MFP Copier Blog

The healthcare industry has become a bit more mobile-centric in the past few years, driven by the need for agile, always-on operations that fit the preferences of both employees and clientele. When watching trends in the IT manufacturing sector, it has become clear that personal computers are likely to continue falling in shipments and investments, replaced by the adoption of and rising expenditures related to smartphones, tablets and portable computers.

What's more, the mobility arena has not stopped evolving rapidly, as the Internet of Things has clear implications for the average organization's relevant strategies, with wearables falling into similar categories as smartphones. Unfortunately, mobile devices and apps are among the greatest threats to data security in the health care, financial services, manufacturing and legal sectors, as well as those that fall under the government umbrella.

The most troubling aspect of mobility thus far has been the relatively slow-moving push to better manage and secure all of the assets involved, with reports indicating that entities in virtually every industry have simply not struck the right chord quite yet. There has been some progress made in the hardware department, with companies finally beginning to introduce network and infrastructure controls built for mobile-related risk management and deploying device protection solutions.

Leaving apps out of the equation will almost certainly spell disaster for an organization, though, as every type of IT security is reliant upon comprehensive strategies that leave no stone unturned or vulnerability unchecked for long periods of time. A new report indicated that the world's organizations will be spending a monumental amount of budget on mobile technologies within the next few years, meaning that leaders need to get their security programs in order as soon as possible.

A major landmark
International Data Corporation recently estimated that businesses, public-sector agencies and other organizations will spend $1.2 trillion annually on mobile technologies by 2019, and this does not account for consumer expenditures in the market. Suffice it to say that this type of growth will be paramount in the private sector, as other types of IT investments - including those related to the cloud - have not broken the $1 trillion mark yet and are not expected to for at least a decade.

"More than ever, mobile technologies are empowering workers across industries to connect, collaborate and create new ways to operate and do business," IDC's Global Technology and Industry Research Organization Program Director Jessica Goepfert explained. "It goes beyond providing a smartphone to liberate the deskbound worker. Instead, it's about utilizing mobile technology to increase sales, improve productivity and raise customer and employee satisfaction."
Breaking it down a bit, the analysts believe that the manufacturing and professional services industries will have the biggest role in these investments, accounting for 17 percent of all dollars spent among organizations in 2019. However, virtually every sector is expected to spend more on these assets in the coming years, including telecommunications, health care, human resources and government.

Furthermore, the market stood at a size of $901 billion in total annual global investments from organizations in 2014, meaning that an additional $101 billion will be tacked on over the course of the next three and a half years. Although this might not be all that surprising to the average business leader, it should make it clear that a lack of persistence in planning and strategic security creations will be a major risk moving forward, as the workplace continues to become more mobilized.

Again, progress has been made with devices, but the onus has been decisively placed on application management and security of late.

A legitimate concern
AppsTechNews recently explained some of the reasons why companies need to become a bit more aggressive in their creation of mobile software management, support and security strategies. First and foremost, the source pointed out that fewer than 25 percent of organizations are currently believed to have actually deployed a mobile app that comes with substantive rewards to operations, and this is likely because of the fears involved.

Another hindrance standing in the way of more progressive app strategies is the lack of budget currently allocated to enterprise mobility at large, as the news provider cited an Intel study finding that revealed more than two-thirds of all chief information officers are granted no funding for these ventures. Without investment power, CIOs will simply not be able to get effective and secure mobility strategies into motion in the coming years.

However, money will not fix everything. Rather, decision-makers need to ensure that they are putting diligent effort into researching their internal risk and external threats, as well as observing the best practices of shoring up defenses specifically for mobile assets. Industries that are more at risk of experiencing data breaches, including health care, will need to be especially active in these overhauls.

In recent months I've been reading more blogs and LinkedIn pulse articles that are touting the new sales methodology , the more I read the more I hate them.

After doing research on an author I find that the author of one article was never in sales or had a really short career (thus the reason they are writing and not selling).  

The one common thread in most of these articles, is the point that clients aka prospects do not want to be closed with the old traditional selling strategies.  Those clients want to be coddled and stroked until they come to us and state, "we want to do business with you". Gets me to thinking has something changed, have I missed something, am I doing something wrong?

My job is to sell, my job is not to be a wishy washy order taker and wait for the client to call me back. We know what happens then!

 If you leave the customers office without an order or a commitment to meet again (not a darn phone conversation), the odds of getting that order will be greatly reduced.   Point is,  you either need to close for the order or close for the next course of action. If not, the prospect and their order will go off into lala land and you may never ever get back to where you were, and that's sitting in the prospects office.

