MFP Copier Blog

Socialize Yourself with Linkedin

All of these points below will establish yourself as a person who is knowledgeable with the industry that you work in.  Thus over time you will be considered by your customers and prospects as the resident expert or guru, this then established trust with them that you have the knowledge and expertise to help them attain their business needs.

#10  Once you established maybe a few hundred or more contacts,  you may want to think about starting your own lead group. I did one of these and titled it NJ shore leads, the premise of the group was to connect people that I do business with so that we could share leads. 

What I did was to pick out one architect, one engineer, one home builder, one finance person, one tech person, you get my  drift right?  From there whenever I get someone that is asking for an architect Iwill then post it for architect who is in my NJ shore leads group.  The others will do the same for maybe a copier or IT lead. It’s like having a virtual lead sharing group.

-=Good Selling=-

Years ago I can remember reading an article that stated something to the effect that an average CEO achieved greatness by surrounding him/her with great employees. 

I've always envisioned the Print4Pay Hotel forums as the place to go in the Office Equipment Industry to ask questions, glean knowledge, along with getting quick and timely answers that can help us sell more and provide for our families. Thus, I'm always thinking of ways to add value to our Print4Pay Hotel members.

Today, the Print4Pay Hotel forums welcomes our newest member aka "Lease Maestro".  Lease Maestro will monitor the forums and answer to the best of their ability any and all questions that are related to leasing.  Leasing plays such an important part in our business that I think it's awesome to have a dedicated professional with 25 years plus experience to help us when we have some of those difficult questions. 

It's my general belief that many dealers and direct channels are not educating their sales teams about all of the leasing options/solutions that are available to them on a daily basis.  

For instance, if you're confronted with a prospect who does not want to lease and only wants to buy, and that prospect then tells you that they don't have the money to purchase the system now.  WHAT DO YOU DO?

It's obvious in this case (I've seen it over and over), that the prospect does not want to lease because they have been conditioned that they will not pay the interest that is associated with a 36, 48 or 60 month lease.  They want to own the equipment!

Many years ago when I was a rookie, I was presented with that objection from the prospect.  I couldn't get past the objection and didn't get the sale.

So, the next time when my leasing rep visited our office for training (remember when they used to do that), I posed that objection to them.  The solution was to offer the prospect a "bakers dozen" lease. The "bakers dozen" enables the customer to make 13 lease payments and they then own the equipment.  You take the purchase price divide by 12 for the monthly payment and then wright the lease for 13 payments.  The 13th payment is the interest on the lease (check with your leasing company before doing this). The next time I was presented with the same scenario, I presented the "bakers dozen", got the order and still use the "bakers dozen" approach to this day. 

OK, so there are many financial solutions that are available, however, for some reason it seems these solutions don't make it to the sales teams. 

Lease Maestro will be our virtual leasing expert!  In the next 30 days or so, Lease Maestro will be have a weekly featured blog on our site and will run once blog a week for 25 weeks.

You can check out Lease Maestro's wall page here and it would be awesome to welcome them to our site.

-=Good Selling=-

I would love to hear from others, about closes that you use. If you have a favorite close or like me, included something that was out of the ordinary.  Please post the thread in the reply section of this blog.

30.  Mail Close:  I’ve used this a few times also, always for existing accounts and for when you can’t get a hold of them after many calls and emails. First prepare all of the paperwork for the new system.  Send a letter along with the paperwork that states it’s time to upgrade, note the new payments, the savings and the new features.  Send those little “sign here” sticky notes and request that the document is emailed or faxed back to you.

Again, there's nothing to lose, the worst that will happen is that they will finally return your call or email.

-=Good Selling=-

Exploration of Mars: NASA announcesthat Mars rover Opportunity landed in an area where "liquid water once drenched the surface". (SF Chronicle)

UPDATE - Oce warns dollar

3/5/04 5:54 PM

 

Topic by Guest

machines. Oce, which competes with Canon (Tokyo:7551.T - News) and Xerox (NYSE:XRX - News), had been hit especially hard as large corporate customers tightened their belts and slashed spending on high-end, high-margin equipment. The firm said it was

 

Re-uploaded Ricoh Connected Files

3/1/04 10:13 PM

 

Topic by Boston Mike

Download files below in this thread ...let me know if there are any problems.-=Mike=-

 

-=Good Selling=-

Socialize Yourself with Linkedin

All of these points below will establish yourself as a person who is knowledgeable with the industry that you work in.  Thus over time you will be considered by your customers and prospects as the resident expert or guru, this then established trust with them that you have the knowledge and expertise to help them attain their business needs.local Linkedin Groups.  You can search groups within Linkedin by clicking the “interests” tab and then the “groups” tab in your Linkedin “profile” page.

