Tagged With "Speak or Not to Speak"
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Re: Copier Parts & Accessories China Tariff Starts in 9 Working Days
More than a few copier/ printers are manufactured in Thailand and the Philippines due to low labor costs. I do not know but I think these products tend to be more low end A4 and printer products. I think most A3 product is made in China. I can only speak for Toshiba but I know the majority of North American toner is made in North Dakota. As I am from Canada, I am hoping with fingers crossed that this very likely US tariff war with China will not effect us.
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Re: Copier Scams Part Deux "Dude Where's my Copier"?
Again, you are stating as fact things that are only true for you or possibly only true in the UK. Over here, I haven't seen an early settlement discount in years. Many companies actually have a pre-payment penalty. The settlement added to the new lease that you speak of is only a benefit to the lease company when the new deal goes to the incumbent. And if there is no residual, why isn't the equipment free to the dealer at the back end? The price to the dealer whether contracted in advance or...
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Re: Lease Maestro Checks into Print4Pay Hotel
Hello Garrett - The dreaded "Evergreen" clause. This clause has caused many problems customer and dealers over the years. Depending on your situation, it may be tough for you to get the customer out of the contract early without some significant work on yours and the customers part. Based on your comment of "win the business", I am assuming that you are not the original dealer that put the customer into the lease with the an "Evergreen" renewal clause. If this is the case, there is a good...
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Re: The Transition of the Copier Industry "Part III"
Art, So you’re saying you used eQuill with eWriter to process your sales paper work? To this day, are you still doing it that way? Did you have many customers buying in to eQuill in the healthcare, government agencies and law enforcement fields? It would seem that any entity that processed sales would be a good target for eQuill too—did you find that to be so? Yeah—it’s tough not to resort to ‘commodity speak’ when prospecting b/c that’s what it seems to come down to—cannibalizing from each...
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Re: The Transition of the Copier Industry "Part III"
Hey Jeff No, we did not use the eQuill/eWriter. I thought we should have put this to good use for our sales team. The usage of the eQuill in the field would have enable many conversations about how we use it, how we set the system up, and what was our back end process. It was an opportunity to break out of that commodity role. Thanx for the reply and questions!
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How Well Are You Creating Visibility? My Journey To Outbound 2019!
Those close to me, who know the real me, know I have no problem asking for help. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness. It's an opportunity to expand your horizons. I'm simply amazed by the amount of people who simply fail to ask for help. I've made it my mission to educate, engage and excite all those inside the sales world. Sales leaders and their sales teams must stand up, unite and transform how they go to market in a world full of sales mediocrity (I'm being nice). I believe every...
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This Week in the Copier Industry 5 Years Ago, The Last Week in January 2014
Dang, there's a ton of content here! Check out the blog series for 31 Ways to Close More Copier Sales #25 of 31 , there are 31 in total and I'm trying to get them all in a collection for us. Enjoy these threads from 5 years ago this week! This Week in the Copier/Office Equipment Industry 10 Years Ago 4thWeek of January 2004 Art Post · 1/26/142:19 PM the new product.http://support. ricoh .com/bb/html/dr_ut_e/rc2/model/ c 32_38/ c 32_38en.htmJG Toshiba America Business Solutions Introduces The...
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This Week in the Copier/Office Equipment Industry 5 Years Ago (1st Week of February 2014)
Were you in the industry five years ago? If not some of these threads will shed some insight on what was the top threads 5 years ago this week. If you've been in this industry longer than five years, then many of these threads may bring back some memories. In any case enjoy these threads from 5 years ago this week! EFI Launches Fiery Digital Front Ends for New Konica Minolta Bizhub Presses Art Post · 2/6/149:20 PM EFI Launches Fiery Digital Front Ends for New Konica Minolta Bizhub Presses...
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Sales Professionals Get To The Heart Of What Matters
Heart is greatly misunderstood. Heart is relevant in sales, culture, and in leadership yet so many get it wrong. Getting to the heart of the matter, if sales reps are unable to uncover a personal or emotional need for the prospect to make a change, then they might consider breaking off the meeting, thanking them for their time and move on to the next prospect. Yes, I know it may be harsh BUT all too often many sales reps will continue down the journey without finding what motivates the...
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Why a Copier Salesperson Loves to Sell DocuWare
You probably don’t know me but I’ve been in the industry now for over 20 years and have been fortunate to be successful selling Canon, Ricoh and Kyocera products in both hardware and software sales. I remember when I started it was all about hardware. I used to say “black and white paid the bills and color sent me on vacation”. Back in those days a color sale would be $40,000 plus and would always be a generous commission. I remember speaking with another colleague of mine back then who had...
