June 2012 Office Technology

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CONTENTS Volume 18 • No. 12

FEATURE ARTICLES 10

Development Platforms More valuable than ever to end users & dealers

SELLING SOLUTIONS Why Buy From You? Here are six of the deciding factors

25

by Troy Harrison SalesForce Solutions

by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

I am going to let you in on the biggest secret in selling, and those who master it have a much greater chance for success than those who do not. It is this: Customers are people. When you are in a competitive selling situation, ultimately you should remember that customers buy from whomever they want.

While the introduction of open development platforms dates back nearly 10 years, the ability to integrate the MFP with business applications — and offer a custom interface at the control panel — is more valuable today than ever before.

16

A3 & A4 Selling Differentiating your dealership from competitors

by Andy Slawetsky Industry Analysts Inc.

P R I N C I PA L I S S U E S The Right Lingo Making the most of search engine optimization

26

The emergence of A4 (letter-sized) MFPs has created a technology shift in today’s printer market. At prices that are only a fraction of A3 MFPs (which can easily cost tens of thousands of dollars), and with vast improvements to productivity and features, customers are beginning to replace A3 MFPs with A4s.

19

Gateway to Success BTA Mid-America hosts district event in St. Louis

by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

by Corey Smith Dealer Marketing Systems

Ever since consumers have been using search engines to find what they need online, marketers have tried to find ways to improve their clients’ positions in those search engines. The first thing to understand about search engine optimization (SEO) is that it is not a silver bullet.

Your Customer’s Voice Optimizing customer feedback & success

29

On May 2-4, BTA Mid-America hosted its second annual Gateway to Success event, continuing its focus on providing office technology dealers with opportunities to learn from experts, network with fellow dealers and gather new ideas and strategies.

by Frank Matranga Mornin’ Time Productions LLC

There is a trend among small to medium-sized business owners to position their companies as being “customer-centric” or “customer-focused.” However, the road to understanding your customer begins with two important communication vehicles — customer feedback and customer success stories.

COURTS & CAPITOLS 22

Website Compliance There are important legal protections to consider

by Robert C. Goldberg BTA General Counsel

Almost every BTA member has established a website to create an Internet presence. Establishing it was a major decision and, in many cases, a learning process. But since you checked your website off of your to-do list, have you updated and refreshed it? It is important to make a good first impression and to protect yourself as well.

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

23

• Education Calendar • BTA Highlights

6

Executive Director’s Page

8

BTA President’s Message

32

Advertiser Index

4 | w w w. o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m ag.com | June 2012

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S PAGE

Meet BTA’s 2012-13 Volunteer Leadership

V

olunteer leaders are vital to BTA’s ongoing success.

They set the policies, guide the development of new programs and initiatives, and otherwise help to ensure BTA stays on track in supporting the dealer community.

BTA’s new fiscal and leadership year begins on July 1. Allow me to introduce you to the 18 elected leaders who have stepped forward to give back to their association:  National President Terry Chapman is president of Business Electronics Corp., Birmingham, Ala., a position he has held since 1988.  National President-Elect Todd J. Fitzsimons is president of Network Imaging LLC, Southington, Conn. He entered the industry in 1989.  National Vice President Ron Hulett is president and CEO of U.S. Business Systems Inc., Elkhart, Ind. He formed the company in 1992.  BTA East District President Rob Richardson is owner and founder of Allied Document Solutions & Services, Swedesboro, N.J. This is his 18th year leading the company.  BTA East District President-Elect Mike Boyle is president of Base Technologies, Bethel, Conn. He began his career in 1979 and started Base in 1992.  BTA East District Vice President Greg Gondek is president of Advanced Copy Technologies Inc., Cromwell, Conn. He has held this position for the past 12 years.  BTA Mid-America District President Dave Quint, who joined his dealership in 1989, is president and CEO of Advanced Systems Inc., Waterloo, Iowa.  BTA Mid-America District Vice President Dan Castaneda is general manager

of International Copy Machine Center, El Paso, Texas. He joined the company in 2002.  BTA Mid-America District Secretary/ Treasurer Michelle Paterson is vice president of marketing and corporate secretary at Copy Systems Inc., Des Moines, Iowa. She joined the company in 1988.  BTA Southeast District President Linda Hayes is president and owner of Purcell’s Business Products, Campbellsville, Ky. She joined the company in 1983.  BTA Southeast District PresidentElect Gerry Purvis has been the owner and president of Purvis Business Machines, Meridian, Miss., since 1979.  BTA Southeast District Secretary/ Treasurer Bill James, who started in the industry in 1971, has served as the systems support manager at WJS Enterprises Inc., Metairie, La., for the past 20 years.  BTA West District President Mike Ehlers has served as president of Yost Business Systems, Idaho Falls, Idaho, for the past 11 years.  BTA West District President-Elect Jeff Bucher is president and CEO of Infincom, Tempe, Ariz., which was founded in 2006.  BTA West District Vice President Cathy Dimon is president of Northern Business Systems, Fairbanks, Alaska, a dealership she purchased one year ago.  BTA West District Secretary/Treasurer John Hines is CFO of Copiers Northwest Inc., Seattle, Wash. He joined the dealership 21 years ago.

Eight individuals will serve on the National Board of Directors: Terry Chapman, Todd J. Fitzsimons, Ron Hulett, Rob Richardson, Dave Quint, Mike Ehlers, Immediate Past President Tom Ouellette, Budget Document Technology, Lewiston, Maine, and BTA Southeast Immediate Past President Debra Dennis, CopyPro Inc., Greenville, N.C.  — 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 Troy Harrison, SalesForce Solutions www.salesforcesolutions.net Frank Matranga, Mornin’ Time Productions LLC www.mornintimeproductions.com Andy Slawetsky, Industry Analysts Inc. www.industryanalysts.com Corey Smith, Dealer Marketing Systems www.dealermarketingsystems.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: George Doyle, Hemera, iStockphoto. Cover created by Bruce Quade, Brand X Studio. ©2012 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.

6 | w w w. o f f i c e t e c h n o l o gymag.com | June 2012

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BTA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE 2011-2012 Board of Directors

I Have Enjoyed My Year as President

I

t started with a letter I received back in 2007 from BTA’s national office in Kansas City, Mo. The association was reaching out to dealer members seeking volunteers interested in serving within the East District. I had benefited greatly from BTA during my years as a member and felt it was time to give something back. I responded to the request for volunteers.

Here we are in June of 2012 and I am about to complete my year as the national president of BTA. Of course, I didn’t know where my initial step into BTA volunteerism would lead me. I’m not sure that anyone ever steps forward with the vision of ultimately serving as national president.

