MFP Copier Blog

Ten plus Tips for Cold Calling in the Field

Art Post · 7/16/1511:09 PM

Good afternoon Art. Had a quick question for you. One of my new reps had asked what information I could give for his review on cold calling tips, instruction, and helps. He is looking for help in running a better cold call in the field. HARVEG

HARVEG, thanks for the reply. Thought I would turn this into a blog for your newbie rep and I'm sure other P4P'ers will chime in.

There was a time when I would knock on every door. Back in the Eighties that was thing to do because everyone was in the market for a plain paper copier. Can you believe that's how we used to refer to them?

The knocking on every door bit changed when Canon developed their first "PC" plain paper copiers, they were cheap to buy, expensive to run, but the demand was there for those that did not want to pay thousands of dollars for a copy machine.

Today, I still do walk in cold calls, maybe not as many as I should, but I still do them. Here's some rules that I follow for cold calling in the field:

75% of my cold calls are planned, meaning I schedule them into my calendar. The accounts that I schedule are the ones that I can't make any headway with phone calls, emails, mailers, or Linkedin
My main focus of the cold call is to get the Decision Makers name and the receptionists name.
Once in the office, I will scout around to see any existing equipment.
I avoid companies that are not paper intensive or low volume. Dentists (unless it's a Dental Group), Law Offices that only have one Attorney, Doctors (unless it's a Medical Group), Insurance Agents (single), and there might be a few more, but can't think of them right now.
I will pass up any building or company that has only a few cars in the parking lot (except architects, engineers, contractors).
I will cold call every company that is paper intensive, usually larger law firms, medical groups, architects, engineers, contractors, and or any company that has many cars parked in their lot.
I introduce myself first, and then ask for the name of the person that makes the decision for IT or imaging equipment.
I try to make every cold call fun! I will comment on the weather, maybe a recent bit of news or even state, "this is the first time I've every stopped in a was curious if you could help me".
I will honor no soliciting signs, as much as I hate them, I will find a way to contact them other than cold calling.
If the receptionist offers up the opportunity to speak with the Decision Maker right then, I will accept and wait for the audience with the DM.
I keep every brochure and marketing information in my car, just in case it's needed.
When leaving an appointment, I will scout around to see if any other businesses are worth stopping in. I will mention that I just had an appointment at that location and what we were offering that prospect or existing client.
I will name drop every chance I get when cold calling, thus I just did this a few days ago when I cold called an account. I made them aware that I do business with so and so. What this means is that if I cold call and architect, I will tell them that we also support these architects.

I try to do twenty five of them a week, most times I don't hit that number. But, as we know, we can never stop prospecting. Just the other day while I was drive home from a late appointment, I saw a new custom home builder that I never noticed before. I stopped in and sure enough they were new to the area and they were in the market for two systems. When I walking out, I thought, what if I was the lazy type I would have never found that opportunity.

Here's something cool also, one of our new reps was out cold calling and got a pretty big deal by stopping in a place I would have passed up. Just goes to show you, that anything an happen once you're out there. Hope all of this helps!!

-=Good Selling=-

10 Ways to Close Net New Business #3 of #10

Art Post · 7/13/1510:41 PM

We all remember FAB right?

For those of you that don't the what the acronym stands for.

It's Feature, Advantage and Benefit.

Back in the eighties and nineties I can remember making a bullet list of all of the features for the Minolta copiers I sold. In the next column I would list the Advantage of the Feature to the client and then in the final column was the Benefit that was derived from those features.

During the demonstration we would drill every feature, then the advantage and then the benefit to the customer. A typical question would have been, "So, Mrs. So n So, would having a new copy machine that could process mixed sized originals all at once instead of breaking the original in to two parts help save time?"

Of course that question came after someone in the audience stated that the mixed sized originals would be a god send for them. You new you were going to get a yes and the goal of the demonstration was to build up so many yeses, that when the close came, there was no way they would disagree with what they saw, and what they liked.

Back then, it seemed liked every demo we did was for a net new account. They key to the demonstration was to listen to the clients wants and needs for a new copier.

Today, what I see, is that many clients are not educated with the advanced functionality that we have right out of the box or by adding a third party solution to our existing MFP. Most believe all they are buying is a machine that will copy, print, scan and fax and that all systems are created equal. That created equal part is where we lose if we don't take the time to educate them.

For me the educational process starts with my line of questioning to the client. During each appointment I'll have a short list of 20 or so questions that I will pose to the client. In that short list there will be at least 5 questions that will help me determine if they may have a need for advanced functionality with my device. Answering yes to any of those questions will then prompt me to develop a proposal or plan a demonstration around that functionality. Advanced functionality can be anything from scanning bar codes, browse to any folder from the MFP, tracking prints/copies/faxes/scans, secure print or a workflow process for scanning.

