MFP Copier Blog

First and foremost Happy Fourth of July!  Most interesting is the first thread about one of my largest accounts being "stolen" from RBS ten years ago.  My how the tables have now turned! 

Email 2 Ricoh America Corp about RBS

Inside the sales community, there's quite a bit of comparison and analogies being made between sports athletes and sales reps. Heck, I even wrote about Can You Imagine A Professional Athlete Operating With A Sales Reps Mindset?

Sales is a lot like golf, at the core essence it's an individualistic game. You’re on your own. There is no team to pick up the slack when you’re down, it is all you. Yes, you might play alongside or against other players (sales competitors) and you might also have the support of a mentor or coach, but you’re really playing on your own. Sounds like sales? 

Every day is a new day, a fresh start. It's what you do today which really matters. Sounds like sales? It doesn’t matter how successful you were yesterday or the day before. There is no tenure, no taking it easy, no resting on your laurels and no complacent mindset. Oooopppps this doesn't sound like sales?

Your success is based on how you perform today

In golf, the approach to every situation is different. The courses are different, the conditions are different, there are even obstacles requiring different strategies and different tools (golf clubs). Unpredictable conditions present to golfers things that are totally out of their control. Golfers can catch a bad break, get a bad bounce or bad lie as they have to deal with it and recover from it.

This sounds a bit like sales. In sales, no two selling situations are alike. Clients and prospects all have different needs and requirements with different objections requiring different approaches, tactics and strategies.

As a sales rep, you need to utilize all the different tools to get where you want to go, a sale. We all know in sales things don’t always go as planned and sometimes you get the old proverbial bad bounce. Calls don’t get returned, appointments get cancelled, budgets get cut and contracts don’t get signed on time. However, you still need to figure out a way to recover and bounce back. No salesperson enjoys a bad experience but the great ones learn from it, erase it from their mind as they move on to the next opportunity.

PLAYING GREAT GOLF AND DOING WELL IN SALES BEGINS WITH MINDSET

Professional golfers, who consistently play great golf, share one common element - they have the right mindset. Wanting to play great golf is not enough. It is about having complete belief that you are capable of playing the type of game you desire to reach the pinnacle, winning a major tournament.

As with a golfer, a sales rep in order to achieve true success, you must limit your weaknesses and leverage your natural gifts rounding them into championship form, to reach your full potential.

Success or failure is a driven by expectations and beliefs. Limited or negative thinking will produce a poor mindset resulting in undesirable results.

The space between your ears is a powerful predictor of success

GOLF AND SALES REQUIRES DISCIPLINE

Golf and sales both require extreme amounts of self-discipline. It is about the preparation to play, planning to play, and the steady perseverance in your actions. If you want to excel in golf and in sales, not only do you need to play the game, you must consistently practice. The rewards don’t come with every shot, every hole or even every round. Sound familiar to all the sales reps? Each shot, each round, each day, will test your focus, temperament and requires you to think strategically as well as creatively.

THE SINGLE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A GOLFER AND A SALES REP...

According to the United States Golf Association, a golfer is allowed to have 14 clubs in their golf bag. This may include three woods (driver, 3-wood and 5-wood), eight irons (3-9 iron and pitching wedge) and a putter. These are the standard 12 clubs in many golf bags. They are allowed 2 more specialty clubs in rounding out to 14.

The old saying, "practice makes perfect" or "perfect practice makes for perfect play" rings loud and clear with the game of golf and in sales. Here lies the dilemma as I see it... If a golfer has 14 clubs in their bag which are all designed to assist them in achieving success on the golf course then my question to sales reps, sales leaders and those in executive management:

How many tools are in a sales reps tool bag that they consistently use, practice and perfect in order to help improve their game?

Each club, iron, wedge and putter is designed for a specific purpose. In order for a golfer to achieve success on the golf course they must practice using each and every club in their golf bag.

All of you in sales, are you starting to get it? Are you practicing using on a daily basis all the tools in your sales tool bag to help you drive more sales revenue?

Here lies the single biggest difference between golfers and sales reps. Golfers know how to use each and every club in their golf bag as they PRACTICE using each and every one with consistency. Can the same be said for most sales reps?

How many hours per week are you practicing?

