March 2015 Office Technology

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CONTENTS Volume 21 • No. 9

FEATURE ARTICLES 10

Managed IT Services Taming & controlling network infrastructures

P R I N C I PA L I S S U E S Bigger & Better Dealer recounts process of dealership move

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by Jose Lopez Barlop Business Systems

by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

With the decline in printed pages, as well as product commoditization, dealers are seeing that the future ideal mix of products and services will be significantly different than it is today. There is one diversification strategy that many see as the most prominent for today’s dealer — managed IT services.

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Over the past few years, many office technology dealerships have offered a pay-one-price-per-page or managed print services program to customers. In order to do so, the first question that needs to be asked is: “What are my costs?”

It is an easy question, but arriving at the answer can take work.

The Art of Disruption Konica Minolta hosts dealer conference Feb. 15-18

by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

With a focus on boldly challenging dealers to break away from the competition by embracing any of a number of disruptive technologies, Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A. Inc. hosted its 2015 Konica Minolta Business Conference & Expo Feb. 15-18 in Los Angeles, Calif.

The conference drew more than 1,000 attendees.

COURTS & CAPITOLS 25

FutureVision 2015 Dealers meet to discuss future plans & strategies

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by Elizabeth Marvel Office Technology Magazine

Making Data Work What are your supplies & service costs per page?

by Robert Sombach Nexent Innovations Inc.

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In August 2013, my company, Barlop Business Systems, acquired a new building and we began the journey of moving our dealership.

Automatic Renewal Clauses The trend toward regulation is growing

by Robert C. Goldberg BTA General Counsel

While the majority of states still allow automatic renewals of maintenance, support and lease agreements, the trend toward regulation is growing.

On Feb. 18-19, industry consulting firm Growth Achievement Partners hosted its fourth-annual FutureVision dealer event.

SELLING SOLUTIONS Ask for Referrals Do so early on; there is no reason to wait

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by Tibor Shanto Renbor Sales Solutions

I continue to be amazed by how few salespeople actually leverage referrals when sourcing new sales opportunities.

Dialing for Dollars Five ways to succeed at telephone prospecting

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by Troy Harrison SalesForce Solutions

You can put the right tools, metrics and resources in place to get appointments with new customers through data-driven teleprospecting.

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

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BTA President’s Message

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Advertiser Index

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S PAGE

BTA Announces New Dealer VMO Analysis

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he Business Technology Association (BTA) is pleased to announce a new offering to the dealer community through an alliance with InfoTrends. The new Dealer Vertical Market Opportunity Analysis (Dealer VMO Analysis), available to dealers exclusively through the association, provides a granular look at a dealership’s sales territory and market opportunity.

Enhancing sales productivity, differentiation and maximizing individual markets are ultimate goals for today’s independent office technology dealer. Understanding vertical markets can provide lucrative opportunities for the dealer to stay competitive and provide unprecedented value to his (or her) customers. While navigating vertical markets and potential opportunities can be a challenge, gaining greater insight into specific markets and the key verticals within them can help dealers make decisions regarding their leading targets for hardware, supplies and solutions.

Consider your total addressable market (TAM), also called total available market.

It is a term that is typically used to reference the revenue opportunity available for a product or service. Knowing your TAM helps to prioritize business opportunities by serving as a metric of the underlying potential of a given opportunity. Until now, the ability for a dealership to measure its unique TAM has been difficult, if not impossible.

Presented to dealers based on one or more Core Based Statistical Area (CBSA), the new Dealer VMO Analysis provides deliverables that present timely and informative insight on a dealership’s current local market trends and true market potential. Data is presented

with both InfoTrends data visualization workbooks and PowerPoint. Delivery can be either onsite or via a webinar. The presentation can be included as part of an executive briefing or sales training session.

The Dealer VMO Analysis can be used by dealers to answer such questions as: Who are my competitors (dealer, MSP, MPS and VAR)? What are their service capabilities?