It's my belief that with all of the content available on the web,  it's now more important than ever to help the customer get to the point where they order from you now. In addition,  with just about everyone and their Mom using the EDS lists, there is no prospect is safe once you leave their office.  Thus, how can you help the prospect make up their minds to do business now?

Trigger Event

First things first you need to understand what the time frame is for the buyer, and whether or not there is a trigger event. A trigger even can be the end of a current lease, a move, the renewal of an annual maintenance agreement, the start of a new budget year, or a device that just isn't working.  A prospect that has none of these trigger events could be pricing equipment for months on end. Which means lala land!

When listening to the prospect and understanding their time frame for buying, I will then tell them about my trigger events.  My trigger events consist of the end of my month, and the end of my quarter. Thus, I will try to align my trigger event with one of their events and then ask for the order.

For example, you find out that the customer is moving in 45 days and they would like the new equipment to be installed and running the day they move. In your mind you can run the order time cycle for the prospect.

"Understood, you need to have the equipment installed in six weeks is that correct?" Yes.  "alright, we are 5-10 business days from the time we take your order, that's pretty much two weeks. In looking at your order, you have many accessories that we don't stock, in some cases I've seen back orders on some of these accessories take another 2-3 weeks, we just never know sometimes.  Looking at this scenario, in order to have all of the equipment and accessories installed in 45 days, you'll need to make your decision within the next week to insure on time deliver, is that something that you can do?  Yes.  "Understood, since we have the order cycle figured out in advance is there anything stopping us from placing the order now?"  If the answer is NO, then you need to ask WHY?   Answer the objection and close again, if you have to leave with out the order, make sure you've scheduled another appointment with the decision maker.

Take the client through all of the order time cycle scenarios that match any one of the trigger events.   This may help them realize that they need to make a decision sooner than they thought.  We've seen it before, we get and order and the client states, "by the way we need you to delivery the new system next week".  WHAT???

-=Good Selling=-

Look for next weeks installment for "Testimonials" and the week after for "Let the Sale Travel".

Just finishing this up before the end of half time show for the Superbowl, so far my prediction of Denver winning is holding up.  The big news of the weekend though is that Foxconn will have a deal done with Sharp Corporation by the end of the month.  Enjoy the threads from ten years ago this week!

Re: NEW MESSAGE BOARDS

Those good ol' college days... What to bring, a six or twelve pack? Case or Keg? Those BYOB quandaries. This quandary had me thinking, is it appropriate to BYOB to your own sales party? Of course it is as you should always be Building Your Own Brand.

"Define what your brand stands for, its core values and tone of voice, and then communicate consistently in those terms." Simon Mainwaring

We all agree, a company's brand is one of the most important factors to its ongoing success. It's the crowning touch to corporate identity; prepared, packaged and presented in such a way to be aesthetically pleasing, recognizable and attractive to prospects along with recurring clients.

Companies are not alone in the quest for solid branding. Personal branding, the art of building a one and only brand around yourself as an individual, is just as important. Personal branding necessitates you to find a signature image, a unique voice, a recognizable standard your followers, prospects, and clients can grow to recognize.

As sales professionals, you are front and center, the face of the business. The development of your brand allows you to establish a reputation and an identity while still maintaining a personal level of trust and interaction, usually accomplished through social platforms such as LinkedIn.

People do business with people they know, like and trust. Creating, cultivating and communicating a strong personal brand on the frontline of your sales process can dramatically improve your sales conversion rates. The goal... drive more sales revenue.

The question becomes, how do you become more recognizable? How do you build your authority? How do you build becoming the subject matter expert? How do you create your following?

In a previous post "Are your salespeople providing a reason to be hired?" I encouraged management to coach and lead their sales team; guide them to create their professional brand by helping them build their credibility, trust and value through their website; their LinkedIn profile. Foster a "brand magnetized" sales culture. Creating brand magnets directly influences and can escalate your corporate brand as well.

Google has forever altered the sales profession. For it is what people find or don't find about you online as to how their opinions are formed.

Help your sales team create their unique brand and rise above the noise! Help and guide them to answer, "How do we differentiate ourselves enough that they (prospects) want to talk to us and not feel they are getting the same story they hear from every other company?"

Five creative ways sales reps can become brand magnets

1. Be your authentic self

How hard would it be to build a brand around a facade? Some do, as you would have to act a certain way, appear a certain way and even communicate a certain way. We can refer to this facade as Milli Vanilli syndrome.