9.  Join Local Linkedin Groups,  have you noticed that there are many local Linkedin groups?  Since I have a territory in Monmouth County, I've joined several groups.  Some of these are mini networking groups of businesses in within the county, while there are other professional Linkedin groups.  I have also been able to gain access to a group of land surveyors, architects and engineers.  From time to time I will post an educational thread or some news that will help these professionals with their imaging or IT needs. Keep in mind that you are not selling anything to these groups. You're posting legit information that will educate and inform them.  Over time they will check your profile on Linkedin, and when they do, well that's your chance to reach out to them with an in-mail.

-=Good Selling=-

Are you looking for a trendy topic to talk about with your prospects and customers? Get a conversation starting by asking if they can scan to any folder. Take Art’s talk track of last month for example:

"Wouldn't you want to be able to search your "scan to" folders from the MFP, rather than scanning to a folder or an email address and then going back to your desk to access the file, name the file and then move the file to your desired location?"

Their pain: If you're not solving this issue then your competition will. Dig deep, find out what kind of documents they are scanning, to which destinations, even ask to see the whole process. Most prospects and customers take minutes to get a single file to the destination it needs to be.

Scan to any folder: Save your customers lots of time by connecting their device to not just some, but all applications they use for document storage. Whether they want to scan to Microsoft SharePoint, Microsft Office 365, Google Drive, Dropbox or another application, you can help them with a single solution.

Sell solutions not hardware: With Udocx you can sell MFPs from brands like HP, Ricoh and Sharp that connect directly to applications such as SharePoint, Google Drive, Dropbox and many more. The solution is cloud based, easy to install on MFPs with internet browser and can be easily deployed across the organization. When signing the lease, your customer will not only be buying the MFP, but will improve the document flows throughout his company.

Free trial: Get yourself, your prospects and your customers a free trial and experience the amount of time that can be saved using Udocx. Visit www.udocx.com or email info@fenestrae.com and see what reseller opportunities there are for you!

The Right Used Equipment Strategy Can Help Your Profits Soar

Having the right used equipment strategy can absolutely help your dealership reap greater profits.  Whether you are going to use it to penetrate into new accounts or as a path to upgrade your customers into new equipment, dealers that are incorporating used equipment into their business plans are watching their profits soar.

Every dealer handles used equipment, but not all are maximizing the profits that this hardware provides.  That’s right.  I’m talking about profits from hardware.  And not just small profits.  Dealers are enjoying 40-70% profits on selling used equipment to their customers. 

As dealers focus more on selling services and being flexible to customer needs, used equipment can play a key role in adding profitability.  The bottom line is that you are really not selling hardware.  You are selling yourself and your dealership.  Won’t you stand behind anything you sell with the same guarantee whether it is new or used?

Used equipment sales vary among dealers.  Some see it as managing lease returns while others have it as a key strategy to obtain new customers.  It can be a small percentage of sales or up to 80% or more.   I was asked by a dealer at a recent industry show, “Why don’t more dealers do this?  It works.”

3 Ways to Maximize your Profits with Used Equipment

·         Use pre-owned equipment in your MPS program

·         Create a rental pool and loaner pool

·         Mix used and new equipment to win more bids

Used Equipment in your MPS Program

Consider your MPS offering.  The customer is paying you a blended CPP and you are managing their print environment.  If the customer needs toner, you replace it.  If a machine goes down you repair or replace it.  Very rarely do we see a requirement for new equipment in MPS bids.  In fact, new equipment in many engagements is never even discussed.   Used equipment will get you to a more aggressive overall CPP and increase the GP of your agreement.

When I talk about used equipment, I am including copiers and laser printers and any manufacturer brand.  The combination of used equipment and MPS will maximize your profit and win more deals.

Create a Rental Pool and Loaner Pool

How often are your customers requiring flexibility?  You see it all the time.  They want a short term rental.  They want a loaner if a machine goes down.  They want to upgrade or downgrade at any time.  They want to cancel for convenience.  They won’t sign a lease.

These requirements are all too common and, to some, can be showstoppers in a deal.  Used equipment is not only a viable solution, it becomes a differentiator.  Dealers can offer as much flexibility as they want with used equipment.  Creating a rental pool and loaner pool with used equipment will take your MPS offerings to the next level.

Mix Used and New Equipment to Win

How many deals are you losing on price?  Let’s face it.  Not as many deals as we’d like are won on salesmanship, loyalty or incumbency.  Especially in schools and government deals, it’s all about price.  Let’s say you are in a 10 machine deal.  You go to your manufacturer and get the most price support you can, but you know that it is not enough to win the deal.  And a win would count toward your manufacturer quota.  What do you do?

