April 2014 Office Technology

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CONTENTS Volume 20 • No. 10

FEATURE ARTICLES 10

Environmental Focus MFP manufacturers embrace green initiatives

COURTS & CAPITOLS Worldwide Buzz Recent events give insight into new business models

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by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

by Robert C. Goldberg BTA General Counsel

Today, pollution has been greatly reduced in America and the focus is on “going green” — protecting the environment. Protecting and sustaining the environment through green initiatives is now commonplace among MFP manufacturers.

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Why Can’t You Do That?

Four ideas for generating incremental revenue

by Lou Slawetsky Industry Analysts Inc.

Since my last column, I have attended the Business Technology and Services Conference in Sydney, Australia, and the ITEX National Conference and Expo in Las Vegas. Both of these meetings provided an excellent opportunity to visit with dealers and obtain front-line information regarding the industry.

SELLING SOLUTIONS Customer Meetings Consider adopting these best practices

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by Jim Heffernan Insights53 LLC

More than a few dealers continue to thrive in our changing industry. Successful dealers proactively search for incremental revenue streams that yield high margins and will not cannibalize their existing business. These dealers think outside the box.

Here are just a few of their ideas.

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Beyond the Box Avoid the pitfalls of selling a commodity

Meeting with customers is one of the most basic functions of selling. It is what we do to build relationships and move opportunities forward to a close.

Consider how a repeatable process might eliminate non-productive meetings and help your front-line sales managers optimize team performance.

Solution Selling Here are five critical strategies for success

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by Julie Hansen Performance Sales and Training

by John Mannion Mannion Global Consulting

When you got into the office technology business, you probably never imagined that you would be selling a commodity. Yet, like sugar, wheat or pork bellies, here you are. How can you avoid the shrinking margins, reduced loyalty and price wars of a commodity?

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Winter Break BTA Southeast hosts district event in Orlando

by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

Office technology dealers gathered Feb. 14-15 in Orlando, Fla., for BTA’s Winter Break district event, hosted by BTA Southeast. The event gave dealers the opportunity to learn from industry experts, network with fellow dealers and gather new ideas and strategies.

Faced with increasing competition, commoditization, document management needs and much more, dealers should embrace solution selling in one form or another. Applying solution selling in today’s buying environment requires a profound change in mindset, selling and marketing.

D E PA R T M E N T S Business Technology Association

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• BTA Calendar • BTA Highlights

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Executive Director’s Page

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BTA President’s Message

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Advertiser Index

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S PAGE

BTA Dealer ‘Green’ Views Vary Widely

W

hen I was interviewing the various manufacturer representatives for the cover story of this issue of Office Technology, I was struck by the level of passion each person had when discussing the topic of protecting and sustaining the environment. I suppose if you have a title like “chief green officer,” then you have a level of interest in the topic that surpasses that of the average person.

While no one is “anti-environment,” the degrees of focus on efforts to protect the environment vary. While writing the cover story, I found myself wondering about the views of the dealer community. So, I sent a brief online survey to BTA member dealers.

I received 88 responses. Following are the survey questions and, in the case of three questions, a sampling of the responses. You can find all of the responses at: www.bta. org/GreenSurvey.

Do your sales reps discuss the sustainability/environmental benefits of the products you sell (MFPs and printers) when calling on current and prospective customers? n Yes: 49 percent. No: 51 percent.

Do you believe the manufacturers whose products you sell do a good job at providing you information and resources to discuss with customers and prospects the sustainability/environmental benefits of their products? n Yes: 77 percent. No: 23 percent.

How would you describe the extent of your dealership’s efforts to promote the sustainability/environmental benefits of the products you sell? n “If we think the target is into sustainability, we will promote it.”

n “Almost non-existent.” n “It is one of our core values. We included it in our value proposition; we talk about our own efforts to be environmentally sound, like recycling packaging materials, solar energy for our office, etc.” n “We are very committed to pushing the green agenda.” n “It has a very low level of emphasis.”

How important to your customers (on average) are the sustainability/environmental benefits of the products you sell? n “It’s only important if it doesn’t cost them anything.” n “It is very important. Not only do customers care about the long-term effect on the environment, but also how it affects their employees.” n “They are interested, but it is not always a reason to buy or not buy. They want to know that manufacturers are concerned, but will still buy on their own needs, irrespective of the environmental benefits.” n “I would guess that it is less than 20 percent of their buying criteria, but it is growing.” n “It varies from extremely important to not important at all.”

What are your views regarding the level of importance of environmentally friendly products within today’s office technology industry? n “We have a responsibility to the environment and the future of our children, but need the cost of these solutions to be affordable.” n “As the Gen Xers start purchasing, it will become more important.” n “No interest.” n “We are willing to pay additional for the technology.” n “It will become more important, as the customers feel it is important. From a dealer perspective, it does not really matter much.” n — Brent Hoskins

Executive Director/BTA Editor/Office Technology Brent Hoskins brent@bta.org (816) 303-4040 Associate Editor Elizabeth Marvel elizabeth@bta.org (816) 303-4060 Contributing Writers Robert C. Goldberg, General Counsel Business Technology Association Julie Hansen, Performance Sales and Training www.actingforsales.com Jim Heffernan, Insights53 LLC www.insights53.com John Mannion, Mannion Global Consulting www.mannionglobalconsulting.com Lou Slawetsky, Industry Analysts Inc. www.industryanalysts.com

Business Technology Association 12411 Wornall Road Kansas City, MO 64145 (816) 941-3100 www.bta.org Member Services: (800) 505-2821 BTA Legal Hotline: (800) 869-6688 Valerie Briseno Membership Marketing Manager valerie@bta.org Mary Hopkins Database Administrator mary@bta.org Teresa Leerar Bookkeeper teresa@bta.org Brian Smith Membership Sales Representative brian@bta.org Photo Credits: iStockphoto, Ivary. Cover created by Bruce Quade, Brand X Studio. ©2014 by the Business Technology Association. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the publisher. Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of published material. However, the publisher assumes no liability for errors in articles nor are opinions expressed necessarily those of the publisher.

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BTA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE 2013-2014 Board of Directors

Naylor: Membership Easily Pays for Itself

S

ome readers of Office Technology magazine are not members of the Business Technology Association (BTA). Are you among them? If so, I encourage you to give some thought to the comments below.

They were shared by current dealer members when completing a recent membership survey in response to this question: “How would you describe BTA to another dealer who is not currently a member of the association?” n “Membership easily pays for itself with just the education and legal benefits.”

— Mark Naylor, ABM Automation, Oklahoma City, Okla. n “It’s the best resource and value; you’re crazy if you don’t belong. One report, piece of legal advice or contract template will cost you a lot more than membership!” — Greg Gondek, Advanced Copy Technologies Inc., Cromwell, Conn. n “If you are going to be a successful office technology dealer, BTA is the ‘go-to’ association. It offers information services on every aspect of the business. This information is offered in print, webinars, classroom workshops and district events, which are all included or offered at a discount with dealer membership. BTA keeps you abreast of all new technologies with online support. And its growing list of member benefits can save a dealer a lot of dollars.

