August 2020 Office Technology

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CONTENTS Volume 27 • No. 2

FEATURE ARTICLES 10

The Rise of Displays A closer look at this diversification strategy

COURTS & CAPITOLS Employee Manuals There are certain provisions that must be included

27

by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

by Bob Goldberg BTA General Counsel

Well before the arrival of COVID-19, office technology dealers were looking for ways to diversify their product offerings. Among the new offerings are display-based products, such as interactive solutions for collaboration and sharing information, as well as digital signage.

18

Success in a Pandemic A COVID-19 response mantra in five words

by Jim Kahrs Prosperity Plus

Most dealers have an employee handbook, but most handbooks have room for improvement. There is no one-size-fits-all formula since state and local laws vary. There are, however, a number of best practices that can help maximize the positive impact of this human resources tool.

SELLING SOLUTIONS Pandemic Selling Tips They can help you accelerate winning deals

28

by Gil Cargill Sales Acceleration Coach

If you can be agile, flexible, lean, innovative and disciplined, you can greatly increase your overall results. I would suggest using these terms as your COVID-19 response mantra. If your team members embrace these concepts and apply them to all they do, you will be in a great position.

21

Imaging Supplies & COVID-19 A look at the current obstacles & opportunities

by Tricia Judge International Imaging Technology Council

In spite of the headlines that we see in the news, there are some businesses that are thriving and buying new products, technologies and services. Your dealership can thrive during the pandemic, if your marketing and prospecting efforts find people in the right industries.

Trouble Finding Candidates?

Hiring ads should include these seven components

29

by Troy Harrison Troy Harrison & Associates

The imaging supplies marketplace has always been fraught with problems.

The OEMs and the aftermarket have a tradition of animosity. Some new “clone” cartridges made in China look attractive, but come with their own ocean of issues. Do they work as well? Are they a health hazard?

24

Q&A: Kyocera Morisco responds to pandemic-focused questions Compiled by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

What advice do the industry’s manufacturers have for dealers in the current business environment? What changes in the workplace do they expect? Peter Morisco, vice president of channel sales at Kyocera Document Solutions America Inc., responds to various pandemic-related questions.

4 | ­w ww. o f f i c e te c hno lo g ym a g. c o m | A ug ust 2 0 2 0

You must approach recruiting as a marketing project. It’s easy to have the HR department slap up the job description on some job boards, but the job description doesn’t get applications. Think like a marketer; your ad should have these seven components.

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

26

• BTA Highlights

6

Executive Director’s Page

8

BTA President’s Message

30

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S PAGE

Register for BTA’s Upcoming Webinars

M

any BTA members have attended our webinars through the years.

In fact, we have a growing number of attendees taking advantage of this member benefit on a regular basis. To date, since the association launched its Building My Business Webinar Series back in January 2008, we have hosted 159 webinars. We have had more than 9,000 attendees.

Some of you may not be aware that the recordings and PowerPoints of most of our past webinars are available to you as a resource on the BTA website. Just visit www.bta.org/BMBArchives. You will need your BTA member user name and password to access this resource. To date, we have had more than 3,000 views of our past webinar recordings.

Understandably, since the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have increased the frequency of our webinars. The feedback has been positive and we can see from the numbers that they have been well received. Five of the consecutive webinars in March and April drew a total of more than 3,000 attendees and views of the online recordings. Our all-time most attended webinar was “How to Prospect with Social Distancing,” presented March 25 by Kate Kingston, with 771 attendees and 673 recording views. Again, the recording is accessible on the BTA website if you would like to view it.

Our goal in offering these webinars is simple. As stated on the BTA website, the webinars are: “Designed to help dealers improve the management of their companies, take full advantage of market opportunities and, ultimately, improve the bottom line.” More recently, of course, many of the webinars have focused on strategies and 6 | w ww. o f f i c e t ec hno lo g ym a g. c o m | Aug ust 2 0 2 0

information to help meet the challenges presented by COVID-19.

As I write this, we have four webinars scheduled in the coming weeks. The first will likely have taken place by the time you read this issue of Office Technology. On August 6, Dennis Amorosano, president and founder of Dendog Strategy Insights, will present, “Investing in Times of Crisis.” Many of you may know Dennis from his days at Canon.

He served the company for 25 years, most recently as senior vice president and general manager of Canon Information & Imaging Solutions. If you missed his live webinar, I encourage you to view the recording.

Next up, on August 20, Kristen Thom, director of support services at Compass Sales Solutions will present, “The New Now: Using Business Intelligence & Analytics to Stay Ahead of the Game.” She will address how combining business intelligence (BI) and analytics can provide up-to-date knowledge to help with such tasks as uncovering opportunities with existing customers. CEO Juice is sponsoring this webinar.

In September, we have scheduled two webinars. On September 3, Dr. Coyte Cooper, an executive coach and corporate trainer, will present, “Thrive Essentials: 4 Secrets to Thrive in Challenging Times.” Some of you will remember that Coyte was the keynote speaker at the 2018 BTA Capture the Magic event in Las Vegas.

And finally, on September 17, Dave Dec, software productivity consultant and trainer at KnowledgeWave, will present, “How to Be an Effective Employee While Working from Home.” Certainly, the topic is very timely. Dave has more than 30 years of experience in training and professional development.

Register today for these upcoming BTA webinars at www.bta.org/BMB. You can also do so via one of our email promotions. 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 Gill Cargill, Sales Acceleration Coach www.gilcargill.com Bob Goldberg, General Counsel Business Technology Association Troy Harrison, Troy Harrison & Associates www.troyharrison.com Tricia Judge, International Imaging Technology Council www.initc.org Jim Kahrs, Prosperity Plus www.prosperityplus.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. ©2020 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.

Anticipating tomorrow’s workplace challenges, today.

usa.kyoceradocumentsolutions.com Š2020 KYOCERA Document Solutions America, Inc.

BTA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Seek Silver Linings & Believe in Yourself

T

here is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on every office technology dealership in the country; no one has walked away from this. In fact, the trajectory of our industry has forever changed. More changes are coming. We must be willing to adapt. Of course, four-plus months into this, every dealer has his or her story regarding the pandemic. Perhaps your story is similar to mine.

From the very beginning at Kelly Office Solutions, based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, we made a conscious effort to minimize disruptions within our office as much as possible. We were not quick to send people home. We kept working. There have been no furloughs or layoffs at Kelly. That’s not to say that we did not find ourselves looking around in March essentially asking, “What happened?” In fact, March was our worst month during the pandemic, by far. We were down probably 40%.

Since then, we have fought our way through it. We’re now doing pretty well, keeping any negative financial impact to a minimum. We’ve also kept any negative impact on our staff morale and our company culture to a minimum. All along, we’ve told employees: “If you’re comfortable working from the office, then come to the office.” We didn’t want to lose our culture, our brain power or our ideas. That is, if employees have any great ideas about something that would help us through this pandemic, I’d like for them to be in the office; “if it’s top of mind, come tell me about it.” The majority of our staff members elected to keep coming to the office. I think they really enjoy being around each other.

