July 2015 Office Technology

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CONTENTS Volume 22 • No. 1

FEATURE ARTICLES 10

Remanufactured Cartridges A mainstream, cost-saving, green alternative

P R I N C I PA L I S S U E S Customer Surveys They should be on your priority list

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by Harry Hecht Business Coach

by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

It makes sense. Rather than tossing spent printer toner cartridges into the trash, give them a new life so they can be used again. After all, remanufactured cartridges offer a cost-saving alternative to new OEM cartridges and, with the extended use of the original cartridge core, there is a positive environmental impact. Remanufactured cartridges have come a long way since they were first introduced. Today, monochrome remanufactured cartridges, together with newly built monochrome compatible cartridges, claim 34 percent of the U.S. market share.

18

Feedback goes a long way toward helping your dealership grow and improve. If you think your business is serving your clients well and want to be sure of that fact, there is no need to guess. But before you put together a focus group or post a few questions on social media — stop.

SELLING SOLUTIONS ‘Sharpening the Axe’ Preparation creates the platform for success

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by Kate Kingston Kingston Training Group

Meet Dave Quint BTA’s new president assumes office on July 1

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” — Abraham Lincoln. I could not agree more. When attempting to go after larger prospects, your success will all be in the preparation. So how do you “sharpen the axe” to take down the big opportunities?

by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

On July 1, Dave Quint, president and CEO of Advanced Systems Inc., based in Waterloo, Iowa, became the national president of the Business Technology Association (BTA).

He is BTA’s 81st president. Quint started at Advanced Systems in 1989 as a territory sales associate and has held various sales and management positions at the company. In 2012, he was named president and, later, president and CEO. Recently, Office Technology magazine had the opportunity to visit with Quint, asking about his role as a BTA volunteer and the association.

Following are his responses.

Neither Either Providing choices is not the best path

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by Tibor Shanto Renbor Sales Solutions

Too many reps offer options to buyers throughout the sales cycle that are not necessary and could negatively impact the sale or its momentum. These options are usually deployed not because they make sense for the rep or buyer, but simply because they help the sales rep cope.

COURTS & CAPITOLS 24

Owning the Customer It is not a gift, it is an investment

by Robert C. Goldberg BTA General Counsel

As the industry changes, so do our relationships with suppliers and end users. The question has been and continues to be: “Who owns the customer?” BTA-approved agreements have always established that the end user belongs to the entity that brings the potential customer to the transaction.

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

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• BTA Calendar • BTA Highlights

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Executive Director’s Page

8

BTA President’s Message

30

Advertiser Index

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S PAGE

2015-16 Scholarship Winners Announced

E

very year, BTA awards a number of scholarships to qualifying children of fulltime employees of BTA member dealerships. For the 2015-16 school year, BTA recently awarded a total of $33,500 in scholarships to 29 deserving students.

This year’s scholarship recipients and sponsoring BTA member dealerships: Haley Yaremych, Applied Imaging, Novi, Mich.; Ashley Tillman, Ashley’s Business Solutions, Tifton, Ga.; Adrienn Peterson, Century Business Products, Sioux Falls, S.D.; Zachary Jones, Copy Link, Chula Vista, Calif.; Emily Crane, Copy Products, Springfield, Mo.; Jeffrey Bean, Eakes Office Solutions, Grand Island, Neb.; Katie Paulich, EO Johnson Business Technologies, Wausau, Wis.; David Keys and Chelsey Niemeyer, Fireside Office Solutions, Bismarck, N.D.; Megan Deim, Fisher’s Technology, Boise, Idaho; Andrew and Coby Carter, Integrated Technologies, Twin Falls, Idaho; Kimberly Turner, JD Young, Tulsa, Okla.; Reilly Baker, Laser Resources, Urbandale, Iowa; Stephani Knutson, Marco, St. Cloud, Minn.; Stephanie Mansour, OneSOURCE Managed Services, Oklahoma City, Okla.; Sarah Chamberlain, Pacific Office Automation, West Valley City, Utah; Grace Newsom, Pacific Office Automation, Beaverton, Ore.; Kevin Barber, Bryce Eck, Nathan Grabner and Samantha Sutter, PERRY proTECH, Lima, Ohio; Emma McMahon, ProCopy Office Solutions, Tempe, Ariz.; Carson Stacy, Professional Business Systems, Bentonville, Ark.; Benjamin Eastin and Caroline Marsh, RJ Young, Nashville, Tenn.; Justine Gab, Southwest Business Machines, Dickinson, N.D.; Mackenzie Cross, Van Ausdall & Farrar, Indianapolis, Ind.; and Tara Forsythe, WJS Enterprises, New Orleans, La.

We would like to thank the following companies that contributed to the BTA Scholarship Foundation during the 2014-15 year: Advanced Business Systems, Watertown, N.Y.; Advanced Copier Technology, Richardson, Texas; Advanced Systems, Waterloo, Iowa; Anderson Business Technology, Pasadena, Calif.; Automated Office Systems, Fresno, Calif.; Budget Document Technology, Lewiston, Maine; California Business Machines, Fresno, Calif.; Da-Com, St. Louis, Mo.; Des Plaines Office Equipment, Elk Grove Village, Ill.; Gobin’s, Pueblo, Colo.; Muratec America, Plano, Texas; New England Copy Specialists, Woburn, Mass.; OKI Data Americas, Mt. Laurel, N.J.; Standley Systems, Chickasha, Okla.; Stan’s Office Technologies, Woodstock, Ill.; and US Copy, Kenner, La. We would also like to thank those who contributed to the Scholarship Foundation in honor of BTA General Counsel Bob Goldberg, upon the establishment of the new Bob Goldberg Annual Scholarship: Accent Imaging, Raleigh, N.C.; Allied Document Solutions & Services, Swedesboro, N.J.; Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office, New York, N.Y.; BASE Technologies, Bethel, Conn.; Broken Acres Electronics, Sandusky, Ohio; Leon and Joan Carter, Advance, N.C.; Cavin’s Business Solutions, Fayetteville, N.C.; Century Business Products, Sioux Falls, S.D.; Coordinated Business Systems, Burnsville, Minn.; Copiers Plus, Fayetteville, N.C.; Desert Business Machines, Palm Desert, Calif.; Jim Donnellon, Cincinnati, Ohio; Edwards Business Systems, Wyomissing, Pa.; Electronic Office Systems, Fairfield, N.J.; Fraser Advanced Information Systems, Reading, Pa.; KIP America, Novi, Mich.; Konica Minolta, Ramsey, N.J.; Lockwood Moore, Reno, Nev.; Muratec America, Plano, Texas; OASYS, Burlington, Wash.; Preferred Office Products, Fort Smith, Ark.; ProSource, Cincinnati, Ohio; and Sandhills Office Systems, Rockingham, N.C. 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 Robert C. Goldberg, General Counsel Business Technology Association Harry Hecht, Business Coach harryhecht@gmail.com Kate Kingston, Kingston Training Group www.kingstontraining.com Tibor Shanto, Renbor Sales Solutions www.tiborshanto.com

