensile strength and extensibility of the material.

Butt Cut Labels:   Rectangular labels in continuous form separated by a single knife cut to the liner across the web.

Butt Labels:   See butt cut labels.

Butt Roll:   See stub roll.

Butt Splice:  An end to end joining of two similar materials. For continuity of surface, design, etc. Often used in joining stickyback, printing plates and webs of substrates in process.

Butted Rectangles:   Die cut rectangles butted to each other with no around and/or across matrix to remove.

C1S:   Paper Abbreviation for coated one side paper.

CAD:  Computer Assisted Design/Computer Assisted Makeup or Manufacturing.

Caking:   The collecting of dried ink upon rollers and plates.

Calender Cuts:   Defects caused by creasing or cutting of the web of paper during calendering due to wrinkles in the web.

Calender Finished:   A term applied to any paper with a surface glazed by means of a calender stack.

Caliper:   The thickness of paper, usually expressed in thousandths of an inch (mils).

Camera-Ready:  Copy which is ready for photography. See artwork.

Carrier:  Sometimes used to refer to the liner material of pressure sensitive labels. Also a term sometimes used to describe the stock to which two layers of adhesive are applied in a double adhesive construction.

Cast Coated:   A high-gloss enamel finish.

Cast Coated Paper:   A paper, the coating of which is allowed to harden or set while in contact with a finished casting surface.

Cast Film:   Plastic sheeting manufactured by the casting process, as opposed to the extruding process.

Cast Vinyl:  Vinyl sheeting manufactured by coating a liquid vinyl acetate or similar ester onto a casting paper and curing in a heated oven.

Catalyst:  A substance which has the capability of initiating or accelerating the speed of a reaction between two or more substances when introduced into their presence.

Cavity:  Usually refers to the engraving on a rotary die cutter that die cuts a single shape.

Cell:   A small engraved or etched depression in an anilox roll that carries the ink to the plate.

Cellulose:   Fibrous substance of wood, cotton and other vegetable matter.

Centigrade:   A scale of temperature which features 0 and 100 degrees as the freezing and boiling points of water. Also called Celsius.

Centipoise:   One hundred of a poise; a unit for measuring viscosity.

Central Impression:  A press with a number of printing units around a large cylinder which serves as the impression cylinder against which the substrate rides.

Ceramic Anilox Roll:  Engraved inking roll used in flexographic printing. New techniques in manufacturing allow for vastly improved anilox roll performance and life.

Chalking:  A form of coating deterioration characterized by the formation of a loose, chalk-like powder on the film surface.

Character:  A single group of bars and spaces which represent an individual number, letter or punctuation mark.

Charge:   Usually refers to the degree or type of electrical property carried by a substrate.

Check Digit:  A digit included within a symbol whose value is based mathematically on other characters included in the symbol. It is used for the purpose of performing a mathematical check to ensure the accuracy of the read.

Checking:   The presence of hair line carcks in a varnish coating, a lacquer coating, a film or in an adhesive coating. Crazing.

Chemical Curing:   The setting or curing of an adhesive, coating or sealer brought about by the addition of a catalyst or accelerator.

Chemical Resistance:  The resistance of a pressure sensitive label to the deteriorating effects resulting from exposure to chemicals under specified conditions.

Chill Roll:  Metal roll or drum cooled internally with water, etc. Often used after the press dryer to cool the printed web prior to die cutting, rewinding, etc.

Choke:  An image whose edges have been pulled inslightly from those of the original. The image area remains essentially the same except for a narrow strip of reduction around its perimeter.

Chokes and Spreads:  Overlaps of overprinting images to prevent color fringes or white borders around image detail due to slight misregister during printing.

Chromatic Scale:  The colors of the spectrum: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet.

Circumferential Register:  See running register.

-=Good Selling=-

Special thanx to all of those Print4Pay Hotel members that emailed me these quotes and proposals! 

I lost a potential order the other day.  I lost because I was not aware of what my competitors practices were with escalating service rates.  You know what I'm talking about, we all have them, we all don't speak about them unless the topic is brought up.  In this case, the topic was brought up and I answered with the appropriate response.  After obtaining a copy of the proposal, I found out why I lost.  Having that proposal will save my butt next time, because I will not forget and will be ready when I run up against the same competitor.

This is why you need to keep tabs on what others are doing in our industry. One little tidbit of data can save your ass and or get you the next deal.

Enjoy!

You can access a Premium/VIP Membership here.

-=Good Selling=-

I'm back on a roll!   Just a few days ago we posted up the second blog for "Color Label Press University "Glossary of Terms" Part Two, Course One". We're off and running with Part 3 today.

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

Interesting, just from posting up the glossary of terms, I'm becoming familiar with the type of language that's used in the color label business.  It's all about learning their language, and once you've mastered all of the terms you can have the special conversation with your client. 