8 | www. o f f i c et ec hno lo g ym a g. c o m | Aug ust 2 0 2 0

As this column is being written, I am pleased to be able to report that June was a good month at Kelly and it looks like July is going to be pretty much on the same run rate for hardware. We are still going to be short on our service revenue. Meanwhile, our managed network services group, along with our water and coffee group, have gone off the charts. We are having record months in those groups. We recently sold 30 touchless water systems from a single email blast.

That was phenomenal.

I am sure your local business owners share the sentiment of the local business owners in the markets we serve — they want this thing behind us. They need to bring everyone back to work; they need business to be positive once again. So, it’s “put on your mask and keep going.” And seek the silver linings. At Kelly, our silver linings became apparent in our ability to make sales when it didn’t seem like people were interested in buying. That is, our marketing abilities and creative selling skills have become much stronger. Our abilities to get appointments via email and our prospecting abilities have become much stronger, too. Our people have proven their creativity, resilience and willingness to fight through this, creating a union that has made our culture here at Kelly even stronger.

Here’s my advice for those of you who may be worried about the survival of your dealership: Step back and remember the things that made you successful through all of the other challenges you’ve faced. You’ve always figured out a way to survive. This may be the challenge of a lifetime, but if you’ve overcome challenges in the past, you can do so again. Believe in yourself; absolutely believe in yourself. If you believe you’re going to fail, you will fail, but if you believe you’ll get through it, you’ll get through it. n — Tim Renegar

2020-2021 Board of Directors President Tim Renegar Kelly Office Solutions Winston-Salem, North Carolina trenegar@kellyofficesolutions.com President-Elect David Polimeni RITE Technology Sarasota, Florida dpolimeni@ritefl.com Vice President Don Risser DCS Technologies Corp.

Franklin, Ohio don.risser@dcs-tech.com Immediate Past President Bob Evans Function4 Sugar Land, Texas bobevans@function-4.com BTA East Aaron Rubin Docutrend Imaging Solutions New York City, New York arubin@docutrend.com Mike Ardry Automated Business Solutions Southington, Connecticut mardry@absne.com BTA Mid-America Mike Nerland Elite Business Systems Sioux Falls, South Dakota miken@elitebusinesssystems.com Matt Jackson Copynet Digital Imaging Solutions Inc. Plano, Texas matt@copierfax.com BTA Southeast Adam Gregory Advanced Business Solutions LLC St. Augustine, Florida adam@goabsinc.com Debra Dennis CopyPro Inc. Greenville, North Carolina ddennis@copypro.net BTA West Mike McCurdy Integrated Technologies Inc. Twin Falls, Idaho mikem@itechinc.com Dan Bombard Yuma Office Equipment Yuma, Arizona daniel@yumaofficeequipment.com Ex-Officio/General Counsel Robert C. Goldberg Schoenberg Finkel Newman & Rosenberg LLC Chicago, Illinois robert.goldberg@sfnr.com

The Rise of Displays A closer look at this diversification strategy by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

W

ell before the arrival of COVID-19, office technology dealers were looking for ways to diversify their product offerings. The range of new pursuits is broad — from water coolers to VoIP systems to managed IT services. Such forays point to the reality that the industry is in transition, with dealers increasingly moving away from being solely reliant on imaging products.

Among the new offerings by some dealerships are display-based products, such as interactive solutions for collaboration and sharing information, as well as digital signage. One could argue that the nature of the expected changed business environment post-pandemic could drive increased demand for such products. Time will tell whether such speculation proves to be true.

Below is a brief look at the display-based offerings of three manufacturers. Perhaps it is time for you to take a closer look at this diversification strategy.

Ricoh U.S.A. Inc. About five years ago, Ricoh began offering through dealers its interactive flat-panel displays (IFPDs), positioned as workplace services products. The initial traction among dealers was “a little bit of a slow run at times,” says Steve Burger, head of engineering and vice president of technology marketing at Ricoh USA Inc. “Today, we’re at a pretty good pace and dealers are really liking it.”

To illustrate the level of success dealers can achieve, Burger cites the largest deal by a dealership to date, which involved an organization with the goal of updating classroom technology and enhancing the student/teacher experience. “The dealer was a trusted partner in imaging for more than six years,” he says. “Through a consultative approach, the dealer proposed Ricoh IFPDs and Qwizdom education software [a third-party solution] providing, in part, the ability for students to connect 10 | ­w ww. o f f ic et ec hno lo g ym a g. c o m | Aug ust 2 0 2 0

interactively to the IFPD from their tablets and PCs. That led to the placement of almost one hundred units.”

Today, Ricoh offers five IFPDs, ranging in size from 32 to 86 inches with ever-broadening capabilities. “We’ve created an embedded Windows controller; it’s completely open,” Burger says. “So, you can make an IFPD an Office 365 client. It is literally a device on the network where, in the past, some panels were just screens. Now, they are fully integrated in a network environment.”

Ricoh has partnered not only with Qwizdom, but with Vizetto as well, allowing the IFPD to take advantage of REACTIV Suite, a presentation and collaboration software designed to make meetings more efficient and productive, “extending the capability of the IFPD both in the conference room and virtually,” Burger says. “The legacy thinking was, ‘we have these IFPDs and we can all interact in a conference room.’ Now [faced with the pandemic], it’s ‘wait a minute, there is an additional way of thinking.’ I know of one dealer who is using a 32-inch IFPD herself to communicate with her executives remotely via the PC client and REACTIV software.”

Today, dealers are talking “to customers in a way they never did before,” Burger says, noting that IFPDs are seen as a silver lining in an otherwise difficult business environment.

“In the last two months, we’ve had dealers sell 40-plus IFPDs into educational environments where they are trying to do distance learning,” he says. “So, it’s like being in a lecture hall, but students are just looking at the screen of their computers.

We have seen remarkable success lately with a couple of key dealers placing IFPDs.” IFPDs are not relegated to the education market, Burger says. “In health care, doctors are using IFPDs to consult with others regarding X-rays and medical imaging,” he says, adding there is also rising demand in the manufacturing sector. He also encourages dealers to be aware that IFPDs fit the “razor

HERE TO HELP YOU GET BACK TO BUSINESS. WE’RE IN THIS TOGETHER. STAY SAFE. YOUR FRIENDS FROM TOSHIBA

business.toshiba.com ©2020 Toshiba America Business Solutions, Inc. Electronic Imaging Division. All rights reserved.

and razor blades model,” given that with IFPDs “you sell software at a monthly subscription charge.”

Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America Saundra Merollo, senior sales engineer for PRO AV at Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America, sees a silver lining in today’s business environment as well, reflecting on the needs of many of today’s companies. “They have to have strict messaging and communication,” she says. “Displays are perfect for that because they can’t just use cardboard signs for ‘25% Occupancy or Less’ or ‘Remember: Social Distancing.’”

However, Merollo says, while COVID-19 is driving some display sales, the rise of the display market started around two years ago, prior to the arrival of the pandemic. “It was the result of the blend of generations in the workplace,” she says.