Business Technology Association 12411 Wornall Road Kansas City, MO 64145 (816) 941-3100 www.bta.org Member Services: (800) 505-2821 BTA Legal Hotline: (800) 869-6688 Valerie Briseno Membership Marketing Manager valerie@bta.org Mary Hopkins Database Administrator mary@bta.org Teresa Leerar Bookkeeper teresa@bta.org Brian Smith Membership Sales Representative brian@bta.org Photo Credits: Bigstockphoto. Cover created by Bruce Quade, Brand X Studio. ©2015 by the Business Technology Association. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the publisher. Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of published material. However, the publisher assumes no liability for errors in articles nor are opinions expressed necessarily those of the publisher.

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BTA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE 2015-2016 Board of Directors

Say Hello to BTA’s Volunteer Leaders

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t is my honor to become the 81st president of the Business Technology Association (BTA) starting this month. I am looking forward to helping guide our association during FY 2015-16. Of course, I will not be alone. I’d like to thank the following national and district volunteers who will also be guiding BTA in the year ahead: National President-Elect and Board Member Rob Richardson, Allied Document Solutions & Services Inc., Swedesboro, New Jersey.

National Vice President and Board Member Dan Castaneda, International Copy Machine Center, El Paso, Texas.

National Immediate Past President and Board Member Ron Hulett, U.S. Business Systems Inc., Elkhart, Indiana.

BTA East President Jim Donnellon, ABS Business Products Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio.

BTA East President-Elect Tim Seeley Jr., Seeley Office Systems Inc., Glens Falls, New York.

BTA East Vice President Don Risser, Advanced Laser Printer Service & Supplies Inc., Emigsville, Pennsylvania.

BTA East Secretary/Treasurer Aaron Rubin, Docutrend Imaging Solutions, New York, New York.

BTA East Board Member Mike Ardry, Office Equipment Center LLC, Plantsville, Connecticut.

BTA East Immediate Past President and National Board Member Greg Gondek, ACT Group, Cromwell, Connecticut.

BTA Mid-America President Erik Crane, Copy Products Inc., Springfield, Missouri.

BTA Mid-America President-Elect Greg Quirk, JQ Office Equipment of Omaha Inc., Omaha, Nebraska.

BTA Mid-America Vice President DJ Hastings, Hogland Office Equipment, Lubbock, Texas.

BTA Mid-America Secretary/Treasurer Mike Nerland, Elite Business Systems, Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

BTA Mid-America Board Member Chris Albert, Document & Network Technologies Inc., Fenton, Missouri.

BTA Mid-America Immediate Past President and National Board Member Bob Evans, DigiTec Office Solutions Inc., Sugar Land, Texas.

BTA Southeast President Brian Snow, Advanced Business Systems, Tallahassee, Florida.

BTA Southeast President-Elect Tim Renegar, Kelly Office Solutions, WinstonSalem, North Carolina.

BTA Southeast Vice President David Polimeni, Laser Rite Document Solutions, Sarasota, Florida.

BTA Southeast Secretary/Treasurer Bill James, River Ridge, Louisiana.

BTA Southeast Immediate Past President and National Board Member John Eckstrom, Carolina Business Equipment Inc. (CBE), Columbia, S.C. BTA West President John Hines, Copiers Northwest Inc., Seattle, Washington.

BTA West President-Elect Mike Brandon, ABC Office Equipment Co., Spokane, Washington.

BTA West Vice President Joe Escamilla, Document Systems, Oxnard, California.

BTA West Secretary/Treasurer Mike McCurdy, Integrated Technologies Inc., Twin Falls, Idaho.

BTA West Board Member Dan Bombard, Yuma Office Equipment, Yuma, Arizona.

BTA West Immediate Past President and National Board Member Cathy Dimon, Northern Business Systems, Fairbanks, Alaska. n — Dave Quint

President Dave Quint Advanced Systems Inc. 2945 Airport Blvd.

P.O. Box 57 Waterloo, IA 50704 dquint@asiowa.com President-Elect Rob Richardson Allied Document Solutions & Services Inc. 200 Church St. Swedesboro, NJ 08085 robr@ads-s.com Vice President Dan Castaneda International Copy Machine Center 1515 Lee Trevino, Ste. EE El Paso, TX 79936 dan@icmc-elp.com BTA East Greg Gondek ACT Group 20 Commerce Drive Cromwell, CT 06416 greg@advancedcopy.com BTA Mid-America Bob Evans DigiTec Office Solutions Inc. 12560 Reed Road, Ste. 200 Sugar Land, TX 77478 bobevans@digiteconline.com BTA Southeast John Eckstrom Carolina Business Equipment Inc. 5123 Bush River Road Columbia, SC 29212 johne@cbesc.com BTA West Cathy Dimon Northern Business Systems 3526 International Fairbanks, AK 99701 cdimon@acsalaska.net Immediate Past President Ron Hulett U.S. Business Systems Inc. 3221 Southview Drive Elkhart, IN 46514 ron.hulett@usbus.com Ex-Officio/General Counsel Robert C. Goldberg Schoenberg Finkel Newman & Rosenberg LLC 222 S. Riverside Plaza, Ste. 2100 Chicago, IL 60606 robert.goldberg@sfnr.com

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Remanufactured Cartridges A mainstream, cost-saving, green alternative by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

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t makes sense. Rather than tossing spent printer toner cartridges into the trash, give them a new life so they can be used again. After all, remanufactured cartridges offer a cost-saving alternative to new OEM cartridges and, with the extended use of the original cartridge core, there is a positive environmental impact.

Remanufactured cartridges have come a long way since they were first introduced.