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

Color Label Press University "Glossary for Pressure Sensitive Labels"  Course One

(Sponsored by Muratec a Konica Minolta Company)

Autoclave:  A pressurized, steam heated vessel generally used for sterilization. In label application, label must endure a cooking process by superheated steam under pressure.

Back Printing:  Refers to printing on the underside of a pressure sensitive substrate or laminate, i.e. on the adhesive or back of liner.

Back Split:   See split back.

Background:  The area surrounding a printed symbol.

Backing:  Refers to the carrier sheet of material in a pressure sensitive lamination as opposed to the face material. Usually has a release coating applied so that the adhesive will not stick too tightly to it. Release liner, backing paper, carrier, etc.

Bagginess:   A slack, floppy area usually caused by gauge variation. The material has been stretched and is actually longer in that area.

Ball-Up:  Specific term to describe the tendency of an adhesive to stick to itself; cohesiveness. Such an adhesive, when rolled between fingers, will not spread smoothly but will roll up in small spheres.

Bar:   The dark element of a printed bar code symbol.

Bar Code:  In optical reading, a system of symbols which identifies data through length, position size or thickness of lines or symbols. Codes are normally machine printed.

Bar Code Density:   The number of characters which can be represented in a lineal inch.

Bar Code Reader:   A device used to identify and read a bar code symbol.

Bar Length:   The bar dimension perpendicular to the bar width.

Bar Width:   The thickness of a bar measured from the edge closest to the symbol start character to the trailing edge of the same bar.

Bar Width Reduction:   Reduction of the nominal bar width dimension on film masters or printing plates to compensate for printing gain.

Bare Cylinder Diameter:   The diameter of the actual plate cylinder, before the stickyback and plates are mounted.

Barrier Coat:  A coating applied to the face material on the side opposite to the printing surface to provide increased opacity to the face material and/or to prevent migration between adhesive and the face material and improve anchorage of adhesive to face material. Sealer coat.

Base:  The major constituent, other than pigments and filler, comprising the non-volatile portion of an adhesive, coating or sealer compound.

Base Roll:   See anvil roll.

Basic Sheet Size:   The size of a sheet of paper which is used to determine paper weight. Sizes vary depending on the type of stock.

Basis Weight:  The weight in pounds of a ream of paper cut to a given size. Most backing papers used in pressure sensitive laminations are based on a ream size of 24" x 36"/500's. Face papers are more typically 25" x 38"/500's.

Batch Counter:   Device used on a sheeter/stacker to count and group sheeted labels.

Bearer:  Type-high supports mounted or molded around each end of a printing plate to help carry part of the impression load and to help prevent bounce. Also the load bearing surfaces(s) of a rotary die, usually positioned at each end of the die.

Bearing Block:  A device that holds the die in place and upon which pressure is added so as to effect the actual die cutting function. Pressure is almost always applied directly over the bearers at each end of the die.

Biax:  Biaxially oriented material, that is, oriented in the machine and transverse directions.

Bi-Directional Read:   The ability to read data successfully whether the scanning motion is left to right or right to left.

Bi-Directional Symbol:   A bar code symbol which permits reading in complementary directions.

Binder:   The component of an ink that supplies the cohesiveness.

Bit:   An abbreviation for 'binary digit'. A single character in a binary number.

Black-And-White:   Originals or reproductions in single color or monochrome, usually refers to artwork.

Bleed:   When the printed image extends beyond the trim edge of the label, it is called bleed.

Bleed-Through:   See penetration-migration.

Bleeding:  The diffusion or migration of an ink component or dye into an area where it is not wanted. The spreading or running of a pigment color by action of a solvent. Also the diffusion of migration of an adhesive component into the face material.

Blocking:  Undesired adhesion between the plies in rolls of pressure sensitive stock usually due to adhesive ooze, improper drying of inks, or improper curing of coatings, often to the extent that damage to at least one surface is visible upon their separation if they can in fact be separated.

Blocking Test :  A test used in measuring the tendency of surface-to-surface sticking.

Blowup:   An enlargement.

Body Stock:   See face material.

Bold Face:   Heavy face, in contrast to light face type. Used for emphasis, captions, subheadings, etc.

Bold-Face Type:   Name given to type that is heavier than text type with which it is used.

Bond:   To attach materials together by adhesives.

Bonding Range:  The time during which satisfactory bonds can be made. A bonding range of from 10 to 30 minutes indicates that maximum bonds can be achieved between 10 and 30 minutes.

Bonding Strength:  In paper, the force with which the fibers adhere to each other. In surface coatings, such as inks and adhesives, the strength with which the dried coating adheres to the surface of the substrate. Also refers to the degree of adhesion of a pressure sensitive face material to any surface.

-=Good Selling=-

"Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful."