I have been a BTA member since I opened my dealership 27 years ago. BTA truly has the dealers’ best interests at heart!” — Bob Smith, Copiers Plus Inc., Fayetteville, N.C. n “BTA is your single source for the information you are currently collecting to run your business. The money you spend on dues and travel to district events will be

returned 10 times over.” — Mike Brandon, ABC Office Equipment, Spokane, Wash. n “BTA is the only connection for dealers to have a common information-sharing source available in today’s business world.

Support BTA.” — Gary Smith, Office Equipment Co., Eugene, Ore. n “BTA is an organization that looks out for dealers and their interests. Using some street vernacular: ‘It has your back.’”

— Gerry Purvis, Purvis Business Machines, Meridian, Miss. n “It’s like a college education, helping to build the foundation for a successful future.” — Art Schwartz, Image Systems for Business, Somerset, N.J. n “I have always told other dealers that the benefits outweigh the membership cost. The legal advice alone is worth the membership cost.” — John Kerling, United Business Systems, Buffalo, N.Y. n “I have described BTA to another dealer who currently is not a member. I let him know that he would rub elbows with some pretty decent people and that he would likely meet folks who could and would help if given the chance.” — John Eckstrom, Carolina Business Equipment Inc., Columbia, S.C. n “BTA is the ‘Total Association.’ It provides industry news, contacts, training and best practices for business technology resellers and service providers.” — Robert Moore, Lockwood Moore, Reno, Nev. n “BTA is an organization dedicated to the development of independent dealers.”

— Ray Belanger, Bay Copy, Rockland, Mass.

If you have not looked at BTA lately, it is time to take another look at membership.

Like it is for these dealers, you will find it to be a great investment. Dues are only $430 annually. Visit BTA online at www.bta.org or give BTA Membership Specialist Brian Smith a call today at (800) 505-2821. n — Todd J. Fitzsimons

President Todd J. Fitzsimons Automated Business Solutions DBA Network Imaging 122 Spring St., Ste. B3 Southington, CT 06489 tjfitzsimons@ni-ct.com President-Elect Ron Hulett U.S. Business Systems Inc. 3221 Southview Drive Elkhart, IN 46514 ron.hulett@usbus.com Vice President Dave Quint Advanced Systems Inc. 2945 Airport Blvd.

P.O. Box 57 Waterloo, IA 50704 dquint@asiowa.com BTA East Rob Richardson Allied Document Solutions & Services Inc. 200 Church St. Swedesboro, NJ 08085 robr@ads-s.com BTA Mid-America Dan Castaneda International Copy Machine Center 1515 Lee Trevino, Ste. EE El Paso, TX 79936 dan@icmc-elp.com BTA Southeast Linda Hayes Purcell’s Business Products 222 E. 1st St. Campbellsville, KY 42718 linda@purcells.com BTA West Mike Ehlers Yost Business Systems 685 E. Anderson Idaho Falls, ID 83401 mike@yostonline.com Ex-Officio/Immediate Past President Terry Chapman Business Electronics Corp.

219 Oxmoor Circle, P.O. Box 531066 Birmingham, AL 35253 tchapman@businesselectronics.com Ex-Officio/General Counsel Robert C. Goldberg Schoenberg Finkel Newman & Rosenberg LLC 222 S. Riverside Plaza, Ste. 2100 Chicago, IL 60606 robert.goldberg@sfnr.com

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Environmental Focus MFP manufacturers embrace green initiatives by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

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o you remember the Keep America Beautiful public service announcement (PSA) on television in the 1970s featuring a Native American? We saw him row a canoe in polluted water, step onto a littered river bank and shed a tear when trash is thrown at his feet from a passing car on a crowded highway. If so, you may also remember the announcer’s bold pronouncement: “People start pollution; people can stop it.”

The images shown in the television PSA (you can find it on YouTube) provide a stark reminder of a time when many people were giving little to no thought about the environment. Pollution in the water, on land and in the air were all common sights. Phrases such as “environmentally friendly” and “carbon footprint” were not part of our lexicon at the time. Instead, the focus was on being reactive and reversing the pollution problem.

Fast forward 40 years. Today, societal pollution has been greatly reduced in America and the prevailing focus, now proactive, is on “going green” — that is, protecting the environment. Many corporations (and individuals, for that matter) have initiatives in place dedicated to sustaining the Earth’s ecosystems. There is also a specific focus on reducing the release of various gaseous compounds (such as carbon dioxide) that absorb infrared radiation, trap heat in the atmosphere and contribute to the “greenhouse effect.”

Within the office technology industry, protecting and sustaining the environment through an ever-widening collection of green initiatives is now commonplace among MFP manufacturers. It is clear that executives in these companies have adopted a new variation of the 1970s PSA: “People cause negative impacts on the environment; people can stop them.”

Actually, while the focus on the environment has only been at the forefront of public dialog for the past decade or so, it is not a new area of sensitivity among the industry’s manufacturers. Corporate philosophies and initiatives date back many years.

Kousuke Ito, director of environmental sustainability and

compliance at Ricoh Americas Corp., says “the journey” at Ricoh started in the 1970s “with pollution prevention,” ultimately evolving from reactive to proactive and, today, to what he refers to as the “responsible stage.”

The focus on being responsible is reflected in what the company refers to as 3P Balance: people, planet and profit. “In order to be sustainable in the ‘responsible stage,’ you cannot just do this for five years and then do something else; you have to be continuously going for it,” he says. “It starts with the people aspect. So, ease-of-use is considered. Of course, with a focus on the environment, it needs to be good for the planet, too. But to continue doing what we have been doing, our efforts need to have a financial viability. So, we have to generate a profit while we are doing this.”

Ito notes that Ricoh has a goal to reduce its carbon footprint by the year 2050 to one-eighth of the company’s carbon footprint in 2000. “The two tools we have to accomplish this goal are our technological innovation and people,” he explains. “This includes Ricoh employees, the dealer community and end users. Because more than 75 percent of the environmental impact occurs when the machine is in use, through paper and electricity consumption, it must be a partnership.”

As noted, Ricoh is not alone in its commitment to protecting the environment. Toshiba America Business Solutions Inc. (TABS), for example, first started publishing environmental reports in the mid-1990s. In 2000, the company initiated its Environmental Vision 2050, which, similar to Ricoh’s goal, requires an increase in the degree of improvement in overall eco-efficiency by a factor of five by 2025 (as compared to 2000) and by a factor of 10 by 2050.