“A lot of it comes down to the new generations — the ‘digital natives.’ They expect collaboration in the conference room; it’s about people coming together, working together and exchanging ideas.”

Merollo emphasizes how the generations more recently entering the workplace “collaborate differently” and have always been accustomed to video conferencing, as well as digital applications such as FaceTime and instant messaging. “So, we started to see a lot of digital transformation and the need, if you will, for upgraded technology ecosystems, including displays within conference rooms in different vertical markets,” she says. “We also started to see a huge increase in digital communications — so, digital signage needs as well. People love to see animation. They love to be immersed in communication, and digital signage is a great way of doing that.”

Fortunately, Sharp is poised to address the changing needs of the workplace with its commercial displays, Merollo says.

“We have so many pieces for the changing ecosystem, with a vast amount of displays, from touch to non-touch, in multiple sizes, all the way to 86 inches, as well as 4K and 8K displays,” she says, noting that Sharp offers a number of AQUOS BOARD interactive display systems and commercial signage systems, as well as its newly launched Windows collaboration display (WCD). “The WCD is the perfect, flexible and versatile tool for the multigenerational workforce because it works with tools that they are already familiar with, such as Microsoft 365, for an enhanced collaboration experience in a hybrid office environment where some people are working in the office and 12 | ­w ww. o f f ic et ec hno lo g ym a g. c o m | Aug ust 2 0 2 0

others are working from home.

The WCD and our other diverse offerings allow us to play an instrumental role in many different applications within the office environment through the digital transformation, not just in one specific area.”

The growing interest in displays is becoming increasingly apparent within dealerships, with dealers “outfitting their offices and utilizing digital signage, and investing in Sharp displays to showcase them for potential customers,” Merollo says. “If they are putting displays in their offices, you can bet they are going to be encouraging their reps to sell them. That’s the first step. We’re seeing that buy-in.”

“We also started to see a huge increase in digital communications...People love to see animation. They love to be immersed in communication, and digital signage is a great way of doing that.”

— Saundra Merollo Sharp

Toshiba America Business Solutions Inc. There is, as noted, a compelling reason for dealers to take a look at digital signage solutions. Bill Melo, vice president of marketing at Toshiba America Business Solutions Inc. (Toshiba), states it succinctly. “Print volumes are going down,” he says. “So, it is prudent for any dealer to look at lines of business and potential areas of growth that don’t involve printed pages.”

Those “areas of growth” would allow the dealer to leverage his (or her) current customer base, as well as the inhouse technical and sales expertise, Melo says. “There are a number of those [areas of growth], both document-related and not,” he says. “Digital signage is certainly one of those.”

While page output is decreasing, it is not going down because there is less to print, Melo says. “In fact, there are lots of studies showing that the amount of information created in the world doubles at a rate of something like every two or three years; it’s just that we don’t print it as much,” he says. “What’s replacing that is ‘eyeballs on screens.’ So, part of Toshiba’s rationale [for pursuing the digital signage opportunity], was that if we make our living in print and print is going down, it’s being replaced by people consuming information on screens and that, perhaps, we could leverage our expertise in creating solutions for customers who don’t rely on output.”

About six years ago, Toshiba was showing digital signage products as part of the end-user portion of one of its LEAD dealer and end-user events, Melo says. “We really did not have a notion at that time of selling digital signage through dealers, because we didn’t think they would be interested,” he says. “However, we received a lot of inquiries from dealers, because the signage is visually appealing and interesting, and so we created a program for them so that they could participate.”

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While there has not been “a we tell dealers, ‘Bring us the “We have a good business big push” by Toshiba for dealdeals, you will still maners to sell digital signage, there age the customer relationdevelopment manager up are success stories among dealship and sales process and, there who got the dealer ers, Melo says, citing the exammost importantly, gain addiand the dealership reps to ple of the placement of digital tional revenue and stickiness pay attention to this product signage by one dealership at a with the customer,’” he says. category...It was basically...

South Dakota museum. “We “‘We’ll wholesale our services a cold call that led to have a good business developand products to you, so to multiple digital signage installations...” ment manager up there who speak. You price it and manage — Bill Melo got the dealer and the dealerthe customer. If, after a couple Toshiba ship reps to pay attention to of sales and implementation this product category,” he says. cycles, you think this is some“It was basically just a flyer on thing that works for you, then a cold call that led to multiple digital signage installations at we’ll help you find the right people, but if not, if the museum. This was a six-figure deal.” you just want be involved on the front end, that Melo notes that most Toshiba digital signage installa- works, too.’” n tions are generally custom, guided by customer needs. As Brent Hoskins, executive director of the such, dealers have the option to initially or on an ongoing Business Technology Association, is editor basis rely on Toshiba for assistance when digital signage opof Office Technology magazine. He can be portunities arise. “We have the infrastructure in place, so reached at brent@bta.org or (816) 303-4040.

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Success in a Pandemic A COVID-19 response mantra in five words by: Jim Kahrs, Prosperity Plus

I

n March of this year, our world changed in a way that no one could have predicted. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced businesses to transform themselves on an almost constant basis. We have learned terms we would have been happier not knowing: social distancing, shelter-in-place, personal protective equipment, herd immunity, contact tracing, Economic Injury Disaster Loan, Paycheck Protection Program and the list goes on. As we get further acclimated to this new jargon that drives much of what we do, I’d like to submit a few more terms that can make a huge difference to the future of your business.

Agile (adjective): Able to move quickly and easily. Able to think and understand quickly.

Now, more than ever, your business must be agile. I can’t recall a time when things changed so broadly, so quickly. The rules of personal interaction have changed daily. We don’t have the luxury of time to sit back and contemplate future direction. By way of example, here in New York, businesses were shut down overnight. We had to figure out how to operate remotely in a matter of hours. Later, the Paycheck Protection Program was announced and the first wave of funds ran out in less than a week. Each of these was a test of business agility.

There will be more tests of your agility going forward. There are predictions of a significant shift from cities to suburbs.

If you’re based in a large city you need to be ready to react quickly to these trends. It may mean expanding territory or developing new vertical markets. There is a big push to shop locally. How quickly can you mobilize a plan to market your local presence?

There will be governmental requirements changing in the coming months. Could there be more business shutdowns, requirements for better tracing of employee contacts, additional training or certification requirements? Will customers request things you’ve never considered before? Will customers go out of business or downsize? You’ll need to be ready to turn on a dime to meet new challenges as they arise. What happens if one of your employees or a customer contracts the virus? You’ll need to be agile to respond quickly and decisively to keep the business on track while protecting your 18 | w­ ww. o f f ic et ec hno lo g ym a g. c o m | Aug ust 2 0 2 0

staff, your customers and their families. Will there be good, talented employees available during these times? You’ll need to be agile enough to react quickly to hire strong people. Nervous candidates will likely jump at the first good opportunity presented. A slow, lumbering recruiting process will lose good candidates.

Flexible (adjective): Capable of bending easily without breaking. Able to change readily to meet new circumstances.

