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Lexmark ad Feb 08

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How do you want us to do business with you?

We listen to our dealers and deliver solutions.

The Lexmark Business Solutions Dealer Program is designed specifically to meet the business needs of office equipment dealers. All Lexmark Business Solutions Dealers enjoy special pricing, programs and incentives necessary to aggressively compete and win. Plus, each Business Solutions Dealer also receives unparalleled Lexmark sales, service and dedicated business development team support.

Founded from an IBM heritage and based in Lexington, Kentucky, Lexmark is one of the few global companies to own, develop and market its own print technologies and solutions. Our award winning products are reliable and easy to use. As part of the Fortune 500 companies, Lexmark is poised to deliver on its promise to deliver quality, dependable products well into the future.

The Lexmark Business Solutions Dealer Program, one simple program with one award winning company dedicated to your success.

"I think you guys are standing on the threshold to do something that no other BTA channel vendor has ever done, because you're coming to the dealers to ask 'How do you want us to do business with you?' No other vendor has really done that to my knowledge. We do appreciate it."

- Dan Hayes, owner, Purcell's, Campbellsville, Ky. Past President of BTA

Visit us at ITEX February 21st and 22nd at booth #235 or call us at 859-825-4188.

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CONTENTS Volume 14 No. 8

FEATURE ARTICLES 10

Seeing Silver Coordinated Business Systems celebrates 25 years

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Print Management Tools Helping your dealership capture more pages

by Jim Oricchio Coordinated Business Systems

Twenty-five years is a long time to be in business. It is a milestone that makes me extremely proud, so I wanted everyone to recognize and marvel at the accomplishment right along with me. I thought a celebration would be a great way to ignite and motivate my sales force.

by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

In recent months, as dealers have looked to the horizon for new revenue opportunities, many have fixed their eyes on print management. The idea of capturing more printed pages is appealing. So, too, is the prospect of selling more hardware. For some interested dealers, however, the opportunity remains a bit elusive as they struggle to fully “get their arms around” the concept of print management and identify the right steps to pursue.

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COURTS & CAPITOLS Common Employee Issues They are dominating calls to the BTA Legal Hotline

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by Robert C. Goldberg BTA General Counsel

Q&A: Tom Johnson Global’s founder discusses Xerox, trends & dealers

Answering my phone is the best gauge to determine the issues facing our industry.

Persistent calls regarding pricing by manufacturer direct operations and third-party leasing companies are never a trend, but consistent problems.

Recently, numerous inquiries regarding employee issues prevailed.

by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

It has been ten months since the announcement of its acquisition by Xerox Corp., but many in the industry still keep a watchful eye on Global Imaging Systems Inc. They are, perhaps, intrigued by the company’s success, but wondering about the size of the market share Xerox will ultimately claim. Recently, Office Technology magazine had the chance to visit with Tom Johnson, Global’s founder.

SELLING SOLUTIONS Communicate & Collaborate Doing so will help create competitive advantage

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by Tom Kramer Strategy Mapping Selling

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In Paul Newman’s movie “Cool Hand Luke,” the actor Strother Martin played a chain-gang captain who delivered the now famous line: “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” In sales, the root cause of many problems is derived from inefficient communications and collaboration capabilities.

The Failed Solution Sale A thorough ‘autopsy’ will get to the bottom of the crime

by Darrell Amy Dealer Marketing Systems

If there is one thing that I have learned from watching reruns of “Law & Order,” it is that to solve a murder, you need to take a close look at both the victim and the scene. Many dealers are not enjoying the degree of success that they had hoped for in selling software-based solutions like document management, automated capture or electronic forms. Some are selling none at all.

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DEPARTMENTS 6

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

‘Solution Sales’ — What is Your View? ithout any doubt, the words “solution sales” have moved to the forefront of the office technology industry. They appear regularly in the pages of this magazine and are frequently spoken and emphasized at manufacturer dealer meetings and elsewhere. Yet, even with their familiarity, the two words are viewed in different ways by dealers. Some view them as words of opportunity. Others view them as words of frustration.

Where is the BTA channel today, in terms of its transition and commitment to software-based solution sales? Are dealers, in fact, regularly selling software that can be used in conjunction with MFPs, such as software that facilitates variable data printing?

In order to find the answers, I sent a brief email sur vey to BTA member dealers. I received 78 responses. Following are the questions I asked and the results. I am confident that you will find the results of interest.

What percentage of your revenue is from the sale and support of software that can be used in conjunction with MFPs? None, 10%; One to 10 percent, 76%; 11 to 20 percent, 10%; More than 20 percent, 4% If you sell software that can be used in conjunction with MFPs, how many software vendors’ products do you sell? One, 18%; Two to five, 71%; More than five, 11% Which of the following best describes your view of “solution sales”? I fully embrace the opportunity, 47%; I pay close attention to the industry’s focus on solution sales, but we have only “somewhat” pursued this opportunity, 46%; I feel that solution sales is more

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hype than anything else, and so remain focused on hardware sales only, 4%; I’m still waiting to see how successful my competitors and others are in solution sales, 3%.

If you sell software that can be used in conjunction with MFPs, has it resulted in the sale of more hardware? Yes, 73%; No, 27% Do you employ one or more “solution specialists” in your dealership? Yes, 64%; No, 36% What general comments would you like to share regarding solution sales that are not addressed in the above questions? (Here is a sampling of the responses.)

“Solution sales still seem bewildering and unclear at this point. It’s daunting enough to keep up with the rapid changes in business products technology and its new features and functionality. Learning about complimentary software seems counterproductive at present, unless you’re a very large dealership and can invest in a team to develop this segment of the market.”

“We have invested a lot of resources in this area, but we have still not seen the type of profit that we would want to achieve.

End-users are somewhat reluctant to pay a stand-alone hourly fee for applications and support. As we try and bundle it to satisfy them, it takes away from our true objective.”

“This is the future. With the ‘commoditization’ of hardware — thanks to the manufacturers’ direct sales operations in our backyards — there are only a few opportunities to differentiate the independent dealers, and this is clearly the most desirable way to accomplish that and make an actual profit.”

Would you like to see how other dealers responded to this final question in my survey? Open this column on the BTA Web site, www.bta.org, for additional responses.

— 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 Darrell Amy, Dealer Marketing Systems www.dealermarketingsystems.com Robert C. Goldberg, General Counsel Business Technology Association Tom Kramer, Strategy Mapping Selling www.strategymappingselling.com www.smsap.com Jim Oricchio, Coordinated Business Systems www.coordinated.com

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Business Technology Association 12411 Wornall Road Kansas City, MO 64145 (816) 941-3100 www.bta.org Member Services: (800) 505-2821 BTA Legal Hotline: (800) 869-6688 Valerie Briseno Membership & Marketing Manager valerie@bta.org Mary Hopkins Database Administrator mary@bta.org Teresa Leerar Bookkeeper teresa@bta.org ©2008 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.

Kyocera ad Feb 08

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Vibrant color. Superior functionality.

Must be one terrific MFP.

Kyocera’s KM-C4035E Delivers Across-the-Board Productivity for Your Customers For an affordable color document solution that maximizes business productivity, discover the power and reliability of the KM-C4035E. This workhorse is one of a series of color MFPs designed to keep your customers’ business color needs in-house and within budget. At 40 pages per minute of crisp black and white, and 35 pages per minute of brilliant color, it delivers impact to any job. Add the full range of advanced finishing features for compelling business communications. Plus optional software solutions maximize your customers’ hardware investment. Combine all this with strong dealer marketing support, and it’s no wonder Kyocera keeps you smiling.

To learn more about Kyocera and its products visit www.kyoceramita.com.

©2008 KYOCERA MITA CORPORATION. KYOCERA MITA AMERICA, INC., a group company of Kyocera Corporation.

“People Friendly,” “The New Value Frontier,” the Kyocera “smile” and the Kyocera logo are trademarks of Kyocera.

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BTA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE ®

Toshiba is Top 2008 BTA Award Winner hey have done it again. Toshiba America Business Solutions Inc. (TABS) has earned the top 2008 Business Technology Association (BTA) Channel’s Choice award, based on voting ballots cast by 275 office technology dealers. This is the ninth time TABS has earned this prestigious award since the program was established in 1989.

