April 2019 Office Technology

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CONTENTS Volume 25 • No. 10

FEATURE ARTICLES 10

Managed IT Services Dealers share insight into this diversification strategy

DEALERSHIP SPOTLIGHT Pearson-Kelly Technology Dealership’s co-owners are prepared for the future

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by Elizabeth Marvel Office Technology Magazine

by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

It is not every day you see a fatherdaughter team running a dealership, but co-owners of BTA member Pearson-Kelly Technology, Mike Kelly, CEO, and Chelsey Bode, president, have perfected the art of working together.

Many in the industry are advising — if not warning — dealers to be open minded about taking their dealerships in a new direction. Increasingly, managed IT services is becoming a key part of that new direction.

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Renaming & Rebranding Tell the story with your company name & logo

by Chip Miceli Pulse Technology

P R I N C I PA L I S S U E S A Limitless Future Konica Minolta hosts 2019 Dealer Conference

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by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

A company name is an important part of branding. With that said, a business should be open to some introspection along the way. Does your company name still have the same value and impact today as when it was launched?

COURTS & CAPITOLS 22

A $1-Million Promise BTA & Konica Minolta develop agreement

by Robert C. Goldberg BTA General Counsel

At its 2019 Dealer Conference, held March 4-6 in Newport Beach, California, Konica Minolta Business Solutions USA Inc. emphasized its focus on helping dealers better serve their customers.

SELLING SOLUTIONS Maximize Sales in 2019 Five top opportunities for success

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by Melissa D. Whitaker Melissa Whitaker International

Several months ago, Brent Hoskins, the Business Technology Association’s executive director, and I were invited to Phoenix, Arizona, for a significant industry announcement. We learned about Konica Minolta’s acquisition of MWA.

DEALERS HELPING DEALERS 25

Client Referrals Dealers share strategies for finding new business Compiled by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

This article includes another of the questions submitted by a dealer member as part of BTA’s Dealers Helping Dealers resource, and many of the answers received. These answers and others can be found on the BTA website.

With so much change in our industry over this past year, I am consistently met with these questions: What are the biggest opportunities to grow sales and business?

How do we stay relevant? What will give us the edge?

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

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• BTA Education 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

Interested in Joining a BTA Peer Group?

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s I begin writing this column, it is Wednesday, March 20. I am sitting in the PRO Dealer Group’s (PDG’s) 16th meeting, this one held at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa today and tomorrow in Orlando, Florida, just prior to the 2019 BTA National Conference. PDG is one of three BTA peer groups. As the BTA staff liaison to the group, it has been my privilege to attend all of the PDG meetings. It has also been great to watch this group develop through the years.

Why great? Because it perfectly illustrates the key focus of BTA — dealers helping dealers. The agenda at this day-anda-half meeting has 18 discussion topics submitted in advance by attendees. A sampling of the topics: Use of CRMs by Sales Reps; Acquiring an IT Provider; and Retaining Millennial Talent. John Hey of Strategic Business Associates (SBA) is moderating the discussion. He begins the discussion for each topic by handing the microphone to the member who submitted the topic, so the individual can explain what sort of information or guidance he or she is seeking.

That’s when the magic happens. The group is seated in a U-shape configuration, facilitating a very open dialog, with everyone able to easily see one another. Once a new topic is introduced, many of the attendees start sharing their own stories, offering advice, commenting on which vendors are more supportive than others, etc.

Given his many years as a very successful dealership principal and subsequent work as a consultant to other dealers, John is an excellent facilitator of the discussion.

Todd Johnson, also of SBA, attends many PDG meetings as well. He, too, is an excellent facilitator to the open discussion portions

of the meetings. In addition, Todd manages the annual financial survey completed by members of PDG each year. Ultimately, PDG members receive a financial report from SBA that essentially shows how their financial metrics compare to the aggregated numbers of the others in the group. That way, no individual member dealer’s metrics are shared with the other members. Members can also see how their metrics compare to the model taught in BTA’s ProFinance 3.0.

The survey results reveal where PDG members may need to make improvements.

BTA has another peer group that is very similar to PDG — the Select Dealer Group (SDG). This group also works with John and Todd, and completes the annual financial survey. BTA’s marketing director, Valerie Briseno, serves as the staff liaison to the group. SDG was established in 2003; it currently has 38 member dealerships.

Back in 2010, I started to hear from dealers who could not join SDG due to the geographic restrictions on membership. Once I had a list of about 10 of these dealers, I worked to connect them, with an eye on starting a new peer group. The result was the establishment of PDG in 2012. Currently, the group has 24 member dealerships.

Both PDG and SDG welcome new members. If membership is of interest, for more information on PDG, visit www.bta.org/ PRODealerGroup or email me at brent@bta. org. For SDG, visit www.selectdealergroup. org or email Valerie at valerie@bta.org.

As mentioned, there is a third BTA peer group, the Association of Independent Mailing Equipment Dealers (AIMED). These are BTA members who are focused wholly or in part on the mailing and shipping equipment industry. This group is not geographically exclusive. For more information, visit www.bta.org/AIMED. 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 Chip Miceli, Pulse Technology www.pulsetechnology.com Melissa D. Whitaker, Melissa Whitaker International www.melissawhitakerintl.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 Marketing Director valerie@bta.org Brian Smith Membership Sales Representative brian@bta.org Photo Credits: Bigstockphoto. Cover created by Bruce Quade, Brand X Studio. ©2019 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

Special Thanks to Our Long-Term Members

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t the Business Technology Association’s (BTA’s) 2019 BTA National Conference, held March 22-23 in Orlando, Florida, I was impressed by the number of dealers in attendance.

Owners and employees from 60 dealerships (including dealerships in Puerto Rico and Australia) joined us at the conference, making it one of BTA’s most wellattended events in recent years.

Looking around the crowded ballroom at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, I was reminded of BTA’s long history and the many dealerships the association has served over the years. BTA was founded in 1926 and, since then, the association’s mission has been to help its members optimize business document and information workflows for their customers by providing them educational programs, information, research, legal services, publications, guidance and support.

