MFP Copier Blog

A re-post from a few years ago, with a few changes and additional tips. Enjoy!!

Last week we had a special training day for telemarketing, my how the day brought back many memories about how I use to get additional business, find additional prospects and or make a new contact.  

Over the years we tend to forget about some of the basics that was taught us many years ago.  I'm thinking that many of these "ways" may have perished forever because I don't hear anyone preaching or teaching these techniques.  

While this will be one of my shorter blogs I hoping that it will bring back memories for us old timers and for those that are new to the industry some new ways of finding those new accounts.

1. When you're finished writing the order ask the DM if they might know of anyone else that may be interested in your services.  (If you don't ask you don't get)

2. While you're writing the order, ask if the DM would be interested in any additional smaller printers, scanners or a backup MFP. (ya never know right)

3. You're bogged down on price, the DM put it out there, "can I get the system for this ....(he states his price), well you know you can do that price but instead of just saying "if I can do that price can we write order"?  maybe spin it this way "I'm ok with that price as long as we can write the order today and you can give me three references that may need my services, will that work for you"?

4. If you're selling Managed Services along with selling imaging, after you write the imaging order close for another appointment to introduce your other services.

5. Ask the DM if they are involved with an Association for their industry, if so ask for the contact name of that person.  Call the Association and ask about sponsorship initiatives, speaking opportunities for educated the members, or showing your wares at one of their meetings.

6.  Have a plan to sell the extras (pre printed flyers), there was once a time when our company offered a $50 bonus in the form of a Savings Bond for every additional small A4 MFP that we sold. In a year I sold about fifty of those puppies. Yup, I moved em for cost, but the Savings Bonds were the bonus.  And then there were some additional upgrades a few years later for those small A4 MFP's.

Numbers 1, 2 & 3 seem to have been forgotten at least in my neck of the woods.  I just don't hear managers preaching these.  Hope this helps for everyone.

-=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 establishes trust with them that you have the knowledge and expertise to help them attain their business needs.

#5  This will cost you, but buy a basic premium membership that allows you to see all of the people that have viewed your profile.  The plan you want to activate is the Sales Basic plan for $15.95 per month.

I'm a firm believer that in order to make money you need to spend money. You'll also be able to write off the cost of the membership when it's tax time.  Make sure that you visit Linkedin at lease once every couple of days.  I check my Linkedin account everyday.  You need to know who is checking you out!

-=Good Selling=-

Automated Image Enhancement Software Increases Speed
and Accuracy of Document Capture

New Release Adds More Time-Saving Features to Improve Performance of
OCR, Data Extraction and Document Management Applications

ANN ARBOR, Mich., January 29, 2014 – NovoDynamics, Inc., a leading developer of advanced pattern recognition and analytics technologies, today announced the availability of NovoImage+^® automated image enhancement software version 1.1.  NovoImage+ 1.1 handles multi-page documents, eliminating the need to re-collate files after optimizing pages for efficient processing. It also includes image inversion, which automatically converts microfilm negatives into positive images to prepare them for optical character recognition (OCR).

“The time saved using an automatic document feeder (ADF) on an MFP may be lost if a multi-page document needs to be reconstructed after individual pages have been remediated,” commented David Rock, President and CEO of NovoDynamics. “NovoImage+ 1.1 now eliminates this lost productivity by not only optimizing scanned or faxed pages but also automatically recompiling them into complete document files.”

“NovoImage+ is an indispensable productivity booster,” says Art Nicholas, Vice President, Global Sales and document capture industry veteran. “For organizations glutted with paper, as well as the service bureaus that support them, every step of manual intervention that can be eliminated from the document capture process saves time and money and frees workers for other tasks. With NovoImage+ running in the background, MFP operators don’t need to be trained to use the software — no additional steps are required at the MFP control panel. And NovoImage+ Professional Edition allows organizations with distributed document entry points to purchase one software license to support all the various devices on the network, lowering costs and making implementation easy via a single server.”

“The image inversion feature now extends the capabilities of NovoImage+ to handle microfilm more efficiently,” adds David Rock. “As we continue to add new image enhancement automation tools, service bureaus using NovoImage+ software can increase their value proposition to customers by offering economical solutions for handling more diverse document image types.”

About NovoDynamics^® NovoImage+ Software

NovoDynamics NovoImage+ software automatically cleans and enhances scanned/faxed images to dramatically improve the performance and productivity of document capture solutions including OCR, data extraction, document classification and other document management applications. It eliminates the need for labor intensive manual intervention to repair the images of damaged documents or degraded reproductions that impede downstream processing.

Device agnostic, NovoImage+ optimizes document images from virtually any scanner, as well as MFPs, fax devices and digitized microfilm. NovoImage+ streamlines image enhancement workflow by batch processing document images from multiple devices and routing them to and from the image enhancement environment.