“We aim to become one of the world’s foremost eco-companies through four strategies, by integrating business management with environmental management,” says Tom Walter, chief green officer at TABS. “The four strategies to achieve this aim are: (1) a strategy to expand the number of environmentally conscious products (ECPs); (2) a high-efficiency

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manufacturing strategy; (3) a related to its print volcompliance and management ume has been signifi“We instituted a print strategy; and (4) a communicacantly reduced. “At our management program, tion strategy.” previous building, we consolidating the number Walter adds that TABS has had 900 machines and of machines we have two primary initiatives related 374 different models. here in Melville. At our to the four strategies. “The first Here we have deployed previous building, we had is the ‘greening of products,’ by 75 devices and stanwhich we aim to achieve the dardized on one model.”

900 machines ... Here we highest level of environmental Aside from any interhave deployed 75 devices ... ” performance for all products nal strides to protect the — Paul Albano we develop and reduce environenvironment, manufacCanon U.S.A. Inc. mental impacts through prodturers point to a number uct life cycles,” he explains. “The of product features that second is the ‘greening of technology,’ by which we aim to dealers can promote to their customers. Today, for example, provide a stable power supply and mitigate climate change Energy Star compliance is a common attribute of MFPs. Enon a global scale through low-carbon energy technologies.” ergy Star is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Similarly, another of the industry’s MFP manufacturers, program established in 1992 that reduces a product’s carCanon U.S.A. Inc., first adopted its “Kyosei” philosophy in bon footprint through energy efficiency.

1985. As stated on Canon’s website, Kyosei, in part, guides In recent years, manufacturers have also been promoting the company’s “tradition of commitment to protect and pre- their participation in the Electronic Product Environmenserve our most precious of resources — the world we share, tal Assessment Tool (EPEAT) program, launched in 2006 the communities we serve and the lives we touch. We do and managed by the non-profit Green Electronics Council. this through environmental, conservation, recycling and The program is described on the EPEAT website as a “comsustainability initiatives.” prehensive global environmental rating system that helps Although Canon’s commitment to the environment “was purchasers identify greener computers and other electronmade a long time ago, in some ways, our sustainability ef- ics.” Participating companies can achieve Bronze, Silver or forts are a well-kept secret,” says Mario Rufino, manager Gold status for their products. Products must meet all reof the company’s Product & Chemical Safety Division. “We quired criteria to be registered at the Bronze level. They can have done many positive things to sustain the environment then be registered as Silver or Gold based on the percentage that people don’t know about. And, because Canon is a very of optional criteria they meet above the baseline. large company, we don’t make these decisions on Friday and Beyond Energy Star and EPEAT, there are, of course, varithen implement them on Monday. It takes a lot of time and ous product capabilities that are dedicated to protecting a lot of effort.” the environment. Emphasizing the environmental impact One of Canon’s recent accomplishments, focused, in part, of duplexing, for example, Ito notes that the manufacture on protecting the environment, was the 2013 opening of of a single sheet of letter-sized paper consumes 17 watts its newly constructed, 700,000-square-foot U.S. headquar- of electricity. Consider, too, that MFP manufacturers have ters in Melville, N.Y. Rufino notes that the building is LEED had toner cartridge return and recycling programs in place (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) gold-level for years. In addition, changes in the MFP manufacturing certified, meaning that the building meets standards for en- process have been made. “We are now building products vironmental responsibility and efficient use of resources, as that are lighter in weight and smaller in size, but with the set by the U.S. Green Building Council. “The driver was Kyo- same or better capabilities,” says Brad Arrington, manager sei,” Rufino says. “We could not, in good conscience, build a of product marketing in the Enterprise Solutions Division of building without considering the environment.” the Business Imaging Solutions Group at Canon. “This rePaul Albano, senior manager of product marketing in sults in less energy being consumed to transport products the Solution Marketing Division of the Business Imaging via ships, railways or trucks with a corresponding decrease Solutions Group at Canon, emphasizes one green initiative in related CO emissions.” of the new headquarters that is likely of particular interest Recently, TABS has taken its green initiatives to a whole to dealers. “We instituted a print management program, new level. In 2013, the company introduced its e-STUDIOconsolidating the number of machines we have here in Mel- 306LP, featuring erasable toner, output in a distinctive ville,” he says, noting that the company’s carbon footprint blue, serving to notify users that the page is erasable. The 12 | ­w w w. o f f ic et ec hno log y m a g.c om | Ap r il 2 0 1 4

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Arrington adds to Ruaccompanying e-STUDIOfino’s point. “Dealers should RD30 unit applies heat to “Sustainability is not just ask their customers if they remove the special toner. a corporate buzzword; have environmental iniWalter notes that using the it is here to stay. tiatives within their busisame sheet of paper up to Companies that can nesses,” he says. “Once you five times minimizes paper effectively use this understand and appreciate usage, thus reducing carbon concept to differentiate where the customer is on dioxide emissions at the pathemselves will rise to the spectrum of environper manufacturing level. “Inmental responsibility, you terest in the e-STUDIO306LP the top of the industry.” can then engage with that MFP has been very high,” he

— Tom Walter customer to help fulfill their says. “As of today, we have Toshiba America Business Solutions Inc. needs and support their sussold 69 units; we are curtainability efforts.” rently working on a bid for 94 Walter advises dealers not to view today’s focus on the units for one of our major accounts.”

While you may not be selling an erasable-toner MFP, there environment as temporary. “Sustainability is not just a corare many green attributes of the MFPs you do sell, given the porate buzzword; it is here to stay,” he says, noting that it is commitment among manufacturers industry-wide to protect an area that dealers can wisely use to advance their busithe environment. Are you promoting these attributes to your nesses. “Companies that can effectively use current and prospective customers? While he says there are this concept to differentiate themselves will a variety of reasons to do so, Rufino emphasizes one primary rise to the top of the industry.” n Brent Hoskins, executive director of the reason dealers should consider: “Understand that sustainBusiness Technology Association, is editor ability is a pass-through. That is, the manufacturer’s smaller of Office Technology magazine. He can be environmental footprint passes through to the dealer, to the reached at brent@bta.org or (816) 303-4040. dealer’s customer and to that customer’s customer.”

PrintReleaf Minimizing Impact of Paper Usage L ouisville, Colo.-based PrintReleaf (www. printreleaf.com) recently introduced a technology platform that enables cloud-based paper tracking and, ultimately, reforestation. The company’s PrintReleaf Exchange (PRX) provides dealers, MFP/printer manufacturers and their customers a way to promote sustainable business practices and reduce the environmental impacts that can result from printing.

Jordan Darragh “It is unreasonable to think we can completely eliminate the need for paper,” says Jordan Darragh, PrintReleaf founder and CEO. “Rather, we are providing a solution that minimizes the negative impacts of paper usage.”

How does it work? “PrintReleaf measures a customer’s paper consumption and equates it to forest impact, measured in trees,” Darragh explains, citing the accepted forestry industry standard of one average tree equating to 8,333 sheets of letter-sized paper. “Customers then ‘releaf’ — or replant — their consumption by planting new trees as part of a user experience inside their PrintReleaf portal to neutralize their environmental impact. In other words, we guarantee to reforest every sheet of paper that a PrintReleaf customer consumes.”