Many of BTA’s current dealer members have been around for the long-haul, supporting the association through the industry’s ups and downs. This month, I would like to recognize and thank our longest-term dealer members, listed by the years they joined: 1930: Anderson Business Technology, Pasadena, CA 1939: Capital Business Machines, Little Rock, AR 1941: Wagner Office Machines, Burr Ridge, IL 1942: Howard D. Happy Co., Mayfield, KY 1945: Standley Systems, Chickasha, OK 1956: Waltz Business Solutions, Crestview Hills, KY 1957: Richardson Business Solutions, Grand Rapids, MI 1958: ABM Automation, Edmond, OK; Bishop Business, Omaha, NE; Eakes Office

Solutions, Grand Island, NE; Edwards Business Systems/Virginia Business Systems, Wyomissing, PA; SBM, Sterling, IL 1959: Central Office Service & Supply Inc., Clay Center, KS; Hagan Business Machines Inc., Erie, PA 1964: MOEbiz, Monroe, LA 1966: Southeastern Business Machines Co., Huntsville, AL 1968: MMIT Business Solutions Group, Urbandale, IA 1969: A & A Office Systems Inc., Middletown, CT; Hoosier Business Machines, Jasper, IN; Loy’s Office Supplies, LaGrange, GA 1970: Dustin Office Machines, Gainesville, TX; OfficeNet Inc., Fremont, NE 1971: Buckmaster Office Solutions, Sacramento, CA; Forbes Office Solutions Inc., Newton, IA; WJS Enterprises Inc., New Orleans, LA 1972: Adams Remco Inc., South Bend, IN; Boring Business Systems, Lakeland, FL 1973: Advance Business Systems, Cockeysville, MD; CopyPro Inc., Greenville, NC; Duplicator Sales & Service, Louisville, KY; Jim Gordon Inc., Columbus, IN; Stan’s - LPS Midwest, Woodstock, IL 1974: Allen Business Machines, Fort Wayne, IN; COECO Office Systems, Rocky Mount, NC; Fraser Advanced Information Systems, West Reading, PA 1975: American Office Machines Inc., Metairie, LA; Baker Office Solutions LLP, Florence, SC; Bay Copy, Rockland, MA; Copy & Camera Technologies Inc., Lafayette, LA; Duplicating Consultants Inc., Amherst, NY; Gobin’s Inc., Pueblo, CO; Memphis Communications Corp., Memphis, TN; Taylor Business Equipment LLC, Chicago, IL 1976: Carolina Business Equipment Inc., Columbia, SC; H L Dempsey Co. Inc., West Springfield, IL; SumnerOne, St. Louis, MO; Tri-City Business Machines, Kingsport, TN n — John Eckstrom

2018-2019 Board of Directors President John Eckstrom Carolina Business Equipment Inc. Columbia, South Carolina johne@cbesc.com President-Elect Bob Evans Function4 Sugar Land, Texas bobevans@function-4.com Vice President Tim Renegar Kelly Office Solutions Winston-Salem, North Carolina trenegar@kellyofficesolutions.com BTA East Tim Seeley Jr. Seeley Office Systems Inc. Glens Falls, NY tseeleyjr@seeleyoffice.com Don Risser Advanced Laser Printer Service & Supplies Inc. Emigsville, PA drisser@alpslaser.com BTA Mid-America Greg Quirk JQ Office Equipment Omaha, Nebraska gquirk@jqoffice.com DJ Hastings Hogland Office Equipment Lubbock, TX dj@hoglandofficeworks.com BTA Southeast David Polimeni RITE Technology Sarasota, Florida dpolimeni@ritefl.com Michael Hicks Electronic Business Machines Inc. Lexington, KY mhicks@ebmky.com BTA West Mike Brandon ABC Office Equipment Co. Inc. Spokane, Washington mbrandon@abcoe.com Joe Escamilla Document Systems Oxnard, CA jescamilla@documentsystems.com Immediate Past President Dan Castaneda International Copy Machine Center El Paso, Texas dan@icmc-elp.com Ex-Officio/General Counsel Robert C. Goldberg Schoenberg Finkel Newman & Rosenberg LLC Chicago, Illinois robert.goldberg@sfnr.com

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Managed IT Services Dealers share insight into this diversification strategy by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

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oday, diversification is a foundational strategy within many office technology dealerships. The reason is simple. The flat-to-declining imaging business has compelled dealerships to identify and pursue additional sources of revenue in order to ensure continued growth. Many in the industry are advising — if not warning — dealers to be open minded about taking their dealerships in a new direction, augmenting imaging devices with other product and services offerings.

Increasingly, managed IT services is becoming a key part of that new direction. The realization that managed IT is a good fit for office technology dealerships has led many dealers to embrace the opportunity, with an eye not only on new revenues and ultimate profitability, but also on the resulting pull-through of imaging devices and other products. It is not difficult to find dealerships with great expectations for managed IT. “I see no reason that within the next five to seven years it can’t be a least 50% of our revenues as a company,” says Pat Russell, president of ImageNet Consulting, an Oklahoma City, Oklahoma-based dealership with 19 locations in six states. “It’s going to be a lot of hard work and a lot of serious focus at the management level in each of our locations, but there’s no reason whatsoever that can’t happen.”

Russell’s comments may come as a surprise to some, given that it was just four years ago that ImageNet pursued managed IT, now at only 2% of revenues, though contributing 3% of the dealership’s profit. However, while only around 30 of the dealership’s 400-plus employees are focused on managed IT, “we’re constantly growing,” says Juan Fernandez, vice president of managed IT services at ImageNet. “We’ve rolled out our IT practice to about six of our offices.

We have a different methodology. We have a certain metric to achieve before moving to the next location.”

Sean Dawson, director of IT and solutions sales at CBE

Office Solutions, an Irvine, Californiabased dealership with four locations, is similarly optimistic about the growth of his dealership’s managed IT offering.

“We’re at about 5% to 7% of CBE’s revenues; last year we did about $2.7 million in IT,” he says. “My personal goal is to grow that revenue about 20% this year.”

Currently, CBE has about 25 managed IT personnel, but the number is increasing. “I am onboarding another person this week, and another person in about two weeks,” Dawson says. “We’re moving fast trying to build out our sales team.”

Luke Ubelhor, director of managed services at Donnellon McCarthy Enterprises (DME), a Cincinnati, Ohio-based dealership with seven locations in three states, likewise expresses expectations of continued managed IT services growth at DME. He also cites the primary motivation in pursuing that growth. “We want to be a solutions-focused company,” he says. “IT is the foundation that everything else is built on. If you are the trusted IT advisor, people know they don’t have to dig too deep for solutions; ‘We need a better way to access files. We have a bottleneck in our accounting department. Do you have a way for us to track printing?’

These kinds of things just naturally come up in conversation, because you already own the network.”

The managed IT services operation at DME is currently “one of the fastest growing segments of our business,” Ubelhor says. “In fact, our managed IT operation is already big enough to be a small IT company and, from a revenue standpoint, is experiencing double-digit growth.”

DME’s managed IT services operation is profitable, Ubelhor says. “We’re making a good margin on the recurring services,” he says. “You are not going to make the margins that you are going to make on copier service, but you are going to make good margins on the recurring revenue and exceptional margins on the projects and on-site support.”