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This Week in the Copier Industry 10 Years Ago, The Third Week in September 2003
There's a great thread below "Print Management" Truth and Lies". It's a compilation of threads from members about best and worst practices. Check it out if you have the time. Enjoy the threads from ten years ago this week! Weekend Copier Notes from 09/14/08 Neal · 9/16/087:20 AM 11% annually o copy volumes are declining 2% annually o HP sold 60 million printers last year o Xerox sold 3 million printers last year o Kyocera only sold 115,000 printers last year o Average print volume for a...
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The 3 P's A Sales Professional Takes To Heart To Help Them Crush Sales!
As humans we're wired to seek out meaning and purpose in our lives. Nowhere is this ever so important than in sales, as this is where we spend much of our waking hours. I'm a firm believer that having a purpose matters more now than ever before. A sales professional thrives on being a part of a purpose. They live for becoming part of something that really matters, something that really makes a difference to the lives of their clients and prospects. In chapter 6 of my new book, Selling from...
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This Week in the Copier Industry 15 Years Ago, The First Week in November 2003
Do you count how many selling days there are in every month? Do you minus those days for the corporate meetings, or hour the hours that you may leave early or get in late? They all add up, now with the Holiday Season upon us, November and December will offer the least few selling days of the year. Are you ready? Enjoy these awesome threads from 15 years ago this week! Xerox claims chip innovation Boston Mike · 11/3/038:38 AM , even on flexible surfaces. Xerox researchers in California then...
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Transportation Company Expedites Accounting Processes with Flexible, Digital Workflows
The Salmon Companies, a transportation partner of the United States Postal Service, started using DocuWare to merge its business processes with those of a company it acquired resulting in an efficient, flexible, digital accounting workflow. The accounting process automation improved employee productivity, reduced costs and secured information. Founded in 1946 for hauling a load of mail for the United States Postal Service (USPS), the Salmon Companies have expanded from a regional...
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Attention Sales Leaders... Your Sales Reps Must Get Valuable Before They Get Visible!
In my previous blog, "Attention Sales Leaders... How Well Are Your Sales Reps Opening New Conversations?" I shared, the way sales reps open up new conversations has a direct bearing on the close. The way sales reps open up conversations, the direction they take those conversations along with the strategy behind those conversations; all will have a direct bearing on the close of the sale. Let's dive into this a bit deeper as we uncover the next layer in effectively opening up new...
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This Week in the Copier Industry 10 Years Ago, The Fourth Week in July 2008
Last week seemed to be pretty interesting. I've been working on an order for about six months and was told the paperwork was ready to pick up tomorrow. As soon as I have the docs in hand I'll be writing about this, till then mums is the word. Weekend Copier Notes from 07/27/08 Neal · 7/28/0810:46 AM Russian investors are considering acquiring the company. - Kodak announced it has sold a NexPress 2500 production color system to Mailings Unlimited, a print and mailing house in Portland, Maine.
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This Week in the Copier Industry 15 Years Ago, The First Week in August 2003
There's an interesting thread below about the Riso V8000 which was a dual color single pass duplicator. At the time I was selling the Ricoh products and all we had was the Ricoh TCII. Where Riso developed a single device that was able to print colors, Ricoh came out with an optional slave device. You could not print to the Ricoh TCII, in order to get two colors in a single pass, you had to make the masters on a single color Ricoh duplicator. Once the masters were made you then had to...
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5 Tips to Help You Increase Your Sales in 2019
I started to title this blog and then stopped because I wasn't sure where I wanted to go with this. I wanted to write about the start of the new year and what reps can do to increase their skills and sales from last year. The first thing we need to do is to forget about last year. Whether you were a winner or a loser last year is over! An old saying in sales "is that you're only as good as your last month". Now is the time to forget about last year, now is the time to set your sales goals...
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3 Dead Giveaways That You Are An Empty Suit
A true sales professional thinks before they act. They plan, prepare and practice as they build a structure of success. They lead with intention, and become the example. A great sales professional is precise with their decisions by aligning their vision and values to earn the respect of their clients. With purposeful intent, they engage in heartfelt activities benefitting those around them. And this is what your clients and prospects crave, right? They deserve a sales professional who is...