BTA mailed ballots to member and nonmember dealers in late 2007. In addition, an online ballot was posted on the BTA Web site. All copier/MFP vendors were invited to provide their dealers with a link to the online ballot. The dealers were asked to rank their primary and secondary vendors in four key performance categories — Corporate Support, Distribution, Digital Product Line and Inventory. Within each category, dealers were asked to rate their primary vendor in key areas on a scale ranging from “not at all satisfactory” to “excellent.” For example, the corporate support category listed 11 key areas, such as “effectiveness of sales training.”

Ballots were cast by dealers representing all of the copier/MFP vendors in the industry.

Beyond the top 2008 Channel’s Choice Superior Performance Award, TABS also earned the award in two Channel’s Choice categories — Corporate Support and Distribution. Certainly, it is a privilege to extend to TABS our congratulations on the outstanding support the company provides its dealers. TABS’ leadership is to be commended on a job well done.

While Toshiba received the top Channel’s Choice award, the ballot results also revealed the winner of the Outstanding Performance

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Award, presented to the most highly rated secondary line vendor by those dealers casting ballots. I’m pleased to announce that past winner Muratec America Inc. is the 2008 recipient of this award. I have often heard that Muratec is an outstanding company with which to do business. This award confirms that assertion.

And finally, the third 2008 Channel’s Choice award winner is past recipient Savin Corp., in the category of Digital Product Line. Certainly, Savin is to be commended, given that among those casting ballots, the company’s product line was ranked above all others.

As we notified this year’s 2008 Channel’s Choice winners, they were quick to express their appreciation to the dealer community.

Following are comments received from the top two award winners.

From TABS’ Mark Mathews, president and CEO: “Toshiba is honored to have captured three of BTA’s Channel’s Choice awards.

Being singled out by members of BTA and others is a great validation that we are providing the tools, training and services needed by today’s independent dealer. We are proud to support independent dealers and help them grow their businesses today and well into the future.”

From Muratec’s Jim D’Emidio, vice president of sales and marketing: “Muratec is extremely honored to be recognized by BTA for the third year in a row. Our entire focus is on delivering a high level of customer support, technical service and product innovation to the independent dealer channel.

Every employee at Muratec is empowered to make decisions that will benefit both Muratec and our dealers and this recognition is a validation of that effort.”

— Shannon Oliver

2007-2008 Board of Directors President Shannon Oliver 25 Wheaton Circle Greensboro, NC 27406 shannon@bta.org President-Elect Ronelle Ingram Steven Enterprises Inc. 17952 Sky Park Circle Ste. E Irvine, CA 92614 ronellei@msn.com Vice President Bill James WJS Enterprises Inc. 3315 Ridgelake Drive P.O. Box 6620 Metairie, LA 70009 bjames@wjsenterprises.com BTA East Thomas Chin Accolade Technologies LLC 31 Mamaroneck Ave. Ste. 508 White Plains, NY 10601 tchin@accotech.com BTA Mid-America Mike Blake Corporate Business Systems LLC 2018 S. Stoughton Road Madison, WI 53716 mblake@corpbussystems.com BTA Southeast Jerry Jackson All South Copiers (ASC) 1325 Cobb International Blvd.

Ste. A Kennesaw, GA 30152 jerry@ascopiers.com BTA West Rock Janecek Burtronics Business Systems Inc. 216 S. Arrowhead Ave. P.O. Box 1170 San Bernardino, CA 92408 rjanecek@burtronics.com Ex-Officio/General Counsel Robert C. Goldberg Schoenberg Finkle Newman & Rosenberg Ltd. 222 S. Riverside Plaza Ste. 2100 Chicago, IL 60606 robert.goldberg@sfnr.com

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Print Management Tools Helping your dealership capture more pages by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

n recent months, as dealers have looked to the horizon for new revenue opportunities, many have fixed their eyes on print management. The idea of capturing more printed pages i s app ealin g. S o, to o, i s th e prospect of selling more hardware. For some interested dealers, however, the opportunity remains a bit elusive as th ey struggle to fully “get their arms around” the concept of print management and identify the right steps to pursue.

Tom Callinan, principal of Strateg y Development (www.strategydevelopment.org) and instructor for the BTA Print Management Workshop, explains why dealers should be considering the strategy. “Today, the page volumes generated by both monochrome and color printers are increasing substantially, resulting in a similar increase in the volume of printing-related issues reported by IT personnel and help desks,” he explains. “Meanwhile, office technology dealers continue to see a decline in copy volumes. There is also the ongoing threat of competitors, including OEM direct sales operations and VARs, encroaching on the dealer’s customer base. All of these realities point to a growing need within the channel for dealers to pursue a print management strategy.”

What is print management? Norman McConkey, president and CEO of PrintFleet Inc. (www.printfleet.com), offers a definition: “It is an approach that says, ‘I am your print partner. Everything that you need to do at your customer site with respect to office prints I’m going to manage for you.’”

The “everything” in McConkey’s definition would not only include supporting printing devices in the dealership’s MIF (machines in field), but also those devices that it did not

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place. “The dealer can become the end-user’s ‘single source’ for managing printed pages and the hardware used to produce them,” says Callinan. “Ultimately, the dealership providing print management services can position itself as a technology partner, transitioning th e end-users’ output devices to a single brand and winning additional hardware placement and software implementation opportunities.”

Callinan says the strategy is appealing to end-users as well.

“By utilizing the services of a dealership that offers a print management program, the end-user company can eliminate the need to deal with multiple vendors and invoices and leverage the benefits of a holistic view of its fleet,” he says.

“With one vendor responsible for the entire output fleet and printer-related issues, regardless of brand, the end-user can save time and money and improve efficiencies.”

Kevin Tetu, president and CEO of FMAudit (www.fm audit.com), shares Callinan’s views. “Ultimately, yes, I would agree,” he says. “Print management is engine agnostic, model agnostic and even document strategy agnostic. So, it has to do with managing the entire environment. I think that’s the ultimate goal.”

However, says Tetu, there are steps involved in reaching that ultimate goal, the first step being to manage the dealership’s MIF. Specifically, the dealership with an eye on managing the end-user’s entire fleet must first move beyond just focusing on selling boxes and, in turn, work toward managing the devices it has placed. From there, the dealership can work toward total fleet management.

Today, there are several vendors courting the BTA

PrintAudit point ad

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channel that offer tools that and printers. The products “While observing ... assets can be used by dealerships provide bidirectional synin a customer’s fleet, ASM to help implement a print chronization to ERPs, such will transform a dealer’s management strategy. Genas OMD’s Vision and Digital erally speaking, however, it Gateway’s e-automate. This service department from should be emphasized that functionality i s ac c oma reactive to a proactive th e pro ducts are simply plished through the FMmodel. This will allow the tools. “When people look to Audit Central repository, service department to FMAudit, they ask, ‘What is which is typically hosted at actively monitor supply levels ... ” y our print mana gem ent the dealer location.

— Kevin Tetu offering?’” says Tetu. “Our At press time, FMAudit FMAudit response is, ‘We don’t actuwas set to release its Adapally offer print management. tive Service Management What we offer are the tools that will help you offer print (ASM) module for Central. “While observing both managed management services.’” and non-managed assets in a customer’s fleet, ASM will Among those tools offered by FMAudit are its worksta- transform a dealer’s service department from a reactive to a tion-based OnSite product and its Internet-based WebAudit. proactive model,” says Tetu. “This will allow the service The products provide the dealership the ability to easily and department to actively monitor supply levels, informing the automatically collect meter readings from customer MFPs dealership when it’s time to replenish supplies.”

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Similarly, PrintFleet offers FMAudit and PrintFleet “...

If somebody goes its PrintFleet Optimizer Plus are not alone in this product to print a large job to a product, which provides for category. At least three other local printer, where it automat ed m et er read s, vendors are pursuing the remote device diagnostics channel with their print would obviously be much and proactive maintenance, management, device mancheaper to send it to the as well as proactive supplies agement and other tools — MFP down the hall, the job fulfillment. The company MWA Intelligence (www. can be automatically also offers PrintFleet Entermwaintelligence.com), Print redirected to the MFP.” prise, a self-hosted version Audit (www.printaudit.com) — Trevor Hofer of P rintFl e et O ptimi z er and PrintMIB LLC (www.