Your brand must be a reflection of who you are. You must believe it. You must own it. You must know what it stands for. You must know your strengths and your weaknesses. Wear those emotions on your business sleeve. 

People connect with other people. It is all about the personal connection. If you are "blowing smoke" at people what is the likelihood they will come to trust you? 

Constructing your personal brand is first and foremost about developing an understanding of your true self; then sharing this out with the business world. Take off the mask. Don't be afraid of being vulnerable.

“Authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make every day. It's about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest. The choice to let our true selves be seen.”
― BrenÉ Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection

2. Speaking engagements

Consider looking for speaking events in your area. Local business groups or not for profit organizations provide the opportunity to demonstrate your expertise while connecting with new audiences.

This helps in developing your communication skills. If you speak in exactly the same manner others do, you will never stand out from the crowd and rise above the noise.

Think about teaching as you speak from a place of knowledge. Show you know what you're talking about, and answer questions in a way which serves your audience.

3. Write and publish articles or blogs

In a previous post, "Salespeople can right, oops I meant write" I point out writing attracts prospects and builds you up as a credible resource. Salespeople can compile lists of top questions they hear from clients and prospects during sales meetings and answer them in a blog format. Potential prospects researching for those answers online could end up finding your blog posts.

Providing educational content is one the best ways to build a brand and reputation online. As your prospects or clients look for information, they tend to go back to sources most helpful to them. If you can become a trusted source of information through your educational content, over time you'll become collectively known as a subject matter expert within your field. You can start by incorporating the section "publish a post" within your LinkedIn profile.

4. Build your Online Presence

Have you ever "Googled" yourself? Do you know how you're appearing and coming across online? With a strong, engaging online presence you can reach a wider target audience. Why is this important? Your clients and prospects are online!

Unless you have spent the last 25 years underneath a rock, a large portion of your target audience uses the internet. These days, it’s hard to find someone who does not use the internet.

As a sales professional your online presence starts with your LinkedIn profile. Positioning or repositioning your LinkedIn profile is critical as your prospect's first impression of you maybe a digital one. 

If you would like my Sales Managers Guide to LinkedIn, please send me an email to llevine@socialsalesacademy.net 

Just as you are conducting research on your prospects, they are conducting research on you. Your LinkedIn profile is one of the first links to appear in a Google search of your name. Therefore, it is imperative your profile speaks to and provides to prospective clients you are qualified to help them. Your LinkedIn profile is a great way to promote your credibility to your prospects online before you meet with them face to face. Thus, they will be more likely to take you seriously when you begin the conversation.

Help your sales team. Provide and guide them in how to build sales credibility. 

5. Promote, Promote and Promote Yourself - Network

Attention salespeople, integrating the use of social media is one huge key to sparking growth to your personal brand. Whether online or face to face promoting yourself fuels professional growth.

Attention! Building out a "rock star" LinkedIn profile and doing absolutely nothing with it is like hanging out in the broom closet at a networking event.

How you cleverly capture, converse, collaborate and connect with the executive buyer will determine your sales success in the 21st century.

Engage with other individuals in your industry, social influencers who have many connections, friends, family and even clients as these people are extremely valuable in helping you spread the word about your expertise.

Professional networking events can be a great way to meet influencers in your area, as well as within the online community. Engage in community discussions whenever you can. A great place to start is uncovering and joining industry related networking groups within LinkedIn. The more opportunities you have to meet people and talk, the better.

Your personal brand is like a garden. Once you lay the groundwork, plant the seeds, fertilize along with continuous water; you'll be in a great position to eventually reap the benefits of your hard work.

“All of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.” – Tom Peters in Fast Company

Maintain a positive mindset, it takes time and dedication to nurture and expand your brand creation. As you continue to develop your personal brand, stay consistent turning your routine into a daily habit.  Pay close attention to how your audience responds to your educational content. Continually refine and perfect your direction until your focus becomes crystal clear.

If you enjoyed please share your comments. Look forward to connecting and starting a conversation.

Check out more at the Social Sales Academy blog site.

Please enjoy my other posts on LinkedIn Publisher and on SlideShare

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 and coach copier sales professionals to grow net new business by helping them tell their story and communicate on LinkedIn. My commitment is to help independent office technology dealers thrive in a changing marketplace. You can follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter, as well as at the Social Sales Academy 

Thought I would share some of the apps that I use for work.  I can only wish that there were more industry related apps available to those of us in the industry.