Russell similarly touted managed IT profitability, but

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advised that dealers must be work to get those opportu“I need to find someone patient. “Last year, we turned nities across the finish line. a profit,” he says. “So, it took Sales consultants from the who is technical and has us four years, but I am very printer world are not as well had experience with proud of that ... I understand versed on managed IT, but managed services and IT. the wariness of some dealthey can do enough to disIn addition, this person ers [in terms of the road to cover an opportunity and needs to be able to sell profitability]. IT employees we’ll let Juan [and his team] direct and hunt, and be are very well educated. They take it from there.” able to serve.” know it, they are proud of it Aside from addressing and they want to be paid for personnel requirements and

— Sean Dawson it. So, there is a pretty decent the IT selling process, dealCBE Office Solutions investment up front, just to ers currently looking to get going.” add managed IT services Fernandez notes that finding the right people can be dif- will also need to consider the necessary infrastructure. It ficult. “Generally speaking, in IT we need a gigantic level of is often said that dealers have a choice of buying, building expertise to be able to deliver all of these products and tech- or partnering. In the case of CBE, the decision was a comnology stacks; they [IT employees] have to be well versed,” bination of buying and building. The dealership acquired he says. “[You need] a virtual CIO who is very good in front a managed service provider (MSP) three years ago (70% to of people, can communicate simply and who understands 80% of the MSP’s employees are still employed by CBE), but what he or she is talking about. That person is generally ex- handles in-house what many dealerships outsource. “If you pensive and difficult to find.” are talking about remote monitoring and base services, we Actually, for some managed IT positions, ImageNet has do it all here,” Dawson says. “We use remote monitoring had “a lot of success” finding and “growing” millennials, software, but our team manages it. We have our own secuFernandez adds. “So, we’re finding that ‘the right talent’ isn’t rity people, help desk, projects people and senior engineers always the question,” he says. “We’re growing talent. It’s a on staff. We also have our own data center.” lot of effort, but they are the future, because they’re young In terms of its remote monitoring of customer networks — up and coming. They are going to have nothing but best and help-desk support, ImageNet initially handled the tasks practices ‘built into them,’ and they are going to be super in-house, but ultimately took a different route. “We started successful with it. I don’t have to ‘take any bad’ out of them.” out creating our own internal NOC [network operations Dawson offers an additional perspective on hiring, not- center] and help desk, but we ‘stubbed our toes and skinned ing that he is often challenged to find the right people for IT our knees’ pretty good on that, quite frankly,” Russell says. sales. “I need to find someone who is technical and has had “Finding the right people and keeping those people, from experience with managed services and IT. In addition, this the help-desk perspective, was a bit of a challenge for us.” person needs to be able to sell direct and hunt, and be able Eventually, ImageNet transitioned to using a third parto serve. What do I mean by ‘serve’? That’s what I call it when ty for remote monitoring and help-desk support. Russell somebody is working with another sales team as an overlay.” turned to a dealer friend for advice. “He basically said, ‘You Of course, it comes as no surprise that IT personnel will need to look at Continuum,’” he says. “They had been in manfrequently serve as “an overlay” for general-line sales reps. aged IT far longer than we had at the time and he made the That is, the sales reps often identify the opportunities and comment, ‘Since we’ve moved to Continuum, we’ve actually then bring in IT personnel. “They don’t have a quota right begun to turn profits.’ That was enough to get my attention.” now for IT services, document management, etc.; it’s mainly As noted, ImageNet’s managed IT services offerings are copiers, since that is the main part of our business,” Dawson now profitable. “We engaged with them; the price points says of CBE’s general-line sales reps. “Eventually, that could were right,” Fernandez says of the transition to working change. But, for now, they spot IT opportunities, ask ques- with Continuum. “We let them deal with all the hiring, firtions and bring us in. We either combo with them or we take ing and all of the other ‘opportunities’ on the back end. It’s over the sale from there.” been a really good partnership for us.”

Russell essentially cites the same scenario at ImageNet Fernandez emphasizes that the vast majority of cusregarding the dealership’s “sales consultants,” as they are tomer issues are addressed by Continuum. “About 10% called. “Ultimately, their role is to uncover the [managed IT] to 12% of the tickets come back to us,” he says. “So, we opportunities,” he says. “We then have specialists who can get more than 80% of first-call resolution and customer 12 | ­w w w. o f f ic et ec hno lo g y m a g.c om | Ap r il 2 0 1 9

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As noted, managed IT satisfaction from their of“I’m thinking of one of our services will provide pullfering. That gives us the opthrough sales of other prodportunity to stay lean and accounts in particular where ucts. So, to some degree, mean and focus on business we started out with it is a diversification stratoutcomes with our custommanaged IT services and egy that provides a different ers, because we are not havhave since put in displays; means to the same end. Rusing to deal with the noise.” we’re working to take over sell says dealers pursuing Ubelhor declined to reall of its print devices as well. the strategy should keep this veal the name of the thirdSo, yes, it absolutely has pull-through.” in mind. “I’m thinking of one party remote monitoring of our accounts in particular and help-desk provider used

— Pat Russell where we started out with

by DME so as not to divulge ImageNet Consulting managed IT services and that information to compethave since put in displays; itors, but he did note that the percentage of customer issues handled by the third par- we’re working to take over all of its print dety is high. “95% of any issues that come up will be resolved vices as well,” he says. “So, yes, it absolutely by their NOC or help desk,” he says, noting that it makes it has pull-through.” n Brent Hoskins, executive director of the easier for customers to budget for their networking with Business Technology Association, is editor that statistic in mind. “We’ll go on-site when we need to and of Office Technology magazine. He can be we’ll do projects when we need to, but those are billed as reached at brent@bta.org or (816) 303-4040. additional costs.”

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3/26/19 8:10 AM

Renaming & Rebranding Tell the story with your company name & logo by: Chip Miceli, Pulse Technology

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hat’s in a name? I have long believed that a company name is an important part of its branding. With that said, a business should be open to some introspection along the way. Does your company’s name still have the same value and impact today as when it was launched? If the answer is “no,” it makes sense to take a step back and think about a change.

Some companies aim to achieve the objective: “Let your name tell the world what you do.” Others prefer something a little less specific, where the name becomes the brand.

Sometimes it works really well. Think Xerox. It is so ingrained in our culture that it is used not only as a noun, but also as a verb. “Will you Xerox this for me?” That is when a company knows it has truly “arrived.”

As for my company, it is in its second generation of company ownership and there is a third generation in place as well. Our professional team extends far beyond merely family, although we do like to think of our 130 employees company-wide as extended family. For all of our company’s history, we kept the same name — until recently.