Thus, number three that I use, is that I will not list the advanced functionality as an option. I will present the system bundled with that option and present it a way that it's a standard feature on our devices. Back that Feature thing, right? In my 35 years of selling office technology, most clients do NOT want to pay for options, however, if it's a standard feature and there's value (Benefit), your device will be the logical choice over a competitors device when that Feature may be an option. But, I would bet dollars to Doughnuts that the other sales person did not or was not able to dig that deep with the client.

Dig deep, probe, find pain and bundle your way to a great sale! BTW, FAB is not a nineties thing, it still works so use it whenever you can.

-=Good Selling=-

It's the 21st Century, Is your Sales Team Stuck in the 1990's?

Larry Levine · 7/12/151:12 PM

1988 has some great significance to me. As a raving Los Angeles Dodgers fan, I cringe knowing this was the last year they won the World Series. Kirk Gibson’s infamous homerun trot is a distant memory. More importantly, this was the year I entered the work force.

In my 27 years in the office equipment world, there have been numerous technology changes. From thermal paper faxing to plain paper faxing, old Savin liquid copiers, from analog to digital and lastly the birth of the internet, just to name a few. These technology changes have played an integral part in how the industry has evolved.

As much as technology continues to change, the sales process and tools we use has seen massive changes. In my opinion, LinkedIn and all the social platforms have impacted the sales profession like no other piece of technology or software.

In the 1990’s it was about Feature, Function and Benefit as part of the sales process

25 years later sales models look something like

A special shout-out to my friend Jack Kosakowski

Why has this happened - The Changing of the Buying Process
Over the past 10-12 years, we have seen a dramatic transformation in the buyer’s journey. More dramatic changes have occurred in recent years. Buyers are in control of when and how they access information during the sales process. According to Sales Benchmark index, “Today, buyers are 69% of the way through their journey before they contact a salesperson.”

If the executive buyer is 69% of the way through their journey before they contact a salesperson, then as sales professionals we must place and position ourselves in the world they are now living in. Adapting to social selling platforms such as LinkedIn allow sales professionals to gain the attention of the new buyer in a competitive market. Social selling is the method in which sales people identify prospects, nurture them, share relevant information and generate a sales pipeline. This pipeline I like to refer to as the relationship funnel. According to Forrester, “100% of B2B decision-makers are on social media for business purposes.”

With the buying world changing, sales people have to position themselves to be able to tell their story in a digital world.

Here are a few things to give thought to.... according to OgilvyOne from The Future of Selling, "The buying process is changing faster than sales organizations are responding"

According to Forbes, "78% of salespeople using social media outsell their peers" According to the 2012 Harvard Business Review, "90% of C-level executives never respond to cold calls or email blast."

Modern techniques need to be incorporated. The concept of developing warm calls through being social and engaging prospects with relevant information is a critical step in building net new business opportunities to help solve business problems.

This is why I firmly believe salespeople need to positively position themselves on the social platform. This is where their executive buyers are at now.

However, LinkedIn and all other social platforms is a tool not the “magic pill”. Sales departments must transform as well. Adopt and adapt is critical in creating a new mindset and skillset to maneuver through the ever-changing sales journey.

Integrate “social “into the sales process
First of all, we must not lose sight of what it means to practice. Where would professional athletes be today without their managers and coaches incorporating practices to perfect their skillsets?

Sales managers must foster a culture of practice as well. Sales reps must not lose sight of:

How to prospect and set appointments
How to overcome objections when speaking with executives
How to create differentiation with themselves
How to think like a business person
How to develop their business acumen
How to tell their story

Check out my Sales Managers Guide to LinkedIn

Effective use of LinkedIn before, during and after the sales process is critical in growing new business opportunities. Here are some simple ideas to help you stay focused

Before: build your relationship funnel, communicate and engage with your connections, start to become a resource to take from online to offline

During the Sales Process: connect with key stakeholders, decision makers and influencers; engage with industry resources to stay top of mind

After the Sales Process: go deep and wide within accounts to expand and nurture relationships, set the stage to cross-sell your services, grow your referral base

Lets all keep an open-mind and accept the fact selling today has changed. Adapt and adopt will be the key to future success within the sales community.

If you enjoyed reading this post I encourage you to share your comments and tell your friends.