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OMG, it's a Brother "Part 3"
It Tuesday evening, just past midnight my time and a little past nine pm Vegas time. The flight out to Vegas was comfortable and a nice flight. I had five hours to reflect on meeting Peter (my brother) at McCarren airport. About a week ago I had suggested that he pick me up at the airport on his way to Las Vegas. Peter agreed and the time was coming to and end when we finally would meet in person. For the last three weeks we've been chatting on and off. With most of the calls was more about...
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The Print Equipment and Services Industry must separate their deliverable.
Recently I had an opportunity to speak at ITEX, An Industry event for technology resellers. During that talk, I discussed the three types of deliverables or more importantly the three types of end-user customers within the print equipment and its services industry. This industry is strangling their full profit potential as they continue to deliver these different types of customers with the same processes. Here are the three equipment customer types: 1. High-Volume segments 6,7, and 8...
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This Week in the Copier Industry 15 Years Ago, The Third Week in October 2003
Crap there's a ton of threads below! From 1998-2003 many of us in the copier industry ew nothing about network printing and scanning. In addition neither did our managers and techs. The Print4Pay Hotel allowed us have a community where we could share experiences technical stuff and help meet our client expectations. Fifteen years later and all dealerships have on staff IT people and knowledgeable technicians that can handle most everything. Enjoy the threads from 15 years ago this week!
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This Week in the Copier Industry 5 Years Ago (First Week of March 2014)
Avoid Insulting the Customer Obvious, right? Well, people do it without even realizing by using comments like "did you understand that?" and "are you following what I'm saying?". This automatically shrinks the customers' intelligence and ability to catch on. It is down to your own ability to make the customer understand and therefore if you feel the customer is failing to do so, use comments such as "did I explain that clearly" and so on. Enjoy these threads from 5 years ago this week!
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3 Key Ingredients To Bring To The Business Table
If you wish to sit with executive leaders at the decision-making table, you need to learn, consume and mirror their characteristics. Now granted, not all sales require C-level or executive access. However; engaging at this level is critical if your goals are to build strategic client relationships, be perceived as a trusted professional and to differentiate yourself from the competition. Do you have what it takes to gain a seat at the table? EARN THE RIGHT TO SIT AT THE TABLE Business...
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This Week in the Copier Industry 15 Years Ago (Second Week of February 2005)
Just a little more on the show that I'd like to share from this week. While standing at the end of our booth I was watching the reps from other companies in our section. So many peeps passed their booth and they did not say a word! No greeting, no communication, they waited for someone to speak to them first. Needless to say I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that many warm leads were lost because these reps were never taught the fine art of "hawking" while at a trade show. I was taught many years...
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What Do You Do When You Need Competitive Copier Specs?
Years ago and I'm talking before the dawn of the internet. There were only a few ways you could get information on other manufacturers copiers. BI (before internet) 1) Call your competitor and ask to speak to a sales person and fib about who you are, your company, and give a BS call back number. We did this many times in order to get answers to those speed, feed and feature questions. In many cases we got snagged and had to hang up. 2) Another way was to get your significant other to do your...
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COVID19 "Remote Working" Day Seventeen of Sales
Before I get started on my day I'd like to share a Youtube video from BTA and Brent Hoskins. BTA has some excellent resources for dealers to navigate through these tough times. COVID19 Today in New Jersey we had our highest one day death toll to date. I believe it was somewhere around 246 souls that passed in the last 24 hours. Today our Governor notified us that all non-essential construction will be shut down as of Friday at 5PM. There goes the next to last bit of the economy that was...
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COVID19 "Remote Working" Day Twenty-Five of Sales
The end of the day was pretty cool for me. After 5pm I had the chance to speak with a dealer principal out on the West Coast. Yes, things are just as bad out there as here in New Jersey. But we really didn't speak about COVID19 that much, instead our talk was about how the industry has changed in ten years and where are industry is going in the next ten years. It's always great to hear from dealer principals that still have the desire to go after it in this business! Yes, there are still...
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This Week in the Copier Industry 10 Years Ago (Third Week of February 2010)
Still chatting about today. It was an awesome day for me. For something that I didn't think I would perform well in, let's just say I nailed it. Yes, there's still plenty of fight in this old dog when it comes to selling! Enjoy these threads from Ten Years Ago This Week! Océ and Konica Minolta revise production print alliance Guest · 2/17/1010:21 PM marketing manager for production printing at Konica Minolta Australia, told ProPrint the two companies will continue to sell OEM products under...