Through online portals, customers are connected directly to reforestation projects, Darragh says. “After selecting where they want their paper ‘releafed,’ customers can use their portals to track the growth and survival of their trees over an approximate 10-year time frame for each tree,” he says, noting that his company has

partnered with SGS International, a leading forestry auditor, to monitor and report on the trees that are planted. “Worldwide, about five billion acres have been deforested or degraded over the past century. That’s about 100 billion trees. PrintReleaf provides an opportunity to help, with dealers, manufacturers and their customers participating in reforestation as partners in this process.”

From a business perspective, Darragh says, the company charges a wholesale price per page to a dealership or manufacturer, which, in turn, marks it up and charges a retail price per page to customers, realizing an increased profit on every page tracked by PrintReleaf, he says. “We’ve done significant beta testing with end users and the feedback thus far has been very positive,” he says, adding that in the testing phase, the company has averaged a retail price of $0.0007 cents per page. Since the company’s founding in 2011, PrintReleaf and its beta customers have reforested more than 3,000 trees.

Although PrintReleaf only released its PRX in early March, it is already making strides in broadening its reach. The company was recently named a LINK partner by PrintFleet, a provider of managed print software and solutions. LINK is PrintFleet’s platform for system integration, enabling business process automation and seamless connections with supply chain partners. “Innovative partners like PrintFleet are helping us achieve our mission,” Darragh says. “This is a tremendous opportunity to provide customers of PrintFleet’s global network of dealers the chance to ‘releaf’ the paper they’ve consumed.”

— Brent Hoskins

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Why Can’t You Do That?

Four ideas for generating incremental revenue by: Lou Slawetsky, Industry Analysts Inc.

B

ig news! Imaging systems sales revenues are down.

Gross margins are down. Page volumes are declining.

Revenue per unit sold is dropping like a stone thanks, in part, to lower prices for A4 products. Couple these trends with the fact that business costs are increasing (cost of sales alone; just the rep and direct expenses) — up more than 10 percent in the last three years (source: Industry Analysts Inc. “Imaging Systems Dealer Strategies”). OK, so it is not “big news.” Instead, most analysts have been stating and restating the obvious for years.

Of course, more than a few dealers continue to thrive.

They have anticipated changes in market dynamics and realized that the real problem was not the market, but their resistance to change. To quote Walt Kelly’s famous Pogo comic strip (which many of you may not be old enough to remember): “We have met the enemy and he is us.”

At times, we are, in fact, our own worst enemies. Too often we assume that the old market will come back. It will not.

We hope that margins will increase. They will not. We pray that page volumes will mysteriously jump. Not so much.

Successful dealers proactively search for incremental revenue streams that yield high margins and will not cannibalize their existing businesses. These dealers think outside the box. Here are just a few of their ideas: n Document Scanning/Indexing — Sometimes we ignore the obvious. Yes, page volumes are declining as the market digitizes, but what about the massive amount of existing documents — payroll files, invoices, payables, customer records, tax records, etc.? Your customers’ digital files are useless unless they integrate their paper files. That means scanning and indexing. But not by using the scanner that comes with an MFP. That would take several lifetimes. The job requires high-volume scanners, as well as a robust indexing system. It is a labor-intensive operation, yet it yields huge revenues and margins. You can count on about $0.06 to $0.10 per page. Count on tens of thousands of pages from even the smallest client with ongoing file conversion as its paper-based systems wind down. Why can’t you do that? n Document Destruction — It is a natural extension of

the scanning and indexing business just described. Once the documents are scanned, what becomes of them? Generally, they are returned to the client. The irony is that the client digitized the files because, in part, there was no room to store them. So, they will tell you to store them in your facility. What you have now is the basis for a robust document destruction business. Charges fall into two categories. The first is the charge for document storage. How much is your warehouse space worth per square foot? Or, if you do not have space to spare, how much would it cost to rent more space (with heat)? That is about the total of your expenses.

Why can’t you do that?

Eventually, however, your clients will want you to destroy their documents. There are many companies that specialize in this. Why can’t one of them be you? After all, you already have the documents. Of course, there is considerable capital investment here; you are not going to buy a shredder from Staples, after all. What is more, your operation will have to be certified. But, again, there is considerable revenue and margin potential here. I shopped some of the document destruction services and found that the least expensive was $0.10 per pound. The highest price was $0.75 per pound.

Surely you can find a profitable midpoint somewhere in this range. Why can’t you do that?

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that you do not erode existing revenues n Inkjet Printing — I know: “Inkjet does not belong in the office.” But how to generate new business as is the case ... How can you ignore can you ignore MFP products that print when MFP volumes shift from copy to MFP products that print color at 70 pages per minute (ppm) or print. The only way to see if any of these color at 70 pages per more at a per-page cost touted to be work for you is to generate a basic busiminute or more at a perhalf that of laser systems of comparable ness plan for each. Talk to your existing page cost touted to be speed? Price? $600. Sell multiple units. If customers to test for need and potential. you do not sell these systems along with Meet with your management teams. half that of laser systems the ink, someone else will. Why can’t you Above all, do something. Remember, the of comparable speed? do that? Would you rather sell these sysenemy is not the market. It is our resistems or compete with them? tance to change. Do not forget Pogo. n n Supplies — No, not MPS, just supplies. At least two Lou Slawetsky founded Industry Analysts Inc. (IA) in 1974 in major companies (HP’s Instant Ink and Xerox’s PagePac) Rochester, N.Y., as a market research firm focused on the will sell your customers ink based upon a predetermined office equipment industry. In 1994, IA opened a productnumber of pages. HP’s system will monitor printers and detesting facility in Fairfield, N.J. Today, IA liver ink automatically. Neither company is supplying dry provides industry news, consulting, copier/ toner as part of their plans. What better way to track the MFP/printer sales training, custom research page volume and service frequency of competitive installa- and product evaluations. Previously, Slawetsky tions? Other dealers are doing it. Why can’t you do that? worked for Sperry Rand and Xerox. He can be We have reviewed just four ideas meant to generate signifreached at lou@industryanalysts.com. icant incremental revenue and profits. “Incremental” means Visit www.industryanalysts.com.

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Beyond the Box Avoid the pitfalls of selling a commodity by: Julie Hansen, Performance Sales and Training

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hen you got into the office technology business, you probably never imagined that you would be selling a commodity. Yet, like sugar, wheat or pork bellies, here you are. How do you know when you are selling a commodity? n Name a feature and your competitor has it (or soon will). n You have limited qualitative differences in the eyes of customers. n Buying decisions typically come down to price.

Perception is reality. And the reality is that if customers do not see a significant difference between you and your competitor other than price, you are in the commodity business. How can you avoid the shrinking margins, reduced loyalty and price wars of a commodity? How can you drive preference when your offerings are similar to others? Certainly not by using the same sales tools and techniques that have been used in the past.

