MFP Copier Blog

When you've been in the busy as long as I've been you see many reps come and go, however for those of us that stick around we have a tendency to never leave the business. 

I met Monte through the Print4Pay Hotel forums many years ago, it may have been in 04 or 05, even though we've never met we've been able to help each other with information through the P4P forums and ever now and then we get the chance to chat on the phone.

A few months ago, Monte introduced me toCC Scan and gave me a brief overview of the features and benefits of the program. I'm not able to offer CC Scan to my current prospects and current clients, although I wish I could. I'm sure many readers maybe able to use CC Scan as an additional tool or to add value to the MFP sale. Lately, I been asking every potential prospect if they are archiving or scanning to cloud based software and I would estimate that 60-65% have answered that question as a yes.  The key question would be "how are you doing that" and or please show me.  CC Scan allows you to.....well better that it comes from Monte than me.......

Capture Component based in San Juan Capistrano, California has just released its newest version of ccScan Now integrating all manufactures of MFP’s and offering an alternative to eCopy that is a fraction of the price.

This software allows users to scan document directly to cloud based repositories like Box.net, Salesfroce.com, Google Drive, SharePoint 365 along with several other cloud providers. Users simply scan the document at the MFP and key in Metadata at the point of scan and documents are automatically filed correctly and named correctly to the cloud. All companies are either looking at cloud solutions or they have already implemented one. At a cost of only @$360 annually you now have a solution to offer that your competitor may not. Want some help on a presale?

Monte Jensen with 20 years of experience in the MFP space is there to help with trial licenses and web-ex demos.

So, Monte knows his stuff, as a matter of fact he is my "go to" guy when I have a question about eCopy (speaking of eCopy, have you ever tried to get support out of them...).  Maybe you're looking for that special lockout feature, or maybe you're looking to build your Pro Services, or better yet you're looking to drive additional profits and margins.  CC Scan offers you many choices, no quotas and the opportunity to be "the expert" with Scan2cloud solutions and it's device agnostic!!!!

You can reach at 415-286-1127 or email him at monte@capturecomponents.com  and as Monte would say......

"Good Solution Selling"

-=Good Selling=-

Ricoh Plotworks "Way To Screw Up the W3601"

UPDATE: I posted this on blog on the old blog site back in late May of this year.  To date and since the introduction of Plotworks I have not sold one W3601, I'm usually good for 1.5 of the W3601 every month.  What I have sold is about at least 6 of the CW2200SPs, ask me if I'm making any commissions on them and the answer is pretty much no, because of the system being so overprice. As Vince would say, "that's my two cents".

When do you say enough already? 

In recent weeks it seems every major and minor player in the industry now has some version of a scan2cloud app that can run on their MFP's aka copiers. Since I've been in the copier business for 33 years I've seen many apps/integrated software solutions from various manufacturers that were either dropped after a short time, never worked right or when you called the manufacturer for support their SE's did not have clue on how to alleviate the issue which left you in a bad situation with your customer! The reason for the terrible support is because the MFP aka copier manufacturer did not develop the app/software, they just re-sold the product.

The Cloud is here to stay and the more I talk about Scan2Cloud with my clients I'm getting feedback that being able to access these documents anywhere is a great time saver for them. In those discussions with prospects, many of them are already using Dropbox and MS Office 36. However they are scanning to their folder on the PC or scanning to email and then migrating the document to dropbox or MS Office 365 with additional clicks and entering data. Many MFP users are not even aware that most MFP's will allow a user to set up a dropbox folder on the MFP.  Of course the problem with scanning to one folder is that you still have to migrate that document to another folder or sub folders. 

I'm also hearing that more clients and prospects are embracing the thought of moving to  MS Office 365, and why not when the cost of the cost of MS365 starts at $5.00 per user per month for Small Business, $12.50 per user per month for Small Business Premium and $15 per user per month for Mid Size Business! It's a no brainer that for $150 per user per year Small Business Premium you get all of the bells and whistles except for Active Directory Integration.

MS 365 has a lot of bang for the buck for the small business and will save business many hours of administrating software, re-loading software, and updating licenses for their general use of MS Office application software.   One of the features of MS 365 is that you also get MS sharepoint that will allow you to store documents.

So how can you turn paper into fully searchable files and store them automatically in the right location for MS 365, Dropbox, SharePoint or any other business application? 