Over the years, we have been on a growth trajectory that included both offering new services, as well as growth through acquisition. Each time we acquired an entity, we folded it into our corporate name. But with the latest round of merger/acquisition activity that expanded the company into a different, neighboring state and added several distinct new products and services to our offerings, we began to believe that it was time to evaluate whether our name and brand still served our needs.

Flashing back to our beginning, my father, Vincent Miceli, started the company in his garage in 1955, when the family lived in Des Plaines, Illinois. Hence, the name “Des Plaines Office Equipment.” In his day, the business sold office furniture, calculators and typewriters. After my brother Vic and I took over ownership of the company in the 1980s when Dad retired, we kept the name, in part, to honor his legacy — although we had moved our location from Des Plaines to Elk

Grove Village, Illinois. Of course, our products and services had expanded significantly over the years. In fact, in 2015 when we celebrated our 60th anniversary, the mayor and other officials from Elk Grove Village proclaimed a day in June as “Des Plaines Office Equipment Day,” with the additional quip, “The only thing we don’t like about your business is its name.” Though we never seriously thought about changing the name to include Elk Grove Village (because we also have locations in Chicago and Rockford, Illinois), it did give us a few moments to pause and ask ourselves: “Should we rename this company?”

Always thinking that the name was a bit long, we also tried to make the acronym DPOE work — and even used it as our web address. Unfortunately, if someone was a little too quick on the keyboard and prone to typographical errors, the occasional, unfortunate “dope” popped up instead of “DPOE.” So, we knew it was time to think about a change.

We had evolved beyond a company that merely sold equipment (and provided supporting technology) to one that had expanded into the field of managed networks (IT), and picked up and ran with a compatible service, which also helped boost the offerings we could provide to our client base. So, even having “office equipment” in our name was becoming outdated.

From 2007 to 2012, we acquired a few of our Chicagoarea competitors, which gave us access to a few new product lines and some great industry talent. Those acquisitions served to strengthen our core base of services and we began to look for other ways to grow the company.

We did what many in our industry have done. We looked for subsets within our core offerings, like interactive display systems and video walls for conferencing, and, of course, managed print services, which has long been the core of the equipment/technology side of our business.

As we expanded into managed networks and IT, we were again reminded that the company was a long way from its original name. And then it was somewhat of a “Back-tothe-Future” moment when we expanded into Indiana with

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*Sharp, Sharp OSA and all related trademarks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sharp Corporation and/or its aďŹƒliated companies.

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function together harmoniously and efthe merger/acquisition of McShane’s fectively; and being certain that we inand Kramer & Leonard. This merger/ “Des Plaines Office formed our existing customer base, as acquisition got us thinking again about Equipment” will well as prospects, of the expanded serrebranding and renaming. Our Indiana always be part vices we could now offer. We worked to friends were deeply invested in office of our company’s develop a list of everything we could now furniture, which was one of the products history, but “Pulse present to our customers, many of which and services that the company first oflook to us for more than one solution in fered under our dad’s leadership.

Technology” will how their offices and businesses function.

As we surveyed what the company drive its future.

As we surveyed our menu of services, had become versus how it started out, we saw what we instinctively already knew we realized that in the last year, the company had grown significantly through the mergers and ac- — that an increasing majority of what we provide to customquisitions (which also included the opening of a new head- ers is technology driven. Vic, myself and our leadership team quarters location in Carol Stream, Illinois, to replace our thought about the way we could accomplish what we sought Elk Grove Village building, which had been destroyed in a to do: rebrand and rename the company to better reflect everything we offer, and to show that we were now poised to ofmicroburst), and we knew it was time.

With the new locations and new team members (increas- fer work beyond the greater Chicago area.

We selected a team of professionals from within our oring our overall size from about 80 to 130 employees), we had our work cut out for us on a couple of fronts: Integrating the ganization (rather than going outside and engaging the sercompanies so that all the different locations (we were now vices of a branding firm) because we knew that for a name up to four, including the one in Chesterton, Indiana) could to work and to accomplish what we wanted, we would need buy-in from our key team members. It is not a small accomplishment to go through this and change every bit of collateral material you have previously used, from brochures to business cards to a website and much more. So, we gave the younger and next generation of industry leaders within our company a challenge: find a name that accomplishes these goals, one that will be memorable, one that (almost) everyone will like, and one with a more modern look, sound and feel.

After a year of meetings, discussions and deliberations, the name that won was “Pulse Technology,” with the tagline, “Kickstart the heart of your business.” A pulse reflects energy, ongoing activity and the very heartbeat of a business.

Since we deal with technology, “Pulse Technology” fit the bill.

I think it is always a good idea for an established business to do a self-examination from time to time and make certain that your name, your mission, your marketing materials and, in short, your entire corporate image positions you in the best and strongest way. That is what we set out to do with this exercise in changing our name and redefining our brand.

The transition is well underway and the feedback we have received from our customers and industry colleagues has been overwhelmingly positive. “Des Plaines Office Equipment” will always be part of our company’s history, but “Pulse Technology” will drive its future. n Chip Miceli is president of BTA member Pulse Technology, with locations in Carol Stream, Chicago and Rockford, Illinois, and Chesterton, Indiana. He can be reached at chip@pulsetechnology.com.

Visit www.pulsetechnology.com.

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COURTS & CAPITOLS

A $1-Million Promise BTA & Konica Minolta develop agreement by: Robert C. Goldberg, general counsel for the Business Technology Association

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everal months ago, Brent Hoskins, the Business Technology Association’s (BTA’s) dedicated and tireless executive director, and I were invited to Phoenix, Arizona, for a significant industry announcement. Sitting in the audience, we learned about Konica Minolta’s acquisition of MWA Intelligence (MWA). This was an unusual venture for Konica Minolta in that MWA’s offering was not a product extension for resale, but sophisticated enterprise resource planning (ERP) software that all dealers could implement to run their businesses. MWA had been marketing its software for years and, from its perspective, the added resources of Konica Minolta were a significant opportunity to move to the next level.

MWA was being corporately placed within Konica Minolta’s successful All Covered Business Consulting Services umbrella. Regardless of where MWA was placed, there were immediate issues for dealers to consider. As this column has often stated, a dealership’s greatest asset is its installed base. When you add to that the total financial picture of the dealership, lease, service and contact information, the potential for a lack of confidentiality and disclosure became a real concern. If your dealership’s primary copier/MFP line is manufactured by a competitor of Konica Minolta — or even a Konica Minolta dealership competing with a Konica Minolta branch — a dealership certainly would not want its confidential information shared.