Zello 

My son turned me on to this app about a month ago.  Do you remember the Nextel radio phones? If so, this app replicates that radio experience with the instant connection.  After downloading the app, you can submit your contact list to see if you have any mutual connections that are using Zello. I was surprised that almost forty of my contacts were already using Zello.  My first inclination is that this would be an awesome app for instant access to the sales team. In addition the sales team can have quick access to their managers and other key sales or support people. It's a Free app!

PrintAnalyze 

I first learned of Print Analyze about a month ago.  My first impression was that the synthesized was a little funky, however I loved the fact that I could get immediate data on almost any printer and copier that was manufactured.  The ability to get the date of intro, MSRP, consumable cost, speeds and feeds in a few seconds won me over! The app also has the ability to add multiple devices and then generate a simple report for the end user or myself.  With the PrintAnalzye App I can be the guru of knowledge and as we all know, knowledge is power.  This is not a Free app, however I feel that Print Analyze app when used correctly can help me win additional orders which translates to additional cash for us.

Periscope  

I'm fascinated with the ability to do live streaming over the web.  The Periscope app allows me to see periscope users streaming video from almost every part of the planet.  I believe the Periscope app can play a vital role in marketing our services to our clients.  For example, with the help of the Go Pro H4 & iPhone setup a live stream of a copier demonstration, maybe a feature demonstration, and or a short training session. The possibilities are endless for us to market our services to existing and new clients.  Live streaming of product demonstrations would be awesome! Hey, sizzle still sells right?

Click2Map  

I've been a Click2Map user for the last year. The Click2Map App will give you geographic mapping of your contacts. After downloading Click2Map you then select your geo area and then start entering the addresses of your contacts.  Click2Map supplies a limited amount of emoji's but enough to identify different types of accounts.  When out in the field, I can then use Click2Map to maximize my time to make a few additional stop ins for prospects and clients.  What's really cool, is the ability to see where I have a concentration of accounts and all those beautiful emoji's that represent existing clients.  Click2Map is Free.

Zoho CRM

I just downloaded this app on my Android the device the other day. Zoho CRM is cloud based and also offers a mobile app which gives you the ability to access your contacts, accounts, prospects and leads when you're in the field.  From the mobile app I can view tasks, events, quotes, calls, contacts, leads and my funnel with an easy to use interface.   I'm still experimenting with the Zoho CRM and the app, however after looking at many apps, I'm pretty sure this is the one I'll settle on.  The Zoho CRM Standard subscription will only set you back $15 per month. 

If you've got a favorite app that you use, please reply here and share your experience with our P4P members.

-=Good Selling=-

Health care IT security has been lackluster of late, to say the least, as countless breaches of patient data have taken place in a relatively short period of time with no signs of a changing tide rolling in soon. This is one of the many reasons why regulators and law enforcement officials have started to come down hard on hospitals and other medical firms that are not doing everything in their power to maintain compliance and protect information from the grasp of hackers and other threats.

Although the cost of breach has reached millions of dollars, the fines associated with Health Information Portability and Accountability Act noncompliance can also be enormous, with an annual maximum of $1.5 million. When hospitals are struck by a data breach, fines can often occur as a result, providing the clearest sign that they are not following the guidelines of regulatory compliance closely enough to make a difference in their security programs.

Big fines
Healthcare IT News recently reported that one Massachusetts-based health care system has been fined more than $200,000 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Civil Rights. Interestingly, this development was actually the product of an investigation that began three years ago, when complaints regarding the use of insecure and noncompliant data storage systems were believed to have put patients in harm's way.

According to the news provider, the OCR has thus far fined medical firms more than $26 million for noncompliance since beginning to have a say in these matters, and the largest penalty came in the form of a $4.8 million settlement. This should make it clear that not maintaining compliance with HIPAA, as well as other relevant standards such as the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, can come with grave consequences.

"Organizations must pay particular attention to HIPAA's requirements when using Internet-based document sharing applications," the source asserted, citing a statement by OCR director Jocelyn Samuel in the wake of the penalty's finalization. "In order to reduce potential risks and vulnerabilities, all workforce members must follow all policies and procedures, and entities must ensure that incidents are reported and mitigated in a timely manner."

Preemptive work needed
Simply put, heath care providers will continue to suffer from a financial standpoint should they not begin to take more proactive steps toward protecting their patient data. Considering the massive economic damages of identity theft and data breach that have plagued the U.S. and other nations of late, these types of struggles and setbacks will only continue to intensify as time goes on, with government agencies getting more involved in oversight and investigations.

With secure cloud, email encryption and other helpful solutions provided by a seasoned and trustworthy vendor, medical firms can begin to turn the tides on hackers and avoid the heavy penalties that would otherwise accompany noncompliance with laws or victimization in a data breach event.