Print Audit designed for large organizaprintmib.com). Of course, tions monitoring thousands the scope and capabilities of of devices. (For sub-$10 million dealerships pursuing a print their products vary. Among Print Audit’s products, for management strategy and serving smaller companies, example, is Print Audit 5, which includes among its features McConkey recommends that dealers work through one of the ability to redirect print jobs from high-cost to low-cost PrintFleet’s partners, such as GreatAmerica Leasing, Sup- devices. “For example, if somebody goes to print a large job to plies Network or SYNNE X, w hich of fer the software a local printer, where it would obviously be much cheaper to company’s products under private label.) send it to the MFP down the hall, the job can be automatically

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Toshiba ad Dec 07

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©2007 Toshiba America Business Solutions, Inc. Electronic Imaging Division. All rights reserved.

EIGHT WINS I S N ’ T T H AT T H E K I N D O F T E A M Y O U ’ D L I K E TO B E O N ?

The people have spoken. And for the 8th time, Toshiba was voted #1 for Overall Performance by the BTA. Maybe it’s because Toshiba offers more than just great copiers. We offer value-added solutions that make businesses more productive and profitable. If you’d like to learn more about what’s made Toshiba America’s fastest growing copier company or become part of our winning team, visit www.copiers.toshiba.com or call 949-462-6165.

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redirected to the MFP,� says in order to add volume.� “The copier (MFP) is under Trev or Hofer, marketing BTA dealers are ideally lease, but the rest of the manager for Print Audit. suited to pursue desktop print volume — the HPs “So, it’s a win-win for the and n etw ork printers as customer and the dealer. part of their print manageand Lexmarks — are The customer saves money m ent strat eg y, say s Mclargely transactional ... by printing to the cheaper Conkey. “The copier (MFP) There is a tremendous device and the dealer ends is under lease, but the rest opportunity to ... start up with more volume.� of the print volume — the expanding that cost-per-copy program ...�

Certainly, “more volume�

HPs and Lexmarks — are — Norman McConkey is the “carrot� for the dealerlargely transactional,� he PrintFleet ship and, as suggested, it is says. “ Very seldom will a not just available through BTA dealership find that redirected print jobs. McConkey estimates that approxi- those devices and their supplies are under contract and, cermately 60 percent of print jobs are being sent to network and tainly, the assets don’t tend to be leased and the supplies desktop printers. “When we talk to dealerships, we say, ‘That tend to be purchased when they run out. So, there is a is your goal,’� he explains. “If the dealer is going to grow his tremendous opportunity to take the existing lease relationbusiness, he needs to manage these pages as well, instead of ship and start expanding that cost-per-copy program to just going out and trying to sell a copier to another company include other assets inside of an organization for growth.�

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FMAudit ad Feb 08

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Meanwhile, says McConkcompanies such as Print“It is a unique market ey, an effective print manageFleet. McConkey, for examapproach for your ment strategy will also lead ple, cites a recent conversalespeople to distinguish to new hardware placements. sation with a dealer who “If you install a data collec“jumped in six months ago themselves from tion agent and there are, let’s and already has 120 custhe competition. And say, 20 or more devices, you tomers up and running on the benefit is simple. will find opportunities for print management/remote Print management offers ... new hardware placements,” monitoring.” dealers a highly profitable revenue stream.” he says. “ There are many However, he adds, many — Barry Deuschle stories of dealerships that other dealers are holding PrintMIB LLC install a data collection agent back. McConkey notes anand start monitoring the other recent conversation pages of the devices in the customer location and, all of a with a dealer who, after three to four years as a customer, is sudden, they say, ‘There’s an HP 8100 doing 25,000 pages a only monitoring the devices of one customer. “The dealer month. Let me roll that into a Ricoh or Canon on a cost-per- said, ‘Our customers are not going to let us put this on their copy program.’ So, dealers will absolutely sell new hardware.” network,’” he says. “And I’m thinking, ‘The guy down the street Certainly, some dealers are already actively offering print is going to eat your lunch. He has figured it out.’ For dealers management services with the help of the products from who get to a certain level, probably beyond 10 to 12 implementations of software, it starts to become a way of life.”

Barry Deuschle, principal of PrintMIB LLC, echoes McConkey’s example of the reluctant dealer. He cites a recent conversation with a dealer who remains focused on the traditional model. “He just doesn’t get it,” he says. “He is used to getting on the phone with people and saying, ‘Do you want to buy a copier? When does your contract expire?

Here’s the price per page.’ He is really struggling to get Looking for a great opportunity to become more valuable to your client base and add himself into this new culture and he is losing business.”

SEE US AT profit to your bottom line with long term BOOTH #845 For that dealer and many others, print management is an recurring revenue? innowave gives you ideal strategy, says Deuschle. “It is a unique market what it takes to be a success in the commercial market. innowave's complete approach for your salespeople to distinguish themselves “The synergy of the customer product line of UV and filtration POU from the competition,” he says. “And the benefit is simple. base between a copier systems has a unique look customers love dealership and a water Print management offers office technology dealers a highly and features that will set you apart from dealership is excellent...” the competition in a exclusive market profitable revenue stream.” (where available). To find out more about For dealers who have been considering the development “…It provides an this great B2B sales opportunity look us of a print management strategy, they may want to consider up on the web at www.innowave.com or extraordinary profit some of the available tools to help make it a reality. give us a call at 1-800-723-3426. opportunity under the copier “In the past, we were in a time of a rising tide, where all umbrella. I would recommend it to any copier boats rise,” says McConkey. “Today it is not rising anymore. dealer.”

And so, some dealers are winning and some are losing. The tools are out there for dealers to change their businesses.

John Leinweber, For those who want to, it’s going to be a former President/CEO, heck of a ride.”

American Office Equipment and Image Technology Group Brent Hoskins, executive director of the Chicago, IL Business Technology Association, is editor of Office Technology magazine. He can be reached at brent@bta.org. ®

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Q&A: Tom Johnson Global’s founder discusses Xerox, trends & dealers by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

t has been ten months since the announcement of its acquisition by Xerox Corp., but many in the industry still keep a watchful eye on Global Imaging Systems Inc. They are, perhaps, intrigued by the company’s success, but wondering about the size of the market share Xerox will ultimately claim, so they are uncer t ain ab out th e f inal impact on the industry.

The announcement came on April 2, 2007. Early that Monday morning, Xerox told the world that it had reached a definitive agreement to acquire Global for $29 per share in cash, for a total purchase price of about $1.5 billion. What followed was the quick withdrawal by Canon and Ricoh as suppliers to Global. The acquisition also appears to have spawned a greater emphasis in direct sales among some manufacturers.

Xerox officials had a specific target in mind in acquiring Global. “Joining forces with Global Imaging Systems gives Xerox access to their extensive customer base and adds more than 1,400 ‘feet on the street’ selling Xerox systems,” said Xerox Chairman and CEO Anne M. Mulcahy at the time of the announcement. Specifically, the company projected the acquisition would increase Xerox’s small- to mid-sized market (SMB) distribution by 50 percent, giving the company access to about 200,000 new SMB customers.

Since the initial shock wave and all that has occurred in its wake, many in the industry have likely reflected on the success of Global’s chairman, Tom Johnson. In 1994, he founded the company after serving at Alco Standard (now IKON) for 14 years and at Danka Business Systems for two years. Thirteen years later, he had built Global to a company

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of 4,900 employees with 21 regional core companies. Ultimately, he orchestrated its sale for 1.5 times its $1.03 billion 2006 revenues.

Today, at 62, Johnson remains as chairman of Global, but will retire from the company at the end of December of this year. After that, there are plans for him to remain engaged with the company in a consulting role for five years.

Recently, Office Technology magazine had the chance to visit with Johnson about Xerox’s acquisition of Global, direct sales trends and the independent dealer channel.

OT: Global Imaging Systems had grown at an impressive rate. Why did you feel it was time to sell the company?