I raised the issue with Rick Taylor, president and CEO of Konica Minolta. His dynamic leadership and insight into the future has greatly advanced Konica Minolta‘s position in the industry. Taylor inherited a chaotic dealer channel and molded it into a leading competitor. He recognized the seriousness of dealership information confidentiality and assured me there would be a solid wall between MWA, All Covered and Konica Minolta. I appreciated Taylor’s assurance, but suggested it would not be enough. So, he sought suggestions.

I shared the story of a client company I represented in significant litigation. During the trial, the judge called the parties and counsel into chambers and shared with us that the matter should be settled because the anticipated verdict would not benefit either party. Settlement terms were reached, however, our opponent was concerned that there would be a violation and wanted the terms to include a penalty.

With a penalty amount the only unresolved issue, the president of my client company said: “We will pay you $1 million if we violate the settlement.” I quickly looked at the president, as

did the judge and opposing counsel. The total amount of damages in the case were far less than $1 million. The president responded to our looks of amazement: “We will not violate the agreement, so it does not matter what the number is.”

Taylor’s response to my story was immediate: “Prepare appropriate language and we will implement it.” Working with Konica Minolta’s counsel, a comprehensive FORZA master agreement was negotiated and agreed upon.

If you are considering MWA’s SAP-based ERP, pay attention to paragraph 14. It recognizes the confidentiality and value of a dealership’s information. It promises that a dealership’s information will be maintained as confidential and specifically will not be disclosed to anyone at Konica Minolta outside of the MWA team. Konica Minolta has implemented a comprehensive confidentiality policy that protects any dealership’s data and segregates it from other Konica Minolta information. The information is protected from disclosure. If there is a violation, Konica Minolta will pay the dealership $1 million.

As Taylor and Mike Stramaglio of MWA acknowledge, the number does not matter. It is the assurance that must make dealers secure.

BTA was pleased to work with Konica Minolta to develop this industry-first agreement. It is designed to cover all dealerships — not just Konica Minolta dealerships. I do not anticipate seeing any dealership receive $1 million. What BTA does anticipate is a secure environment for dealership data that will not be compromised. n Robert C. Goldberg is general counsel for the Business Technology Association.

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

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EDUCATION CALENDAR May 1-3

BTA Sales Management Workshop

Chicago, Illinois The BTA Sales Management Workshop is a career development “must-have” for sales management at all levels, and provides the knowledge, skills, processes and tools to immediately increase effectiveness and achieve higher levels of success. Taught by Kim Ward of Learning Outsource Group (LOG), the workshop focuses entirely on the “how-to” skills that will help each attendee reach his (or her) full potential as a great sales leader and coach, as well as best practices to build and sustain elite, high-performance sales teams. Visit www.bta.org/SalesMgt to register.

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BTA Building My Business Webinar: “Cultivating Your Culture” Establishing and maintaining a positive company culture must be front and center in order for companies to succeed today. In this webinar, led by Arial Harland of PathShare HR Services at GreatAmerica Financial Services Corp., you will gain insights into: What is culture?: How culture weaves throughout your entire organizational system; Why culture matters: How focusing on culture today will positively impact your organization for years to come; and Building your company culture: How to align your organizational system to support your desired culture. Visit www.bta.org/BMB to register.

June

13-14 Gateway to Success - Hosted by BTA Mid-America Austin, Texas The Gateway to Success event, hosted by BTA Mid-America, will feature: a keynote address on unforgettable leadership presented by author and leadership expert Ted Ma; a featured educational session on whether to sell your business; a dealer panel discussion on the evolution of MPS; five additional educational sessions led by industry leaders; time to network with peers and exhibiting sponsors, including during a welcoming reception and breaks; and an evening at Salt Lick BBQ for dinner, live music and yard games. BTA member dealers receive 2-for-1 registration and can use their $150 or $250 discount codes received with membership.

Visit www.bta.org/BTAAustin to register.

19-20 ProFinance 3.0

Blue Ash, Ohio (a Cincinnati suburb) Over the last 17 years, the principles of ProFinance have dramatically improved the performance of hundreds of dealerships. Now, with color, connectivity, software, managed print services (MPS) and managed network services (MNS), the business has changed — and ProFinance has changed with it. Taught by John Hey and Todd Johnson of Strategic Business Associates, ProFinance 3.0 incorporates these changes into the industry model, including benchmarks for MPS. Visit www.bta.org/ProFinance 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 Fischer IT Solutions, Annapolis, MD Managed Solutions Group, Dubuque, IA Nimble Technologies, Charlotte, NC Total Office Technologies of Florida, Tampa, FL Weaver Associates, Lititz, PA Vendor Members ecoprintQ, Miami Lakes, FL Precision Sales Partners, St. Louis, MO Consultant/Trainer Member SCE MPS Consulting, Brantford, Ontario, Canada 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 members in this space.

ecoprintQ is a certified PaperCut Authorized Solution Center servicing all of North, Central and South America. As a Certified PaperCut Solution Center, ecoprintQ provides: remote and on-site web demonstrations; free consulting on configuration ideas; remote and on-site installation assistance; and more. ecoprintQ delivers unparalleled customer service rooted in dynamic technical support for today’s print/scan/fax/ copy management applications. It is a bilingual organization with more than a decade of vast experience in management solutions addressing your growing technology needs. www.ecoprintq.com

BTA Marketplace The BTA Marketplace provides a place for the association’s dealer members to voluntarily list excess dated inventory for sale. The marketplace is run through a members-only forum where dealers can post a spreadsheet of their inventory for sale, as well as photos and details of those items. BTA has also created a spreadsheet template for download and use to list multiple items. BTA does not review the items listed, stand responsible for their quality, or become a party to the transaction entered. All transactions are solely between the seller and purchaser.

Visit www.bta.org/BTAMarketplace for more information.

Exclusive in the office technology industry, Precision Sales Partners provides quality lead generation and appointment setting based on your specific guidelines. The company has perfected a process designed to put your sales reps in front of qualified prospects who have needs for your products and/or services. Every lead generated is qualified to meet your specific wants, needs and criteria. The company assigns you a team of employees that becomes intimately integrated with your team, and aligns its approach and messaging to become seamless with your process. https://precisionsalespartners.com

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

A full list of BTA vendor members can be found online at www.bta.org.

For more information, visit www.bta.org.

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DEALERS HELPING DEALERS

Client Referrals Dealers share strategies for finding new business Compiled by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

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ollowing is another of the questions submitted by a dealer member as part of BTA’s Dealers Helping Dealers resource, and many of the answers received. These answers and others can be found in the members-only section of the BTA website. Visit www.bta.org/Dealers HelpingDealers. You will need your username and password to access this member resource.

