January 2026 Office Technology

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CONTENTS Volume 31 • No. 7

FEATURE ARTICLES Endless Opportunities

10 Looking toward the best

growth strategies for 2026

DEALERS HELPING DEALERS Sales in the Field

25 Are reps able to create orders on the fly?

Compiled by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

Compiled by Elizabeth Marvel Office Technology Magazine

What do you believe will be the greatest opportunities for office technology dealers in 2026? What do you believe will be the best strategies for success in pursuing those opportunities? Office Technology magazine asked these questions of dealers in an email survey.

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Building the Right Culture The five principles of technical customer service

by Don Crawley Compassionate Geek

This feature includes two questions submitted by a dealer member as part of BTA’s Dealers Helping Dealers resource and many of the answers received. These answers and others can be found in the members-only section of the BTA website at www. bta.org/DealersHelpingDealers.

PRINCIPAL ISSUES Mergers & Acquisitions

26 Nine pitfalls in the process & how to avoid them

Successful office technology providers build a culture of service based on five principles of customer service. If you run your business or your career based on these five principles, your customers will stay with you longer, you will retain key employees and you will have less stress in your life.

by Thomas Fimian Levifi

Over the years, my company has acquired several companies in the office technology and IT services field. With M&A deals being an important part of many businesses, I want to share some of the common pitfalls and offer my take on how to avoid them.

AI INSIGHT The AI Tectonic Shift

20 How to thrive in the age

of intelligent automation

by Jonathan Blakey Technology Assurance Group (TAG)

SELLING SOLUTIONS Price Objections

29 How to handle them

with current customers

AI is the new autopilot for your business — and for your clients’ businesses, too. AI does not eliminate the need for great people — it frees them from turbulence. Dealers who adopt it now will not just fly more smoothly; they will fly smarter, charting new routes their competitors have not seen yet.

by Troy Harrison Troy Harrison & Associates

Let’s talk about one of the most nervewracking moments in the life of a salesperson — when a customer calls and says, “Your competitor just offered us a 15% lower price. What can you do for us?”

How you handle this moment can define your entire relationship with this customer going forward.

LEGAL PERSPECTIVE Click, Agree & Surrender

23 The power of mandatory arbitration

by Greg Goldberg BTA General Counsel

If your business relies on online terms and conditions (Ts & Cs) to channel disputes to arbitration, now is an excellent time to revisit them. Examine not only the language of your Ts & Cs, but the choreography of your customers’ clicks. Ensure that consent is not merely assumed, but captured.

DEPARTMENT S Technology Association 24 Business • BTA Highlights 6

Executive Director’s Page

8

BTA President’s Message

30

Advertiser Index

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S PAGE

Thank You, George, For Making It Happen

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hank you, George.

Your obvious and invaluable trait as a visionary has benefited countless office technology dealers. You could see that there is strength in numbers. That is, by bringing independent dealers together, you knew that their unity would help them reach new heights. Today, we like to refer to it as “dealers helping dealers.”

You would be happy to know, George, that independent dealerships remain our core members and dealers continue to govern the association as elected volunteers. Today, we have 22 volunteer leaders at the district and national levels. Collectively, they guide the association, working with the staff to ensure dealers have a valuable resource to lend them a helping hand whenever there is a need.

Who is George? He was our first president. No, not George Washington, but, rather, George S. Walker, the first president of what is today the Business Technology Association (BTA). The details of why he was selected as the association’s first president, where he lived and even the name of his dealership are lost to history (at least for now). What we do know is that in early 1926 he was named to serve as the first president.

George took on the role following a meeting of independent typewriter dealers on Jan. 22-23, 1926, in Kansas City, Missouri.

That meeting resulted in the formation of the National Typewriter Dealers Association. By the early 1930s, the organization had expanded its name to become the National Typewriter and Office Machine Dealers Association. Then, in 1943, the name was shortened to the National Office Machine Dealers Association (NOMDA) — a name (ushering in the “NOMDA Days” era) that today’s industry veterans will remember. In

1994, the name was changed to the present Business Technology Association.

While that first meeting took place in Kansas City (presumably because one of the founding members was located here or because it was a central location, allowing for the meeting attendees to more easily make the trip), and while the city has been our home since 1985, the association has, in fact, had several headquarters locations.

A look at BTA publication archives reveal headquarters in these cities (the years simply reflect points in time, rather than move dates): Dayton, Ohio (1946); Los Angeles, California (1954); and Des Plaines (1965), Elk Grove Village (1974) and Wood Dale, Illinois (1982). With a deeper dive into the association’s archives, I suspect I would find other headquarters locations.

While our association has had several names and headquarters locations through the decades, what has not changed is its focus on strengthening the dealer channel.

George and, no doubt, his fellow association leaders at the time, had it right. Their realized vision has stood the test of time.

Here we are, 100 years later, and the association remains strong, vital and attuned to providing what dealers need to optimize their levels of success with technology and services for the workplace.

Throughout 2026, in this magazine and otherwise, BTA will be highlighting its rich history, focusing in part on how its creation has benefited the dealer channel for 10 decades. We also hope to hear from many of you, sharing your BTA memories and what you see as the value of membership, as part of a feature that will be launched in our February issue. Look to hear from BTA on this via email. As you stop and consider the value of membership, join me in thanking George for his role in making it happen. 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 Jonathan Blakey, Technology Assurance Group (TAG) www.tagnational.com Don Crawley, Compassionate Geek https://compassionategeek.com Thomas Fimian, Levifi www.levifi.com Greg Goldberg, BTA General Counsel Business Technology Association Troy Harrison, Troy Harrison & Associates www.troyharrison.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: (847) 922-0945 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. ©2026 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 61 years ago this month — the NOMDA Spokesman, January 1965.

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BTA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

2025-2026 Board of Directors President

Celebrating 100 Years of Your Association

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s we begin 2026, the Business Technology Association (BTA) enters a truly historic milestone — its 100th year of serving, strengthening and supporting the independent dealer community. Celebrating a centennial anniversary is rare for any association, and it speaks volumes about the relevance, resilience and leadership of BTA across generations of change in our industry.

Over the past century, our industry has evolved dramatically — from typewriters and early office equipment to copier/ MFPs, managed print, IT services and today’s technology-driven workplace solutions. Through every shift, one constant has remained: the value of dealers helping dealers. BTA has been a trusted resource, connector and advocate through economic cycles, technological disruption and changing customer expectations. That legacy is something we proudly celebrate in 2026.

This milestone year is not only about looking back — it is also about building forward. Education, collaboration and shared best practices remain at the core of BTA’s mission, and our 2026 events reflect that commitment while honoring our history.

We will kick off the year with BTA IGNITE Orlando — Fuel Your Potential, taking place March 19-21 at Disney’s Yacht Club Resort in Orlando, Florida. This event will feature our e-automate Elevate BTA Dealers Helping Dealers Best Practices Event, along with powerful presenters and practical breakout sessions designed to deliver real-world, actionable insights. BTA IGNITE Orlando sets the tone for the year — a focus on growth, peer collaboration and operational excellence.

On Sept. 1-3, we will gather at the Westin Kansas City at Crown Center in Kansas City, Missouri, for what promises to be a landmark event: BTA IGNITE Kansas City — Celebrating 100 Years. Kansas City holds a special place in BTA’s history (the association is headquartered there), and it is a fitting location to celebrate our centennial.

