February 2010 Office Technology

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CONTENTS Volume 16 No. 8 G

FEATURE ARTICLES 10

Turning the Ship Around You may be headed in the wrong direction

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The Rise of A4 Have you considered the possibilities?

by Reed Allan Melnick Nevill Imaging Solutions

What happens when your company is not as successful as it was in past years? What do you do?

by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

In the past couple of years, the office technology industry has witnessed the rise of the A4 MFP in workgroup environments.

The product category is not a new one, but one that some manufacturers are increasingly emphasizing.

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by Joanne L. Smikle Smikle Training Services

Wishful Thinking Ideal changes for the office technology industry

by Ray Belanger Bay Copy

The arrival of a new year is a time for renewal, re-evaluation and recharging.

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Coaching Competence The areas that enable mastery of the craft

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Coaching is among the most popular business buzzwords and it has become quite a popular industry.

SELLING SOLUTIONS ‘Sharpen Your Ax’ Proper sales training creates bottom-line effectiveness

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Cool Technology Free sales & marketing tools to power your business

by Teresa Hiatt Ricoh Americas Corp.

When economic times are challenging, a mad scramble to control expenses and reduce overhead begins.

by Tim McMahon The BizCAT Group

The challenge of today’s economy is learning new ways to do more of what we need to do.

COURTS & CAPITOLS 30

MPS STRATEGIES MPS & The Back Office Simplify the maintenance of your accounts for success

41

Your Estate Plan Congress has caused changes you must address

by Jim Boulden Strategy Development

The technologies and networks that exist today make it much easier to handle large MPS orders.

by Robert C. Goldberg BTA General Counsel

Effective Jan. 1, 2010, for a one-year period, all federal death taxes are repealed.

PRINCIPAL ISSUES 32

The Little Things Focus on the fundamentals for consistent success

by Lincoln Nunnally Consolidated Office Solutions

I have received advice on more than one occasion and have read articles about taking care of the little things.

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DEPARTMENTS Business Technology Association

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G

Education Calendar

G BTA Highlights

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Executive Director’s Page

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BTA President’s Message

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Advertiser Index

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S PAGE

Newest BTA Benefit: DataVault Discounts n recent years, the Business Technology Association has introduced several new educational opportunities for dealers. These include the addition of classroom courses such as the BTA MPS Sales Workshop and the BTA Service Management University, as well as the association’s monthly Building My Business webinars. In every case, the goal is to provide dealers with tools to help them further grow their businesses.

Our newest addition to BTA’s educational offerings is a collection of online and onsite instructor-led training programs offered by DataVault (www.datavault.com), a training and consulting firm that primarily focuses on electronic document management systems technology. The association has established a relationship with DataVault that allows BTA members to receive discounts of more than 12 percent off of the firm’s training and consulting services.

Byron Aulick is president of DataVault. He has been involved in the document imaging industry for 24 years, having hands-on expertise in all aspects of the field. Byron is on the Cornerstone Committee for the CompTIA PDI+ certification and the Advisory Committee for CDIA+.

With the move toward selling solutions, DataVault has authored two specialized courses — ECM Sales Training and ECM Needs Assessment. These courses help break the mindset of selling “boxes” and place the focus on selling solutions that are specifically designed to addresss the client’s business requirements. Each course takes two days, comes with software and can be

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delivered at the dealer’s location.

Byron shared a letter with me from a Las Vegas, Nev., dealer commenting on one particular benefit of the ECM Needs Assessment course, illustrating its value. It reads, in part: “The Simple Analysis spreadsheet you gave us is a great tool. It allows them [prospects] to see (and cringe) what they spend to operate in the paper world before they agree to pay for the assessment.” The dealer noted in his letter that each subsequent assessment performed by the company had been paid for by the prospect.

Based on Byron’s credentials, it is no surprise that his educational offerings also include training programs designed to help students prepare for CompTIA’s PDI+ and CDIA+ exams. The CDIA+ exam is a vendorneutral certification that tests the student’s expertise in document imaging solutions.

Similarly, the PDI+ exam tests for competence in basic maintenance of printers, scanners, copier/MFPs and fax machines.

Among the other educational offerings offered at a discount to BTA members: Document Imaging 101 — As a starting point, this course provides a basic understanding of document imaging.

Scanning Bureau Workflow Training — For those who are starting or operating a scanning services department.

Scanner Operator — Providing scanner operators an understanding of the entire process of efficiently converting paper files to electronic format.

If you would like to learn more about the DataVault training programs available at a discount to BTA members, visit www.bta. org/DataVault or visit DataVault at the ITEX Show in booth 573. I — 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 Ray Belanger, Bay Copy www.baycopy.com Jim Boulden, Strategy Development www.strategydevelopment.org Robert C. Goldberg, General Counsel Business Technology Association Teresa Hiatt, Ricoh Americas Corp. www.ricoh-usa.com Tim McMahon, The BizCAT Group www.thebizcat.com Reed Allan Melnick, Nevill Imaging Solutions www.nevillsolutions.com Lincoln Nunnally, Consolidated Office Solutions/ Consolidated Copier Services www.consolidatedos.com Joanne L. Smikle, Smikle Training Services www.smiklespeaks.com ®

Business Technology Association 12411 Wornall Road Kansas City, MO 64145 (816) 941-3100 www.bta.org Member Services: (800) 505-2821 BTA Legal Hotline: (800) 869-6688 Valerie Briseno Membership & Marketing Manager valerie@bta.org Mary Hopkins Database Administrator mary@bta.org Teresa Leerar Bookkeeper teresa@bta.org Brian Smith Membership Sales Representative brian@bta.org ©2010 by the Business Technology Association. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the publisher. Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of published material.

However, the publisher assumes no liability for errors in articles nor are opinions expressed necessarily those of the publisher.

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BTA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

®

2009-2010 Board of Directors

BTA, GreatAmerica Establish an Alliance t will come as no surprise that “frustration with leasing companies” is a leading topic of concern in calls to our Legal Hotline from BTA members. All too often dealers call to lament their unfair treatment within the leasing process. In responding to the calls, BTA General Counsel Bob Goldberg works diligently to resolve issues and advise dealers as to their best options moving forward.

Today, beyond issues related to unfair practices, any conversation about office equipment leasing now additionally reflects frustrations with the tightening of available credit. In fact, it has been estimated that the exit or withdrawal of leasing companies within the office technology industry has resulted in the loss of more than $1 billion in available credit. So, the frustrations mount.

Several years ago, Bob put together a list of recommendations for dealer/leasing company relations. They are available for download on th e BTA Web sit e, www. bta.org. The list provides a look at the various issues a dealer should address before entering any agreement with a leasing company. For example, he advises: “Establish that the identity of the end user i s ‘c onf i d enti al information’ of y our company and cannot be provided to a third party or used by the leasing company for any competitive purpose, including marketing and sales purposes.”

Is there a leasing company whose practices best adhere to the recommendations on Bob’s list? While there is more than one quality leasing company serving the office technology industry, we believe that one

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company in particular stands out among the others — GreatAmerica Leasing Corp. (www.greatamerica.com), headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. For that reason, BTA has established an alliance with GreatAmerica whereby the association is referring dealers who are seeking a new leasing partner to GreatAmerica. The referral program became effective Feb. 1.

Beyond offering fair and equitable leasing agreements and employing a very professional and experienced staff, GreatAmerica distinguishes itself through its consultative approach in working with dealers. The company ’s innovative and customized approach helps dealers achieve greater success. GreatAmerica also specializes in the administration of managed print services and associated value-add tools and training.

Certainly, the company strives to provide products and a level of service that addresses the current needs of dealers.

A c omm ent from on e BTA m emb er dealer illustrates the favorable view dealers have of GreatAmerica. “GreatAmerica has proven to be a true partner,” says James Kreikemeier, president of Capital Business Systems/Modern Methods, Loveland, Colo.

“They have worked with us to enhance our profitability by bringing new ideas and programs to the table. There is a great deal of conf idence with all our employees in GreatAmerica’s ability to deliver the level of service our customers desire.”