What accounts in my market provide the highest potential? Having the answers to these questions will help a dealer in three key ways: (1) It will provide an understanding of the dealership’s competitive landscape, which is also ideal for targeting acquisitions of other dealerships, IT resellers, managed services providers (MSPs), etc.; (2) It will provide an understanding of the total market potential base of a dealership’s unique geography, including the installed base, overall print volume, MPS print volume, print volume by vertical market and print volume by company size; and (3) It will help a dealership better align sales opportunity by geography, vertical market and business size.

Who is InfoTrends, the creator of the Dealer VMO Analysis? Based in Weymouth, Mass., InfoTrends is a leading global market research and strategic consulting firm for the imaging, document solutions, production print and digital media industries. The firm provides insight and advice to help clients understand market trends, identify opportunities and grow their businesses. BTA is pleased to align with the firm once again to provide dealers a tool that will invariably help them to increase revenues and profitability.

If you are interested in learning more about this new BTA member offering, visit www.bta.org/VMO. (By the way, InfoTrends also offers the Ask the Analyst service exclusively to BTA members. For details, visit www.bta.org/AskTheAnalyst.) 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 Troy Harrison, SalesForce Solutions www.troyharrison.com Jose Lopez, Barlop Business Systems www.barlop.com Tibor Shanto, Renbor Sales Solutions www.sellbetter.ca Robert Sombach, Nexent Innovations Inc. www.miracleservice.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 2014-2015 Board of Directors

Mark Your Calendar for Cruise to Success

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ave you adopted new business strategies for future success, like managed IT services, in your dealership? Through a range of educational sessions focused on this hot topic and much more, this year’s Cruise to Success district event, hosted by BTA Mid-America, will help guide your dealership to new heights.

Cruise to Success will be held May 7-8, 2015, at the Radisson Blu Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minn. Rick Taylor, president and COO of Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A. Inc., will kick off the event at 3 p.m. on May 7 with his keynote session, “Within Your Grasp: Future Opportunities in the Office.” Following the keynote presentation, Bob Goldberg, BTA general counsel, will present “Keeping Pace With Your Legal Liability.”

Following Bob’s presentation, BTA will present its 2015 Channel’s Choice Awards. A welcoming reception will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m., giving attendees an opportunity to network with peers and exhibiting sponsors.

Breaks between sessions on both days will give attendees additional networking time.

On the second day of Cruise to Success, following a 7 to 8 a.m. breakfast, four independent dealers will discuss managed IT services in the dealer panel, “Taking the Right Steps Into Managed IT Services.” The panel, moderated by Ed McLaughlin, president and CEO of Valderus, will give the dealers an opportunity to share how they have successfully made the transition into this new business model. The panelists: Joe Birk, president and owner, Data Comm Inc., Jefferson City, Mo.; Jim Oricchio, president, Coordinated Business Systems Ltd., Burnsville, Minn.; Brent Simone, president,

Stratix Systems, Wyomissing, Pa.; and Greg Walker, president, East Texas Copy Systems Inc., Tyler, Texas.

Following the dealer panel, there will be two educational sessions focused on keeping pace with today’s technology: “Removing the Mystery From Managed IT Services,” with Ed McLaughlin; and “Selling Strategies in the Internet Era,” with Richard Farrell, president, Tangent Knowledge Systems.

Lunch will follow Farrell’s session. After lunch, the final educational sessions will be held: “The Key to Smart Sales Hiring,” with Troy Harrison, president, SalesForce Solutions; “Creating Immediate Relationships in Every Presentation,” with Jody Cross, owner, Leaders Speak; and “Sales Compensation for the Services-Led Dealership,” with Luis Gonzalez, founder, SalesScoreKeeper.com.

Closing comments and prize drawings will wrap up the educational portion of the event. Then, from 6 to 9:30 p.m., attendees will have dinner aboard the Anson Northrup riverboat, enjoying a Las Vegas casinothemed cruise on the Mississippi River.