To succeed in today’s competitive marketplace, you need to sell “beyond the box” and adopt skills that allow you to: n Stand out from the competition; n Deliver a compelling message; n Provide an engaging, interactive demonstration; n Earn “trusted-advisor” status; n Ensure your message is “sticky.”

Beyond-the-box techniques will help you create and deliver memorable points of differentiation in the eyes of your customers, and lead you away from selling high-risk commodities and into selling preferred solutions.

What is Your X Factor?

Like an actor auditioning for a role where everyone is reading from the same script, if you sound and act like your competition, you have no competitive advantage. When

everything appears equal to a customer, what is the differentiator?

What is the X factor that sets you apart? It is not your product or service. It is you and your sales team.

Customers may buy a solution, but first they buy the people. You and your team’s ability to communicate effectively and impactfully with each and every customer in a way that makes them say, “They really get me,” will give you a greater edge over your competition than anything else.

How do you get the X factor? It is not by chance that great actors, athletes or salespeople rise to the top of their professions. They are prepared — not just with product or industry knowledge, but with the knowledge of how to communicate with today’s customers. Following are some beyondthe-box techniques to help you do that.

Simplify Your Message When it comes to selling technology, it is easy for salespeople to get lost in the weeds by over-explaining, discussing features that are not relevant or resorting to technobabble. Make sure you are talking about or demonstrating your product in a way that your customer can easily absorb. For example: n Provide context for each feature or capability. n Follow each feature with a benefit. Do not assume the benefits are obvious. n Provide a good balance of detail with the bigger picture. n Use your customer’s language wherever possible. n Make connections between what your product does and how it would work in your customer’s world. n Avoid “teaching” and try to focus on “associating.”

Structuring your demonstration or conversation in a way that your customer can understand and remember takes time and effort, but it is an investment that will pay off.

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connect with today’s busy customers.

Cut to the Chase Try putting some of these techniques A well-crafted, wellCustomers are short on time and atinto practice. Learning to sell beyond tention. Before they can hear your mesdelivered story can grab the box will turn around shrinking sage, you have to break through the attention and generate margins, increase customer loyalty and clutter of competing messages and gain emotional buy-in in a put you back where you want to be: selltheir mindshare. How? The movies, a $5 way that logical appeals ing preferred solutions. n billion industry, provide a good structure Julie Hansen is the author of “ACT Like a and delivery of facts for this. Think about where movies start.

Sales Pro!” and is founder of Performance With a long prologue by the director? alone cannot.

Sales and Training, providing sellers of No. They start where the action is. Why? technology with innovative and effective Because they know their audiences have ways to differentiate their solutions.

She has provided sales short attention spans. In the same way, you have a few pretraining to thousands of sales professionals worldwide from cious seconds (seven to 15) to gain your customers’ attention such companies as IBM, Oracle, SAP, National Public and interest before they get bored and mentally wander off.

Radio and Coldwell Banker.

Hansen will And once you lose them, it is nearly impossible to win them present the April BTA Building My Business back. So, think about what the most important and/or interWebinar, “How to Sell Beyond the Box,” at esting part of your message is and put it up front.

4 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, April 24.

She can be reached at (303) 717-3935 or Gain Emotional Buy-in Through Stories julie@actingforsales.com.

A well-crafted, well-delivered story can grab attention and Visit www.actingforsales.com. generate emotional buy-in in a way that logical appeals and delivery of facts alone cannot. To be competitive, you should have a variety of stories in your sales arsenal, including: n Customer-success stories; n Metaphors or analogies that place the product in a context your customer can relate to; n Opening stories that grab attention and lead into your product demonstration or conversation.

A succinct, relevant, well-told story can be highly effective in helping customers see themselves using your product, move them off a common objection or create a lasting impression that leads to a sale.

Create a “Sticky” Message In order to drive home your message and be remembered when buying decisions are made, you need to include what Chip and Dan Heath, in their book, “Made to Stick,” call a “sticky message” — an insight or statement that quickly conveys your product’s relevance to the customer in a memorable way.

So, what is your sticky message? A turnkey solution?

Service comes first? “We are your trusted advisors”? All of these things are great, but if your audience can only remember one thing, what do you want that to be and what is your strategy for communicating it? Make it easy for your customer to recall what is really important by summarizing your “one thing” in a simple power bite and position it strategically in your conversation or demonstration.

Some people actually enjoy the high-risk, volatile nature of the commodity business. If you are not one of them, empower your front line with new tools and techniques that www.offi cetechnol ogyma g. c om | Ap ri l 2014 | 21

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Winter Break BTA Southeast hosts district event in Orlando by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

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aking a break from the snow and ice that swept across the country in the days prior, office technology dealers gathered Feb. 14-15 in Orlando, Fla., for BTA’s Winter Break district event, hosted by BTA Southeast. The event gave dealers the opportunity to learn from industry experts, network with fellow dealers and gather new ideas and strategies.

A comment shared by Earl Philpot, president of Precision Duplicating Solutions Inc., London, Ky., on the Winter Break attendee evaluation form was indicative of comments shared by dealers regarding the event. “I really enjoyed the Winter Break event,” he wrote. “I met some great people and learned some wonderful things to grow my business.”

Winter Break featured a keynote by Mason Olds of Canon U.S.A. Inc.: “The Future for Dealers & Vendors in a Highly Connected Society.” Among the other educational sessions: “Identifying Your Vertical Market Opportunities,” with David Ramos of InfoTrends; “Customer-Centered Engagement Model — A Key to Services Growth,” with Jim Heffernan of Insights53 LLC; “A’s Hire A’s, B’s Hire C’s,” with Ronelle Ingram, a hands-on working service professional; “How to Turbocharge Your Sales Leadership,” with Steve Waterhouse of Predictive Results; and “Making the Leap to MPS,” with Mike Lecak, Collaborative Consultant Group. The educational sessions also featured a dealer panel, “Disrupt — How to Spark Transformation in Your Business,” moderated by Ramos.

The event included a welcoming reception on the first night, and wrapped up with a trip to one of the Disney theme parks of the attendees’ choice: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom.

The next BTA district event, Cruise to Success, will take place May 15-16, 2014, at the InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile in Chicago. For more information, see the ad on pages 2-3 in this issue or visit www.bta.org/BTAMid AmericaEvent. n Brent Hoskins, executive director of the Business Technology Association, is editor of Office Technology magazine.

Clockwise from top: BTA Southeast’s Winter Break featured seven educational sessions; Ronelle Ingram presents “A’s Hire A’s, B’s Hire C’s”; (left to right) Brian Snow, Advanced Business Systems, Tallahassee, Fla., Lou Usherwood, Usherwood Office Technology, Syracuse, N.Y., and John Frisch, Higher Information Group, Harrisburg, Pa., share their insight during the dealer panel, “Disrupt — How to Spark Transformation in Your Business”; Jim Heffernan presents “Customer-Centric Engagement Model — A Key to Services Growth”; and keynote speaker Mason Olds presents “The Future for Dealers & Vendors in a Highly Connected Society.”