Margaret J. Wheatley

You make the calls, you take care of your clients, you prospect, you lose some opportunities and you close deals as it’s the never-ending cycle of a hard-working sales professional. However, most in sales find themselves repeating the same sales tactics over and over again expecting different results. Quite frankly, the definition of sales insanity.

As a sales professional, you should constantly reflect back upon your personal performance. What helped you to succeed during the day, week or month? What caused you to lose a deal?

How are you as a sales professional continually evaluating yourself to improve to become better at what you do?

Allen R. McConnell, Ph.D., the James and Beth Lewis Professor of Psychology at Miami University, noted the importance of self-reflection several years ago stating it is also a necessary part of attaining goals, self-improvement and positive change. In order for change to occur there must first be awareness – a state of being that can come through self-reflection.

"Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes."

 Carl Jung

EARLY MORNINGS AND SELF REFLECTION

Benjamin Franklin said it best, "early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise." I have learned to enjoy early mornings. I found going to bed earlier and training my brain to wake up earlier has led me to become more productive.

Think about capturing the first hour of every morning to set aside and self-reflect.

Every day ask yourself...

• Who am I?
• What am I most proud of?
• What am I most grateful for?
• What did I actually do yesterday?
• What did I learn yesterday that I can apply to today to become a better person?

Self-reflection allows us to understand what is important, and focus on what might be done differently.

If I can’t lead myself, how could I possibly lead other people?

It is so easy to get caught up in the day-to day aspects of life that we forget to pause, self-reflect; taking a look at the bigger picture - life. Slow down by taking time early in the morning to think about your life is extremely helpful in creating a better sense of you are, who you want to be, and how you will get there. 

KEY AREAS OF SELF-REFLECTION

Each person has their own way of self-reflection. For myself, self-reflection is about letting my past experiences, endeavors, encounters, or actions pass within my mind, form an opinion so I can learn from it.

More importantly, it is a way to uncover whether I am still on track or what needs to be done to refocus. I find not self-reflecting every morning means accepting risk, the risk that I will not be able to learn from my failures or that I might lose track of how I want to develop as a person.

Think about leading your life as opposed to life leading you.

SUCCESS AND FAILURES

Take a pen and a piece of paper out daily and journal as you self-reflect. In quiet solitude, reflect on your successes as you uncover what led to them. What was it you did which led to your success?

The same goes for failure; what did I do which led to the failure? Most importantly, how can I avoid it in future?

Contrast what you did in order to achieve success as a sales professional versus what you did that ended in failure, uncover what did you do differently?

Look to uncover why you “failed,” were you less motivated or less excited thus you weren't working as hard, lacking the dedication needed to achieve your desired level of success.

GOALS

What are your personal and business goals? What do you want to achieve in 1, 3 and 5 years? I find it important to review and reflect upon both short-term and mid- term timeframes. Looking too far ahead can be a distraction since many things in your personal and business life can be influenced by many different factors.

Goals can include your career or business, your social life, improving your health, sports and fitness, even improving your mindset as the list could be endless.

Ask yourself the following question...

• Are the things you are doing right now are they likely to help you reach your goals?

Setting the time aside to self-reflect, reviewing your goals regularly as you evaluate whether these are still realistic and obtainable.

HOW AM I HELPING OTHERS?

Give, and you shall receive. As a sales professional how are you helping your clients do better business? How are you giving back to the community you live in?

My motto has always been to help first as this comes back tenfold in return.

Self-reflect, ask yourself... Am I doing what I can in my community to help those in need? Try giving something back to your friends, colleagues, family and most importantly your clients. Help where they all need it the most. Don't ask questions, just do it!

Self-reflection is never easy, but for sales professionals this is the difference between just getting by and making it happen. Self-reflection is hard work. It's like looking into the mirror and asking the questions and having to answer them. You're in charge of your own sales career.

What's your plan, what do you need to do and when will you get there? It is totally up to you! Now go open the door to success!

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 copier channel. 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 B2B Office Technology Sales Professionals to grow new business by helping them tell their story and communicate integrating the use of social media. My commitment is to help office technology dealers thrive in a drastically changing marketplace. You can follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter, Social Sales Academy and on my podcast at Selling from the Heart.

Funny, I was hoping to post of these each week for the next 12 weeks or so.  It's been a month since I posted the first blog for "Color Label Press University "Glossary of Terms" Part One, Course One".

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

If you have plans on attending BTA East this week in Philly, please make some time to visit Muratec. The market for full color digital labels in huge and the potential to make some serious commissions is enormous.  BTW, isn't that why we're in this crazy business? 

Color Label Press University "Glossary for Pressure Sensitive Labels"  Course One

(Sponsored by Muratec a Konica Minolta Company)

Adhesive, Pressure Sensitive:  A type of adhesive which in dry form is aggressively tacky at room temperature. It has the capability of promoting a bond to dissimilar surfaces on contact, with pressure.