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Is Buzzword Bingo Exposing You As An Empty Suit?
Buzz-riddled descriptive words may sound impressive but despite sounding important, there's usually little meaning nor substance behind the words. Way too many in sales are using the same standard sets of sales jargon to describe situations as a replacement for just speaking plain old normal language. They rely on buzzwords to communicate concepts rather than explaining what they mean. Let's get real for a moment... do you think this makes you sound or look smart? I bet it only adds more...
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This Week in the Copier Industry 15 Years Ago (Last Week of February 2005)
Why would this week be different than the rest of the weeks in February? Since I depleted by pipeline at the end of the year it's been quite the struggle to rebuild. Thus I'm no where near where I need to be with February coming to an end on Monday for me. To make matters worse I'm off to Aruba the first week of March for our Presidents Club Trip. I was able to add a couple of large opportunities this week, one for MNS and the other for 30 plus devices. At this time both are March or April...
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This Week in the Copier Industry 10 Years Ago (Last Week of February 2010)
Recently we had a contest for all of the salespeople at Stratix. It was not a demo contest but more about telling the awesome Stratix story to our clients. There were judges and then group winners for each branch. The group winners would then have the face off. Years ago we had this contest and I failed miserably, I was so bad that I wanted to be shot. I have a hard time memorizing anything that has to be word for word, not sure what my issue is but I have an issue. This will make a good...
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This Week in the Copier Industry 5 Years Ago (Last Week of February 2015)
There's a cool thread I did years ago about the history of the fax. We sold tons of faxes in the eighties and had a lot of fun doing it. It was not uncommon to sell multiple units along with boxes and boxes of thermal paper. There's also a cool thread about some fun that we had with selling fax machines. Enjoy these threads from ten years ago this week! Konica Minolta Rewarded for Sustainable Investment Standards With Globally Renowned Distinctions Art Post · 2/24/1510:41 PM improve our...
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Copier dealers thrive selling content services solutions; Impact Networking, LLC and Kelley Connect share their successes as Authorized DocuWare Partners
If you want to provide real solutions for real business process challenges that organizations face every day, consider becoming an Authorized DocuWare Partner. By adding content services to your product portfolio, you can accelerate your sales with a unique selling proposition setting you apart from your competition. For complete details on the Partner Program, click here . To request to speak to someone about becoming a Partner, click here or contact mary.williams@docuware.com . Tonight, I...
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Copier Solution Shop Launches New Web Site for Dealers
It was about three weeks ago when I saw the preview of the changes that Copier Solution Shop made to their web site. If you're not familiar with Copier Solution Shop then it's time you should be. My friends over at the shop manufacturer third party accessories for copiers and wide format printers. The recent update now includes a dealer log in for their e-commerce site. Once logged in dealers can view the dealer pricing for their products and make those purchases. End users can only see and...
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COVID19 "Remote Working" Day Thirty-Nine of Sales
For some reason sleeping last night didn't go that well. I worked late and by the time I finished last nights blog my mind was running at full speed as I tried to get to to sleep. Too many deals in my head! Last night my wife mentioned that she wanted to go see our granddaughter today. Am I bad guy? All I thought about was how much I wanted to get done today. I had a 1PM appointment that I moved to 3PM with a net new suspect late yesterday. i made the time because it's what we do. This...
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COVID19 "Remote Working" Day Forty-Two of Sales
This will probably be one of those shorter blogs tonight, however you never know once I start writing. A few minutes ago (it's 10PM) I just set an appointment for this Friday with a net new production prospect. I had emailed him earlier in the day and a few minutes ago I received the reply that yes Friday at 10AM works. Let me touch on the email a bit. The subject line was "hope you are well" and the base of the email spoke more about new 5th station color technology that could increase...
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This Week in the Copier Industry 5 Years Ago (First Week of April 2015)
Since the last two to three weeks have been less than perfect I figured we could reminisce when times were better. There's a cool little story about and event that took place in Jamaica while on a Presidents Club trip with Dr. Feelgood. That link is below! Enjoy these awesome threads from five years ago this week! Konica Minolta acquires printing business of Monotech Systems Art Post · 4/7/1510:05 PM NEW DELHI: In a bid to have direct interface with its customers, Japanese printer firm...
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Are You Building Lasting, Meaningful And Empathetic Relationships?