However, I’m sure every BTA president leaves with the same feeling I have — a sense of great honor to have had the opportunity to serve in this leadership role.

How could I not be honored? This is the same association that was formed in 1926 by typewriter dealers who saw the value of joining together for the betterment of all. Consequently, BTA (or NOMDA, until 1994) has been a mainstay in the industry for every U.S. office technology dealer who is in business today. Our association has helped countless dealers in so many ways throughout the years. So, yes, it has been an honor to be a part of an association with such a rich, time-tested history and I have enjoyed serving as its president.

Looking back over this past year — and even further back, since my first year as a volunteer — I can’t help but be pleased as both a member and a volunteer to see how far our association has advanced. After a period of membership decline, our membership is once again strong. We have made

great strides in other areas as well, including an expansion to five annual BTA district-hosted educational/networking events.

We have also added a number of member benefits, without, I should note, increasing our dues.

Serving as president has been a rewarding experience. During this past year, for example, I have had the opportunity to attend each of the district events, and have gained from what I have learned from the many expert presenters, and from seeing the products and services of the various exhibiting sponsors. In addition, I have played an active role in developing some of BTA’s new and upcoming initiatives and benefits.

Perhaps the greatest reward received as a volunteer, however, lies in the friendships I’ve made with fellow dealer volunteers and the other dealers and vendors I have met.

I know that these friendships will endure the rest of my career. In the years to come, I look forward to working with these individuals, sharing advice, encouragement and insight. To me this is at the foundation of BTA’s purpose — members helping members. It is clear that the association’s founders had this vision in mind.

Of course, we all welcome the opportunity to learn from one another. In today’s market, I am seeing increased expansion of focus — MFP dealers now taking on document management, on-site shredding services, managed services, etc. The BTA community and, particularly, the BTA district events, are a perfect means to find the answers, opportunities and partnerships you are seeking. I encourage you to utilize BTA to help you make the profitable connections that will ensure that you not only sustain, but also grow your dealership in the years to come. BTA will be here for you — and for the entire dealer channel.  — Tom Ouellette

President Tom Ouellette Budget Document Technology 251 Goddard Road Lewiston, ME 04240 touellette@bdtme.com President-Elect Terence Chapman Business Electronics Corp.

219 Oxmoor Circle Birmingham, AL 35209 tchapman@businesselectronics.com Vice President Todd J. Fitzsimons Network Imaging LLC 122 Spring St. Southington, CT 06489 tjfitzsimons@ni-ct.com BTA East Rob Richardson Allied Document Solutions & Services Inc. 200 Church St. Swedesboro, NJ 08085 robr@ads-s.com BTA Mid-America Ron Hulett U.S. Business Systems Inc. 3221 Southview Drive Elkhart, IN 46514 ron.hulett@usbus.com BTA Southeast Jerry Jackson All South Copiers Inc. 3610 Kennesaw N. Industrial Parkway., Ste. D Kennesaw, GA 30144 jj@ascopiers.com BTA West Ronelle Ingram Steven Enterprises Inc. 17952 Sky Park Circle, Ste. E Irvine, CA 92614 ronellei@msn.com Ex-Officio/Immediate Past President Rock Janecek Burtronics Business Systems Inc. 216 S. Arrowhead Ave. San Bernardino, CA 92408 rjanecek@burtronics.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

8 | w w w. o f f i c e t e c h n o l o gymag.com | June 2012

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Development Platforms More valuable than ever to end users & dealers by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

S

oftware development platforms are nothing new. The first among MFP manufacturers was launched in 2003 by Canon U.S.A. Inc. Competitors soon followed. Collectively, the manufacturers allow others — primarily third-party software vendors — to offer end users business applications accessible at the MFP’s control panel, facilitating such capabilities as a custom user authentication interface and integration with back-office systems.

While the introduction of open development platforms dates back nearly 10 years and has resulted in a number of hardware and software vendor alliances, the ability to integrate the MFP with business applications — and offer a custom interface at the control panel — is more valuable today than ever before. After all, the industry is currently transitioning to a services-led approach with an emphasis on streamlining business processes to improve workflow using the MFP as an on-ramp to software-driven solutions. Increasingly, the MFP is also serving as an on-ramp to the cloud.

Dennis Amorosano, senior director of solutions marketing and professional services for Canon U.S.A. Inc., says an expectation of future end-user requirements, in part, drove the launch of Canon’s Multifunctional Embedded Application Platform, commonly known as MEAP. “If you go back to the mid- to late 1990s, we started to see signs that we felt would ultimately bring us to a point in time where the MFP itself would become much more central in terms of its use as a communications hub,” he explains. “As we started to think about the permutations of that eventuality, we came to the conclusion that we were going to see situations emerge in the marketplace where customers were going to have a very unique way in which they wanted to utilize this technology.”

Canon set out to determine how the company could satisfy changing end-user needs. “First and foremost, we had to standardize our core MFP technology onto a common architecture platform,” Amorosano explains. “If you go back in time and look at the analog device deliveries that were in

the marketplace prior to the mid-1990s, you would find that almost every product had kind of its own architecture.”

Ultimately, Canon launched its line of digital imageRUNNER products. “That paved the way for us to advance the platform to a point where we could then build a framework that a software developer could utilize to actually build applications that would run inside of the device,” Amorosano says, noting that Canon’s initial and still predominant Java development framework allows for third-party applications to be embedded on the MFP, rather than requiring a separate server. “Over the course of the early 2000s, we were working toward that goal. In May of 2003, we launched the industry’s first embedded development platform for an MFP device.”

Other manufacturers later launched development platforms as well. They, too, saw the coming changes in the industry, which ultimately would result in the need for MFPintegrated applications and the associated custom user interface at the control panel. Kevin Kern, senior vice president of marketing for Konica Minolta Business Technologies, points to a step taken long ago by Konica, prior to its merger with Minolta, that serves to illustrate the foresight that existed in terms of pending changes in the marketplace — the decision within the company to manufacture its own print controllers, with a desire to not be solely reliant on another vendor for “such a core piece of technology.”