Today, monochrome remanufactured cartridges, together with newly built monochrome compatible cartridges, claim 34 percent of the U.S. market share, says John Shane, director of the Communication Supplies Consulting Service at InfoTrends, a market research firm. “Of that 34 percent, 71 percent are remanufactured cartridges,” he says. “On the color side, the market share is 13 percent — 70 percent of which are remanufactured cartridges.”

Despite the strides since the product offering emerged, the aftermarket cartridge (remanufactured and newly built compatible) market share on the monochrome side plateaued a number of years ago, Shane says. “It has been at around one-third of the market for a long time,” he says.

“However, the market for aftermarket color cartridges is still growing at a compound annual growth rate of about 7 percent. Back in 2011, its market share was around 9 percent. We are expecting it to make it to 14 percent within two years. That is not massive growth, but it is growth.”

Why the monochrome plateau and low market share for color? “You can separate the market into three groups of buyers,” Shane says. “There are people who will only go with the OEM cartridge, people who are always looking for deals and, so, will embrace aftermarket cartridges, and those who will go either way. There is always going to be a limit to the growth of the aftermarket cartridge’s market share.”

On the color side, Shane emphasizes a key reason for the lackluster market-share growth. “Color is still gaining overall market share, but the aftermarket vendors are not gaining

penetration there fast enough to achieve any substantial growth,” he says. “That mainly comes down to the incredible difficulty of remanufacturing a color cartridge.”

Acknowledging that the current market share for color aftermarket cartridges is poor, Luke Goldberg, global senior vice president of sales and marketing for Clover Imaging Group, one of the largest producers of remanufactured toner cartridges, says the challenges in the industry remain the same as they were when the first color remanufactured cartridge was introduced in the 1990s. There are the difficulties in addressing the technological challenges of remanufacturing a color cartridge, but there is also the challenge of “convincing consumers who are quality conscious when it comes to color that there is, indeed, a true OEM alternative,” he says. “We should be further along than we are today.”

Despite the industry’s minimal color cartridge marketshare claim, Goldberg says he sees a silver lining, given that the demand for color pages remains a growth market.

Clover welcomes the challenges presented by the perpetual launch of new products and technologies by OEMs, he says.

“We view these as challenges we want to live up to,” he says.

“If the OEMs don’t push us by innovating, then our industry will ultimately stagnate.”

Adding to the challenges within the cartridge remanufacturing industry is the ongoing quest to avoid triggering legal action from the OEMs. Understandably, OEMs have an interest in protecting their intellectual property (IP) and patents. As a result, where infringements have occurred, lawyers have been quickly brought in to do their work.

Remanufacturers have the law on their side, as long as they adhere to it. BTA General Counsel Bob Goldberg cites the basic parameters that allow the cartridge aftermarket industry to exist. “Under U.S. patent law, cores that were originally sold in the United States may be refurbished,” he says, noting that the designation is referred to as patent exhaustion.

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“However, cores that were origireplacement machine.” nally sold outside of the United Of course, despite any “Plus, before we engage in a States retain their patent rights legal issues or productransaction ... we have them following that initial sale.” tion challenges, the aftersign an indemnification The preservation of patent market cartridge exists agreement with us — that rights for U.S. products followand continues to endure they are not infringing on ing their initial sale outside U.S. for two primary reasons any patents, but if there is borders does present a chal— the most significant lenge to the office technology being the cost savings. an infringement issue, they dealer, BTA’s Goldberg says. “It “A good reman will probare fully liable for any cost we may incur.” is difficult for a dealer to estabably be 20- to 30-per — Bob Willmes lish where the cartridge was cent less than the OEM,” Supplies Wholesalers first sold,” he says. “So, a dealer Shane says. “Now, if you should rely on written assurgo to the Internet and ances that cartridges comply with all laws and regulations.” start price shopping, you will find some remans that will ofThrough the years, a string of lawsuits has shown that not fer a greater than 30-percent savings. That’s probably a pretty all aftermarket cartridges have complied with the law. The good sign that it is not going to perform like you would expect.” litigious nature of the industry remains unabated, Shane The other oft-touted benefit of the remanufactured carsays. “I think the issues have been getting bigger,” he says. tridge is the positive environmental impact, though for “The OEMs have made it clear to aftermarket vendors, both many companies it is not the deciding factor. “With large remanufacturers and the producers of newly built compati- companies, the environmental benefit plays into the decibles, that they are not going to put up with patent infringe- sion-making process,” Shane says. “They have their own corment. The biggest remanufacturers are doing their best to be porate sustainability plans; printers and supplies are a part clean, but they can get tripped up every now and then.” of that. But with smaller companies, while this is something Because of those occasional “trip-ups,” Shane advises they like, when it really comes down to making a product dealers to request from suppliers indemnification from le- purchasing choice, it is price that always wins out.” gal expenses resulting from any IP or patent infringement Despite the positive environmental impact cartridge reissues. Some dealers are already making the request, con- manufacturing provides, “I think it is safe to say that more firms Bob Willmes, founder and CEO of Supplies Wholesal- than 80 percent of them [cartridge cores] ultimately do get ers, a wholesaler of remanufactured cartridges and other landfilled [if the cartridges are not incinerated to generate supplies. “If any dealer has a concern, we will provide an energy or their components are not recycled for other uses] [indemnification] agreement between Supplies Wholesalers at the end of the first, second or third use,” Shane says, esand that dealer,” he says. “We have never refused one. It is timating that fewer than one-third of cores are used more becoming top of mind.” than a second time. “Even so, between what the OEMs do Willmes notes that his company, which does not pro- to collect their cartridges and what the remanufacturers do duce any of the remanufactured cartridges it sells, sources to reuse cartridges, I think the story on toner cartridges is most of its aftermarket cartridges from China. “We will not a heck of a lot better environmental story than a lot of other source from a second- or third-tier [Chinese] factory,” he products. One of my favorite comparisons is alkaline battersays. “We only source from the three top-tier factories that ies. Though they can be recycled, I bet 99.9 percent of them have shown a history of respect for IP. Plus, before we engage go into the trash.” in a transaction with them, we have them sign an indemnifiWith many MPS programs in place among office techcation agreement with us — that they are not infringing on nology dealers, the use of aftermarket cartridges is now any patents, but if there is an infringement issue, they are relatively mainstream. However, for those dealers only now fully liable for any cost we may incur.” looking to take on the OEM alternative or looking to switch In addition, Willmes says, Supplies Wholesalers will suppliers, Willmes suggests questions for dealers to ask any quickly address any damage to a printer resulting from a new supplier. “Some of the things they should ask include: faulty cartridge supplied by his company, noting that its av- What’s the defect rate on mono and color? What’s the guarerage product defect rate is only 1.5 percent. “We will cover antee, not just for any cartridge that doesn’t work, but for any damage to a printer,” he says. “That gives the dealer damages to a machine?” he says. “Plus, you also have to be peace of mind. He can give us an invoice for a service call aware of whether the supplier respects IP.” where the toner has leaked and we will go as far as buying a Clover’s Goldberg likewise offers advice to dealers 12 | ­w w w. o f f ic et ec hno lo g y m a g.c om | July 2 0 1 5