In today's business climate where many of us are operating with fear, anxiety and doubt; those that lead with an empathetic heart stand out. Empathy is defined by Psychology Today as “the visceral experience of another person’s thoughts and feelings from his or her point of view, rather than from one’s own.” It's mission critical to understand the true value of long-term relationships. I believe genuine, real and raw empathy cannot be faked. If you're saying or doing something merely to...
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COVID19 "Remote Working" Day Thirty-Two of Sales
Yay! Our Governor is opening State and County Parks on May 2nd....with conditions with social distancing. Getting to hate that "social" crap. Many people are furious in New Jersey about the handling of the shut down along with not having the ability to get outside. After pressure the Gov caved to the pressure. However, here's what I think, we'll have such an influx to the parks and beaches from knuckle heads (govs favorite word) and out of state peeps that he will close the parks on Monday.
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COVID19 "Remote Working" Day Thirty-Seven of Sales
Thirty-seven business days now since I was optioned to working from my home office. The average number of selling days is twenty-two per month. Five days from now it will be two solid business months and 66% of the quarter. Our fearless and blessed Governor just extended his Executive Order for his Emergency Act for another thirty days in the State of New Jersey. I'm kinda torn about this now, 30 more days of working from home could be a good thing since I'm on such a roll and who wants to...
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In Times Of Crisis, Sales Professionals Double Down On Their Purpose.
As humans we're wired to seek out meaning and purpose in our lives. I'm a firm believer that having a purpose matters more now than ever before. A sales professional thrives on being a part of a purpose. They live for becoming part of something that really matters, something that really makes a difference to the lives of their clients, their marketplace and their community. Today’s selling environment is turbulent and full of turmoil. It's much more challenging and complex than ever before.
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COVID19 "Remote Working" Day Forty-One of Sales
I guess the day is not over until it's over. Tonight I received text from a good industry friend of mine with some rather bad news. Seems two calls went out to two groups of employees from Canon. Those that were on one call were laid-off with no future employment, those on the other call were furloughed and hopefully will be getting their jobs back at some point in time. My source could not tell me how many were affected but stated "a large group of employees, each call was no longer than 15...
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COVID19 "Remote Working" Day Forty-Four of Sales
It's 10:36PM on a warm night in New Jersey. Finally we have a day in the low eighties and there was no wind that blew in from the ocean. When that wind comes off the water we can be anywhere from 10-20 degrees cooler from inland parts of Jersey. There's also a chance that a week from today we just may be feeling the effects of a tropical storm that is suppose to move up the coast. If this storm becomes a tropical depression that stormed will be dubbed Arthur. What a great way to start off...
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Re: Why I Still Cold Call in Person!
I ALWAYS cold call in person. No one wants to speak to a disembodied voice on the phone. Sometimes I walk in and find someone I used to work with in the office. SCORE! You just have to get out of the office if you want to make something happen.
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Re: Ricoh America's Trying to Poach Dealer Account?
As promised, here is the email from the dealer rep: I received an email this evening from the purchasing director of a large educational institution that has been our exclusive customer for Ricoh products going on 7 years. They are very happy with my company and this is why I was contacted and asked to take care of it. The email simply stated "you want to give this guy a call?" It was in reference to a RBS rep sending special rebate university contract pricing (the exact same contract and...
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If An Old School Copier Rep Can Build His Brand, So Can You!
"A brand is no longer what we tell the customer it is - it is what customers tell each other it is" Scott Cook Should copier sales reps leverage the power of branding to differentiate themselves to rise above the noise? My answer, an absolute yes! Branding is powerful. When you think of brands, most turn to large brands such as Google, Amazon, Starbucks and McDonalds, just to name a few. Why is establishing a world-class business brand invaluable? Besides the distinct value it brings,...
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3 Reasons Why Copier Sales Reps Help Your Dealership's Brand
When people ask you about yourself, what are the first few things you share? Aside from where you may live or whether you are married with kids, one of the first things you are most likely to share is your job title or what you do for a living. There’s a good reason as work is a common thread in most of our lives. Sharing with someone where you work and what you do gives them a good idea of what’s important to you. This is just a part of normal "get to know" conversation. In previous posts,...
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3 Ways Copier Sales Reps Boost Their Close Rate by Branding Correctly on LinkedIn
As copier reps, it is imperative to continue to nourish, maintain and grow your existing client base. What has become challenging is grabbing net new business. Net new business fuels the growth of your dealership! As copier reps, there is a new currency and we call this trust and value. We must adapt and adopt to integrating the use of social media to create major branding and marketing opportunities to build trusted networks. In the business community, people "believe" when your friends...