January 2024 Office Technology

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CONTENTS Volume 29 • No. 7

FEATURE ARTICLES Conquering New Heights

10 Dealers share opportunities & strategies for 2024

DEALERS HELPING DEALERS Moving Away From CPC?

26 Have flat rates been

successful for dealers?

Compiled by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

What do you believe will be the greatest opportunities for office technology dealers in 2024? What do you believe will be the best strategies for success in pursuing those opportunities? Recently, Office Technology magazine asked these questions of dealers in an email survey. Following are a number of the responses received. Perhaps comments shared by your fellow dealers will provide some guidance to help you in the year ahead.

Compiled by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

This article includes two related questions submitted by a dealer member as part of BTA’s Dealers Helping Dealers resource and many of the answers received. These answers and many others can be found in the members-only section of the BTA website.

COURT S AND C APITOLS Leasing Terms

27 Review them & ensure proper protections are in place

17

by Robert C. Goldberg BTA General Counsel

Build Real B2B Relationships Look to your chamber of commerce as a lead source

Occasionally, the fair, equitable and ethical practices established within the industry are ignored with adverse consequences. Take time to review your leasing terms and ensure the proper protections are in place. If not, seek revisions immediately.

by Dale Stein Technology Assurance Group (TAG)

In this article, learn how Technology Assurance Group (TAG) is harnessing chambers of commerce to generate real connections with real business owners that result in real sales. Take a strategic, personalized approach to outreach and you can ditch mass emailing, have real conversations, demonstrate expertise and provide resources with no strings attached. This lays the foundation for strong B2B relationships, which will drive sales regularly and consistently.

SELLING SOLUTIONS More Than a Numbers Game

29 Pursue the right clients

& relationships with purpose

by Reena Philpot Reena Philpot Sales Coaching

Whether you are new to sales or you’ve been here a while, you’ve heard it’s all about numbers. The numbers can serve you well, especially once you have built the resilience and strength to pursue the right clients and relationships with purpose, intention and a timeline in mind.

Q&A: Todd Johnson

22 A look at ProFinance 3.0,

peer groups & the industry Compiled by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

Strategic Business Associates (SBA) has worked with leading entrepreneurs in the office technology industry for more than 20 years. The consultancy helps its clients drive their dealerships to the next level. In addition, SBA leads BTA’s ProFinance workshop. Recently, Office Technology magazine interviewed Todd Johnson, one of three partners in SBA, about ProFinance, peer groups and the industry itself. He addressed the questions on behalf of the team at SBA.

DEPARTMENT S Technology Association 28 Business • BTA Highlights 6

Executive Director’s Page

8

BTA President’s Message

30

Advertiser Index

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S PAGE

What Opportunities Do You See in 2024?

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n this month’s cover story, we asked Business Technology Association (BTA) dealer members their opinions on the greatest opportunities and strategies for success in the year ahead. Responses from three dealers appear below. For additional responses, see page 10.

Opportunities: Output devices will continue to be a need in the office infrastructure, but in a diminishing factor. Expanding your portfolio to services, including IT services focused on cybersecurity, firewalls, endpoint virus/data protection, Microsoft 365 and VoIP phone solutions are areas that will always be value adds. We would also mention document management. Whether you choose SharePoint or DocuWare, these solutions bring information to end users regardless of if they are working in the office or remotely.

Whichever you choose, make sure you are dedicated to those solutions and you see the benefits they bring to your organization, as well as the value they bring to your customers.

Strategies: Hands down, the best plan is face-to-face meetings. These can be quarterly account reviews or “thought-of-you” moments that lead to conversations to determine pain points, areas of interest and/or needs. Social media is another great vehicle to spread your offerings to more of the masses, as well as quarterly shows showcasing success stories, new solutions and the latest trends within the industry. In-house shows are also great for the customer, as they allow for networking, listening to other companies’ struggles, learning how they overcame them and seeing how their solutions provider can help them overcome or redirect them from having these issues. — Chris Styles, director of solution sales, and Curtis Arrowhead, service manager, Plus Inc., Greenville, South Carolina

Opportunities: There are a number of opportunities if you know how to look. It all starts with listening to customers and finding out what they need. If what they tell you is something you think you can provide profitably, you’ve just found another revenue stream. One option that might not come to mind immediately but could be a good add-on is the electric vehicle (EV) charger.

There is opportunity for recurring revenue, as these chargers need to be updated with software. Another opportunity for dealers is to “lease” their conference facilities to groups in need of temporary space that don’t want to incur the expense of a continual rental. Our expansion beyond MPS began with managed network services/IT, which is a very logical expansion because it allows dealerships to meet the additional technological needs of their clients. Outdoor surveillance camera systems may be a good add-on, as well as public address systems.

And we shouldn’t overlook the emerging technology of robotics, which could have a number of applications in the workforce.

Strategies: Find one additional area for revenue, focus on it and go all in. Put your efforts into one area as opposed to trying to pay limited attention to a number of potential opportunities. Be sure to develop a plan for how to be successful, otherwise it won’t work. — Chip Miceli, CEO, Pulse Technology, Schaumburg, Illinois Opportunities: Upgrading networks, including office equipment, AI cameras, faster fiber cable internet and software.

Strategies: Building and/or partnering with an IT company to provide these upgrades is a must. Showing customers the importance of cybersecurity, along with all security aspects. — Dan Castaneda, general manager, International Copy Machine Center, El Paso, Texas n — Brent Hoskins

Executive Director/BTA Editor/Office Technology Brent Hoskins brent@bta.org (816) 303-4040 Associate Editor Elizabeth Marvel elizabeth@bta.org (816) 303-4060 Contributing Writers Bob Goldberg, General Counsel Business Technology Association Reena Philpot, Reena Philpot Sales Coaching www.reenaphilpot.com Dale Stein, Technology Assurance Group (TAG) www.tagnational.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: (312) 648-2300 Valerie Briseno Marketing Director valerie@bta.org Brian Smith Membership Sales Representative brian@bta.org Photo Credits: Adobe Stock. Cover created by Bruce Quade, Brand X Studio. ©2024 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.

FLASHBACK

The association’s magazine cover 48 years ago this month — the NOMDA Spokesman, January 1976.

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BTA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

2023-2024 Board of Directors President

BTA Announces 2024 ProFinance 3.0 Dates

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ages 22-25 of this month’s issue of Office Technology feature an interview with Todd Johnson of Strategic Business Associates (SBA) about the Business Technology Association’s (BTA’s) ProFinance 3.0 workshop (led by Todd and John Hey, also of SBA), peer groups and the industry. The insight he shares in the Q&A is imperative for dealers looking to improve the performance of their dealerships, so I highly recommend reading this interview.

Here’s an excerpt from the Q&A, when Todd was asked about how ProFinance prepares dealers to understand the financial health of their dealerships: “The number-one thing I would boil it down to is data-based decisions ... We used to be able to stumble into pretty good results with ... gut feelings.

Today, it takes the knowledge, the data and the information to drive the right decisions.

“So, we break it down in ProFinance — here’s what you want to know, here’s why and, oh, by the way, here’s what good looks like. Instead of guessing, ProFinance attendees can go back and apply that very specifically to their situations and identify ‘Here is where we’re weak; we should spend some time here.’ ProFinance targets what they should spend time on, and it gives them the ability to understand the levers and how to go pull the ones that are important in their businesses.”