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Goldberg says. “If you told seeking an aftermarket carme 20 years ago that one day tridge supplier. “The first “If you told me 20 years almost every OEM would thing I would say is go visit ago that one day almost be using remanufactured the company,” he says, citevery OEM would be using cartridges in their MPS ing in particular cartridge remanufactured cartridges ... programs, that every tierremanufacturers. “Take a I would have been dubious. one distributor would have look at the types of investClearly, this has been a a program for remanufacments they are making into resilient, dynamic industry that tured cartridges and that engineering and technolevery major big-box retailer ogy. What certifications do has become both legitimate and reputable.” would offer remanufacthey have? What is their

— Luke Goldberg tured cartridges, I would quality control process and Clover Imaging Group have been dubious,” he says. protocol? What tools are “Those are pretty major they offering to help your business? How do they define ‘partnering’? How effective achievements. Clearly, this has been a resilhave their remanufactured cartridges been in MPS en- ient, dynamic industry that has become both gagements? How do they add value through solutions and legitimate and reputable.” n Brent Hoskins, executive director of the other programs?”

Business Technology Association, is editor Any dealer who is looking to ramp up in offering reof Office Technology magazine. He can be manufactured cartridges can take comfort in knowing reached at brent@bta.org or (816) 303-4040. how far the industry has come through the years, Clover’s

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Meet Dave Quint BTA’s new president assumes office on July 1 by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

O

n July 1, Dave Quint, president and CEO of Advanced Systems Inc., based in Waterloo, Iowa, became the national president of the Business Technology Association (BTA). He is BTA’s 81st president.

Quint started at Advanced Systems in 1989 as a territory sales associate and has held various sales and management positions at the company. In 2012, he was named president and, later, president and CEO. The $15-million-plus dealership has eight offices covering a large part of northern and eastern Iowa, overlapping into Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and South Dakota. Advanced Systems’ primary manufacturers are Canon, Lexmark and OKI. The company also offers document management and managed print solutions.

Recently, Office Technology magazine had the opportunity to visit with Quint, asking about his role as a BTA volunteer and the association. Following are his responses.

OT: What led you to step forward to become a volunteer for BTA? How have you benefited from the experience?

Quint: When I first became president of Advanced Systems, I asked our [then] CEO what I could do to get more involved in the industry. He suggested volunteering for BTA. I started by getting involved at the district level, ultimately becoming president of BTA Mid-America. That led to becoming a member of the national BTA Board of Directors and also to serving as a national officer.

From day one, I found that my fellow BTA volunteers are very welcoming. I have developed some great friendships with them — dealers from across the country. The benefits from these friendships are tremendous. There have been numerous occasions when we collaborate on common challenges that we face; they act as a sounding board when I have ideas or want to ask their opinions. For example, we were in need of a new sales compensation plan at our dealership.

Input from my fellow BTA volunteers helped me develop a new comp plan for our sales team. I was able to take components of what I heard from them — and others I met through BTA — and put together a new plan that has worked well for us.

In addition, serving as a volunteer for BTA has helped give me a better understanding of our industry and where it is headed.

This has been extremely valuable in running our dealership and planning for its future. I would advise other dealers to consider volunteering for BTA. It is a great educational opportunity; learning about the industry experiences of others has been tremendous.

OT: Looking to the year ahead, what are some areas you believe will be your primary areas of focus as BTA president?

Quint: At this point I have two areas I would like to focus on as president: (A) Helping to ensure the continued growth and success of our district events; and (B) monitoring, reviewing and modifying, if necessary, our educational offerings. These two areas are particularly important as we seek to continue growing our membership and providing the educational opportunities dealers are seeking.

Of course, my focus on our district events will include a special emphasis on BTA’s 90th anniversary celebration, which will take place at the 2016 BTA Mid-America event in Kansas City, Missouri. When I think about BTA’s 90th anniversary, I can’t help but think about the vision and foresight of the volunteer and staff leadership through the years that have ensured the long-enduring viability of our association. I am looking forward to joining others in honoring these past leaders and celebrating the fact that the vision of the dealers who formed the association back in 1926 has never faltered.

Regarding BTA’s educational offerings — whether they are webinar-based or on-site, instructor-led workshops — they provide valuable and pertinent content to help dealers

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prosper in today’s environment. As our industry continues to change, it is critical that our educational offerings change as well, to ensure they remain relevant and valuable to dealers. In the year ahead, I will focus, in part, on making sure that our educational lineup is exactly what our dealers are seeking.

overlook the value of dealers helping dealers. Whether it is at a district event, educational workshop or some other BTA-hosted event, through the association dealers are able to connect with other dealers to everyone’s benefit. It has been my observation at BTA events that dealers are eager and willing to share experiences with their fellow dealers.

Yes, there are manufacturer events and some dealers belong to other organizations, but BTA is unique in the fact that it has such a wide range of dealer member types, from those with very small dealerships to those with some of the largest dealerships in the United States. These include dealerships that are more traditional in nature, selling MFPs, but also many that are more IT- or services-centric. However, not only do we have this wide variety of members, but we also have professional staff members and a number of volunteer leaders who collectively work very hard to make sure BTA stays relevant. Whether it is selling to millennials, developing a managed services program or better understanding the 3D printing market, BTA has a unique mix of people who, together, can bring dealers the guidance they are seeking in today’s ever-changing marketplace. Clearly,

“... BTA has a unique mix of people who, together, can bring to the dealer channel the guidance they are seeking in today’s everchanging marketplace.”

OT: Why do you believe BTA is important to office technology dealers and to the industry as a whole?

Quint: Since it was established, BTA has provided dealers not only a variety of resources to help them improve their bottom lines, but it has also given them a collective voice, regardless of the manufacturers they represent, their dealership sizes or geographic locations. BTA is the neutral resource that all dealers can turn to for help, education and support. It is the one office technology industry organization that truly exists to support all independent dealers, with a mission to help them be more successful.