“Part of the reason we did that was this vision that as products went digital, over time they would have to integrate into workflows if we were going to succeed,” Kern says, noting that company executives, etc., could see then that, ultimately, the MFP controller architecture and print controller architecture would be merged. “We knew that it would not be just printing — it would be: ‘How do we print? How do we move documents around? How do we become digital onramps?’ That was sort of a ‘groundwork vision’ 16 years ago as we first went digital. We always had a vision that the device

10 | ­w w w. o f f i c e t e c h n o l o gymag.com | June 2012

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was going to be more than a Our software partners and copier and printer.” our relationships with them “ ... Third-party vendors are In 2007, Konica Minolta are a key component of our trying to solve a customer launched its OpenAPI MFP business.” pain point. But what the Software Development PlatAlthough manufacturer third-party vendors offer is form. Then, in 2009, Opendevelopment platform offera focus on specific vertical API was superseded by a ings are now commonplace, new development platform, as are software vendors inmarkets and specialized bizhub Extended Solution tegrating applications by workflows ... and, so, they Technology (bEST), which using the platforms (given, can solve very specific customer pain points.” provided a richer set of proas Amorosano says, their — Steve Burger grammable services and conrecognition that it is in their Ricoh Americas Corp. trol panel presentation ca“best interest to try to leverpabilities. bEST uses a Web age the installed base of the services approach, rather than a Java framework approach, MFP vendors in the market as a way to expand their busiso applications are not embedded in the MFP. nesses”), this area of the industry is not remaining static.

Today it is apparent that a number of other MFP manufac- Canon, for example, now also has MEAP Web, a Web serturers had the same vision for the future as Canon and Kon- vices development environment for its devices. Launched by ica Minolta; they, too, have launched their own development Canon in Europe about two years ago, it is currently used by platforms. While the manufacturers have a fair number of in- Canon in the United States for internal application developternally developed applications designed within their devel- ment, with the expectation that it will ultimately be made opment frameworks, it is, of course, the third-party software available to third parties for application development. Likevendors that have emerged as the leading means of advanc- wise, Ricoh now offers a more robust Web browser as part of ing the opportunities inherent to development platforms. its Java platform. The company just launched a new technolCanon, for example, has approximately 35 development part- ogy platform featuring a “more developed version of the Web ners, while Konica Minolta has around 10 to 15 partners. browser with cloud-based technology,” Burger says. “So, you Steve Burger, vice president of product marketing for can go to a cloud-based service through the Web browser, Ricoh Americas Corp., noting that the company also has utilize a cloud-based document workflow, and transfer docmany third-party partners for its Embedded Software Ar- uments to and from the cloud, directly on the MFP.” chitecture (ESA) development platform, points to the simThere is, at least, one other key advancement with today’s ple reason why software vendors lead the way. “Like the development platforms — they are now being embedded in MFP manufacturers, all of the third-party vendors are try- low-end products as well. “We have been able now to embed ing to solve a customer pain point,” he explains. “But what at least a basic level of MEAP capability into some of our the third-party vendors offer is a focus on specific vertical compact MFPs, as well as some of the more recently intromarkets and specialized workflows [e.g., the legal or health- duced imageRUNNER laser printers,” Amorosano says. “So, care industries] and, so, they can solve very specific custom- for example, if a customer is deploying a cost recovery applier pain points. Ricoh makes great products, great software cation and they need to authenticate the end user on a comsolutions, and offers a full line of managed services, but we pact MFP, in the past it would not have been a simple thing to can’t be an expert in every vertical out there. We need to le- do within the context of the MEAP environment. But today, verage strong relationships with third-party vendors to help that has become more the norm than it ever was in the past.” us support all of our customers’ workflows.”

As noted, MFP manufacturer development platforms are There is also the reality that the software vendors’ main particularly well suited for today’s changing market. Collecfocus is making their software best-of-breed in their respec- tively, they present office technology dealerships the means tive industries and, so, they can offer an even broader range to position themselves as services-led companies. “The deof options and capabilities as needed. For example, Burger velopment platform is starting to take on a much greater says, Ricoh offers its GlobalScan NX, which scans paper doc- level of importance in terms of where the market is headed uments, converts them into electronic files and routes them and how customers are utilizing the technology,” Amoroto network folders, email addresses, etc. “Our product sup- sano says, noting the importance of dealers migrating to a ports the most common customer workflows out there,” he workflow-oriented implementation of MFPs. “This is where says. “However, we have third-party partners that offer appli- customer adoption is headed. Dealers need to move into this cations that support more specialized customer workflows. area to ensure continued differentiation from competitors.

12 | ­w w w. o f f i c e t e c h n o l ogymag.com | June 2012

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dealer’s future success.

“I think, in many respects, “The rapid growth of MFP the dealers who are capable “I think, in many respects, placements has slowed, of selling on a consultative the dealers who are capable and it is probably not gobasis and really driving the of selling on a consultative ing to come back and grow MFP as a part of a comprebasis and really driving rapidly like it did for the 15 hensive workflow solution the MFP as a part of a years prior to the recession,” are the ones who are going he says, pointing to the to have the greatest succomprehensive workflow new and growing opporcess and shield themselves solution are the ones who tunity of the use of develfrom pricing pressures and are going to have the greatest success ... ” opment platforms as tools so forth,” Amorosano con— Dennis Amorosano for facilitating the current, tinues. “The development Canon U.S.A. Inc. much-touted, services-led, platform plays a big part workflow-centric approach. in that because it not only gives dealers a cadre of applications they can choose from “Those dealerships that are workflow partto offer as a part of that integration of the technology, but it ners to their customers have a much greater gives them the framework to customize the integration of opportunity for business growth.”  Brent Hoskins, executive director of the the device into a customer’s environment.”

Business Technology Association, is editor Similarly, looking to the industry’s hardware heyday (now of Office Technology magazine. He can be in the past), Kern also emphasizes that today’s ever-advancing reached at brent@bta.org or (816) 303-4040.

MFP development platforms can play a key role in the

14 | w w w. o f f i c e t e c h n o l ogymag.com | June 2012

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A3 & A4 Selling Differentiating your dealership from competitors by: Andy Slawetsky, Industry Analysts Inc.

T

he emergence of A4 (letter-sized) MFPs has created a technology shift in today’s printer market.

Traditionally, A3 MFPs have been a staple in offices. Desktop printers were expensive to operate and offered poor and often unacceptable performance compared to A3 devices. At prices that are only a fraction of A3 MFPs (which can easily cost tens of thousands of dollars) and with vast improvements to productivity and features, customers are beginning to replace A3 MFPs with A4s.

At first glance, this shift appears daunting. Can a traditional MFP sales representative earn a commissionbased income selling A4 devices? Managed print services (MPS) has opened an opportunity for net new business, as has bundling solutions into hardware deals. But what about the geographic sales representative who makes a living selling four to six MFPs each month?