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The Dealer’s Future I

Clockwise from top: The Winter Break event provided dealer attendees many opportunities to network with one another: (From left) Roger Hendrix, Hendrix Business Systems, Matthews, N.C., Mike Stodder and Dan Ray, Accent Imaging Inc., Raleigh, N.C.; BTA Southeast Administrator Linda Alwood (left) and BTA Executive Director Brent Hoskins present an Apple iPad to Cindy Derstine, Altek Business Systems, Telford, Pa., the winner in a prize drawing for early registrants; Jim Brown (right), Dictronics Inc., Needham, Mass., visits with Shawn Stockman (left) and Jerry Drisaldi of OnePak Logistics Systems; Mike Lecak presents “Making the Leap to MPS”; Steve Waterhouse presents “How to Turbocharge Your Sales Leadership”; Bill Woodard (left) and Anthony LoGuidice of Sharp Electronics Canada Ltd., Ontario, Canada, listen to one of the educational sessions; and David Ramos presents “Identifying Your Vertical Market Opportunities.”

n order to ensure continued success, independent dealers must make sure they are actively and wisely planning for the future, given the societal and technology usage trends now underway. This advice was shared by Mason Olds, vice president and general manager of the Business Imaging Solutions Group at Canon U.S.A. Inc., during his Winter Break keynote presentation, “The Future for Dealers & Vendors in a Highly Connected Society.”

“The first thing that I’m going to say about talking about the future is this: I wouldn’t believe anybody who says they can tell you what the future is,” Olds began. “Maybe that’s a little bit my nature but, in general, we all know it’s very difficult to predict the future.”

Despite the inherent difficulty in accurately predicting the future, Olds said current societal and technology changes do provide a look at the possibilities of what may lie ahead for the office technology industry. “I think it is fair to say that everyone is a little bit nervous, when you look at unit shipments,” he said, citing the relatively flat market for print-device unit shipments and end-user spending. “The service side of the hardware business is how you make most of your money, but you have to get the hardware out there.”

Olds shared with the audience Gartner unit shipment forecasts through 2017. “You can see it is a very flat picture, but not terrible, for the next four or five years,” he said. “So, you don’t have a lot of breathing room, but you do have some time to either improve your business or figure out what else your business can do when times do get leaner.”

Looking to the coming few years, Olds encouraged dealers to consider “which will win” between “paperless technology” and “ever-increasing content.” He shared that, as a 52-year-old, he frequently prints documents, but his 20-year-old son “never prints anything.” One viewpoint looks to the continued growth in paperless technologies, while the other is that since “there is so much content out there, it could be good,” he said, noting that there is now more content to be printed. “You have to draw your own conclusions. Nobody knows, right?”

Olds cited several strategies for dealers to consider as they look to ensure their continued success, starting with a means to increase page volume in the coming years. “The stronger dealerships that I see have geographically expanded,” he said.

“Volumes are coming down, so you have to do more if you want to keep making profit. Can you do this in your town where you have always done it? It’s difficult. So, you move to the next town too. You can do this by acquiring somebody else.”

Beyond geographical expansion, among the other strategies cited by Olds were: hiring a new employee who will bring “new energy” into the dealership; software solutions, MPS or IT services; and finding additional B2B products to sell. He also encouraged dealers to sell production MFPs. “We are seeing a lot of dealers who were reluctant for years, now saying, ‘These products are really good for us’; they have helped them move their businesses forward very nicely,” he says, noting that Canon acquired Océ to provide access to more high-end products, targeting, in part, the trend of offset print jobs being moved to digital devices. “There is a good opportunity to get more of that onto digital technology. Any of you would be wise to move upstream.” n —Brent Hoskins www.offi cetechnol ogymag. c om | Ap ri l 2014 | 23

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COURTS & CAPITOLS

Worldwide Buzz Recent events give insight into new business models by: Robert C. Goldberg, General Counsel for the Business Technology Association

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ince my last column, I have atSuccessful dealers appear to be plactended the Business Technoling new business into the managed ogy and Services Conference services model and waiting until the (BTAS) in Sydney, Australia, and the end of current relationships to suggest ITEX National Conference and Expo a change for existing customers. The in Las Vegas. Both of these meetings sale is not of another piece of hardprovided an excellent opportunity to ware, but a process that improves efvisit with dealers and obtain frontficiencies, lowers costs and increases line information regarding the indussystem reliability. Despite the expetry. Regardless of the location, size of riences that can be shared, there is the dealership or experience in the The 2014 BTAS Conference drew 142 attendees clearly a learning curve and it can take industry, the rapid pace of change is a from 46 independent dealerships. years to develop the correct model for concern for all. your dealership.

Paul Brady of Business Enabled in Australia organized the Changing your business model may not be as difficult as BTAS Conference. It was a first-time event that quickly filled to changing the habits of your sales force. Comfortable with excapacity. Australian dealers are shifting to managed services isting practices and compensation models, salespeople are unand looking for guidance for a successful transition. As in the comfortable in uncharted territory. Education and examples United States, there are pioneers who have war stories to relate. must be used to convince your salespeople that change is in The Australian market also has problems with channel conflict order. Some dealers have found that paying a 12-month combetween direct and indirect distribution. Employee issues do mission up front is most similar to the hardware sale model. not appear to be a significant concern.

Others have been able to demonstrate that a recurring monthly The BTAS Conference presenters were from the United payment becomes more lucrative over time. Most compensaStates, and I was fortunate to share the platform with Jon tion models cap sales commissions to a 12-month period.

Reardon of InfoTrends; Darrell Amy of Dealer Marketing; Troy Pricing and bundling seem to be a successful approach Casper of Compass Sales Solutions; Mitch Morgan and Chris worldwide. Refusing to itemize options eliminates cherryRyne of Growth Achievement Partners; and Ed Crowley of the picking and price comparisons. Recently, a dealer who sold a Photizo Group. Jon, Darrell and Mitch will be speaking at BTA’s managed network program was challenged when he refused Cruise to Success district event, hosted by BTA Mid-America, to address a virus that had infected the system. The customer May 15-16, in Chicago, and you can benefit significantly from had rejected antivirus protection and firewall maintenance, their insight by attending. electing to handle these internally. When a virus infected the ITEX was not as enlightening, but did provide an excellent system and caused it to crash, the dealer refused to remedy the opportunity to meet with dealers and suppliers. Naturally, the problem under the managed network agreement. Without toBTA Dealer Member Appreciation Reception was the place to tal responsibility for the network, issues such as this will arise be and was an enjoyable forum for members to meet and catch and disputes will develop. Insisting on a full network package up. Unfortunately, many of ITEX’s educational sessions em- will avoid these situations. phasized products rather than knowledge. Many dealers exOf course, updating your transactional documents is also a pressed they were transitioning into managed services, how- must. Visit the BTA website for a template for managed services. ever, their definitions of managed services were quite varied.