The top of BTA’s website reads “Dealers Helping Dealers Make Profitable Connections.” This captures the core mission of BTA. That is, while it is certainly true that the association offers its members many valuable benefit programs, you can’t

BTA 2015-16 President-Elect Rob Richardson

BTA’s 2015-16 president-elect, Rob Richardson, is president and founder of Allied Document Solutions & Services (ads-s).

This year marks his 21st year leading the company, located in Swedesboro, New Jersey. A laser printer-centric organization, Richardson’s dealership leads with HP products and it has attained the elite status of being HP supplies authorized as well as MPS certified for programs and services. In addition, ads-s is authorized to sell and service Toshiba copier/MFPs in its region. The current business units within ads-s consist of transactional sales, managed print services and, most recently, document management and workflow solutions.

Though Richardson initially volunteered for BTA to better understand the copier/MFP industry and the business model, he says he has gained much more than that knowledge through his service to the association. “My participation in BTA has pleasantly grown into strong partnerships — not only with vendors and manufacturers, but also with fellow dealers,” he says. “I often call [dealer] members to learn and share successes, as well as failures, that strengthen me personally and professionally.”

As president-elect, Richardson hopes to continue growing BTA’s membership. “My goal is to continue the momentum the previous leadership has provided,” he says. “Growing the membership of BTA is always the primary driver for me; continued creative

discussions on that topic with fellow board members is critical.”

Richardson thinks his experience in the printer business brings value to the board of directors and he sees great opportunity within that segment of the industry. “My understanding of the printer side of the house is where I feel I can bring the most value to BTA,” he says. “I really see an opportunity with the traditional printerrelated organizations that are typically not members of BTA. They would not only increase our membership, but broaden our scope and competencies. The reality is that there is, and will continue to be, a convergence of copier/MFP and printer providers.”

Richardson thinks BTA’s district events were the association’s biggest successes in the past year. “There continues to be a great buzz around the events and the proof is in the attendance — not only by dealers, but also by vendors,” he says. “Also, the effort to do events in conjunction with other organizations supports the culture where BTA, even with its level of success, is always looking to evolve.”

This evolution, Richardson says, is something BTA is constantly striving for as the industry changes as well. “The best approach [for BTA to serve its members] is to try to sift through what the next shiny object will be and what will have legs in the industry,” he says. “The ultimate goal is to establish what will have legs and then develop information, services and education around the future direction that will best serve our members. BTA is committed to constantly assessing its value to both dealers and vendors — and taking action.”

— Elizabeth Marvel

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KIP System K provides seamless control and exceptional productivity for color plus black & white copy, print and scan operations.

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BTA is the only industry organization of its type.

“So, as a dealer member of BTA, I plan to lean heavily on what I have learned from the association — that there is strength in our numbers.“

OT: What do you believe are the greatest challenges dealers face in today’s market? How can BTA help dealer members effectively address these challenges?

Quint: I believe the greatest challenges dealers face today all revolve around transitioning to a solutions- or servicesbased sales and support dealership, versus a traditional hardware-based dealership. BTA can help dealers address these challenges by continuing to offer relevant educational opportunities, as I have mentioned, and by recognizing and sharing the best practices of dealers who are performing ahead of the curve in this transition. We often accomplish the latter through the dealer panel discussions at our district events.

I referenced BTA’s upcoming 90th anniversary. If you stop and think about it, BTA itself is a master at transition and change. Consider the industry as it was in 1926 as compared to today. BTA has endured it all and remains a very viable organization. Of course, it is the collective efforts of the association’s staff and dealer leadership that have ensured its survival and growth. That tells me that together we are better

able to face industry challenges than we are individually. So, as a dealer member of BTA, I plan to lean heavily on what I have learned from the association — that there is strength in our numbers.

That strength comes through the growing number of BTA member dealers and our efforts to help one another.

OT: What is your vision for BTA as you look to the years ahead?

Quint: Although our industry will continue to change as technology changes, I feel the basic premise of BTA will remain the same; it is our industry’s one recognized, neutral industry organization with a mission to help dealers of all types and geographies be more successful. What I do see as changing in the future is the perceived value of BTA in the overall dealer community. This I see as continuing to grow, given the great momentum of BTA that has developed in recent years.

I foresee a time in the near future that BTA membership will be considered the norm among all office technology dealers — as essential within the dealer community. n Brent Hoskins, executive director of the Business Technology Association, is editor of Office Technology magazine.

He can be reached at brent@bta.org.

BTA 2015-16 Vice President Dan Castaneda BTA’s 2015-16 vice president, Dan Castaneda, is general manager of International Copy Machine Center, located in El Paso, Texas. He has more than 26 years in the industry, both in service and management.

Prior to International Copy Machine Center, where Castaneda has worked since 2002, he served as service manager at a Minoltaauthorized dealership for 13 years. He is trained in machine repair, networking, employee management and customer service. International Copy Machine Center sells Konica Minolta, Muratec and KIP products, as well as workflow and document management software.

Castaneda has served as a BTA volunteer for three years, starting in the Mid-America district and then moving to the national board of directors as the Mid-America district representative. He first got involved after one of BTA’s district events. “I decided to volunteer after a BTA East event,” Castaneda says. “I had such a great time with the volunteers that I decided I had to be a part of that.”

In his role as vice president, Castaneda says he wants to use his strengths to support BTA President Dave Quint and BTA PresidentElect Rob Richardson, and help newly elected volunteers become acclimated to their positions as volunteers. “I think that my strengths have been in building trust and friendships among the board members,” he says. “I think I help to create a light-hearted atmosphere where all feel comfortable volunteering their time and ideas to make BTA a better organization.”

Castaneda expects BTA to continue its steady growth in upcoming years, despite industry changes like the move from paper to digital, mobile printing, the cloud, etc. “I think BTA will grow its membership in the next five to 10 years,” he says. “The association’s benefits will continue to adapt to the current needs of its members, which will make the organization stronger for all.

“In the same period of time, I think the industry will change in a manner of trust,” he continues. “Where dealers once sold only equipment, they will now be offering complete office solutions, combining all aspects of the customer’s office needs and providing all-in-one service — from equipment and IT services to communications and software. Dealers will be entrusted to provide a complete service for customers that will allow them to run the day-to-day operations necessary to succeed in their businesses.