If you have not attended ProFinance and are looking to better understand the financial health of your dealership, I encourage you to register for one of the 2024 workshops that have recently been announced. And, if you’re a previous ProFinance attendee but would like to attend again and get the updated model, you can return for 50% off. The

2024 ProFinance workshop dates and BTA member dealership locations: n March 6-7 — Virginia Business Systems, Richmond, Virginia n June 5-6 — Knight Office Solutions, San Antonio, Texas n Oct. 9-10 — Advanced Office, Irvine, California ProFinance teaches attendees the industry model (including 30 key benchmarks) that can help them and their teams achieve double-digit operating income. During the workshop, John and Todd share their knowledge from many years of building some of the largest dealerships in North America and their experience advising many of the most successful companies in the office technology industry.

A quick overview of the workshop gives you an idea of what you will learn each day.

Day one highlights include: n An overview of the financial model, its history, principles and application n The MFP and MPS benchmark model and its components n Details behind the benchmarks and how to apply them to your business n A problem-solving session with sample problems and solutions n A review of the day and Q&A Day two highlights: n A review of the previous day and general discussion n Sales compensation strategies n Managed network services and imaging dealer strategies n A discussion on leadership and company culture n A review of all the information covered and Q&A Improve the performance of your dealership and register for ProFinance today.

Visit www.bta.org/ProFinance. n — Don Risser

Don Risser DCS Technologies Corp.

Franklin, Ohio don.risser@dcs-tech.com President-Elect

Adam Gregory Advanced Business Solutions LLC St. Augustine, Florida adam@goabsinc.com Vice President

Debra Dennis CopyPro Inc. Greenville, North Carolina ddennis@copypro.net Immediate Past President

David Polimeni RITE Technology Sarasota, Florida dpolimeni@ritefl.com BTA East

Mike Boyle BASE Technologies Inc. Bethel, Connecticut mboyle@baseinc.com Joe Dellaposta Doing Better Business Hagerstown, Maryland jvd@doingbetterbusiness.com BTA Mid-America

Brantly Fowler Zeno Office Solutions Inc. Midland, Texas bfowler@zenotx.com Greg Quirk JQ Office Equipment Omaha, Nebraska gquirk@jqoffice.com BTA Southeast

Jim Buck Carolina Business Equipment Inc. Columbia, South Carolina jimb@cbesc.com Mike Hicks Electronic Business Machines Inc. Lexington, Kentucky mhicks@ebmky.com BTA West

Mike McGuirk ProCopy Office Solutions Inc. Mesa, Arizona mmcguirk@procopyoffice.com Kevin Marshall Copy Link Inc. Chula Vista, California kevin@copylink.net Ex-Officio/General Counsel

Robert C. Goldberg Schoenberg Finkel Beederman Bell & Glazer LLC Chicago, Illinois robert.goldberg@sfbbg.com

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Conquering New Heights

Dealers share opportunities & strategies for 2024 Compiled by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

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hat do you believe will be the greatest opportunities for office technology dealers in 2024? What do you believe will be the best strategies for success in pursuing those opportunities?

Recently, Office Technology magazine asked these questions of dealers in an email survey.

Following are a number of the responses received. Perhaps comments shared by your fellow dealers will provide some guidance to help you in the year ahead.

Opportunities: The most sought-after products with me would be cloud solutions and security moving forward. Making someone’s job easier while improving security is not an easy task. Partnering with your vendors and having an IT company in place — either in house or as a third-party partner — would be ideal to ensure that your customers are benefiting from your services and market knowledge. We are pushing everything to the cloud as our market has seen this as the most important area to concentrate on in Bermuda.

Strategies: KPIs. You need to set a standard at the beginning of the year and follow through with it either monthly or quarterly. I have failed to do this in some instances in the past, but have doubled down on this approach as our company has recently grown and the added team members need to be held accountable.

Ian Nash, vice president of technology A.F. Smith Trading Co. Ltd., Hamilton, Bermuda Opportunities: If you are just talking about 2024, it will still be imaging due to the opportunities to acquire new customers because of multiple vendors failing in the market. For new products, document imaging and process automation are now well established with the market and are due to grow fivefold in the coming years.

Strategies: For taking the [vendors’] customers: Dealers need hunters to attack these vulnerable customers. It’s

getting tougher and tougher to find hunters. For process automation, dealers need to invest in SMEs and dedicate resources to instill confidence in their reps and their customers. Dealers have to be patient, as the sales cycle is longer than with imaging. The rewards are proven and profitable.

Nick Lioce, president The Lioce Group, Huntsville, Alabama Opportunities: We probably all agree that MFDs are our bread-and-butter products, but if we are to continue to grow, I think it’s important to embrace other products to help us grow wide and deep inside of our customers’ organizations.

One opportunity I believe that will grow rapidly in the next few years is audiovisual. With the price of monitors and broadcasting software becoming more affordable, I believe this is a market that will provide greater opportunity while still averaging decent profit levels.

Another product and service I believe will continue to grow is security. Being able to offer cameras and door access control devices will provide immediate opportunities for dealers who wish to grow deeper in their customers’ businesses. Any chance you have to grow the number of your product offerings within a customer’s business makes it less likely that a competitor will displace you.

Strategies: I believe it’s time we go back to the tried-andtrue process of face-to-face cold calling. For years we required our sales representatives to make a certain number of face-to-face calls, as well as telemarketing calls. During COVID we had to rethink our plan and scramble to find alternate ways of prospecting. I believe it’s time we go back to requiring a minimum number of face-to-face cold calls. At the very least, it gives us the opportunity to collect information that we can then use to turn our daily phone calls into warm calls.

Tim King, executive vice president of sales Offix LC, Gainesville, Virginia

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Opportunities: My opinion is that professional A/V products like Zoom/ Teams Rooms are products we should diversify into.

Strategies: Partner with a company like Sharp for boards and companies like Wesco for all of the other products.

Then, find a local office furniture installer that dabbles in pro A/V and partner with them for design and install.

Dan Strull, founder & CEO Goodsuite, Woodland Hills, California

“Security and tracking related to our A3 and A4 products also appears to be another area to create value within many accounts.”

Opportunities: Network security and physical security (cameras, video systems, etc. As an example: www.verka da.com).

Strategies: New hires with little or no history with the imaging business. Separate divisions with some cross-selling to current clients.

Mark Van Den Hoek, owner The Office Advantage, Mitchell, South Dakota Opportunities: Managed network services (MNS).

Strategies: Utilizing your current office equipment sales staff members to set meetings for the IT sales lead in a collaborative effort.

Pat Pithan, director of sales & consulting Document Solutions, Urbandale, Iowa Opportunities: If your only focus is on printers and copiers, then you have to focus on winning new business from competitors with print volume going down. For us, we are working hard at growing our IT network services business.

We just added phones and they have been a great success.

We also have pushed a big focus on production print and wide format. Don’t let anyone tell you that less-than-$7million dealerships can’t be in these arenas, but also know that we have a huge focus on growing past $10 million in annual revenue. Change is inevitable. I watched the typewriter world that dominated our industry for years completely go away and many companies die with it. We choose to adapt to the new products and stay alive.

Strategies: The one thing we have learned is you can’t play in IT, phones or production. You have to invest and hire good people and have plenty of planning and preparation.

For example, we just started selling phones in June and have already closed orders on 12 customers. Over the years, we have learned that these three areas we are focusing on have tremendous opportunity, but you have to have great, dedicated people. You must invest up front for success in these and be all in. In today’s world you must be great at

any products or services you offer, otherwise don’t do it.

David Carson, president Plus Inc., Greenville, South Carolina

Opportunities: Printers, interactive boards and computers.

Strategies: Finding good salespeople to convert our customers and include the products and services needed for them.

Brent Martin, vice president Allfax Specialities Inc., St. Rose, Louisiana

Opportunities: Automation through AI is the greatest opportunity for dealers in 2024.