If you bid only new equipment you know you’ll lose.  Why not mix in some used equipment and re-price your deal.  Assuming there is no provision against used equipment, you have now lowered your price, increased your chance of winning and you can still earn quota credit with your manufacturer.

What to Look For

You want to look at the meter read, the accessories included, the condition (any codes) and the overall appearance of the machines (no stickers or cracked panels).  Customers expect that they appear “like new.”  You also want to look at the packaging.  Used machines are usually shrink-wrapped.  Some companies also will bubble wrap and corner board their machines.

The Right Partner

Partner with a reputable wholesaler.  All have warehouse guys who know how to turn a machine on and make copies.  The difference is what they do beyond that.  The best companies will provide turnkey programs, money back guarantees, on-site pickup and delivery, sales of used and off-lease assets, purchase of trade-ins and excess new and used inventory, shipping and storage services and hard drive data security.

The most profitable dealers have a used equipment strategy.  Follow the strategies above and watch your profits soar.

Marc Theaman is Vice President of Sales of Equipment Brokers Unlimited (EBU), a leading provider of refurbished copiers and digital equipment.  He has an extensive background in the imaging industry in sales, business development, national account management and business consulting. Most recently, Theaman served as Vice President, National and Government Accounts for Kyocera Document Solutions America, Inc. In this role, he managed all aspects of sales and marketing for printer and multifunctional product solutions, a managed print services program, and software and utilities within the division. Prior, Marc served as the Vice President of Business Development for Strategy Development, a management consulting and advanced training firm for the technology and outsourcing space. In addition, Theaman spent more than 20 years at Ricoh, with experience in channel development, national account development, and training and employee development.  Marc can be reached at 818-605-7234 and via email at mtheaman@ebu-llc.com.

Am kinda of writing as I think, so please excuse me if I jump around somewhat.

Last week I had an email from one of our Print4Pay Members that I'm also connected with on Linkedin.  BTW, the email came via Linkedin, so I should have called it an "inmail"?  

The last thing I want to do is to make this a long blog!  Thus, I replied to the inmail from Rob Mackenzie because of the title "Entrepreneur in Canada seeks your feedback". 

Ok, I read the rest of the inmail which stated,

"I've been a follower of your p4p Hotel blog for several years (I used to be in copier sales). I've recently completed an MBA and started a business:www.un-lease.com The idea is an online equipment marketplace for buying, selling, or transferring leases." 

For those of us that have been doing this for a while, we've got firsthand experience with prospects who drop the bomb that they still have 24-36 payments left on their existing lease.  At first your heart sinks, cause you know this is a dead deal and then the next thing you know you're looking for your bag and the quickest way out.  It's a DEAD deal, nada, nothing and the worst thing is that you'll probably never get them when they pay down the lease. That can be attributed to many reasons such as time, change in buyer, change in needs, etc..

I'm in the business of customer service, I need to offer value to my prospects and customers.  Un-Lease fills the void of customers that need to get out of a lease that's either to big or small to meet their needs.  Think of it this way, instead of walking away from that deal that has the 28 payments left, why not tell them, "Understood, we have an excellent program for you. We can help you find a business that will assume your lease, once we find a home for the existing lease we'll move forward with the order for the new equipment, will that work for you"?  BOOM, you got the order!

Thus, I've got an order, although it's not going to move until the old lease is assumed, however, I don't have to discount and I don't have to walk away!!!

I've already spoken with a few Print4Pay Hotel members and everyone thinks this is an awesome service that fills a void in our industry!  I've got additional ideas to help my customers and prospects to move excess inventory, along with that Rob has also instituted a dealer market place (my idea) to help dealers buy, sell and trade equipment.  If you have the time urge to sign up now, the first 100 dealers have a FREE registration and after that there is a sizable fee to get on-board.  Here's the link to get you started un-lease

-=Good Selling=-

Geesh, two more weeks and this blog series is over!  I will be putting the entire 31 parts up as one document once the series ends.  The document will be posted in the "clips" section of the site, and will be listed under "Helpful Sales Documents".

#29  Assume the Order:  This one is simple, before meeting with the customer and keep in mind that you’ve had a conversation with them about their needs and discussed several options.  You then set the tone of the meeting with “I'll prepare all of the pricing options for you for several of the systems and when we meet we can go over the pricing, and features and see which one is best for you”.  Here you DON’T bring proposals, you bring two leases, two order docs and two maintenance agreements.  On these agreements you’ve stuck little “sign me here” sticky notes. You then give the documents to the customer to review, they will see the notes and you don’t speak a word until they ask a question or give the documents back signed!

-=Good Selling=-

A wolverine, the state animal of Michigan, has been spotted in that state for the first time in 200 years.