Finally, take advantage of the educational proIn several instances, it appeared that the transition was from grams available to assist in avoiding the obstacles cost per copy to managed print services, without a significant others have faced. To that point, I hope to see you underlying change in services. at Cruise to Success, May 15-16, in Chicago. n From both conferences, I gained insight about the pitfalls Robert C. Goldberg is general counsel for the of transitioning from break/fix to managed services. First, Business Technology Association. the transition should not be an abrupt change, but a process.

He can be reached at robert.goldberg@sfnr.com.

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EDUCATION CALENDAR April 23

FIX: Cost Management for Service 2.0 Van Nuys, Calif.

FIX, BTA’s popular service workshop, teaches you how to compute the cost of your service labor hour (service burden rate) and improve your overall service department profitability. Workshop instructors Ronelle Ingram and Rock Janecek will cover proven management and customer service programs to improve morale within your service department. Sponsored by Micro Solutions Enterprises (MSE), this workshop is free to BTA members (a $495 value). To be held at the corporate headquarters of MSE, this class will include a brief MSE presentation and plant tour. A limited number of seats are available, so register today. Visit www.bta.org/FIX to register.

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Building My Business Webinar - “How to Sell ‘Beyond the Box’” In today’s competitive market, how can you make sure you rise above the shrinking margins and price wars of selling a commodity? Not by using the same sales tools and techniques you have used in the past. In this webinar, Julie Hansen, founder of Performance Sales and Training, will reveal the innovative skills you need to sell “beyond the box” and create those critical points of differentiation in the eyes of your customers that will lead you away from selling high-risk commodities and into selling preferred solutions. Visit www.bta.org/BuildingMyBusiness to register.

May 14

BTA Managed Services Workshop Chicago, Ill. The Managed Services Business Model taught in this workshop is the first of its kind, specifically for BTA dealers, and has been developed by workshop instructors Mitch Morgan and Chris Ryne of Growth Achievement Partners (GAP), and Continuum. The companies’ combined knowledge in the managed services space will allow dealers to walk away with a “time-tested” business model and key metrics to guide success in this important strategic area. Attendees to this workshop receive free registration to Cruise to Success. Visit www.bta.org/MS to register.

15-16 Cruise to Success - A BTA district event hosted by BTA Mid-America Chicago, Ill. 2014’s Cruise to Success, open to BTA member and non-member dealers from across the country, is all about providing dealers the framework to change — to transform — their dealerships in order to reap the rewards of today’s opportunities. Join your fellow dealers and 39 exhibitors on May 15-16 at the InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile in Chicago to learn how to get to where you need to be. Call it: “The Five Critical Steps to Transformation.” You won’t regret it.

Neither will your bottom line. Visit www.bta.org/BTAMidAmericaEvent to register.

For more information, visit www.bta.org/Education or call (800) 843-5059.

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BTA HIGHLIGHTS BTA would like to welcome the following new members to the association:

Dealer Members 360 Dynamic Technology Inc., Anaheim, CA AM Copiers, El Centro, CA Business Technology Partners, Orlando, FL Cartridges & More, Marquette, MI Hogland Office Equipment, Lubbock, TX Illuminat Ltd., Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago J2 Office Products, Kalispell, MT KOMAX Business Systems, South Charleston, WV North Bay Copier, Rohnert Park, CA Select Business Systems, Fresno, CA Service Associate Member Relevant CRM, Wake Forest, NC For full contact information of these new members, visit www.bta.org.

For the benefit of its dealer members, each month BTA features two of its Vendor or Service Associate members in this space.

As an independent financing company, BTA Service Associate member Ervin Leasing has been designing financing solutions that build upon its vendors’ brand strength and market share, as well as increasing their customers’ ability to acquire the equipment they need to grow their businesses. Ervin Leasing provides superior service with a variety of leasing plans on virtually all types of commercial equipment. The company has been a proud member of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) since its inception in 1978. www.ervinleasing.com

Scholarships for use at colleges or accredited vocational trade schools are available to the sons and daughters of full-time employees of BTA member dealerships. Scholarship recipients are chosen by an impartial and independent evaluator. Completed applications must be received at BTA by May 1, 2014. To obtain a scholarship application form, contact Mary Hopkins at mary@bta.org or (816) 941-3100 or write to: B TA Scholarship Foundation, 12411 Wornall Road, Kansas City, MO 64145.

For more information, visit www. bta.org/Scholarships.

BTA Vendor Associate member Stoner, located near Quarryville, Pa., manufactures specialized cleaners, lubricants and coatings for both business-to-business and consumer applications. Founded 60 years ago by Paul Stoner, the company has enjoyed a history of innovation and accomplishment. Today, pursuing a mission to help customers “save time, increase productivity and improve the quality of their work,” Stoner formulates more than 300 solutions that are packaged in aerosol cans and larger bulk-liquid containers. www.criticalcleaning.com

For information on BTA member benefits, visit www.bta.org/MemberBenefits.

A full list of BTA Vendor and Service Associate members can be found online at www.bta.org.

BTA Scholarship Foundation

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Highlights Apr 14.indd 1

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IT drives the world. We drive IT.

How an IT Leader Streamlined Services and Improved Performance Metrics The Client: Locknet® is one of the largest Managed Service Providers (MSPs) in the Midwest, and one of North America’s top 200 MSPs. Locknet works with more than 500 customers offering managed firewall, cloud backup, network management and security, network installation and support 24/7.

The Challenge: In 2012, Locknet was acquired by EO Johnson Office Technologies,a leader in print and document technologies.

The business strategy was to extend Locknet’s successful managed service business model to EO Johnson’s existing managed print clients in an effort to deliver additional value to its clients.

Testimonial:

The Solution:

“Autotask gives us a better understanding of our profitability and cash flow, providing us with access to the data we need to inform our growth plans for the future.”

– Laurence Matula, Project Manager

Autotask was already a key partner in Locknet’s managed services business.

EO Johnson built on this success, integrating Autotask with its ERP system to provide a seamless customer service infrastructure to serve the needs of its traditional print customers and its newly acquired MSP customers.

Read more case studies at autotask.com/casestudies

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SELLING SOLUTIONS

Customer Meetings Consider adopting these best practices by: Jim Heffernan, Insights53 LLC

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eeting with customers is one of the most basic functions of selling. It is what we do to build relationships and move opportunities forward to close. It is so basic, in fact, that we may wonder, “Do we really need a process for that?”

A front-line sales manager with a team of five salespeople might expect 200 customer meetings to be completed every month. The effectiveness of those meetings directly impacts the funnel, forecasts and quota achievement. Eliminating non-productive meetings contributes to effective management of sales resources and achievement of quotas.