This event will honor the past, recognize the leaders and dealers who built this association, and look ahead to the next generation of innovation and opportunity — made even more meaningful through our partnership with IBPI. We will close out the year with the Fall Colors Retreat, to be held Oct. 29-30 at the Omni Grove Park Inn in beautiful Asheville, North Carolina. This event offers a more intimate setting for peer networking, strategic conversations and reflection as we wrap up our centennial year together.

A major strength of BTA has always been the wealth of resources available to our members, especially the combination of hands-on support, industry networking and strong educational programs that help dealers improve their operations and stay informed. That strength has sustained BTA for 100 years — and it will continue to guide us into the future.

As president, I am incredibly proud to be part of this milestone year and deeply grateful to BTA’s members, volunteers, staff, sponsors and partners who make BTA what it is today. Together, we are not just celebrating a century of service — we are laying the foundation for the next 100 years.

I look forward to seeing many of you throughout the year in Orlando, Kansas City and Asheville as we honor our history and continue shaping the future of our industry. Here’s to 100 years of BTA — and to the exciting road ahead! n — Debra Dennis

Debra Dennis CopyPro Inc. Greenville, North Carolina ddennis@copypro.net President-Elect

Mike Boyle BASE Technologies Inc. Bethel, Connecticut mboyle@baseinc.com

Vice President

Mike Hicks Electronic Business Machines Inc. Lexington, Kentucky mhicks@ebmky.com Immediate Past President

Adam Gregory Advanced Business Solutions LLC St. Augustine, Florida adam@goabsinc.com BTA East

Chip Denlinger DCS Technologies Corp.

Franklin, Ohio chip.denlinger@dcs-tech.com Tim Seeley Jr. Seeley Office Systems Inc. Glens Falls, New York tseeleyjr@seeleyoffice.com BTA Mid-America

Brett Blake Corporate Business Systems LLC Madison, Wisconsin bblake@corpbussystems.com Grant Goldsmith Regal Business Machines/Gateway Business Systems Chicago, Illinois goldsmithg@gateway-biz.com BTA Southeast

Blake Renegar Kelly Office Solutions Winston-Salem, North Carolina tbrenegar@kellyofficesolutions.com Richie Creech CopyPro Inc. Greenville, North Carolina rcreech@copypro.net BTA West

Scott Reynolds Imagine Technology Group LLC Chandler, Arizona sreynolds@itgarizona.com Richard Van Dyke Advanced Office Irvine, California rvandyke@goadvanced.com Ex-Officio/General Counsel

Greg Goldberg Barta | Goldberg West Hollywood, California ggoldberg@bartagoldberg.com

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Endless Opportunities

Looking toward the best growth strategies for 2026 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 2026? 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 the responses received. Perhaps comments shared by your fellow dealers will provide some guidance to help you in the year ahead.

Opportunities & Strategies: I think remote support is the answer for both questions. We are super focused on resolving as many calls remotely as possible. We feel anytime we can fix an issue without rolling a truck, it makes us more profitable and the customer happier. I am working on a culture change at Plus Inc. to accomplish that. Our technicians are learning about networking and how to use all the remote tools provided by the manufacturers.

Curtis Arrowood, service director Plus Inc., Greenville, South Carolina Opportunities: For dealerships that have made the transition into IT managed network services and/or software with an emphasis on AI automation, I believe that 2026 will be a year of incredible opportunity. We live in a technology landscape that is changing by the minute due to the ongoing adoption and ever-changing need for AI solutions. For dealers who are doubling down on imaging, we are seeing opportunity in both B2B and production print. For dealers who are willing to take the time to look at what customer segments are continually growing in print volume and shifting focus to capturing net-new business in those particular segments or industries, I genuinely believe that there is room to grow your business in imaging for many years to come.

Strategies: The most important thing for 2026 is identifying your growth areas in each revenue stream of your business, and focusing marketing efforts on new and emerging technologies that compliment one another. Once

we identify the right customers, we then create a customer service approach to retain those customers. While it remains vital to continually attract and close new business, it will be our ability to retain our clients that will ultimately determine our success.

Brandon Cousins, president Kraft Business Systems, Caledonia, Michigan Opportunities: The biggest opportunities in 2026 will come from moving beyond the print-centric mindset and owning more of the customer’s technology stack.

Four areas stand out: (1) Managed IT and cybersecurity — SMBs are drowning in fragmented technology and rising security threats. Dealerships that can deliver stable, predictable IT outcomes — backed by real security capabilities — ­ will win wallet share that dwarfs print revenue.

(2) Workflow automation and AI-driven productivity tools — Every organization is trying to eliminate manual processes and reduce operating costs. Dealerships that can bring automation, document intelligence and AI-assisted workflows to clients will become indispensable.

(3) Device-as-a-service (DaaS) and distributed workforce solutions — Companies want predictable cost structures and simple life-cycle management for all endpoints, not just copiers. Packaging hardware, monitoring, security and support as a service is a major growth lane.

(4) Print remains, but only as part of a broader ecosystem — production print, A4 fleet optimization and secure print management will continue to generate profit, but the opportunity lies in integrating these into a wider technology strategy, not relying on them as standalone revenue engines.

Strategies: (1) Stop acting like a copier/MFP dealer and act like a technology partner. The dealerships that win in 2026 will be the ones that change their identities internally and externally to full solutions providers. Customers do not buy machines — they buy outcomes.

(2) Invest in technical talent and leadership, not just sales

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training. You cannot sell IT services or “Simplify your offerings automation with a and lead with business print-era staffing problems, not SKUs. model. Success reCustomers do not care quires certified techabout features. They nicians, solution architects and service care about operational leaders who underinefficiency ... ” stand modern IT environments.

(3) Build recurring revenue engines everywhere possible. The most successful dealers will treat every offering (e.g., IT, security, workflow automation, DaaS, print, etc.) as a recurring service. Predictable revenue solves 90% of business headaches.

(4) Simplify your offerings and lead with business problems, not SKUs. Customers do not care about features.

They care about operational inefficiency, compliance risk and employee productivity. Dealers who learn to speak the language of business outcomes will outsell those stuck in product-driven pitches.

(5) Partner aggressively instead of trying to do everything alone. Speed matters more than owning every skill in-house. Strategic partnerships — especially for cybersecurity and complex workflow solutions — will accelerate capability and credibility.

(6) Create a unified postmerger/transformation go-tomarket strategy. For dealers acquiring IT firms or integrating new service lines, the winners will be those who align messaging, compensation and service delivery under one unified model. Fragmentation kills momentum.

Ian Nash, vice president of technology A.F. Smith Trading Co. Ltd., Hamilton, Bermuda Opportunities & Strategies: In 2026, the greatest opportunities for office technology dealers will come from solutions that go far beyond traditional hardware. The dealerships that win will be those that position themselves as workflow, security and automation partners — not just printer providers. Here are the top categories that will open the biggest doors: (1) Advanced managed print and output management — Even though print volumes continue to decline overall, complexity is increasing. This is where the opportunity lies.