Perhaps your own testimonial will one day be added to their list of satisfied customers.

In the meantime, through this new alliance, the leadership team at BTA looks forward to leading more dealers into a welcomed dealer/ leasing company partnership. I — Bill James

President Bill James WJS Enterprises Inc. 3315 Ridgelake Drive Metairie, LA 70002 bjames@wjsenterprises.com President-Elect Rock Janecek Burtronics Business Systems Inc. 216 S. Arrowhead Ave. San Bernardino, CA 92408 rjanecek@burtronics.com Vice President Tom Ouellette Budget Document Technology 251 Goddard Road Lewiston, ME 04240 touellette@bdtme.com BTA East Todd J. Fitzsimons Network Imaging LLC 122 Spring St. Southington, CT 06489 tjfitzsimons@networkimaging.biz BTA Mid-America Ron Hulett U.S. Business Systems Inc. 3221 Southview Drive Elkhart, IN 46514 ron.hulett@usbus.com BTA Southeast Terry Chapman Business Electronics Corp.

219 Oxmoor Circle Birmingham, AL 35209 tchapman@businesselectronics.com BTA West Lokke Patrick Docutxt Corp.

11110 E. Artesia Blvd., Ste. B Cerritos, CA 90703 lokke@docutxt.com Ex-Officio/Immediate Past President Ronelle Ingram Steven Enterprises Inc. 17952 Sky Park Circle, Ste. E Irvine, CA 92614 ronellei@msn.com Ex-Officio/General Counsel Robert C. Goldberg Schoenberg Finkel Newman & Rosenberg LLC 222 S. Riverside Plaza, Ste. 2100 Chicago, IL 60606 robert.goldberg@sfnr.com

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When it comes to award-winning products, Lexmark delivers.

Lexmark business products have received great reviews in the past year, including a reputable 2009 Better Buys for Business Editor’s Choice for the XS658dfe! What’s more, our innovative E-task solutions, featuring Eco Copy, MyMFP and Remote Copy, won a 2009 Buyer’s Lab Outstanding Achievement Award! In addition to great products, you can also enjoy the benefits fi of great Lexmark programs, like the Lexmark Business Solutions Dealer (BSD) Program with exclusive pricing and incentives that allow you to aggressively compete and win!

Learn more at our ITEX booth # 331 or contact us at 877.999.4360.

Lexmark and Lexmark with diamond design are trademarks of Lexmark International, Inc. registered in the United States and/or other countries.

All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ©2009 Lexmark International, Inc. 740 New Circle Rd., Lexington, KY 40550.

“We continue to believe there is a very important role that A4 can play for the independent copier dealers…Lexmark has got it right…Lexmark has the right approach to our dealer audience.”

Frank Cannata, Publisher and Editor, The Cannata Report and Live Wire

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The Rise of A4 Have you considered the possibilities? by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

hen it is simply stated, the difference between an A3 MFP and an A4 MFP sounds a bit trivial. One can print on 11-by-17-inch paper. One cannot. Yet, two traits resulting from that missing paper drawer and path loom large — the MFP’s footprint is smaller and the selling price is lower.

Any consideration of these traits — amplified in significance by the cost-cutting focus in today ’s economy — leads to visions of new sales opportunities. Have you considered the possibilities?

In the past couple of years, the office technology industry has witnessed the rise of the A4 MFP in workgroup environments. The product category is not a new one, but one that some manufacturers are increasingly emphasizing.

Traditional, higher-priced, A3 MFPs continue to claim the lion’s share of most dealers’ attention, but perhaps it is time for more dealers to take a closer look at the often-extolled A4 MFP. “We are bullish on the [A4] category for black and white and for color,” says Keith Kmetz, vice president of Hardcopy Solutions and Services for IDC, a market research firm. “The challenge for dealers is to maintain a balance between A3 and A4, because we think their customers have the need for both.”

IDC’s forecasts show that A4 will claim an increasing percentage of the U.S. workgroup MFP market, but this class of MFPs will still be a minority percentage of placements for the foreseeable future, says Kmetz. “This means that A4 doesn’t cannibalize your current business, but it complements your portfolio,” he explains. “It allows you [the dealer] to achieve new price performance levels for customers who are sensitive to cost. You can do that with A4, as well as provide more robust capabilities with A3 machines that offer wider media support and more sophisticated finishing.”

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Mike Marusic, vice president of marketing for Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America, says an A4 MFP lineup often proves to be the ideal adjunct to an A3 MFP lineup, and can sometimes help a dealership win the deal. “If you are in a competitive situation and there are three companies pitching, say, nine A3 product placements, go in there with six A3s and three A4s, ensuring you are at the best price,” he explains. “You will make money and save the customer money as well. Dealers who get that concept are doing very, very well.”

To date, among traditional, full-line BTA Channel MFP manufacturers, Sharp has been the most outspoken about the promise of the A4 MFP opportunity. The evangelizing is paying off for its new A4 Frontier MFP line. “It is going very well,” says Marusic, citing a fiscal plan for October through December of 2009. “We were targeting to move 2,000 units in three months and we accomplished that goal.”

Sharp is by no means alone in the focus on A4. Samsung Electronics America, for example, focuses on A4 as well — and for good reason. “Our whole product line is A4,” says Ken Colby, director of printer product marketing. “So, these MFPs are our strategic focus. We are very pro-A4.” Like Marusic, he, too, shares numbers to illustrate the growing demand for A4, citing the success of the recent placement of 1,400 A4 MFPs into a single account. “They [the A4 MFPs] got us in the door.”

What has led to the A4 MFP’s ascent? As noted, the small footprint and the associated lower selling price have a lot to do with it. Marusic recalls the results of a series of end-user focus groups conducted for Sharp more than four years ago in conjunction with the pending launch of new color products.

“As the focus groups evolved, we kept hearing more and more

Strategy Development ad Feb 10:Layout 1

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about the size of the prodreadily accessible.”

“We are bullish on the ucts,” he says. “We were surDespite the demand for [A4] category for black prised because the new prodA4, some dealers are unucts were actually smaller doubtedly resistant to acand white and for color. than our previous models. tively pursuing the A4 opThe challenge for dealers What the customers wanted portunity because of conis to maintain a balance was not a ‘copier.’ They wancerns about lower revenues between A3 and A4, ted the functionality of a as compared to A3. Although because we think their copier, but they wanted a top-line revenue may be less, customers have the need for both.” smaller product.” the margins for dealers can — Keith Kmetz Colby attests that the still be good, says Mike GarIDC demand for smaller, lowerofola, senior marketing mancost MFPs persists. “With ager of color products for OKI the space being limited and the economy being where it is, Data Americas Inc., citing the company’s CX Series A4 MFPs, end users are looking for lower-cost machines that can fit into offered exclusively through the dealer channel and not smaller spaces and address their basic requirements,” he says. through the company’s “COMDEX solutions provider” “A4 fits the bill very, very well. Of course, unlike the machines channel. “Where a 25 percent margin may be acceptable to a that people are used to — higher-end A3 MFPs that, in some COMDEX solutions provider, dealers need anywhere from 40 cases, are in isolated environments — the A4 MFP is more to 50 percent margins,” he says. “We allow them to make those

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margins on an A4 device. So, carrying one or the other [A3 “Dealers should realize I think that they will realize or A4],” explains Federico de that A4 MFPs are just a that with these products, ‘I Silva León, principal analyst part of the mix; it’s not can still make the profit that I of Imaging and Print Servwas looking for on some of ices at Gartner, a market carrying one or the other the higher-end devices.’” research firm. “So, rather [A3 or A4]. So, rather than There is also the profit to than fearing A4, they can be fearing A4, they can be be made from the back-end used as another sales tool used as another sales tool annuity stream, says Marusic. that can increase the dealer’s that can increase the dealer’s portfolio ... “ “The dealers’ profitability has portfolio and sales, given the — Federico de Silva León always primarily come from fact that companies are deGartner the service and supplies,” he manding A4 MFPs.” says. “That does not change The incremental sale of when you sell A4. You still get the supply business and the A4 MFPs can result in increased revenues overall for the dealservice revenue. That’s still two thirds of the profitability mix.” ership, says Marusic. He explains that through at least SepWhatever the level of revenue from A4 MFPs, dealers tember 2009, when Sharp prepared some analysis for should remember that the product category is not a replace- presentation at its national dealer meeting, those Sharp ment for A3, but a means to expand their current product dealers who were carrying A4 were faring better than those offerings in order to better serve customer needs. “Dealers who did not. “We found that those dealers who were selling should realize that A4 MFPs are just a part of the mix; it’s not the A4 product line on a regular basis — meaning more than