In advance of our Print Analyze App (smart phones & tablets) that is scheduled for February 9th & February 15th, I asked Jean Francois LE BRIZE to provide me with the same story that he told me at my first webinar a few months ago. 

Below is the blog from Jean:

There is not a lot of software aimed at the salesman in the Imaging business.

Among them, PrintAnalyze Full.

PrintAnalyze Full is a cloud solution: the Salesman can perform audits, retrieve meters, calculate a TCO, and make a first proposition. All this from a smartphone or tablet.

One day, a female District Manager I know was in pure prospection. Just as the rest of her team, she was assigned randomly some accounts with little information from the corporate CRM.

All she knew: she had to visit a little factory in the countryside, in the middle of nowhere. An ice cream factory.  She had the name and address of the Company. In the corporate CRM: 2 little printing devices.  Information probably outdated.

When she arrived, she asked the manager.  She was received by the owner who said:

“I won’t have much time. I just bought this factory one month ago. In the same time, I also bought a similar plant 10 miles away. Plus the one I already have near the Coast. We want to be the ice cream leaders in the whole area. I have a lot of work to do… So, please, be quick.”

The real situation was completely different from what she thought.  This company had changed in size and now, has 3 factories.  Furthermore, not a big amount of time to convince the decision maker.

She saw a printer, opened PrintAnalyze Full and noted the cost per page for that printer from the embedded Database. Then she asked the owner “Sir, how many pages do you print in your 3 factories?”   Our owner stated. "strictly no idea", the owner then call the accountant.

Five mins later, the accountant came in and said: “last year, we bought "x" reams of paper”.

For a seasoned sales rep, that was enough to make an assessment. Easy to multiply by the costs per page.

The District Manager said: “Sir, last year, you spent "x" amount of money in printing” to that printer I pointed out earlier.  To say the least the owner was astonished that he spent that much!

She carried on, “I understand you have a lot of work right now but can we discuss it next week?” The owner agreed for another appointment.

She closed the deal some weeks later.

How She Used the Software

When she told me the way she used our software, it was exactly as in the comics, a bell rang in my head!

She used it as a pure prospection software! No audit, no proposition, just prospection.

Well, it all began with that sales call.

Technically speaking, we had already a lot of pieces of the jigsaw puzzle: Database, Cloud, Android, Apple, customized report sent by email...

We just added Text To Speech and presentations with the touchscreen to accentuate the Wow effect.

And some months later, we are able to present to you PrintAnalyze Lite.

I would like to thank this District Manager. Thank you Elizabeth!

Note from Art:

I've seen the App, I'm using the App and the App has already turned heads as to how quick I can assess printers & mfp's in the field.  Pretty much, I had a distinct advantage over my competitors when engaging clients in the field.  I like that!

-=Good Selling=-

It's Super Bowl Week!  Denver or North Carolina? I'm picking Denver because of experience and their awesome defense.   Take some time and review the threads from ten years ago.

I applaud DirecTV with their diversity. Not only are they continuing to make an impact within the cable TV wars; but they have also made a substantial impact within the sales world (more in a bit).

Their recent campaign plays on one single phrase, showcasing a frontier-era family in a suburban neighborhood who stick to antiquated ways such as a horse-and-buggy and, by the way, cable.

“We’re settlers son, we settle for things,” explains the father in “Neighbors” when his son politely asks why they can’t have DirecTV like their modern neighbors. In another spot, “Satisfaction” boasts of DirecTV’s and their outperformance of cable in customer satisfaction, highlighting the family’s own means of satisfaction: a stick and hoop, a faceless doll, cabbages and foot-stomping.

"Status quo, you know, is Latin for the mess we are in" Ronald Reagan

Settlers, complacency, content, relaxed, peaceful; it is out there right now within the closet of sales teams. Lurking in the dark shadows of their success. Hiding where you least expect to find it, a great balancing act of excuses. It is the silent business killer, lurking and striking sales teams without warning. It can bring even the biggest and brightest teams to their knees. What is this hidden terror, Settling!

Don't think it can happen to you? It strikes, every day. Settling, it happens to small sales teams even to the big and almighty. Settling is a ruthless disease. It cares not of the size of your sales team, length in business, or what day of the week it is. It cares only of the cold and timid, the hard reality behind this is while your sales team became content some other sales team was not. With extreme precision they rewrote the playbook.