UDOCX has SMART SCANNING and yes they are a sponsor of the Print4Pay Hotel, but wouldn't you rather get support from the people who developed the Smart Scanning Cloud application rather then going through a second or third party that just bundled a few applications, gave it some fancy cloud name and then couldn't support it to you or your customers satisfaction?  I know I'd rather get my fruits and veggies from the farm rather than the grocery store, because the farmers will be more knowledgeable about their products.  Thus you need to go to the source for one awesome scan2cloud solution like UDOCX.

UDOCX will set up in minutes as long as your MFP has a browser and it's connected to the web. That means no additional software to run on a server, no maintenance costs for the software and no downtime.  UDOCX allows you to scan the document as PDF/A, have it OCR'D add Metadata and then send it to the likes of MS Office 365, SharePoint, Dropbox, Alfresco and Xerox Docushare while depositing the document in the right location every time. 

UDOCX (Fenestrae) now has partnerships with Ricoh, Xerox, Canon, Fujitsu, Alfresco. Mircosoft, Sharp and Xerox Docushare. Fenestrae was founded in 1990 and has offices The Netherlands (HQ), US, Germany, Spain, and Hong Kong.  To date they manage more than 1,000 clients in more than 40 countries.

As a rep that is still out on their in the field and still selling to down the street prospects and customers I want to make sure that every system I sell has a browser unit in the system. I want to make sure that I have the Scan2Cloud talk with my customers and prospects, so I can help them with their business process. I feel that UDOCX is one of those unique solutions that I feel is well supported and I'm at peace of mind recommending this solution over any solution that my MFP/copier manufacturer is recommending.  If you have the time check out UDOCX and their powerful Scan2Cloud solution.

-=Good Selling=-

Darby........during the Christmas of 2003 my wife brought me a little furball with a wagging tail. This little furball with the wagging tail would grow to almost 200lbs, actually he weighed 198lbs today. He is a mix of a Rottweiler & Mastiff with brindle coloring. 

I was elated and never in my life did I have a dog this large or one that tested me for love, obedience and trust.  He and I enjoyed many walks, many rub downs (oh how I loved to rub him down), it seemed the older he got the more he enjoyed the rubdowns!  However his large size was a blessing for him as he would sit at the dinner table and wouldn't need a chair and rested his head on the table as he was waiting for a treat or a scrape of food.  Darby was also the connoisseur for deserts, busy bones, rawhides & chickie sticks and any thing else he could wrap his mouth around. He also thoroughly enjoyed watermelon!!

At a young age Darby stole many napkins off the dinner table and would proceed to eat them until he got is treat, I can remember him devouring an entire chicken one night, and then a box of chocolates. He was tummy up in his bed that night!

My wife and I were not Darby's owners as to we were his humans that were entrusted with caring for him, which included long walks at the beach, nightly strolls under the stars, slipping and sliding in the snow and surviving a few Hurricanes.  A couple of things that Darby had a dislike for was CATS, string beans, and going to the vet.  He hated the vet and would have to be dragged out of the car, and coaxed into the exam office, on most occasions he just laid down outside and the vets office and would not move. It's really tough to get a 200lb dog to move when he doesn't want to.

In fact one year when the wife and I went on vacation my father in-law was in charge getting Darby out, on one of those vacations my Father in Law slipped going down the stairs and grabbed DB (Darby's nick name) and DB held like a rock and stopped my Father in Law from hitting the concrete!  All in all DB was a champion of mixed breeds.

At 9 1/2 years DB still had spunk, liked his walks, and was always yakking at my wife to give him additional treats, it was not uncommon that after eating 4 cans of food, whatever he could grub from the table that he would also get and additional 2 busy bones or chicky sticks at night. My wife and Darby had a special relationship since she was the first one home every day, he would climb into the bay window and start wagging his 3 foot tail and you could hear it hitting the window from the outside of the house, DB would then exit the window and head for the door to great his "mommy". DB was also an expert at dishing out the love and kisses for everyone.

I wanted to get this down on some format because often as time passes on, so do some of our memories, of course we have the pictures but sometimes not the words that described those picture and events.

Today, we had to put our beloved Darby to sleep, in the last month he had developed a limp which got worse by the week. It was confirmed that he had developed bone cancer and in a large dog..well that's not so good. Since he was so large, amputation was not an option.  When a dog has bone cancer chances are it will develop quickly to the lungs also. 