What process do you have to drive client referrals?

“We have recently added a marketing director to help with this process and to quantify our results. Sales representatives are constantly asking our customers for referrals during our account reviews and we’re currently working on a project to add testimonial videos to our website.”

Tim Renegar, president Kelly Office Solutions, Winston-Salem, North Carolina “It is required as part of our sales commission bonus program that our sales team members collect referrals.”

Daniel Bombard, owner/general manager Yuma Office Equipment, Yuma, Arizona “We have no system. We meet every day with our techs and find out who they recommend we talk to. I don’t want to replace content customers that have profitable service agreements because techs are motivated for a buck. They can directly affect customers more than any salesperson.”

Dennis McGalliard, president Western Business Products, Redding, California “Each sales rep works on every customer for referrals.”

Dan Castaneda, general manager International Copy Machine Center, El Paso, Texas “We utilize QBRs [quarterly business reviews] with our MSP customers and ‘Tip’ leads with our copier techs.”

Mike Brandon, president & CEO ABC Office Equipment Co., Spokane, Washington “We monitor the reps’ referral requests from existing customers and coach them in making sure their/our customers’ needs

are being met. We want to be positioned to receive positive referrals from our customers.”

Greg Quirk, owner & CEO JQ Office Equipment of Omaha Inc. Omaha, Nebraska “Ask for referrals on every service call, every sales call and every QBR. It’s the number-one way to easily get net-new business.”

Brett Butler, CEO Excel Office Services, Los Angeles, California “We ask for them at time of installation, at time of service review and on surveys we send in conjunction with CEO Juice.”

George Peckham, president Office Systems of Texas, Houston, Texas “We have a dedicated inbound team that handles calls that come into the company, and they are connected immediately with a sales rep or manager who can help them with their requests. We track internal leads our employees furnish and have a lead fee program that encourages employees to supply leads.”

Hunter McCarty, COO RJ Young Co., Nashville, Tennessee “Great customer engagement through events.”

Tom Callinan, president FlexPrint, Mesa, Arizona “LinkedIn, our local chamber of commerce and a small business networking group that we are a part of. We also send emails to current clients asking them to let their peers know about us and offer referral credits or gift cards.”

Adam Gregory, president Advanced Business Solutions LLC, Jacksonville, Florida Do you have a question to ask your fellow dealers? Email it to brent@bta.org with the subject line: “Dealers Helping Dealers.” Office Technology will share your question with the full dealer membership with a request for guidance from your fellow dealers. n Brent Hoskins, executive director of the Business Technology Association, is editor of Office Technology magazine.

He can be reached at brent@bta.org or (816) 303-4040. www.offi cetechnol ogymag. c om | Ap ri l 2019 | 25

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DEALERSHIP SPOTLIGHT

Pearson-Kelly Technology Dealership’s co-owners are prepared for the future by: Elizabeth Marvel, Office Technology Magazine

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t is not every day you see a father-daughter team running an office technology dealership, but co-owners of BTA member Pearson-Kelly Technology, Mike Kelly, CEO, and Chelsey Bode, president, have perfected the art of working together.

Their story begins in 1983, when Kelly got his start in the office technology industry. After working at a supermarket for eight years, he attended college and, after graduating, he looked for a career that, according to Kelly, would offer him “an opportunity to learn and earn an above-average income based on above-average results instead of an hourly wage.”

He spent several years working as a sales rep for office technology dealerships in Missouri, followed by time in sales and management at Xerox and Modern Business Systems (which was acquired by IKON). In 2004, with years of industry experience behind him, Kelly decided to follow his entrepreneurial dream and became part-owner of Pearson Office Products (now Pearson-Kelly), headquartered in Springfield, Missouri.

“I always wanted to have my own company and I heard from a friend of a friend that there was a little company that needed some help,” Kelly says. “My goal was to talk them [the owners] into either selling me their company or taking on a 50-50 partner. They had just come out of a bad partnership, so that was not an easy sell, but I was able to convince them that half of something was better than all of nothing. So we did that and that’s how I got into business for myself.”

Bode had history in the industry before coming to Pearson-Kelly as well. She spent the summer after high school graduation and her freshman year of college as an intern at IKON. The position consisted of cold calling to hunt down new opportunities for sales reps, and Bode was so successful that her manager allowed her to sell to any of the net-new opportunities she found. Though IKON offered her a full-time role with the company, Bode chose to stay in college, earning her bachelor’s degree in merchandising and marketing. She took jobs in insurance sales and marketing management before joining her father in 2007 as Pearson-Kelly’s sixth employee.

In 2011, Kelly bought out his partner and named Bode vice president of operations. “At that point, Chelsey was doing well [at Pearson-Kelly] and I asked her if she had an interest in the business, which she definitely did,” Kelly says. “So, we started a succession plan where she was earning shares in the company.”

So, what is it like for the father-daughter duo to work together? “My dad and I complement each other extremely well,” Bode says of working alongside her father. “He has been really good

Above: Pearson-Kelly’s leadership team in the company’s Springfield, Missouri, office. It also has a second location in Joplin, Missouri.

Right: Mike Kelly started Pearson-Kelly in 2004 after buying a 50% stake in Pearson Office Products.

His daughter, Chelsey Bode, joined the business in 2007. about pushing me to take the lead on so many business-related engagements. I’m a kinetic learner, so that has really helped me get my hands into it.

“He has been a resource, but he’s not a know-it-all-type of role model,” she continues. “He gives me the opportunity to learn and grow. I think he brings a lot of wisdom and experience, as there are some fundamentals of this industry that just don’t change. But the industry has also been really disrupted in the last decade, and so I bring that progressive side. We balance each other out because we are still different enough that we don’t have personality conflicts.”