Strategies: Creating useful AI tools that can be shown to your clients so they can begin to understand its [AI’s] usages.

Tim Ducat, sales manager Smart Technologies of Florida, Daytona Beach, Florida Opportunities: As office technology dealers decide on solutions that will provide for revenue, market share and profitability growth, I believe that it is not a “one-size-fitsall” answer. Many dealers still seek to grow organically while acquisitions continue to take place. One thing that appears to be common is that most dealers continue to seek ways to diversify their solutions portfolios.

Many of us continue to focus mainly on A3 and A4 devices in the field. As many of our clients continue to migrate to the cloud, there are nice opportunities within hardware solutions to create added value. Scanning to OneDrive and SharePoint appears to be a hot-button topic. All major manufacturers have embedded solutions that can address those growing workflow applications. These solutions create additional revenue opportunities, but also can make you “stickier” within an account.

Security and tracking related to our A3 and A4 products also appears to be another area to create value within many accounts. We all offer a variety of manufacturers, but leveraging output management software solutions like PaperCut, uniFLOW, MyQ, etc., can reinforce the value we are seeking to create with hardware. As hardware costs continue to rise, we need to continue to offset that by being able to effectively position value-added solutions.

For those dealerships that were traditionally hardware driven, there is certainly ongoing opportunity with managed print services and aftermarket supplies.

For those dealerships that have the bandwidth to provide effective services, graphics and production print are certainly attractive. Any opportunity to convert monochrome clicks to

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Insight of the Month

2024 Opportunities and Strategies AI-powered IT support will take remote services to a new level.

24%

of AI-powered DX solutions lead with document classification and workflow.

Hybrid working levels will stabilize at an average of 2.4 days at home per week.

IT is the place to retain customers and expand wallet share.

40%

of the channel is already estimated to be billing for scan.

Source: Keypoint Intelligence Workplace Group Research

color clicks can yield enhanced service/ “At its core, I believe in supply revenues. two simple things: Most of us within ongoing training for this fine network personal development and of companies have reinforcement of those longevity within the markets we serve. activities that drive sales Whatever products opportunity creation.” and services offered, I believe the strongest opportunities can be found right within your existing base. There is incredible power with leveraging existing business relationships and trust in the field. Many dealers have successfully taken on managed IT services and VoIP. Others have taken on postage and surveillance. These solutions provide existing clients added value and ongoing opportunities to streamline multiple solutions with fewer vendors. The key to success within any diversification strategy is making sure each (outsourced) vendor partnership that is formed is a good fit for your organization.

In addition to all the stuff mentioned above, many of us offer scanners, wide format, finishing equipment and visual displays.

Again, deciding what products to offer is not a one-sizefits-all mentality. If it can make you money and can create value for your clients without risking those business relationships, go for it!

Strategies: Much of this answer is tied into the above response. As mentioned, focus on reinforcing those existing relationships by offering value-added solutions.

If seeking an organic growth strategy, there are many ways to make it happen, but it isn’t easy. We are all challenged today with filling sales territories and keeping people. Many tenured folks are set in their ways. I remember the days when prospecting appeared to be a “no-brainer.”

For many of us, the advancements in technology might be outpacing sales rep knowledge and skill.

We all expect different results depending on the individual, the assignment or territory. At its core, I believe in two simple things: ongoing training for personal development and reinforcement of those activities that drive sales opportunity creation. n Training (can be product training or sales training) — We get so caught up in hitting the monthly number that there remains opportunity to further develop our people (regardless of tenure). n Strategies need to be deployed that focus on client interaction and growing prospects. If you focus mainly on existing clients, are you holding your people accountable for account reviews? If it’s a newer territory, are you consistently

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monitoring field activity, networking “Regardless of your efforts, first in meetproducts and solutions, ings, etc.?

I think it still comes Like I mentioned down to building above, strategies for relationships and success in a region are not going to be outworking the a one size fits all. person next to you.”

Time and territory management is different in a city territory as compared to a rural area. I have found that applying many of the above solutions offerings within a vertical-market strategy has worked well.

For example, focusing on a handful of industries works well for many and creates consistency in sales efforts. We tend to do well in education, legal, nonprofit, health care, manufacturing and print for pay. Sharing success stories within these vertical markets helps other sales reps learn and creates references to leverage for future opportunities.

It’s a competitive market out there. Regardless of your products and solutions, I think it still comes down to building relationships and outworking the person next to you.

David Aulisio, vice president of business development Automated Business Solutions, Warwick, Rhode Island Opportunities: The continued rise of product diversification among office technology dealers should remain strong. Managed IT/managed services are the obvious number-one choices here for dealers to add to their offerings. With many partners to choose from and an MFP base to sell into, this is now easier to launch. VoIP systems are another way to gain wallet share with your existing customers. Again, with many vendors to choose from, it is easy to find a partner that will fit your needs. There are many other options. Physical security and electric vehicle (EV) charging stations look promising for our channel as well.

Strategies: I feel 2024 could be a year where the wheat is separated from the chaff. If there is good news from the economy and politics, both in the United States and internationally, the dealerships that are poised to take advantage of growing consumer confidence will prosper. Fully staffed, aggressive sales teams with proper administration support and a stable of amazing products should be able to make 2024 a banner year. All of us can analyze, budget and plan, but it means nothing if you do not have good people executing. Anything you can do to attract and retain talent is vital. Similar to what I have said previously, a fully staffed sales and admin department will be key. Budgeting to have the funds in place to compete for the best people in a tough hiring market is imperative. Continuous training for all staff

Why ExecuTech? ³Əȅƺ (Əɵ IɖȇƳǣȇǕ RƏȸƳɯƏȸƺ ۭ 0ȷɖǣȵȅƺȇɎً XÁً ³ȒǔɎɯƏȸƺً xƏǣȇɎƺȇƏȇƬƺ ۭ xȒȸƺٍ nƺƏɀƺ ۭ ³ɖƫɀƬȸǣȵɎǣȒȇ ¨ȸȒǕȸƏȅɀ ɮƏǣǼƏƫǼƺ (ƺƳǣƬƏɎƺƳ «ƺǼƏɎǣȒȇɀǝǣȵ xƏȇƏǕƺȸ ۭ ¨ƏȸɎƺȸ ³ɖȵȵȒȸɎ ÁƺƏȅ

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members — but especially tech staff members — will aid in retention. Perhaps an increase in camaraderie-building activities for the entire staff to build the “team” mindset, like a food truck day or a day of giving with local charities, should be added to the calendar as well.

Erik Crane, president & CEO CPI Technologies Spring field, Missouri

do production engines and not get into a price war of failure, you must at least of“In order to expand fer other services for gathering the files offerings and diversify, via a storefront tool and then offer workdealers need to ... invest flow solutions, too. in the offering to build The print is out there and dealers canout the necessary not just sit back and wait for clients to walk in the door. infrastructure before At the same time, I think I expanded the sales ever exist.“ or tried to expand into too many solutions. We will be dialing back on some of Opportunities: Generally, production print and man- them in order to get As on all versus Bs on many. aged services (VoIP/UCaaS [unified communications as a I want us to still go down the MSP path, but try to max service], MNS and anything else XaaS [anything as a ser- out fewer of the imaging manufacturers’ programs. We vice]) seem to be high-growth areas that are worth invest- must keep simplifying imaging for maximum profits and to ing in. Production print is a growing market that is a rela- be able to expand on MSP services. tively easy category to enter for traditional dealers. Entering Tim Stanley, CEO, owner & problem solver the MSP space is a little more complicated, but the upside TDSiT, Lowell, Arkansas is substantial when you consider the margins and annuitytype recurring revenues.