Check out some of my other posts on LinkedIn Publisher and on SlideShare

I enjoy sharing my LinkedIn stories. LinkedIn was my “game-changer” in the highly competitive copier world. I transform and coach copier sales professionals to grow their 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, www.dealermarketing.net/what-we-do/linkedin and www.dealermarketing.net

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10 Ways to Close Net New Business #2 of #10

Art Post · 7/7/1510:29 PM

Ah, net new business has been a hot topic with me in recent days.

Adding net new customers at the rate of three per month can add up quickly. Thirty six net new accounts per year can per a tremendous upside when the renewals come due, in addition they can be a hedge against lost accounts. Every year we see a loss of accounts, whether they go out of business, just close shop, are bought by another form, lost our main contact/relationship and maybe they had a bad experience. For those of us that have been in the business for many years, we understand that we can't keep everyone happy, even though we try our best.

Just today, we had one of our manufacturers reps in the office for some training for the newbies. It was my idea to have them download the Ricoh apps to their phones and have our manufacturers rep assist with enabling and teaching them how to use those apps. You just never know when that one feature or that one app will seal the deal with a net new client.

When I was at Ethos Technologies last month, I spoke briefly about lock out features. I asked the crew. "what is a lock out feature"? Too my surprise there was no raise of hands. I then explained that a lock out feature is a feature that you have on your device that the competitor does not have. However, there may be many different features that Canon may have and Ricoh does not. Your job is to drill down with the customer and find that "lock out feature" that the client is ecstatic about and can't be with out it.

That one or two "lockout features" will win the deal for you as long as the client can cost justify the time or financial savings and the cost for those "lock out features" is not exorbitant.

In a recent sale, I was able to lead the client to agree that the paper exit area (feature) on the Ricoh W5100en was exceptional (that it would save them a tremendous amount of time) when compared to other manufacturers that were offering the same type of device with out that type of exit area. It's not easy, and you may not find a "lock out feature" for every prospect, however, if continually drill down with the client you'll be amazed with what you may find.

-=Good Selling=-

When is Net New Business not Net New Business?

Art Post · 7/6/1510:22 PM

I get it, we all need to drive net new business. We can't survive by continually upgrading our base. Personally, I do a pretty good job with acquiring net new business. A quick glance at my CRM will show that roughly 60% of follow ups and cold calls are for net new accounts.

Many dealerships will offer incentives to their sales reps to garner net new business. Thus, those dealerships are willing to give away a piece of the pie to grow their revenue stream. Good for the client, good for the dealership and good for the sales person, every body wins right?

What Defines a Net New Business?

All dealers will agree that net new business is an account that you have no play in, never sold them a thing. Not only is it net new business, it's a net new account! WooHoo!

Another caveat that may or may not be considered for net new business is that the account can qualify if your dealership has not done any business with them within a certain time frame. They got away from you years ago and you were able knock out the incumbent and win them back. Your relationship with the client stood the test of time. Knocking out the incumbent with your devices generates additional revenue for the dealership.

If you knock out a competitors piece of equipment and place your new equipment that's net new business, right?

It seems that it's not just that easy. Let's assume you have an account that has 10 imaging devices. You own half of the devices and the competitors owns the other half. You've worked the account for years and finally you knocked out the remaining five systems! Do the five new systems count as net new business? Seems that's a bone of contention and differs from dealer to dealer, some will say it counts, will others will not count that as net new business. I'm in the camp that will take the side of "how is that not net new business", you knocked out the remaining five systems, captured additional clicks and grew the business!

Let's take another scenario, customer got away from you many years ago, they upgraded one device with a competitor, and still have one of your older systems. After 5 years, you have a chance to get the business back, however you find out that twelve months ago they bought one toner cartridge for $49 from your dealership for the one old device. There are dealerships out there that will say nada, this account will not qualify as net new business because they bought that $49 toner cartridge from us "x" amount of months ago. I don't understand this either, what part of the new hardware sale ($15K) is not net new business when you knock out the incumbents device!

Next month, I'm thinking about buying a new car. Right now I have an older Eclipse, the dealership that I bought my car from is no longer in business. I'm going to go buy a buy a Ford from a local dealer, however, last month I bought an air filter from them for my son's car. Do you think that dealership will count my business as net new or not net new because I bought the air filter a few months ago?

-=Good Selling=-

5 Strategic Questions your LinkedIn Profile should answer

Larry Levine · 7/2/155:05 PM

Recently I read an article centered on strategic questions most corporations can answer. When asked, senior level executives can recite with confidence their corporate:

Vision

Mission

Purpose

Plan

Goals

This got me thinking... how can this translate to ones LinkedIn profile?

Vision = How is my story being told through my LinkedIn profile?
Mission = What is my objective of having a LinkedIn profile?
Purpose = What function is my LinkedIn profile going to provide to me?
Plan = How am I going to construct my LinkedIn profile?
Goals = How am I going to leverage LinkedIn to grow my business?