My wife and I are saddened by losing our BEST FRIEND, however we look back at the 9 1/2 years (which is a long time for a big dog) and we remember how much love and enjoyment he gave us. 

Our little Sadie (a rescues we got about 12 months ago) is not sure what to do and she knows something is amiss. I also wanted to remember that my wife gave Darby his name and at the time the best name I was able to come up with was snot, we were much better off with Darby!

We miss you Darby!

I ran across yet another scam from a copier dealer.  First let me point out that 99.9% of the dealers out there are great at what they do and great to do business with. 

However in any industry there are always a few bottom feeders that go to any length to fatten their wallets and steal from others.  I just wish that one day we could rid our industry of those problematic bottom feeders.  I'm hoping that by writing about it will be greater attention to some of the issues at hand.

A big part of our business to help prospects to lower their costs that are related to hardware, service and supplies. Since most copiers aka MFP's are leased there is usually a fixed cost associated with the lease and in some cases the monthly or quarterly service and supplies.  Once we have the price that the customer is paying most sales people will try to see if they can lower the cost by swapping out the old lease with a new lease (upgrade the existing lease).

This is where it gets sticky, when you're working with a new account, the lease you are proposing to upgrade is not yours.  Not yours, meaning you (your company) were not the originated vendor for the lease, it was another copier dealer.  In the course of negotiating the new lease the professional sales person will get together with the prospect and figure out the remaining stream of payments that is owed on the old lease to the leasing company. Once they have a agreed on the number of payments, a check for the remaining payments will be paid back to the prospect when they enter into a new lease.  That check to the prospect can be handled in a few ways, the company can offer to pre-pay the remaining payments on the lease or just continue to pay the monthly payments on the old lease until the copier has to be returned. In most cases the old copier is stored at the same location where is was installed.  Removing the copier from that address needs prior approval from the leasing company.  Removing it without the consent of the leasing company may put in default of the lease. Ninety-nine percent of the time all goes well and there are no problems.

Here's the scam I've seen and where the problem starts is that the sales person aka dealer owner tells the customer that they will remove and store the system (no letter goes to the leasing company about the system being removed nor does a letter of intent if one is needed at the time the system is removed), that dealer then tells the customer that they will make the payments on the old lease for the remaining stream of payments.  Thus the bottom feeder of a dealer cuts a check back to the customer either monthly, or quarterly or in some cases they don't make any payments because they are horrible payers. But the real scam is the copier, remember the copier that is suppose to be sitting in the dealers warehouse?  (Please keep in mind that the copier may have to sit in the warehouse for 6, 12 or even 24 months).  The bottom feeder of a dealer then takes the leasing companies property and rents it to another company for a term that is shorter than the term that is left on the lease!

The leasing company is getting hosed because instead of getting a system back early or getting a system back with a low meter read they will get the system back with higher usage. Think of it this way, you leased a car, traded it in early with 30K mileage, the car dealer did not return the car to the leasing company but they put in their rental fleet. Here the cars gets additional wear and tear and is then returned on the end of lease date.

The customer is in violation of their lease and could be called into default, and what happens if the dealer goes out of business (like a dealership did here in NJ), the customer is left holding the bag for the remaining stream of payments, probably no copier to be found, a legal mess and still making payments on the new copier.

Here's my point, these bottom feeders need to go. There is no room for them in the industry as there is no room for PED's in baseball. Just as you would have a lowjack system on a car, maybe it's time that the leasing companies put them on their copiers. This way they can track the movement of them, and it one is turned off then that would raise a red flag.  I'm not sure if the leasing companies are willing to pay for this and if they are then I'm sure everyone will pay with higher monthly payments for copiers.

If you know of a dealer who is doing this, turn them in, and get rid of the bottom feeders of the industry.

-=Good Selling=-

Geesh, where do I start?  One MFP with 5 different flavors of speed. Keeping with tradition of most copier manufacturers the speed of the system is somewhere in the model number.  Take the first two digits of the model number and you have the copy/print speed of the system, the 03 represent the 3rd generation of the product. All systems will print at 1200x1200 dpi, standard 250GB Hard Drive, 1,200 sheet paper supply, Full Color TWAIN & Scan2email, Scan2folder, Scan2FTP, up to 12x18 media, embedded USB & SD card slots for print from and scan to.

Ricoh will call them workflow enhancements however since I'm an old timer in the business I'll refer to them as new features.