NovoImage+ can also significantly reduce the size of document image files to lower costs associated with storage and archiving.

For more information about NovoImage+ software, visit www.NovoDynamics.com.

About NovoDynamics

NovoDynamics, Inc., an In-Q-Tel portfolio company incorporated in 2001, transforms paper-based and electronic data into actionable information and insights. NovoDynamics offers intelligent information capture software and provides advanced analytics solutions to allow its customers tor make better decisions. NovoDynamics products and solutions are used worldwide by commercial industries, governments and academia. Learn more at www.NovoDynamics.com.

All referenced trademarks are property of their respective owners.

# # #

Believe it or not when posting these threads from ten years ago, I can still remember certain opportunities that I was working on. With color just coming on strong in 04, we P4P members needed as  much infor as possible! 

Thanks for the memories!!!

2004 Academy Awards: nominations announced, leading films are The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (11), Master and Commander (10), Seabiscuit (7), Mystic River (6), and Cold Mountain (6). Keisha Castle-Hughes, at 13, becomes the youngest nominee ever for the Academy Award for Best Actress

Peerless Systems Announces Everest Family of MFP C...

RE: New Riso Technology

1/22/04 8:03 PM Reply by Jim Stocker

FYI, the actual url is:http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/news/2003b/nr031014orphise.cfmThe proof will be in the pudding, as we say. Aside from those specs which are very much perceptional, the rest is pretty impressive:105 ppm, duplexing @ 37 ppm, full...

 

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 establishes trust with them that you have the knowledge and expertise to help them attain their business needs.

Here's #4:

Reach out to people you’ve connected with on Linkedin and ask them for a recommendation on Linkedin,  the more the merrier.  Try and visit Linkedin every day, don't just be a lurker (those who read and never contribute), but try to post an interesting link for your connections.  I never ever will post a promo that we're running because I want my connections to understand that I'm a resource for them to help them with their business problems. Not just another sales person looking to move a box!

 If you don’t have any business people you’re connected with then ask for something from family and friends that are in business.

-=Good Selling-=

Yahoo!  One of our Print4Pay Hotel members posted a link where we could download a brochure for the new Ricoh MP C2003 & C2503!  

I'm hoping that we'll have these systems available in a few weeks here in the US.

The link was provided to a Ricoh dealers web site in the UK.  

Please keep in mind that the US version may or may not have additional features. One of the features that is not mentioned is Ricoh ICE (Integrated Cloud Environment), which is an option with the current Metis (03) series of color MFP's here in the US.  Having ICE allows users to scan documents to many popular cloud-based applications, along with the ability to print them where and when you need them.  I would tend to think that Ricoh ICE will be available here in the US with the new system,

General Specs:

• Warm up is under 20 seconds
• First Page out put speed for color is 7.6 seconds 
• First Page out put speed for black is 5.4 seconds
• MPC 2003 speed is 20 pages per minute for color & black
• MP C2503 speed is 25 pages per minute for color & black
• Standard memory is 1,5GB, and can be expanded to 2GB
• Hard Drive is 250GB
• Copy resolution is 600x600 dpi
• Print resolution is 1200x1200 dpi
• Scan speed for color and black 54 pages per minute (there is no mention of the dpi setting to achieve that speed)
• Printer Language: PCL5c, PCL6, PDF Direct Print, Media Print (not sure what that is and this is the first time I've seen it). Optional PS3. PictBridge

I'm pretty excited about this feature.....dig this, the system has an optional stapeless finisher!!  The brochure states you can bind up to 5 pages with out using a staple.  Awesome selling feature!!!  I've heard that the finisher puts a crimp in the document to to hold it together.

One other item of note is the use of electric furnace steel parts.  In a nutshell the steel used in these is systems is 100% steel scrap. If you'd like to learn more about the process follow this link.

If you're interested in seeing the brochure click here (goes to the forum on the P4P Hotel).  As I get additional information we'll be posting that information on the forums.  Special thanx to the Print4Pay Hotel member that posted the link the other day!!

Can't wait this system should be a BLAST!

-=Good Selling=-

During the last three years I've been delighted to help rookies/newbie’s or whatever you'd like to call new people that are breaking into Managed IT, Copiers and Managed Print Service  industry.

I'm not a manager or owner (was an owner once); I work down the street accounts and love what I do!  I enjoy helping  new sales people and that's probably because I had no help when I started in sales some 33 years ago. It was not until four years ago that I encountered my first sales manager (we'll save that for another blog).

As many of you know our business is constantly changing, whether it's hardware, software, cloud solutions, and document management. Nothing stays the same for long!

What are the 3D's?