Key growth drivers include: n Health care, legal, finance and government will still demand secure printing and auditing. n Cloud-based print management (PaperCut Hive, uniFLOW Online) will continue replacing on-premise servers. n Security requirements (zero trust, MFA print release) will www.of ficetecthnologymag.com | Januar y 2026 | 11

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push companies to upgrade older fleets. integrations; identity management; and Where dealers win: Analytics, optidigital intake and forms automation “Dealerships that shift mization, rules-based printing and selln Municipal and government: Refrom ‘selling boxes’ to ing print as a service — not as a hardcords digitization; compliance reten‘delivering business ware transaction. tion workflows; and secure printing and outcomes’ will grow (2) Content and document workflow audit trails more quickly, close larger automation — Companies want to elimn Financial services and insurance: inate manual steps, improve compliID verification workflows; document deals and build long-term ance and integrate documents into their governance; and automation for lendrecurring revenue.” systems. High-value offerings include: ing, claims and onboarding n Intelligent document processing Vertical-focused solutions carry high(e.g., OCR, AI extraction, routing) er margins and less competition. n Integrations with EMR/EHR, ERP and CRM systems (7) Unified communications and collaboration tools — (e.g., Epic, Cerner, Dynamics, Salesforce) Dealerships that sell copier/MFPs and communication n AP/AR automation technology will dominate. Growth areas include: n Workflow solutions for HR, onboarding and records n UCaaS (cloud phone systems) management. Workflow deals often drive two to three times n Video meeting hardware more recurring revenue than hardware alone. n Call analytics and contact center solutions (3) Security and compliance services — Security is the n Workflow integrations (e.g., Teams, Zoom, CRM) number-one concern across nearly every industry, espeMost offices are still modernizing post-COVID, so opporcially health care and financial services. Dealers can build tunities are plentiful. strong revenue streams around: (8) Industrial and specialty print — Dealers can expand n Print security assessments profit centers by offering: n Zero trust network print strategies n Label/thermal printers (e.g., Toshiba, Zebra, Honeyn Secure scan workflows and document governance well, Epson) n Endpoint security tied to MFPs n Large-format for architecture, retail, signage n User authentication and audit trails n Production print for in-house marketing departments Security requirements will force organizations to refresh These solutions are sticky and high-margin. aging devices or modernize workflows.

Dealerships that shift from “selling boxes” to “deliver(4) AI-driven service and device monitoring — Service ing business outcomes” will grow more quickly, close larger departments will become profit centers instead of cost cen- deals and build long-term recurring revenue. ters. For example: Brad Harris, office technology sales executive n Predictive maintenance using AI/ML Harris Business Machines, Panama City, Florida n Expanded DCA monitoring (e.g., FMAudit, Printanista, KPAX) Opportunities: Our businesses are great at showing our clin Remote firmware updates and configuration ents how to use the operating expense budget versus the capin Automated ticketing and triage tal expense budget or credit line funds. We are industry kings This increases uptime and lowers cost, making your MPS at understanding the monthly payment and helping our clients offerings stickier and more profitable. stay with current/secure technologies, hardware and services.

(5) Cloud and hybrid infrastructure solutions — CustomAs our industry’s manufacturers continue to consolidate ers want to simplify IT. Dealers can deliver: and small dealerships dwindle, there will still be other small n Cloud fax and secure digital fax replacements businesses that need people — not AI robots — to help them n Cloud print servers stay focused on their businesses. n Cloud backup for documents We can show them financial solutions for whatever their n Digital mail rooms businesses will need. People need people and we can bring n Hosted document systems trained business reps to the market with best-in-class fiThe shift away from on-premise servers is a massive nancing options. opportunity.

Strategies: We are trying to simplify our offerings so that (6) Vertical-market solutions — These have the highest ROI we do more A work and not B or C work. We can still offer B and the following sectors will have the strongest demand: and C solutions (and finance them), but we will “broker” them n Health care: HIPAA-secure scanning; EMR/EHR with other trusted local business owners. For example, we are 12 | ­w ww.of ficetechnologymag.com | Januar y 2026

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doing this with a shredding company.

Opportunities: Print is not dead.

Plus, this same company does hard-drive There is opportunity in rightsizing cus“Print is not dead. pulverization and on-site backfile scantomers’ fleets, and replacing A3s with There is opportunity in ning services. We are talking to all the A4s for customer cost savings where currightsizing customers’ same decision makers, too. We are paralrent products are underutilized and/or fleets, and replacing A3s lel without any conflicts. not requiring 11-by-17-inch-paper outwith A4s for ... cost savings Print is still everywhere. We can also put. If we do not do this, our competitors do quick print overflow. Do the simple will. Production print and wide format where current products stuff in-house if it is not a conflict with are two growth areas of our industry. are underutilized ... ” a print-for-pay (PFP) client or broker the Strategies: Pursue a vertical-market jobs to a great PFP client. Either way, we focus on specific industries that value still get the click. The issue I discovered is there are way too print and have not gone predominately digital. many print jobs leaving the area and state. Two big offenders Richard Van Dyke, president & CEO are local governments and nonprofits. Most PFP shops are reAdvanced Office, Irvine, California lying on walk-ins and local ownership’s social capital for new jobs. We can help them grow because of our much larger sales Opportunities & Strategies: I think the core remains teams. We see it and we need to help them. It is an exciting the core with some shifting of where it is found — A3 to A4. time to grow and find new ways to grow.

The biggest opportunity for dealers in 2026 will be in the Tim Stanley, CEO/owner/problem solver shift to managed IT. I say that not to say all dealerships are TDSiT, Lowell, Arkansas going to be IT providers, but to say that, as dealerships make the shift, they will need to become proficient in IT-type serOpportunities: Our company has between 5% to 10% vices that can be applied to the existing core deliverable — market share and I imagine most of our dealer peers are in the main one being cloud print technology, and the ability a similar position. Our biggest opportunity is to sell more to be experts and service providers for customers that are imaging products and services into the 90% to 95% of the shifting in that direction, but are not sophisticated enough market that does not do business with us yet. to handle it themselves. There is a lot of market share to be Strategies: We need to have more first meetings with had for dealerships that can help customers in that area, new logo CFOs and IT directors. We intend to leverage the no matter what cloud product the customer selects or if relationships our employees have to set these meetings. the dealership sold it to them (many customers will buy the With larger opportunities, we intend to team sell and we cloud print themselves and then struggle and search out have adjusted our sales comp plans to get the behaviors we help with service). It will also help us for positioning as an want. Our leadership team is very involved with this initia- IT provider beyond 2026. tive, so we expect substantial results as we look to double Eddie Steelman, vice president our revenue over the next six years.

Smart Technologies of Florida, Daytona Beach, Florida Sean Bell, president/principal Solutions YES, Portland, Oregon Opportunities: Managed network services (MNS) focused on the hottest topic around — network security — to Opportunities: I have been looking closely into robotics. get in the door. If there is no interest, pivot to right-sizing Right now, there are robotic products capable of tasks like the MFP/print environment. floor cleaning and security patrols. These solutions can be Strategies: A vertical focus starting at the C level, leverleased and require ongoing service — both of which fit per- aging the “comanaged” environment for IT. Emphasize the fectly into our business model and create strong opportuni- trend of “vendor” consolidation to fewer “business partners” ties for growth. to save time and money.

Strategies: Employing the right people will be essential.