• Improved Home Screen with Document Server operability: The tilting home screen now measures from diagonal corner to corner at nine inches.  Also with customizable color touch screen LCD. Doc Server will now allow for up to 200 folders with the ability to designate personal or shared along with user name and password protection.  In the field I always talk about the FAB (Feature Advantage and Benefit of the Document Server), this is an awesome workflow solution and can win you many deals.  There's more about this on the forums.
• Embedded Smart Card Reader (Option): At first I wasn't sure what this was, it's and embedded card reader, for example you can use it for authentication to the system or even use it for secure printing applications (Print Audit Secure is a really nice one).
• New Smart Operation Panel Option: Why oh why is this an option?  Sell the sizzle right?  The smart operation panel replaces the 9 inch color display with a 10.1 full color touch screen with "pinch, flick, tap and zoom". We'll also be able to program some colorful "quick screens" that will promote additional ease of use.  One P4P Hotel member put it like this, Ricoh touts that they are a ECO friendly manufacturer, then why would they make us throw away a perfectly good color LCD displays in order to install the New Smart Operation Panel?  Couldn't they at least give us a credit for the non used ones and they can re-use them on additional systems? 
• High Capacity Standard Document Feeders with faster scanning speeds: The MPC3003 & 3503 comes standard with a 100 page document feeder and the MPC4503,550, 6503 comes standard with a single pass document feeder of 220 pages!! Yikes, since it's a single pass scanner and you're working two sided originals you'll be able to scan or copy 440 pages at once! Love it.
• Standard Gigabit Ethernet Card: With previous systems the Gigabit Ethernet Card was an option that retailed for $599. It is now a standard feature. 
• Scan to Searchable PDF (option):  Take those paper based documents and turn them into searchable .pdf's is an awesome feature for people that need to review or find content when a paper based document is scanned. This feature only can save hours of time. I'm not a big "option" fan, Ricoh should have included this as a standard feature and compensated with a higher MSRP.
• ID Card Copy: Place the ID card on the platen glass copy the first side, flip the card and both images come out side by side on one sheet of paper!  It's about time, right?
•  Auto Paper Draw Closing: Watch out for your tie, as I understand it, you give the paper draw a small nudge and the draw will then close on its own.  (Something else that can break right)
• Poster Printing: Years ago you needed to buy software that would allow you to print multiple pages to create a poster from your document, now you can do this right from the printer driver.
• Folding without Stapling: Just think for years we've had to jury rig the sensor in the stapler to make this happen for accounts. Nice feature just a TAD too late, however it will be a great selling point.
• Standard Envelope Feeding from Paper Tray #2: With the option Paper Feed Unit, you'll also be able to feed envelopes from trays 3 & 4 also.
• 500 Sheet Internal Finisher: Available as an option on the 3003.3503,4503 and the 5503.  In the past a finisher on these models would have required and additional foot print to the base unit. The internal finisher would now rest in the paper exit area for one nice neat cubed package.
• Flat Booklet Production with SR 3170 Finisher:  Seen it, love it, more professional and takes up less space when you need to pack booklets in a box.
•  Distributed Scan Management: Something new.... allows administrators to set up customized scanning workflows that match document submission preferences of the recipient.
• Improved MFP Browser:  I'm loving this because I can finally start selling the heck out of UDOCX with their scan2cloud solution for MS365.

So, there's a lot of sizzle in the new color systems, and for an industry that has lacked creativity with MFPs in recent years it's good to see that some manufacturers are finally starting to get it.  A few items I'd like to see in the future is a standardized OS (operating system) for all MFP's.  In the future, I'd like to be able to plug in my smart phone or tablet to the system and be able to print, scan and fax to or from my applications.

Next week (if I have the time), we'll go over the specs of the new systems.

-=Good Selling=- 

I wanted to comment on an article that I picked up in the Channel Pro rag from April of 2012. Yeah, it's been a few months but I keep my reading material in various reading sites at the homestead.

The article was titled "So I have to Sell too"?, and anything with a reference to sales will get my attention. The article was directed at an IT company that is 2-10 employees in size, and assumed that the owner/partner/CEO has to wear many hats with one of them being sales.

The article reads to point out 5 steps to keeping your pipeline full, in the past I've written a few blogs about how to keep your pipeline full. 