RE: Ricoh 2035 vs Mita 4035

          2/25/04 10:31 PM

 

          Reply by Guest

          little cumbersome. Reliability seems to be much better than the Ricoh, although 3 years isn't long enough to get an overall picture. Ricoh machines used to have "strong" assemblies but the later models have been "flimsyized". Kyocera/Mita has not cut

 

RE: Ricoh 2035 vs Mita 4035

          2/26/04 9:53 AM

 

          Reply by zico

          Boy, it looks like our whole company is responding here. As a former "real" tech, and long time service manager of a long time Ricoh dealer and relatively new Kyocera Mita dealer, my opinion is that over all, the Kyocera products are much more reliable

 

Xerox Stock Watch

          2/26/04 7:10 PM

 

         Topic by Guest

          $14.15 up .05 cents!

 

Canon Holds Sales Lead

          2/27/04 8:30 AM

 

          Topic by Guest

          time in the last 22 years, Canon is number one overall in black and white copiers, with 33% share in the U.S.  imageRUNNER C3200 Leads the Charge Canon also continued its #1 brand market share position in the color copier market. For the 17th consecutive

 

Aficio 2022 and 57 Ricoh

          2/28/04 7:50 AM

 

          Topic by Boston Mike

          So I am having trouble connecting 2022 using SMB this past month (see story in success stories) and so I call 57 Ricoh and they tell me they have not even tried to use SMB yet and not really sure ow it works. So he assumes I hooked it up wrong and I said

 

Re-uploaded Ricoh Connected Files

          3/1/04 10:13 PM

 

          Topic by Boston Mike

          Download files below in this thread ...let me know if there are any problems.-=Mike=-

 

Ricoh/Lanier Allstate Insurance Contract

          3/2/04 8:49 AM

 

          Topic by John Roof

Ricoh/Lanier has a contract with Allstate Insurance to provide the Lanier LP020c(Ricoh CLP1620) to its agents.  They have a special price of $1,680 for the printer only, but have lease pricing for the version with copier functionality.  If they purchase

 

RE: Ricoh 2035 vs Mita 4035

          2/26/04 1:03 PM

 

          Reply by zico

          use the assemblies (which in this case are rebuilt in the shop). As you may have guessed, I'm really pleased with these products. We took on the Kyocera Mita line after they bought out Mita and only handle the "new" products since the aquisition. Cheers!

 

EFI to Acquire ADS Communications, Inc.

          2/26/04 7:22 PM

 

          Topic by Guest

          such as IKON, Canon, Ricoh and Imagistics. The privately held company is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona and has approximately 50 employees. EFI anticipates that the ADS acquisition will not have a significant impact on the company's recently released

 

RE: 1060 with Mailbox...HELP!

          2/24/04 6:32 AM

 

          Reply by wyzguynyuk

          I narrowed this down to a problem with the RPCS driver. I installed the PCL driver and the mailbox worked fine. At least now I have something specific to hammer Ricoh with. Thanks, Brian

 

RE: Here's One for ya

          2/23/04 5:20 PM

 

          Reply by Old Glory

          You know how elead has information by verticle market including digital demo originals? Surely there is an education verticle market section that will give you a wealth of ideas. Also may want to ask your Ricoh (or Savin or whatever) Major Account Sales

 

RE: Ricoh/Lanier Allstate Insurance Contract

          3/2/04 10:18 AM

 

          Reply by Neal

          If it is part of the Ricoh family,i.e. Savin and Gestetner, can they be placed also?

 

1060 with Mailbox...HELP!

          2/23/04 4:38 PM

 

          Topic by wyzguynyuk

          , however, in copy mode the proof tray works fine). Just thought I'd try you guys and see if anyone has seen this before. So far, Ricoh has been no help (they actually told my service manager that they don't sell many of these and aren't very familiar with

 

Diversity Report Ranks

          2/24/04 5:23 PM

 

          Topic by Guest

          disabilities, and women. Xerox was recognized on 12 of the lists, placing it among the top 10 U.S. companies and top 5 percent of the 790 companies reviewed for the report, which was issued yesterday by Diversity Best Practices and Business Women's Network

 

Next-Generation Docutech

          2/24/04 5:28 PM

 

          Topic by Guest

          DocuTech 100 and 120 will begin Feb. 1 through Xerox direct sales representatives, agents and concessionaires, with initial installations beginning in March. U.S. prices start at $77,000 for the DocuTech 100 and extend to $99,000 for the higher-speed

 

GBC Streampuncher "OOUCH"!

          2/29/04 9:50 PM

 

          Topic by Guest

          it that Ricoh is working on a software fix, well not soon enough for my customer). 4. The GBC will jam in the "U" area, and not send the jam signal to the system. The copier will continue to run and the papers will by-pass the GBC and come out non punched

 

-=Good Selling=-