BTA will adapt by leading the way into new arenas and introducing trusted vendors that offer the solutions for such enterprises.”

Castaneda thinks BTA’s educational offerings are some of the most important benefits BTA offers. “I see the training of members as a crucial part of what BTA will continue to offer,” he says.

“Bringing in new and current information to the channel to assist dealers in building their companies will be integral, and BTA will continue to provide that education for dealers.”

Castaneda says he has benefited from not only serving as a BTA volunteer, but just from being a member. “I have grown tremendously — both personally and professionally — using BTA and its vendors and partners to assist me,” he says.

— Elizabeth Marvel

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COURTS & CAPITOLS

Owning the Customer It is not a gift, it is an investment by: Robert C. Goldberg, general counsel for the Business Technology Association

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s the office technology industry changes, so do our relationships with suppliers and end users. The age-old question has been and continues to be: “Who owns the customer?” BTA-approved agreements have always established that the end user belongs to the entity that brings the potential customer to the transaction. As a procuring cause of the relationship, the dealer establishes and owns the customer relationship. In many dealer agreements, the identities and information regarding the end user are designated as “confidential information” that cannot be used by anyone else for marketing or sales purposes.

As services expand and additional providers become part of the solution, the ownership question becomes clouded. End users sign license agreements for software that clearly designate the relationship of the parties — and those relationships do not include the dealer. When vendors come between the dealer and the end user to install, upgrade or maintain products the dealer sold, they can have a damaging effect on customer relationships. As dealers strive to become “trusted consultants,” it is very important that they assume that role as the nucleus for the total solution provided.

There is a fine line between being knowledgeable and merely being viewed as a middleman. Middlemen are considered to be expendable and increase costs. The Internet provides a wealth of information and lessens the importance of a supplier being in close proximity. Overnight shipping further lessens the value of being present in the territory. If an end user believes he (or she) can eliminate the markup of the middleman by shopping on the Internet and using overnight shipping, the dealer has failed miserably.

Compounding the dealer role in a transaction is the desire of suppliers to work directly with end users and increase their profitability as well. If dealers fail to protect their customer base, they place at risk a portion of the value of their business with each transaction. To protect your customer base, it is essential to protect yourself contractually. It is equally important to provide continuing value-added services to the customer.

Dealers who provide specialized services, prompt and knowledgeable support, information, training, and a choice of products and solutions can ingrain themselves with the customer.

It is essential to express your knowledge and experience in the

industry to help the customer find the best solutions. Continual meetings with customers reinforcing your concern, commitment and desire to maintain their solutions must occur on a regular basis. Simply renewing a maintenance or support agreement is not serving and maintaining the customer relationship. Utilize your own customer relationship management software to maintain your database of discussions and preserve it in the event of a personnel change. Your suppliers are likely to be communicating with your customers regarding enhancements, fixes and/or tips, so you must remain in front of them with your knowledge and expertise as well. Are you sending out a monthly newsletter? Have you prepared case studies of successful solutions to share with potential users? Do you have open houses or lunch-and-learn sessions? The goal is to elevate yourself to a level where the customer contacts you whenever an issue or question arises regarding the area in which your solution is placed.

Although the Internet may be a threat, it can be an asset as well. Create videos demonstrating equipment and uses. Place training and tutorial videos on the Internet to help educate end users. Update your website and make it interactive by providing the opportunity to place a service call, order supplies or ask a question.

Increase your expertise and insist end-user contact always be through your dealership and not from a supplier. Establish a help desk and continually expand its expertise. Implement a reward system for employees based on successful end-user results. If your staff is unable to respond to a problem and the call is referred to the supplier, there is little question who the end user will reach out to next time.

Maintaining strong customer relations is not an expensive undertaking, but requires planning and execution. Protect your customer base in your contractual relations with your suppliers along with non-solicitation and non-disclosure agreements with your employees. Create value, recognition and become a trusted consultant to your customers. Owning the customer is not a gift, but an investment that must be made on a continuing and persistent basis. n Robert C. Goldberg is general counsel for the Business Technology Association.

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

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EDUCATION CALENDAR July 16

Building My Business Webinar: “Selling Strategies in the Internet Era” In this webinar, led by Richard Farrell of Tangent Knowledge Systems, you will learn strategies for ensuring that you truly stand out from the crowd: how to best communicate your value proposition from the position of the problems you can solve for your prospective customers; how to get more decision makers on the phone and, ultimately, interested in setting up meetings with you; and how to describe the hypothetical problems that your prospect will need to acknowledge to be interested in what your dealership has to offer. Visit www.bta.org/BuildingMyBusiness to register.

August 5-6

FIX: Cost Management for Service 2.0

Las Vegas, Nevada FIX teaches you how to compute the cost of your service labor hour (service burden rate) and improve your overall service department profitability. Workshop instructors Ronelle Ingram and Rock Janecek will cover first-call completion and proven management and customer service programs to improve morale within your service department. Those struggling with MPS and IT issues can learn new management skills to help transition their staffs to the realities of solutions-based servicing. Workshop attendees receive free registration to the Aug. 6-7 Capture the Magic district event, hosted by BTA West. Visit www.bta.org/FIX to register.

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Capture the Magic - Hosted by BTA West Las Vegas, Nevada BTA West will host Capture the Magic, open to dealers from across the country, Aug. 6-7 at The Venetian in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event will feature a keynote session by Nate Booth, a panel discussion focused on the millennial mindset and five additional educational sessions presented by subject-matter experts. In addition, there will be time to visit with 30-plus exhibiting sponsors, many of which will hold drawings for great prizes during the event. The event will wrap up with a Cirque du Soleil performance of the attendee’s choice: Michael Jackson ONE or Zarkana. BTA member dealers receive 2-for-1 registration! Visit www.bta.org/BTAWestEvent to register.

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Building My Business Webinar: “Proactive Prospecting — Turning an Interruption Into a Sales Conversation” This webinar, led by Tibor Shanto of Renbor Sales Solutions, will show you: why reps are reluctant to prospect; how to help them overcome this reluctance; a proven process for prospecting success; how to deal with email and voicemail; and a means of creating sustained change behaviors in your team members. You will learn why looking for need and pain will limit prospecting success, and what you have to introduce into the call if you are going to overcome apathy and complacency in buyers. Visit www.bta.org/BuildingMyBusiness to register.

For more information, visit www.bta.org/Education or call (800) 843-5059.