Opportunities: I think the market for A4s will continue Strategies: For production print, I think a dealership to grow in 2024 because of their lower initial cost and imneeds to commit to the category by securing the resources proved CPC. it requires to be successful. This would include production Strategies: E-commerce will play a key role in increasing sales specialists, analysts and service engineers. Of course, A4 sales. A focus on core products will also be a key to sucthe manufacturer you partner with and its resources will cess in 2024. also play a critical role in a dealer’s success.

Dan Detrick, vice president The same is true for managed services. You have to inCopyLady Inc., Fort Myers, Florida vest — both time and money — to grow. If you choose to enter this space, you will have a seemingly never-ending Opportunities: I think that far too often we overcompliset of products and services to consider (again, XaaS is cate this product offering conversation as an industry. The best). Key components to entering this space would in- approach we’ve taken is twofold: What are we good at? What clude a consulting firm or someone to help guide you do our customers need? When answering the first of those through the process, acquiring talent, establishing a tech questions, we are good at delivering high-quality service stack and industry partners to support it, and investing through deep and lasting relationships with our customers. your time in the effort. Dealers are well positioned to Strategies: In order to expand offerings and diversify, enter this space because they already have a phenome- dealers need to be willing to invest in the offering to build nal customer list to work with and, typically, know the out the necessary infrastructure before the sales ever exist. companies that would benefit from MSP services. Deal- More importantly, if it is a nonimaging offering, don’t apers shouldn’t rule out an acquisition as a starting point proach it like the copier business, especially on the IT side of to enter this space. If an acquisition comes with a leader the house. The selling is different, the servicing is different; and some talented staff members, it could really catapult there really isn’t the overlap that has been broadly assumed. you into the business. However, acquisitions in the space The key is to understand that the primary overlap is the reare hard to come by and expensive (four times to seven lationship with the customer and delivering high-quality times net income). service. Otherwise, they are different businesses and should Paul McKinney, CFO & COO be approached as such.

Eakes Office Solutions, Grand Island, Nebraska AJ Baggott, president RJ Young Co., Nashville, Tennessee n Opportunities: If a dealer is ready for production, then Brent Hoskins, executive director of the that is a great path to grow images.

Business Technology Association, is editor Strategies: We are heading into those waters [producof Office Technology magazine. He can be tion] with the Iridesse Sharp/Fujifilm engine. To effectively reached at (816) 303-4040 or brent@bta.org.

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Build Real B2B Relationships

Look to your chamber of commerce as a lead source by: Dale Stein, Technology Assurance Group (TAG)

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ne day, after months spent trying to make it as an actor in New York City, a young man finally landed his big theatrical debut. He arrived in Times Square with his costume on, ready to dazzle crowds on the famous red stairs. He was primed for a showstopping performance, but just as he launched into his first epic monologue, he looked out and realized that no one even noticed he was there.

Tourists were busy snapping selfies, street vendors were hawking tickets to actual Broadway shows and billboards flashed ads for TV premieres, new musicals and box-office releases.

No one seemed to care about him; no matter how loudly he belted out or how ferociously he gyrated, not a single eye landed on him for more than a split second. After hours of virtually invisible theatrics, he finally gave up, pulled off his costume and sat on the steps dejected, sinking his forehead into his palms.

Just then, a homeless man with a parrot on his shoulder walked by and asked, “So what made you decide to get into this line of work?”

“Well, I used to do cold B2B email marketing and heard this was a better career option,” the actor said.

It’s no secret that in today’s noisy environment, cold outreach simply doesn’t cut it anymore in B2B sales and marketing (B2C may be another story). Email inboxes are overwhelmed, social media feels impersonal and people are numb to digital pitches.

So, what’s the solution? The same thing it always has been — to do the opposite of what the majority is doing. In this article, I’m going to share one of the most overlooked lead generation pools that few are utilizing — which is why it’s such a perfect target for B2B salespeople.

It’s Time to Get Back to Building Real Relationships With Real Business Owners I am not talking about handing out business cards at

networking happy hours. Real relationship building that leads to sales requires strategy and nurturing. You have to build “know, like and trust” into your sales process, and if your cold emails are going to your prospects’ junk mail, it’s going to be impossible to build any sort of meaningful relationship.

In this article, I’m going to share how we at Technology Assurance Group (TAG) are harnessing chambers of commerce to generate real connections with real business owners that result in real sales.

The Chamber of Commerce Isn’t the Problem; It’s Your Lack of Strategy Typically, salespeople overlook their local chambers of commerce for lead generation because they don’t have a strategic approach. Sure, they may have attended a few chamber meetings, passed out a handful of business cards and prayed for appointments that never came. If that were www.of ficetechnologymag.com | Januar y 2024 | ­17

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all we taught here at TAG, we would have disregarded chamber membership, too. A passive approach like that will always underperform an active one.

The core principle is this: If you attend chamber meetings with the intention to take, your results will be lackluster. However, if you shift your intention to contribute, you can catapult your success.

Establish yourself as a business advisor first and foremost so people start to regard you as an educational resource who will help them succeed in all areas ...

Step One: Join the Chamber’s Recruitment Committee When you join the recruitment committee, every conversation you have with a prospect shifts. Where many business owners might be reserved with you, anticipating a pitch, when you join the recruitment committee, its members start to view you as a potential collaborator. Prospects start to see you as a potential resource who can contribute to them, rather than take from them.

While that impression is only as good as your ability to continue to exceed it with your behaviors, it’s a powerful way to reframe every conversation you’re in with a potential prospect. We strongly recommend getting involved with your local chamber of commerce recruitment committee as a first step. Not only will it rebrand you in the eyes of every local business owner you interact with, but it also will help you serve the community at large, which attracts business. This step also gives you access to engage with the chamber’s member list, so long as your intention is to help attract new members or facilitate educational and community-building events.

Step Two: Become the Chamber’s Go-To Business Educator One of the biggest challenges chambers face is they are looking for true business expertise to share with their members. It’s a core recruitment and retention strategy, and as a successful business leader, you already possess tremendous knowledge through all of your hard-earned industry expertise. Your skills, experiences and wisdom are all transferable to other professionals who are looking to improve their own success.

Host virtual lunch-and-learns, workshops or webinars to provide real value on topics like leadership, hiring and managing remote teams. Avoid product pitches. Establish yourself as a business advisor first and foremost so people start to regard you as an educational resource who will help them succeed in all areas of their businesses (and not just with your products and services). The more leadership you show, the more eager business owners will be to connect with you further.

Step Three: Educate, Educate, Educate

Remember that the chamber of commerce’s number-one goal is to increase recruitment. However, it lacks the content and true business education necessary to entice members to join — which is where you come in.

You can solve this problem by providing pure education (without a pitch) on various topics that you know every business owner has on his (or her) mind. Here are sample topics you could teach: n The seven attributes of successful business owners n How to hire the right people through personality profiling assessments n How to manage and motivate a remote workforce These topics are largely relevant to businesses of all shapes and sizes, and they will garner attendance because they address common problems. The chamber of commerce will push the message out to its member list because you’re leading with true value.

TAG members have access to dozens of presentations on topics like those mentioned above, and we encourage them to put their logos on our presentations and present the content as their own. For example, we recently did a lunch-and-learn presentation on one of these topics to a single chamber of commerce with minimal marketing. We had 33 company representatives show up for the presentation. They were engaged and asking questions the entire time. We were also asked to present to additional chambers of commerce.

While our focus is on building longer-term relationships, it’s never bad to engage with 33 business owners — while getting endorsed access to dozens more after only two hours of work.