Dean Swenson, president We already have strong service technicians and these new The Swenson Group, Livermore, California technologies give us an opportunity to attract younger talent.

Robotics and emerging solutions are simply more exciting to Opportunities: The greatest opportunities for growth work on than traditional copier/MFPs, which makes recruit- will remain about what they have been for a while. MPS, ment and retention easier. production print, document/print management solutions, Chip Miceli, CEO as well as label printing will remain significant growth opPulse Technology, Schaumburg, Illinois portunities for the traditional copy/print workplace service 14 | ­w ww.of ficetechnologymag.com | Januar y 2026

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provider. For those who have made the “As we all diversify, move to other diit becomes more versified streams difficult to keep the such as MNS or train on the track. pure water, the upHowever, if we focus side is huge.

Strategies: If your on profit and value, we company is not curwill come out on top.” rently selling any of these opportunities, you could look at what seems most doable for your company and talk to other BTA dealers who have been doing it successfully. There usually is no one surefire way to do it. Learn from others. Join a BTA peer group. I have learned other people do things very differently from us and are very successful. I can always learn from networking and using maybe only a few parts of the ideas I hear, but that can make all the difference.

Tim Renegar, president Kelly Office Solutions, Winston-Salem, North Carolina Opportunities: Managed IT and security services are the most talked-about services we offer, followed closely by search engine optimization (SEO). People want to protect what they have and strategically grow their businesses.

Strategies: High-level and C-level conversations regarding technology strategies and road maps that lead to optimizing spend to invest more into critical services.

Troy McCawley, president The Boss Company, Birmingham, Alabama Opportunities: I believe we will continue to make progress in the copier/MFP/printer space as the industry consolidates by providing superior service. Customers will pay for that.

Strategies: As we all diversify, it becomes more difficult to keep the train on the track. However, if we focus on profit and value, we will come out on top. There are clients who will pay a premium for service; we just have to figure out who they are and slowly change our pricing to reflect that.

Chap Breard, president MOEbiz, Monroe, Louisiana Opportunities: Our strongest growth potential remains in our core product segment — imaging. Market disruption continues as dealerships are acquired by other imaging companies, creating significant opportunities for us.

Strategies: Capturing these requires a sales team focused on zero-based accounts. To position ourselves for success, we have restructured our sales organization, prioritized bolstering our technology and added support to an already experienced sales team — an investment we believe

(203) 262-1611 sales@saleschain.com

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delivers more impact than simply addclients align IT investments with busiing additional sales reps. This includes ness goals, budgets and risk manage“Managed IT and ...

SDR roles, CRM technology and a dediment. Cloud and modern workplace serIT services will remain cated marketing director, all central to vices, business continuity and disaster strong growth drivers driving new business development. recovery, and managed device life-cycle due to ongoing IT talent Our diversification plan is also proservices will further expand recurring shortages, increasing gressing. Our physical security and IT revenue opportunities. Overall, success divisions operate independently from in 2026 will come from delivering intecomplexity and the need imaging, reinforcing our long-term apgrated, secure and strategic managed for predictable costs.” proach. Just as imaging wasn’t built overservices that position dealers as trusted night, new segments will take time — but technology partners. early indicators mirror the success patterns we saw years ago.

Strategies: The most effective strategies in 2026 will focus Alec Bean, president on selling outcomes, not products, and building long-term Gray & Creech Office Solutions, Greensboro, North Carolina customer relationships anchored in managed services. Sales teams must lead with business conversations around securiOpportunities: I think managed services and the sub- ty, productivity, risk and cost predictability rather than leadsequent IT projects that come along with this business are ing with hardware or point solutions. Positioning managed the top opportunities for those of us in this space. With all IT, cybersecurity and vCIO services as essential business inthe predictors indicating the continued explosion in cyber- vestments — supported by clear value propositions and ROI threats globally, we are in a great position as B2B providers — will be critical to winning and expanding accounts. to take that business over.

Equally important is aligning sales execution with deI also think MPS has gained momentum and is a much livery and customer success. That means investing in sales easier talk track than in the past. Particularly with MFPs/ enablement, consistent messaging and repeatable offerprinters representing around 20% of how cyberthreats are ings, while ensuring the operational teams can deliver an getting into the networks, it should be another reason to en- exceptional experience. Leveraging account-based selling, gage with our customers. expanding wallet share through existing customers and Strategies: As far as strategies, I know we are all being driving recurring revenue through bundled services will inundated with AI and how that can help us — or, better separate high-performing organizations. Ultimately, the yet, help make us money. We have spent about three months dealerships that succeed will be those that combine strong of various sales trainings specifically utilizing AI and I, too, sales leadership, disciplined execution, and a relentless fowent through all the training, as I wanted to see what we cus on helping customers achieve better business outcomes were spending this money on. I have to say, at 60 years old through IT and managed services. now, I am just amazed at the amount of information our Rich Brandenburg, senior vice president of sales salespeople can have at the tips of their fingers. I only wish I Donnellon McCarthy Enterprises, Cincinnati, Ohio had those tools 40 years ago in sales.

Mark Watson, president Opportunities: The continuing trend of diversification CDS Office Technologies, Spring field, Illinois with MNS/IT will provide the greatest growth for dealers.

Continuing to ensure your imaging base of machines in the Opportunities: In 2026, the greatest opportunities for field continues to grow with net-new sales will be necessary office technology dealers will be centered on IT and man- to maintain viability. aged services as customers continue to move away from Strategies: Targeting profitable verticals with a cohesive transactional purchasing toward recurring, outcome-based team. A great culture where salespeople — both imaging partnerships. Managed IT and comanaged IT services will and IT — work alongside service and admin staff members remain strong growth drivers due to ongoing IT talent to create the best possible client experience. Clients are unshortages, increasing complexity and the need for predict- sure and are looking for trusted advisors. able costs. Cybersecurity services — including MDR, endErik Crane, president/CEO point protection, user training and compliance support CPI Technologies, Spring field, Missouri — will be especially critical as threats and regulatory requirements continue to grow.

Opportunities: In today’s market, most of the concerns In addition, dealerships that offer vCIO and technology for dealers are on major corporations and organizations. advisory services will differentiate themselves by helping However, there is a market for our products (copier/MFPs 16 | ­w ww.of ficetechnologymag.com | Januar y 2026

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sought out and included in the scope of and printers) in small towns in the Uniteveryday business. All industries are cured States. We have been in business for “AI is more immersed rently seeing growth in different sectors 93 years. We service three surrounding in our society today such as administration, finance, human counties from one location. We have than ever before and resources, health care, industrial, retail, been in the same location for 93 years.

AI-accelerated workflows construction and so much more. AI is We have four full-time employees. We are speculated to more immersed in our society today than have been a Kyocera/Copystar dealer for ever before and AI-accelerated work30-plus years. Year after year, we continincrease tremendously in flows are speculated to increase tremenue to service most of the same customjust the next few months.” dously in just the next few months. ers for their machine needs.