Check out my special report, A Sales Managers Guide to LinkedIn

Here are five questions to "kick around" regarding your LinkedIn profile:

1. Does my headline promote the value I bring to the businesses I work with? If the answer is no then think of the challenges your prospects or clients have and how you can help when crafting your headline.

2. Does my summary state the value I bring to the businesses I work with? If the answer is no then think of the W’s. What you do, what makes you different, why you do what you do, what is your promise of value and how you can address the challenges businesses face in today’s market.

3. Does my experience promote added value and differentiation? If the answer is no then give thought to promoting how you serve your clients and what do you do within your role that makes you different?

4. Am I building trust and credibility with my prospects and clients based upon what is currently on my LinkedIn profile?

5. Am I eliminating any risk factors with my prospects and clients based upon what is currently on my LinkedIn profile?

Why has this become so important? Industry experts continue to cite why become “social”

With the changing sales environment what have you done to build your “visible expertise”?

Think about these three things:

Sales is changing every day and we need to adapt
Your digital first impression has become a big deal
LinkedIn is where people go when they want to learn more about you

Check out some of my other posts on LinkedIn Publisher and on SlideShare

WHOA!! You Need to Check Out National AZON!

Art Post · 7/1/1511:24 PM

It's not too often that I get excited about a distributor, however, I'm really excited about National Azon!!!

For those of us that need to sell higher end hardware and solutions, many of us have incorporated wide format hardware and solutions into our portfolio.

National Azon is a dedicated wide format distributor that offers location in Troy, Michigan and Jessup, Maryland. I'm extremely excited about the full line of Contex equipment that is available, along with an easy to understand pricing guide. The easy to use pricing guide was awesome since I'm still a little bit of a novice when it comes to the complete Contex line-up of hardware and software.

For me, focusing on wide format equipment offers me higher equipment revenues, shorter sales cycle for the AEC market, and the fact that many are not so knowledgeable when it comes to wide format printers. I'm not selling grand wide format yet, however, if I had my own dealership I would make grand wide format a top priority to research and see if I could play in that market in my geo area.

In addition, National Azon is a distributor for Canon, Mutoh, CET Color, Finishing and has their own Azon color ink for various wide format products.

Digital wide format printers is still growing and has 7% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate), and this is great news for office equipment dealers that may not be looking to expand to MNS (Managed Network Services). Expansion to AEC (Architect, Engineer, Construction) wide format and grand wide format (those printers that print over 100 inches wide) can be extremely lucrative for office equipment dealers that still want to sell hardware in a niche market.

If you need to contact National Azon, just click the link here, tell em Print4PHotel sent you. At this time National Azon is not a sponsor of the Print4Pay Hotel. They might be one day, however, I was more excited to share what I found and I'm sure it may help many P4P'ers!

-=Good Selling=-

Top Ten Copier & MFP Proposals for June 2015

Art Post · 7/1/158:00 AM

Today was a pretty exciting day for those of us in New Jersey that support Governor Chris Christie.

The Governor threw his into to the ring for his first Presidential run. For those of you that are not familiar with Chris Christie, he tells it like it is, and has addressed some real problems in NJ over the last 6 years. Let's not forget he won two Governor races in a Blue State. I'm a fan of Christie and I hope for those that read this, that you'll base your opinions from hearing him speaking, visiting his site and don't believe everything you hear from...., well let's say the Liberal Media. https://www.chrischristie.com/ On with the proposals!!

If you've got some current proposals, then please send them to me, I will comp you one free month of a Premium Membership for each proposal you email me. arthurkpost@gmail.com

-=Good Selling=-

The Complexity is Real in Health Care Security

David Bailey (Guest) · 6/29/1510:23 PM

The average organization, regardless of size or industry, is under a greater threat of data breach than ever before, as digital risks continue to propagate and the defenses to avoid them lag. As a result, the frequency and subsequent damages associated with data breaches remain high and rising, and certain industries have been feeling the brunt of this trend more significantly than others, with healthcare being the first to come to mind.

Even ruling out the regulatory compliance discussion, so many other factors have directly and indirectly impacted medical firms in a negative fashion, and leaders appear to be a little behind the eight ball when it comes to fortifying their internal security protocols. Simple adjustments such as the inclusion of email encryption solutions can go a long way in the fight to defend patient data, while more complex challenges are starting to arise that demand an enhanced approach to defense.

Deeper rivers to cross
CSO Online recently listed some of the challenges healthcare providers experience in IT security that are certainly common in other industries, but not as intensely, as in the case of medical data protection. A couple were somewhat similar to guidance and reports from the past few years, such as the fact that access management and personnel oversight have been tricky, as well as the matter of mobile device security.