Johnson: I was the chief operating officer at Alco Office Products [a division of then Alco Standard] early on and then at Danka also, in the good days, when they were doing things right and doing well. And, as happens to a lot of corporations, the big shots walked away fat and happy and the rank and file suffered. I’ve been determined not to let that happen at Global.

After I left these companies and started my own business, I still had contact with a lot of people I had made promises to when I acquired their business while at Alco and Danka. The end result was a lot of them lost much of their 401k because it was invested in company stock. That aggravated me.

So, that was a part of the thing that got me to looking.

Beyond that, it’s no secret now that I hired an investment bank back in 2001, when we started having some overtures made to us by a couple of vendors that I wasn’t willing to

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obvious that with our performance, yearpartner with. So, we held them off, if that’s We have always been in over-year growth and heavy profitability, the right term. Later, as we continued to the cash flow followed the profitability. grow and do well, I always told our people the business of buying So, they knew the profitability is real. that we were positioning ourselves to be a good dealerships. We That’s what made the deal that price. public company forever, but if the right never wanted to pick partner came along and it made sense, up a failing dealership OT: What percentage of Global then we would consider selling. and try to make a silk sales are now Xerox products?

Just prior to Xerox ’s overture in purse out of it.

How will that change in the December of 2006, at the behest of our future? board, we hired Morgan Stanley to talk to all of the Japanese vendors again to see what the desire Johnson: I can’t give you any exact numbers, but suffice it to was, because I was becoming pretty upset about the fact say that we have Xerox products in every office. That is our that we were a distribution company that was twice as prof- lead product. We are going to market with Xerox every day itable as anybody else and doing better — the only one and the percentage of our sales that is Xerox is around 50 growing — but we were getting more and more competition percent and climbing. We will settle out at some point in from the very vendors who we supported. And, I thought, if time, because some vendors took a long-term view and that’s going to be the case and they are hell-bent to be more stayed with us and some decided not to. and more direct, like they are in the rest of the world, then I need to position my 4,900 employees — and it’s more than OT: What notable industry changes or reactions that now — with the right home so that we can compete since the sale of Global to Xerox have either effectively and make sure that all of those jobs are safe for come as a surprise to you or, to state it another the future and I don’t have to end up being like certain indi- way, were simply unexpected or unforeseeable? viduals that were running IKON and Danka and have Johnson: One reaction within the industry that we thought employees lose their jobs, lose their 401k, etc. So, that was would happen was that some manufacturers would go away and others would stay. I think it surprised us a little bit that pretty much the thinking. a couple of them left immediately. But I think it was shortsighted on their part because Xerox has committed to OT: Why was Global worth 1.5 times revenue?

Johnson: The reason we got one and half times revenue is having us be a two-line company for the foreseeable future, because we were a strategic buy versus a financial buy. Of all which means that it has continued the strategy that I had the dealerships we bought, you could say that there were when I started Global back in 1994-95.

The most surprising thing — and the thing that I had some that were strategic, where we paid a little more, but nothing close to 1.5 times revenue; when you are doing $135 been most concerned about — was how fast Xerox was able million in cash flow and you have a 170-office footprint in 30 to move to get our sales and service organizations trained, get inventory in our warehouses and help us continue to states, that’s attractive.

We have always been in the business of buying good deal- supply our customers without missing a beat. That was a erships. We never wanted to pick up a failing dealership and very positive surprise, because you know, you hear all about try to make a silk purse out of it. By and large, most build-ups how big companies are slow to move and Xerox really hasn’t — we call then build-ups instead of roll-ups — fail because it been in the distribution business per se. So, that was a very doesn’t matter who they buy, they are just looking for positive surprise. And, business has been terrific and cusvolume, and then they are going to try and decide how to tomer satisfaction is at some of the highest levels we’ve operate it later. We had a definitive plan going in and we experienced in Global. stuck to it all of those years and we’re still sticking to it. That’s why we were worth $1.5 billion to Xerox. They wanted to get OT: Xerox is committed to having Global remain back into the SMB market. They could either do it through a two-line company? acquisitions of dealerships or start in small sales teams, Johnson: Yes. At each location we most likely will have which they figured they didn’t have the expertise to do, or Xerox and another line. That’s our goal. I’ve thought from they could go buy IKON, Danka or Global. It was pretty day one, no matter which product line you have, some 22 | w w w . o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 8

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people don’t like it. So, if you’ve got two to play off of each other, you not only have a better customer solution, but you have a better opportunity to make sure that th e custom er ser v ice y ou are receiving from the vendor — pricing and all — is better than average.

Xerox brought us world-class products, world-class marketing tools ... marketing, brand promotion and all of those sorts of things.

OT: It is our understanding that among the reactions to Xerox’s acquisition is the loss of many Global salespeople to independent dealerships. Has that been the case?

Johnson: I think it’s a myth. We were dinged here and there, because at first some of the sales reps didn’t understand that they were going to be able to be in the same company with the same comp plan selling world-class products. But, if you look at the main benchmark that we look at, and that’s sales turnover, it hasn’t materially changed from before Xerox to after Xerox. Across all of our core companies, we had one core president retire and we had some loss of salespeople here and there, but no greater than our normal turnover.

OT: In what ways have the seemingly disparate cultures at Global and Xerox proven to work well together in the months since the acquisition?

Johnson: Each one of the core companies within Global has a different culture than Global. I fostered that, promoted it and desired it, because I wanted each core company to have a local culture. We talked a lot about great local people, great local service and a great local culture. That is the whole idea behind our “Think Globally, Act Locally.”

Of course, we want all the companies we’ve acquired to buy into the Global culture, which is aggressiveness, high integrity, the “dinner test” and all of the things we believe in.

It adds to their culture, but does not take away from it or distract from it or change it.

So, in our negotiations with Xerox, I told them I would see us working under them just like CBS in Connecticut does under Global headquarters or Chicago Office Technologies does in Chicago or Lewan in Denver. Each has its own great, long-term culture. These companies had cultures I liked to start with or I wouldn’t have bought them, and those cultures were fostered by leadership that I liked; that’s part of our “dinner test” for acquisitions.

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Xerox brought us world-class products, world-class marketing tools, worldclass help if and when we needed it, marketing, brand promotion and all of those sorts of things. But they really admired our culture, which allows us to get things done and take care of the customer. They have developed what they call “Global Time,” which is sort of like a “New York Minute.”

OT: You mentioned the “dinner test.” Can you explain that?

Johnson: The idea is, if you look at a business and you look at the numbers and the numbers are good, you’ve done your due diligence, and that’s good. The next thing you want to look at is the “dinner test.” That is, would you take these people — the management team — home to dinner with your family on Sunday and feel comfortable with it?

In business, like in life, when everything is not always peachy-keen rosy, who do you want with you? If you don’t like the people to start with, and you just bought the business to have the business, when times get tough, you are not going to have a good result. That’s the dinner test.

OT: Do you believe that the sale of Global to Xerox has proven to be beneficial for the independent dealer channel? If so, in what ways have dealers benefited?

Johnson: I think it’s been good for the independent dealer and the industry because it is a wake-up call to all of the vendors to make sure they are focusing on what they need to do to improve their relationships; that can only help to benefit the independent dealer.

Also, by keeping an active acquirer in the business (Global), that’s good for the industry and for the independent dealers. It gives them an avenue if and when they decide to retire and they have no family succession.

OT: Do you expect the recent, increased emphasis on direct sales among manufacturers — including dealership acquisitions by manufacturers — to continue in the months and years to come? Why or why not?

Johnson: Yes, I think it will continue. As I mentioned, that had a lot to do with one of my early decisions to further the discussions with Xerox.

