BizHub

Garland:

Try chosing a customer who is not in the market right now, and or create a need for your product or feature.

There are many features that are different from manufacturer to manufacturer. Try to hone in on a "lock out" feature, a feature which Minolta does not offer and Ricoh does. Then hammer you position.

Most of the time we can never win on price, but on sales skills, such as what the customer needs and what they do not think they need. Uncover through interviews the hidden pain or hidden costs associated with the way they are conducting business NOW!

When I was a new rep, I had to rely on giving boxes away, becuase I lacked the fundamentals of knowing the FAB Fature Advantage and Benefits of my product. As I learned the FAB's of each system I was able to close more deals with more profit. I also knew when I had a price priing and then switched to selling price along with FAB.

Get the boxes out on the street and repeat sales will follow. The Minolta/Konica is easy to beat as long as you command your customers attention that you can save them time and money with your system. When bringing these points to the forefront your potential client is less likley to look for a competetive price.

Hope this helps.

rt pot

agreed...pull up the bli reports on the systems and know the differences in and out. Talk solutions...set yourself apart as the consultant, an expert in your field that can provide a value that just a plain old box can offer. Now granted this takes more time and it can lengthen the timeline for the sale, but it does work and can provide you with the ammo you need to create pain they didn't know they had.

Don't forget that we have free access to BERTL Lab Reports through Aficio League as well.

Thanks for the response to my post. It does take a lot of research to be the best! It looks like this might be a long road, but it looks pretty good! After 7 months in this field I can see that there is a nice payoff.

If you see yourself as a professional and treat this business like a professional you will be paid commensurate to that of a professional. Lawyers, Accountants, Doctors all have to keep up with an ongoing education. The difference between them and us is that they have to be licensed and certified and the continuing education is mandated before renewals are issued. We don't have that...it is up to you to mandate it of yourself. Can you get by without it? Sure, but you will always be just getting by instead of earning the 6 figures that this profession will pay to those who commit more than 8-5 M-F.

Remember Dale Carnegie: "arouse in the other person an eager want." Here's one small thing that is a huge benefit from one user's perspective: We sell Konicas and Ricohs. We currently have a C450 and a 3224C on our network inhouse, and I use both in my marketing work. I prefer using the Ricohs for their ease of use when color is not critical. The Ricoh RPCS print driver is a dream! Put that puppy on your laptop and get your prospect's hand on the mouse to try it, and they will want it immediately. I really love how easily I can print a booklet without worrying about imposition during the document set-up.

Also worth noting: studies are showing that with solutions, clients generally go with the company that was the first to bring it to their attention. Even if they don't need it now, they may need it down the road - and you may have created a nagging thought that they actually do need it. Get in there first and establish yourself as the expert, and then your competition plays catch-up to you -- while you merrily keep ahead of them with new knowledge and solutions to your client's problems. We have won hardware deals because the client went back to the competition and demanded their response to our software solutions - and the competition came off really clumsy ("oh, yeah, we can do that, too" - sure, that answer will inspire confidence in anyone NOT).

I totally agree about the ease of use with the RPCS drivers. My customers LOVE using them.

But I do have one question for you, when you said, "I prefer using the Ricohs for their ease of use when color is not critical."

Just out of curiosity, why did you word it that way? Why did you say you prefer the Ricoh only when color is not critical?

Ricoh MFPs use 2 bit depth technology with 4 shades per color, vs. Konica's 8 bit depth with 256 shades per color. The Konica color engine (which came from the Minolta side, noted for their color technology) handles color better because it is built to.

(What I see when I look at print samples of the same photo: the Konica color looks crisper and more "full bodied"; the Ricoh color looks blotchier and pixelated.)

If you have a exacting graphics or marketing client, you can't just skate by. For them, it's all about guarding the corporate elements (font, colors, logos), aka the public identity. If you want a close-to-home example, ask your dealership's marketing person for a copy of Ricoh's "corporate ID manual for logo use."

Any business worth its marketing plan must protect its corporate elements. That includes the smallest business in the smallest town. I'm sure your dealership's marketing person gets annoyed if your business' corporate look is ever misrepresented.

In my case, when I am wearing my marketing hat and printing corporate materials, I go to the Konica - because I want the best possible color in our corporate photos that is available to me.

Ricoh does not position its MFPs for the creative market. Our Ricoh Digital Support Representative often discusses this in training. He reminds us that the Ricohs handle "pleasing" color or "business" color well (aka color fills here and there in your Excel document).

Caveat: I haven't worked with the 5560 "creative" color MFP yet, which is positioned for more creative office users.

Yeah, but the 5560 creative is about 30K I don't think I'll guote it against a 250, 351, 450 or even a Canon3220. Like someone said before, I should be the first one to contact the customer and not wait around for them to call me for a "price".