In both of these situations, the techniques and tools necessary to better defend data and systems are already available, but for one reason or another, medical firms have not struck the right chord quite yet. The deeper, newer and more challenging obstacles involved in securing patient data, though, have already started to arise, which means many firms will have a lot of ground to cover in efforts to catch up to the demands of defense fortification.

According to the news provider, novel medical equipment might be the priority in the coming years, as so many different devices are beginning to sprout up.

Start small
Despite the stress and anxiety that might be evoked among healthcare leaders when newer challenges arise, it is critically important to get the basics right first. After all, email systems and data storage environments are still highly common targets of cybercriminals, and simple secure cloud services and encryption tools can go a long way in dramatically reducing the risk of breach.

Once the fundamentals are covered, then it will be time to build out the strategy.

Paranoia is Paralyzing

Larry Levine · 6/29/155:00 PM

According to the definition in Wikipedia, Paranoia is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself (e.g. "Everyone is out to get me").

Get ready we are going old school, back to the early 80's ... bring on The Kinks. Who doesn't remember the iconic lyrics, (sing along with me) "Met a girl called Lola and I took her back to my place Feelin' guilty, feelin' scared, hidden cameras everywhere Stop! hold on, stay in control." You may be thinking what the heck does this have to do with anything? Read on...

Self-destroyer, wreck your health

Destroy friends, destroy yourself
The time device of, self-destruction
Lies, confusion, start eruption

(yea, it goes like this, here it goes) paranoia, they destroy ya
(here's to paranoia) paranoia, they destroy ya
(hey hey, here it goes) paranoia, they destroy ya
(and it goes like this)

Paranoia, they destroy ya (and it goes like this)

Getting the picture yet?

A sales manager devises strategies and techniques necessary for achieving the sales targets. He is the one who decides the future course of action for his team members.

It is the sales manager’s duty to map potential customers and generate leads for the organization. He should look forward to generating new opportunities for the organization. Prospecting for net new business is jet fuel for any business.

Then I ask one question to all sales managers, “What is the paranoia surrounding your sales reps becoming active on LinkedIn?”

The role of the B2B sales professional has changed. Incorporating the use of “social selling” on the web is not a fad. It is not going away any time soon, but rather has fundamentally changed the role between the buyer and the seller. By not acknowledging and supporting these changes, and continuing to use excuses for not actively participating in “social selling ”, your sales team are at risk of becoming less relevant and less visible to your prospects and customers.

Number 1 excuse “I don’t want my competition to know what my sales people are doing.” Here are a few others:

“Too busy to spend time on this stuff.”
”I value my privacy and don’t want to expose it online.”
”I don’t have anything to offer.”
”I have established customers, so it doesn’t matter.”
”I don’t know how to do it.
“I need proof.”

Lets work together to remove these excuses and foster a culture of encouragement.

According to a recent 2014 study by IDC, Social Buying Meets Social Selling, “84% of C-level/V.P. executives surveyed use social media to make purchasing decisions.”

To the Sales Managers out there, your customers and future prospects are online, and they are active on the social sites. They are asking questions, sharing experiences and making recommendations. They are seeking help and knowledge to help solve their business problems. They are looking for providers for their needs. By not engaging and supporting your sales reps then how can they find you?

Your competition is visible and lets face it you are all “calling” on the same accounts. Lets get real to think your sales reps are the only one calling on these accounts. More importantly take notion to the ones engaged as they are benefiting from your lack of involvement. They are answering questions that your customers are asking on LinkedIn, Twitter or LinkedIn Groups. They are reading blogs that are providing the latest solutions and changes in their industry.

It is about encouraging your sales reps to build their relationship funnel in order to grow healthy sales funnels. If you want to shorten your sales reps sales cycles and improve your sales team’s results, please set aside the excuses and get in the ball-game.

Check out my special report, A Sales Managers Guide to LinkedIn

Today’s modern buyers are searching and reviewing your sales reps LinkedIn profile's every day. This is stop number 1 when they want to learn more about your sales reps. I ask you to give thought to this question, “What is the digital first impression of your sales reps?” What are your clients and prospects seeing when they stop by? Are they promoting their business story? Take a few minutes to check out your sales reps LinkedIn profiles. What do you see? Do you see someone with few connections, no recommendations, no interest or activity in their industry, no photo or better yet no real reason to get to know them or even buy from them?