The second point in the article states "Create a 15 point weekly plan" and I'm all for this. But I disagree with the point value that Ken is assessing for each metric.  Ken states 5 points for 2 meeting, five points for delivering three proposals and three points for attending a networking meeting. 

I can only hope that IT sales will follow Ken's advise, because this type of activity and only attaining 15 points will NOT keep your pipeline full!  Six meetings will get you 15 points, but with out the opportunities the 15 points is worthless for activity.  Networking events???  equals zero points in my book and never ever 3 points!!

We need to rate appointments at 1 (0ne) points, developing an opportunity (which means you are delivering a quote/proposal) should be 2 (two) points, a demonstration of a product or service should be 3 (three) and the minimum points for the week should be 18 points.  Sales should have a minimum of 8 appointments per week for a total of 8 points. Five opportunities will get you 10 points, a demonstration a week will get you into the twenties.  Some weeks you may have more appointments and less opportunities and other weeks you could score with 3 demonstrations and 6 appointments and 3 opportunities.

I understand in the article that a person who runs the business also needs to address other business items also, however when was the last time you ran across a business owner that only worked a 40 hour week?

I did like some of the additional points that Ken brought up an one in particular is a pet peeve of mine.  Read at least one sales skill book per year, better yet read two if you can. Personally I have at least 5 books, and even though I've read them all I'll go back to the books from time to time and re read a few chapters at a time.

In closing I really see Imaging Dealers as the future VAR's (Valued Added Reseller) of the future.  We have the sales conditioning, the on-site service support systems in place (and BTW there's not many IT companies that can hold a hat when it comes to having SE's on site in four hours and maintaining a parts inventory) and the fortitude grab a substantial piece of the IT business in our market place.

-=Good Selling=-

From time to time I try to get my sponsors involved with the MFP Solutions blog.

10 Things Might Not Know About Digital Duplicators

Every so often it seems I'm back on the duplicator band wagon for awhile.  For years I was only able to sell the Ricoh Priports, let me stop here for a moment. 
What does Priport mean or what possessed Ricoh to choose the name Priport?  If I had to choose a name for a hi speed duplicator I would have chosen something like DocuPress, Image Print or DupliPress many years ago.
In the last few months I've been able to learn more about the Riso Duplicators, and while my heart is still with the Ricoh Priport there are some awesome features with some of the Riso Duplicators. 

• The first true digital duplicator was developed and introduced by Riso Kagaku Corporation in August 1986.
• Digital Duplicators can print up to 10,800 11x17 pages per hour.
• When printing 2 up on 11x17 media, you can run 21,600 images per hour.
• Digital Duplicators do not use any heat when printing and image, thus the reliability of the duplicator is better than most Production Print Systems.
• Digital Duplicators are now capable of printing two sides in one pass (letter size only).
• If you get a tear in your plate/master you can place a piece of tape on the tear and continue with the print job (as long as the tear is not in the image area).
• Digital Duplicators (some models) can run two colors in a single pass.
• Digital Duplicators can't print on to Gloss stock.
• When figuring cost per page, Digital Duplicators yields are based on an 11x17 image. Because the Digital Duplicator will wrap an 11x17 plate/master around the image cylinder.
• Digital Duplicators can be used to create raised print with a post print process. Thermography

Digital Duplicators are also ideal for printing envelopes, NCR and thick stock.  Since there is no heat used in the process of printing and image there are virtually no consumables except for plates/master and ink.  You can expect duplicators to run hundreds of thousands of prints without any service calls.

3D printers are hot, and they got even hotter after President Obama made mention of them in his State of the Union address this year.  My google alerts now carries at least 10-15 mentions of 3D printers each week, before the State of the Union address, maybe 5 or 6 per week.

Since you have or may be thinking about getting that 3D printer, could we possible see 3D MFP's (multifunctional device) that will scan 3D and copy 3D items in the near future?

Think about it, if I'm a novice user with a 3D printer and I'm really not good with engineering software or I'm tired of the template files that came with my 3D printer, why the heck would I want one?  Where I see the value at least for me, is the ability to place and item on the 3D MFP and then make copies of them. Think of it, you could make a copy of just about anything, whether it's a small part, a sculpture, nick knacks, flower pots, or whatever the heart desires. I'll admit I'm knew to the entire process of 3D printing, however if we had a 3D MFP would we'd be able to scan an item and then have that data transformed into a CAD or some type of engineering file.  Better yet, what about sending a copy of that item to another 3D printer that could be located anywhere in the world.  Could there be a 3D printer portable image format that's just dedicated to 3D MFP's for copying and scanning?  Would I be able to them email that to someone else?