Also, it is safe to say that the secure Strategies: Mainly, develop close relationships with potential customers and current custom- and flexible collaboration platforms are a part of the Interers. Call on people and businesses in person. Let them know net of Things. With the digital world continuing to transwho you are. For the past 20-plus years, we have continued form at an exponential rate, we believe that collaboration to have around $1 million in sales yearly. We continue to measures will become more secure and flexible. Today, the work culture has shifted to becoming more inclusive in so count on BTA for knowledge and support. many ways. There are more location options available, like Johnny Leftwich, owner/manager in hybrid and remote positions. The increase in both hybrid Dustin Office Machines, Gainesville, Texas and remote roles has created a need for co-shared workOpportunities & Strategies: We believe that AI-acceler- places, as well as a need for digital calling and meeting platated workflows and the Internet of Things will be two ser- forms such as Zoom and Google Teams.

Kiara Brown, marketing coordinator vices that potentially provide the greatest opportunities for Dove Technologies, Florence, South Carolina n office technology dealers in 2026. Businesses are always lookBrent Hoskins, executive director of the ing for more efficient processes and solutions. The overall goal Business Technology Association, is editor is to do more business with less time and effort, which can of Office Technology magazine. He can be be achieved by implementing a more efficient process. As a reached at (816) 303-4040 or brent@bta.org. result, we believe that AI-accelerated workflows will be more

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Building the Right Culture

The five principles of technical customer service by: Don Crawley, Compassionate Geek

Editor’s Note: Don Crawley, author of “The Compassionate Geek,” will present the keynote address, “How Leadership Affects Customer Service & How Customer Service Affects Your Bottom Line,” at BTA IGNITE Orlando, March 20-21 at Disney’s Yacht Club Resort in Orlando, Florida.

Learn more at www.bta.org/IGNITEOrlando. uccessful office technology providers build a culture of service based on five principles of customer service.

Everything we teach and do at Compassionate Geek is also based on those same five principles. If you run your business or your career based on these five principles, your customers will stay with you longer, you will retain key employees and you will have less stress in your life.

S

What is Compassionate Customer Service?

Compassionate customer service is essential in the day-today operations of a business. It involves taking an active interest in the issues that your customers are facing and treating everyone with respect and dignity. Compassionate customer service is a must-have rather than just a should-have. Work to ensure that your employees can empathize with your customers, understand their changing emotions and be willing to go above and beyond to help solve their problems.

Here are the five principles of technical customer service: (1) Technical Competence — The principle of technical competence seems obvious. If you work in a technical position such as a technician, support engineer or network administrator, you must have sufficient technical competence to meet the requirements of your job description. Similarly, if you run a technical business such as an MSP, your business must have sufficient technical competence to fulfill your promises to your customers. Service reps will improve relationships with customers when they resolve complex issues in a timely manner. Product knowledge comes first, but it is not the only principle that matters.

(2) Compassion — Compassion is caring and understanding. It is noticing someone who is hurting, frustrated or

angry and wanting to help. You demonstrate compassion by trying to alleviate the suffering of a customer struggling to work with a new system. You can show compassion by finding ways to simplify technology for a non-technical user. A compassionate person provides excellent customer service when he (or she) realizes that many people try to hide their pain and frustration, and that no one fully knows another person’s story. Compassionate people try to give others grace and not take things personally.

(3) Empathy — If compassion is knowing, empathy is feeling. When you are empathetic as an office technology specialist, you put yourself in the other person’s position. You try to imagine what you would want if you were him. Think about a time when you took your car to a mechanic and you were at his mercy. You did not understand automotive mechanics. You did not want a detailed explanation. You simply wanted your car to work properly so you could get on with your life. Remember that no one is an expert on everything.

Your customers and coworkers count on people like you to be experts on the systems you support so they do not have to be.

(4) Good Listening Skills — One of the most common reasons customers cite for enrolling their teams in our courses is a need for improved listening skills. People with good listening skills listen to understand and remember what the other person is saying. They listen in a way that shows respect for the person speaking.

Your listening skills can make or break your career. Good listeners use active listening techniques where they engage with the customer (or coworker) by asking relevant questions and giving body language cues that they are listening, such as nodding their heads and leaning in to the conversation. Good listeners never interrupt the person who is speaking, nor do they ever talk over the other person. Think about how annoying it is when someone interrupts you, talks over you or finishes sentences for you. Good listeners make the speaker feel heard, dignified and respected.

(5) Respect — There are two aspects to respect. One is

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how you feel about the other person. throughout your customer interactions People earn your respect by their words to build trust with them.

Your team members and actions. This principle, however, is Emphasize to your team the imporrepresent your company. about the other aspect — your behavtance of following the five principles By teaching them these ior toward other people. It is about how when interacting with customers, coprinciples, you can create you choose to act around others. You workers and anyone else you deal with. an excellent customer see, you do not need to feel respect for When you follow the five principles, you another person to act in a dignified and create lasting relationships built on experience and help respectful manner around him. This trust and mutual respect, and that leads improve customer loyalty. is about holding yourself to a higher to better bottom-line performance. n standard — not allowing yourself to get Don Crawley, DTM, CSP, is the author of dragged down into the mud, mire and muck of someone “The Compassionate Geek,” “The 5 Principles of IT Customer else’s degrading, thoughtless or disrespectful behavior.

Service Success” and seven other books for IT professionals on subjects ranging from Cisco firewalls to Linux servers.

He has spoken for audiences in all 50 states, Teach & Model the Five Principles for Your Team Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Australia, Your team members represent your company. By teachIndia and Oman. He holds multiple ing them these principles, you can create an excellent custechnical certifications and has been tomer experience and help improve customer loyalty. involved with technology since the 1970s.

Remember, you must model the behaviors you want from He can be reached at don@doncrawley.com. your team. People do not do what you say, they do what Visit https://compassionategeek.com. you do. Focus on including positive language as a priority

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AI INSIGHT

The AI Tectonic Shift

How to thrive in the age of intelligent automation by: Jonathan Blakey, Technology Assurance Group (TAG)

I

n the early days of aviation, flying was exhausting. Pilots wrestled with heavy controls, scanned endless gauges and made constant microadjustments just to stay level. It took every ounce of attention.

Then came autopilot. At first, pilots distrusted it. “I’d rather be in control,” they said. But soon, they realized something profound — autopilot did not take away their jobs. It gave them bandwidth. With routine flight paths handled automatically, pilots could focus on what mattered most: the weather ahead, communication with the tower and the safety of everyone on board. That is exactly where artificial intelligence (AI) is taking the office technology industry today. AI is the new autopilot for your business — and for your clients’ businesses, too.

AI does not eliminate the need for great people — it frees them from turbulence. It handles the repetitive maneuvers: triaging tickets, routing jobs, optimizing workflows and spotting risks before they spiral. Dealers who adopt it now will not just fly more smoothly; they will fly smarter, charting new routes their competitors have not even seen yet. In this new era, success does not come from gripping the controls more tightly — it comes from knowing when to let the right systems fly for you. The question is not if AI will reshape your business — it is how you will leverage it before your competitors do.

From Print to Predictive Intelligence AI is not a gadget or a new app — it is a seismic force that is reshaping the entire business landscape. And office technology dealerships — which have already evolved from hardware suppliers into managed technology advisors — are about to face their biggest transformations yet.

For decades, dealerships thrived by mastering consistency — uptime, reliability, response time. But AI is changing what customers value. The future is not about “fixing the copier” more quickly; it is about anticipating needs before the client even makes the call.