The easiest sale is the one where you walk into a customer’s office three months before his (or her) lease expires and upgrade him to the newest version of whatever he currently owns. But those days are numbered. Not only do you now have to worry about a competitor getting into your account, but you also have to worry that the IT department/ provider will convince your customer to change from your A3 devices to “cheaper” A4 products from alternative distribution channels.

While it is easy to see how you can make a living selling A4 MFPs in MPS and solutions sales, can you make money selling A4 and replacing more expensive A3 products? Net new business from competitive accounts and a decentralized printerselling approach provide two substantial opportunities, and a good sales rep who is willing to think outside the box can be extremely effective and profitable selling A4 products.

The first instinct traditional MFP reps may have is that

they cannot make money selling such inexpensive equipment, especially when selling it at face value. That instinct is true. But look at these numbers (Source: 2011 Copier Dealer Strategies Report, Industry Analysts Inc.): n Sixty-five percent of A4 dealer placements have the same or better hardware margins as A3. n Seventy-five percent of A4 dealer placements have the same or better supply margins as A3. n Seventy-three percent of A4 dealer placements have the same or better service margins as A3.

Most sales reps in our industry will focus on hardware margins because that is what they are paid on. When looking at these figures, almost twothirds of the time you can make the same or better hardware margins selling A4 than when you sell A3. I am not suggesting you will make more selling a 32-page-per-minute (ppm) A4 MFP than you will when selling a 32-ppm A3 MFP. You will not. However, if you sell $10,000 in hardware, 65 percent of the time, you will earn the same or more selling A4 than you will if you sell A3.

Centralized Versus Decentralized Printing Ten years ago, a battle was waged between traditional copier vendors and traditional printer vendors. Printer companies wanted to see as many printers as they could at a customer site, placing the devices close to points of need.

Copier companies preached the opposite of this, pulling printers out of customer accounts and forcing customers to print to more robust, less expensive (on a per-print basis) centralized devices.

While the savings ultimately made centralized printing an easy decision — particularly if you were working with cost-sensitive accounts — that argument has become less

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effective as A4 devices are now much and installing an MFP carries a cost. more affordable with respect to supMost SMB customers, particularly Your customers have plies and service. This is a great opporsmall businesses, rely on outside IT prorelied on you for their tunity for MFP sales reps because most viders to install their network equipcopying needs for years of their accounts are ripe for someone to ment. Based on our research, it can and they may not realize help them update their workflows and easily cost $200 to have an IT provider how much they actually change their printing to better leverage install a printer. the advances in A4.

Some dealerships charge for installing count on your consulting A strong argument for decentralized equipment, while others do not. Regardand support. printing is the effect it can have on labor less, help your customer understand any costs. When a customer prints to a workadditional installation charges. group printer located down the hall or in another office, going to get his prints is extremely disruptive Who Supports/Maintains the Device(s)? and negatively impacts his productivity. Trips to the water Now that the MFP or printer is installed, who does the cooler, socializing, etc., can turn a two-minute trip to the customer call for service? This depends on several factors. printer into a 10-minute trip. This may not seem like a lot, For example, if you buy an HP printer online, you may not but doing this as little as three times a day can add up to 10 have a choice in who services the device, as you will be unhours a month — or more than a full day lost each month — der a warranty for some period. The servicing company will because the printer was not within reach. be sent at HP’s discretion. This is very different than the Also, remember that the hardware margins are often as relationship you have earned with your customer. Does he good or better selling A4 compared to A3, so marketing a really want some company he has never met with provid$15,000 solution that includes three A4 MFPs/printers and ing service? And what recourse does he have if he finds the a small A3 device, in theory, may be more profitable to you servicing company unacceptable? than marketing a single $15,000 A3 MFP. Customers buying an extended warranty from CDW.com Selling a mix of products like this also shows your cus- and others may experience the same issues. They do not call tomer or prospect that you are not just selling the same old the service company for service, they call CDW and then MFPs. This may prove to be a significant differentiator be- CDW farms it out to its contracted service provider. Again, tween you and the competition, which is merely selling the the customer has no relationship with the company servicsame old products with no rhyme or reason other than those ing his product. What happens if the service provider is not are the kinds of machines the customer already has. very good or it provides inadequate response time? Your dealership’s response time is measured in hours and you Alternative Channels can provide your customers and prospects with references.

Your customers have relied on you for their copying needs Tell your customer to try to get service references in your for years and they may not realize how much they actually market from CDW or HP.com and watch what happens. count on your consulting and support. It is easy to see a cheap price and think, “It is just printing. Who cares where The Bottom Line we get it from?”

A4 products offer a chance to differentiate your dealerSeveral issues arise when purchasing technology from ship from the competition. They also give you the ability to channels other than your dealership. Questions your cus- help your customers leverage new technology and improve tomers should know the answers to include: their workflows. While these products have a considerably n Who will install? smaller price tag than traditional MFPs, do not shy away n Who supports and maintains the device(s)? from the opportunity they are providing. n n What about network issues?

Andy Slawetsky is president of Industry Analysts Inc. n What does the warranty really cover?

He began his career in the office technology industry in 1993, selling various office equipment brands Who Installs? including Xerox and Ricoh. In 1996, Slawetsky Enterprise customers will install a device if it is acquired joined Industry Analysts Inc., a market through alternative channels, adding to the IT staff’s workresearch and product-testing firm focused load. Do not be fooled — this is not free. There are dollars on the print and imaging industry. He can be tied to that installation, even if they are hard to identify. reached at andy@industryanalysts.com.

Having an IT technician spend a couple of hours unboxing Visit www.industryanalysts.com.

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Gateway to Success BTA Mid-America hosts district event in St. Louis by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

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n May 2-4, BTA Mid-America hosted its second annual Gateway to Success event, continuing its focus on providing office technology dealers with opportunities to learn from experts, network with fellow dealers and gather new ideas and strategies. The event was held at the Four Seasons Hotel in St. Louis, Mo. Comments shared in event evaluations reflect those of many attendees. From Dan Castaneda, International Copy Machine Center, El Paso, Texas: “BTA has been vital in our company reaching new heights of success.” From Tony Frierdich, Americom, St. Louis, Mo.: “Awesome! I look forward to it every year.”