While we can only give full access to paying TAG members, if you’re reading this and would like to request one of the sample presentations mentioned above for the outlined usage, we’re happy to share a single topic with BTA members. To request a copy of a presentation, just email dales@ tagnational.com and let us know which topic’s presentation you would like.

Step Four: Guide the Chamber’s Strategy By Helping It Recognize It Actually Has Two Different Customers While some topics previously mentioned are relevant to everyone, we’ve noticed that chambers of commerce have two different “customers” and they need to separate those groups so that conversations, educational topics, executive

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round tables and lunch-and-learns rebusiness growth advice, you can conmain relevant. tinue to nurture the relationships you’ve The more your step into One group is for the smaller momcultivated through authority marketleadership, the more and-pop shops in town. These local ing. This is when you can begin to follow trust you garner and, business owners have a particular set up, respectfully. eventually, businesses of challenges that larger companies After hosting an educational seswill gravitate toward you don’t necessarily have. For example, sion, don’t immediately ask attendees put the local florist, the restaurant about client needs. Instead, follow up so that qualified clients owners and the women’s clothing bouto get feedback on how the educational start approaching you. tique owner together in a group. Ancontent was received and ask what else other group to consider is mid-sized they would like to see from the chamber. companies with 25 to 500 employees. These groups need Then you can offer additional content. The more you step to be separated so the educational topics remain relevant into leadership, the more trust you garner and, eventually, to their current challenges. businesses will gravitate toward you so that qualified cliAs you become the new “educational arm” for the cham- ents start approaching you. Typically, after providing subber of commerce, you will provide more generic education stantial value and establishing credibility, clients will seek to the first group and more highly specialized information more information from you and, when appropriate, you can to the second group. discuss potential areas in which you can advise further. The overarching goal is establishing trust.

Step Five: Follow Up, Respectfully

Now that you’ve become the chamber’s go-to person for

In Summary n Join the chamber’s recruitment committee. n Become the chamber’s go-to business educator. n Educate, educate, educate. n Guide the chamber’s strategy by helping it recognize it actually has two different customers. n Follow up, respectfully.

Simply put, take a strategic, personalized approach to outreach and you can harness group networking environments like chambers of commerce. That way you can ditch mass emailing, have real conversations, demonstrate expertise and provide resources with no strings attached. This lays the foundation for strong B2B relationships, which will drive sales regularly and consistently. n Dale Stein is co-founder of Technology Assurance Group (TAG), an organization of managed technology service providers (MTSPs). Collectively, TAG’s members do $800 million per year in IT, cybersecurity, telecommunications and video surveillance.

They are located in 148 cities across the United States and Canada, and are presently serving more than 780,000 SMBs. He is responsible for developing TAG’s strategic planning and guiding its business development. In addition, Stein is the managing partner for TAG’s MTSP, i-NETT, and also serves as its president.

He also founded Westec Security Corp. and served as its CEO. Stein can be reached at dales@tagnational.com.

Visit www.tagnational.com.

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Q&A: Todd Johnson

A look at ProFinance 3.0, peer groups & the industry Compiled by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

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trategic Business Associates (SBA) has worked with leading entrepreneurs in the office technology industry for more than 20 years. The consultancy helps its clients drive their dealerships to the next level.

In addition, SBA plays an important role in all of the industry’s top dealer peer groups — Business Products Council Association (BPCA), Copier Dealers Association (CDA), PRO Dealer Group (PDG) and Select Dealer Group (SDG) — administering the industry’s largest and most comprehensive financial survey. In addition, SBA has led BTA’s ProFinance workshop for more than 20 years. John Hey, Todd Johnson and Paul Mosley are partners in SBA. Hey co-founded the consultancy along with the late John Hanson.

Recently, Office Technology magazine interviewed Johnson about ProFinance, the peer groups and the industry itself. He addressed the questions on behalf of the team at SBA. All three partners reviewed and discussed the questions and SBA’s responses in advance of the interview.

Johnson joined SBA in February 2010. For 13 years, he held various positions with Global Imaging Systems Inc., ending as senior vice president of acquisitions before and after it was acquired by Xerox. He was involved in all 80-plus acquisitions made during his tenure there. Prior to Global, Johnson worked as an industry consultant. Before that, he was a U.S. Marine Corps officer.

Following are the questions Office Technology asked of Johnson and his responses.

operational workshop connected to the industry. So, when the Business Technology Association (BTA) asked John Hey and John Hanson to support the workshop going forward, they looked at the content of the old program and said: “We won’t do that, but we’ve got a great idea for what we could do.”

So, basically, they implemented their version. Today, SBA’s version of ProFinance is based around the industry model.

They had some ideas about what they wanted to teach and how that would play out over time. However, at the beginning they called a meeting in Kansas City, Missouri, at BTA’s headquarters with industry CFOs. I was there as a representative of Global Imaging; we were the main users of the model at that time. The group spent all day hammering out what the messages would be in the workshop. The result was much more operational and much less bookkeeping. It was operational financials — how you take that information and put it to work in your business.

That format has been relevant since SBA began leading ProFinance, the same way the model has been relevant since it was developed. It’s probably more relevant today, as it’s such a difficult time in the industry. We’re such a mature business with price compression and all those types of things that are going on. It’s really more necessary today for companies to work for their survival than it’s ever been.

While we spend a lot of time on it with clients and everything else that we do, teaching ProFinance is a great way to evangelize the model to everyone.

OT: To date, around 1,000 people have attended ProFinance. How did the workshop come about? How has it remained relevant through the years?

OT: How does attending ProFinance 3.0 prepare dealers to better understand the financial health of their dealerships?

Johnson: At the time, there was an outgoing ProFinance workshop taught by an accounting person; he was no longer going to lead the workshop for whatever reason. It was strictly an accounting procedures workshop. It wasn’t an

Johnson: The number-one thing that I would boil it down to is data-based decisions. Owners often run by the seats of their pants and their gut feelings of what they need to do for cash flow and things that they can see easily, but they don’t

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really have a sophisticated database to So, one thing we did is we added print analyze. We used to be able to stumble as a new model. We had enough print ProFinance targets what into pretty good results with those gut going on to manage it, measure it and they should spend time feelings. Today, it takes the knowledge, model it. We were skipping that conon, and it gives them the the data and the information to drive versation in the training and it’s such a ability to understand the the right decisions. big factor. So, we went to ProFinance 2.0 levers and how to go pull So, we break it down in ProFinance — with a major update in the material. here’s what you want to know, here’s why Since then, our cadence is to tweak the ones that are important and, oh, by the way, here’s what good the information a little every year. When in their businesses. looks like. Instead of guessing, ProFiwe came out with an updated model in nance attendees can go back and apply 2020, right before the COVID-19 panthat very specifically to their situations and identify “Here is demic, we felt like it was a material enough change to the where we’re weak; we should spend time here.” ProFinance information to call it ProFinance 3.0. targets what they should spend time on, and it gives them the ability to understand the levers and how to go pull the OT: Several years ago, you began hosting the ones that are important in their businesses.

ProFinance 3.0 workshop in BTA member dealer-

OT: What do you see as some key areas where dealers most often need to improve in terms of meeting the benchmarks taught/discussed in ProFinance 3.0?

Johnson: There are two big areas that we see. The first one is sales compensation strategy and alignment. The industry has changed. The levers are a little different. However, we [dealers] are still using a sales team compensation strategy that is very similar to what was used in 1980. It has not changed enough. So, we have this alignment problem and a conflict in the business. We spend a lot of time on sales compensation and strategy in ProFinance.