Kelly shares a similar view. “I think the millennial/Baby Boomer team fits pretty well in our case,” he says. “Working with Chelsey has been great and we have similar views on how to make business decisions, which allows me to have confidence that the company is in good hands when I’m gone and she’s at the helm. We have a mutual trust in each other and our decisions, and we also have each other’s backs. Like she said, I let her make the decisions and walk the tightrope now and

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then, but I’m kind of the net underneath in into VoIP or even office equipment,” she case she slips.” says. “When we moved into managed IT, we “ ... What we have This mutual trust is apparent in the way gained 18 new competitors overnight. But figured out as an the company is run. As one of the youngI think office technology dealerships have industry is a systematic est woman business owners in the industhe strongest business infrastructures. We infrastructure with a try, Bode has put her millennial mark on can say that print is dying, but what we really dialed-in sales Pearson-Kelly. “Technically I’m still a milhave figured out as an industry is a systemlennial, but about 30% of our office is now atic infrastructure with a really dialed-in team that others just younger than me,” she says. “They’re consales team that others just can’t keep up can’t keep up with.” stantly reminding me, calling me the ‘elder with. We think that we can scale better, millennial.’ I think it [being a millennial] stronger and faster with the office technolbrings a different perspective to our recruiting strategies, and ogy infrastructure that has been fine-tuned over the years and some of our strategic thinking is different. I think several deal- provide that same logic and engagement opportunities.” erships are struggling to attract tomorrow’s talent, and while Bode plans to adjust to the constant changes in the indusI think we have challenges, that’s certainly not one of them. try as they come. “Our goal is to stay consistent with what we “Our overall initiative and everything that we’re doing is focused on yesterday — ‘business made simple’ — which is to ‘pattern interrupt,’” she continues. “If all the other office the same focus today,” she says. “As long as we keep that fotechnology companies look one way, we want to be unique. cus, I don’t really care what our offerings look like down the We want our sales support staff members doing things that road. We can adapt to that based on what our buyers want and make our clients walk away thinking, ‘That was different.’ If need, and what [problems] we’re solving. you painted a picture of your typical dealer principal, I think “We believe that the greatest opportunity for dealers will it’s safe to say that my gender and age is the ‘pattern interrupt,’ be to make our customers understand how to implement the so it goes in line with our strategy right now.” technology we provide, internally train and then show how to This concept of “pattern interruption” can also be seen in the utilize what we’re selling them,” she continues. “Make sure that way the company promotes its products and services. The Pear- everything you’re telling them the solution is going to do can get son-Kelly website (updated about 18 months ago) takes a simpli- carried out. That’s the differentiator. We can all walk in with the fied approach, breaking the company’s offerings down into five same widget, but that [giving the customer the ability to implecategories: managed IT, hardware (copier/MFPs, printers, scan- ment and utilize the product] is the difference in the outcome.” ners, production printers and wide-format devices), managed In regard to the company’s future, Kelly says the succession print, document management and workplace of the future. plan they have been working on since 2011 is “pretty solid,” “When we rolled out the new design of our website, we and both he and Bode agree that communicating the plan to knew that our goal was to make it simple to navigate, give cur- their employees is of utmost importance. rent customers tools to get online support and information, “There are a million different strategies depending on the and give potential customers a feel for who we are,” Bode says. situation that play into how you do a lifetime transition,” Bode “This is a little controversial, but we wanted to get rid of the says. “I think one beneficial takeaway is that we communicate it manufacturer branding and product catalog ... We are firm [the succession plan] to our employees. I think that’s something believers that people buy from people, then companies and that’s very valuable to be transparent about. It’s something that product comes last. We wanted to control what we put in front has to be well defined and communicated to the team.” of the customer, not the manufacturers.

“I think it gives our employees a real sense of security for “[Having manufacturer information on our website] kind the future in a lot of ways,” Kelly concurs. “We have the same of contradicts our consultative approach,” she adds. “If we’re goals for the company and we both have pretty conservative trying to move away from having a transactional sales force, blood to help govern business decisions. But as far as a date why are we letting our customers navigate through catalogs? and time [for the transition] — there isn’t one. Like most exAt Pearson-Kelly, we ask customers, ‘What are you trying to citing adventures in life, we’ll know when we get there. I still accomplish?’ and then we’ll figure out if they need a hardware love the sport of the business and plan to stay fix, a software fix or something we haven’t even thought about.” involved as long as God blesses me with decent One trend Bode is seeing in the industry is the consolida- health, and as long as I have relevance to the tion of traditional office technology dealerships while getting company and its success.” n added competition from other types of technology companies.

Elizabeth Marvel is associate editor of Office “Tech companies are expanding their offerings; a business Technology magazine. She can be reached at may start as a managed IT company and suddenly it is getting elizabeth@bta.org or (816) 303-4060. www.offi cetechnol ogymag. c om | Ap ri l 2019 | 27

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PRINCIPAL ISSUES

A Limitless Future Konica Minolta hosts 2019 Dealer Conference by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

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t its 2019 Dealer Conference, held March 4-6 in Newport Beach, California, Konica Minolta Business Solutions USA Inc. (Konica Minolta) emphasized its focus on helping dealers better serve their customers. The company shared new programs for leveraging managed services, showcased its next-generation MFPs and highlighted solutions for supporting high-end, continuous-feed ink- Rick Taylor jet, wide-format print and industrial print.

The conference featured a number of educational sessions focusing on such topics as AI, security, the workplace of the future and talent development. In addition, the conference’s Technology Expo, previewing Konica Minolta’s new iSeries MFPs, to be released later this year, highlighted a variety of solutions and products reflecting the changing nature of the industry.

“For those of you who are willing to take action, the future is limitless,” said Rick Taylor, president and CEO of Konica Minolta in the opening general session, referencing the conference’s “Limitless” theme. “As you will learn over the next couple of days, we’re doing even more to help you move forward in that limitless future.”

Taylor described the “inciting incident” — “the disruption to the status quo” — that forces heroes into action. “What’s the ‘inciting incident’ in our story?” he asked. “It’s the change in how people work. It’s the impact of technology on the workplace. It’s everything we’ve been talking about for the past eight or nine years. And now we’ve reached an inflection point — a point at which we either embrace the change or face an uncertain future.”

Dealers are poised to be heroes, Taylor said. “You’re the ones who must go on this hero’s journey to help customers take advantage of the changing workplace,” he said. “A number of you are already on that journey. But being the hero isn’t always fun and games, right? Heroes have to take risks, overcome obstacles and make difficult, life-changing choices. That’s what makes them heroes. They have their eyes on the prize and they know there’s no choice but to act.”

For dealers who “step up to the challenge, the future is limitless, and that’s a big claim,” Taylor said. “Here are the reasons I have no problem making that claim. Number one, companies of every size and every type will undergo massive transformation over the next few years. This transformation will be driven by technology. Some organizations will embrace change, others

will resist it. But they will all need to transform, because if they don’t, they’ll be left behind.

“Number two, the vast majority of your customers don’t have the expertise to implement this change on their own; they’re not in the IT business and they don’t want to be, so they need help,” Taylor continued. “Number three, if you invest in building your capabilities or learn how to leverage ours, or, more importantly, both, you’ll be in a great position to provide that help.”

Taylor noted that Konica Minolta began its transformation eight years ago with the acquisition of All Covered. “That has expanded our business into the world of IT services,” he said.