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tivity. Unless you aspire to do those The thing you have to do in business, It is important for ... things, you are going to have your profwhether you are a Japanese manufacitability margins cut, and that is going to turer, American manufacturer or disdealers to position cramp your lifestyle because, eventually, tributor, is to do the best thing for your themselves to hang on you are not going to have as much money business, as you see it. That’s what manto their customers so they to take out and you are going to have to agement is all about. And, with the fall can focus on leadership seek sources for putting capital back in, off in IKON and Danka — slowing the and productivity in unless you are being more fiscally growth of their main vendors’ sales — I their business ... prudent and improving that productivity. think it shook the Japanese vendors to say, “We can no longer count on North America being the growth vehicle for all the world.” When OT: Does the “Johnson Model” remain viable in that happened, as you well know, Canon started immedi- today’s competitive environment? Why is benchately thinking about direct operations in the top 10 markets, marking important? and then 15 and then 25. Minolta and Konica already had Johnson: The model is important because is still allows you branches and when they merged, this continued. And then to zero in on what the problem is, instead of taking a typical Toshiba started buying competitive dealers and changing entrepreneurial approach and broad-brush, doing somethem over. So, that changed the whole industry. In any busi- thing that is not founded in fact. The model is still very releness, you have to do what is best for your business and if vant. I’m glad that John Hanson [of Strategic Business pulling sales right from the end-users is the best for your Associates and co-presenter with John Hey of BTA’s ProFinance] is working on the model to improve it. We still get business, then that’s what you have to do.

I think the trend will continue. I don’t see it as a bad calls on the model every day. We’ll come out and explain it; thing. The manufacturers will always have some direct com- we’ll answer questions over the phone.

The beauty of any model of benchmarks is it is a simple ponent, but will always have a dealer component, too. It is important for independent dealers to position themselves to way for somebody to look at “what I don’t like and what is hang on to their customers so they can focus on leadership causing what I don’t like.” I can then get it down to the and productivity in their business, making sure they are second or third level so that I don’t broad-brush it. I can profitable enough to handle any pricing issues that the man- zero in on the right problem. A perfect example is these guys who went crazy in acquisitions back in the 1990s. They ufacturer brings. couldn’t get them into any operating mode fast enough OT: What do you see as the characteristics of the because they were acquiring them too fast, so they had this independent dealership that is not positioned brilliant idea of centralizing everything. And as fast as they for ongoing success in the office technology shut down warehouses and consolidated dispatching and all of that, their productivity would slip faster than their industry?

Johnson: Because the dealership has been such a great expenses were cut. That’s the classic story of IKON and cash-flow vehicle through the years, one of the errors that Danka. It looks like IKON has stabilized, but they are some dealers have made is to continue to take the cash flow unlikely to get back to the strong level of profitability that out and spend it, investing it privately. When it gets tough, they should get to.

Xerox, as far behind as they were eight to 12 years ago, they may not want to reinvest capital in their business so they start doing things that they wouldn’t do from a “good has done the best job of revitalizing and bringing a new, business” sense, and they start to see the decline of the clear vision to the business and that’s why they are doing so dealership. Then they start trying to find ways to cut well. That’s one of the most obvious reasons I was willing to expenses to improve profitability. The best way to maintain commit our 4,900-plus employees to their profitability is to increase your productivity. That’s where stewardship going forward.

Brent Hoskins, executive director the benchmarking model [known as the “Johnson Model”] of the Business Technology Association comes in. and editor of Office Technology magazine, I think a lot of the dealerships are not focusing on using the can be reached at brent@bta.org. model or doing things to continuously improve their produc26 | w w w . o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 8

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Piecing Ideas Together.

The BPCA was founded in 1963 with the vision of forming a best practices organization that unites leaders of independently-owned office equipment dealers. The concept is quite simple - bring the leaders of these companies together so that they can share ideas, learn from each other, and take their businesses to the next level.

Our members will attest that it’s well worth the investment by making each of them better leaders and bringing more value to their dealerships.

Feel like there’s something missing from your organization? Let BPCA bring together all the pieces of the puzzle.

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Phone: 800.897.0250 Email: info@businessproductscouncil.org Website: www.businessproductscouncil.org Membership Director BPCA c/o BTA 12411 Wornall Road Kansas City, MO 64145

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The Failed Solution Sale A thorough ‘autopsy’ will get to the bottom of the crime by: Darrell Amy, Dealer Marketing Systems

f there is one thing that I have learned from watching reruns of “Law & Order,” it is that to solve a murder, you need to take a close look at both the victim and the scene.

Many dealers are not enjoying the degree of success that they had hoped for in selling software-based solutions like document management, automated capture or electronic forms. Some are selling none at all. At the same time, there are other dealers who routinely take down software deals, many of which pull through profitable hardware.

If you are a salesperson or dealership that is disappointed with your results selling solutions, you have two choices: quit or change. The problem with quitting is that your key competitors may not quit and will end up with an upper hand of insurmountable competitive advantage. So if you have failed in your efforts, it might be worth the time to take a look at why you have not been successful to see if you could make some changes.

What is the difference between failure and success in selling solutions? To get to the bottom of the crime, let us do a thorough autopsy of a failed solution sale. In doing so, we may also find patterns that reveal the source of a failed solutions program.

Before I conduct the autopsy, I should probably give you some background. The observations in this autopsy are based on my personal experience. This includes failing miserably at selling solutions and then finding what worked. Now for the past four years, I have worked with small and large dealerships across the United States and United Kingdom. In the process, I have seen some dealers enjoy success while others experienced frustration. In the spirit of “Law & Order,” “here are their stories...”

I

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No Problem, No Solution Th e first and most pre valent cause of failure is pretending to sell a solution to an unqualified prospect. By definition, a solution requires a problem. If you have not uncovered a business problem, you cannot have a solution.

How could this happen, you ask?

Easily. For years we have sold copiers based on cool demos. As a copier salesperson myself, I have toner in my blood. I love the showmanship of a demo contest. I used to live for the “feature, advantage, benefit, close” routine.

The problem is that when prospects come to look at a copier, they already have a problem: they need a new copier.

Maybe their lease is up. Maybe their old system is too small and always breaks. Maybe they are opening a new facility. In any case, they have a problem. They came to your demo to seek a resolution to that problem. Hopefully, you rise above the competitive dogfight and close the sale by wowing them with an intoxicating combination of amazing features backed with fast service response — all for one low monthly payment.

When it comes to software, we tend to fall in a trap. We hold technology shows to demonstrate a document management system. We assume that if attendees let us show them a demo, they must be a prospect. In a few cases, that may be true. But in the vast majority of cases, those who come to a technology show or to see a software demo are simply coming to be educated. That is why many of them say “thank you for the informative presentation” and we never hear from them again.

Even worse, demonstrating software (especially at the beginning of a software cycle) can actually hurt your chances of closing the sale. According to Geoffrey Moore’s landmark study about marketing technology, “Crossing the Chasm,” only 15 percent of the buyers you encounter are technical decision makers — people who love technology.

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thinking about technology. He recalls the The rest are mainly skeptical of techThe key to selling to good old days when things were not so nology. He calls them pragmatic buyers. complex. Then he remembers the time If you show a pragmatic buyer a softthe pragmatic buyer is ... last year when his company hired a large ware demonstration, he (or she) is going to less technical than you software firm to come install an acask two questions: “Will it be too compliever dreamed ... Have counting system. It took them offline for cated for us to use?” and “Will it mess up a practical conversation six weeks and the company lost its bigmy business?” More often than not, these about the client’s gest customer. All of the employees compragmatic buyers leave a software demonbusiness problems. plained. It was a bad experience. stration with the answers to their quesTo make matters worse, the mastions. Unfortunately, the answers reinforce their confirmation that though the software looks amazing, terful software demonstrator is now showing off every feature of the software. While any key operator might apprethey are not ready for it yet.

The key to selling to the pragmatic buyer is actually much ciate the information, the decision maker begins to see the less technical than you ever dreamed. (Tenured, non-tech- system as complicated. As a non-technical person, awash in nical dealership owners and sales reps, rejoice!) Instead, the the regret of a previous bad experience with software, his key is to have a practical conversation about the client’s resolve not to purchase the software grows with every business problems. Once we uncover a business problem, minute of the demonstration.

Finally, with the demonstration over, the technical person we can ask the all-important first closing question: “That asks what he thinks. Or, maybe the sales rep chimes in with sounds like a problem to me — is it a problem for you?”