The other area is service productivity. Clearly, the model says that service is our cash cow; it’s what keeps the lights on. It’s the strength of our business, and if that is not running well, the financial outcome is pretty drastic. In ProFinance, we spend time on such questions as: “Do you understand what the service drivers are? Do you understand how these are tied to financial outcomes?” There is a lot of surface-level understanding and misconceptions around what’s done, what’s possible and what good looks like.

OT: ProFinance has been revised/updated through the years. You are now leading ProFinance 3.0. How has the workshop evolved in order to keep it relevant with the changing nature of the office technology industry?

Johnson: For the first probably 12 to 13 years, ProFinance was the same workshop each year. It was relevant, but was pretty much identical material each year. As John Hanson backed away from the business and I started teaching with John Hey, I said: “Let’s relook at all this content. Let’s decide if things are more or less valuable today. What else should we be talking about?”

ships rather than in hotel meeting rooms. Please speak to that dynamic in terms of how it has benefited attendees.

Johnson: A lot of people who attend ProFinance have never been to another dealership. So, they’ve never seen another warehouse or a building setup, etc. When we’re at a dealership leading ProFinance, the dealership owner or a leader takes the attendees around the facility, talking about things that they’re doing, showing their IT services room, their warehouse or whatever. They basically showcase their company.

Attendees react with: “Wow, this is interesting. I’m seeing all kind of things that I didn’t really come here to learn, but I’m going to take back with me.” So, that’s really a great opportunity.

One question we get is: “If I’m attending and I’m at a competitor’s building, how is that handled?” Or, from the hosting dealer: “Do you let my competitors across town attend?”

That has happened with almost every workshop and it’s never been a problem. The hosting dealer is not talking about key customers. The dealer is talking about how the business runs and what makes it work.

OT: SBA is widely known as a key participant in the industry’s leading dealer peer groups — BPCA, CDA, PDG and SDG. Through your affiliation, you collect financial information by way of annual surveys of the member dealers in the groups, with the goal of identifying strengths and weaknesses, in order to assist them in improving the overall strength/success of their dealerships. What is the primary — perhaps concerning — trend you are seeing among your financial survey respondents?

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financial survey in the industry. There light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s not are others with macro surveys, but they nearly the opportunity we have with We think that IT is an are not as detailed and in the weeds. imaging. In imaging, we have averaged opportunity, but it’s so We include, for example, the number around 10% operating profit every year unique from imaging. of clicks per month you bill and the for the last 20 years.

You’ve got to think about it expenses in every category all the way So, we’ve averaged a negative numcompletely differently and down. So, we’ve got very detailed finanber in the IT portion of our business cial and operational information. every year except in 2022. When you when we talk about how it For the last couple of years, we have peel that apart, what you have is a few is different, size matters. been north of $3 billion in total revenue dealerships doing well — and by “well” among the respondents to the annual I would characterize that as better than survey. It is very telling in terms of what’s going on in the 7% operating profit. We still have probably two-thirds of the industry — small and large dealerships, every manufac- companies out there losing money. So, the reason that averturer, etc. ages to a positive number is because the ones doing well are Of course, three of the last four years have been very in- much bigger than the ones that are losing money. teresting with COVID and the supply chain issues. We’ve We think that IT is an opportunity, but it’s so unique from given the survey participants some good feedback on things imaging. You’ve got to think about it completely differently they need to be thinking about or how this is being tackled and when we talk about how it is different, size matters. You in other places. The other thing that we’ve been watching can be a profitable small imaging dealership, but it’s very with a lot of interest is how IT services have been growing difficult, if not impossible, to be small and profitable with and changing.

IT — as an imaging dealership offering IT services.

Probably the biggest trend that we’ve seen that has really been noticeable and interesting, is the separation in perforOT: Beyond participating in the financial surmance [of dealerships], even with imaging, our core busi- vey, what have you seen as the most compelling ness, still at about 80% of all revenues in our industry. That benefits to the dealers who are members of the is, we have dealerships that are growing and very profitable, peer groups with which SBA is affiliated? and we have dealerships that are not doing well at all and Johnson: As a dealership owner, you are on this island have very low — or even negative — profit in imaging. and so you just don’t know if you are doing well. When you We’ve seen this in the last several years. We call it “the sit with a group of peers and talk through things, you’re like: winners and the losers.” It’s amazing that a company can “Wow, they’re all having problems with this, too. This is how grow and be better than our benchmark profit — and we they’ve already tackled this; we should do that.” So, number have 20% of dealerships doing that — while at the same time one, the sharing of best practices that are going on is worth we have 10% of companies at 3% or right below 3%, and some every moment in a peer group.

I don’t know how many conversations I’ve had with dealof them losing money. What’s the difference? It comes down to the operations and the nuts and bolts of how they’re doing ers who have said: “I joined this peer group six months ago things and adapting to the changing situation. That’s prob- and have been to a couple of meetings and I wish I would’ve done this years ago. I’ve learned so much.” I’ve heard that so ably the biggest — and most unusual — thing that we see. many times. My question for those dealers who are not in a OT: You mentioned that SBA has a lot of inter- peer group: “What are you waiting for?”

est in “how IT services have been growing and changing.” Generally speaking, what is your view of managed IT as a diversification opportunity for dealers?

Johnson: Over time, of course, the numbers have shifted a lot more in IT than they have in imaging. We have been adopting it along the way. So, today, two-thirds of the dealers we survey have IT as a part of their businesses and one-third do not. When we aggregate that information, we [the universe of dealers surveyed] lose money every single year, except in 2022, which is our most recent data. In 2022, collectively the dealers made 1% profit with IT. So, there’s

OT: There is a lot of emphasis in the industry today on product and services diversification.

What are your thoughts in terms of the importance of diversification?

Johnson: First, let’s be good at our core business. If we’re struggling in our core business and we think we’re going to diversify, what we’re probably going to do is go backward.

So, be good at what you do first. Keep in mind, too, that there is a lot of room for diversification inside of imaging, such as production print. There are many different aspects of our imaging model that we probably don’t do. Why would

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I step past that into something I know way, the manufacturers, VARs and evnothing about? So, let’s make sure our erybody else that might be a threat, they There’s going to be a core is good and then diversify inside are not a threat. They’re not as good as place for dealerships our core business to the different things the dealer channel. ... It’s going to continue that are available to us.

There’s going to be a place for dealto change, but we have Next, let’s think about diversifying erships as far [into the future] as I can plenty of examples of our territory and our customers, asksee. It’s going to continue to change, ing: “Are we heavy in one segment or but we have plenty of examples of dealdealerships today that another?” Maybe diversify into major erships today that are growing. They are growing. accounts, government or whatever. So, have profits that are just astounding again, we’re doing what we know how to and they’re doing a great job of takdo. Once we’re growing and profitable doing what we know, ing care of their customers. There’s no reason that’s going only then do we talk about diversifying into something we to change. I feel like it’s as good a time to be an imaging don’t know anything about, such as audiovisual, water, etc. dealer as it’s ever been. But as I said, there are winners and losers, so that doesn’t apply to everyone. For the winners, OT: You have had many years of experience it’s going to be great.

Our high-performing dealerships group is as big of a in the industry and have seen it evolve considerably over time. What current trend in the in- group as it ever has been. That gives me confidence that dustry concerns you? What keeps you optimistic there’s plenty of runway for the high performers. That comes about the future of the independent dealer chan- right back to the model, ProFinance and the dealer peer groups. How do you become a high-performing company? nel despite that trend?