• How are you practicing on working on you that actually leads to improvement? This means stretching your comfort zone.
• How are you practicing pushing yourself and your abilities? I challenge you all to find one thing you are doing poorly and create a plan to correct it. Small steps every day reap gigantic rewards.
• How committed are you to practicing repeatable until it hurts? The best performers repeat their practice and do so at ridiculous lengths.
• Are you committed to yourself enough to seek of feedback and guidance? We all have unrecognizable blind spots. You can't improve if you don't know how you're doing.

In order to consistently win as a sales rep takes practice. I encourage all sales reps to consistently practice removing these three things from their sales bag - Excuses, Ego and Fear.

Yes! We're Talking 'bout Practice... Yes, Sales Reps Need Stinking Practice!

The continuing evaporation of customer excitement concerning copy and print is further driving its commoditization. Some in the “The Imaging Channel” will continue justifying a declining market in the same way other industries in decline do. They question the skill sets of their sales department, they question the new generation’s skills at management, and some will question their manufacturer's pricing, support, and strategies. Independent dealers must focus now more than ever on their own survival and stop believing that their manufacturers will protect them against a collapsing market. It seems many still take directions and believe their manufacturers are as loyal as they once were. Remember this; a manufacturer who sells direct, or through dealers will always put the needs of the Manufacturing plant before the needs of the sales engine, and yes that is backwards. Any loyalty they appear to have will not survive their desperation. Ask the Ricoh, or Lanier, dealers who were not invited to the Ricoh Direct going out of business sale.  

The disaster at Ricoh should alarm other manufacturers and those large dealer organizations who continue buying print bases. Ricoh proved you can’t buy customers in a declining market “without a plan to reinvent your relevance”. Ricoh believed their continued relevance would be a by-product of winning every deal at all cost, regardless of cost, and this approach cost them dearly. Ricoh taught us all a powerful lesson, and now their future is questionable. They’ve gone from the largest direct distribution manufacturer, back to distribution through dealers, of which most are muti-line. Ricoh gave up control to survive. The sad part is Ricoh used to thrive.   

Today’s progressive dealers are selling Managed IT Services, Managed Communication Services, and Managed Security Services. Progressive dealers will continue to reinvent themselves as they understand the importance of replacing the declining profit and revenue of print. Sadly we see dealers, manufacturers, leasing companies, and some support software companies refusing to acknowledge there’s even a problem. When those in the industry can visualize themselves not dependent on print, by default they will be thinking innovatively. Innovative organizations will collaborate with those unrecognizable to those remaining status quo.

Today many in the Imaging Channel are growing based on acquisitions. No industry can buy itself relevancy when its customers are determined to use and value their products less and less. Kmart did not help Sears. If you were a taxi company would you buy another taxi company, or would you purchase a software, or app development company? Customers only want outcomes the means to achieve them will never win over the outcome. Imagine the taxi organization who bought up all the medallions in NYC. He was the biggest, he was the richest, and he had the most assets. He also lost the most when UBER was born. Customers only want outcomes. So if your goal is buying customers, you better have a plan when your industry’s UBER is born.

The imaging Channel must face the reality that large customer bases will not save them from obsolescence. As the industry goes through the transition the dealers, the manufacturers, the leasing partners, the consultants, and the analysts must change their thinking. Instead of looking for deliverables which complement print, look for deliverables void of print, and I am not talking about water.

The good news for the truly innovative actors, most won’t do this, giving those who do a great advantage. Sadly most legacy organizations who refuse to innovate, perish during disruptions. When was the last time you shopped at Sears? If you hurry you can make their liquidation sale? Imaging Channel! Don't be Sears. Imaging Channel don’t be the taxi company holding the most Medallion’s.

In-Closing: it’s not about the world going paperless, it’s about the customers declining value of print, and manufactures lowering the cost of equipment and simplifying the services. These two facts will not allow the survival of the current circumstances. 

R.J.Stasieczko       

"The quality of your life as a sales rep is based upon the quality of your relationships"

We would all agree, customer experience matters more now than ever before and sales reps who don’t adapt to a customer-led mindset through personalization will fall further behind and suffer major customer churn.

In today's modern business world, full of business intelligence, marketing automation tools and social media, your customers and prospects are expecting a different type of interaction; one which is personalized, genuine and authentic.

According to a Forrester report, only 27 percent of buyers find salespeople are knowledgeable about the buyer's specific business, meaning an astounding 73 percent of buyers don't think salespeople understand their company's needs. This is a problem.