To quote, Tony Hsieh, Zappos.com, Inc. “The best salespeople are people who build relationships.” LinkedIn has become the B2B platform for sales professionals to build these relationships. LinkedIn provides your sales reps a digital canvas; a window into their business soul; their website to promote their business story. Just as your company leverages their website to promote themselves to the business community your sales reps should be doing the same with their LinkedIn profile. Your sales reps are the face of your company to the business community.

Jim Steele, Sales President of Inside View, "Information is the most important weapon for a salesperson, and it is no longer how you look in a suit but how your relationship is. You are helping your customer achieve strategic advantage with your technology and tools."

Building relationships is a driving force is building consistent sales pipelines.

Check out some of my other posts on LinkedIn Publisher and on SlideShare

Peek-a-Boo! Is your Sales Team Creating Social Visibility?

Larry Levine · 6/26/154:10 PM

I know we are all familiar with the old saying, “Perception is reality.” Think of how many times this happens when we meet someone for the first time. Within seconds opinions form and judgements are mentally being made.

As the selling landscape continues to transform “Perception is reality” applies to your sales reps digital story. Stop and think about this for a minute………. How they position themselves and the image they portray digitally will determine their “sales fate.”

You may be thinking to yourself, “Yeah right, I am not buying any of this nonsense.” This is OK. I would like to introduce you to Buyer 2.0. They are digitally driven, socially connected and mobile empowered. They have unlimited access to information and will conduct their research on Google as well as LinkedIn. Thus having unlimited access to real-time information about your sales reps, your company and your products.

To the sales managers out there, LinkedIn has become the “go-to” when someone wants to learn more about your sales reps. Becoming socially visible in the business community will help enhance your sales reps credibility and build up their value in order to gain trust. Learn more about me http://www.linkedin.com/in/larrylevine1992 Check out my special report, A Sales Managers Guide to LinkedIn

9 steps to have your sales reps build their professional visibility

1. LinkedIn profile – Insist they build a strong online reputation to showcase what they do, why they do it and how they can solve business problems. This builds their credibility and promotes their story. This starts to create personal branding.

2. Personal Network – Encourage them to build their network by developing relationships with people who can share information and provide referrals.

3. Gather insights – Encourage intelligence gathering by having them research social information to prepare for sales conversations.

4. Contribute & Communicate – Have them offer insights by providing relevant information that earn them the opportunity to engage with and influence contacts. Promote blogging by having them create posts highlighting how they have helped their clients solve challenges within their businesses.

5. Social solutions – Gain a competitive advantage by having them leverage social media outlets. Engaging with and nurturing contacts into becoming warm prospects.

6. LinkedIn Pulse – This is news and insights and is a source for professional news tailored to your sales reps interests. It's the place to discover compelling content and to discuss what's trending with millions of professionals worldwide.

7. Notifications – This can be monitored right from their LinkedIn home page. This provides real time updates of prospects and clients when they have commented and or posted a publication. This is a great way to have your sales team kick-start conversations.

8. Groups - Have them participate in interesting discussions within the groups they follow. This allows them to engage and hang out where the people they want to do business with socialize.

9. Mobile Apps - Have your sales reps download apps tying them right back into LinkedIn. LinkedIn Pulse and LinkedIn Connected are two fantastic apps. At their finger-tips your sales reps will be armed with up-to-minute information in order for them to strike up conversations. Please remember we are encouraging them to build relationships.

Lets all keep an open-mind and accept the fact selling today has changed. Adapt and adopt will be the key to future success within the sales community.

I leave you with my 5 C’s to sum this up….. How your sales reps cleverly capture, converse, collaborate, connect and convert will determine their “sales fate.”

I welcome your comments.

New Ricoh Signature Series Color MFP's on the Web

Art Post · 6/24/1511:38 PM

Spending much of my time driving around the State of New Jersey and not listening to the radio (I'm just to lazy to pull the radio and reset the code after the battery died a few months ago) gives me more than enough time to think about events that will eventually lead me to writing a blog on that subject.

Just today, I thought of three really awesome topics. But, all of those topics were put on the back burner, after I had placed a call to a prospect today. This prospect was interested in one of our Ricoh products, and truth be told, the more I spoke with him, the more I noticed that he had completed a lot of research on a few of the Ricoh models that he was interested in. Thank goodness I reached out to him first!

The prospect started to question me about the MP C3003SP, in fact he wanted to know the difference between the MP C3003, the MPC 3003 Essential and the MP C3003 Plus. I thought what!! What is this dude talking about. Sure enough, I paid a visit to the Ricoh USA site, found the MP C3003 and yes, Ricoh is now listing models like the Essential and the Plus. I also noticed that they with the MP C6003, there is now an MP C6003 Performance!!