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

Dealer Members Digicomm Document Solutions, Shelton, CT Integrated Business Solutions of Hawaii, Aiea, HI New Star Sales & Service, Mountain Lake, MN Vendor Associate Members Depot International, Hoffman Estates, IL Express Sales Corp., Cerritos, CA International Laser Group, Calabasas, CA Laserfiche, Long Beach, CA For full contact information of these new members, visit www.bta.org.

Sentry Insurance Services Sentry Insurance provides a full line of business insurance including property, business personal property, commercial liability, automobile fleets, false pretense, workers’ compensation and equipment insurance, as well as employer-sponsored 401(k) programs. Sentry can help you create flexible, custom-made risk management solutions and provide property and casualty insurance, workers’ compensation, retirement plans, employee group benefits and business life planning. With Sentry you will spend less time worrying about insurance and more time running your business.

Visit www.bta.org/Insurance for more information.

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 or Service Associate members in this space.

BTA Vendor Associate member Intellinetics Inc. focuses on enterprise content management (ECM) solutions for the digital age. With open, cloud-based computing software, Intellinetics is positioned to grow with the ECM industry as it strategizes to become the dominant ECM service provider in the small to mid-size business market.

Intellinetics’ flagship platform, Intellicloud, combines advanced virtualization and automated content management with an open and serviceoriented architecture using Web services. www.intellinetics.com

BTA Service Associate member Gwentaa offers applications that improve your dealership’s operational efficiency and bottom line by bringing together information from multiple applications. Its software, Supply Intelligence, helps to increase profitability within your MPS program. Are your supply costs higher than you want? Is your helpdesk staff overworked? Are you not sure if you are over- or under-shipping toner? Optimize your shipping levels and your staff’s performance with Supply Intelligence, which bridges the gaps between e-automate or OMD and FMAudit, Print Audit or Print Tracker. www.gwentaa.com A full list of BTA Vendor and Service Associate members can be found online at www.bta.org.

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PRINCIPAL ISSUES

Customer Surveys They should be on your priority list by: Harry Hecht, Business Coach

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eedback goes a long way toward helping your dealership grow and improve. If you think your business is serving your clients well and want to be sure of that fact, there is no need to guess. But before you put together a focus group, post a few questions on social media or create one of those “tell-us-what-you-think” cards — stop. The information you need is literally a phone call away.

If you really want to improve all areas of your business — from marketing to operations — put a system in place to get continuous feedback (aka research). Everyone in your organization should be involved in ensuring total customer satisfaction, not just your service department. Surveys are a great tool for business growth because they help you: n Stay in contact with your customers. A phone call asking for feedback demonstrates you care and value your customers.

You get information and they feel appreciated. It is a win-win. n Avoid the “see-you-in-three-years” syndrome that many office technology dealers fall into. Having a new rep make contact prior to lease renewal is not the best definition of “staying close to your customer.” n Test a new product or service. Thinking about adding managed print or IT services to your arsenal? Survey your clients and see if there is a void or need for these services and if they would be interested in a program offering from your dealership. Do not make an investment in a new service or product just because your friends are doing it or you heard about it at a seminar or convention. Test, survey and test again before spending valuable time and resources that could take you away from a better ROI in your business. n Learn from your mistakes. No matter how good you think you are, mistakes will happen. Most customers will not bother to tell you — unless you ask. Your concern should be when unsatisfied customers do not voice their concerns. We can only learn and then fix mistakes or issues we know about. n Identify possible problems. Many big problems — the kind that cost you customers and profits — start off as smaller issues that are unidentified or ignored along the way, like response time or rude customer service. Flagging problems early saves you time, money and your valuable reputation.

n Get testimonials, letters, online reviews and referrals. This is easy and most dealers do not do it enough. The best time to ask for these is when customers are singing your praises and have just contracted with you. You may even uncover some gems you did not expect to find. Sometimes these are little things we take for granted, but customers do not and they notice. n Quantify your quality. If you build scoring within your surveys, you now have the ability to track improvements and support claims in your marketing and sales. Others may claim great service, on-time delivery or quality, but you can back your claims up with metrics that matter. Think outside of the box on this one.

While written and electronic surveys are better than doing nothing at all, oral or phone surveys work best for three reasons. First, since they are conversational, people tend to open up and reveal more information. Second, they leave less to interpretation and guess work. If you are not sure what a customer means, ask another question for clarification. Third, the tone of the message is often more telling than the words. It is not what you say, but how you say it. This is lost in written and online surveys.

Over the years, I have done surveys and tracking with plenty of clients in the office technology industry. They work. Put surveys on your priority list and you, too, will see performance improvements in all areas of your business. n Harry Hecht, a business coach and consultant, has more than 32 years of office technology industry experience.

His extensive business experience includes a 22-year career as the vice president of U.S. dealer sales for Konica Minolta Business Solutions and five years as vice president and general manager for Global Imaging Systems, a Xerox company.

Hecht is a member of the MPSA and has been actively involved for more than 10 years in the development, creation, implementation and growth of managed print services programs throughout the independent dealer channel.

He can reached at harryhecht@gmail.com or (609) 636-9893.

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SELLING SOLUTIONS

‘Sharpening the Axe’ Preparation creates the platform for success by: Kate Kingston, Kingston Training Group

“G

ive me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” — Abraham Lincoln.

I could not agree more. When attempting to go after larger prospects, your success will all be in the preparation.

So how do you “sharpen the axe” to take down the big opportunities? There are only two things that a sales rep can do to increase the net-new portion of his (or her) sales: (1) Increase the number of net-new deals; and (2) Increase the sizes of those net-new deals.

Part of the preparation comes from finding prospects that are available to pursue. Most dealerships have their sales reps look at their territories and identify 250 prospective, net-new companies to go after. Inside those 250 prospects, the rep should identify his top one, five, 10 and 25 prospects to pursue.

All too often the rep identifies those top accounts, but does not attach a different strategy to gaining brand awareness, trust and an audience with key players in those large accounts.

The “down-the-street” business strategy, which works with smaller opportunities, is a different approach. That approach is often comprised of foot canvassing, phone calls, voicemails, emails and social media prospecting. However, larger prospective accounts, by their nature, demand a different strategy. They require in-depth research before approaching them.

To gain meetings with the largest prospects, you, the sales rep, must take steps to do things differently. There are several pieces of data that need to be collected.