Gateway to Success featured a keynote presentation, “Surviving in a Services World,” by Jim D’Emidio, president, Muratec America Inc. There were also four other education sessions: “Office Imaging: Taking Advantage of a Market in Transition,” with Robert Palmer and Ann Priede, Photizo Group; “Ignite Your Life! Discovering the Keys to Unlock Passion, Potential & Impact,” with John O’Leary, Rising Above; “Critical Success Factors for Managed Services in Your Dealership,” with Mitch Morgan and Chris Ryne, Growth Achievement Partners; and “Successful Implementation of Managed Services: A Dealer Panel,” with panelists Alan Bean, Southeastern Business Machines Co., Huntsville, Ala., Chris Black, R.K. Black Inc., Oklahoma City, Okla., and Brian Ridenhour, Data Comm Inc., Jefferson City, Mo. The schedule also included a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game.

The 30 exhibiting sponsors: Arlington, BEI Services, CAPSYS, Color Imaging, Crawford Thomas, Digital Gateway, DocuWare, Epson, ESP, Evolved Office, FileBound, FMAudit, GreatAmerica Leasing, Hytec Dealer Services, Image Star, InkCycle, Innovolt, Katun, LEAF, Muratec, NA Trading and Technology, Parts Now, Polek & Polek, Power Appointment Setting, OKI, SalesChain, Supplies Network, Square 9, Toshiba and West Point Products.

For information on future BTA district events, visit www.bta.org/DistrictEvents.  Brent Hoskins, executive director of the Business Technology Association, is editor of Office Technology magazine.

Clockwise from top: BTA Mid-America’s Gateway to Success featured four education sessions and a panel discussion on managed services; the Four Seasons Hotel; Evolved Office representatives discuss their offerings with an attendee; dealers network during a break between education sessions; keynote speaker Jim D’Emidio, president, Muratec America Inc. www.officetechnologymag. c o m | J u n e 2 0 1 2 | 19

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Clockwise from left: BTA President-Elect Terry Chapman (left) presents a BTA Channel’s Choice award to Paul Cox, senior district sales manager for Toshiba America Business Solutions.

Toshiba received awards for Superior Performance as a Primary Product Line Provider, Corporate Support, Distribution and Inventory; Chapman presents the Channel’s Choice award for Outstanding Performance as a Secondary Product Line Provider to Jim D’Emidio, president of Muratec America Inc.; Chapman presents the Channel’s Choice award for Product Line to Bob Burke, vice president of sales for Copystar.

Clockwise from top left: Alan Bean, Southeastern Business Machines Co., Huntsville, Ala., participates in the dealer panel; OKI and Supplies Network sponsored the breakfasts; attendees enjoy a St. Louis Cardinals game, co-sponsored by GreatAmerica Leasing; BTA Mid-America President Ron Hulett (right) and Supplies Network’s Tony Dorsey announce a prize drawing winner.

Clockwise from top left: Attendees listen to a presentation during the event; Chris Black of R.K. Black Inc., Oklahoma City, Okla., participates in the dealer panel; Epson representatives Lauren Charpie and Bill Gates talk to an attendee about the company’s products; SalesChain’s Bob Treitel (right) explains his company’s services to Dave Quint of Advanced Systems Inc., Waterloo, Iowa.

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Left: Robert Palmer and Ann Priede of Photizo Group present their education session during Gateway to Success — “Office Imaging: Taking Advantage of a Market in Transition”; Paul Szemplinski of CAPSYS gives Patrick Priesmeyer, Sumner Group Inc., St. Louis, Mo., a demonstration of the company’s products during a break between sessions.

Clockwise from top left: Mitch Morgan of Growth Achievement Partners; presenter John O’Leary of Rising Above shares his inspiring story, sponsored by Polek & Polek; BTA President Tom Ouellette (left) presents the 2012 Volunteer of the Year Award to BTA Mid-America President Ron Hulett; Brian Ridenhour, Data Comm Inc., Jefferson City, Mo., participates in the dealer panel.

A Services World I

n his keynote presentation, “Surviving in a Services World,” Jim D’Emidio, president of Muratec America Inc., challenged dealers to take a close look at their current business models. For those dealers still embracing the traditional box-selling model, he advised a new direction: “If your dealership is going to sur vive, you are going to have to change your business model to a services-led model.”

D’Emidio shared some observations that he said paint a clear picture of the need for a changed business model. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but our industry is not growing right now,” he quipped. “Printing and copying are not going up. Who can you blame? Your children. They don’t print. My kids have an inkjet printer and the ink cartridges have dried up. They don’t print.”

Of course, D’Emidio said, printing is declining in the work place as well. “Technology is changing and people don’t have to print or copy documents,” he said. “There is more information being passed around the world, but that doesn’t mean it has to be printed.”

The downward trend will continue, D’Emidio said, citing fore casts shared by Lyra Research (now part of the Photizo Group) at its most recent annual conference. “The research we saw at the last meeting was that 2008 was the last great year for our indus try,” he said. “We may say, ‘OK, but that’s when the recession began.’ Guess what? They’re forecasting that we will never get back to those pre-2008 numbers [in terms of unit placements].

Our industry has changed; 2008 was the top. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make money and it doesn’t mean you can’t have a ton of customers.”

Emphasizing the need for companies to “adapt to change or perish,” D’Emidio recalled a well-known example from the past where box-focused companies did not change as end-user demands changed, ultimately losing customers and any new, evolving sales opportunities. “Look at the fax market,” he said.

“There were too many companies going after selling the same box. You know what happens when people go after the same box and there are too many of them? Price erosion. We are go ing through that same consolidation right now. Our industry is no longer growing; it is changing.”

Recognizing that a dealership’s customer base is its most valu able asset, dealers need to find new ways to change, serving current customers without continuing to focus on selling a low-cost box. “You’ve got to leverage those relationships, because they are the most important thing that you have,” D’Emidio said. “Your customers enjoy doing business with you. They want to do busi ness with you. But they are now asking, ‘Why can’t you do some thing other than just placing a copier or printer in our office?’”

D’Emidio encouraged dealers who have not already done so to begin transitioning their dealerships by embracing today’s leading services-led approaches — managed print services (MPS) and managed network services (MNS). He shared various success stories of those who have embraced the opportunities, noted that dealers can develop and expand their offerings over time, and reminded them that the industry has many vendors poised to help dealers with their MPS and MNS strategies.

D’Emidio concluded his comments with a restatement of his challenge to dealers: “Transform your business from hardware to services. Protect your customer base. If you are not protecting your base, you are allowing somebody else to get in there.” n —Brent Hoskins www.offi cetechnol ogymag . c om | J u n e 2012 | 21

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COURTS & CAPITOLS

Website Compliance There are important legal protections to consider by: Robert C. Goldberg, General Counsel for the Business Technology Association

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lmost every BTA member company has established a website to create an Internet presence. Websites are used to describe your company, products, personnel and community involvement; to report meter readings; and to order supplies and service. Establishing your website was a major decision and, in many cases, a learning process.