Adhesive, Removable:  An adhesive characterized by relatively high cohesive strength and low ultimate adhesion. It can be removed easily from most surfaces. Some adhesive transfer could take place depending on the affinity of the adhesive to the surface.

Adhesive Residue:  The pressure sensitive adhesive remaining behind on a surface due to cohesive or priming failure when a pressure sensitive label is removed from that surface.

Adhesive Skip:  The absence of adhesive in some areas of film or paper label stock.

Adhesive Splitting:  Failure within the adhesive mass when labels are under stress or removed. If splitting occurs, part of the adhesive will remain on the labelled surface and part on the face material.

Adhesive Strike-Through :  When adhesive penetrates through the face material of a pressure sensitive lamination.

Adhesive Transfer:   The transfer of adhesive from its normal position on the label to the surface to which the label was attached.

Affinity:   An attraction or polar similarity between adhesive and adherend.

Aged Release:  The force required to remove a release liner from an adhesive after a measured period of time, often at elevated temperatures.

Aging:   The change or changes undergone by a material as a result of the passage of time.

Air Dried Forced:   (usually heated) air drying of coatings or inks.

Alcohol:   A group of organic solvents widely used in flexographic inks.

Alignment:  Refers to the relative alignment of the printing stations to each other and to the die stations on a label press. The relative position of a scanner or light source to a bar code.

Alligatoring:  Term describing the appearance of an adhesive, coating or sealer film that is cracked into large segments. Cracking or crazing.

Ambient Temperature:   A term used to denote the temperature of the surrounding air.

Analysis:  The separation of a substance or mixture of substances into the component parts, so that a knowledge of the percent composition can be obtained.

Anchor Coat:  A coating applied to the surface of a substrate to effect or increase the adhesion of subsequent coatings; primer, tie coat or pre-coat.

Anchorage:   The specific adhesion of a pressure sensitive adhesive to a face material or an anchor coat.

Aniline Dyes:  Coal-tar derivatives classified according to the degree of fastness to light or brightness. Basic dyes have extreme brightness, but are not fast to light. Acid dyes are less brilliant, but have greater light fastness. Direct dyes are much more fade resistant than basics and, in some cases, than acid dyes.

Aniline Printing:   Early name for rubber plate printing, using fast-drying fluid inks.

Anilox Inking:  In flexography, a two roll inking system consisting of a smooth roll which dips in an ink trough and transfers the ink to an etched metal roll with wells of fixed size that transfer the ink controllably to the plate.

Anilox Roll:  Mechanically engraved steel and chrome coated metering roll used in flexo presses to meter a controlled film of ink from the contacting rubber covered doctor roller to the printing plates which print the web. Volume of ink is affected by the cell count per linear inch and dimension of the cell and cell wall of the engraving. Sometimes manufactured from copper and chromium plated steel but ceramic coated rolls, which are then laser etched, are becoming more common.

Antioxidants:  Agents which retard the action of oxygen in substances subject to oxidation.

Antistatic:   Agents Ingredients in coatings that make the coating antistatic.

Antistatic Coatings:  Coatings applied to one or both surfaces of a substrate to reduce the electrostatic build up so that the material can be further processed, I.e. sheeted and stacked.

Anvil Cut Labels:  A pressure sensitive label which has been die-cut through all components of the label stock, including liner material; steel to steel cut.

Anvil Roll:  Hardened steel roll upon which the bearers of a rotary die cutter ride which also provides the hardened surface for die cutting.

Application:   Refers to a pressure sensitive label actually being adhered to a product.

Application Temperature:  Temperature at the time the label is applied. Most adhesives have a minimum application temperature rating. Testing is recommended when approaching this temperature.

Applicator:   A device that automatically feeds and applies pressure sensitive labels to a product.

Applicator:   Roll Coating, print, tint, lacquer or varnish roller that actually applies any of these to a substrate.

Aqueous:  Water containing or water based. Refers to adhesive or inking systems which use water as the carrier or vehicle.

Aqueous Inks:   Inks produced utilizing a water base.

Artificial Aging:  The accelerated testing of specimens to determine the change in properties, carried out over a short period of time. Such tests are indicative of what may be expected of a material under actual service conditions over extended periods.

Artwork:  The original design including drawings and text produced by the artist. All elements of the design from which the black and white art and printing plates are made. Also refers to all elements of the black and white production art.

Aspect Radio:   The ratio of height to width of a bar code symbol.

Auto Ignition Point:   The temperature at which mixtures of solvent vapor and air will ignite without the aid of a spark or flame

-=Good Selling=-

Print 17 aka Graph Expo starts tomorrow in Chicago.  I was able to attend last years event in Orlando, however the thought of flying to Chicago and the need to still perform in my day job led me to opt out of Print 17.

I did notice that many of the threads below are from Graph Expo back in 2007.  Thus, you may want to relive those glory days for the imagePRESS C7000VP, or maybe the KonicaMinolta  PRO C5500.  BTW, there some really cools sales threads at then at the end of the blog. I'm checking them out as soon as I finish posting this up.  Enjoy!