Now, I'm on the Ricoh USA at least once a week if not more, and this was a big shock to me. I'm not against it, but maybe there should have been a notice to sales people about this, right? I muddled through the call, secured an appointment with the prospect. But, we're not done yet!

For all of use that either work for a Ricoh Dealer or you're a dealer principle, you need to check this out and follow this link. The link will lead you to the product page for the Ricoh MP C3003 (I must admit the page looks awesome), scrolling down you'll see the new "Signature Series", which shows the basic model, the Essential and the Plus. All is good, right?

I want to direct your attention back to the top of the web page and then to the right of the web page where the blue button is. That blue button reads "request a quote", hey that's cool right? Well, not for us dealers!!

When clicking the button, you are shown a pop up that states, "Get a Quote from a Ricoh Professional". So, I'm not sure what happens when you hit the "Get a Quote" button, either the lead is going to Direct or to the Dealer. What I do know is that if you call the phone number, you are connected with "Ricoh On-Line Sales", in fact there are then options to order supplies, and place a service call. In fact, you are calling Ricoh Direct, and I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that if you were interested in a quote, you would be directed to Ricoh Direct.

Here's my beef, I do quite a bit of on-line business, on the web page you can't miss the "get a quote" button nor the phone number of 1.866.230.2723. It's not until you drill to the bottom of the web page that you will find a one line link for "Authorized Dealers". Can you all tell I'm a little upset!

I hear it all of the time, how Ricoh is so enamored with the Dealer Channel and the Dealer Channel is extremely valuable to them. So, if the Dealer Channel is held in such high esteem, then why can't there be a big GREEN button that states "Request a Quote from a Dealer" and a big Red button that states "Request a Quote from Direct". Let the potential prospect choose!

You all have heard my thoughts about why the dealer channel is so valuable, it is the Dealer Channel that pulls the bulk of the profit/margins and in essence I believe that the dealer channel subsidizes Direct which allows them to give the stuff away.

I have a love, hate affair with Ricoh. I love the products, I love the brand, however when I see stuff like this on the web, that does not offer a "Get a Quote from a Dealer" or "Get a Quote from Direct", it drives me up a wall!

-=Good Selling=-

A Sales Manager's Guide to LinkedIn

Larry Levine · 6/24/156:43 PM

I enjoy sharing my LinkedIn stories. LinkedIn was my “game-changer” in the highly competitive copier world. I transform and coach copier sales professionals to grow their 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, www.dealermarketing.net/what-we-do/linkedin and www.dealermarketing.net

Please check out my special report, A Sales Managers Guide to LinkedIn. This is an insightful perspective to encourage copier sales reps to build their brand, credibility and value. Designed to help grow net new business opportunities..... https://lnkd.in/bJhbD7b

The A4 MFP Disruption Continues to Grow

Art Post · 6/24/158:40 AM

In a presentation that I gave last week for a dealer in Virginia, I spoke about what the future will hold for those of us that are complacent with just upgrading our customer base with A3 MFP's.

It's those sales people that just pick off the low hanging fruit and they really don't bother with finding net new business.

Let's face facts, copier manufacturers want their share of the clicks and they are developing A4 replacements for A3 devices. In the next 24 months we will see more high end A4 devices with finishing capabilities come to market. Those systems will include finisher/staplers, folding, hole punching, booklet making, large paper decks and larger capacity single pass document feeders. In addition it's just a matter of time when one manufacturer will throw out the A4 cost per page model for the legacy A3 cost per page model.

Let's take a scenario of the sales person that upgrades 5 existing clients per month from older A3 devices to newer A3 devices. Let's assume the average revenue is $10,000 per device. That's $50K per month in revenue, and $600K for the year. Right now, that business model is safe, and the main reason for that, is those clients need speed, higher paper capacities, finishing capability along with the need to process higher volumes of scans. The client has no choice because all of the competitors are offering the same A3 features.

Change

All of the above is going to change and the change will come quickly. For those of us that attack net new business, and for those of us that are aligned with a manufacturer that understands that A4 devices will be the temporary life line to garnering additional clicks. We will lead with A4 to steal that business. Yes, we will have to sell more devices, but there are huge fleets of A3's out there that are prime targets.

But, let's get back to the sales person that is not garnering net new business, and let's assume that the direct branch or dealership that employs them does add an competitive A4 line. If that person just continues to sell 5 units per month, that revenue will drop to $25k per month and $300K for annual sales. In addition that sales persons commission will drop by 50% also! I'm arriving at these assumptions due to the fact that I'm seeing most A4 equivalents to A3 devices coming in at about half the cost.

Thus, not only does the sales person see a disruption revenue and commissions, but the margin of profit will also drop for the dealer or the direct branch. This is a powerful disruption of our current business model.