Think of the 73% when it comes to your current customers, how you converse and build relationships with them matters as this can be a key differentiator between you and your competition. Conversation, it is an art form taking a certain skill set along with practice to get the job done correctly; a truly loyal customer.

This got me thinking... to truly develop a loyal customer I encourage all sales leaders to work with their sales teams to change their mindset regarding how they view their customers.

THERE IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A CLIENT AND A CUSTOMER

Lawyers, financial advisers along with health care specialists all have clients. The people buying their services value what they have to offer. They have taken time to choose the person who best suits their needs. Their clients do not choose on price. They are happy to pay extra for the right person who offers the right services.

Grocery, department and electronic stores have customers. They typically buy on price. Occasionally, they may choose convenience and pick the store closest to them but rarely is there loyalty. As soon as a cheaper price or a more convenient option comes along they will be happy to move to a new store.

THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION - ARE CUSTOMERS LOYAL OR ARE CLIENTS LOYAL?

Here lies the question for you all to think about - when asked, do most sales reps refer to their customers as customers or as clients? If they refer to them as clients then why do they treat them as customers?

It is my belief customers buy things or products, whereas clients seek knowledge and advice. A customer is a transaction and a client is a relationship.

"I don't build in order to have clients, I have clients in order to build"

Ayn Rand

Customers are what happens when sales reps do nothing to create personal connections and fail to worry about ever getting them to continue to do business with them time after time.

A client is what sales reps create when they make a personal connection and build a relationship based upon the benefit their services provide. A client is what we create when we create an outstanding experience around the relationship we build.

So ask yourself...Do you have customers or clients in your business?

Simple stuff, in order to get a client you need to build a relationship. To be able to keep a client and have them with predictability refer business you need to nurture and care for the relationship on a regular basis (check out my man Mike Garrison, the referral machine). The way you build relationships are through experiences.

BUILD RELATIONSHIPS THROUGH CONVERSATIONS

If you truly want to get to know your clients and prospects then take the sales hat off, roll up your sleeves and engage in healthy conversation.

What prevents you from getting to know your clients?

Here lies my concern - How many sales reps have truly meaningful conversations with their clients outside of the selling process? How many relationships are you developing inside your current account base?

The question then to ask yourself as a sales leader is how are your sales reps making your clients feel before, during and after doing business with them?

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

Focus on developing conversations, not sales campaigns. It is not about your agenda, it is about opening up human to human conversation. It is not about you it is about helping your client. Develop a sincere desire and demonstrate you are interested in your client's world and what motivates them.

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

KEY DIFFRENCES BETWEEN CLIENTS AND CUSTOMERS

• Someone who purchases goods and services from a company is known as the Customer. Client refers to someone who seeks professional services from the company.
• A company focuses on selling the product and services to the customer. On the other hand, the company focuses on serving the client.
• A company offers goods and services to its customers. Talking about clients, who seek for professional services like advisory, legal, consultancy and may more.

Let's say you are a sales rep within the Office Technology space who sells solutions and services, wouldn't you agree you should have clients? Aren't they seeking your knowledge and expertise? Wouldn't they choose the one who creates the right business results for them as the value the outcome.

A sales rep with a customer focused mindset will get beat up on price. A sales rep with a client focused mindset becomes a valuable asset.

I understand, clients sometimes will move on but they tend to do so when they discover a better business solution or a better experience, not when they find a cheaper price.

WHAT VALUE ARE YOUR SALES REPS BRINGING?

Your clients are the lifeblood to your success. No clients, no business. Think of a servant led mindset and lead with your heart to serve them and bring about a positive change.

• You must think about your clients more than your competitors
• You must give your clients reasons to stick around by providing an outstanding experience
• You must give them more value for your price than you charge
• You must focus on their success not your success

Sales reps must take the time to truly get to know their clients. I encourage you all to ask this question as well to each and every one of your clients...

What is the difference I have made to your business?

When we as sales reps sincerely and deeply understand our clients this will open the door to more creative solutions. This becomes huge stepping stones to a synergistic and profitable partnership.

I leave you all to think about this...

Customers buy things while clients seek advice.

Stop viewing your customers as customers and start viewing them as clients. Watch what happens to your profits.