Weekend Notes from 9/7/2007

You've demo'd that shiny new copier for your print shop Decision Maker, pricing is no longer the issue, maintenance pricing is fine, the copier operation was flawless, and you don't feel comfortable with using a drop close to secure the order.  Yet, you can move the deal forward.

You have a suspicion that if you could just add a little more value to the deal, that you might be able to close the order now.  Makes you think, what in the world can I add that would increase the value of my copier or services and it won't cost me anything?

With at least a half dozen print shop DM's, I was able to close the order with this value add. 

I offered to cold call once a week for one month at no cost.  I stated that the print shop would supply the their business cards, their flyers and or handouts.  I had asked for about one hundred hand outs and then dedicated one day a week for the next four weeks to cold call on behalf of the print shop. 

I asked  the owner to print a few hundred statement size note pads with the name of his print shop, address, and the phone number. In addition, I asked that owner go out and buy a large bag of hard candies.  The process was to put to two pads together with a 1/2 dozen candies and shrink wrap them together for the handout.  This made one neat handout and I didn't have one cold call that refused the handouts.

At the end of the day, I reported back to the DM, made copies of the business cards and reported on any hot prospects that I found. I left the original business cards with the owner and kept the copies for my self.  Can you guess what I di with those copies? 

I can remember finding one prospect who needed 5,000 color prints/copies.  The printer I was cold calling for was elated when he was able to secure the order and of course those 5,000 color pages were printed on one of my color devices.

What's the method to the madness here?  Well, in addition to cold calling for the Print Shop, I was also scouting and prospecting for net new clients for copiers. 

I didn't mind doing the cold calls  because I knew one of my weaknesses was cold calling. I have no probably doing it, but it always seemed that I would put it off for another day.  I was able to kill two birds with one stone.

Thus, there were no wasted selling days on my part, since I was working to jobs at the same time.  BTW, this is something you could use for almost any type of account, probably not enterprise, however this will work with most SMB accounts.

-=Good Selling=-

I'll be posting up more of these in the upcoming weeks

It's been some time since I've blogged about a print device and there's a couple of reasons for that.  One is the fact that there has not been a device in recent months that has piqued my interest, and the second reason is that I've tried to enjoy more of my summer evenings and not be tied to a PC.  At my age, you're just not sure how many more summer evenings you're going to have.  Thus, it's time to start enjoying!

The new SP8400DN could prove to be a valuable asset while we're in the process of knocking out competitive devices in the field.  Below you'll find my top five talking points that I will point out to prospects.

1)  If there is no need to copy or scan, but there's a need to print at a high speed then the Ricoh SP8400DN would be an excellent choice.  The print speed rolls in at an astounding sixty pages per minute.  Thus, the SP8400DN can fill some print only workflows in the office.

2) The optional 4-bin mailbox also makes a lot of sense when there are multiple users that need to print to the device.  Just this AM, I grabbed a print job off our work group copier and I was surprised when I picked up another employees bank transactions.  Having your own dedicated print mailbox would eliminate the chance of picking up someone else's print job.

3) Black toner yield of 51,000 pages and the MSRP is $93 for the cartridge.  Thus, the cost per page for toner comes in at .00183 per page. The SP8400DN would be perfect under a "device billing" maintenance plan. Not sure what device billing is?  Post a comment in the reply section and I can tell you more about that.

4) Internal Multi-Folding Unit FD3000 allows for Z-Fold, Half-Fold & Tri-Folding with the options for folding the printed side in or out.  The FD3000 can be installed with or with out a finisher. In addition the device can fold letter, legal and tabloid size paper.  The folding settings can be viewed and changed from the SP8400DN printer properties settings or in the detailed settings page that is located on the tablet style interface of the device. 

5) Hybrid 1,000-sheet Staple/Stapleless Finisher is interesting to say the least.  In order for clients to take advantage of stapleless finishing, clients could only purchase a stapleless finishing device.  There was no option to have stapleless and staple finishing in the same device.  That's changed with the new Hybrid finisher.  Clients can now choose whether the want staples or to use the stapleless feature.  Please keep in mind that the stapleless option will only bind (stapleless) documents between 2-5 pages.

There you have, five really cool items to have a conversation with your client(s) for the new Ricoh SDP8400DN printer.

One more neat feature for you

The mandatory security information print can be a great selling feature also.  Especially for those administrators that want to control security for all of those printed pages.   With the mandatory security print turned on, the SP8400DN will lay down a security stamp on every printed page.  Data such as time, date, owner, IP address and serial number of the device can be stamped on every printed page.  Nice way to deter from distributing secure information.

-=Good Selling=

A massive challenge for anyone in sales is prospecting for net new business while trying to retain your current clients. Choosing where to spend your energy or how to divvy up your time can be challenging. I know how busy you all are running around doing "stuff"!