They remodeled, retooled and engineered your sales business model turning it over making it better, leaner, rebranding it to resonate with today's modern business executive and KABOOM your customer has become their appetite for destruction. You welcomed them right into your sales jungle and your client base has become their paradise city. 

Allow me to address a few elephants in the room. Unguarded, they have been lurking within the sales broom closets for quite some time.

Lack of Sales Team Goals

A monthly quota, sure it is a goal, however; salespeople tend not to set personal goals, even if they do, these tend to be a wish list or a hope list rather than a must have list. Where is the burning desire?

No Pressure from Management

There may be some disagreement as some salespeople will bitch regarding their sales manager constantly riding their backs. Yet most sales managers tend to focus on the underperformers, and spend less and less of their time focusing on the top performers. As a recovering copier sales rep, I’ve been in bullpens and heard mutterings of “I don’t care what they’re doing if they’re hitting their numbers”. Coach, coach and coach my friends. This is why sports dynasties exist. 

Salespeople within Sales Teams are Tired and Jaded

Often times this radiates in salespeople who have been in the same company for decades or in the same industry for eons, particularly if their sales role hasn’t progressed much.

They’ve been seeing the same clients and prospects for years. Day after day, month over month talking about the same products, same services to the same people, monotony of their activity shows up in their attitude towards pushing themselves to the next level; leading to apathy, complacency and taking clients for granted.

Unless these salespeople find a way to invigorate more energy and interest back into their role, they’ll just mutter along in mediocrity until something shakes them out of the state they are in. Unfortunately, this translates into losing a client or the threat of losing their job.  Coach them out of this state before you lose them.

The Settler Signs within Sales Teams

• One or two top performers without any close challengers
• Same set of prospect and client names appearing on the 30, 60, 90 day sales funnel reports. 
• Some of your sales team not responding well to your questions. Displaying  an "I know what I’m doing" mentality. 
• Some of your sales team trying to divert the conversation from prospecting and new business development to how busy they are with existing clients or paperwork.

"Salespeople have hypnotized themselves into believing what they aren't doing doesn't work"

Sales Management I challenge you! Ignite the fire within your sales teams and help them kick the nasty settlers habit. 

There is a great quote within Jim Keenan's book, Not Taught...

"There isn't the luxury of time. We used to say, wait until this crisis is over and we'll get back to normal, but that never happens. We have to be change animals" Michelle McKenzie, President & CEO, Canadian Tourism Commission

The luxury of time no longer exists. Settling has become a rampant epidemic within sales departments. Time is of the essence, as Michelle states, "we have to be change animals"

Do not Settle, Create the Change

Speaking of change animals, I have been inspired by the friendship I have developed with Jim Keenan, known to most as Keenan.  He smacks change right across the top of the head and strongly challenges the status quo. Keenan brings an acute awareness and understanding that acceptance of change is critical within the information age we live in. This applies directly to the settler's mentality.

We have only three responses to change --- resist it, accept it or create it. A change resistor likes things just the way they are. A change acceptor will wait to see what is happening. While change creators have become today's problem solvers. 

Attention to all sales teams out there... become the change creators in your industry. Take charge of the buyer's journey. The reason why the buyers are so far along in their journey is your fault. 

"95 % of B2B decision makers expect new or different insights from sales professionals."

LinkedIn SalesConnect Conference 2014

Change creators pull organizations forward.

Change creators take action! 

Change creators identify new processes, look for new opportunities, bringing new and different insights into businesses with the goal of helping corporate executives solve problems or challenges. 

Adopting a change creators mentality your sales team will become true professionals focused on helping their prospects and clients for all the right reasons versus closing the "big deal" for their personal benefit.

Time to plow the fields with a combine as opposed to a horse drawn plough.

Stop playing with sticks and hoops. Let's foot stomp the wollering and complacency attitudes. As a sales team, adjust and stop settling.

If you enjoyed please share your comments. Look forward to connecting and starting a conversation.

Check out more at the Social Sales Academy blog site.

Please enjoy my other posts on LinkedIn Publisher and on SlideShare

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 and coach copier sales professionals to grow net new business by helping them tell their story and communicate on LinkedIn. My commitment is to help independent office technology dealers thrive in a changing marketplace. You can follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter, as well as at the Social Sales Academy 

It was the Eighties, we were in New Jersey, and I was leading the pack of six copier sales people.  We were all in our twenties, single and making oodels and oodles of cash selling plain paper copiers! 

Station wagons, hatch backs, pickup trucks, copier guerney's, rolodex's, change for pay telephone calls, yellow page books, business street directory books, mucho phones, mucho demonstrations, delivering your own copiers, and training end users were the staple of the copier sales person in the Eighties!

