Memoirs of a Copier Sales Person

Today I had a late meeting with an existing production account.  My client was interested in other print technologies that he might want to move into.  It was more about starting a new profit center with some new products.  Right now we're just in the show and tell phase.

So, a couple of things that I did that made a smooth virtual appointment.

1.  I changed my background with MS Teams to include a picture of our flatbed color wide format. I was surprised how good it looked and just having the picture in the back ground generated some additional questions.

2.  I had another support person in our meeting to answer some of the questions that I wouldn't be able to.  Having that additional expert in the virtual meeting showed the client that we are experts just like our client is in his craft.  We have the expertise to bring the right people to the conversation!

3. I had emailed the client our agenda for the meeting a few days earlier. In that agenda I included links for the products that we thought would help educate the client with different avenues of print.  During the meeting I shared my screen which was set to google,  from their I clicked the links I had in the agenda.  It proved to me a very smooth going from product to workflows.

4.  My support person is awesome, however from time to time he can tend to talk the production language. For some reason I knew my client was lost with some of the technical words,  thus I entered the conversation and took the time to educate out client on some of the terms.  Educate, educate and take our time because it's a teaching experience.

By the end of the meeting I was able to develop one hot lead and multiple warm leads and there's a good shot the $20K hot lead could happen in the next few weeks.

-=Good Selling=-

Thought this would be an interesting re-post from the old blog site.  In addition there are some great responses.  Enjoy

Death of the Direct Copier Channel? "part two"

Last week I blogged the "Death of the Direct Copier Channel", in less than one week there were over 1,400 views.  I'm guessing we hit a hot spot with many of those in the Direct and Dealer Channel.

The Print4Pay Hotel forums also posted many comments like

"Wow - it's like Ricoh coughed up a hairball!"

"Since IKON / RBS has not been able to upgrade the Canon / Ricoh IKON MIF that was the intent of the acquisition, they are now selling off the base to mega Dealers. But RJ Young will upgrade these 6,000 units to Canon machines and Muratec devices. Ricoh is having extensive back-order issues at present time."

"I doubt that they will upgrade to all Canon devices that would not have been in the best interest for Ricoh. That acquisition is now approaching four years old (Ricoh of Ikon). I agree with the back order issues however so are other manufacturers as well. It's not only Ricoh!"

"In the grander scheme of things 6000 machines in field is nothing to Ricoh. Those branches must have really been sucking wind to only have 6000 machines."

But a few interesting threads were posted yesterday that seemed to stir the pot for manufacturers that may be shedding branches and ceding more business to dealers.  One Print4Pay Hotel member stated that they heard that OCE Canada had released all of the sales reps except for one,  and more interesting is that the one rep had to report to someone in Florida.  It was listed as the Great White North shakeup.  Additionally, another member has now stated that Canon Direct closed a small office in Nova Scotia and handed over operations to a local dealer.

With most manufacturers declaring that they are reducing profit estimates or even posting losses for fiscal year 2011, the writing may be on the wall for the Direct Channel.  I'm not saying that the Direct Channel will cease to exist.  However what's a manufacturer to do when they are posting losses... with any good business model they would try to eliminate or reduce that part of the business which has become a liability.  With no good news for the economy in the short term, the threat of Europe recession and the strength of the yen, the copier manufacturers will have to make some tough decisions in the near future.

Selling off those Direct branches that are not turning a profit could be a great model and return the manufacturers to profitability in 2012 along with increasing dealer loyalty.  With RJ Young not only did they get MIF (machines in field), they also got employees (pretty much these employees probably won't have to get worried about getting laid off at the end of every March).

Just maybe, when we look at a time line of the copier industry in 20-25 years, we'll see a blip that designated the wholesale changes to the Direct Channel model and then the decrease back the the Dealer Channel model of business.

What come around goes around and I'm thinking just maybe we're heading back to the model of the early and mid eighties.