Welcome to Part 1 of our new mini-series of blog posts, “Leading in the Cloud”. Over the course of five posts, we’ll track DocuWare’s journey from a traditional on-premises software company to a market-leading cloud services company, all while staying true to our customers, partners and product vision.

The first installment covers the signals we saw in the marketplace that initiated our move to the cloud – even though no one else was doing it.

We Were Doing Just Fine Without the Cloud

By today’s startup pace, DocuWare is not a young company. Founded nearly 30 years ago, we’ve been building and delivering document management and workflow technology for customers all over the world.

While many of our competitors build complex products reliant on expensive, lengthy and painful professional services, DocuWare designed technology for the masses under a simple idea: help the knowledge worker do their job, and avoid the IT headaches of complicated software.

Some Metrics of Our Growth

Our strategy was sound: we built a robust channel business (over 500 partners today) that delivered growth and profitability for literally decades. We went global (70 countries, 16 languages), we spanned industries (hundreds) and gained thousands of loyal users (over 175,000). In short: DocuWare was doing great selling enterprise, on-premises software.

Cloud Was Fringe

With years of growth and no signs of slowing, why did DocuWare move to the cloud? Competitors weren’t chasing it. Customers weren’t demanding it. Analysts were barely talking about it. In those early days, cloud was a fringe idea with high barriers of skepticism.

Early Signals of Something Big

Web applications have been around almost since the dawn of the Web. Online email, for instance, signaled a new way of thinking about a browser: instead of a means to consume static information, it became a means to create and move dynamic information. This concept shifted the entire foundation of the web from publishing-centric XHTML to application-centric HTML5.

Redefining Applications for the Consumer

Within years, consumers were provided online tools that changed our definition of “application.” Google revolutionized email with Gmail, mapping software with Google Maps, office applications with Google Docs. BaseCamp provided teams with agile project management. Social networks like Facebook were conceived, born and grown within a browser. DropBox handled basic file storage. Suddenly, productivity could blossom without ever installing a local piece of software. And consumers loved it.

The consumer drive to cloud was made complete with the launch of the iPhone. Overnight, the world moved to apps and always-on connectivity. Cloud was the backbone.

Redefining Applications for the Enterprise

On the enterprise side, Salesforce ushered in a complete revolution in how organizations acquired, consumed, scaled and paid for their mission-critical technology. “Subscription services” replaced “licensed software.” The entire buying cycle moved from IT to business owner.

Still, most ECM players ignored the trends. The industry heavy-weights stubbornly focused on traditional, on-premises software despite every market signal pointing to a very different-looking future.

The market signals that drove the decision to build DocuWare Cloud.

For DocuWare, the signals were clear: user-centric, mobile-enabled connectivity; large-scale sales teams embracing cloud-driven CRM; individuals and business units embracing cloud file storage.

We assumed, correctly as it turns out, that businesses would want to shed the weight of their outdated ECM technology and employ document management, process automation and intelligent document workflow delivered via cloud.

The Benefits of Cloud Document Management

Specifically, our decision was driven by the following customer benefits of cloud:

• No local installation, including plugins
• No hardware and software maintenance, including upgrades and security patches
• Always using the latest software
• Only pay for services actually used
• Subscription model removes price barrier to entry
• World-wide, high-availability access
• More efficient use of resources à green technology

Our Milestones Building a Modern Cloud Service

2002 – Our R&D team redesigned DocuWare with a highly scalable, multi-layered architecture.
2008 – DocuWare launched a robust web client where users could access central document pools from any location. This was a very popular extension of the core DocuWare system for individuals who did not want to install software and plugins on local workstations.
2009 – DocuWare offered its first software as a service (SaaS) through the private cloud.
2010 – Decision to build a true cloud solution.
2012 – DocuWare delivered its first public cloud SaaS offering called DocuWare Online. This landmark release enabled rapid registration and delivered 80 percent of the features from the on-premises solution.
2014 – DocuWare Online was renamed DocuWare Cloud and moved onto the Microsoft Azure platform.

Today: a Complete Cloud Office Automation Solution

Today, there is now 100% feature and user experience parity between DocuWare Cloud and the DocuWare on-premises solution. None of our competitors have delivered this “complete cloud” vision. But we believe in a zero-compromise product that provides customers choice in how and when they want to bring DocuWare into their cloud strategy.