Maybe 3D MFP's could be the first replicators that were used in Star Trek in the seventies.  I'm thinking there is a place for 3D MFP's in the very near future.  Would it be far fetched that we could scan out favorite pet and keep the likeness of them around forever?  Could we see color 3D MFP's in the near future?  The possibilities can become endless, but could also open up new businesses opportunities for those creative entrepreneurs.

Why haven't we seen any of the major copier manufacturers enter the industry?  It's a no brainer to me, closed consumables, service contracts, on site service and training it's all there. 3D printers would be a great additional to your dealerships portfolio of products and services offered also!

3D printers, 3D MFP's (maybe), but for right now it seems like it's the Wild, Wild West about this for this growing industry.

What does it take to be among the elite sales people at your branch or your dealership?

For starters you've got to have a passion for being number 1.  Nothing floats my boat more than being at the top of the totem poll each and every month. I like to win, don't like to lose and will do the extra work to make sure my numbers are the best they can be month in and month out.

I've spoken about the 3D's of selling before and they are Desire, Dedication and Determination.  Too often I see reps that will slack off once they've hit their number. The phone calls, the appointments and the opportunities drop. On the other hand I also understand why this can happen, our business unlike any other is filled with rejection, riddled with price driven customers and reps, along with countless hours of research that can lead to failure.

To be the best you've got to WANT IT!  Why would you be in sales if you didn't want to be at the top of the ladder each month, each quarter and year end?

For me, I pick out a goal each year, this years goal is to be number one, not only in percentage of quota but overall sales volume (it's gonna be a dog race to the finish).  This year in 2013 wanted to raise my quota by $10K per month, you know what I did?  I refused it and asked then to raise it by $25K per month. I'll admit, I'm driven and once I set my mind on something I'll try my hardest to achieve that goal.  Along with claiming the goal,  everything else seems to fall in place like the commissions, the spiffs, the placements and additional knowledge of the competition. It's a never ending learning cycle and what I like best about sales is that as long as you put the work and effort in, you never know what the next day is going to bring!

So, I've got these three targets that I try to hit every month, I know that as long as I hit these targets I'm going to be Number 1.

If you'd like those targets, then please email me and after you've registered for the forums and I'll send them to you. Feel free to log on and become a member of the largest group of Copier (Imaging) Professionals in the world!

If you're interested in raising the level of your sales team(s) excitement with a motivational seminar. I'm available to speak at your dealership or direct branch. I have an awesome story to tell that can inspire reps to stay in the industry, sell more, and have more passion.  Send an email to art@p4photel.com

-=Good Selling=-

The Beautiful Compensations of Corporate Philanthropy

By Paul Joe Watson, ESP/SurgeX

Corporate philanthropy isn’t a new idea, but it is often understated. It can be easy to forget that practicing generosity as a company can be good for business. Doing so doesn’t need to be complex or expensive, nor does it mean having a formal partnership with a nonprofit. Here are two examples: Every few months at ESP/SurgeX, our employees donate blood to a local hospital when their bloodmobile comes to our facility. In addition, recently some of our team members helped a local youth football event through volunteering and monetary donations. These are simple, proactive ways our business helps those in need. What corporate philanthropy looks like for each company will vary, and it often has beneficial impacts regarding three aspects:

1. The Personal Satisfaction Aspect

Ralph Waldo Emerson once stated, "It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself." A great thing about helping others is that it makes the giver feel good. When companies make the effort to practice generosity, their employees feel good, and morale is boosted.

2. The Human Aspect

I hear a lot about how necessary it is for businesses to humanize themselves in order to remain relevant. Philanthropy is a great way to do this because the practice reminds clients and consumers of the human side of a business. By doing good, companies show their humanity—that they care about others. This can make it easier to establish or maintain important relationships.

3. The News Aspect

By giving to others, companies are essentially saying, “Look what we’re doing to help people.” And with all the tools digital media provides to spread the word, it’s easier than ever for those philanthropic deeds to become known. If a business’s acts of goodness are disclosed in a classy, tactful way, the company could get some positive press.

Remember, corporate philanthropy often does not need to be complicated or burdensome. If you keep a lookout for opportunities to do some good, you’ll be surprised by how you can make a positive impact in a meaningful way.