After writing this blog,  I read the interview that Scott Cullen (The Week in Imaging) had with Chip Crunk (CEO of RJ Young) titled "Chip Crunk Talks about RJ Young's Acquisition of Ricoh Direct Branches" .  Well, I'm thinking great minds think alike and I found this the most interesting statement, "I think the industry is in a transition where in the future the distribution model is going to be large independents and the direct operations. I think Ricoh and the others are going to want to align themselves with the top independent dealers in the secondary markets because they cannot be successful in those markets".

-=Good Selling=-

If you like to register for our secure forums, please go here, and please keep in mind we don't give access to people that are not in our industry!

In recent days I've seen many in our industry looking to post some type of content for the end of the year.  The last two to three weeks has been horrid for those that follow our industry and need that daily dose of press releases to be relevant. Many have taken to some less than exciting interviews as well.

Truth of the matter is that much of the content is not something that I want to read about, and especially I don't want to read about how many hits your content has gained, or what were your top press releases for 2021.

There's a couple of us that put original content out on a daily and weekly basis, we know who they are.

2021

The year is over, it's not past history in sales.  We all understand that we are only as good as our last day, week, month, quarter or year.  Thus looking back does nothing!

2022

If you want to write then let's write about 2022 and how 2022 is going to another kick ass year.

Let's put on on creative hats and think about what 2022 can be rather than looking back on a year that is NO MAS!  Give us ideas, hope and let's get out of the box and make 2022 a fantastic year!

Look for our prognostications for 2022 on January 3rd!

-=Good Selling=-

I've been quite for the past 30 selling days.  In past years I would pen blogs about the last 90 - 30 selling days left in the year.   I felt those journal type blogs would not only help me but would also help others that may need that extra jolt of energy to go out there and prospect.  Some would say if you need a jolt to get your sales mojo going then you shouldn't be in sales.

I'm on the other side for the fence on this one and say that after a year like this,  a jolt or a blog from someone else doing the same thing you're doing could be the positive impact you need.

Career

This year like last year has proven to be one of the two most challenging selling years in my career.  I would only hope that I've been able to help others with the many blogs I've written this year about my selling escapes and exploits.

With my recent event (stroke) back in late August I've been a little more reserved and taken more time to listen to much of the chatter in our industry.  We all learned at a young sales age that listening and reading is the key to winning.  Constant chatter or being the loudest person in the room will not resonate with your clients or your peers.

Since the start of September I've quietly went about my business after my event.  It was not about how many calls I made, nor was it about how many appointments I set.  It was more about creating opportunities, working those opportunities and being patient with those clients.  Many were lost but just as many were won.

If someone asked my how the last four months went I would tell them that it was the quietest four months I've ever put together. I would also tell them that in the past where there was a race to end of the year. This year was more like gliding into the end of year.  As I took the pressure off my self, everything got easier, or more like everything working opportunity fell the right way.

Content

Earlier today I had some gmail alerts about content from another industry rag that was writing content about how many views their content had during the year and where that content placed for the year.  That type of content is just like being the loudest person in the room!

Please if you every see me writing content like that please be the first to tell me to hang it up and retire.

December 23rd

My 2021 sales event ends on Thursday of this week. I'm thrilled that I can still offer up some content for everyone that's related to selling and our industry.

I'm waiting on one order that should come in tomorrow or today.  That order will get me goal for the year and it will give my my best revenue year to day.  I still get pumped when I get what I want.

I guess if you're in sales and you have no wants or expectations about you want then it's time to pack it up.

Special thanx to everyone and I mean everyone who helped me this year and I couldn't have finished the year without your support.  All of you know who you are!

=Good Selling=-

Hello Art,

We expect to make a decision in late January.

Regards

Okay, I received that email response and it's typical to the way the last two months has been for me.  Each month is a bear and each month has it's on conditions that I need to wade through.

I was kinda of upset and I blame that on me because I thought everything looked good to get this deal that week or the week after.  I should have clarified when the client will be buying and or making a decision.  A dumbass rookie mistake by someone who is no rookie.