It costs businesses significantly more to acquire new customers than it does to retain them, as most successful businesses understand the importance of maintaining outstanding customer relationships.

Customers are bombarded with more attractive offers all the time and at lightning speed. They may see possible opportunities based on price, quality or service. Yet, I guarantee those are not the factors which cause them to switch from or encourage them to stay with you and your company.

Customers rely on their emotional experiences with salespeople more than any of the traditional factors, according to research by the Peppers & Rogers Group, which showed:

• 60% of all customers stop dealing with a company because of what they perceive as indifference on the part of salespeople
• 70% of customers leave a company because of poor service, which is usually attributed to a salesperson

What these statistics speak to and show is the important role that attitude and emotion play in determining whether your customers leave or stay. It’s mission critical for salespeople to understand customer attitudes and regularly collect their feedback.

I am confident most salespeople can answer the “who, what, when, where and how” of a business relationship. The single biggest missing element is “why.” Why do your customers do business with you? Is it because they feel valued and well taken care of? I guarantee the “why” factors will have monumental impact to you and the loyalty of your clients.

STOP TAKING RELATIONSHIPS FOR GRANTED

A picture speaks a thousand words...

Taking things for granted is an awful mistake we all make. A huge and unfortunate strategic error salespeople make is taking their customers for granted. When success sets in the "complacency syndrome" kicks in as most in sales start to develop a strong position and thought process revolving around their products and their services as being top-class, unique and something their customers can't live without.

Taking your customers for granted is equivalent to shutting down your business since it is your customers who call the shots now.

You as a sales reps and the offerings within your company are not indispensable given the fierce competition. Your customers have so many options that they do not need to stick with a company which takes them for granted. They would much rather jump ship and go to a company who respects them, understands their needs and treats them well.

Taking your customers for granted will permeate throughout your company. Remember your company exists because of your customers.

STOP GROWING YOUR COMPETITORS NEXT GREAT CLIENT

Chew on this for a moment...

How do you truly know you are delivering value to your clients?

Are you really giving them what they really value more effectively than your competitors?

How sure are you?

It’s not a good idea to take a customer’s loyalty for granted. Meeting their expectations is just not good enough. Your customers want to know you care. Develop a learning mindset and learn to help your customer get what they need, an outstanding experience.

Some tenured sales folk think because they’ve been around a long time, they’ll always be given top priority by their customers. 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 prove it every day.

When is the last time you went belly to belly, face to face with your customers and asked them, "What value do my services, products or solutions create for you?" I am waiting for your answer, still waiting, still waiting; this is what I thought - it has been awhile.

I encourage you all to think about this question "What does value add look like to your customers?" I bet all of your customers want to increase their sales and grow their customer base, correct?

Here is a personal exercise... Ask yourself these two questions and then write down your responses to:

How do I help my customer's gain a competitive advantage?

What is my customer's perception of value in working with me?

STAY TOP OF MIND OR BECOME AN AFTER THOUGHT

Sustaining value in the minds of your customers requires persistence and extreme focus. Avoid assumptions at all times with your customers as their needs change frequently.

Ask yourself the following:

• What’s happening right now to my customers?
• What changes if any may be happening to them right now?
• What problems may they be facing?
• What difficulties are they encountering in their marketplace?

How many of you can answer these questions? If you aren't spending quality time in getting to know your customers better than I guarantee someone else will be.

To understand the meaning of value, you must first put yourself in your customer's shoes and see the world through their eyes.

HOW WELL DO YOU UNDERSTAND THEIR BUSINESS?

Creating true, authentic and genuine relationships by spending informal time with your customers will help you to understand them and their businesses.

What’s important to them and their business; the return will far outweigh the investment. 

How well do you truly know your customers and how well do they know you? 

With all sincerity, when you get to know your customers inside and out, you can personalize the attention you give them.

In a previous blog, 3 Ways A Servant Led Mindset Helps Sales Reps Crush Quota, true leadership as a sales rep is the ability to affect change and influence people inside your current accounts.

The more you can lead with a servant led mindset the better you will be in the long run. The aim is to be seen as a trusted adviser. When your input is greatly appreciated by your customers, it’s less likely they will engage with your competition. Stop taking your customers for granted.

STOP TREATING THEM AS CUSTOMERS BUT AS CLIENTS

You may have noticed I have referred to customers as customers. How many have caught onto this?

To all the salespeople, sales managers and those in executive management, do you view your customers as customers or do you view them as clients? How many view them as clients but treat them as customers?

How do you know when a customer becomes a client, or the other way around? When a client becomes a customer this becomes a problem.

Are you building customers or are you building clients?

You can't expect to get Nordstrom's level of service at Target or Walmart!