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five units a month — were Of course, A4 MFPs are “We found that those seeing sales revenue innot just being placed in the dealers who were selling crease year over year,� he medical market. Increassays. “ Those dealers who ingly, driven by the small the A4 product line on a had not sold a single unit of footprint, they are being regular basis — meaning the A4 Frontier line were pl ac ed in d e p ar tm ents more than five units a experiencing a decrease in throughout organizations month — were seeing sales revenue by almost an “to bring the printer and sales revenue increase equal percentage.� copier close to the user,� year over year.“ One primary source of says Marusic, noting that — Mike Marusic, Sharp Imaging increm ental MFP placethe key to success for the and Information Company of America ments with A4 models has sales representative is to been within the medical simply assess the customer’s market, says Marusic, noting that a demographic study of work environment. He shares a typical pitch: “‘I noticed that Sharp A4 MFP placements through dealers revealed a you have a cluster of MFPs in a certain area and everyone “stunning� trend. “The Frontier product is selling at triple has to walk to them. Why don’t you leave one MFP there, the rate in the medical market than traditional A3 MFPs,� then place two or three of these A4 MFPs? You will save he says. “We view this as a huge opportunity because we do money and get more productivity out of your workers believe it is incremental.� because they are spending less time walking up and down

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the hallways getting their opportunity. “Based on reli“ ...

Less than 3 percent print and copy jobs.’” able industry data, less than of total page output is While Sharp, Samsung and 3 percent of total page outOKI Data — and other manuput is 11-by-17 inches,” says 11-by-17 inches ... We facturers such as Lexmark Jonathan Fischer, senior would rather have the International, Muratec Amsales manager at Samsung. right products and erica Inc. and Hewlett-Pack“ Samsung has taken th e solutions to go after 97 ard — are making strides by position that in terms of the percent of the market than aggressively pursuing the A4 total addressable market, we go after 3 percent of the market. “ opportunity, others will soon would rather have the right — Jonathan Fischer follow, says Marusic. “There is products and solutions to go Samsung Electronics America no doubt that every one of after 97 percent of the marour competitors is develket than go after 3 percent of oping a product or a strategy for this market,” he says. “It’s only the market. There is still demand for A3, but logical. Our A4 and A3 market share combined for the last that is not our current focus.”

Brent Hoskins, executive director of quarter year over year went from 10 percent to 15 percent. the Business Technology Association, They know where that came from; a large chunk of that is A4.” is editor of Office Technology magazine.

Meanwhile, another key statistic will continue to drive He can be reached at brent@bta.org. those manufacturers that are focused on the growing A4

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Wishful Thinking Ideal changes for the office technology industry by: Ray Belanger, Bay Copy

he arrival of a new year is a time for renewal, re-evaluation and recharging.

And let’s not forget that sometimes it is an opportunity for some old-fashioned wishful thinking. How could our industry be better?

It is in this spirit that I offer you my look at seven changes I would like to see in our industry; call it “Ray’s List of Favorites” if you wish.

Feel free to add to the list or create your own.

There ought to be a law against manufacturers selling into their dealer’s territories. I realize I am the person with the stick poking the hornet’s nest with this topic, so let me phrase this a little differently.

Manufacturers are manufacturers and dealers are dealers, and never should the two compete. Much has been said about this topic already — and with good reason. It is a serious problem in our industry. A major manufacturer has a dealer in a territory promoting its brand and then sends in its own representatives to compete with the dealer. Who really wins here? The end user gets mixed signals. And while the sale eventually may get made, profit margins disappear and the industry ’s image suffers. If a major manufacturer/distributor wants to offer “factory direct,” then that entity should not be in the business of competing with its dealers, too. In an ideal world, this would not happen.

There should be better communication between manufacturers and dealers. Often, the individual dealer will take the initial steps needed to satisfy a customer’s issues and then look to the manufacturer to back them up. How the manufacturer responds is critical. Take a situation where a client’s equipment cannot handle two different data streams, as originally specified by the manufacturer.

What recourse does the dealer have to make this right?

When a dealer calls a manufacturer for help, the dealer really needs it. Streamlining response time is critical for all involved. Cutting through the red tape in these situations

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creates more harmony and, in the end, benefits everyone.

Technology is the new frontier. Using it efficiently and effectively can help a dealer increase business. From the various user groups on LinkedIn to e-mail marketing and e-newsletters, those who have not embraced the Internet and emerging social media run the risk of being trampled by those who already do.

There needs to be a financial “reality check” by lending and leasing institutions. We are not Wall Street and the office technology industry did not cause the financial meltdown that defined late 2008 and more of 2009 than any of us would like to have seen. However, there are some in the industry who feel that our hands are tied. We understand that lending must be done responsibly, but customers who would previously have been “green-lighted” for credit extension fell into the “black hole” that saw credit slow down to a screeching halt. Institutions responsible for lending money should view the business community as part of the solution, not part of the problem. Small and mid-sized businesses are the engines that will fuel the economic recovery. While no one can in good conscience support a “blank check” policy when it comes to credit, the customers looking to upgrade their office equipment should be cut a little slack.

There needs to be greater emphasis on our industry benchmarking best practices. In general, this is the way to tell how a business is doing compared to industry standards; this is historically compared to how the top 10 percent perform in a given industry. It is a great way for a company to self-evaluate and find the means to correct problems (e.g., Does your dealership take too long to initiate service calls and answer inquiries?). At this point, somewhere around 25 percent of the dealerships in the office technology industry

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follow this practice, but it should be closWe should all commit er to 100 percent. Yes, ourselves to building creating and followeven greater trust with ing a system of this customers ... one of our sort can be time-contwo greatest assets is our suming, but we are customer base (the other fortunate to work in is our employee base). an industr y with a reasonably good reputation, and one that is comparatively free of over-regulation. One way to prevent further regulation and to enhance our industry reputation is to be seen as being willing to evaluate ourselves critically and take steps to improve where needed.

We should realize that “green” means more than money.

We should promote conservation wherever we can. Our industry has done a good job of creating energy-efficient document generation equipment. Sure, there is always room for improvement, but equipment designers have improved speed and quality without sacrificing efficiency. But that is only part of the solution. The rest is for us to constantly educate our customer/client base on the need for conservation — and to let the world know that we as an industry take this problem very seriously. It is eye-opening to realize that nearly 70 percent of a typical office’s waste is paper. From the advances in document and print management to the oldfashioned, double-sided copying practice, there are ways to conserve. We should promote this to our clients and make it the “law of the land” in our own business practices.

We should all commit ourselves to building even greater trust with customers. No matter how much we have in inventory, or how much real estate we own in our businesses, one of our two greatest assets is our customer base (the other is our employee base). The foundation of a solid relationship with clients is trust. It must be built properly and continuously maintained. This must be a part of the company culture — and a part that is practiced. Yes, as the president/CEO, the buck may stop with you, but everyone plays a role in this key part of a business. When problems arise, turn them into opportunities. A company’s ability to be nimble and handle bumps in the road shows that the company cares about the customer.

Ray Belanger is president and CEO of Bay Copy, Rockland, Mass. He is also president of Select Dealer Group (SDG). Belanger can be reached at rbelanger@baycopy.com.

Visit www.baycopy.com.