But, I thought there is still a chance to make this happen for this year.  Rather than call the client I got out the creative juices to craft and email that I thought would resonate with the client.

My Email to the client:

Understood, the reason I asked is because of existing supply chain issues.

I don’t think you can speed up your process for the time line of ordering the copier, however I thought I would let you know the status of our industry. It seems to be getting worse rather than better.

One rep from Kyocera emailed me this morning and stated they have 6 Million Dollars in back orders with no immediate end in site.

Stratix is better off than most because we are taking a proactive approach with telling our existing and potential clients of what can be done so clients can receive their equipment within their timeline.

Supply Chain Tips:

• Order early (leave at least 8 – 12 weeks for delivery
• If you ordered a device that prints at 30 pages per minute, consider looking at a 25 page per minute print device or a 35 page a minute print device. That 5 page difference may save a couple of weeks
• Ask if there is an additional incentive to order early from the dealer

Hope this helps

-=End=-

It was ten minutes later when I received and email from the client asking additional questions about delivery times, supply chain.  At the end of the call the client and I scheduled a demo for the  device which is happening this Wednesday. In addition the client stated she can work some issues to order this month.

It's never not over, keep asking and keep plugging away.

In my email I stated that I don't think you can order early and then proceeded to help the client on her quest.  I believe this worked in my favor.

-=Good Selling=-

I can't decide if this will be one of those longer blogs or maybe one of the shorter ones.  It's after 10PM and I just finished all of the P4P Hotel updates.

What I wanted to write about is my thoughts and ideas about what our industry calls the "Race to Zero".  I'm sure the phrase was coined sometime and some place long ago.  For the last 25 years we've used that phrase quite often to explain a brief explanation of the copier service business model.

It's my belief that the "race to zero" is over for those that want it to be over.  I heard a recent conversation about a bid for copiers/MFP's where the service and supply cost was at .002.  That dealer principal stated that they believed the dealer needed to win the bid because of decreased COVID revenue.

That previous statement sends a salvo to my message that the race to zero is now over.  However I'd like to point out my thoughts as to why I believe what I do.

1.  Inflation is now hovering around 5%.  Everything is going up, heck when my wife got back from the supermarket last week she told me a 1lb package of bacon was $10.  We all understand that everything is going up and why not increase our maintenance and service costs now, because we're going to need it very soon.

2. Our industry has a technician problem with aging techs (many are boomers and gen x).  Many of those younger techs are now leaving the industry because they are being offered jobs that pay more, have better benefits and they don't have to travel to multiple offices every day and may get exposed to Covid.  Our industry will need to increase our pay rate and benefits to offset the loss of existing techs and create some type of program to bring younger people into our industry. Which means we'll have to increase our pricing for copier/mfp products and services.

Just a thought here, maybe it's time to offer tiered service response time. We offer clients guaranteed service response times for x price for x amount of hours.  Two hour response is an extra $100 per month, 4 hours for $50, 6 hours our regular charge. 

3. Staying with the technician issue,  I believe that many of the dealerships that are not diversified will not weather the storm.  Decreased page volumes, increased inflation along with the loss of techs that can't be replaced will sound the alarm that many of these dealers will need to fish or cut bait.  Many will choose the later and cut the bait to sell what they have an get out while they can. Thus the need to increase our revenue to prepare for additional acquisitions.

4.  With the age of Covid mixed with another year of supply chain issues, clients that need print devices are not as concerned about cost per page (maintenance/supply agreements), nor the price of the device but are fixed on how soon can we get our device.  Thus there's an opportunity to increase prices as long as the dealer has the equipment available for both maintenance/supplies and GP margin.

5. Many clients in the last 18 months have experienced the ravages of COVID with our industry. There was a time when many clients were not in the office but there were many companies that were deemed as essential companies. Those essential were open and conducting business and having to work with many dealers that furloughed or laid off technicians.  Many of those techs never came back and many of the clients remember what they went through to get someone on-site in a timely manner.  Those essential clients became service/response sensitive and understood that there is a price to pay for better support.  Better service and support commands a premium for that business.