Johnson: When looking at our core imaging business, You embrace all three of those things. You don’t just stumble the thing that concerns me most — and we’ve been talking into it. about it for years, watching it play out and I think it’s going to be particularly noticeable in 2024 and going forward OT: What are your expectations in terms of — is the price compression we’ve been experiencing in our the common characteristics of a successful office aftermarket, which comes from lower click rates. That price technology dealership 10 years from now? compression has largely been offset with the bleed over from Johnson: Typically, when dealers ask me that, I tell monochrome to color, and so we’ve been dropping penny them that my magic eight ball says: “Ask again later,” “Anclicks and picking up 5-cent clicks. Even though it’s not as swer unclear” or something like that. I do think that our many clicks, our dollars have been protected because of uncertainty as an industry is as high as it’s ever been in that. There is a whole exercise we go through in ProFinance terms of what’s next and what it looks like, but I think that around that concept. it’s not a totally different look than it is today. We are going Based on the data we’re looking at, the trade-off into col- to have commoditized products that are technology based or has mostly played out. Is it going to continue to migrate a that we are going to have to represent, sell, configure and little? Sure, but by and large, where we used to have 20-plus consult with clients about in order to help them maximize mono clicks for every color click in our base, today it’s about their productivity. three to one. We feel like that’s tapering off. So, that’s going This is what we’ve always done and I think that we’ll conto stop supporting our aftermarket price compression prob- tinue to do. The devices are already a commodity. They’re lem, which means a big portion of our business. That dollar going to continue to be a commodity. What’s going to sepapressure is getting ready to be a lot more noticeable unless rate us and make us valuable is the fact that we have great something comes along like color did — which saved us — service, we have consultative selling and we don’t come in that I’m not aware of today. So, that’s concerning. and say: “Hey, I’ve got this great big box with a green butIn terms of being optimistic about the future and the ton on it. It’s awesome.” Instead, it’s: “Let’s talk about how dealer channel, we’ve adapted and we’ve overcome. The re- you do business and how I can enable you to do it more ality is that dealerships are as strong as ever. As a matter efficiently. That’s our job; to help you be more efficient.” I of fact, our data reveals that the average dealership today think that’s still going to be our role 10 years, even 20 years is healthier and more profitable than it has ever been. So, from now. n I think there’s always going to be a place for dealerships to Brent Hoskins, executive director of the Business Technology service the clients that we have today. It is going to keep Association, is editor of Office Technology magazine. changing. Maybe the volumes are down or whatever. By the He can be reached at brent@bta.org or (816) 303-4040. www.of ficetechnologymag.com | Januar y 2024 | 25

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DEALERS HELPING DEALERS

Moving Away From CPC? Have flat rates been successful for dealers?

Compiled by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

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ollowing are two related questions submitted by a dealer member as part of BTA’s Dealers Helping Dealers resource and many of the answers received.

These answers and many others can be found in the members-only section of the BTA website. Visit www.bta.org/Dealers HelpingDealers. You will need your username and password to access this member resource.

Are you moving away from CPC and going to flat rate? If so, how is that received by customers and what calculations are you using to determine monthly or quarterly charges?

“We continue to avoid flat-rate charges unless we are unable to monitor. While flat rate is profitable, it is only because we charge enough to not risk taking a loss. If it were to be the general way we price deals, we would completely price ourselves out from winning any business. Our calculations are based on OEM recommendations for volumes and an average of consumables costs and the clicks per service we would reasonably expect.”

Nicholas Hienton, vice president of service imageOne, Oak Park, Michigan “We’re still doing CPC on large accounts and flat rates on small accounts.”

Duffie Sams, owner Duffie’s Copier Consultants LLC, Forest City, North Carolina “We are doing CPC except on customers that have MPS contracts and cannot seem to connect some of their equipment. We decided to use a flat rate per month on those and to monitor the toner being used so that we stay on the right side of profitability.”

Neville Chaney, president WJ Office, Boone, North Carolina “We are not going to flat rate unless we have a competitive deal where the customer wants it. And, even then, we sell standard service, excluding parts and supplies.”

Jeffrey Foley, co-owner Apollo Office Systems, Alvin, Texas

“We have a mix of both. We have moved several customers to flat rates. We took their monthly volume over three to six months and came up with an average.

All of our customers that we switched to it love it so far. They like the bill staying the same. We did put into writing that we would revisit totals once a year to be sure they are still good for both parties.”

Earl Philpot, president Precision Duplicating Solutions Inc., London, Kentucky “We are not moving to flat rate at this time. We are not really seeing it in the field at all either. The only time we are interested at this point would be the small machines and smaller accounts that are difficult to get meters from.”

David Carson, president Plus Inc., Greenville, South Carolina “We do this on the government side and are considering it on the commercial side. We are putting 10% fluff on it with reconciliation both down and up at year end.”

Nick Lioce, president The Lioce Group, Huntsville, Alabama “Yes. So far, we’ve had a mixed reception, but it is generally well accepted. We do a monthly option only. We build in a cushion for volume over the industry average and an additional uplift if the rate is locked beyond one year.”

John Hastings, executive vice president, Imaging Division Loffler Companies Inc., St. Louis Park, Minnesota “I only have one CPC customer, but it is a large one. The rest of my customers are ‘purchase your toner from us and maintenance is free’ — all parts, labor and maintenance kits. We started with the CX laser printer and never stopped. Lately we have been giving away printers. I figure if a salesperson would cost me $5,000 a month, I can give that away in printers. My background is in service, so these are refurbished units.”

Joseph O’Brien, president/service manager Smart Print, Coal Center, Pennsylvania n Brent Hoskins, executive director of the Business Technology Association, is editor of Office Technology magazine.

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

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COURTS & CAPITOLS

Leasing Terms

Review them & ensure proper protections are in place by: Robert C. Goldberg, BTA General Counsel

O

ver the years, an issue occasionally arises that is so contrary to industry practices that it is important to share it with dealers. The channel is fortunate to have numerous leasing companies that partner with dealerships for their mutual benefit. Some leasing companies have also expanded beyond financing to assist dealers in other facets of their businesses. Leasing companies are an integral part of our channel’s success and will continue to be.

The December issue of Office Technology included an interview with Larry Weiss, president of Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office (Atlantic), headquartered in New York City. Atlantic is among the top five dealerships in the world. Weiss is well respected for his business acumen, philanthropic endeavors and leadership skills. In the article, he discussed certain leasing practices, including early returns, for which there is some controversy.

Early returns involve the leasing companies’ efforts to respect the originating dealership. Early returns is not the topic of this column; respect for the originating dealership is.

The issue is lease portfolio protection. In the December issue, Weiss states: “One of the things that has evolved over time is that leasing companies used to think that the lessee was their customer. That is incorrect. The lessee is our [the dealership’s] customer and we are the customer of the leasing company.”

He goes on to say: “Why would I want to do business with a leasing company that is going to freely give out my information to anybody without me being given an opportunity to address any problems?”

Recently, a dealer purchased the maintenance contracts and installed base of another dealership. The leasing company was notified of the transaction, but declined to provide the acquiring dealer with end-of-lease terms. Rather, the leasing company provided this information to a third party who had left the selling dealership months prior to the transaction.

When confronted with the situation, Bob Downey, general counsel for Macquarie Ltd., advised: “Again the end user signs a lease with Macquarie. (Dealer) is not a party to that lease and (Dealer) does not own that information and has no confidentiality expectations with respect to any of the terms of the Macquarie lease.” This position raises two important issues.

First, Macquarie ignores the fact that the dealership is its customer and the end user is the dealership’s customer.

If you lease an automobile, would you go to the leasing company for service? Of course not. The lessee’s relationship is with the dealership and the finance company is merely the source of funds for the purchase. If the dealership had not brought the transaction to the leasing company, the leasing company would not have had the opportunity to finance the transaction.