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McMahon Feb 10:McMahon Feb 10

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Cool Technology Free sales & marketing tools to power your business by: Tim McMahon, The BizCAT Group

ecently, a business associate of mine said that he believed the challenge of today’s economy is about mastering the art of doing more with less, especially in sales and marketing — less people, less resources and less money. At first glance, that sounded completely reasonable, but as I thought about it, I came to a slightly different conclusion: The challenge of today’s economy is not in doing more with less, it is learning new ways to do more of what we need to do. For sales and marketing, that means harnessing the power of some exciting (and often free) new technologies.

For example, online Web conferencing can be a powerful sales call and demonstration tool, but your reps may need to learn some new selling techniques and you need to find Web conferencing software that is easy and does not cost an arm and a leg. Did you know that there is a product called Dimdim (www.dimdim.com) that offers business-quality Web conferencing for up to 20 people absolutely free?

Here is another example. Could your business benefit from a more powerful CRM system, i.e., customer relationship management, sales automation or contact management? If you have shopped around, you know that it can be an expensive proposition between software licenses and upgraded laptop computers. But look at Zoho CRM (www.zoho.com) — a top-rated, full-function online CRM system that is free for your first three users and only a few dollars a month for additional users. And because it is online, you can access it from anywhere on any computer and probably will not need to spring for that new high-powered PC. Want more? There is even a full-powered CRM system specifically for sales team members who use Blackberry smartphones called Nice Office (www.niceoffice.com). And,

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yes, it is also free.

Did you know that there are real businesses that are successfully driving their marketing using social media tools like Facebook and Twitter? Used correctly, these no-cost tools really can be powerful professional business tools.

At The BizCAT Group, we find and video review new technology products that can actively help small and mid-size businesses. We only review the ones we love and we especially love the free or nearly free ones. There are many exceptional tools out there that are either free to get started or have an exceptional ROI. Below are a couple of our recent favorites.

Blog to Your Customers Let us look at two questions. First, does your business need a blog? Second, if so, what is the best and easiest way to do it?

You know about blogs, right? The simple idea is that it is a form of personal publishing on the Web; a type of Web site, but instead of being static or fixed, you (the owner) and your readers (if you wish) can add content or comments instantly.

So rather than a one-way Web site (your message to your customers), a blog is a real-time site for two-way communication. And, most importantly, it is easy to set up and run.

Now think about this. The original purpose of having a Web site was that it was an online marketing brochure — a place for prospects and customers to learn more about you and your company. That is still true and why you still need a “static” Web page. But once that prospect or customer has been to your site, he (or she) may never have a reason to visit it again, i.e., he thinks he has found out all he needs to know about you. However, you want him to return again and again, especially if you offer promotions, announce new

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McMahon Feb 10:McMahon Feb 10

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automatically be posted to your Faceproducts or services and so forth. book business or personal page, MyEnter the blog concept. Adding a blog Adding a blog to your Space, Twitter, LinkedIn or other similar to your marketing arsenal tells your cusmarketing arsenal tells sites, exponentially expanding your tomers you want to interact with them your customers you want potential audience. on a continuous basis and that you have to interact with them on a a stream of valuable new things to tell continuous basis and that them about. Those customers can “subCreate a Toolbar you have a stream of ... scribe” to your blog so they are instantly If you are like me, you often try to things to tell them about. informed when you have a new posting. remind your customers that your Web One company told us that its blog is onesite is there. You would like them to visit way; they deliver real added value to their customers by pub- often, access online resources or at least think of you. Here lishing a regular stream of “how-to” articles that show their is a site we came across and have been playing with ever buyers ways to get maximum results from the products they since: Conduit (www.conduit.com). purchased. As a result, both customers and prospects are Conduit is a free service that lets you make your own Web drawn back to the site over and over — and that company’s toolbar that users install in Internet Explorer on their comsales message is delivered again and again. puters. Look at the top of your browser screen when you are So, do you need a blog? If maximizing online interactions online and you will see what I am talking about. In fact, you with your customers is important, then we think so. One probably have several running right now from Google, word of warning, however: If you are going to have a blog, Yahoo, Microsoft or any number of sources. Just like these you have to commit to making frequent postings and cre- big companies, your business’s toolbar can be a power tool ating that stream of customer messages. And because cus- to offer your customers fast and easy access to things they tomers can leave their comments or questions on the blog, it really need and need frequently — and it might very well be is critical you check and respond. A dormant blog that has a competitive advantage.

The good thing about a toolbar is that it is supposed to be a not seen a posting in weeks is not just out of date, it actually shortcut to what you want. Instead of browsing around to get sends a negative message.

So, how do you go about setting up a blog? The good news to your site, your customers can just click on the button in your is that there are many services that will help you set up, host toolbar to get them right where they need to go. So, would your and promote your new blog to customers and prospects — customers benefit from a toolbar that was always there with and most all of them are free. Blogger (www.blogger.com), instant links to your sales or support teams, or useful informaowned by Google, is a big name; then there are WordPress, tion and resources? If so, think about creating one.

Tumblr and many more. One of the products we reviewed, Conduit makes it easy. No technical skills are required Yola, lets you design a new Web site with a blog inside it. and literally anyone can do it. Build your toolbar online A program we found recently is Posterous (www.post using Conduit’s wizard then just send e-mail invitations to erous.com). It works great, looks professional, is completely your customers to download and install your toolbar on free and is by far the easiest blog site to use. In fact, you can their computers. And, of course, your company’s name will set up your new blog in under a minute by going to their Web be in front of them whenever they are online. How good an site. Their “claim to fame” is that once your blog is set up, you idea is this? Well, you could spend some money for pens and can add posts or articles to it simply by sending an e-mail. other freebies, or give your customers something unique That’s right — just compose your article in whatever e-mail that they can actually use.

Tim McMahon held senior executive positions for many years system you use. And if you want to get fancy with photos, a with IBM and DEC before founding Catalyst, a global video or even audio, that is as easy as attaching the file to the consulting firm, in 1995. He is a best-selling e-mail message. Posterous will do the rest. Now you can add a author of four books and has been featured link to the blog from your Web page (or embed it with an on CNN and CNBC International. <iframe>), let your customers know and you are done.

He can be reached at One more cool thing about Posterous — and a definite tim.mcmahon@thebizcat.com. reason to choose this service — is its Autopost feature. If you Visit.www.thebizcat.com/reviews. are using social media, every post you make to your blog will 28 | 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 1 0

Project1:Nexent ad Feb 10

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Goldberg Feb 10:Goldberg Feb 10

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COURTS & CAPITOLS

Your Estate Plan Congress has caused changes you must address by: Robert C. Goldberg, General Counsel for the Business Technology Association

lease do not shoot the messenger, especially since my estate plan does not reflect current law.

With all of the action regarding health care, Congress has failed to address an extension of the changes previously made in regard to estate taxes. Effective Jan. 1, 2010, for a one-year period, all federal death taxes are repealed including the estate and generation-skipping taxes. Since your estate plan was prepared with these taxes in mind, it no longer may accomplish your desires. To make matters worse, Congress is discussing restoring these taxes and making them effective retroactive to Jan. 1, 2010. Thus, if you revise your estate plan to reflect the current tax situation, you may have to do so again.

This situation creates numerous possibilities. If prior law is, in fact, restored as of Jan. 1, those who die in 2010 will be subject to the same estate tax liability they faced under prior law — tax at a uniform rate of 45 percent, with a $3.5 million exemption. Alternatively, Congress may choose to restore the estate and generation-skipping taxes with a higher or lower tax rate — and/or a higher or lower exemption amount. A third possibility is that Congress will restore prior law (either in the same form or with changes) prospectively, creating a “gap period” between Jan. 1 and the effective date of whatever law is passed in 2010. A fourth scenario is that, because of partisan gridlock, Congress may fail to act at all; in this case, the repeal would remain in effect for all of 2010.

Complicating these scenarios is the likelihood of a constitutional challenge, on due process grounds, to any attempt to restore the death taxes retroactively. Such a challenge might well find its way to the U.S. Supreme Court and take years to resolve, resulting in a protracted period of uncertainty.