Put them in any order you want, it takes all THREE to be successful in our business. DESIRE, DEDICATION & DETERMINATION

So, what is DESIRE?

–verb
1. to wish or long for; crave; want.
2. to express a wish to obtain; ask for; request: The mayor desires your presence at the next meeting.
–noun
3. a longing or craving, as for something that brings satisfaction or enjoyment: a desire for fame.
4. an expressed wish; request.

DESIRE

For me it's the craving to be the best at what I do.  I enjoy the recognition, I still get a charge out of writing an order.  I have complete control of my financial future.  

Your presentation/meeting is filled with PASSION and you can paint a picture of the future without relying on a power point presentation! Losing is not an option! As Ricky Bobbie put it "If you're not first you're last"!

DEDICATION

noun
1.the act of dedicating.
2.the state of being dedicated: Her dedication to medicine was so great that she had time for little else.
3.a formal, printed inscription in a book, piece of music, etc., dedicating it to a person, cause, or the like.
4.a personal, handwritten inscription in or on a work, as by an author to a friend.

Dedication

You'll take the extra time to educate YOURSELF! Rely on no one!  I love what I do. I will out work you to get what I want and in most cases I always get what I want.  Our job is not a 9-5 job, if you want 9-5 money go work for Burger King. Always ask yourself "Am I working as hard or as smart as I can?"

DETERMINATION

noun
1.the act of coming to a decision or of fixing or settling a purpose.

2.the quality of being resolute; firmness of purpose.

Determination

When it's a quarter to 5 and you're on your way home, and you pass that business that you've called many times and got nothing, do you continue to go home or do you stop for one more cold call? You're always moving forward with creating your own promotions, following up with calls until you have the answers whether it's good or bad. Selling is similar to playing chess, you're always thinking about the next step, or the next objection and the what if's, determined people always have a plan to get where they want to be.

Thus, after 33 years I still enjoy most of what I do.  There are many days when I'm the optimist and many when I'm the pessimist.  All of us can go through bouts of pessimism in sales.  What I've learned is that every new day brings a new opportunity to sell something or for that phone to ring with a customer or prospect stating "we're ready to place our order!"

-=Good Selling=-

What a day, last 72 hours of the month, and we get hit with a killer snow storm in New Jersey.  What gives with the naming of winter storms? It's just more media hype right?

I though I would write a little about what happened to one of our new reps the other day.

While at the customers office the rep called in for the manager and it just so happened that I was in my managers office at the time.  

To keep it short and simple the customer had stated that the service/supply pricing was to high. Our rep wanted to know if discounting was an option.  Of course discounting is an option if you're willing to pay for it.  

I've been in this situation before and there are a number of ways to handle this. Probably the best way to handle it is reiterate your value points for service first. Backing up to your service value points may turn the tide in your favor.  

Another phrase to use can be "compared to what?", this question may tell me that they are comparing our service price to a competitors.  The statement of "the price to high" is an objection.  You then need to smoke out the objection so you can get the chance to secure the order.

For those of us that have been around the block a few times, we know that we can also provide this "if I can save you an additional 5% can we write the order today?"  Typical close to tie them to an answer right?

There are some that don't like this method and others who say it's outdated.  But, when a prospect makes the statement of "the price is to high", we need to find out why or we'll never get the order.  

In this particular scenario (mind you this is a segment 2 system), I would have went back to the value points and it that didn't work I would have used the close to lower the cost if we can do business today.  I was told that the rep used this and the answer from the prospect was, "well, I need to review the pricing" and there was no order signed.

My thoughts, when a prospect shoots me the line, "well, I need to review the pricing", will get an immediate "what pricing are you referring to?"

Short and simple,  the prospect smoked the inexperienced rep.  But, sales is a learning process especially when you're in a one on one.  The rep will learn just like we all learned by taking our lumps here and there.

The objection is still there and I would bet dollars to doughnuts that the prospect is not comfortable with the support side of the transaction. I just wish I could have been there to hekp.

-=Good Selling=-

What a bummer today, our annual Sales Kick Off meeting was rescheduled because of impending snow storm Janus.

Seems like those of us that live along the NJ Shore will get the brunt of the storm.  I'm looking forward to the 30th when we kick off the new year!

COLD CALL FOR THEM TO CLOSE!

Pretty unique,  I’ve used this several times to close small Print4Pay shops and or small business.  If the customer will buy the system from me, I’ll promise to cold call for them with their literature.   With the smaller print shops you can actually ask them to print you up 50 or so Note Pads with the name of the printer.  Then go buy a bag of candies and then ask the printer to shrink wrap each note pad, a few candies and their business card.  Most times I’ll give them four days and turn over the prospects and information to them.  But, I’m also prospecting for myself!  It works both ways.

-=Good Selling=-