The second point is the importance of the master lease agreement between the leasing company and the dealership.

Here it is critical to spell out the end-of-lease terms and confidentiality. The Business Technology Association (BTA) has reviewed most leasing company master agreements and included the terms necessary to protect a dealership’s portfolio.

Leasing companies recognize the value of a dealership’s installed base and are more than willing to protect it from competitors. Occasionally, the fair, equitable and ethical practices established within the industry are ignored with adverse consequences. Take time to review your leasing terms and ensure the proper protections are in place. If not, seek revisions immediately. n Robert C. Goldberg is general counsel for the Business Technology Association.

He can be reached at robert.goldberg@sfbbg.com. www.of ficetechnologymag.com | Januar y 2024 | 27

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

Vendor Member Frontier Imaging Inc., Santa Fe Springs, CA For full contact information of this new member, visit www.bta.org.

BTA Scholarship Program Each year, BTA awards one $3,000, one $2,000, and a number of $1,500 and $1,000 scholarships to qualifying applicants. Since the 1984-85 school year, BTA has presented 1,561 scholarships to deserving students, totaling $1.7785 million.

To qualify, applicants must be (at the time of the evaluation and the award): A full-time employee, or the son or daughter of a fulltime employee, of a current BTA member dealership AND a full-time student maintaining a class schedule of at least 12 hours (nine hours for graduate students) of college credits throughout the school year covered by the scholarship.

Scholarship applications must be postmarked by May 1, 2024. To download an application, visit www.bta.org/Scholarships.

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

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

For the benefit of its dealer members, each month BTA features two of its vendor members.

Frontier Imaging is a privately held company headquartered in Southern California. Established in 1999 with just five employees, it supplies consumables and parts for a comprehensive network of dealers/ distributors in the office technology industry.

Today, Frontier Imaging is one of the leading distributors of OEM and compatible products in North America and internationally, serving more than 60 countries — and growing. It also stocks a vast selection of inventory, carrying more than 14,000 SKUs. Frontier Imaging’s aim is to deliver high-quality, reliable products with exceptional service. www.frontierimaging.com Boundless Design is a U.S.-based mobile app development company founded by a group of IT and office technology professionals. While it builds mobile apps for all types of companies, Boundless Design specializes in the office technology industry.

It builds custom, branded mobile apps to give companies a competitive advantage by offering an exceptional customer experience. All Boundless Design apps are designed, developed and supported by the company, with zero third-party outsourcing. https://boundlessdesign.us A full list of BTA vendor members can be found online at www.bta.org.

For more information, visit www.bta.org.

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SELLING SOLUTIONS

More Than a Numbers Game

Pursue the right clients & relationships with purpose by: Reena Philpot, Reena Philpot Sales Coaching

“I

t’s a numbers game.” That’s what they told me. It’s all about getting in front of as many people as possible.

Whether you are new to sales or you’ve been here a while, you’ve heard it’s all about numbers.

That’s precisely what fueled my early sales days of 100 phone calls and my days of 50 in-person cold calls. I realize my memory only recalls the days with the extreme numbers. Not every day was a 50-cold-calls day, but many were, and every day I met the minimum of 20 as recommended.

I started early and stayed late. If a person could work hard and make it, I would make it. I talked to people. I even went home every night with a stack of collected business cards and entered the information into the CRM. The CRM was not in the cloud and my manager never looked at my results. It was purely for my notes — and it was a drag. I was exhausted and about to give up.

If it really was all about numbers, I would have been rolling in the dough. When I asked for directions, I was told: “It is a process and it takes time. Keep doing the calls.” Guess what?

All that effort resulted in zero sales.

I was 45 days in and all I had sold was a deal I inherited from a sales rep who had quit. The previous rep had left one deal undone. All I had to do was collect a signature and, just like that, I had a number beside my name on the board.

I understood the sales cycle was longer than 45 days, but I was tired. Something was missing. I had done the calls, collected the information and made the notes in the CRM. I didn’t have a lot to go on. I hadn’t found many people to go back out and see after those hundreds of calls. They all seemed satisfied with their particular situations. I was getting nowhere. If I had looked at the data and known the next step for any of those hundreds of accounts, I would have been more encouraged, but it felt like I had little more to go on than I did when I started.

Then I realized what was missing. I had been calling on too many of the wrong people. I had been going after numbers.

The numbers game had failed me — or at least that’s what I thought. I took a look at the company’s current customers.

When I considered where the experienced reps were having success, I realized that’s not exactly what I had targeted. I also noticed different reps with different styles and personalities earned different kinds of business. The one thing they all had in common was they understood their customers. They liked them. They had stories to tell about them.

I was choosing any business that might need just a few copies daily. Their needs were few and any equipment they already had was sufficient. Plus, the ones I was calling on weren’t the types of accounts or people I was most comfortable getting to know. I didn’t understand them or their businesses well enough to begin conversations, much less start relationships with them.

I began to understand that I needed to get picky and target a specific market. That’s when I started making a list comprised of businesses in my territory with the highest needs.

The list gave me a place to start my weeks and days.

Then, I chose to go where I was most comfortable first — to the accounts that were most comfortable for me. The accounts I understood the most were based on my experience and background. I went to schools, local governments, churches and nonprofits. Then, after I had seen those, I started to branch out, but I focused my efforts and stuck to my plan.

That was the first step I took to effectively establish my territory and make a career in sales work for me. I started to understand the people I called on. I liked them, so I enjoyed going www.of ficetecthnologymag.com | Januar y 2024 | 29

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We could all benefit from making 50 back. I began having stories to share and in-person cold calls a day. It is extreme closing deals of my own.

The numbers can serve — and some might even say ridiculous — So, did the numbers game fail me? No. you well, especially once these days. It is the era of social media. Is It built resilience. It was like training for a you have built the sending 50 invites to connect the same marathon. Every call and every “no” made resilience and strength as making 50 cold calls? In my opinion, it me stronger. But it drove me to my wits end is not the same at all. But that could be a just enough to make me stop and evaluate to pursue the right whole other conversation. what could be missing. It also bought me clients and relationships The numbers can serve you well, espetime to learn. No one will fire a rep willing with purpose ... cially once you have built the resilience and to do 50 in-person cold calls in a day. My strength to pursue the right clients and remanager was always happy to answer my lationships with purpose, intention and a questions. He knew I was putting in effort timeline in mind. n and was willing to learn.

Reena Philpot is co-owner of BTA member Precision Actually, it is still accurate to say sales is a numbers game.

Duplicating Solutions Inc., based in London, Kentucky, The fact is, at any given time, there are just a certain number where she serves as sales manager. Philpot is also founder of of prospects with a need or that are in a position to purchase Reena Philpot Sales Coaching and host of the products. If you don’t reach enough prospects, you won’t get Selling with Charm Podcast. She has spent the last enough business.

27 years as a salesperson and has a passion for However, it’s a bit more than a numbers game. Here are three teaching owners and sales team members simple sales questions to ask yourself before you let the numbers game distechniques that allow them to hit their targets courage you: and goals with ease. Join in weekly as Philpot (1) Who and where do our products serve and fit best in my shares her tips and tricks to selling with charm: territory? https://selling-with-charm.captivate.fm/listen.

(2) Looking at the list of who and where, which do I know the She can be reached at most about? Who do I already understand the needs of most? reena@reenaphilpot.com.

(3) In what areas of our market can I improve my knowlVisit www.reenaphilpot.com. edge? What types of businesses do I need to learn more about?

ADVERTISER INDEX 2-3 • 2024 BTA National Conference

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12/28/23 4:27 PM

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STT - BPO ads Jan 24.indd 1

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12/28/23 2:14 PM