The response has been enthusiastic. In future blog posts, we’ll cover customer and revenue growth with our cloud services, and explore the many technical challenges we solved along the way.

Visit www.blog.docuware.com for the rest of the series.

• Demming's quote is still my favourite, as you often come across opinionated people with a lot of certainty yet when you did deeper they basis of their confidence on many topics is nothing more than opinion and here say, and all the more complicated in a time of alleged "fake news".

• This is a great build on Demming's quote, as when there is no data then go with the leader's opinion, ad doing something is often better than doing nothing.

• Pure Drucker wisdom.

• Another great Demming quote

• Data on its own is useless, what you are ultimately aiming for is "Actionable Insight", something that points to the next thing you should try, and measure what outcomes happen as a result. Back to the first quote, there will be no shortage of people telling you to do different things with absolute certainty, when the truth is that certainty is a myth in business, it only works in science.

Daniel Taylor Director EMEA Channel Managed Services

After 37 years, every once an awhile you look back and reminisce about what you've gotten really good at, but don't care to admit to anyone. 

Five Things I Hate & Love About My Copier Career

1) Over the years, I've become an expert at adding, subtracting and multiplying tenths, hundredths, thousandths and ten thousandths in my head.  At times, I find my self spewing the correct math calculation and then wondering how I did that so quick.  Guess, that's why memorize our multiplication times tables in grammar school.

2) Why.....such a little word, right?  From time to time my wife will tell me, if you ask why one more time I'm going to ......... .  That three letter word has grown on me over the years and I'll bring it out on every appointment.  After years and years of using  the Why word with appointments, I find myself using the Why word too many times in normal conversations.  Yes, people have told me that I'm annoying at times.

3) I'm a fracking walking, talking road map for the State of New Jersey.  Who needs mapquest (so nineties) or google maps?  Not me.  There's no possible way I could ever get lost in New Jersey. Wow, now that's really something to crow about!

4) I've become a contrarian salesperson.  Everything is questioned, nothing is absolute, and doing the opposite of what most salespeople do is fine by me.  If you're just like every other salesperson, then you'll be treated like all of the other salespeople (The Contrarian Salesperson). 

5) Junior High School, age 14 or 15, uneasy, and zero self confidence made me take Zero's for oral reports, and I was ok with that!  Today, I find my self yearning for more chances to share my knowledge in front of others.  Years and years of telephone and in person rejections has turned me into a fearless speaker in person or via the telephone. 

You've probably guessed that I've kept this somewhat light hearted.  Actually, there's probably not much that I would change about my career in the copier industry.  What I can tell you, is that my career is not even close to ending and I'm hoping for another twenty awesome years in the crazy ass business.

-=Good Selling=-

Look into my eyes, you're getting sleepy, you're getting real sleepy, are you hypnotized yet by all the social fodder? I've got a secret can you keep it? Take off the dark sun glasses and stop chasing shiny "social" objects!

Hey Sales Leaders... 3 Reasons Why Your Sales Teams "Social" ROI Sucks! I shared my two cents that social has always been a part of sales. It is about building relationships and changing the way people think with a modern set of sales tools.

Here lies the issue...

"Sales reps have been hypnotized into believing what they aren't doing doesn't work!"

A BANDWAGON SOCIAL SELLER

Inside the sports world there's a term often used called "Bandwagoner." Do you ever notice how people suddenly become fans of teams who are performing well? Do you ever wonder if they are real fans as they claim to be? Or do you wonder if they're just bandwagon fans? Bandwagon fans are defined as sports fans who have shown no past loyalty to a team, who only support them when they are doing well.

Sales reps are easily enamored! I submit to you sales reps are jumping on the social selling bandwagon as this has become the next shiny object of desire. Sales reps have become enthusiastic, raving fans of the social selling movement. It's the craze, it's fashionable, it's popular, heck they all want to be part of the growing movement.

Let's take one huge step beyond being bandwagoner sales reps. Let's stop the madness! Let's get better at sales! Let's unite to improve our entire game as sales reps!

STOP THE CHASE AND GET TO WORK

Who doesn’t dream of sales success?

What sales rep doesn't dream of being known, admired, recognized and honored amongst their peers and clients?

Aristotle said, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

Is hopping on the social selling bandwagon going to all of a sudden make you a better sales rep? Of course not, let's just get real. Is social selling an important sales tool, methodology and ideology that needs to be understood, implemented and coached to, absolutely!