Only when we have identified a problem and the client has acknowledged that it is a problem to them, do we have a real solutions prospect. The next step is simple: ask the client if he wants the problem solved. Until a problem is identified and the client wants it solved, you are wasting time, expensive specialist resources and electrical energy proceeding with the sale.

When training sales reps on how to find business problems to create real solution sales, I often have them write out their solutions hot list. Then I ask them to identify the business problem in each one of the potential accounts. If you have a software sale on your hot list and cannot quickly identify the business problem, it is not a hot list. It is a fantasy list.

The first step of the solutions autopsy is to be honest about your prospects. If there is no problem, there can be no solution sale.

Action for the future: Equip your non-technical sales reps to talk to their non-technical buyers about their business problems.

No Client Buy-In, No Solution Let us assume you have found a business problem. Now it is time to make sure the client buys in to your idea to solve the problem.

Many failed solutions sales I have observed go like this: First, the sales rep finds an opportunity. Then, he brings in the software guy to do a demonstration. The software person conducts a flawless demonstration; however, as the non-technical decision maker is watching the demonstration, he starts w w w . o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 8 | 29

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doing a proof-of-concept presentation. a brilliant closing question: “Can you see If we had identified the ...

Only when the client has said that he how this could fit into your enterprise?” likes your idea is it time to show him the Not wantin g to b e r ud e, th e buyer problem up front, then software. Amazingly, in many cases you politely responds with one of the soluthe presentation to the do not even need to show the software. tions-killing objections we have all client could have been Many clients do not care. They delegate heard one too many times: less about technology this to their IT staff. What they want to “This is really amazing software. and more about the know is: However, I just do not think we are business problem.

Do you understand my problem? ready for it yet. Why don’t you touch Do you have a practical solution? base with us next year.”

Do you know what you are doing? (Have you helped “Thanks for the demonstration. It was really informasomeone else?) tive. I need to put you in touch with our IT person.”

If you do have to show software at this point, there is only “We appreciate the session — it was very educational.” one rule: make the software look easy. If the solution “You guys are amazing but we are not ready for this — involves search and retrieval, show the client how he can can we talk about the copier?”

Now, do not get me wrong. The last objection is fine. Get find a document — period. Do not show him the login the hardware lease signed. But doing technical demonstra- screen. Do not show the administrative interface. Do not tions to non-technical people almost always yields the same talk about structured query language and Boolean searches. result: no decision. And, in the world I come from, no deci- Just show him what he needs to see.

Then, close. “Understanding that we will likely need to meet sion does not pay commission so it might as well be a “no.” with your IT staff to discuss the technical details, based on And here we have yet another dead solution sale.

So, how could we do it differently? If we had identified the what you have seen today, do you feel like we have a good business problem up front, then the presentation to the client potential solution to your problem?”

Action for the Future: Make your solutions presentations could have been less about the technology and more about the about your vision for the solution, not a software demonstration. business problem.

In BTA’s ProSolutions course, I teach solutions specialists how to create a vision for the solution. The presentation If the Client Is Nervous, You Lose Most of your clients (and your potential clients) probably could go like this: Slide One: Review the client’s current business problem know you as the copier company. That is great when you want to sell gear, but this can be a potential liability when you want and business goals.

Slide Two: Present potential costs related to the to sell software.

After your salesperson presents his vision for the solution, current problem (remind them of the pain).

Slide Three: Present potential risks related to the the buyer’s job is to do due diligence. Here is what he is likely thinking: “I know this company is great at copiers, but do its problem (more pain).

Slide Four: Title this slide, “A Vision for the Solution” employees really know what they are doing when it comes to implementing a software solution?” (propose a better way).

With this question in mind, the buyer goes to the source Slide Four is blank. Your job now is to sketch out the vision for how the situation could be different if the client adopted of all information and knowledge: Google. He searches for your solution. This is not a demonstration. Instead, it is a your company and finds your Web site. What he sees when word picture of the ideal world. Tell the story of how he does he gets there can help you get a “yes” or it can put a bullet in it now, then tell the story of how it could be. Be descriptive. your hopes to close the deal.

If a solutions buyer arrives at your site and finds nothing Get the client involved. And, for icing on the cake, tell a story about how you helped another client solve a similar problem. about the solution you are selling, he gets nervous. I was Then, ask the client if he likes the idea. If he does not like recently working with a client who was struggling in his soluyour vision for the solution, you either find a different one or tions program. He had a great solution specialist. His sales go on to the next sale. Until he buys in to the vision, you are reps had been trained. He had amazing software partners. wasting your time configuring software, writing proposals and The only things that were missing were the sales.

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When we are writing case studies for One of the main culprits was my client’s In the spirit of finding dealers, we usually keep them fairly Web site. On the home page there was a brief. In one or two pages, we want to very large picture of a color multifunction business problems in explain the challenge, the solution and system. There was no mention of docuthe sales process, most how the client benefited. Typically, we ment management. No problem, let us of your Web content can accomplish this with a phone interlook at the main menu: About Us, Prodshould be dedicated to view of the sales rep to get the scoop ucts, References, Contact Us. Still no inforhow your solutions solve and a 15-minute phone interview of the mation about document management. business problems. client to get some juicy pull quotes.

If this describes your Web site, put yourFrom there, we are able to write up the self in the shoes of someone considering investing money in a software-based solution with your case and put it in a nice color graphic format.

These case studies can be handed out during the early company. You would probably be nervous, too.

It is important that your Web site help potential clients stages of the sales process. They can also be posted on your feel confident in your ability to implement document solu- Web site. However, the most important use of a case study tions. There are two ways you can help: have the right that I have found is for the sales rep to be able to relay the stor y in the sales process. “ That reminds me of ABC content and include case studies.

When our Web development team is working on a dealer- Company. Here was the challenge they had ... ” During my training, I regularly challenge sales teams to ship’s Web content, one of the first things we consider is the home page. Is the site visitor able to quickly see everything share success stories with each other. If you shared one that you do: multifunction systems, managed print services success story at each sales meeting this year, you would end and document management? For the client considering a up with a repertoire of powerful verbal case studies that solutions purchase, this helps him feel comfortable that could help you sell document solutions, as well as hardware solutions are a core part of your company and not some- and managed print services. thing you are just getting into — or may drop next month.

Then, your site should have some in-depth content that The Verdict: Take Action If you have failed in your solutions efforts, ask yourself proves you know what you are taking about. A section on document solutions should have more than a paragraph. these questions: Are we really finding business problems? If not, training Instead, it should provide enough information to show you know what you are talking about. Sure, most clients will not your sales reps to have these non-technical conversations read every word. But they will get the feeling that you know could pay off big time.

Are we giving a vision for the solution or just demonstrating what you are doing.

In the spirit of finding business problems in the sales software? If not, consider BTA’s ProSolutions training to equip process, most of your Web content should be dedicated to your solution specialists to do more than just show software.

Do our clients see us as a credible source of solutions? If how your solutions solve business problems. Technical details are fine, but the really important issue is to prove not, update your Web site and start writing case studies about the solutions you have sold. that you understand how to apply the technology.

Ask the hard questions. Then, take action. Taking these The next key to building confidence with your potential clients is case studies. A case study proves that you know steps could help you transform a dying solutions program what you are doing and that you have actually pulled off a into a big success.

Darrell Amy is president of Dealer Marketing Systems, solution in the local area. a firm providing sales training, Web site development and National case studies from your software vendors do not marketing services to help dealers succeed in cut it here. The client does not care what the technical selling managed print services and document geniuses who designed the software have done. He cares management solutions. He can be reached at about what you have done. Now, I know case studies are not damy@dealermarketingsystems.com fun to write. They often get put at the bottom of the list of or (214) 224-0050. marketing priorities. However, the dealer who takes the time Visit www.dealermarketingsystems.com. to do case studies can yield big dividends.

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Seeing Silver Coordinated Business Systems celebrates 25 years by: Jim Oricchio, Coordinated Business Systems

wenty-five years is a long time to be in business. It is a milestone and an achievement that makes me extremely proud, so I wanted everyone to recogni ze and mar vel at th e accomplishment right along with me. I thought a celebration would be a great way to ignite and motivate my sales force by reinforcing that they represent a powerful, substantial company that has a proven track record of marketplace leadership.