Your existing estate planning documents very likely use formulas based on pre-2010 rules, with multiple references to the “estate tax,” the “estate tax applicable exclusion amount” or the “generation-skipping tax exclusion.” For example, a will might direct that an amount equal to your available generation-skipping tax exemption be used to fund a trust for grandchildren.

Under 2010 law, as currently in effect, there is no generationskipping tax, no generation-skipping tax exemption — and, quite arguably, no trust for the grandchildren. Similarly, the

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direction to fund a family trust with “the greatest amount that would result in the estate not being subject to estate tax” would arguably result, under current law, in a family trust funded with 100 percent of the estate’s assets. This could be an unfortunate result in a situation where the family trust benefits persons other than a surviving spouse, such as in a typical second-marriage situation.

I do not know the answers, but I strongly recommend that you visit your estate planner to learn the impact of the 2010 law on your estate plan. Among the questions to consider: Does the new law change the beneficiaries of your estate in a way that you do not intend?

Will new ambiguity about how the document should be interpreted lead to family litigation?

Working together, you and your advisors can determine what, if any, action is necessary. In some situations, a short codicil or amendment will be sufficient to prevent future potential difficulties. Since we will all live through this situation, we will not be affected. However, you should have your estate plan reviewed just in case.

Robert C. Goldberg is general counsel for the Business Technology Association.

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

InkCycle ad Dec 09:Layout 1

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Nunnally Feb 10:Nunnally Feb 10

1/26/10

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PRINCIPAL ISSUES

The Little Things Focus on the fundamentals for consistent success by: Lincoln Nunnally, Consolidated Office Solutions/Consolidated Copier Services

have received advice on more than one occasion and have read several articles about taking care of the little things. I thought I was doing enough to take care of these little things, but I recently learned that I was wrong.

We had several people out of the office one day and I helped complete a task that is usually not my responsibility.

I was shipping supplies. The protocol was to pull the supplies off the shelf, stuff them in a box, include an invoice and tape the box. In the middle of filling these orders, I realized that we were missing a great opportunity to increase revenue.

We should be informing our clients about how we can help their businesses by including fliers about our other products and services. Over the last few years, we have expanded our lineup to include document management systems, managed print services and computer services. Strangely enough, most of our success with these new services has come from new customers while most of our long-term customers only use the services for which they were originally contracted. I am 90 percent sure we can attribute this lack of customer interest in our new offerings to a lack of knowledge of them. On some level, we have become comfortable with the relationships we have with our long-term clients and we do not want to rock the boat too much. We would rather be a caretaker who answers our clientsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; questions when they come up instead of being an advisor who suggests new ways we can benefit them.

An easy way to take care of both problems is to provide fliers of each new offering in every method of contact, including supply shipments. I know that we used to put fliers in each order and it had great results. I do not know when or why we stopped considering an order complete without these fliers, but what I do know is that it happened without the knowledge of higher management.

It made me question our procedures in other areas. What else have we stopped doing? Where else are we missing opportunities? How many opportunities are we missing every day?

It seems that once we have trained employees on the fundamental tasks of their positions, such as answering the phone,

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shipping supplies, servicing equipment, cold calling, etc., we leave them to what we hired them to do. We will check with them from time to time, asking if they are still doing everything we trained them to do, but most of our time spent with them is used to build on their responsibilities.

As long as we do not receive any complaints about employees, we assume they are doing everything the right way. We seldom , if ever, have them walk us through each step of their tasks.

This method of management allows us to focus on other seemingly more important issues. But as I recently learned, it can leave a lot of room for error. I am not sure if our problems were the result of a miscommunication of what was expected, if the employees were thinking they were helping the company, if the employees did not understand why a particular step was needed, or if there was an intentional neglect of duties. Whatever the reason behind the problem, it is our responsibility as managers to make sure each employee is doing what we expect. Routine hands-on examination of each task will help us correct errors before they become problems and, ultimately, improve our business.

The point is simply this: Just because we think things are being done a certain way does not mean that is what is happening. We all need to be reminded on occasion to pay attention to the small details so everything will be in place to help us achieve our bigger goals. In business, just like in sports, when things are good we are focused on achieving the next goal, but when times are tough, we are focused on the problems of which we are aware. To be consistently successful, we need to focus on our fundamentals.

Lincoln Nunnally is a sales manager at Consolidated Office Solutions in Atlanta, Ga., and Consolidated Copier Services in Conyers, Ga. He has been instrumental in helping the company earn recognition as Atlantaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s only 2009 Elite Dealer.

Nunnally can be reached at lincoln@consolidatedos.com.

Visit www.consolidatedos.com.

Supplies Network ad Feb 10:Layout 1

1/13/10

4:09 PM

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PRINCIPAL ISSUES

Turning the Ship Around You may be headed in the wrong direction by: Reed Allan Melnick, Nevill Imaging Solutions

hat happens when your company is not as successful as it was in past years? W hat do you do?

When is old leadership “old”? What happens when you start thinking, “I have been working so hard for so long. Is it time to coast?” When do you stop fooling yourself into thinking it is something other than yourself and a leadership style that has not kept up with the times?

As you can tell, 2009 was a year of awakening for me. Several months ago, I made a statement that I want to retract. At the time I felt it was true, when in actuality it was not. My statement at the time was: “I am not changing the way we do business, nor will we use any type of MPS strategy as we are fine without it.”

This statement has contributed to my lack of present-day knowledge, my unwillingness to change my style and focus, and being susceptible to unproductive people steering me in the wrong direction. Years ago, I had the good fortune to work for Dan Doyle. When he purchased the copier division of Kodak, he hired high-powered salespeople who exemplified top-notch sales skills and who should have been a great match for new products. It did not take long to discover that their old-school techniques and impervious attitudes would not get the organization to the level of Doyle’s expectations.

After 30 years of leading a successful sales organization and beating the previous year’s sales numbers, last year was the first down year in our company’s hardware sales. Our service and supply revenues increased due to our level of service, but our hardware sales did not meet our company’s growth standards.

After some contemplation, I attribute this to two areas: I let the world sell me on “It is a down economy,” “Doing less is okay,” and “The ‘new growth company’ is a flat sales company.” As the leader of my company, I should never have bought into the hype. Each day, I allowed average performance to be acceptable. I put my head in the sand, refusing to see that the situation was a symptom, but not the cause. It was always “wait until next month.”

I have been an extraordinarily successful salesman and sales leader for the past 30 years. I have developed leadingedge go-to-market strategies, sales management skills and sales results. But last year, the way my customers purchased

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and the way my company sold were two different things.

What was the reason for this? I was still leading my team and training my sales staff on the techniques of a box salesperson, resulting in sales of $6 million in hardware sales in 2009. My “great” 30-year-old sales skills had not been practiced and polished through training, nor by listening and communicating with people in the industry for a long time. I did not want to change the methodology and techniques that were imperative for my company to grow.

Recently, I have taken a step back and evaluated myself, as we often learn more from our failures than our successes. I have re-evaluated where I want my company to go and what I must do to make that happen. I am now taking the steps necessary to lead my organization into our most successful year by developing a print management strategy exclusively designed for my business.

This year, we will focus on a new direction with a cutting-edge marketing program. We will not allow our focus to be deterred by negative rumblings about the economy and each employee will be accountable for his (or her) role in the success of our organization. My company’s focus, from my position as CEO to everyone who works at Nevill Imaging Solutions, will be on not just the whys of our changes for success, but also the hows.

So, my advice to other independent dealers is to reassess who you are, start getting back in the field and engage in order to lead your company to greatness. Your employees need your head in the game. Remember, getting older just means you are getting wiser ; coasting can be done only after you finish playing and winning the game. Even an older person can learn a lesson and act on it. Look out competition! We have added new ground and pound to our game.

Reed Allan Melnick is CEO of Nevill Imaging Solutions, headquartered in Carrollton, Texas, with more than 150 employees in eight locations. He has more than 30 years experience in the office technology industry. Melnick can be reached at rmelnick@nevillsolutions.com.

Visit www.nevillsolutions.com.