For those dealers that are single line dealers, addicted to back end rebates, and with a manufacturer that can't see the forest through the trees, then I believe that their base will become a target for those of us that can see the future of A4.

Future

We're not at the tipping point yet, however, there are some powerful A4 devices on the market now that could put a heavy crimp in my sales. Problem is, it seems like most sales people are towing the line and still offering A3 to keep their margins and revenue when competing against me, even though they have A4 devices that could compete.

I also believe that many manufacturers are holding back maximum monthly volume ratings on these new A4 devices in order to preserve the sales of A3 devices.

What I Will Do Differently

Attack net new accounts with A4 devices whenever and where ever I can
Two A4 devices for the price of one A3 device, the talk track changes to redundancy with additional devices, more devices equals more productivity
Take my lumps and preserve my base with offering A4 upgrades to A3 clients
Understand the ROI break points in volumes from A3 to A4

In closing, I'm with a single line dealer and I hope that we will have a powerful A4 line up in the near future. If not, it just may be the time to retire and do the presentation gigs.

-=Good Selling=-

The Future of Healthcare IT Will Pose Risks

David Bailey (Guest) · 6/22/1510:57 PM

Healthcare providers were constantly under the gun when it came to the safe deployment of new technologies throughout the past several years, and it would be hard to argue that the sector at large has been highly successful in these endeavors.

This is not to underplay the extreme efforts and wealth of victories that took place since the early 2000s, but the constant stream of news regarding data breaches makes it clear that privacy and security have not been on point.

Last year, despite the fact that several retailers experienced some of the largest data breaches in history, experts and analysts argued that health care was indeed the most at risk of falling victim to these events. Whereas major incidents do indeed take up the headlines, they do not tell the whole story about security, as smaller ones can add up to be just as damaging - if not more so - before long.

This has been a theme in the medical community, as the vast majority of breaches have been on a much smaller scale, impacting many health care providers in the past few years and continuing to gain in intensity. One of the reasons behind this trend is that hackers tend to focus on picking the low-hanging fruit, meaning cybercriminals are far more likely to target a smaller healthcare provider with fewer controls and protections than a massive establishment that has a strong IT security team in place.

As such, email encryption, secure cloud services and other relatively straightforward defenses should be fortified among all medical firms as soon as possible, as a data breach or failed regulatory compliance audit can be devastating both financially and operationally. With a recent Ponemon Institute study finding that cyberattacks targeted at health care providers increased by 125 percent in the past year, the time to act is now.

Additionally, new trends are likely to present even more significant challenges in the coming years, including the Internet of Things, and preparations must be made to capitalize on such advancements rather than take on excessive risk.

The IoT conundrum
Healthcare IT News recently argued that medical firms should be approaching the IoT from a serious security angle, ensuring that every new device is protected against threats as proactively as possible. Many of the more common best practices along with data and system security in general will be applicable to the IoT, and firms need to ensure that they are getting the basics down before building the strategy out and allowing more devices to enter the infrastructure.

According to the news provider, access management and authorization might be the two most important controls in this conversation, as well as the most difficult, with so many more endpoints coming into the equation. However, ironing out current plans and deploying newer tools to ensure that only authorized users can access patient information through their devices will help to reduce the risk of exposure.

The source argued that the devices being selected should also be evaluated with a fine-toothed comb, as certain ones will simply not be easily protected per the ways in which they were developed. Being selective and keeping the number and diversity of devices as low as possible will inherently give the IT department a greater advantage from a security standpoint, and could even help to boost the user experience over time.

More devices does not always translate to better performances - always weigh quality over quantity. Finally, Healthcare IT News noted that encryption for data stored on and accessed by devices should be a priority, while training employees in the best practices of secure use will reduce the risks involved in negligence, poor awareness and error.

Threat rising
Now, it might be helpful to understand the reasons behind the exponential growth in data breaches among health care providers, as knowledge always equates to power in the security arena. CNBC recently explained that the IoT has brought to light some of the types of data hackers appear to be targeting most aggressively today, especially as so many wearable devices and apps therein are already tracking and recording health information.

The news provider suggested that medical data is about 10 to 20 times more valuable on the black market than credit card information, which is why cybercriminals have started pursuing firms in the health care industry at greater frequencies. Add to that some of the arguments above regarding the rapid deployment of new technologies and the widespread lack of adequate controls to protect them and it should be clear why these events are so common in health care.

Remember, some of the simplest improvements to security will be the most effective, including employee training, email encryption and secure cloud services. Additionally, keep in mind that the cost of instituting these protections will almost always be lower than the damages of a breach.