However, I have learned a lot over the years by attending industry events, manufacturer shows and aligning my company with the best vendors in our industry. One thing that has stuck with me is that no one cares as much as I do about milestones achieved by my company. The second part of that reality is nothing is relevant to my prospects, customers and even my employees unless I remind them it is relevant and then explain the benefits. The final lesson I learned is these types of milestones are great tools for major marketing events that hold the possibility of increasing revenues and market share.

So I made the decision that Coordinated Business Systems’ 25th Anniversary was going to be relevant. To leverage it properly, I was going to invest the time, energy, creativity and, of course, the dollars to ensure its success.

Compared to other industries, the office technology industry is still a newcomer. To me, that makes 25 years in business even more remarkable. But, once again, nobody cares what I think. It is all about “them,” which includes my customers, prospects, employees and vendors. If I cannot provide a tangible benefit, they do not care if I have been in business 25 years or 25 months.

The opinion that “‘old school’ companies do not have the

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young talent and curiosity to create technology solutions” is shared by many. So, to truly celebrate and leverage our 25th Anniversary, we needed to not only inform customers and prospects about why it was relevant, but we also needed to convince them that longevity is a feature that provides tangible benefits to their businesses.

Fortunately, my long-time advertising and marketing firm, Orange Label Art + Advertising (formerly Hunter Barth) had a lot of experience in event marketing and planning. Together, we mapped out an entire year of tactics and created a series of events along with a benefitoriented message explaining why customers benefit from Coordinated Business Systems’ 25 years of experience.

A mix of media, including radio, print, outdoor and direct mail, drives the core benefit message, yet a key component of our 25th Anniversary campaign is our Web site. Our primary and secondary research told us that prospects are no longer letting “their fingers to do the walking” through the Yellow Pages. Instead they are reviewing vendors by surfing the Web. Therefore, it is important to drive decision-makers and influencers to our Web site. But it is even more critical that they have a positive experience while visiting the site.

Synergy with our 25th Anniversary message is important because I never want the prospect to visit our Web site and have the look, feel and message conflict with the media marketing message. I believe that if we truly have our act together and our site’s message complements and expands on the advertising message, Coordinated will score points for credibility, consistency and reliability with our prospect base.

We launched our anniversary strategy at our October 2007 fall technology open house, using the theme “You’re Invited to Our 25th Anniversary Open House!” In addition to

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them to quickly take advantage of the formal invitations, the promotional The goal is to stimulate promotion while giving the Coordinated effort included radio advertising and sales team a viable, hot lead. aggressive telephone follow-up by the sales team activity In the second quarter, we will launch sales team. The day of the event, we had in the form of gathering the “Coordinated Business Systems our celebrity spokesperson, Ron Gardenadditional database 25th Anniversary Sweepstakes.” This hire, the manager of the Minnesota information, conducting promotion is also designed to ensure Twins, attend. These efforts resulted in a ... prospecting and the 25th Anniversary is relevant to the well-attended event, a successful launch generating more sales. prospect. The goal is to stimulate sales of our year-long 25th Anniversary celeteam activity in the form of gathering bration and, more importantly, 12 difadditional database information, conducting more intensive ferent companies made significant equipment purchases.

The initial event was then followed by the December 2007 prospecting and generating more sales.

The sweepstakes promotion is supported by an aggressive grand opening of our new Downtown Minneapolis Skyway radio schedule. The message to the marketplace is that CoorTechnology Center. Since our presence downtown was a significant move to capture more market share from major dinated is celebrating its 25th Anniversary. The sales team accounts, the 25th Anniversary was a sub-theme, yet it was then leverages the advertising by contacting prospects by present in our marketing nevertheless. We used radio, phone and asking them the question, “What is Coordinated posters throughout the Skyway, press releases and formal celebrating?” If the prospect responds with “Coordinated is invitations to our grand opening event. We used our tie-in celebrating its 25th Anniversary,” they win a free lunch for with the Minnesota Timberwolves to bring in their mascot two. Then the sales rep will visit face-to-face with the and cheerleaders to create a fun and memorable event. The prospect to deliver the free lunch voucher and to conduct inresults have been encouraging because in addition to mean- depth fact-finding about the firm’s document imaging needs, ing ful sales revenue the day of the grand opening, we the goal of which is to secure a new customer.

The third quarter will bring us back to our traditional already have several major account transactions progressing advertising approach, which is using actual Coordinated custo the closing stage.

My intent was also to motivate the entire Coordinated tomer testimonials on the radio. We plan to feature longteam, so our 2007 employee holiday party was also a tribute time Coordinated customers discussing the benefits we have to our longevity and featured an oldies band, Bob and the brought to their businesses over the last 25 years. This will Beachcombers. We also recognized the terrific employees bring everything together and validate our 25th Anniversary that have been with Coordinated since the beginning and message of performance, innovation and staying power.

Everything has clicked so far and employees, customers helped me overcome a variety of hurdles including our primary manufacturer going bankrupt, our move to a spa- and prospects are celebrating Coordinated’s 25th Annivercious new facility and all the industry consolidation activity sary because we decided to invest in making it relevant to them. Without that investment, our anniversary would just that has gone on around us.

To begin 2008, we launched the first of two promotional be a tagline that did not mean anything to anyone except me events. The theme of this first event is “Coordinated’s Silver and my immediate family. A lot goes into having a business Lining Promotion.” The intent of the promotion is to stimu- last 25 years. Hard work, luck, timing, people and persistence late demo activity. The key element of the promotion is all play a key role. I have had all that and more and now I am everyone who chooses to experience a demo receives a $25 letting everyone know that I am as excited about my busiCaribou Coffee gift card. In addition, there is a special finan- ness as I was the first day we opened the doors in 1983.

Jim Oricchio is president of Coordinated Business Systems, a cial incentive for those who purchase a new MFP (25 ppm or BTA member dealership. Currently the firm faster) — the first three lease payments are only $25. As you has 70 employees. It is headquartered in can see, we are having fun with the 25-year element and making it relevant for the prospect. The Silver Lining event is Burnsville, Minn., with branch locations in Red Wing, Rochester and St. Cloud. Coordinated supported with promotion-specific sales collateral, direct also has a technology center in downtown mail and radio advertising. Finally, the call-to-action includes Minneapolis. Visit www.coordinated.com. directing prospects to a unique landing page that allows w w w . o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 8 | 35

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COURTS & CAPITOLS

Common Employee Issues They are dominating calls to the BTA Legal Hotline by: Robert C. Goldberg, General Counsel for the Business Technology Association

nswering my phone is the best gauge to determine the issues facing our industry.

Persistent calls regarding pricing by manufacturer direct operations and third-party leasing companies are never a trend, but consistent problems. Recently, numerous inquiries regarding employee issues prevailed. Perhaps the end of the year, collection of year-end bonuses and a hasty employee departure were cause for increased attention to employee issues. Regardless, if the issues are facing one member they are likely to be affecting many. Let me share some concerns.

Do year-end bonuses affect overtime pay? Many companies have a long-time tradition of paying workers a year-end bonus equivalent to two weeks or four weeks straight time pay. Management always gives a bonus with the only variable being the number of weeks of pay that is provided. Employees count on the bonus and management uses the bonus to help recruit employees. The question arises: When determining a nonexempt employee’s overtime rate, does the bonus money have to be included in the calculation?

In most circumstances the bonus does not have to be included, but the specific facts are crucial. Regular rate of pay calculations may exclude payments that are in the nature of a gift or reward for service at Christmas or on other special occasions. A Christmas or year-end bonus may be based on a regular salary or pay for a standard work week but cannot be measured by hours worked, production or efficiency. Additionally, the bonus may not be so substantial that the employees consider it part of wages and it cannot be paid pursuant to a contractual obligation.

The significance of this issue is the inclusion of the bonus would raise an employee’s base pay and thus require higher compensation when calculating time and one-half for overtime. Failure to pay the correct overtime amount may result in claims for back pay, penalties and interest. The Department of Labor has stated that $20, $50 or $100 are not substantial and need not be included. Even two weeks payment ( four weeks for long-term employees) is permissible. Bonus payments may vary in size based on salary, length of service or employee grouping, so long as the amounts are not based on hours, production or efficiency. Finally, make certain it is clear the bonus is discre-

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tionary and subject to annual approval.