I firmly believe integrating the use of social can play a huge role in the sales world. The concern I have is over the lack of attention being given to the most basic of sales training or coaching for sales reps in order to help them become better sales reps.

If the core foundation as a sales rep is not sturdy then how can you expect the four walls and roof of "social selling" to stand without crumbling right in front of your eyes?

SALES REPS MUST DEVELOP PATIENCE

We're told early on as sales reps that patience is a virtue. However, very few in sales are ever really shown or taught how to be patient. Patience is not something we have; it is something we consciously do every day. Patience is like any other hard-earned discipline: The more we practice, the more patient we become.

Chase the shiny object call patience

Part of being successful requires patience. Patience when it comes to client relations, business negotiations during the buying process, business development efforts, as well as integrating social aspects into the sales process.

SOCIAL SALES SUCCESS TAKES PATIENCE

What makes you valuable as a sales rep?

Your clients and future clients won’t ever engage in a business conversation nor buy from you if they don’t even understand why they should pay attention to you.

What's sad is if you can't open up a conversation through traditional prospecting, what makes you think you can do it with social selling?

Sales reps have come to the crossroads of their sales lives through years of neglect. A healthy mind and body takes discipline, healthy eating habits and a commitment to daily exercise. Sales is no different, however; my challenge lies with how many of you sales reps make a commitment to a healthy sales mind.

Here lies the problem! What makes you think you can flip the switch, change your habits and all of sudden reap the rewards all the social selling pundits promise you?

Changing habit's requires strong motivation. Patience rewards you with positive recognition, greater sales results, increased client satisfaction and stronger profits. Think of the word patience as you build your brand, your reputation and how you integrate social aspects into your sales process.

GET TO WORK CHASING EXCELLENCE

"Patience is a virtue, and I am learning patience. It's a tough lesson"

Elon Musk

We fulfill our potential with patience. Your clients, your future clients, your family and your career desperately need the best of what each of you has to offer.

Therefore, building your brand, proactively marketing your brand and your reputation takes time. You can't plant a seed and expect it to flower overnight. Success always begins with patience and your commitment to put in the due diligence necessary to achieve excellence.

Patience is the one virtue that will serve you well as a sales rep. Patience takes time and conscious effort to master, but impatience can lead to your demise.

Please remember success simply takes time. Nobody has ever been an overnight success as it was always a result of many years of work. Keep building on it, keep practicing, keep learning how to use social selling aspects to your benefit; just like you’d build a muscle as you’ll be surprised by the progress you make.

It's thirteen minutes after 10PM, and I'm still not done with updating the P4P Hotel forums with various industry news that came across my alerts today. 

Earlier in the day, I took a few minutes to read the latest blog from West McDonald titled "A Lesson for Office Equipment Channel from the Alleged Realty Winner Leaks".

My first thought was who the heck would name their child Reality with the last name of Winner?  Well, I can't fault them, because at one time I thought what if I named my son Trading or Fence.  Thought my wife was going to kick me in the butt when she heard that from me.

K, back to the blog from West.  Speculation is that the Feds found the suspect from a thorough examination of a printed document. For those of us in the industry we're aware of those yellow tracking dots that marks the paper with most color printers.

West went on to state that this latest leak has brought document security to the center stage. Companies secure their networks, their servers, install security cameras, encrypt their files, and yet they fail to realize that any employee at any time can print off a document(s) and stuff it on their person.  It's a conversation most of us are not having with our clients.

However, what I really gleaned from West's blog was a series of discovery questions that West developed.   Those questions were awesome and I knew I could use for creating a prospecting script,   Once I was finished reading West's blog, I extracting those discovery questions, and gave them a tweak or two.  By the time I was finished I had my (thanx to West) very own call script complete with the discovery questions and the rebuttals.   I then printed that document on 11x17 paper and hung it in my cubicle for easy reference. 

After a few stops in the AM, I plan on using that document to make some calls to existing and net new prospects. I'm sure it will be a bit choppy at first, but I'll be able to smooth it out pretty quickly.

West is correct, we need to have these conversations with our client and prospects.  For those of us that implement this type of strategic conversation we are then viewed at the subject matter expert.  We all know what happens when we are viewed at the subject matter expert, right?