Step One — Identify the account’s key players. You should specifically identify key executives like the CFO, CTO, COO, CSO (chief security officer), vice president of networking and infrastructure, and vice president of global technology. Mid-level titles include: director of IT, director of security, manager of global networks, vice president of technology infrastructure, head of IT, director of knowledge management and IT professionals.

Many of these professionals will be on LinkedIn. One tip is to look to the right-hand side of your prospect’s profile page where you will see people who have viewed your prospect on LinkedIn. This will often give you a list of other executives at the prospect’s company that provides additional names for you to add to your prospecting list. In addition, using lead databases like Hoovers and Sales Genie (which have free trials a sales rep can sign up for to gain approximately 100 free leads)

are another way to find key C-level players inside large prospects.

Step Two — Make sure your LinkedIn page has a smart, professional headline. Use something smarter than “account executive.” For example, try changing your headline to: “Leveraging business technology infrastructures to increase profits and operational efficiencies” or “Creating cost-effective customized technology infrastructure solutions to increase profit.”

If you are going after a prospect, there is a good chance he may look you up on LinkedIn. The first thing he will see after your name is your professional headline.

Indicating what you do for clients in your headline is effective.

Step Three — Use social media. Sign up to follow the prospective company’s tweets and blog and create a Google Alert for the company so you know what is happening within that company on the Internet in real time.

If the prospect’s company is a public company, look up its annual reports and 10k filings (the difference between an annual report and a 10k filing is that the annual report is the glossy version with pictures). When reviewing the reports, pay attention to the prospect’s risk factors, as well as any strategic initiatives that are discussed around the company’s technology infrastructure.

Step Four — Using LinkedIn, connect with as many people as possible inside your prospective account prior to approaching the real decision maker. When you do finally go after your decision maker, he will see that you have many first-level connections inside his company.

All of this preparation creates the platform for success and the time will be well spent. Getting into these large opportunities can take time — even years. The most successful sales executives in technology create a book of business with large companies. These companies are going to hire someone; it can be you if you are professionally prepared and persistent. n Kate Kingston is founder and president of Kingston Training Group (KTG). With more than 17 years of success in making appointments with decision makers, she is a recognized authority on lead generation, cold calling and new business development. Kingston can be reached at kkingston@kingstontraining.com.

Visit www.kingstrontraining.com.

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SELLING SOLUTIONS

Neither Either Providing choices is not the best path by: Tibor Shanto, Renbor Sales Solutions

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hile I am all for having a sales process or road map, there is plenty of room for choice — there are some elements of sales success that are achievable via many paths. So, a sales rep has choices within a defined structure, but the result is pretty much the same regardless of the path taken. That is, the sales rep’s success will not be adversely impacted by his (or her) choice.

In contrast, there are other elements of sales success where the sales rep is presented with the option of two paths, but one path will not deliver the same results as the other. One path may be easier; however, that path may consistently yield lesser returns than the other, (at times) more demanding path. The alternative path will often deliver better results, but may not be as comfortable at first. It requires a different effort.

One common reason reps will choose the less effective or more comfortable path is they do not want to come across as being “salesy.” As you know, some reps view just asking for the order as “salesy” or pushy; at least that is what they tell me.

With these thoughts in mind, sometimes sales reps follow a path where they give the buyer options for no real reason or benefit other than their own comfort rather than the comfort of the buyer. Too many reps offer options to buyers throughout the sales cycle that are not necessary and could negatively impact the sale or its momentum. These options are usually deployed not because they make sense for the rep or the buyer, but simply because they help the sales rep cope.

Consider a common example from early in an engagement, while a sales rep is on a prospecting call. He has positioned how he can help the buyer achieve objectives based on his experience and gets to the point where he asks for a time to meet.

Instead of creating focus and a call to action, he makes the mistake of asking: “So when is better for you — Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning?”

Why ask this question? The sales rep should know when he wants to meet; shouldn’t he be utilizing his time efficiently, setting appointments based on where and when other meetings are taking place that day? Providing two choices essentially says: “Gee, any time is good. I have nothing else going on. So, Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning — it makes no difference to me. Either is fine. Please, I need an appointment.”

As I noted, there are sales reps who tell me they do not want to be pushy; that they do not want to “box” the prospect. However, with the “Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning” question, instead of the prospective buyer thinking about what the

rep called about and any potential value he may have communicated by that point in the call, the prospect is “boxed” between two points on the calendar.

Hands down, it is better to give the prospect one time for a meeting. The sales rep should focus the prospect on one time on his calendar and make it easy for him to say “yes” or “no.”

The rep can always offer up another time if he says “no.”

Why would a rep introduce slackness into an otherwise tight call? Is it for the prospect’s benefit? No. If the rep wants to make it easy for the prospect — especially if the rep has set up the call well to this point — he should offer the prospect one specific time. That way, the prospect’s eyes will go there and a decision on the time can be made. If the rep gives the prospect a choice, he will look at both and maybe see that he has a meeting Tuesday afternoon that he is not ready for. In this case, what could have been an appointment becomes: “It is not the best time. Give me a call next month.”

Another example where offering a choice is not the best plan is at the time of the proposal. Too many sales reps offer www.offi cetechnol ogym a g. c om | J u l y 2015 | 29

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options: A, B or C. Some even believe that Tibor Shanto has been a sales leader for prospects will always go to the middle price more than 25 years. As a trainer, speaker Good sales reps are point. On the other hand, if the rep offered and co-author of an award-winning book, subject-matter experts. only one choice, he would get a “yes” or a he has helped hundreds of companies As such, they should “no,” giving him the option of offering the measurably improve their revenue success. demonstrate that mid-price if he receives a “no.” Good sales Shanto was ranked eighth on the list expertise by putting the reps are subject-matter experts. As such, of the Top 30 Social Salespeople in the they should demonstrate that expertise by World, as presented on Forbes.com. best option forward — putting the best option forward — not a He received the Gold Medal Top not a range of options. range of options. Order takers offer options Sales & Marketing Blog award and was named to OpenView’s because they do not create the sale, they Top 25 Sales Influencers and Top Sales’ Top 50 just react to it.

Sales & Marketing Influencers for 2014.

If the sales rep has truly sold the deal, addressed the prosExplore his new Proactive Prospecting pect’s objectives and has gotten confirmation of that throughApp at www.tiborshanto.com. out the sale, then the only choice is the best one based on the He can be reached at tibor.shanto@sellbetter.ca. process that just unfolded.

Visit www.tiborshanto.com.

For me, go with the best. Otherwise, give me neither either. n

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