There will still be many dealers that will play in the Race to Zero as we move to the end of 2021 and into 2022 especially for RFPS and bids.

I believe everything has changed during the last 18 months, what was up is now down and what was down is now up. Dealers that are well financed, well endowed with faithful employees and offering diversified products will be able to write their own successes.

-=Good Selling=-

I wrote this 7 years ago and made a few changes to keep up with the times

Almost 41 years ago that copier tech job that I landed did not work out for servicing copiers. On that fate full day I was told I do a great job at taking the copiers apart but not so good at putting them back together.

The dealer principal pulled the Columbo close on me as I was about to leave his office. Guess I struck a nerve and I was offered a job to sell copiers.....and I never stopped.  I was never was a slacker and had this thought that I was never really good at anything however I could be great at selling copiers.  Many years later I had this silly notion that I wanted to make my name synonymous with the copier industry as xerox is to a copy.  What a pipe dream eh?

Thus now that I'm on the downward trend of my career there are still some things that I'd like to accomplish and maybe somethings that I'd like to see happen before I exit (not saying that's going to happen any time soon).  But here's my list:

• I'd like to have one day of door to door cold calling with out seeing a "no soliciting sign" or dealing with a rude gatekeeper.
• I'd like a prospect to tell me this, "we like you, we like your product but we think your price is to low, how about we increase the lease payments by a hundred dollars a month if we sign the deal today"!
• I'd like to get a lead a day for the next 30 days, with no prospecting involved.
• I'd like to go an entire year where I've reached my monthly quota by the second week of every month.
• I'd like to nail my yearly quota by the end of the second quarter of next year.
• I'd like every prospect to call me back after the first message I left for them.
• It would be awesome to tell at least one cheap, tight ass prospect that I don't want to do business with you.  (I did this recently)
• For one week, I'd like to make an appointment with every cold call I made that day.  Heck, I could have a months worth of appointments in one day.
• I'd like to have one month were all my commission reports were correct in my favor.
• Last but not least, I'd like to be able to get an order for 100 systems in one order, heck I'd even take 50 but then I'd want a hundred.

Enough said. Actually one more item, when I was let go with the copier tech position the owner of the company asked me a parting question. He stated "let me ask you one question", he reached into his pocket and pull out a wad $100 bills and stated "which would you rather do, work the rest of the week days for what's in my hand or would you rather try to talk me out of it"?  

Now I thought to my self that my mamma did not raise a fool and I tried for what seemed like 30 minutes., I never talked him out of the money however I was offered the job in sales....hmmmm, maybe this should happen more often on interviews???

-=Good Selling=

I wrote these notes last night for my weekly email update below and I've added a few additional thoughts. Keep in mind that I'm still having some issues with proofing (lol, I think I always did but now I have something to tag it on )

State of the Industry

Commissions

Copier Inflation

A few more thoughts,  one of the easiest ways to keep the existing techs is to make sure they are paid well and compensated well.  I'm thinking instead of seeing the race to zero we will now start seeing the increase for cost per page, maintenance agreements, and hourly charges.  It could also be a blessing as long as we can finally stop the raise to zero.

Hardware/supply prices are already up and some as high as 10% and we'll see higher prices if the container prices continue to increase for the next year.

Do you recall the idiom "the straw that broke the camel's back", it was more about a number of issues or events that finally added up to the breaking point?  At this time I'm not so sure how many straws we can take.

Actually I've been waiting to get out of Cardiac Jail for the last thirty days!

I was finally sprung mid-afternoon on Friday the 8th and I decided to take a couple of days from posting anything on the Print4Pay Hotel and social media for the weekend.

After my first stent (3) procedure it's been more about just trying to pace with work and all of the changes in my life. Yes, things had to change and it was more about how I had to change.  During those days there wasn't much I could do rather then sending and answering emails along with a few phone calls.