Think long and hard about this one... Are you viewed as sales rep of products and services to your customers or do you enlighten, add value, inform, advise, counsel, nurture and become an advocate on behalf of your clients?

Is it your personal preference to be sold or served? When you’re in the marketplace as a consumer do you seek out professionals whom you can trust or sleaze-balls selling you and then moving on?

Your personal commitment should be to build sustainable relationships with clients who value your professional advice rather than to find customers who make a one-time purchase.

If you and your company fail to keep your clients as such, they could turn into customers

I realize there are quite a few salespeople and their companies who take great care of their clients' needs but this is just not enough in today's complex business environment. It’s the ideas, insight, information, help, and guidance you provide which earns the privilege of doing business with them.

Initiate discussions focusing on their future needs, upcoming projects or areas of potential growth. Truly get to know your clients and quit treating them as customers.

I will leave you all to think about this...

Are You Growing Your Competitors Next Great Client?

I understand, I get where you all are coming from. I have walked a day in a life of your shoes and still do on a daily basis.

I am fully committed to helping your sales team integrate social aspects and modern strategies into your current sales process to grow net-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, Larry was recognized by ENX Magazine, “The Difference Maker” as someone who is making a difference inside the copier channel. Larry is passionate about helping sales reps succeed in creating their online brand image

You can find more blog posts 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 B2B Office Technology Sales Professionals to grow net-new business by helping them tell their story and communicate integrating the use of social. My commitment is to help office technology dealers thrive in a drastically changing marketplace. You can follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter, Social Sales Academy and on my podcast at Selling from the Heart.

The Typewriter was still clicking away when the Word-Processor was invented; the word processor was a better experience. This better experience caused the collapse of the typewriter sales and service model

The camera was still taking pictures on film when the Digital Camera was invented; the digital camera was a better experience. This better experience caused the collapse of the camera and film sales and service model

The Copier/Printer will still be making copies/prints as its Customers continue printing less and less and reading more and more digitally, and soon the customers’ of this industry will obtain a better experience. This better experience will cause the collapse of the current sales and service model.

The examples above are about Innovation, Disruption, Change, and Destroyed industries. Those reading this article either defend why the industry they represent is safe or they admit their impending doom. Some will recognize the need for change and continue doing the same as they miscalculate the time remaining to continue capitalizing on the old way. 

It seems unbelievable that any logical business person living today would ever question the reality that all products and services are susceptible to obsolescence. Today’s business world lives in both a physical and Digital or Virtual World. We have gone so far past the place where ideas and imaginations were held hostage by the restraints of limited technology and our physical reality, with today’s technology one’s imagination can be fueled and nurtured in the realms of a virtual world and then completely disrupt the physical world.

“Innovative companies understand that Customer Experience lives at the intersection where the digital and physical worlds meet.” 

Organizations who continue making U-turns just before the intersection where the digital and physical worlds meet will soon find the Intersection blocked permanently. Blocked by a new competitor. In the past, the competitor was known today the competitor or disrupter is unknown and unimagined. Competition today hides in the virtual world waiting for the opportunity to catch off guard those who perceive that their physical world is safe and secure in its current circumstances.

Every business must have the capacity to live in the virtual world where they perfect their customers’ experience as they deliver in the physical world. Some organizations like our friends at Uber do quite well in the digital world; some would say they perfected it. However, Uber is struggling in the physical world they have had many collisions at the intersection where their digital and physical worlds meet. Their apparent leadership dilemmas and poor management strategies are well known. When innovators completely disrupt a physical worlds deliverable with an innovative solution from the digital world the disrupted will fight. The problem is they fight with the tools from the physical world they will highlight the benefits of their outdated deliverable by discrediting the innovators' inabilities to compete with them in the old way discounting the fact their customers’ want the new way. Uber is proving an excellent customer experience will win over a poor management experience and the loud complaining of those disrupted. An Innovator can learn how to manage better, but a customer won’t tolerate a bad customer experience. Today you can be the best-managed company in the world and lose to the new unknown competitor with terrible management who delivers a better experience.     

The success at Uber is strictly about their customer’s experience. Back in the early days of Amazon, Jeff Bezos apparently understood the importance of this intersection between digital and physical worlds. Amazon should have taught many that it is at this intersection where Customer Experience lives. Today many companies still believe their relationships of the past are what feeds their businesses. These beliefs will destroy many who think this way. Here’s my explanation. Relationships based on a push economy where for the most part built and maintained by the products' pushers. In this ever growing pull economy customers’ will look for, find and engage with, and trade in all old relationships for a better experience every time. In other words, the customer will form a relationship with an experience, and this experience could be void human interaction. People who like Uber like their APP, their great relationship is with the APP on their phone.

Today the most successful companies in the world live in the digital world, Jim Crammer calls these companies FANG, Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Google.

Any organization who believes they can avoid the intersection between the digital and physical world are mistaken and will see their old customers and relationships leaving for the new better experience.