Every business out there has had its flexibility tested to one degree or another. We have clients who have been challenged with employees who can’t get childcare. They needed to be flexible in how they allowed employees to work. Though it wasn’t always ideal, it did allow them to bend without breaking. As face-to-face meetings were not possible, we had to be flexible and use video meetings, conference calls, etc. This was the only way to get in front of customers or to have sales meetings. Some companies did break, in that they did not find a solution and simply stopped doing these vital meetings.

These challenges to flexibility will conIt meant that all sailors were to report to tinue. One change I expect is a move to the deck to help handle an emergency. No Efficiency...is paramount multiple shifts in many business environmatter what their regular post, all sailors in emergency situations, ments. One way to keep the production of a were expected to pitch in. In a dealership especially when business at a viable level while meeting the this could affect several staff members. prolonged. During this guidelines for social distancing is to have Technicians could call for meter reads or time, finding ways to be more than one shift. As office technology do deliveries. Salespeople may help sanidealerships, we may need to be flexible tize the office or deliver parts. The service more efficient will pay enough to service customers outside the manager could help on sales calls. The big dividends. normal 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule. president makes A/R calls or any one of I also expect there will be a move toa hundred others. The key is to be flexible ward more online shopping in our world. It may not be in the and get the job done however necessary. form of the big online retailers, but there will likely be a need Lean (adjective): Efficient and with no wastage. for dealing with customers online. We have clients closing Efficiency and lack of waste are paramount in emergency sales via a video meeting with documents signed electroni- situations, especially when prolonged. During this time, findcally and the initial payment being made via ACH. ing ways to be more efficient will pay big dividends. We have Your flexibility to meet these conditions while still main- a client that landed a large hospital sale. The business creattaining control of the sales cycle will be critical. One area ed a new set-up process allowing it to get the systems set up where I am seeing the need for flexibility is in the assignments quickly, wrapped for delivery and into the hospital in a very given to employees. The current situation calls for an all hands- orchestrated manner. In the past, this level of efficiency was on-deck approach, a term derived from nautical applications. not a part of its standard process.

www.offi cetechnol ogymag.com | Augu s t 2020 | 19

Another client decided to hire some new The level of discipline your business technicians to help with a few large out-ofpractices may be the biggest indicator of When considering state installs. This cut out the waste of payfuture success. One thing I have seen durcutting waste, it will be ing for hotel rooms, travel time and expense ing this crisis is that it has made the strong important to monitor as well as overtime of the current team. stronger and the weak weaker. Much of expenses. There may Monitoring workloads very closely will this comes down to the level of business be areas that can be be critical to the overall success of most discipline. Those with good business rules dealerships in the near future. Running and standards in place and followed by the cut back without hurting lean means adjusting headcount to the organization have weathered the storm far future business. workload quickly. While no one wants to better than those shooting from the hip. furlough or lay off employees, it may be This level of discipline starts with strong necessary if workload or cashflow indicate a change is need- leadership. In a crisis, staff members look to their leader. When ed. Consider having some utility players who can fill different that leader has already built a disciplined environment of acroles. Do you have a tech who could handle parts ordering countability, it shows. This discipline applies to things like or dispatch? How about a receptionist who can handle A/R work schedules, expected output or results, following company calls? Having people who can fill multiple roles can help you policies and inspecting what you expect. keep the business lean.

When times are good, businesses can succeed in spite of When considering cutting waste, it will be important to mistakes and shortcomings. During an emergency you need monitor expenses. There may be areas that can be cut back to hit on all cylinders. You’ll want to be sure that sales reps are without hurting future business. You may want to trim enter- making the number and type of calls they should be making. tainment expenses or consider changing the cell phone ser- Technicians should be efficient in their routing and the calls vice to a new carrier with better rates. Inventory is another they do. Managers need to hold all of their people accountable area to consider. Can you cut back on what you have on hand for a high level of production. Some people confuse a disciwithout sacrificing efficiency? Bringing down the inventory plined approach with an iron fist. It doesn’t take a tyrant to be will increase cash on hand. It is always better to have cash disciplined. In fact, the best leaders hold their people accountduring difficult times. able, but do it in a positive way. Lackluster performance is not Innovative (adjective): Featuring new methods or ideas. permitted, but no one is getting beat up. Most employees inAs the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. As nately understand the need to be more disciplined during an we’ve navigated the COVID-19 crisis, there has been a tremen- emergency and react well to good leadership and direction. dous necessity to be innovative. We’ve had to find ways to stay I imagine the last thing you expected when you started the in front of prospects and customers, we’ve had to figure out day today was getting a vocabulary lesson. When I set out to how to effectively work remotely and we’ve had to learn new write this article it was the last thing on my mind. However, I government programs. We’ve all heard the term “new normal” realized how important each of these terms are to the future too many times. However, it is a new normal and we must be of our businesses. If you can be agile, flexible, lean, innovative innovative in our approach. We will have to do more things and disciplined, you can greatly increase your overall results. remotely. This will include service calls, sales calls, paperwork I would suggest using these terms as your COVID-19 response and more. We will need to innovate new ways to have touch- mantra. If your team members truly embrace these concepts less systems. This innovation will also provide new opportu- and apply them in all they do, you will be in a great position nities. We have clients that have picked up new products to to achieve your goals for 2020 and beyond. As always, if there answer the needs of their customers. These include tempera- is anything I can do to help, please don’t hesitate to reach out. ture and tracking kiosks, access control systems, sanitizing Stay well, flourish and prosper! n products and systems, contact tracing software, as well as Jim Kahrs is the founder and president of Prosperity Plus. basic cloud solutions, high-end video conference systems and Prosperity Plus has been working with companies in document management. The concept of bringing new meththe office technology industry since 2001 building ods or ideas to the table will become more and more imporrevenue and profitability, and tant. COVID-19 will change the landscape of business for the planning successful exit strategies. foreseeable future. Embracing that change and looking for Prosperity Plus has helped more new ways to succeed will likely separate the successful from than 400 dealerships. Kahrs can be those that struggle. reached at (631) 382-7762 or Disciplined (adjective): Well organized and following rules jkahrs@prosperityplus.com. or standards.

Visit www.prosperityplus.com.

20 | w­ ww. o f f ic et ec hno lo g ym a g. c o m | Aug ust 2 0 2 0

Imaging Supplies & COVID-19 A look at the current obstacles & opportunities by: Tricia Judge, International Imaging Technology Council

T

he imaging supplies marketplace has always been fraught with problems. The OEMs and the aftermarket have a tradition of animosity. Some new “clone” cartridges made in China look attractive, but come with their own ocean of issues. Are they legal? Do they work as well? Are they a health hazard?

All of these issues were hard enough to address in the office environment. Now the pandemic has closed offices chocked full of high-end printing devices that sit dormant.

Homebound employees are, quite literally, left to their own devices — devices that tend to be inkjet based and from big box stores.

“The situation is bad and it could get much worse,” said Charlie Brewer, president of Actionable Intelligence, in his webinar, “The U.S. Home and Office Printing Markets in the Age of COVID-19,” held May 21, 2020.