AI tools now analyze device data in real time, predicting when toner will run low or when a part will fail. Service calls that used to be reactive can now be proactive — or significantly automated. That is efficiency your clients can feel. That level of efficiency puts their minds at ease and enables them to focus on revenue-generating activities so their companies can thrive.

A dealership that embraces AI will free up technician hours,

improve margins and differentiate itself as a strategic IT partner rather than “another nameless, forgettable vendor.”

Avoiding the Commoditization Trap Let’s be blunt: what used to be billable time is becoming a commodity. AI can triage tickets, patch devices and even handle Level 1 support more quickly than a human team. But this is not the end — it is the beginning of a new kind of value.

Just as imaging dealerships that moved into managed IT became indispensable, AI is the next frontier for repositioning. Dealerships that can translate AI into business outcomes — stronger compliance, less downtime and better decisionmaking — will win the trust war.

Your advantage will not come from the tools themselves. It will come from your interpretation of them, and how consistently you innovate.

Four Practical Plays for Dealerships (1) AI-Driven Efficiency — Use automation to reduce manual processes — from ticket routing to toner management — then sell that efficiency as a premium experience. When clients get faster responses, they associate your brand with excellence. The less they have to think about streamlining their processes, the more indispensable you become as a partner.

(2) AI in Cybersecurity — AI can detect anomalies and stop threats in real time, which is crucial, as printers and multifunction devices remain common cyberattack vectors. Turn that protection into a value add by marketing your devices as “AI-shielded endpoints.” As you educate business owners on the necessity of how cybersecurity is no longer a luxury, but mandatory for any responsible business, you can gain trust by sharing inconvenient (yet honest) truths.

(3) AI-Enhanced Compliance — Most compliance is “solved” once. That is until many months (or years) later when the client throws his (or her) hands up in a frenzy and realizes he has slipped out of compliance while an audit or insurer is scrutinizing details he can barely recollect. But with AI-enhanced compliance, you can automate audit trails for HIPAA, SOX or GDPR compliance. You alleviate this headache and instead of offering “managed print,” you now also offer “managed compliance.”

(4) AI Advisory Services — Help clients understand how to safely and ethically use AI in their workflows. The demand

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for guidance in the practical application of AI for business in your region is not going anywhere. Business owners are searching far and wide for thought leadership, especially via someone they can maintain a relationship with. Take this opportunity to gain market share by becoming a thought leader — guiding SMBs through figuring out their AI policy implementations and automation strategies. This is how you gain access to the strategic conversations that open doors to bigger deals.

AI is not coming for your job. It is coming for your excuses. For office technology dealers ready to act, it is the biggest opportunity since the first digital press.

The Human Factor: What AI Cannot Replace AI can analyze, predict and even act — but it cannot empathize. When your client’s business is down, he is not calling for code; he is calling for confidence. Dealerships that dominate in the AI era are those that combine machine precision with human understanding.

Your role is not shrinking — it is evolving. The dealer of the future is not a “copier rep.” You are a technology translator — bridging the gap between innovation and implementation.

And the companies that grasp this will gain clients, profits, acclaim and longevity.

Final Takeaway

The winners will be the advisors, not the installers. The last major industry shift — from analog to digital, from hardware to software — created new winners. AI will do the same. But this time, the winners will be the ones who adapt quickly, and who see automation not as a threat to margin, but as an amplifier of human capability.

AI is not coming for your job. It is coming for your excuses.

For office technology dealers ready to act, it is the biggest opportunity since the first digital press. n Jonathan Blakey is vice president of technology at Technology Assurance Group (TAG). He is responsible for driving the implementation of operational best practices, adoption of new technology and enhancing service delivery. Blakey can be reached at jonathan@tagnational.com.

Visit www.tagnational.com.

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LEGAL PERSPECTIVE

Click, Agree & Surrender The power of mandatory arbitration

by: Greg Goldberg, BTA General Counsel

O

ne of the great ironies of modern business is that the more seamless transactions become, the more complicated their legal underpinnings tend to be. A century ago, a shopkeeper might have sealed a deal with a handshake — not exactly a practical option today where the buyer may be clutching a smartphone and the seller may be a website. Modern transactions are mediated by layers of code, hyperlinks and what lawyers like me affectionately call “terms and conditions (Ts & Cs),” a dense thicket of prewritten rules governing everything from refunds to remedies. A key and potentially potent term included in many Ts & Cs is the mandatory arbitration agreement.

In simple terms, mandatory arbitration is a private justice system designed to be more efficient, less cumbersome and less expensive than traditional litigation. An enforceable mandatory arbitration agreement means that even if you end up in a business dispute, you will not end up in court. Instead, you will go before an arbitrator (often, a retired judge), whose job is to hear both sides and issue a decision that is usually final, binding and far more difficult to appeal. Businesses generally favor arbitration because it is more predictable and less risky than appearing before a judge. Considering most consumers never read website Ts & Cs, they can be caught off guard when businesses seek to enforce mandatory arbitration agreements.

Thanks, in part, to the proliferation of lucrative consumer class action lawsuits in the United States, the gap between clicking “Add to Cart” and “Pay Now” has become fertile ground for legal challenges. In that space is where consumers — knowingly or not — typically agree to Ts & Cs. The legal dispute, therefore, centers around whether courts will enforce mandatory arbitration provisions that most consumers never read. The corresponding burden falls upon businesses to establish that Ts & Cs are not only conspicuous, but that they also obtain informed consent from consumers.

Recently, a federal court in the Southern District of California confronted this very question. A business had done what many retailers do — it placed its Ts & Cs behind a hyperlink near a prominent “Pay Now” button, trusting that the combination of proximity and digital convention would be enough to bind customers to everything inside, including a mandatory agreement to arbitrate. There, the court acknowledged that the button was conspicuous, but conspicuousness by itself was not sufficient to create informed consent. Specifically,

the website had failed to present its Ts & Cs in a way that made the mandatory arbitration agreement unmistakably clear. The result was a humbling reminder that even the most professionally designed websites can falter under the scrutiny of contract law.

The broader lesson for businesses — especially those that depend heavily on e-commerce — is that enforceability is not a matter of magic words, but of method. A mandatory arbitration clause, no matter how elegantly drafted, is only as strong as the process by which customers agree to it. And courts are increasingly demanding more transparency to account for prevailing consumer habits of blindly clicking “I Agree” or failing to opt out.

So, what makes an online arbitration agreement enforceable? At the risk of oversimplification, the touchstones of enforceability are notice and assent. The customer must be given clear notice of the Ts & Cs and must perform some act — usually a click — that unambiguously signals agreement. Designs that rely on inert silence (“By using this website, you agree ... ”) or that bury terms beneath an undifferentiated blizzard of text and links are increasingly vulnerable. The gold standard, according to recent decisions, is the so-called “clickwrap” approach, which presents the Ts & Cs plainly, requires the user to check a box affirming that they have been read and makes that affirmation a condition of completing the transaction.

Anything less invites doubt — and, potentially, litigation.