Now, I could tell you some off the wall stories from my days of the twenty something's, but I'd rather reserve those stories over a drink.  What I can say is that the Eighties was an incredible time to be young, selling copiers and making lot's of dough. Just maybe, I'll get to meet all of you one day and share some stories.

January 1984

It was a day similar to today (cold, snow, dark) January of 1984, the reason I remember this date is because I found an old appointment book while throwing out some trash over the week.  Thus, there I sat in my office (at home), going through all of the pages of the appointments, notes, curse words and the amounts of cash I made on each order (kinda felt like Chevy Chase sitting in his attic in the Christmas Vacation movie)

That day in January, me and the rest of the team of twenty something's met with Dennis Gordon (awesome leasing rep) from Hertz Commercial Leasing.  Dennis was there to train us on how to present leasing, and the different programs that were offered. Back then, there was no FMV (Fair Market Value) lease, it was either a "Dollar Out" or a "10% Purchase Option".   Dennis also shared with us the "Rule of 72", the step lease and my favorite lease program of all time.  That my friends is the "Bakers Dozen" Lease!

Bakers Dozen Lease

To this day I still use the Bakers Dozen when needed.  The Bakers Dozen lease is simple, you take the purchase price, divide by twelve and then write the lease for 13 payments.  The 13th payment is the interest, you collect that payment upfront and at the end of the term the equipment is owned by the client. 

The Bakers Dozen lease was used as a closing tool for those clients who stated, "I will never lease equipment", those that asked your dealership to finance the copier over time with payments, and those clients that raised and objection because they did not have the funds to buy the equipment and were skeptical of leasing.

I say, bring back the Bakers Dozen lease!  Keep it as a closing tool, the old saying is that if you don't ask you don't get, right?

For those of you that want to ad this to your arsenal, click here for the brochure.

-=Good Selling=-

About a week ago I reached out to my friends at Print Audit for some advise for a PA6 LAW installation that I was working on.  While speaking with Paul Giorgi at Print Audit, I stated that if we can automate paper based billing for copies and prints with software, then that's a workflow right? 

Thus, with PA6 we would be eliminating the countless hours that are required to capture the pages, and cost the appropriate pages to the correct billing account.  In addition, we can have PA6 automatically create a billing report for a specific day of each month.  Time is money right?

In recent visits to trial attorneys, I've found some pain that is centered around faxing.  That's the same thought I had, faxing?  I'll post more on the pain of fax with trial attorneys in my next workflow blog

Here's some information that I wasn't aware of:

According to the 2014 ILTA (International legal Technology Association) tech survey, respondents 82% of law firms in North America charge for copies. however only 42% of printing to MFP’s are charges and 35% of printing for local devices are charges and finally less than 1% of law firms charge for scanning. Now remember these numbers because it’s important. we know in law firms that copying has fallen by 42% but Print has increased by as much as 65%.

This means that usage and paper are not actually gone down in the legal sector. The workflow has shifted from copy to print and not as many Law firms try to recover printing costs.  For many of today’s law firms, printing remains an unnecessary cost center and traditional copt recovery applications for Print/Copy can be antiquated, and expensive to maintain.

Does this mean that law firms are moving to a flat disbursement fee?  The Ilta Survey also states that Less than 3% of law firms in North America have created a flat disbursement fee to cover office supplies like Print/Copy/Scan/Fax. For an office equipment salesperson, this is a great opportunity to discuss a bundled hardware & software program.   

Did you know the 5 tech purchases in 2015 for law firms were Laptops/notebooks, desktop hardware, network upgrades  printers/MFDs, antivirus/antispam software? and only 49% law firms who responded outsource their printer repair/maintenance (Managed Device Service).

Since law firms are looking to buy printers and MFP’s and want to outsource the maintenance of those devices to an expert, why not include a workflow tool like Print Audit 6 into your proposal and come up with a comprehensive solution where you the office equipment dealer manages the hardware and the software.

Geesh, the majority of law firms are charging for copying, however half of them are not charging for prints.  I'll bet if I asked. "Have you seen a reduction in the amount of copies you are billing clients?", I would get a big FAT yes!  I would also bet the law firm doesn't even know why that copy number has plummeted.  We do!  It's because the firms are printing more and not capturing those prints.  WoW, do we have a story to tell!

If you're an Attorney and you're reading this, you can access the Print Audit Law brochure here.