Personally, I'd rather to have a conversation about the benefits of keyword alerts, producing an audit trail for leaks, locking down key documents and the ability to conduct a forensic audit. Copiers are just so boring nowadays.

"Does your company have a process in place for document security"?  I'm sure this is going to raise a few eyebrows tomorrow.

Almost forgot, here is the link for A Lesson for the Office Equipment Channel from the Alleged Reality Winner Leaks

West, great job with the blog today, and I've got me a new talk track!

-=Good Selling=-

Seat Based Billing is a concept bringing the future to the present.

Last week I attended Print Audit’s Seat Based Billing Roadshow. The Roadshow was held the day before the BTA meeting in Kansas City. I decided to attend both. The SBB roadshow was informative. It is always refreshing when I see organizations bringing the future to the present.

A company becomes obsolete when it focuses on bringing the past to the future instead of bringing the future to the present.

For that, I give Print Audit, John Maclnnes, West McDonald, their team, and the vendors who supported them a big thumbs-up. Seat Based Billing is a common practice in the Managed IT Sector, and it’s time the copier industry adds the method to their deliverable. It will be interesting to see how the print manufacturers, the IT sector resellers, and those who manage print service vendors will adapt to the SBB print services model. I believe Print Audit has many opportunities with their software. They are pioneering the transformation of a much-needed change to Managed Print Services, a decades-old deliverable. It will be exciting times ahead as Print Audit continues focusing their deliverables on the future.    

Next was the BTA Meeting, a reunion of the past.   

 About three years ago I decided, after spending over twenty-five years in the copy/print industry, that it was time to shift my attention from those who insist on bringing the past to the future, and instead focus on those bringing the future to the present. I spent this time living in and learning from the IT sector. My time at ImageQuest, where I helped lead the transition of a legacy Print provider to a Managed Services and Security firm, taught me many things. The most valuable lesson: transitioning to something new is easier with the revenue from the legacy deliverables still intact.

Many will wait too long and die of thirst as their wells dry up. This week reminded me that except for a small minority of players the Imaging Channel is still in the past. When you attend their meetings, it’s like going to a reunion. Reunions bring us up to date on the past. You laugh and joke about the good old days; you reminisce on what was; you run from the controversy of what could be, and you bask in a safe-zone where the truth is translated to what you want to hear by those who won't challenge you for fear of economic reprisal.

Ladies and gentlemen of the Imaging Channel, it is past the time for continuous reunions. The Imaging Channel must seek out the future, and even welcome those future competitors to the party. It’s time to look in new places and welcome new ideas. It’s time to run toward your future relevancy, jumping over your past.

The time has come for the forward thinking thought leaders of the Imaging Channel to throw a huge retirement party. They should invite all those who are betting that their retirement from their business will come before their irrelevance in business. This retirement party should not just be for Dealers. Invite manufacturers, software providers, consultants, and peer groups. Invite everyone who is holding back the future.

Far too often, I hear industry leaders say, “I’ll retire before I need to change." The copier industry is not immune from obsolescence, and without the ability to discuss how they can be defeated they are at the mercy of those who will defeat them.

It is not about Paperless

The threat to the Imaging Channel is not a paperless society; it’s an “Annuityless” business model. Yes, I made up that word. Ring the bell and remember this. It’s “Annuityless” that will destroy the Imaging Channel's decade's old reoccurring revenue model. As the manufacturers continue reducing complexity, expanding yields, and eliminating screws, the service model will evolve. If you think the pain of 0.003 is bad, wait until it is 0.0000, and is replaced by the Amazon website where the user simply adds the needed parts and supplies to their shopping cart. Wait until the service tech is replaced by the end-user or a freelancer from Field Nation.

Those in the Imaging Channel must repurpose themselves and start looking where they’ve never looked, start inviting their imaginations to their board rooms, start collaborating with those on the outside of their circles and quit believing that improvement will win-out over reinvention in a declining market. The Imaging Channel Dealers and the vendors who support them must stop fighting for continuous improvement, and begin fighting for continuous relevance. Diversifying a deliverable or completely changing your deliverable is always better when the current circumstances of the old way can support the transition. The time to benefit from the present circumstances is quickly running out. So my friends, stop going to reunions and start collaborating with those outside your norm. Start looking past what’s just in front of you, and stop denying yourself the thoughts of a different future.