“At that time, no one was looking at this business domain for expansion of our traditional business. We pioneered the strategy and have continued to expand our capabilities into adjacent markets that add value for our customers and address the workplace of the future.”

The “hard work has paid off” and has resulted in “tremendous dividends for both our partners and ourselves,” Taylor said. “We had a really great year in FY18 as the investments of the past began to produce the expected results.”

Among the FY18 results reported by Taylor: Dealer solutions revenue increased by 10%; more than 52% of units sold were sold by dealers, rather than by Konica Minolta’s direct operations; and profit in the U.S. market increased by 16%. He acknowledged that the direct operations were the “biggest driver” of the company’s increased profit.

“We forced our direct channel to do the things that we are going to ask you to do ... that we now know are absolutely good for your business,” Taylor said. “They [direct operation management teams] hired new salespeople with different skills, changed their compensation plans and invested in their managed services — IT services, security, managed print and managed voice.

“I believe the results you can achieve in your business provide even greater opportunity,” Taylor continued. “You can react more quickly, you have closer ties to your marketplace.

You can leverage a cost structure that can’t be duplicated in direct ... If we can convince you today to adopt the tools that we’ve got, to invest in areas that we’ve invested in and to seek our help, I know that the future is going to be great for both of us — and we’ll be here to help you every step of the way.” n Brent Hoskins, executive director of the Business Technology Association, is editor of Office Technology magazine.

He can be reached at brent@bta.org or (816) 303-4040.

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SELLING SOLUTIONS

Maximize Sales in 2019 Five top opportunities for success by: Melissa D. Whitaker, Melissa Whitaker International

W

ith so much change in our industry over this past year, I am consistently met with these questions: What are the biggest opportunities to grow sales and business? How do we stay relevant? What will give us the edge?

At Melissa Whitaker International (MWI), we keep our focus on the market and watch statistics on how all of this change creates significant opportunity. In 2019, we see five main areas of opportunity to dramatically increase your sales as an organization.

Improving Your Win Rate Not all deals should be weighed with the same level of equality. How are you tracking which deals consist of your “ideal clients” (clients that are easy to work with and have higher profitability because they value what you bring to the table)? What kind of trust and relationships have you built with your ideal client(s)? How determined are you to win the business? Are you even tracking your close ratio and taking steps to improve your win rate? Another area we really hone in on with sales professionals is how to close business authentically. There are different ways to naturally create a sense of urgency based on how you and your client are wired. By implementing these skills, you close more business.

Growing Your Accounts There has to be a balance between bringing in net-new business and going deeper, wider and broader into your current accounts. We see a huge increase in sales and loyalty when dealers take the time to implement strategies and put intentional effort into this area. We also love giving out templates to help management teams and sales professionals look at their current top accounts from 50,000-foot viewpoints.

We have each account executive set specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-frame goals regarding increasing business with each of his (or her) top five to 10 clients. The goals are set to be achieved each quarter to see movement and to implement what we call a “phased approach.” Make sure to break each quarter down into actionable steps with timelines and decide who needs to be involved to make those steps happen.

Also, look at what possible obstacles could get in the way and prevent achieving the goals. Can you avoid those obstacles?

Next, make sure to have a list of: (1) who you are working with in each organization and; (2) who you are not yet working with, but who could bring exponential growth. Use customer mapping to also understand the dynamics of who is involved in complex buying teams. According to a recent Harvard Business Review article, “the number of people involved in B2B solutions purchases has climbed from an average 5.4 two years ago to 6.8 today.” Also, according to a recent Rain Group study, “top performers who create intentional strategy around growing their accounts increase their revenue and profit by 20% more than those who don’t.”

Drive Sales Coaching Excellence A recent statistic from the Rain Group showed that “66% of companies do not believe their managers have the skills needed to manage and coach sellers.” Yikes! Do you have a coaching process in place that continually feeds into your sales managers and therefore feeds into your account executives? Most sales managers we cross paths with do not do much coaching.

Some say they did not have good role models; others say they do not have top-down support to use some of their time to coach; and others are stuck in the old-school mindset that it is either not needed, or they use command and control principles. We believe that everyone is wired differently. If managers understand what motivates and demotivates each individual, they can be intentional about how they communicate with each member of their teams, and know how to guide them to communicate more effectively with clients and prospects.

Unleash Your Team’s Productivity As an effective sales coach, you want to create motivation, help sales professionals maximize their minutes with high-payoff activities (HPAs) and execute when they are in the zone.

Keep in mind that top performers work differently than low performers. Top performers hold themselves accountable more, are more driven, implement proactively and typically have a morning routine to get off to a faster start. Do you have enough top performers?

Another recent statistic shows that top performers use 5.7 hours per day doing HPAs compared to low performers, who only use 3.9 hours a day implementing HPAs (top performers www.offi cetechnol ogymag. c om | Ap ri l 2019 | 29

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spend 46% more time on the most important activities). Top-performing companies focus on winning more opportunities, driving more growth, and investing in training and support to create a winning culture that promotes success and productivity.

There are so many opportunities for making a big impact in 2019. Follow the above guidelines and implement them in bite-sized pieces for yourself and your organization and you will see 2019 be your best year yet. n Melissa D. Whitaker has a proven track record in coaching salespeople and managers in selling at a higher level. She is the co-author of the best-selling books “Pushing to the Front” and “Beat the Curve” with Brian Tracy. Whitaker is a sales and management expert, business consultant, speaker and coach.

She is the founder and CEO of MWI, where she helps executives and their teams achieve alignment and drive profitable sales. Whitaker prides herself on helping companies transform their sales teams, management teams and cultures to thrive, and not just survive. Before MWI, she had years of proven sales and management results with Impact Networking, Toshiba America Business Solutions and Chicago Office Technology Group.

Whitaker can be reached at (847) 845-4922 or melissa@melissawhitakerintl.com.

Visit www.melissawhitakerintl.com.

Top-performing companies focus on winning more opportunities, driving more growth, and investing in training and support ...

Make Your Sales Training Work Take a look and see if you have sales training in place, then ask yourself the following 10 questions: (1) Are our business goals for training clear?

(2) Do we know what behaviors we want to change?

(3) Do we have long-term versus short-term goals (one, two and three years out)?

(4) Are we delivering transformational training?

(5) Are we reinforcing training with coaching, implementation and accountability?

(6) Have we given clear marching orders in bite-sized pieces so sales reps know what to do daily?

(7) Are we enabling them to succeed? Do they have what they need in the field?

(8) Is the manager committed and willing to follow through?

(9) Have we set up metrics and are we willing to measure the results of the training to drive change?

(10) Are our people adopting the new philosophy?

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MAY 2016

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