With the pandemic shutting down offices around the globe, it is no surprise he reported that the amount of printing had greatly declined (a drop of more than 20 percent is expected for this year). He outlined the financials that had been shared by the leading OEMs, and all reported drops in revenue. One had even suffered its worst sales in 16 years.

However, Brewer shared some interesting bright spots and potential opportunities. In particular, the SOHO market and inkjet have enjoyed a resurgence. The latter is the medium of the majority of the small household printers that had fallen out of favor, but were dusted off when the stay-home orders were issued.

SOHO machines — inkjet and laser — may end up doing double or triple duty, as they became the work printer for Mom or Dad, while they became the school or entertainment tool for the kids. Brewer sees a shift in favor of these desktop models, even after the parents return to work. As COVID-19 forces social distancing, the community copier will give way to individual desktop laser units.

Brewer said this is good news for those familiar with SOHO. The printers that line the shelves of the local Office Depot will find homes, and are most likely manufactured by HP, Epson or Brother.

“Everything old is new again,” he said, explaining that these machines had their heyday before MPS took over, back when printers and supplies were transactional sales.

The aforementioned OEMs, he said, are “well situated in the marketplace, because they have been here before.”

The supplies sales for these printers is not such a sure bet. Brewer believes that consumers may think that cost per page is not as important as the price at checkout, so they’ll be attracted to the lowest priced SKUs. Corporate purchasing agents buying supplies for desktop units will also push for the low-cost supplies. Unless operating costs come down, everyone will soon learn (again) the very high price of inkjet. (I recall it was once found to be more expensive per picoliter than Dom Perignon champagne.) Employees will be turning in expense reports for these high-priced supplies, and business owners will pay them — for a while.

At some point, business owners might look elsewhere for ideas on managing their employees’ supplies costs. That’s when BTA members have an opportunity. www.offi cetechnol ogymag.com | Augu s t 2020 | 21

Once the firmware threat is bypassed, Be aware of HP and Lexmark supply choices become plentiful and very Lexmark has been firmware updates. inexpensive. Be careful, however, to avoid Modern chip technology is a miracle using its chips to those cartridges made in China that are that allows consumers to enjoy a host of lock out competition of poor quality with perilously low prices. features from their machines. Manufacfor decades, and Horror stories abound of the destruction turers use it to monitor their products’ starting about two such cartridges have caused. Look for performance and make improvements in sellers that are Int’l ITC members, are years ago, HP began subsequent generations.

STMC certified, or have other indicia of However, chip technology can also serve following suit. industry and product performance. other purposes. Lexmark has been using its Some internet cartridge choices chips to lock out competition for decades, from China, again, pose a health threat. and starting about two years ago, HP began following suit.

Once again, some new-build toner cartridges purchased These chips are employed in a broad range of HP’s inkjet machines. Customers are guided to install a firmware upgrade off the internet have been found to have serious health conand suddenly the machine stops working if a third-party car- cerns. These cartridges have been manufactured with toner tridge is employed. HP was sued immediately in several class that emits unacceptable levels of benzene, cobalt and naphthalene. Of the new-built cartridges tested, all of them failed. action suits.

The International Imaging Technology Council (Int’l ITC) Locally-remanufactured cartridges were also tested and all also filed a complaint against HP with the Green Electronics received passing grades.

The study was undertaken by the European Toner and InkCouncil over HP’s new firmware. The Int’l ITC is challenging the company’s claims to meet environmental criteria set out jet Remanufacturers Association (ETIRA) and involved purby the federal EPEAT Registry, which requires allowing non- chases of new-built cartridges off Amazon. Last year, ETIRA OEM cartridges. Their firmware and chips do exactly the op- tested the plastic used in new-built cartridge shells and found posite and are creating the very waste the EPEAT program was high levels of the carcinogen DecaBDE. “It is important that we keep monitoring these cartridges,” says ETIRA Secretarydesigned to guard against.

At the end of last year and after several losses in court, General Vincent van Dijk. “People need to know what they HP “apologized” and said it would not continue the practice. are buying and the risks involved.”

Benzene, detected at levels as high as 157% above acceptInstead, it created new firmware that allowed the machine to complete the cycle with the current cartridge. However, the able levels, enters the airways and may cause genetic defects, cancer or damage to organs over prolonged exposure. Cobalt next third-party cartridge would be rejected.

At a time when people are trying to stay alive physically may cause allergy and asthma symptoms or breathing diffiand commercially, HP continues to release new rounds of this culties, if inhaled. Naphthalene, detected in amounts as high firmware. This forces the isolated consumer to wait days for a as 650% above the LGA acceptable threshold, is suspected of causing cancer. replacement cartridge.

In order for toner to reach its melting point, it is routinely So how does a supplier help a stranded customer? The best way, said InkCycle’s Executive Vice President Brad Roderick, heated to up to 356 degrees to complete the printing process. is to stop the firmware before it lands on the printers. “It’s not Therefore, the contaminants in the toner are emitted in the electrophotographic process and out into the office or home complicated, just turn off the updates,” he says.

During the printer setup process, the printer will ask environment through the printer vents.

Often new-built cartridges are built as cheaply as possible the customer: “Do you want to receive automatic updates?”

At that point, Roderick explains, the customer should in order to be sold at such low prices, at fractions of the price of new or locally remanufactured cartridges. However, as indicate “no.”

What to do if the printer is already installed and the auto- ETIRA’s studies prove, they could be costing their users much, matic update feature has been selected? “Roll the firmware up- much more in the way of exposure to health risks. In addition, dates back,” Broderick says. “There are plenty of links online on these cartridge manufacturers often cut corners on quality how to do that.” Just take a few minutes to free your printer of and legality, since they often infringe OEM patents.

Int’l ITC is working in North America to monitor these the firmware threat.

Unfortunately, these selections don’t always “stick.” issues and work with government and consumer watchdog Broderick encourages customers to monitor their printer: groups, just as ETIRA does in Europe. With government “You have to be diligent about not automatically accepting now involved deeply in making our workplaces safe, this issue needs more attention, too. Such products are bad for new updates.”

22 | w­ ww. o f f ic et ec hno lo g ym a g. c o m | Aug ust 2 0 2 0

public health, for commerce and for the Product safety needs to become more environment. important than the price. Again, Int’l ITC “The results are...

The study undertaken by ETIRA inmembers, and those that are STMC certidisappointing...You buy volved purchases of eight new-built carfied, produce products that have no such the first three products tridges off Amazon. “We purchased the health concerns. n that pop up, they fail... first three cartridges that popped up on Tricia Judge has served as the executive These products have the site, and other members purchased director of the International Imaging five more, and all were sent directly to Technology Council (Int’l ITC) for been on the market a the testing site,” says ETIRA’s van Dijk. the past 17 years. She can be reached long time now.”

“Out of the eight we randomly selected, at tricia@i-itc.org. Visit www.i-itc.org. all eight failed to pass the test.” The test Actionable Intelligence is a veteranwas conducted by LGA/TÜV Rheinland, owned research firm covering the markets a global leader in independent inspection services, founded for home and office imaging hardware 145 years ago. and the supplies these devices employ.