If all of this sounds onerous, that is because it is. But it is also avoidable. Website design is, after all, as much an expression of a company’s risk tolerance as it is an expression of aesthetics. And while no one imagines customers eagerly poring over arbitration clauses before buying toner cartridges, the law still insists that agreements — particularly those that strip people of the right to go to court — must be the product of genuine, demonstrable assent. If your business relies on online Ts & Cs to channel disputes to arbitration, now is an excellent time to revisit them. Examine not only the language of your Ts & Cs, but the choreography of your customers’ clicks. Ensure that consent is not merely assumed, but captured — clearly, conspicuously and conclusively. n Greg Goldberg, partner at Barta | Goldberg, is general counsel for the Business Technology Association. He can be reached at ggoldberg@bartagoldberg.com or (847) 922-0945. www.of ficetechnologymag.com | Januar y 2026 | ­23

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

Dealer Members Poynter’s Business Solutions, Marietta, OH Titan Office Solutions, Charlotte, NC Consultant/Trainer Member The Ascension Group LLC, Columbus, OH Vendor Member Avaniko Technologies, Los Angeles, CA For full contact information of these new members, visit www.bta.org.

IT University Online IT University Online’s (ITU’s) Lifetime Library consists of IT certification-based course curriculums. Reasons to buy a Lifetime Library: • It is the most cost-effective IT training you will ever buy.

• You get lifetime access — your courses never expire.

• You will always be up-to-date in the IT field, learning about new technology.

• When ITU updates and adds new courses, you have full access to all of them without ever paying again.

• You can train on your time, wherever you want and at your own pace.

BTA members receive a 65% discount on the Lifetime Library.

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

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

Each month, BTA features two of its vendor members in this space. The association recommends due diligence when choosing a technology partner.

Founded in

2010 and headquartered in Chennai, India, Avaniko Technologies is a global SAP Business One partner providing ERP consulting, integrations and digital transformation services across industries. Avaniko is also the parent company of Avanue, its dedicated division serving managed print and office technology dealers.

Together, the companies deliver SAP-powered solutions that streamline operations, improve visibility and help organizations scale with confidence. www.avaniko.com FlexPoint is an accounts receivable and payments automation platform purpose-built for service providers and the businesses they serve. Through integrated workflows, FlexPoint eliminates manual and offline processes by automating the full billing cycle — from invoicing, billing and payment, to collection and reconciliation. The platform helps to: automate cash flow; turn revenue into cash by streamlining the collections process; improve your clients’ experience by making it easy and secure for them to pay you; and grow your revenue by increasing your clients’ purchasing power and eliminating processing fees. www.getflexpoint.com A full list of BTA vendor members can be found online at www.bta.org.

For more information, visit www.bta.org.

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DEALERS HELPING DEALERS

Sales in the Field

Are reps able to create orders on the fly?

Compiled by: Elizabeth Marvel, Office Technology Magazine

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

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

Can your sales reps create sales orders quickly and easily on demand in the field? If so, how (e.g., digitally, Docusign, etc.)?

“They can access SalesChain on their laptops and send documents electronically with Docusign built into SalesChain.”

Jeffrey Taylor, president Kingsport Imaging Systems Inc., Kingsport, Tennessee “No. All sales orders must be sent to the office for review and conversion. Sales reps can create sales quotes that are sent to customers for approval. The quotes are then forwarded to the office for approval.”

Jeffrey Persha, staff accountant Advanced Business Systems Inc., Watertown, New York “Yes, our sales reps can quickly and easily create sales orders in the field, and it all ties back to ConnectWise at the core of our operations. ConnectWise offers ConnectWise CPQ, a configure, price and quote platform, which is a cloud-based sales, templating and quoting tool. The CPQ system houses all of our products, pricing, descriptions and photos, enabling sales reps to build a quote in real time while meeting with a client. Once finalized, the quote is sent electronically for review and signature. The platform also supports iterative updates, making it simple to revise and resend if changes are needed. This streamlined process ensures that our team can provide fast, accurate and professional proposals on demand, while maintaining efficiency and transparency between the client and our internal operations.”

David Priestley, director of managed services Donnellon McCarthy Enterprises, Cleveland, Ohio “No, not really. We use SalesChain and Docusign. If a rep

wants to do it in the field he (or she) can.

However, it is not very quick to do in the car or customer office.”

Stephen Valenta, president/owner Offix, Gainesville, Virginia “Yes, either electronically with our onepage sales form or they fill it out manually, if needed.”

Brian Bence, executive director of sales SVOE, Verona, Virginia “We use SalesChain and they have this as part of transaction processing. The digital forms work great.”

Peter Napolitano, sales manager United Business Systems, Buffalo, New York “We are almost finished with this project. We will use the Adobe suite of tools and Adobe Sign for this. It is much cheaper than Docusign and you get a lot more tools than just an e-signature.”

Ron Hulett, president & CEO U.S. Business Systems Inc., Elkhart, Indiana “We have digital, but most customers issue us paperwork.”

Mike Boyle, president Base Technologies, Bethel, Connecticut “We are in the process of changing our sales process to use Microsoft automation and it has been working great for us to facilitate all processes in sales.”

Michele Lopez, director of marketing and operations Barlop Business Systems, Miami, Florida “Our representatives can create sales orders from the CRM, convert the files to PDFs and then send them to the clients using Docusign. They cannot do this while in the field, but we have taught the reps how to create a blank order they can complete by hand in the field on the fly.”

Brad Osborn, vice president/general manager Fruth Group Inc., Phoenix, Arizona n Elizabeth Marvel is associate editor of Office Technology magazine.

She can be reached at (816) 303-4060 or elizabeth@bta.org. www.of ficetecthnologymag.com | Januar y 2026 | 25

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PRINCIPAL ISSUES

Mergers & Acquisitions

Nine pitfalls in the process & how to avoid them by: Thomas Fimian, Levifi

O

ver the years, my company has acquired several companies in the office technology and IT services field with the purpose of building a lasting and sustainable company for years to come. These acquisitions have helped us to accelerate growth, add additional talent and offer new services at a rate that is difficult to achieve organically alone. With M&A deals being an important part of many businesses, I want to share some of the common pitfalls and offer my take on how to avoid them.

Cultural Misfit When the goal of an acquisition is to integrate the acquiring company’s existing workforce, we found cultural compatibility to be an essential requirement. If we think that the new company’s culture is not compatible with ours, we are staying away from the acquisition. It is much more difficult to follow our vision and maintain our business direction based on our values when bringing in scores of new team members who are not on the same page.

Implementation Quagmire From onboarding new employees to letting customers know how to get in touch with the new company, there are myriad items to consider when implementing an acquisition.

Working with a well-thought-through checklist helps minimize implementation hiccups and reduce frustration.

Paying Too Much in Taxes for the Acquisition Paying for tangible assets and structuring part of the goodwill as a consulting payment can help minimize the tax burden of an acquisition. Very often, the largest portion of the business purchase price is for goodwill. A goodwill payment must be amortized over a 15-year period, therefore taking a long time before it is fully amortized. It is imperative to consult with your CPA prior to contract term negotiations to understand the tax implications.

Cash-Flow Crunch Informing customers ahead of the acquisition and knowing the accounts payable contacts will have a big impact on avoiding unexpected cash-flow delays. If any new customer makes up a large portion of your regular cash flow, we highly recommend speaking with the A/R contact directly to confirm that the company will continue paying its bills after the acquisition.