So, what data exists that suggests that enhancing the meeting-planning process would deliver measurable results? The Miller Heiman Sales Best Practices Study provides some insight. Survey results showed that 40 percent of salespeople understood a customer’s business issues before proposing a solution. For sales leaders responsible for complex selling and long sales cycles, that fact may be alarming. An understandable reaction might be, “How could we get so far down the sales cycle that we are proposing solutions before uncovering the business issues they will solve?”

I recently led a workshop for seven experienced salespeople and managers. These were salespeople with five to 15 years of experience, who, for the first time in their careers, learned to use a defined process to plan customer meetings. They now have a road map that naturally focuses their knowledge and experience to plan for every interaction.

Consider how a repeatable process might eliminate nonproductive meetings and help your front-line sales managers optimize team performance. Consider adopting best practices used by the most successful sales organizations.

Customer Issues First: Leading sales organizations know that understanding customer challenges is a top priority. They recognize the practice as a differentiator in complex selling. Create value using these best practices: n Prioritize identifying the customer’s business issues, comparing them to your ideal customer or your criteria for a qualified opportunity. n Demonstrate your understanding of the customer’s issues, establish credibility and differentiate your company

from the competition. n Connect your solutions to customer business issues, tailoring your message to resonate with different buyers in the customer account.

Plan to Engage: You must plan your customer meetings. If the right contacts are not showing up at your meetings, it is a signal that better planning is needed.

If meeting attendees are watching their phones, greater engagement is needed.

Eliminate non-productive meetings using these best practices: n Define the purpose of the meeting from the perspective of the buyers invited to attend. n Plan the agenda to advance both your selling process and the customer’s buying process; it is key to engaging attendees. n Insist that the purpose of every meeting is to either move an opportunity forward or to build the relationship.

Plan for Results: Front-line sales managers consider constructive feedback key to developing people and improving sales effectiveness. Opportunity reviews can be followed by a documented meeting plan, which defines how the salesperson will execute. Support salespeople using these best practices: n Document the meeting plan to get input/buy-in from the salesperson, sales manager and your coach inside the account. n Detail what information will be presented and what information needs to be provided by the customer in order to move the opportunity forward. n Define a successful outcome in terms of the “best-case” and “worst-case” customer commitment to next actions.

Customer meetings are one of the most basic selling functions that drive quota achievement. Prioritizing customer issues, engaging buyers and defining results are best practices for planning effective meetings. Sales leaders can improve sales effectiveness by leveraging a repeatable process to ensure every interaction moves an opportunity forward or builds a customer relationship. © Miller Heiman Inc. All Rights Reserved. n Jim Heffernan is president of Insights53 LLC, helping companies improve sales performance management. He is a consulting partner for Miller Heiman and the Photizo Group. Download the Miller Heiman Prospecting Guide or subscribe to the Sales Performance Journal at www.insights.com.

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SELLING SOLUTIONS

Solution Selling Here are five critical strategies for success by: John Mannion, Mannion Global Consulting

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ffice technology dealers have a big task to compete in selling IT solutions. The great thing is, most dealers have longstanding relationships with their customers.

Faced with increasing competition, commoditization, document management needs and much more, dealers should embrace solution selling in one form or another. But, as many have learned at a cost, simply slapping “solution lipstick” on a “product pig” tends to be a cost-added, rather than a value-added, strategy.

Applying solution selling in today’s increasingly well-educated — and often justifiably cynical — buying environment requires a profound change in mindset, selling and marketing. If your organization can master the skills of solution selling, you will definitely have success not only selling IT solutions, but also hardware.

With years of experience in sales strategy and selling hardware, software, managed services, staff augmentation, document management and support, I have experienced and trained the best exponents of the art. I would like to suggest that there are five critical strategies in solution selling. They involve more than the salesperson. They require a team approach and coordination between the sales, marketing, management and technical organizations. Successful solution selling is a team effort.

Client Education Prior to the Sale Buyers want to buy from experts, not beginners. Today, they are inclined to trust and buy from organizations that not only appear to be experts in their fields, but that are prepared and able to share their expertise. Decision makers like learning something new; they will push back against the “hard sell.” If you want to earn the trust of your prospects, you need to educate them before you sell. If you are talking about managed IT solutions, educate the customer on the space and the tools.

If you are selling a unified communications phone system, educate the buyer on the space and ensure they have the right solution. Make them want to learn more.

Which Problems Can You Best Solve?

Being a trusted advisor is a great place to be with a prospect. Once you have established this position, you have a goal

in mind, and that is to sell your solution. So, you need to identify the problems that you are best at solving and concentrate on them. Focus on the problems that you can address better than any other option open to the customer. Otherwise, you are just educating the market on behalf of the competition.

You need to know your business’s strengths and weaknesses.

If you are selling a managed IT solution, know your solution’s strengths and weaknesses and your success rate will increase.

Expose the Customer Problem Do not be the eager beaver and jump to solve a prospect’s problems prior to knowing his (or her) needs. There is a tendency for an inexperienced salesperson to leap straight into proposing a solution the moment he knows he can solve an existing issue with a prospect. This is usually the worst thing you can do. Really dig into the problem the prospect is having and explore the implications of that problem. Make sure the prospect accepts that the problem is actually worth solving. Once you identify the problem, selling the solution will be a smooth transition and it will more likely lead to success.

Sell Your Company’s Approach Every organization has a differentiator — if the company expresses it. Try and work with the client to sell and promote your www.offi cetechnol ogymag. c om | Ap ri l 2014 | 29

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company’s approach/philosophy/methods.

Jumping straight to your product features plays right into the hands of the “commoditizers.” It is becoming increasingly difficult to justify price premiums on product features alone. It is easy for your competitors to claim the same. You will do far better selling your approach and explaining why your company has chosen to follow a distinctively different path from your competition. Explain the methods of your managed IT and/or professional services organization.

have successfully sold the problem, sold your unique approach and shown how you are different. It is now a great deal easier to convince the prospect that the best option is to go with you. n John Mannion is president of Mannion Global Consulting, which provides consulting services to organizations looking to grow from traditional printer and copier dealerships to multifaceted professional services and IT solutions organizations. He has been in the telephony and IT industry since 1997, starting with Lucent Technologies in Chicago, where he was introduced to the solutions sales approach. Mannion later served at Target Large Enterprises, British Telecom Global Service Group and Ricoh Business Solutions U.S. He can be reached at jmannion@mannionglobalconsulting.com.

Visit www.mannionglobalconsulting.com.

You will do far better selling your approach and explaining why your company has chosen to follow a distinctively different path from your competition.

Enable Buyers to Convince Themselves Of course, presenting your solution to the prospect is important and should be done after you sell/promote your company’s approach/philosophy/methods. Because you have presented the problem and the best solution to your prospect, you have differentiated yourself by taking the extra steps to understand and educate that prospect. Any prior claim to providing a solution is, simply, premature in comparison. You

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