But since you checked your website off of your to-do list, have you updated and refreshed it? For many potential customers, a visit to your website is the first contact they will have with your business. It is important to make a good first impression and to protect yourself as well.

As you update your website, you may be exploring the possibility of making your site more interactive. From a business perspective, creating a user experience on your website that is easy to use and navigate enhances the end-user’s experience.

From a legal perspective, however, how do you balance the advantages of interactivity with the added burdens of creating, maintaining and updating essential privacy, data security and other policies?

Federal law (and several state laws) mandates that companies inform their users about any personally identifiable information (PII) they collect, how the company uses it, with whom the company may share it and how users may opt-out of having their PII collected and shared. PII includes information such as names, social security numbers, biometric records, etc., that alone, or when combined with other information such as date and place of birth, mother’s maiden name, etc., can be used to trace an individual’s identity. In most situations, other than name, this information is not necessary for your purposes and should not be requested. Every company with a presence on the Internet should have a privacy policy that is compliant with federal and state laws. Clearly establish what information is being collected and examine how it is used.

Many company websites are including interactive features such as blogs, chat rooms and even video sharing that allow the posting of user-generated content (UGC). If your website includes these or similar features, it is an interactive website.

The features of an interactive website can be extremely valuable for solving everyday problems and generating goodwill.

There are two important legal protections for operators of

interactive computer services. The Communications Decency Act (CDA) provides immunity from liability for Internet Service Providers (ISPs). This shields an ISP from liability arising out of civil causes of action such as defamation, invasion of privacy, trade libel, etc. As a very general rule, as long as the provider is not a publisher of the content (they merely provide a place to post the content; they do not contribute to or edit it), they will not be held liable for the original posting of the offending UGC. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) also contains important protections. Under the DMCA, “an operator of interactive computer services” is immune from liability for intellectual property (primarily copyright) infringement by a third party using the service — provided that the provider follows certain registration, compliance and procedural guidelines.

One of the most valuable policies for a website owner is a terms-of-use policy. Your terms of use tell your users what they can reasonably expect when using your site. For example, you may prohibit certain activities, such as hate speech, personal attacks, posting materials to which the user does not have the requisite legal rights, etc.

By setting the ground rules of what you will allow on your site, you can monitor UGC for violations of the policy and remove or refuse to post such material. Remember, if an ISP edits or modifies content, it is treated as a publisher of content and can lose protection. However, if an ISP removes content in its entirety for violating a documented policy, the ISP is not considered a publisher and is protected under the CDA. A well-crafted terms-of-use policy, if correctly written and agreed to, also forms a “contract” between the end user and the website operator.

As a practical matter, the Internet is no longer an optional business tool. It is a primary source of communication, information and advertising. Developing sound social media and technology policies as early as possible can reduce your liability and exposure, and allow your dealership room to grow in this new, online world. 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

11-12 BTA Managed Services Workshop Baltimore, Md. The managed services (MS) opportunity provides a tremendous market for MFP dealers. In this workshop, Mitch Morgan and Chris Ryne of Growth Achievement Partners will show you how to set up a managed services business in your company. Visit www.bta.org/MS to register.

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Building My Business Webinar “InfoTrends Channel Study on Solutions & Services Adoption” We see office equipment dealers going into the IT space and IT resellers going into the office equipment space, but do we really know the true adoption of these markets in terms of services and solutions? In this webinar, Randy Dazo of InfoTrends will discuss a study by the research firm that reveals some of these adoption trends. Visit www.bta.org/BuildingMyBusiness to register.

August 8-9

ProFinance 2.0 Chicago, Ill. With more than 30 key benchmarks, including benchmarks for MPS, ProFinance 2.0 will help you and your team achieve double-digit operating income. John Hanson and John Hey of Strategic Business Associates will share their knowledge from their experience in building one of the largest dealerships in North America and from advising many successful companies in the industry. Visit www.bta.org/ProFinance to register.

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Building My Business Webinar - “MPS Compensation Strategies” As the office equipment landscape changes and you look to develop a professional services-type business, you need to look at how sales professionals are compensated. In this webinar, Luis Gonzalez of SalesScoreKeeper LLC will cover all aspects of preparing your dealership to move to compensation based on professional services, whether it is now or in the future. Visit www.bta. org/BuildingMyBusiness to register.

22-23 ProSolutions 2.0 San Francisco, Calif.

The market is changing and sales professionals will need to evolve to a new sales process to be successful in the future. The selling skills needed will be based on: solving business problems, helping customers achieve business goals, focusing on business processes and driving complex sales. Taught by Mitch Morgan and Chris Ryne of Growth Achievement Partners, ProSolutions 2.0 provides a strategic sales methodology that works. Visit www.bta.org/ProSolutions 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 AAB Equipment, Cairns, Queensland, Australia Cartridge King of Kansas, Topeka, KS Fisher’s Document Systems, Boise, ID Image Business Solutions, Wixom, MI Integrated Image, Northridge, CA Rolan Business Machine Co., Rome, GA For full contact information of these new members, visit www.bta.org.

Pre-Employment Assessments

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 N-able Technologies is a global leader in remote monitoring and management automation solutions for managed service providers (MSPs) and IT departments.

N-able’s N-central software and complementary toolsets are proven to reduce IT support costs, improve network performance and increase productivity through the proactive monitoring, management and optimization of IP-enabled devices and IT infrastructure.

N-central features an industry-first “freemium” model that drives down the cost of remote management and accelerates the mass adoption of managed services. www.n-able.com

YardeZone has developed a proven process for cultivating positive, results-driven change at client organizations. The company’s approach involves every member of your team — using consensus management as a core measure of success.

YardeZone is now offering BTA members three new pre-employment assessments at special BTA member-only pricing: the Profile Sales Assessment (designed to help you find the right sales representatives and sales managers), the Profile XT Assessment (designed to help you find the right service technicians, service managers and office managers) and the Customer Service Profile (designed to help you find the right receptionists, customer service representatives and administrative assistants). Visit www. bta.org/YardeZone for more information and special BTA member pricing.

BTA Service Associate member International Data Corp. (IDC) is a global provider of market intelligence, advisory services and events for the information technology, telecommunications and consumer technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives and the investment community make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategies. More than 1,000 IDC analysts provide expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in more than 110 countries worldwide. www.idc.com

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

A full list of BTA Vendor and Service Associate members can be found online at www.bta.org.