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PRINCIPAL ISSUES

Coaching Competence The areas that enable mastery of the craft by: Joanne L. Smikle, Smikle Training Services

oaching is among the most popular business buzzwords. Leaders who do not have coach e s tout th eir ow n coaching ability. Leaders who do have coaches quote from their coach’s “Bible of Business Best Practices.” It has become chic for large corporations to employ the services of executive coaches to maximize the performance of their most senior talent. In some companies, middle managers are also the recipients of this largesse. And for those whose employers are not so generous, many of their leaders are shelling out big bucks from their own pockets to hire coaches who will give them the tools to transform their careers.

Coaching has become quite a popular, profitable industry.

The number of self-proclaimed coaches rose from 2,000 in 1996 to 10,000 in 2002 (“The Very Real Dangers of Executive Coaching,” by Steven Berglas, Harvard Business Review, June 2002, pp. 86-92). Employers are willing to pay as much as $15,000 a day for the services of an executive coach. There are no universally accepted guidelines or competency tests for coaches, whether they earn $500 a day or $15,000. Without a litmus test for competence, how does one determine whether a person is capable of skillful coaching, either as an external resource or an internal practitioner?

There are key areas of mastery that are non-negotiable for anyone desiring to call himself (or herself) a coach. And these areas are as important for managers intent on coaching within their organizations as they are for anyone considering hanging out a shingle. Before exploring those areas, it is important to discuss the dangers of poorly executed coaching.

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Incompetent Coaching First and foremost, while the desire to apply quick fixes to systemic organizational problems is very tempting, it is not even a remote possibility. When a coach positions himself as the person who has the answers to age-old performance questions without conducting thorough organizational analyses, he is 36 | 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 1 0

preying on the penchant for quick fixes. Wise, experienced practitioners understand that successful coaching is preceded by an analysis of the individual being coached and the organizational context in which he functions.

Second, a coach is not to be confused with a therapist or other trained mental health professional. While some in the coaching world are fortunate enough to also have credentials in psychology, most do not. Those of us who possess layman’s knowledge of matters of the mind should be very careful when coaching people on personality issues. These issues manifest themselves in many ways in the workplace, some positively and some negatively. This is not the realm in which a coach should delve, unless the coach is a licensed mental health professional.

The third danger is focusing on problems, processes and products before people. The ultimate aim of most coaching relationships is to help an individual maximize his potential.

That can only happen when the individual is the priority. Many misguided coaches enter the relationship with an almost singular focus on fixing the problem, or at least providing the guidance required to fix the problem. It is impossible to sufficiently impact the problem, process or product without first dealing with the human element. Sustainable results come not from attacking a problem head-on, but from building rapport with the person and partnering on a developmental plan. It is that developmental work that will ultimately create sustainable results.

The Coaching Competencies There are three competencies that are required of all skillful coaches. It is the combination of these areas that enables a coach to develop mastery of the craft.

The first competency is subject matter expertise. If a coach is to be deemed credible, he must be viewed as a master of his field. He has to be regarded as bright, intelligent and successful. He must be viewed as competent in the fundamentals

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greater leadership roles. of his field. He must have demonstrable By connecting with The final critical coaching compeknowledge of his own work. He must also tence is collaborative competence, have in-depth knowledge of the organizaeach team member which refers to the coachâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to facilition and the industry. on a meaningful level, tate teamwork and cooperation. The It is not necessary for the coach to be a the coach is able to coaching relationship is a developmental master of the same field as the person he is help the entire team partnership. As such, the coach must be coaching, but he must have sufficient create an environment able to build a positive, supportive conknowledge to converse intelligently. A good of excellence. nection with partners. Less skilled coaches coach will constantly familiarize himself operate under the mistaken assumption with the business of his partner. This not only builds credibility, but it also makes the coaching process that their role is almost authoritarian. They believe that they flow more easily, as the coach is not spending a lot of time have sufficient wisdom to instruct their partners on what to trying to catch up on the terminology or nuances of the do and how best to do it. In fact, a wise coach understands partnerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s field. Building familiarity is among the many ways that his wisdom is but a small piece of the coaching puzzle. that the coach stays focused on the partner, as well as the Far more is gained when the coach can tap into and release the wisdom of his partner. potential problems impacting the partnerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s performance.

Not only is the coach investing in individual performance, Subject matter expertise extends to the political dynamics of the organization as well. A coach is charged with under- the coach is also investing in peak performance for the entire standing, appreciating and being able to navigate the political workgroup. By connecting with each team member on a terrain. Much of what people being coached struggle with is meaningful level, the coach is able to help the entire team not the widgets, nuts and bolts, but instead, the subtle create an environment of excellence. Building collaborative mechanics that set organizational priorities, determine competence also helps to position the group for peer coaching. resource allocation and define alliances. While a coach need The responsibility for generating feedback is eventually not be a major player in the political gamesmanship, he must shared by all members of the team. This transition occurs certainly understand these subterranean dynamics and their because people are witness to a sound model for collaboration from their leader. They are watching someone model the impact on the way that the enterprise functions.

Next is strategic competence. A coach must have an eye on communication skills, mutual respect and support required to where the company is headed. He must understand strategic sustain cooperation. intent, strategic planning and the strategic direction currently pursued. The first question for the coach is: Do you understand Conclusion the big picture and can you translate strategy into daily action?

Masterful coaching can be achieved by developing the three The second question is: Assuming that the answer to the first competencies detailed herein. Developing these competencies question is in the affirmative, can you teach your partner the will not only enable would-be coaches to build credibility, but same? This is imperative because coaching should help a they will also enhance their confidence. Avoid the pitfalls of person, the partner, be well-prepared not just for today, but for incompetent coaching by committing to ongoing professional tomorrow and beyond. That necessitates an appreciation of development in this area. Be careful to avoid quick fixes and be long-term organizational objectives. This is especially impor- very clear on your role, which is not that of a therapist or tant when coaching a senior manager or a middle manager analyst. Coaching has the potential to be a powerful performwho has his eyes on the next level. It is essential that these ance enhancement tool when executed by caring, competent ambitious people have complete comprehension of business individuals committed to making a substantial investment in drivers, performance indicators and other metrics that matter. individuals and organizations.

Joanne L. Smikle is an author, consultant and Strategic competence is also important on the micro level. It speaker specializing in leadership development, is equally important to analyze the direction and intent of busicollaboration and customer satisfaction. ness units as it is of the entire company. A wise coach will be Visit www.smiklespeaks.com to read more able to help his partner get a clear understanding of the vision articles on current business topics. and supporting strategy in his own business unit. This underSmikle can be reached at (301) 596-3140. standing will enable the partner to be well-prepared to assume 38 | 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 1 0

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SELLING SOLUTIONS

‘Sharpen Your Ax’ Proper sales training creates bottom-line effectiveness by: Teresa Hiatt, Ricoh Americas Corp.

hen economic times are challenging the profitability of independent businesses, a mad scramble to control unnecessary expenses and reduce overhead costs begins. All too often, sales training becomes an early casualty of these cutbacks. The irony of the situation is that because sales activity is reduced due to customers delaying buying decisions, sales team members find themselves with time to attend training at the very moment there is no training being made available. It takes true strategic thinking to actually increase the amount of sales training in tough times so that the sales force is motivated and equipped to meet customer demand when the buying climate improves.

The situation today can be roughly illustrated with the old parable of the sharp ax. As the story goes, two woodcutters head off to the forest to gather their last two respective trees as a terrible winter storm approaches. They both begin to fell their trees, but one notices the axes are dull from previous cutting and he stops and takes valuable time to carefully sharpen his ax while the other woodsman continues to chop away somewhat ineffectively. The sharp ax helps the first woodsman quickly catch up and pass the second and he makes short work of the task at hand. As he bundles up his wood in a travois to head back home, he admonishes his fellow woodsman to stop and sharpen his ax. The second woodsman yells out, “I don’t have time to sharpen my ax, a storm is coming!” and continues to flail away at the tree.