No business is exempt from becoming irrelevant; however, all business leaders have the choice to change. By constantly surrounding ourselves with the cheerleaders for Status Quo, we will soon perish. Think about this; when the speakers at these reunions have to begin their conversations by justifying the relevance of what those attending do, who are they trying to sell on status quo? You or themselves? No one can guarantee the future, but as the leaders of your companies, you must not let the emotions tied to the way it was, highjack what your common sense tells you is the way it must be.

R.J. Stasieczko 

We were able to sit down with the marketing peeps at PHSI a few weeks ago to discuss ideas for a unique blog.  After a few minutes we came up with the theme of the Fourth of July.  Once we had the theme, we decided on using some key words that are associated with the Fourth of July for an upcoming interview with Brian Pason, VP of PWT Sales. 

Q: How can copier dealers see fireworks  when it comes to their bottom line?

A: Dealers should consider diversifying their product offering to increase their recurring revenue by offering water! For the best chance at success, you should have a dedicated sales force that is an entirely separate division from copier sales. A couple of reasons for this include: water coolers have a shorter sales cycle, and deliver faster returns.

Q: Why is uniting coolers & copiers a good idea?

A: Copier businesses have multiple similarities to the water business. First of all, both pieces of equipment are leased, require services, and on-going maintenance. Second, copier dealers know how to manage small businesses, and are targeting the same type of businesses (companies with 10+ employees). Lastly, the decision-makers for both businesses are typically the same; usually Facilities Managers. It is an added convenience for a decision-maker to work with one vendor for BOTH their copier and water needs. So basically, you are selling to the same customers and, using the same sales and service model!

Q: If dealers want more freedom in their strategic partnerships, how can Pure Water Technology help?

A: You are able to run your dealership your way. We only ask that you pledge allegiance to exclusively sell Pure Water Technology water coolers. Only authorized dealers can sell our products. We take pride in the quality and durability of our products, so we have instituted a 5-year loyalty guarantee. Additionally, our MVP dealer program rewards dealers by providing discounts on marketing materials, parts, co-op dollars, and more!

Q: Who are PHSI’s founding fathers?

A: Last year, PHSI Pure Water Technology celebrated its 20th anniversary! In 1996, two entrepreneurs utilized cutting-edge technology to create a revolutionary water dispenser that purifies the water at point-of-use. Based in Vernon Hills, IL, PWT operates nationally. We are the leading manufacturer and distributor of beverage equipment and supplies in the workplace.

Q: Why should water quality flag national concern?

A: Water quality has become a common topic over the last few years, and people are taking notice. A USA Today article "identified almost 2,000 additional water systems spanning all 50 states where testing has shown excessive levels of lead contamination over the past four years." Our customers are well-educated and demanding better quality drinking water. The timing has never been better to sell water.

Q: What are you most proud of?

A: We are proud of our state-of-the-art products and technology. Pure Water Technology utilizes a 5-stage purification process, including reverse osmosis, and activated oxygen injection. Activated oxygen injection gets rid of the bacteria, viruses and parasites in the holding tank. Our units are built to last 10+ years.

Q: Is there anything revolutionary about PHSI’s product family?

A: We recently launched our latest cooler, the 2i. The 2i provides a cost-effective and eco-friendly alternative to bottled and filtered water coolers. This system is designed for the workplace with a brand new look featuring a sleek body design. In addition to our brand-standard advanced purification system, it’s equipped with a new touchpad with intuitive hot and cold dispense buttons, while also providing system indicator lights, and a clean contact surface on the front interface. Best of all, the 2i uses activated oxygen sanitation technology!

Just a quick note for everyone.  There are no two copier dealerships that are alike, just because your competition is offering Managed IT does that mean you need to follow suit?  Similar to what my Mom told me when I was disruptive, "if your friends jumped off a bridge, would you?" The revenue and profit from having a PHSI dealership is incredible.  I personally know of two dealers that are killing it. I wish I would have known about PHSI when I sold my dealership back in the nineties. Check out their Dealer Site here

-=Good Selling=-

There's a thread below about the impending launch of the HP Edgeline ten years ago this month. It is just coincident or just flat out luck that the new HP A3 Color PageWide MFP are launching at or about the ten year anniversary. 

For those of us that don't have the PageWide, I guess all we can hope for is the same type of epic failure that HP had ten years ago.  Enjoy the threads!

RICOH FAMILY GROUP SALES REPS