Make of those calls in the first days was though and I was doubting my ability due to my loss of words and train of thought. I was promised by my Neurologist that as time passed I would get back to my excellent communication ways in 5-12 months. It's now 2 weeks short of two months and I feel I'm getting mentally stronger each day.

My VP

In the beginning I had some time with my VP of Sales (Tim) and I enjoy what we've developed over the years.  It will be sad for the one day when I finally decide to pack in the retirement watch one day .

In the early days of my stroke I had a chat with Tim about my Neurologist about what I've lost mentally. It was more about a game of word association like "name five types of fish", then "give me five movies you've recently watched". There is no doubt was pretty poor at the start of the game. In fact,  I was maybe naming one of the five for each category and that stated to worry me.

My second track with the Neurologist was centered around work.  What I remember and what I don't remember and not remembering is the toughest part when you're not being asked questions.  However I asked the "Dr" can you ask me these questions about work.  We centered on sales and prospecting to start. First question up was asking me about my sales job and believe it or not everything was perfect!  I had no loss of memory for anything related to work and my sales job. Whew, that made be feel so much better

The next question asked me to tell me 5 things about prospecting...........such a crucial part of my job it is. I tracked a zero for answering any questions about prospecting, in fact my wife (she was there also) gave me a hint and tried jogging me with a cell call to kick start the prospecting.

That hint failed also, and it's obvious that I had a problem larger that I thought.  I had forgotten how to prospect even on the phone! My on my, forty plus years of prospecting out the door!  After a couple of hours we finally finished with my Dr.  as he supplied me with a note for Tim my VP of Sales.

"Please excuse Art from all activities of prospect and especially by the phone,  because has lost the ability to recall any level of prospecting".

Now that's a good one and yes that's a joke that I spoke about in the early days, there was no note and Tim was a great sport about my shenanigans.

Prospecting

There are days when I can go ten rounds when sparring with a verbal chat and there are other days when I'm lucky if I can go one.

I am lucky because I can see that I am getting better and that helps the process.

The Future

I'm not sure where my future lies right now. Three months ago I would have stated I'd be doing this for another 20 years.  I know that I still love what I do and don't plan to stop it, however time and GODS will may take me down other paths.

I do need to thank my wife again and again for all of her support and he love.

-=Good Selling=-

Recently I've been back to prospecting, yes I'm the 64 year old dude that still wants to prospect.

Last 4 Days

In the last 4 days I lost 2 net new accounts because I missed the mark with offering the client additional device options. Mind you,  the prospect I met with had no reason for an A3 color device. Our A4 color would have met their needs for years.  The prospect never asked if there was a larger color MFP. In fact the prospect was adamant about the finances that were available.  Thus where I thought I was helping the client with one quote for one device I hurt my chances by not including a second quote for an A3 color MFP. Apparently someone produced an offer for an A3 color MFP that kicked my butt.

I  still need to  remember to offer the client multiple devices and let the client choose. I'm usually in the camp for offering multiple devices but in this case I made the mistake and lost the opportunity.

Family Account

Another account that I've been tracking for color production for the better part of 18 months got back to me a few days ago. Now this was an existing account for years, we were good with everything, never ever was there an issue.  Out of the blue I was emailed that the client pulled the trigger on another brand. Yes I was floored but not surprised.

Now with this account there is nothing I would have ever changed about the models we mentioned, along with our chats and pricing.  I have yet to figure out why I lost.  But I'm sure when we follow up in the near future it will come out that the client bought from someone they knew that just hooked up with their new copier company. Over the years I can tell you that I've lost at least a dozen of those deals to those family reps.  Now x amount of years later none of those reps are still in the industry

Things Happen in Threes

I'm sure I'll have another opportunity that will pass in the next few days. It always seems to happen in threes an that's  okay for me because I'll end up make room for additional opportunities to fill the passes.