Can employees be required to attend off-duty social activities? Off-duty social functions and recreational activities must be voluntary and cannot be required. First, an off-duty activity that is required and conducted during non-business hours may result in compensation to the employee. Typically this compensation would be at overtime rates. Employees who do not attend may not experience an adverse action as a result of their decision not to participate. An employee may object to a Christmas party and mandatory attendance could result in a claim of religious discrimination. In addition, as an employer you will not be responsible for any injury resulting from voluntary attendance at an off-duty social or recreational activity.

Should our company provide employees alcohol? If alcohol is part of your company’s off-duty, voluntary social activity it should never be served by the company. A potluck dinner, picnic or holiday party that has free alcohol served by the company renders the company totally responsible for any consequences. If you wish to provide employees with alcohol, it should always be served by a licensed restaurant or catering company. These companies carry Dram Shop insurance in the event that an attendee consumes too much or is involved in an accident. The professional server becomes responsible for compliance with drinking laws, overserving an individual and any damage that may result.

Under no circumstances should you consider putting out bottles and cans or serving as a bartender for your employees.

May I ban smoking? There is no right to smoke and as an employer and business owner you may prohibit smoking for employees and customers alike. In fact, the failure to do so may result in a claim from a non-smoker for exposure to secondhand smoke. Many states and cities have banned smoking in public spaces and the failure to obey could result in fines and penalties.

The rules involving employees are constantly changing and do not always appear logical. If you are unsure of an employee policy, please feel free to call the Legal Hotline for guidance.

Robert C. Goldberg is general counsel for the Business Technology Association. He can be reached at robert.goldberg@sfnr.com.

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SELLING SOLUTIONS

Communicate & Collaborate Doing so will help create competitive advantage by: Tom Kramer, Strategy Mapping Selling

n Paul Newman’s movie “Cool Hand Luke,” actor Strother Martin played a chain-gang captain who delivered the now famous line: “What we have here is a failure to communicate.”

In sales, the root cause of many problems is derived from inefficient communications and collaboration capabilities. This means not only how we communicate and collaborate internally, but how we communicate and collaborate with our customers as well.

Increasing your capabilities in this particular area will open up powerful business growth strategies — especially in tough times.

Over the years we have developed a list of ten world-class standards that collectively define a top-performing sales organization. All of our training programs revolve around these standards and we have found that communication and collaboration skills are key capabilities that high-performing sales organizations use to create competitive advantage.

To assess the performance level of our client’s sales organizations on a scale of weak-to-great, we ask them to perform a self-analysis by answering the following: Do their reps actively provide and share information on customer profiles, current opportunities, customer issues, sales plans and account strategies with all of the employees who “touch the customer?”

Is this information shared with functional departments that depend upon customer and sales progress data such as marketing, service, operations and professional services? Is the information accurate, current and comprehensive? Has the sales organization created a “team-selling” environment? Is it responsible for providing key customer data to the company?

Holding the individual sales rep responsible for gathering this type of customer intelligence may require a higher level of management involvement because we are asking the sales rep to gather, document and publish information that he (or she) may feel is for his eyes only. Nonetheless, it is extremely important to break with past practice and institute new processes that will move your business forward and increase the value you bring to your customers. That is, you need to install a framework of communication and collaboration processes that world-class sales organizations are employing to manage their customers.

The time of the “lone ranger” or “rock star” approach to sales

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has disappeared. Today’s top-performing sales organization is populated by sales reps who employ open communication channels and high levels of team interaction and collaboration. Many reps like to keep information to themselves, but holding back important customer information can prove destructive, inhibit collaboration and ultimately send clients the wrong signal.

Today’s office equipment customer expects that an organization, not just an individual, is engaged in managing his business.

He expects his suppliers to have a broad understanding of his business and industry expertise. In fact, customers favor a teamselling approach because they can get information, advice and a range of ideas and options quickly. To meet this expectation, your sales reps have to be capable of managing and executing a teamselling model. They must have the skills to communicate and collaborate with many different groups and work effectively in all directions — upward, horizontally and outward.

Upward — Today’s top-performing sales rep keeps management apprised of the overall account strategy, the status of the execution of the account or territory plan, the major obstacles faced as well as the proposed solutions to these obstacles, the major opportunities and any management resources required to help achieve sales success. This customer-focused dialog is pursued on a consistent basis in account review sessions, call debriefings, general e-mail correspondence and impromptu office conversations.

Horizontally — Today’s sales rep also has the responsibility to communicate horizontally with other departments that have an interest in achieving sales success such as the service department, professional services, customer relations and operations.

People need access to information in order to contribute to a plan or strategy. Support personnel need to understand every aspect of the plan so they can interpret it effectively and make an appropriate and suitable contribution. It is a good idea to include representatives from these departments in account review sessions to ensure that everyone has a clear understanding of what sales is trying to accomplish, the details of the implementation plan and the role they need to play to contribute to the execution of the strategy. w w w . o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 8 | 37

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Outward — Today’s customer is not of ideas, strategies and tactics from the interested in a product but in a solution. To team members — testing data and assumpTo become effective accomplish this, top-performing sales tions and assuring each member that they collaborators ... your organizations bring in third parties to offer have a vested interest in the plan. sales leaders must have their customers a comprehensive, cusAt first, sales reps may feel uncomfortthe ability to create an tomized solution. It is the sales rep’s able with their new sales leadership open atmosphere with responsibility to reach out to his partners responsibilities. Nonetheless, today’s custheir selling partners and and build relationships based on trust and tomers expect well-thought-out, comprecompany stakeholders. information sharing. Keeping your techhensive solutions to their office equipment nology, financial or other business partners and workflow issues. Your sales reps must up to date with current, relevant account information and be able to bring in the right resources at the right time with the strategies will increase the cooperation and the quality of the right recommendations to manage customers’ needs. value-added solution support you offer.

High level expertise in communication and collaboration To take a leadership position with customers, top-per- skills will help your reps take a leadership position with their forming sales organizations train their people on developing customers by communicating a clear, consistent and custheir communication and collaboration capabilities. tomized message while proposing resource-backed solutions To become an effective communicator and orchestrator of that their customers value. Organizations that effectively colyour team-selling initiatives, your reps must be able to articu- laborate internally and with their customers create new value late the following: and, in the process, discover new opportunities for growth How the sales plan will meet the goals of the team and business success.

How the plan will benefit each member of the team Tom Kramer is an affiliate partner of Strategy Mapping Selling.

The responsibilities of each team member He has more than 30 years of sales, sales The specific expectations of each team member’s role management and marketing experience with To become effective collaborators and enlist the support of IBM, Eastman Kodak Company and Canon team members, your sales leaders must have the ability to U.S.A. Inc. He can be reached at create an open atmosphere with their selling partners and tom.kramer@strategymappingselling.com. company stakeholders. They must be able to create an infusion Visit www.strategymappingselling.com.

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12 • Niche Equipment (877) 446-4243 / www.nichee.net 33 • On Demand (888) 824-3004 / www.ondemandexpo.com 5, 11 • Print Audit (877) 412-8348 / www.printaudit.com 15 • Toshiba (949) 462-6165 / www.copiers.toshiba.com

ProFinance thinker full pg

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Do you crunch the numbers,

or do the numbers crunch you?

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he BTA ProFinance course will teach you how to set the strategy, track critical performance measures and manage your assets according to a proven business model designed to improve the profitability of your company.

To register for ProFinance or get more information on pricing and quantity discounts, visit www.bta.org or call BTA at (800) 843-5059.

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Upcoming ProFinance course: June 11-12, 2008 Nov. 19-20, 2008

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Start planning for improved profitability today! Send all of your strategic decision makers to ProFinance — it’s an investment in your company that will help you relieve the end-of-the-month crunch.

ProFinance is designed for owners and executive-level staff who make the critical business decisions that impact your company’s success. Some OEMs reimburse for ProFinance tuition through advertising co-op or professional development funds. Check with your OEM.

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