The digital world has created a Pull Economy, the customer experience or a business’s remarkability becomes the most valuable asset the company has, and today more and more consumers will judge a company’s remarkability in the digital world first. What many are ignoring is this fast growing Pull Economy is a result of the continuous advances and capabilities of innovative technologies. How customers interact for commerce and trade will become more and more problematic for those industries created for a Push Economy. The questions are. Will the legacy product and service providers living in the Push Economy innovate themselves to a place where their future customer will pull from?

“Today’s technology allows anyone with a spark of curiosity to create flames of knowledge.”  

That quote applies to both companies and their customers.

In Closing: If you’re the leader that believes your current circumstances of continuing the practice of making U-turns back to the past instead of driving through the intersection where the Digital and the Physical worlds meet soon you will find yourself in the parking lot called obsolescence. 

If you enjoyed this article send me a LinkedIn request and let’s continue the conversation, or e-mail me at raystasieczko@gmail.com

R.J.Stasieczko  

This week, there's an excellent sales tip that we posted ten years ago.  The tip goes on to explain that you have the believe in what you're selling.  You also need to believe in yourself and your abilities.  We all have slumps from time to time, some just happen for no reason and others are self created (not prospecting).   So, when the going gets tough, get back to prospecting, it's jut good medicine.

Enjoy the threads from ten years ago this week.  Only on the P4P forums!

c411DN Ricoh Printer ON SALE!

This is a repost from our old blogspot site from back in 2010.  Just thought it would be a good share for everyone. 

If you have some funny story to share, please feel free to add!

A few months ago I was driving to South Jersey for an appointment, hence I started to think about all of the copier demo's I did in the old days and some of the funniest things that happened with either the demo and or an appointment.

With that I thought, let me put this out to the Print4Pay Hotel Members and see what they came up with! Well, our Print4Pay Members came up with some awesome content. Hence a collection of Great Copier Humor!

A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Copier Demo!

A customer was demo'ing a canon color copier with fiery in their office. I stopped by on the second day to check to see how everything was going. The office manager asked me if there was any way that images or pictures would just randomly print off the hard drive of the system. Apparently, some very explicit images had been printed on the copier right before I got there. Rightfully so she was absolutely furious. I explained that the pictures had to have been printed by someone in the office. We checked the print log on the system and sure enough she was able to identify the culprit. I ended up closing the deal and the same office manager admitted to me that she loved the image quality on the system, even the explicit pictures looked great!

from kdbyrum in Myrtle Beach

Rep: What's your copier volume?

Client: Well, uh, everyone in the office uses it.

from JW in LA

I customer once called me to ask for the "White Toner" for their copier.

I told them that their copier only had black toner, but they wanted white toner to print on black construction paper.

from JasonR in Tennessee

In downtown Princeton, NJ (right across the street from Princeton University). Had just demo'd a small Adler Royal 209 (boy was that unit a piece of garbage). Well, rolled the copier gurney into the back of the car. Pulled out and into traffic, stopped at the light, and being young and foolish, I gunned the gas pedal with the green light. The car went forward the copier gurney and copier wne backwards and landed on the street, seems like I forgot to close the hatch!!

from AP in NJ

Had a demo years ago on a fax machine. Had a big wheel from corporate wanting to do a ride along with a rep for the day. Customer wanted to see quality and asked one of their customers to send a test fax. As all the admin complained about the speed, the corp guy explained that a very detailed fax would take more time because of memory issues. As everyone crowded around the fax to inspect, a very vivid porn image was reproduced with striking detail. We made the sale!

from BillW in NJ

Several years back we had a demo in a pastor's home office for a couple of days when he called in because the machine was misfeeding. We had been selling him on the reliability of this model, so he wasn't very pleased with the performance. When our technician went out he opened the side of the copier and found that one of the Pastor's kids poured cornflakes into the copier. We got it cleaned up and he bought the demo.

from Btrammell in Salem, OR

I had an appointment with a drug rehab medical center. I asked her how many users she had....oops. She said marijuana or cocaine? I still don't know if she was kidding or not. They didn't buy anything from me. They renewed their lease and paid on the used machine for 2 more years that I know of. And thought it was a very good decision. Perhaps they were users. Did that ruin the story?

Berniedsc in Cincinnati, Ohio

I received a telephone help call from one of our clients who had a malfunction code on their new copier. To clear these malfunction codes it’s usually a case of opening the front door for a few seconds and then closing it again. I asked the client to do this and then come back to the telephone. He returned a few moments later and asked “now what”? I asked what happened when he opened and shut the front door, did it clear the code?, “no’ was the reply, “it just got colder in here” He’d opened and closed his main office front door!
It takes allsorts…….

from Taminol in London, England

These were just some of the threads from Print4Pay Hotel members, if you'd like to read more or become a member click our link! www.p4photel.com

-=Good Selling=-