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Selling solutions

Why Buy From You? Here are six of the deciding factors by: Troy Harrison, SalesForce Solutions

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am going to let you in on a secret. In fact, it is the biggest secret in selling and those who master it have a much greater chance for success than those who do not. It is this: Customers are people. That is the big secret. Of course, there is another secret that goes along with this one: Because customers are people, they can exercise their free will at any time.

What made me think of this was an article I read detailing a works-every-time sales tactic (called the “Take-Away” — as in, you pretend you are not letting the customer buy) that, in reality, only works if both you and your customer know the lines you are supposed to say. The problem is, many customers do not know their lines and then this tactic goes out the window. I find that this tactic appeals to salespeople who have little confidence in themselves and their own skills. The keys to selling are to understand why customers buy and how to position yourself to be the person they buy from.

We all know customers have choices, and salespeople tend to deal with competitive selling situations with fear-based tactics designed to prevent the customer from buying from anyone else. The trouble is that, in doing so, they usually kill trust, price and profit. It does not have to be that way. When you are in a competitive selling situation, ultimately you should remember that the customer will buy from whomever they want, regardless of selling tactics. Hence, the key is to become that person. Following are six factors a buyer will have decided on before he (or she) opts to buy from you: (1) He trusts you. There is no replacing trust. Your buyer must believe what you say. If he does not trust you, all your claims, features and benefits do not matter. That does not mean that you do not have to prove your claims with evidence (independent reports, testimonials, etc.), but it does mean that those items of proof will enhance your credibility.

(2) He believes that you have his best interests at heart.

As salespeople, we represent to our customers that we are intent upon generating wins for them by selling them our stuff.

That is great, as long as a customer buys into what you are saying. The moment a customer disbelieves you and thinks you are out to pluck his wallet, kiss your sale goodbye.

(3) He likes you. I hesitate to include this one, as it has led to more stupid and insincere selling than anything else in our profession. But it is still true — your customer has to like you. That does not mean you have to strive to be his

best fishing or golfing buddy. It just means he should not recoil at your presence.

Customers buy from people other than buddies, relatives and best friends all the time, but they seldom, if ever, swing that business to someone they do not like. So, instead of tired “fish-on-the-wall” rapport-building tactics, just be natural, recognize that we are all connected in one way or another and be a good person.

(4) He respects you. Respect is often confused with likeability and trust, but it is not the same. Respect is about the customer believing you are a worthwhile person, which is why “underdog” selling or begging for business does not work. If a customer perceives you as unsuccessful, he will perceive you are unsuccessful for a reason and will stay away.

(5) Your products and services fit his needs. Ever tried to push a rope uphill? That is what you are doing if you are selling something that is not truly a fit for what ails your customer.

To retain trust, credibility and respect, you must be vigilant in making sure that your products or services are really a fit for what your customer needs and, if not, do not offer them. Losing today’s sale (which is already lost because you are not a good fit) can give you a jump start on tomorrow’s sale.

(6) You present good value. “Value,” in this definition, simply means that your customer perceives that what you are selling is worth what you are asking him to pay for it. It does not mean “lowest price,” “most features” or any other nonsense. It just means that your customer believes that the money spent is justified by the benefits received.

Salespeople get into trouble when they try to bypass these essential factors. Offer the lowest price? Fine, but your customer will shop your price to the salesperson he wants to buy from. Are you creating a “buy today” sales tactic? Your customer will ask you to leave.

To be a successful salesperson, you must hit the six “touchpoints” above and then — and only then — will your skills in closing, overcoming objections, etc., come into play. n Troy Harrison is the author of “Sell Like You Mean It!” and is president of SalesForce Solutions, a sales training, consulting and recruiting firm.

He can be reached at (913) 645-3603 or TroyHarrison@SalesForceSolutions.net.

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PRINCIPAL ISSUES

The Right Lingo Making the most of search engine optimization by: Corey Smith, Dealer Marketing Solutions

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ver since consumers have been using search engines to find what they need online, marketers have tried to find ways to improve their clients’ positions in those search engines. These search engine optimizers come with a wide variety of tactics. Of course, the person you speak with tells you that his (or her) tactics are the best.

The first thing to understand about search engine optimization (SEO) is that it is not a silver bullet. You can never look at SEO with the idea that if you are at the top of the search engine results, your phone will start to ring. I am amazed at how often people think that if they increase their rankings in the search engines, they will magically start getting new business. This attitude would be like saying, “I put a sign outside my store, so why am I not selling more stuff?”

In my book, “Do It Right: A CEO’s Guide to Web Strategy,” I equate SEO to brand awareness. I look at SEO as a way to let the search engines know who you are and, therefore, put you in a more likely position to generate new traffic.

Some products and services naturally tend to provide a greater opportunity for traffic. For example, if I am looking to buy a new bicycle and I do a Google search for bicycles, then a website optimized for bicycles will be more likely to garner traffic because of it. However, if you, as an office equipment dealership, are optimizing for managed print services and your clients are looking for printers, then it will be more difficult to generate traffic to your website.

Common to All Businesses In the last few years, as chief Web architect for Dealer Marketing Systems, as well as in my consulting work, I have worked with hundreds of clients. The most common problem that these clients have, regardless of the markets they serve or the products they sell, is that what their clients think they do is significantly less than what they actually do; meaning, if you do 100 things, your clients think you do four. Often, I hear statements like: “If they only knew that we did ‘X’ then we would … ” Or, I might hear: “Our clients call it ‘Y’ but we do ‘Z.’” This means that we have to gain awareness for products and services that the client may not even know he needs. We might find that the most common search term searchers use is very different than what you actually call it in your company. Let’s be more specific. You sell “MPS” or “document management,” but your clients may call it “printing” and “electronic documents.”

Different Expectations, Different Tactics When we find that what we do is different than what our customers are looking for, it means we need to take a different approach to the way we optimize for search engines. This can be difficult for most business leaders to understand. They have been in their industries for so long that they forget that people who do not know what they do simply do not understand their lingo.

Let me give you an example. A number of years ago, I was providing graphic design and printing services to a video distributor. One service I provided was to create PVT labels. We had a wide variety of PVT labels and, in fact, we made more money on PVTs than most other products we offered.

I was driving down the street one day and found that a video store had a sign in front of the building that read, “PVTs — $6.99.” I laughed out loud.

I laughed because, like you right now, I realized that most people have no idea what a PVT is. Of course, I knew that PVTs were “previously viewed tapes,” but, the video store’s clients had no idea. That video store’s marketers were marketing with their own lingo — not what people were actually looking for.

SEO & Traffic I mentioned earlier that many people think if you rank high in search engine results, you will naturally make more sales.

