canon dealership

Canon has a strong reputation for quality and great brand recognition with businesses of all sizes. I can't tell you how many times I've heard prospects say they'll never use anything but Canon equipment, especially for color, & we all know that's where the money lies. We're a sole-line Lanier dealer (w/ Lexmark on the side for desktops & A4 mono). From my position as a Major Account Rep, I would love to have Canon. That's always a tough call to make, though, for a dealer principal, because you never know how Ricoh will react. They may get scared that you'll start selling more Canon than Ricoh & keep your pricing structure as-is, or they may give you the finger. It would probably be a a good topic to discuss with other dealer principals if you're part of a best-practices group like the SDG.

As far as what you get that you don't have with Ricoh, you get high-end color production, color wide format, single-pass duplex feeders on the entire line, and a manufacturer that has a fantastic reputation.

You also have to double up on parts and supplies

Plus have to be experts in two different lines and everything that goes along with it and let's face it, today there is much more than the box that you have learn to be the expert.

I think Ricoh has a broad line now with the addition of the Print Production Units and I believe these systems will only get better from Ricoh. They have to becuase the only growth in pages is at the very low end and the very high end. The middle has been losing clicks for years due to scan2email, scan2folder, scan2solutions. It won't be long before everyone will be charging for scans!

We are dual line and our secondary line just collects dust in the showroom and in the warehouse. As sales reps we cherrypick the two lines so I only sell the secondary product line's A4 machines where Ricoh is particularly weak.

Curious if you've competed against Canon for years or whether their presence in your area is rather limited. While there is a lot of overhead to consider (parts, inventory, training techs, training sales etc.) would there be a large base Canon MIF where you could gain a greater share of market with your offerings - if your strength is customer service and growth then look hard but if you're only good at maintaining present customers maybe continue to strive for the lead dog position. Canon is great in production equipment but are you willing to invest what it takes there? Is there a strong Oce presence near you? What will that merger bring when its completed. Would you be a purchase target by Ricoh if you improved your biz by concentrating on it? Lots to think about.