Prospecting

Prospecting today is more about prospecting my ways.  Over the years I've thrown enough crap on the wall to see what sticks. I've found that times that you call, apps that you use to reach out, along with certain days will produce more that the 30 year old phone blocks. Just like one of the reps that I worked with today, they found out this little bit of information about wrapped this info around the talk track and it produced appointments. Do not ever be afraid to try something new because you might land on something that works.

MY next 8 weeks is now about trying to find $180K in revenue. I'm over the hump for the year, but packing in another $180K during the world series year would put icing on the cake for a great career.

-=Good Selling=-

70% of office equipment sales reps do NOT include any solutions in their MFP proposals was a recent survey that was published with ENX Magazine.

In addition these statements came from that article. 

Suggests that sales reps focus on:

• Focus on the big picture benefits of the hardware/software/services working in concert
• Do not get bogged down in specs and features of the solution
• Offer all-inclusive monthly payment, instead of separating hardware and
  solutions

80/20 Rule

My first thought is that 30% of the reps are including pricing and or information for the solutions.  When we think about the 80/20 rule it tells us that 20% of the reps are making the 80% of the commissions. Thus I don't think 30% of reps selling or offering is a terrible number, however there's a lot missing when it comes to solution revenue, and solutions that create sticky clients for multiple years.

I'm one of those 30 percent reps and in most cases I'm always pitching solutions to my clients.  My reason for offering solutions is pretty simple on a couple of different points.

If I'm not selling solutions then my competitor is.

I will also look to offer the best opportunities to my clients to make my products or values be a difference maker. It's not about copy, scan, print and fax anymore, it's more about digging down with the client and finding issues that make their job take more time.  If I can pin point that issue and have that client buy in,  then our solution makes sense then it's an additional check in our column for when it comes time to purchase.

Focus on the big picture benefits of the hardware/software/services working in concert

I can agree with the bigger picture of the hardware/software/services working in concert but we still need to keep an eye on our competitors. I like to say that if I find a competitor that's not offering a valued solution to the client then I'll find a way to talk about how the combination of the the MFP and solution will make a better option.

Do not get bogged down in specs and features of the solution

You need to understand the specs and the features of the solution before you can offer an option that will work for the client.    So to tell a client that we have this great PaperCut solution that will save you $2000 a year is not going to convince the client that they need the solution.  The rep that takes the time to explain the specs and features will score points with the client so they can decide if the solution is something that will help them.

Offer all-inclusive monthly payment, instead of separating hardware and
solutions

In recent months it seems that the all-inclusive maintenance/lease payment is picking up steam.  Adding $15, $25 or $50 per month per device is a simple way of  delivering a simple billable delivery to the client.  We do need to make sure that those amounts per month can be billed as pass through. Thus the client is not paying interest costs with the current lease.

Back to 70% don't include or offer solutions

Most of the industry manufacturers have been horrific when offering vendor  solutions to our dealer vendors. We've seen solutions launched time after time to only see those solutions fail and discontinue in a couple of years. Dealer vendors and dealer salespeople will find it hard to go back to those clients with addition solutions that failed the first solution offering.

Solution Offerings

What I find is that there is not enough time being spent by either the dealer or the manufacturer about the subscription solution.  If more time was spent by both the dealer rep and the dealer rep (rolling pricing and programs out to our sales people) would make a big difference helping sales people understand their solutions better.  Better understanding allows the reps to offer additional options to our clients.

Would love to hear from others

-=Good Selling=-

Many of us still have the mind set that it's still summer .  Hate to burst the bubble but summer is over!

I had a recent interaction with an existing client that upgraded from an older wide format to a new wide format device.  I was able to check on availability and our first window of delivery is the second week of November.  The client was okay with that but that means we're in the jack pot for a two months time frame for delivery.

My first thought was about  Section 179 because one of the covenants requires that the leased or purchased equipment needs to be delivered before or on the last day of the month ( December 31st ).

With exponential delays with equipment, this means that we need to explain to clients that their window for delivery is now 6 weeks smaller than previous years when there were no problems with supply chain issues!

FYI, the struggle is real and we need to hit this home to all of our clients.

-=Good Selling=-