“The results are very frustrating and disappointing,” van The company hosts the website Dijk says. “You buy the first three products that pop up, www.action-intell.com. they fail. It’s very telling. These products have been on the The full report from ETIRA market a long time now.” ETIRA and the Int’l ITC are callon toner safety is available at ing upon the authorities to address this problem. However, https://www.etira.org/posts/etirathe importers and sellers of these products need to be held cautions-that-recent-toner-emissionaccountable, too. tests-reveal-a-100-failure-rate/.

www.offi cetechnol ogymag.com | Augu s t 2020 | 23

Q&A: Kyocera Morisco responds to pandemic-focused questions Compiled by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

W

hat advice do the industry’s manufacturers have for dealers in the current business environment? What changes in the workplace do they expect? How are they assisting dealers? Starting this month, Office Technology magazine is launching the first of a series of interviews to ask these and other related questions of manufacturer executives who oversee their dealer channel for their respective companies. First up is Peter Morisco, vice president of channel sales at Kyocera Document Solutions America Inc. Following are his responses.

OT: In what ways is Kyocera providing additional support and guidance to its authorized dealers during these challenging times?

Morisco: Kyocera has supported our dealers in several ways during these challenging times. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, dealers experienced an immediate struggle with sales. Dealers were exposed to a loss in clicks, which, in turn, was a decline in revenue. We understood early on, from a financial standpoint, that our dealers were going to need our support.

We looked at several ways to help address their financial needs. One way was to provide our dealers with an allowance to their credit terms. We extended the terms of a 30/60/90day agreement to include one additional month. We also adjusted our percentages for Kyocera’s rebate program, quarterly and annually, so that our dealers were able to achieve their rebate targets. We based these decisions in accordance with the demand the market dictated at the time.

Also, with travel restrictions in place, we could further support our dealers by offering online remote training. With our solution sales instructors, product marketing and technical teams, we conducted a series of comprehensive remote training programs and webinars that centered around sales, products, solutions and technical support.

24 | ­w ww. o f f ic et ec hno lo g ym a g. c o m | Aug ust 2 0 2 0

We incorporated Kyocera Fleet Services (KFS) training, our comprehensive, cloud-based monitoring service that allows our authorized dealers to remotely handle many maintenance tasks for their customers, without time-consuming onsite visits; ideally, a great opportunity for our dealers to get a better understanding on the benefits of this service.

Lastly, our software and ICT services team, led by Kurt Brown, vice president, provided support from the business solutions consultants. They conducted remote software meetings highlighting solutions such as DMConnect and MyQ. We wanted to make sure that we had great communication with our dealers, no matter how big or small, throughout this pandemic, and provide them with the support necessary to help them achieve success.

OT: If you owned an office technology dealership, what would you be doing currently to optimize your level of business?

Morisco: Initially, I would gather my workforce to make sure we are fully aligned with our core objectives, focus all our efforts into maintaining our existing customer base, and then generate and acquire new leads, if possible. We need to make sure that our business remains sustainable by offering solutions and services addressing customers’ needs. With the current pandemic, now more than ever, dealerships need to focus on solution-based selling.

I would apply for a PPP Program Loan, to help keep my employees on the payroll. I would look for any other state or federal grants that may be available for my business. I would make sure my sales, service and administrative teams are right sized for the “new normal” demand. I would do everything in my power to protect my employees and ask for the same in return from them. Without good employees, no company can survive.

user’s experience across any of the MFP OT: What key changes in the locations from one management interSome of the largest workplace do you expect long face. This helped increase productivity, term, if not indefinitely, as it reuniversities are not enhance document security and reduce lates to the use of imaging degoing to have a fall output costs. vices? semester. They are not Morisco: The COVID-19 pandemic going to open their OT: What Kyocera training has resulted in businesses and their emprograms are in place to asdoors; everything will ployees trying to adjust to a new normal. sist dealership sales reps and/ We know that in March 2020, our K-12 be virtual. or service techs to optimize their schools were closed and learning was level of success? handled remotely. Some of the largest Morisco: I provided a quick overview in the first quesuniversities are not going to have a fall semester. They are not going to open their doors; everything will be virtual. tion, but I would like to elaborate a little more about a series that was put together by our learning and development team That will be a large component of this vertical market.

Currently, we have devices in school districts and in loca- called “The Channel Blended Learning Series.” This series tions that will not be utilized. Businesses are also working consisted of live virtual instructor-led webinars that were remotely, so there will be a shift to the smaller A4 devices, at held weekly and featured Kyocera’s solution sales instructors discussing several topics that would be beneficial to a dealer. least in the short term.

Also, we know over the last several months that many Some of the topics included: document security, prospectcompanies that had had a small work-from-home program ing, applications such as DMConnect, Kyocera Net Manager, have now moved to a completely virtual workplace. We also MyQ and OmniWorx, and much more. And after the original know that these companies occupied prime real estate in broadcasts were made, dealers were able to download the remajor metropolitan areas. Those buildings, like ours, are corded webinar via a shared link.

The goal was to offer as much support as possible and get as nearly vacant. I have to believe that based on the cost of real estate in those areas, and the success of working virtually, many of our dealers trained on Kyocera products and applimore and more companies will adopt a virtual office as part cations, from a technical, product and solutions standpoint. of their normal operating procedures post COVID-19. I beOT: What new Kyocera product — recently or lieve that a shift will create different opportunities for those who are engaged in solution selling and those who sell IT soon to be released — and/or new or pending capability on an existing Kyocera product are you services in the months to come. most pleased with at this time?

Morisco: Without a doubt, the TASKalfa Pro 15000c. It OT: What noteworthy “success story” can you share regarding one of Kyocera’s authorized provides Kyocera dealers with an opportunity to go after a dealerships in terms of a particularly successful totally different vertical market and revenue stream. It will placement of Kyocera products during the pan- provide opportunities for growth in conventional printing demic? (It is not necessary to name the dealer- in transactional, trans-promotional and direct-mail applications. This product is performing extremely well in the marship by name.)

Morisco: Sure, one of our Kyocera dealers has a client with ket and we have received nothing but positive feedback from multiple locations and a growing insurance business that was the dealers who have taken on this product. limited by a fleet of aging MFPs. These MFPs were all standOT: What can you tell us about the status of alone and not connected to their network. This led to added expenses where the company was using non-productive stand- Kyocera’s next national dealer meeting?

Morisco: We are excited to have the opportunity to meet alone printers across their multiple locations.

The dealer’s recommended solution was to install 28 new with our dealer partners again in Spring 2021. We plan to conKyocera TASKalfa MFPs and 15 Kyocera printers with the MyQ tinue with a Pan-American dealer conference taking any continsolution, designed for Kyocera. MyQ is a comprehensive, yet uing restrictions regarding the post-COVID environment into consideration. n simple output, capture and fleet management solution.