If we apply that fable, sales training is how sales teams sharpen their axes. Of course, it is not just any training that brings the value we need in our teams right now, it is training that helps support the solutions provider model of selling.

Effective sales training is not product training (that is marketing information), sales “tips and tricks” gimmicks or sales theory “psychology of the customer” meanderings. The dirty little secret about sales training is that it all works — for a short time. The kind of sales training that builds long-term, bottom-line effectiveness focuses on three areas:

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Building a predictable, repeatable sales process that includes true needs analysis. To hear some salespeople talk, selling is considered an “art” — something that you are born with, a natural gift that cannot be analyzed. However, research has shown that consistently successful salespeople all follow a stable, reliable process backed up by tons of hard work and dedication to the job.

There are a few superstars who succeed on the sheer force of their personalities, but for the most part, sales teams need to have an established process to find new customers and close business. It is actually relatively unimportant which particular process is used, just that it is one that sales managers and salespeople agree upon and everyone on the team follows. Regular training to reinforce the process can be instrumental in bringing everyone back on track, as every process strays from the ideal over time and needs course corrections. If your team either does not have an official process or has not reviewed the steps and best practices for a while, this could be where to focus.

Effective use of customer relationship management (CRM) tools to plan customer interactions. Unless you have team members who just awoke from a 20-year coma, your team members are using some sort of CRM tool. The most basic CRM tool is to keep an address book of customer contact information and maybe some notes related to a customer.

However, the real power in using a tool like this is the ability to research, design and execute an individual customer strategy for each of your target market prospects. It allows for review and brainstorming by sales management, organizes information into logical parameters and gives clear direction on what the “next step” is with every target customer. If your team’s CRM is just a collection of phone numbers, training in this area could skyrocket activity.

Developing solutions competence around your company’s unique value add. Ask a member of your sales team this question: “Why should a customer choose to do business with us?” If you do not hear a concise, coherent reply 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 1 0 | 39

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that makes sense right off the cuff, there is Today, your tenured sales team needs not on e. Each and e ver y sal e s t eam fresh ideas to properly position your This is not the type member should know what your company company and the value it brings, efficient of training you can offers, have a passing competency in actutools to maximize customer interaction outsource or provide via ally using the solutions you promote and time and strong relationship building eLearning. It requires be able to apply the correct mix of prodskills honed through effective role-playing. hands-on work, ucts, software and services to meet a specThe forward-thinking sales organizarole-plays and solid ified customer situation. This is probably tions that take advantage of the lull in sales education fundamentals. the hardest training to get right, yet the activities to properly equip and motivate one with the highest return on investment, their sales force will be in a strong position since it involves not only understanding your company’s value to reap the rewards of customer business when the cycle add, but involves a certain amount of technical competency. returns to normal. Are you taking time to sharpen your ax?

This is not the type of training you can outsource or provide Teresa Hiatt is director of sales education at Ricoh Americas via eLearning. It requires hands-on work, role-plays and solid Corp. In her eight years at Ricoh, she has worked with Ricoh education fundamentals. teams for the purposes of conducting research Remember the good old days when “sales training” was into sales training, setting global sales strategies and delivering sales training programs. defined as a three-day meeting at a centrally located Holiday She can be reached at Inn? Everyone got together and listened to some “pump-you-up” teresa.hiatt@ricoh-usa.com. new product presentations, shared hot success stories and built Visit www.ricoh-usa.com. up the energy for the next big sales push. Those days are gone.

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MPS STRATEGIES

MPS & The Back Office Simplify the maintenance of your accounts for success by: Jim Boulden, Strategy Development

s most of you know, managed print services (MPS) is proving to be the growth engine for the traditional copier/MFP dealer. While the copier/MFP side of the business is declining, MPS is growing at a significant rate and is contributing even more significantly to the bottom line. With that being the case, why are many dealerships shying away from MPS? Is it the fear of the unknown or is it the concern about the ability of the back office to administer a large, detail-oriented transaction?

In many cases, the issue is the latter; in many companies, the back office is not set up to deal with fleets that can amount to several hundred devices located throughout the country and not just in a dealerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s local territory. Additionally, these fleets typically require detailed quarterly reporting with the customer that helps document the performance of the fleet as well as the cost savings that were promised in the initial proposal. If you are an East Coast dealer and the fleet is located 50 percent in your servicing territory, 25 percent in the Midwest, 10 percent in the West and 15 percent in the South, how are you going to service the account in all of the locations, provide supplies, obtain meter reads, resolve issues and understand equipment performance?

The thought of this causes many dealers to abandon any serious attempt to enter the MPS arena. Some will even pick and choose the opportunities that they will engage in and shy away from the bigger opportunities that exist, thereby walking away from potentially significant revenue and profit opportunities. These issues are caused by dealers who are fearful that their back offices cannot handle the requirements that are expected in this type of business.

Fortunately, this does not have to be the case. The technologies and networks that exist today make it much easier than in past years to handle large MPS orders that are spread throughout the country. I do acknowledge that administering these types of accounts is much more challenging than a single copier/MFP order. But if your back office is set up properly with talented people, you have the right technology in place,

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you can align your company with a solid supply and parts vendor as well as align yourself with a good leasing company with experience in accurately processing costper-copy orders, and can utilize, or even become a member of a national service network, this daunting task becomes much easier. All it takes is a commitment to put all of the pieces in place to make sure that you can properly support the efforts of your MPS sales representatives and, more importantly, support the customer after the sale.

So with all of that being said, where do you begin? The real key to having a solid back-office operation prepared to deal with MPS orders is to make sure that your administrative processes are streamlined and efficient, and that every order is handled with the same methodology. Once an order is received, the expectation from the customer is that the new vendor will provide a seamless transition that is not only a positive experience, but also provides a cost-savings benefit. To accomplish that, the processes involved in an MPS order need to be structured to eliminate unnecessary and redundant steps that only add time, confusion and cost. A detailed process map should be drawn up that is easy to follow and has a flow that addresses all of the needs of an MPS order.

The second critical piece of making sure that your back office can effectively manage an MPS order is to ensure that you have the technology that will simplify not only the processing of the orders, but more importantly, the ongoing maintenance of the account. As far back as I can remember, one of the biggest frustrations in the copier/MFP business was the difficulty in obtaining accurately billed meters. While that issue has not been completely resolved, the remote monitoring systems available today have taken this frustrating task and made it much more manageable. The utilization of these systems not only simplifies the gathering of the meters, but they will also download them directly into your ERP, thereby eliminating the re-keying of hundreds of reads. Yes, there will still be the need to manually get meters from time to time, particularly when an end user has a locally connected device. But if you can acquire meter reads automatically 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 1 0 | 41

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comfortable dealing with customers, as he 75 percent of the time or more, it is a signifiNow that you have will have constant contact with the cuscant labor savings. a process and the tomer, especially at the onset. This indiMeter gathering and downloading are vidual is the person who works with all of key features of today’s remote monitoring necessary technology, your other back-office people to ensure systems, but they are not the only features. you need to have that everything flows smoothly and that These systems are valuable in other areas an administrative the customer has a positive experience. as well, such as: coordinator who Admittedly, large MPS orders are much Quarterly reporting of performance can multi-task ... more complex than your standard copier/ Detailed billing reports for a customer Supply usage and alerts MFP orders, but when you have the right processes, people and technology in place, they are more easily Service alerts They will even notify you if a competitor succeeds in managed and will lead your organization to the positive impact that they will have toward revenue and profit growth. putting equipment onto the customer’s network.

Jim Boulden is a consultant with Strategy Development, Now that you have a process and the necessary technology, a management consulting firm for the technology and you need to have an administrative coordinator who can multioutsourcing space specializing in sales effectiveness, advanced task, as he (or she) will be responsible for all of the following: sales training, operational improvement and performance Acquisition of new equipment for the order The takeover of existing fleets of equipment improvement strategies. Boulden has more than 30 years of Coordinating the initial cleanings of the existing fleet industry experience with 25 years in finance and operations. He Coordinating new deliveries, setups and trainings works with companies to help them implement processes that Arranging for service coverage for out-of-territory equipment streamline their operations, reduce G&A expenses and Coordinating with the leasing company for the monthly maximize their profitability. He also works with or quarterly billings the other Strategy Development team members Coordinating with a supply vendor for the replenishment in assisting dealers with business planning. of supplies Boulden can be reached at This coordinator needs to be a detail-oriented person who boulden@strategydevelopment.org or is not only diligent in all of the above areas, but who also is (954) 796-9302. Visit www.strategydevelopment.org.