Pain in the Fine Print Each customer contract should be carefully reviewed for the following: n Renewal/cancellation details (i.e., terms, auto renewals, penalties, etc.) n Assignment limitations — Ensure that there is no limiting language in the agreement that precludes the new owner from taking over the ownership of the agreement/contract. n Exceptions or special promises that may have been made n The scope of work (SOW) — Make sure it is in line with your business objectives and capabilities (i.e., extended-hour services or on-site service requirements outside of your normal service area).

Old Owner Setting Up Shop Again Adding a well-defined and reasonable noncompete/nondisclosure clause in the business sale agreement can be critical to protecting your business in case the seller decides to set up shop again and starts to compete with you. This is especially important if the new customer base is free to switch to another service provider without restrictions.

Losing Independence & Identity We made a conscious decision to stay independent from private equity or other outside financing options. It is difficult to maintain full control over operations, decision-making processes and long-term vision when the funding is provided from an outside source. Without reliance on outside capital,

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we can maintain our vitality and stability for years to come.

Getting to know the owner well and in different settings will reduce the likelihood Acquiring a company is of being surprised by unmet expectations the business equivalent of after the merger. n HR Surprises a marriage and it takes Thomas Fimian is owner and CEO of Levifi, In our earlier acquisitions, we had new time to build a lasting Charleston, South Carolina. It was his employment agreements executed prior to childhood dream to build his own business, the start day. Unfortunately, one of the new relationship ... we take and after emigrating from Switzerland to the employees never showed up due to medthe time to learn about a United States in 1996, he had the opportunity ical reasons and, even though he has nevpotential acquisition target. to learn the office technology business as er worked for us, we were on the hook for a Xerox consultant for Xdos Inc. Eager to his pay and medical benefits. Now, we sign apply the lessons learned at Xdos to his own employment agreements once an employee business, Fimian moved to Charleston with the goal of shows up on his (or her) first day. This is just one anecdote of building an amazing place for his employees and customers. an HR surprise you want to avoid. We have made it a habit Fimian is a strong believer in “win-win relationships,” and is to review any HR litigation the previous company might have convinced that only a diverse, well-trained and had and assess the likelihood of ongoing potential issues. committed team can provide his clients with the best results they deserve. With this principle, Marrying a Stranger Fimian’s team went to work and expanded the Acquiring a company is the business equivalent of a marcompany’s reach to eight markets in the riage and it takes time to build a lasting relationship. We have Carolinas and Georgia. He can be reached at shied away from “matchmakers”/business brokers. Instead, thomas.fimian@levifi.com. Visit www.levifi.com. we take the time to learn about a potential acquisition target.

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SELLING SOLUTIONS

Price Objections

How to handle them with current customers by: Troy Harrison, Troy Harrison & Associates

L

et’s talk about one of the most nerve-wracking moments in the life of a salesperson — when a good customer calls and says, “Your competitor just offered us a 15% lower price. What can you do for us?” Your first thought is, “Oh … ” and probably another word that I will not write here. You think about the revenue that goes into making your quota. You think about the commissions you were planning on. And if you are like most salespeople, you immediately start thinking about how much of a discount you can offer to keep the business.

Stop right there.

I have been in sales for more than 35 years and I can tell you that how you handle this moment can define not just this transaction, but your entire relationship with this customer going forward. Price objections from current customers are not the same as objections from prospects and they should not be handled the same way.

You should understand something here. I hate price fights. I hate discounting. And I hate the idea of giving away my profit.

I have never wanted to win a sale simply because I submitted the lowest quote. If a customer said: “You quoted the lowest price,” I would say, “It was a mistake and I would like to requote.” But I am neither arrogant nor a Pollyanna, and I know that these moments are a reality in the life of a salesperson. So, let’s address that reality.

The Trap Most Salespeople Fall Into When faced with a price objection from a current customer, too many salespeople and sales managers fall back on what is possibly the worst question in sales: “So where do we need to be to keep your business?”

Let that sink in for a moment. You have just told your customer that your pricing model is essentially meaningless. You have invited him (or her) to name his own price. You have signaled weakness, desperation and a lack of value. And, worst of all, you have trained him that threatening to leave will always result in a discount. This situation will never just happen once.

I have seen this play out hundreds of times and it never ends well. Either you give away too much margin and the customer leaves anyway, or he stays, but with a permanently diminished view of your value proposition.

Four Questions That Change the Conversation Instead of folding like a cheap suit, here is what you should ask when a current customer drops the price bomb on you:

(1) “Can you show me those competitive quotes?” This is asking the customer to prove it, but in a professional way.

You would be shocked how often this simple request changes the conversation. Sometimes the competing offer is not quite as good as the customer initially represented. Sometimes it does not include services you provide. Sometimes (and I have seen this more than once) the quote does not even exist — he is bluffing to get a better deal.

(2) “Why do you want to continue to do business with us?” This is a gutsy question, but it is critical. If he is coming back to you after getting a supposedly better offer elsewhere, there is a reason. Maybe it is your service. Maybe it is your reliability. Maybe it is the relationship. Whatever it is, you need to know — because that reason represents value that can be monetized.

(3) “What are you willing to give up for me to lower my price?” Unjustified discounts suck. If you can get him to make a concession on product, attributes, service, etc., it keeps your value proposition whole.

(4) “We can’t match that price. I might be able to offer a small discount. What price could you live with?” This shows you are willing to meet him partway while maintaining your value. It puts the ball back in his court and forces him to be reasonable. It also gives you room to negotiate without surrendering completely.

What is remarkable is how often customers will come back with numbers that are much closer to your original price than your competitor’s quote. They want to continue the relationship, www.of ficetecthnologymag.com | Januar y 2026 | 29

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but they just want to feel like they have position where you have to keep a customwon something. er at all costs.

Price objections from The fundamental problem is that too current customers are many salespeople see themselves as orThe Bottom Line a fact of life in B2B sales. der-takers rather than value advocates.

Price objections from current customHow you handle them Your job is not to give customers whatever ers are a fact of life in B2B sales. How you they ask for at whatever prices they want. handle them can either reinforce your can either reinforce Your job is to advocate for your company’s value or undermine it permanently. The your value or undermine value proposition and to help customers next time a customer comes to you askit permanently. understand why your solution is worth ing for a discount, resist the urge to panic. what you are charging. By doing so, you Ask these four questions, listen carefully protect your company’s profit — a core part of your job. to the answers and then make a decision that respects both This is not about playing chicken with your customers over your company’s need for profit and your customer’s need for price. It is about having the confidence and professionalism to value. Sometimes, you might even have to shake hands and stand behind your pricing model. It is about respecting your part as friends. company’s need to make a profit. And, ultimately, it is about Your customers might not always like your answers, but they respecting your customers enough to be honest with them will respect you for them. And, in the long run, that respect is about the value they are receiving. worth more than any short-term discount you might give away. n Troy Harrison is the author of “Sell Like You The Best Defense Mean It” and “The Pocket Sales Manager.” He The best defense against price pressure is a full sales funnel. helps companies navigate the elements of sales A sales rep who has a full funnel and new customers ready to on their journeys to success. To schedule a come on board is much less vulnerable to price pressure than free 45-minute Sales Strategy Review, call those who absolutely need every customer they have because (913) 645-3603 or email troy@troyharrison.com. they have nothing else going on. Do not ever put yourself in a Visit www.troyharrison.com.

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