Brent Hoskins, executive director of the Now, documents that were printed are sent to centralBusiness Technology Association, is editor ized MFPs, and then released after authentication, utilizing of Office Technology magazine. He can be reached at the print-and-follow function. Also, with a MyQ embedded brent@bta.org or (816) 303-4040. terminal, the client’s IT department can centrally control a www.offi cetechnol ogymag.com | Augu s t 2020 | 25

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

Consultant/Trainer Members KnowledgeWave Inc., Colchester, Vermont MPS Monitor, Milano, Italy 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.

Offering business software training, KnowledgeWave helps organizations create a modern workplace through Microsoft 365, Teams & Professional Development adoption planning and training. As a Microsoft Certified Partner with 20 years’ experience, hundreds of organizations worldwide rely on KnowledgeWave to provide software and professional development training for their employees. www.knowledgewave.com

Actionable Intelligence Subcription The office technology industry’s destination site for the latest news and in-depth analysis, www.action-intell.com, features nearly 3,000 posts conveniently linked to provide an easyto-use mosaic of detailed analysis. The site is an essential tool for professionals marketing hardware and consumables. Subscribers have access to hundreds of product profiles of the latest machines and supplies, topical market research, analysis of key issues and news.

BTA members receive a 30% discount.

Actionable Intelligence goes beyond the headlines and press releases, to offer in-depth analysis of the forces that are shaping your business today and insights that will help you make more informed strategic decisions to ensure you succeed in the future. Most of the content on the Actionable Intelligence website is available exclusively to subscribers.

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

With more than 800,000 printing devices and 25 billion pages monitored each year among more than 120,000 end users, MPS Monitor is one of the major IoT software solutions at a global level for monitoring printing devices and the provision of managed print services. MPS Monitor provides a SaaS platform for monitoring and managing printers, available in the Cloud, and equipped with a full set of APIs for integrating external software solutions. Its data collection technology allows dealers/VARs, large end users, manufacturers and retailers of printer consumables to satisfy any need associated with the management of printing devices, recording of page volumes and supply of toner in an automatic and controlled way.

The MPS Monitor Cloud service is managed within an ISO/IEC 27001:2014 certified Information Security Management System. www.mpsmonitor.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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COURTS & CAPITOLS

Employee Manuals There are certain provisions that must be included by: Robert C. Goldberg, general counsel for the Business Technology Association

M

ost dealers have an employee handbook, but most handbooks have room for improvement. There is no one-size-fits-all formula since state and local laws vary. There are, however, a number of best practices that can help dealers maximize the positive impact of this human resources tool and ensure compliance. A well-written handbook helps make clear the company’s expectations, which, in turn, helps prevent employee misunderstandings and complaints.

No two handbooks are the same, just as no two companies are the same. Regardless, there are certain provisions that should be part of every employee handbook.

At the beginning of every handbook should be an introduction discussing the company’s vision and mission statement.

In addition, this section should include caveats that the handbook is not a contract, employment is generally “at will” and the employer reserves the right to change the policies at any time.

Federal law requires companies with 15 employees or more to prevent workplace discrimination, harassment and retaliation.

For that reason alone, every handbook should make clear the company’s policy on these issues.

This begins with a prohibition on unlawful discrimination based on any category protected by law — including race, color, sex, religion, national origin, disability, age and genetic information. An antidiscrimination policy should list specific areas where discrimination will not be tolerated — such as hiring, training, terms and conditions of employment, promotion, discipline and discharge.

Your sexual anti-harassment policy should first explain the types of behavior that are prohibited (e.g., unwelcome touching, comments, jokes, pictures). Second, the harassment policy should list the individuals who employees can go to for reporting harassment. The policy should set forth the procedure for investigating harassment complaints, including the company’s strict anti-retaliation rule and the fact that investigations will be kept confidential to the extent practicable.

Dealerships with employees who are subject to the minimum wage and overtime rules of the Fair Labor Standards Act require a policy describing exempt versus non-exempt individuals and explaining that non-exempt employees will be paid overtime at the rate of time and a half their regular rate for all hours worked more than 40 in a week (or 8 hours in a day in California).

Non-exempt employees should be instructed to keep track of all hours worked and required to obtain permission before working overtime.

Outside salespeople are exempt from overtime compensation.

The need for a discipline policy is two-fold.

First, the best way to ensure that employees follow the same set of rules is to distribute them in writing. If everyone knows what is expected, most employees will try to comply. It is only fair that these expectations be documented in one place. Second, when the procedures for addressing violations are set forth in writing, management will know what to do when someone breaks the rules. Employees with prior notice of expectations and consequences are less likely to argue that they have been treated unfairly.

Every employee wants to know how much vacation/sick time/ PTO they get, and how many paid holidays there are. Rules for working remotely should also be stated. Having this information in one place will ensure that everyone, again, knows the rules, promoting consistency. The same is true with respect to employee benefits, such as health insurance, short- and long-term disability, retirement and other perks.

Given that no two dealerships are the same, dealers will want to craft specific policies related to areas such as e-mail and web browsing, use of company equipment for personal reasons, performance evaluations, nepotism and employee appearance and grooming. Policies that are tailored to the company culture are generally more effective than mass produced forms.

Remember that beyond compliance with federal laws, it is imperative that companies review the laws in the states, counties and cities where they have employees. Your handbook may have different rules for employees working in different states.

Depending on the number of employees working in a jurisdiction, state-specific requirements, such as jury duty, emergency response, military, sick leave, overtime and school activities, may apply. Every employee should sign acknowledgments of receipt of the handbook, and the acknowledgments should be kept in their personnel files. The pandemic has changed the workplace; your employee handbook needs to keep pace. n Robert C. Goldberg is general counsel for the Business Technology Association.

He can be reached at robert.goldberg@sfnr.com. www.offi cetechnol ogymag.com | Augu s t 2020 | 27

SELLING SOLUTIONS

Pandemic Selling Tips They can help you accelerate winning deals

by Gil Cargill, Sales Acceleration Coach

I

n spite of the headlines that we see in the news, there are some businesses that are thriving and, as a result, are buying new products, technologies and services. Your dealership can thrive during the pandemic, if your marketing and prospecting efforts find people who are in the industries that are doing well. Following are selling tips to implement during this pandemic period.

Increase your marketing footprint: Every demographically desirable decision-maker and/or influencer in your geographic marketplace should receive a marketing message from you and your team regularly. One of the easiest ways to do this is with cold-emailing. If you’re not doing this, you’re missing the opportunity to compete for business in those thriving accounts and markets.

Hire a Sales Development Rep: A sales development representative is responsible for prospecting for your team. He (or she) will use LinkedIn and its Sales Navigator app to create relationships, cold-emailing to nurture relationships, and the phone to set appointments. These individuals should be measured on the number of sales appointments they set.

Close down your sales prevention department: That’s right. Many dealerships have inadvertently developed a sales prevention department. These are typically internal processes and procedures that require your salespeople to engage in an excessive volume of non-sales tasks. Remember, you only have 173 selling hours available to each individual on your team per calendar month. Don’t reduce the number of sales hours that they have available by inflicting and mandating that the sales team get involved with non-sales tasks.