-=Good Selling=-

What is Business Workflow? "Part One"

Workflow is Nice and Provides a Ton of Business Benefits "Part II"

Optimize document-based company processes by defining clear rules with DocuWare Workflow Manager "Part III"

What is Unstructured Document Scanning? Workflow Part IV

Social selling and marketing gurus are firing loaded machine guns directed right at sales departments.

1.47 billion--The amount of active users that are on social media right now! (reported by emarketer (eMarketer)

2 out of 3 - That’s how many companies do not have a real social media strategy for their sales teams. Haven’t you ever wondered why so many businesses fail every year? (Sales Management Association)

We’ve all heard this popularly-quoted statistic:

that 70% of the buyer’s journey is complete before a buyer even reaches out to sales (SiriusDecisions)

In the past, I admit salespeople had it easy.  Access to information was limited and buyers had to rely on salespeople to make decisions. 

BOOM! Along comes the internet and immediately screwed things up for the sales profession. The internet immediately altered the customer journey or buyer’s journey. Search engines amplified and accelerated this journey allowing them to find answers to questions at alarming rates.

Gone are the days when the salesperson owned the prospect relationship; guiding or serving the buyer through the journey by discussing requirements, demonstrating capabilities, quoting price, all leading to closing the sale.

That was then, and this is now! PC, MAC, iPhone or Android, it doesn't matter as we are all tethered to some kind of device. All of us have instant access to information.

Today, buyers are more empowered than they ever were as their journey takes place online. They are digitally driven, socially connected, mobile empowered with unlimited access to real-time information.

Doesn't this sound just like what we do in our personal lives? 

Social selling advocates are taking aim and firing on all cylinders right at sales departments. I have stopped counting how many times I hear or read them touting

"Cold Calling is Dead" "Cold Calling is Old-Fashioned" "Cold Calling is not Cool"  "The Internet and Email has Replaced the Phone"

Stop the madness people! I will be the first to admit there is legitimacy behind some of their messaging. The power of social transformed my sales career and revolutionized my sales results. Social selling enables salespeople to connect, communicate and build relationships with prospects at a stage where traditional tactics are just not effective or have diminishing returns. I do believe social can help to create more top of funnel opportunities and accelerate the sales funnel to drive more sales revenue.

However, everything old is new again. My message to social selling gurus, business executives and sales management meet the new B2B.

"Back 2 Basics"

Often times I refer to myself as an "old school" sales guy with a modern twist. Yes, I grew up "old school" and I am proud of it. 

"Growing up with training in old school sales methodology has made the integration of social into selling much easier" Me, Larry Levine

This old school sales methodology my friends is cold calling and the phone. Just as the surgeon general uses scare tactics to sway tobacco use, social selling pundits are using scare tactics to sway salespeople right into social selling.

My message to all sales teams,"Focus on getting back to the basics!" 

As a recovering copier sales rep, I admit I have old school DNA running throughout my blood. I have fond memories of 50 cold calls per day, feet on the street and phone to the ear. The skills I developed over 25 years ago formed the building blocks of successfully integrating social selling.

Building relationships, driving conversation and building brand awareness was all done in a different manner. The core foundation of social selling in essence is no different just accomplished in a different manner. 

Please allow me to reintroduce your long lost friends, Mr. Prospecting and Mr. Phone. Getting reacquainted with prospecting and the phone will greatly assist as you step into your social selling journey. Equally important, abandonment of both will surely lead to social selling disaster.

"Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect." Vince Lombardi

Back to the basics my sales friends, back to the basics. The book Fanatical Prospecting by Jeb Blount is the bridge back to getting reacquainted with prospecting and the phone.

"The brutal fact is the number one reason for failure in sales is an empty pipe, and, the root cause of any empty pipeline is the failure to prospect." Jeb Blount

Building your sales core around prospecting and the phone will greatly aide in your ability to kick start conversations online, build relationships online, position yourself as a subject matter expert online and how you drive these to offline meetings in order to drive sales revenue; will be the keys to sales success in today's modern business world.

"The pipeline always reveals the truth. Salespeople who gravitate to a single prospecting methodology seriously sub-optimize their productivity." Jeb Blount

Whether you are old school or new school, if you enjoyed please share your comments. Look forward to connecting and starting a conversation.

If you enjoyed reading please check out more at the Social Sales Academy blog site.

Please enjoy my other posts on LinkedIn Publisher and on SlideShare

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 and coach copier sales professionals to grow net new business by helping them tell their story and communicate on LinkedIn. My commitment is to help independent office technology dealers thrive in a changing marketplace. You can follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter, as well as at the Social Sales Academy