The reality is that even if you have a high ranking in the search engines, you may not garner more traffic. The purpose of SEO is to get rankings, not traffic. However, if you optimize for the

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right terms, you may also gain more traffic.

The reason for this is that people search for different things. They search for things they understand. Now, if you sell Hondas and someone wants to buy a Honda, then you will probably want to optimize for Honda. Most businesses do not have that luxury. Most businesses need to optimize for terms that solve their clients’ problems and then guide them to the specific products or services they offer.

terms your clients are more likely to search for and optimize for those terms as well.

Think of managed print services. The reality is that the majority of the people searching for managed print services are your competitors, who want to see how they are performing against you online.

Your clients are looking for “saving money on printers” or “printer toner and service.”

While you will not increase your traffic with SEO directly, it is the first step to be able to grow your business. The more credibility you gain with the obvious terms, the more likely it will be that you will be able to increase your rankings in the terms that people are actually searching for.  Corey Smith is the author of “Do It Right: A CEO’s Guide to Web Strategy” and is chief Web architect for Dealer Marketing Systems, a marketing company dedicated to assisting dealerships with Web, print and direct mail strategies. You can connect with Smith at www.coreysmith.ws.

Visit www.dealermarketingsystems.com.

The more credibility you gain with the obvious terms, the more likely it will be that you will ... increase your rankings in the terms that people are actually searching for.

What Does This Mean?

Too often, we think that, because we know a term, people searching for us will naturally know it too. Usually they do not — they search for terms that solve their needs until they learn the proper industry lingo. In fact, typically, they will search for a wide variety of terms that are similar to what you do and then try to figure out how the results apply to those terms.

So, when you think about the work that you put into SEO, you will want to optimize for terms that are exactly what you do. What is more important is that you try to identify what

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PRINCIPAL ISSUES

Your Customer’s Voice Optimizing customer feedback & success stories by: Frank Matranga, Mornin’ Time Productions LLC

T

here is a trend among small to medium-sized business (SMB) owners to position their companies as being “customer-centric” or “customer-focused.” This is actually in response to some groundbreaking research done beginning in 2000 (and continuing today) that formed the background story of Harvey Thompson’s book, “The Customer-Centered Enterprise: How World-Class Companies Achieve Extraordinary Results by Putting Customers First.”

Many SMB organizations have seen phenomenal results in building customer loyalty with programs such as those with names like “Customer Vision” or “Customer First.” However, the vast majority of companies have not completed the first step of this process, which is to understand what the customer wants. This is probably the area of business that holds the most potential to improve bottom-line results for B2B sales companies. The road to understanding your customer begins with two important communication vehicles — customer feedback and customer success stories.

Gathering Customer Feedback A lot of organizations have attempted to get to know their customers by asking customer contacts for their opinions.

We are all familiar with customer satisfaction surveys, focus groups and market studies. These programs can spend significant resources to gather a lot of data points.

The failure happens during the next step, where that data has to be turned into information that sales company employees can use to change the way they develop products and services, guide their customers through the sales process or respond to customer service requests. This step requires analytics and truly effective communication across different groups of people. Unfortunately, it is rare. The typical effect of most customer feedback processes is that they give customers a stress relief point to complain to. But beyond a cursory attempt to fix a customer’s individual problem, no systemic changes are made unless complaints begin to overwhelm the system.

Making the data meaningful does not require complex analysis. It is relatively simple to categorize customer feedback by area to summarize monthly, assign a team to review and research issues, and hold the team accountable for publishing the information (with action items and due dates) to all business areas (sales, marketing, service). It just has to be done. Do not gather the customer’s opinion and then not do anything with it. Your company will seem unresponsive.

The Power of Success Stories Beyond capturing customer feedback and turning it into results, what else has proven effective in efforts to create a customer-centric company? Surprisingly, widespread distribution of solid customer success stories is a top indicator of customer-centered companies. A recent white paper produced by SMM Marketing Consultants, “The Seven Habits of a Truly Customer-Centric Selling Organization,” discusses how critical it is to “stand in the shoes of your customers.” A success story, widely distributed throughout the sales organization, helps significantly to accomplish this goal.

The very best customer success stories follow these three best practices: (1) Focus on the customer — Tell each aspect of the story from the customer’s point of view instead of focusing on the products or services used.

(2) Follow a real-world sales process — Show the sales process and how the customer is involved in each step to make a start-to-finish story. Include customer issues, rootcause problem identification, solution proposal, and tangible and intangible results.

(3) Interactive presentation — No one wants to read dull templates filled with numbers and vague references to results.

The most widely distributed and used success stories are short-duration (five- to seven-minute) video presentations. www.officetechnologyma g. c o m | J u n e 2 0 1 2 | 29

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crystallize promised benefits right before Just a few short years ago, the choices the customer’s eyes. in video production were either: (1) HighDealers who want to Dealers who want to achieve the benquality, time-intensive, expensive and proachieve the benefits efits of customer-centric selling — which fessionally created presentations from proof customer-centric include faster time-to-market, more efduction houses; or (2) Low-quality and selling ... can gain some fective marketing campaigns and shorter cheap basement-style videos used more for velocity ... by updating sales cycles — can gain some velocity in the internal distribution. process by updating their communication Today, with the advances being made in their communication processes with a two-pronged approach. equipment, technology and marketing exprocesses ...

First, be sure there is a method to cappertise, there are companies that can proture customer feedback and turn it into acduce high-quality video presentations that can be distributed for not much more than what traditional tionable items with due dates for resolution. Second, take the print stories developed by marketing teams used to cost. Just time to grow your customer relationships through the probe sure to select a video team that understands your business duction and distribution of customer-centered video success stories. These two changes can go far to improve the customer and can focus on the value brought to your customers.

These types of video success stories can be used for multi- experience at your business. n Frank Matranga is business development manager of Mornin’ ple purposes within your dealership. They can show: (1) How Time Productions. He has 25 years of experience as a technical customers are actually using your products and services in marketing manager, working with Global 500 companies, and the real world to solve problems; (2) What messages customdirect and indirect channel distribution. ers respond to; (3) How the products work in business enPreviously serving as national manager of Ricoh vironments; and (4) What motivated the customer to close Integrated Channel Marketing, Matranga the sale. For new hires, seeing the products and services in created innovative programs and videos for the action is much more effective training than role-playing imRicoh Family Group. He can be reached at aginary customers. fmatranga@mornintimeproductions.com.

Of course, potential customers will also find value in Visit www.mornintimeproductions.com. video success stories, which can act as instant referrals and

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