Practice remote selling: Many prospects don’t want to see salespeople during the pandemic. In many of my client accounts, salespeople are actually being refused access to the parking lot, not to mention the lobby of office buildings! Consequently, your team must get very proficient at utilizing video platforms to meet with their prospects.

The teams that master remote selling will be the teams that succeed during the pandemic. In order to achieve a level of proficiency in remote selling, you should hold practice sessions with your team regularly. Critique the presentation and, most importantly, the poise of the salesperson. I’ve seen a lot of haphazard video presentations recently that are really a “turnoff.”

Remind your team members that behavior that may be acceptable to them could be inadvertently offensive to customers.

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So, they should behave over video as well as, or perhaps even better than, they would in a face-toface sales meeting.

Implement activity objectives: Some people derogatorily consider this concept to be “micro managing,” but I believe that well planned out activity objectives allow the manager to become a true coach. Without activity objectives in place, the sales manager can be nothing more than a cheerleader or a motivator.

With activity objectives, the sales manager can position himself as a partner with your salespeople to help them navigate to their success plateau. Instead of saying “work harder,” a proficient coach will say: “Based on your current proficiency, two more appointments per week will produce the results we need by the end of the year.”

Review all past leads: My experience is that many leads are deemed “dead” long before they should be. If you have a box of old leads or a database of old leads, go back through them ASAP. Ten to one on a dollar, there’s a deal or two sitting in that pile, if not more, and you can benefit from this exercise.

Implement an account retention program: As the number of opportunities in all markets shrink due to the pandemic, your current relationships become more valuable to you and to your competitor. Help your team understand that every one of your key accounts is being solicited by your competition. To a degree, I think it’s healthy to have a little paranoia regarding your existing relationships.

Get after those accounts and implement a 90-day business review cycle with each of them. This business review cycle is nicknamed: “Here’s what we’ve done for you lately.” Also, you should implement a top-to-top marketing program.

Top-to-top marketing is nothing more complicated than the owners of your dealership soliciting a conversation with the highest-level manager/executive at your key customer accounts. These conversations should occur three or four times annually. And the theme of these conversations should be focused on your customer’s strategic focus. In other words, don’t make these sales calls.n Gil Cargill is a consultant, speaker and trainer, who has helped thousands of businesses achieve dramatic, permanent improvements in sales productivity. He can be reached at gil@gilcargill.com. Visit www.gilcargill.com.

SELLING SOLUTIONS

Trouble Finding Candidates?

Hiring ads should include these seven components by: Troy Harrison, Troy Harrison & Associates

O

ne common refrain that I hear anytime I discuss sales hiring, whether at a seminar or in a Sales Strategy Review call, is that the other person “just can’t find the good sales candidates!” They moan: “There aren’t any good people out there to hire!” I always tell them the same thing: “Yes, they are out there. If you’re not getting good candidates, it’s something you’re doing or not doing.”

It’s true. I’ve been helping clients hire salespeople for 15 years now. Hiring salespeople is always the same — it’s a needle-in-ahaystack proposition, no matter what the job market is like as a whole. There are always needles in every hiring process. The only difference is the size of the haystacks. There are no “magic pools of candidates,” no matter what a headhunter might tell you. With that in mind, let’s talk about how you can find the right sales candidates for your job.

First, your job has to be attractive and marketable. That means that you have to have a pleasant workplace, a good company culture, a reasonable work/performance expectation (if you’re expecting salespeople to work a 60-hour week, you’ve lost before you start) and a compensation plan that appropriately rewards salespeople at the level of career, experience and performance that you desire. If you’re missing any of those things, you’re not going to get the candidates you should.

A word about compensation. Straight commission is dead; a 1099 sales contractor is “deader.” When you attempt to hire salespeople on one of these plans, you immediately lose half of your applicant pool — and, most likely, those are the half that you would like to have, because they have options and are themselves marketable as salespeople.

The best comp packages today have three components: First, they have a salary — not a draw, but a salary. The salary should cover the basic necessities of living. I never wanted my salespeople to be worried about paying rent or putting food on the table — that creates demotivators, not motivators. Second, the package should have a commission. The commission should cover the lifestyle. Yes, you can eat on the salary, but if you want to eat steak, you had better sell something. Finally, the package should include a bonus for overperformance. In my opinion, overperformance starts at 120% of quota and above.

If your pay package isn’t right, you’re handicapping yourself in the competition for talent.

Second, you must approach recruiting as a marketing project, not a human resources project. And, as a marketer, you want as many people to know about your job opening as you possibly

can, and be absolutely dying to work for you right up until you tell them “no.” It’s easy to just have the HR department slap up the job description on some job boards, but the job description doesn’t get applicants. Think like a marketer; your ad (and, yes, you should advertise) should have the following components: (1) A catchy tagline. You can have the best ad in the world, but if the tagline doesn’t grab people’s attention, they won’t click on it.

(2) Sales copy. Why is your opportunity worth applying for?

The first 2-3 paragraphs of the ad should talk about who your company is, what you’re all about, what you do, a few tidbits about your success, what the job entails and why you’re the ideal company to work for. Job descriptions have none of this.

Your first call to action should close this part of the ad: “If this sounds like you, here’s what we’re looking for.”

(3) A bullet point list of some qualifications. What skills/ traits do you need them to possess? Don’t think “job description” here, think “success factors.” What makes your top people successful? Your list should be relatively short; 6 is plenty; 8 is probably too many. Make them succinct and to the point. www.offi cetechnol ogymag.com | Augu s t 2020 | 29

(4) A bullet point list of what you will (7) A call to action. Finally, you need a do for your new hire. What do you bring to call to action to get them to apply. It can be You need the salary, the the table? Training, benefits, compensation as simple as: “We want to hear from you!” realistic first-year income, (more on that next), culture? Why are you Include a link to the online application the average income after an attractive employer? system. three years and what the (5) Money. Always, always, always, That’s an ad format that has consistently top performer earns...it include money in your ad. Like it or not, generated good flows of candidates for me money is the primary factor that salespeoand for my clients over a 15-year period in can be scary to put that ple will use to decide if you’re for them, so hundreds of searches. And if you follow it, it in there. don’t skip it. And no, saying “a competcan work for you, too. Once you get your ad itive compensation package” doesn’t do right, then post it. My favorite places are the anything for you (have you ever seen an ad stating that they paid job board on LinkedIn, InDeed and any other local sources offer an uncompetitive compensation package?). Here are the you can locate. Happy hunting! n figures you need: You need the salary, the realistic first-year inTroy Harrison is the author of “Sell Like You Mean It!” and come, the average income after three years and what the top “The Pocket Sales Manager,” and a speaker, consultant performer earns. I know — it can be scary to put that in there. and sales navigator. He helps companies build Don’t be scared. Rest assured that your competitors already more profitable and productive sales forces. have a good general idea of what you pay.

To schedule a free 45-minute (6) Link to learn more. At the bottom, have a couple of Sales Strategy Review, paragraphs about the company; this can be copied from your call (913) 645-3603 or “about us” page on your website. Plus, include a link to your e-mail troy@troyharrison.com. company website.

Visit www.troyharrison.com.

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