Having trouble finding money for your child’s education?

Mark Your Calendar!

The deadline for scholarship applications for the 2010-2011 year is May 1, 2010.

Scholarships for use at colleges or accredited vocational trade schools are available to the sons and daughters of full-time employees of BTA member dealerships. Scholarship recipients are chosen by an impartial and independent evaluator. Completed applications must be received at BTA by May 1, 2010. To obtain a scholarship application form, contact Mary Hopkins at mary@bta.org or (816) 303-4031 or write to: BTA Scholarship Foundation, 12411 Wornall Road, Kansas City, MO 64145.

BTA Can Help.

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®

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EDUCATION CALENDAR March 11

Building My Business Webinar — “Hiring Right the First Time” Have you ever made a costly hiring mistake? If so, perhaps it is time to take a look at your hiring process. Free to BTA members, this webinar, presented by Kelli Teuber, founder and CEO of Emerald Executive Search, will provide an overall snapshot on how to find, interview and retain new hires in the office technology industry.

April 1-2

ProSolutions Little Rock, AR Software vendors teach you about their technology. But your clients don’t care about technology — they want their business problems solved. Taught by Darrell Amy of Dealer Marketing Systems, this course will help you understand your clients’ business problems, so you can provide solutions. Workshop topics include: understanding business challenges, business process analysis, overcoming common objections, presenting ROI-based proposals and more.

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BTA MPS Operations & Service Workshop Baltimore, MD Print management/MPS is a new go-to-market strategy that allows companies to penetrate new customers and add a highly profitable recurring revenue stream. With entry into this new space you also add complexity to your back-office operations and to your service department.

Developed and taught by Jim Boulden and Mike Woodard of Strategy Development, this course is designed to jump-start your understanding of how to set up and manage all operational and service aspects of an MPS agreement.

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BTA MPS Sales Workshop Baltimore, MD Taught by Tom Callinan and Ed Carroll of Strategy Development, this two-day educational workshop is designed to provide dealerships with the tools they need to establish a managed print services strategy that will allow them to significantly increase the quantity of captured prints, lock in customers, distinguish themselves from competitors and, ultimately, sell more hardware.

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BTA Parts & Supply Inventory Workshop Dallas, TX Ask yourself the following questions: Do you know what it costs you when your technician does not have the correct part when needed? Do you know how much cash you have tied up in excess and obsolete parts inventory? Do you know how much cash you have tied up in supply inventory at customer locations? If you answered “no” to any one of these questions, then you need to attend the BTA Parts & Supply Inventory Workshop.

For additional information or to register for courses or events, visit www.bta.org or call (800) 843-5059.

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

Dealer Members American Business Solutions, Memphis, TN Card Solutions Corp., Ft. Lauderdale, FL Diamond Business Services Inc., Amarillo, TX Office Equipment Source, Elmira, NY R J Young Co., Nashville, TN Seminole Office Solutions Inc., Longwood, FL Publications Associate Member Document Solutions Daily, Tuscon, AZ For full contact information of these new members, visit www.bta.org.

BTA Scholarship Foundation Each year, BTA awards $1,000 and $1,500 scholarships to qualifying children of member retail dealership full-time employees.

Students are required to fill out an application that asks them to provide information on: school activities; leadership positions; work experience, recognition and awards; and community involvement. Each applicant must also provide a current transcript and must write an essay in response to a specific question.

Recipients will be selected by an impartial and independent evaluator based on the evaluation of applications and essays.

Completed applications must be received

by May 1, 2010. To obtain a scholarship application form, contact Mary Hopkins at mary@bta.org, (816) 303-4031 or write to: BTA Scholarship Foundation, 12411 Wornall Road, Kansas City, MO 64145 For more information on BTA member benefits, visit www.bta.org.

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

BTA Service Associate member Strategic Business Solutions Inc. (SBS) is a sales and business growth consulting practice that specializes in the technology sector. Susan Muth, president of SBS, has more than 18 years of consulting experience, helping many companies to evolve toward IT and create a channel marketing strategy. SBS customizes solutions that work for your business, tailoring its services to address your company, your product and your customer.

The company helps you drive sales results through refined sales strategy development and accountable sales execution. www.susanmuth.com BTA Vendor Associate member LMI Solutions Inc. provides manufacturer direct turnkey managed print solutions to more than 600 dealers throughout the United States. LMI now offers dealers the exclusive LMI PageTrak Advantage, the industryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most powerful combination of print management technology, benchmark quality products and a proven fulfillment system designed to maximize dealer profits and ensure end-user satisfaction. www.lmisolutions.com A full list of BTA Vendor and Service Associate members can be found online at www.bta.org.

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ADVERTISER INDEX 23 • BEI Pros

14 • ESP

7 • Kyocera Mita America

www.beipros.com

www.realpowerprotection.com

www.kyoceramita.com

42 • BTA Scholarships

13 • FMAudit

9 • Lexmark

(816) 303-4031 / www.bta.org

(573) 632-2461 / www.fmaudit.com

(877) 999-4360 / www.lexmark.com

47 • BTA Business Planning Workshop

18 • Formax

29 • Nexent

(800) 843-5059 / www.bta.org/BusinessPlanning

(800) 232-5535 / www.formax.com

(866) 639-3681 / www.MiracleService.com

45 • BTA MPS Sales Workshop

17 • GE Capital Office Imaging

19 • OKI Printing Solutions

(800) 843-5059 / www.bta.org/MPSSales

http://ge.leasingsource.com/MPS

www.okiprintingsolutions.com

45 • BTA MPS Operations & Service Workshop

22 • Global Printer Services

12 • PrintTracker

(800) 843-5059 / www.bta.org/MPSOperationsService

(800) 588-3554 / www.globalprinter.com

(866) 629-3342 / http://PrintTracker.net

46 • BTA Parts & Supply Inventory Workshop

48 • GreatAmerica Leasing Corp.

37 • ProSolutions

(800) 843-5059 / www.bta.org/PartsSupplyInventory

(800) 234-8787 / www.greatamerica.com

(800) 843-5059 / www.bta.org/ProSolutions

16 • DataVault

21 • Image Star

11 • Strategy Development

www.datavault.com / www.bta.org/datavault

(888) 632-5515 / www.imagestar.com

(610) 527-3317 / www.strategydevelopment.org

15 • Digital Gateway

31 • InkCycle

33 • Supplies Network

www.digitalgateway.com

(877) 894-8387 / www.inkcycle.com

(877) 427-3261 / www.suppliesnetwork.com/carbonsix

5 • DocuWare

35 • International Laser Group

40 • Tomorrowscareer.com

(888) 565-5907 / www.docuware.com

(800) 937-2880 / www.ilglaser.com

www.tomorrowscareer.com

24 • ECi Solutions

2-3 • ITEX 2010

27 • West Point Products

(866) 374-3221 / www.ecisolutions.com

(800) 989-6077 / www.itexshow.com

(800) 624-6991 / www.westpointproducts.com

46 | 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 1 0

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GreatAmerica ad Feb 10:32OT0110

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Office Technology Magazine Business Technology Association 12411 Wornall Road Kansas City, MO 64145 (816) 941-3100 www.officetechnologymag.com www.bta.org

PRSRT STD U.S. Postage Paid Easton, PA 18042 Permit #31

)&-1*/( :06 (&5 5)&3& (3&"5".&3*$"

â&#x20AC;&#x153;GreatAmerica has proven to be a true partner. They have worked with us to enhance our proďŹ tability by bringing new ideas and programs to the table.

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800.234.8787 | www.greatamerica.com