The BTA Dealer Marketing Workshop will be held May 6-7 as a front runner to the event. Workshop attendees will receive free registration to Cruise to Success. The workshop will be held at the nearby Katun Corp. headquarters. Visit www.bta.org/ DealerMarketing for additional information or to register.

BTA member dealer registration for Cruise to Success with the dinner cruise is only $199; a registration includes a second registration for another of the member dealership employees for free. Non-member dealer registration with the dinner cruise is $249.

For more information on the sessions, additional pricing information or to register, visit www.bta.org/BTAMidAmericaEvent.

I look forward to seeing you there. n — Ron Hulett

President Ron Hulett U.S. Business Systems Inc. 3221 Southview Drive Elkhart, IN 46514 ron.hulett@usbus.com President-Elect Dave Quint Advanced Systems Inc. 2945 Airport Blvd.

P.O. Box 57 Waterloo, IA 50704 dquint@asiowa.com Vice President Rob Richardson Allied Document Solutions & Services Inc. 200 Church St. Swedesboro, NJ 08085 robr@ads-s.com BTA East Mike Boyle BASE Technologies Inc. 23 Francis Clarke Circle, Ste. 1B Bethel, CT 06801 mboyle@baseinc.com BTA Mid-America Dan Castaneda International Copy Machine Center 1515 Lee Trevino, Ste. EE El Paso, TX 79936 dan@icmc-elp.com BTA Southeast Gerry Purvis Purvis Business Machines Inc. 4505 Highway 39 N. Meridian, MS 39301 gerry.purvis@gopurvis.com BTA West Mike Ehlers Yost Business Systems 685 E. Anderson Idaho Falls, ID 83401 mike@yostonline.com Immediate Past President Todd J. Fitzsimons Automated Business Solutions DBA Network Imaging 277 Captain Lewis Drive Southington, CT 06489 tjfitzsimons@ni-ct.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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Managed IT Services Taming & controlling network infrastructures by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

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ob Dylan’s iconic lyrics were not written for the office technology industry, but they certainly apply: “The times they are a-changin’.” Today, printers and MFPs remain the core products for most BTA Channel dealers. However, with the decline in printed pages, as well as product commoditization, dealers are seeing that the future ideal mix of products and services will be significantly different than it is today.

Think 3D printers. Think digital signage.

How many office technology dealers were thinking about these two product categories just a few short years ago? Today, they are seen by many as leading new diversification strategies for the dealer channel. A growing number of dealers are already finding success with these products. There is one diversification strategy, however, that many see as the most prominent for today’s dealer — managed IT services.

Dealers looking to tame and control their customers’ IT infrastructures are being presented with various avenues to consider. They include: partnering with or acquiring an existing local managed services provider; partnering with a third-party company that provides both an IT remote monitoring and management (RMM) solution and a network operations center (NOC); or handling everything in-house with the right personnel, RMM solution and other software tools.

Across America, dealers are finding success with managed IT services. They are recognizing that small- and midsized businesses welcome the IT services they provide. They are also enjoying the significant revenue generated from monthly support fees and IT hardware placements. The experiences of four BTA dealerships provide an insightful look at the managed IT services opportunity — the process of implementation, strategies for success and a few pitfalls to avoid.

Carolina Business Equipment Inc. Like many other dealers, John Eckstrom, president of Carolina Business Equipment Inc. (CBE), Columbia, S.C.,

acknowledges that he pursued managed IT services when it became clear his dealership needed to diversify. “Dealers have not just been talking about managed IT services for talking’s sake; there has been a real concern about dwindling hardware and aftermarket revenue,” he says. “There has been a lot of wringing of hands among dealers for a long time.”

Rather than simply wringing his hands, in early 2013 Eckstrom led CBE into the managed IT services arena, developing what he refers to as the dealership’s First Response Center (FRC), rather than a NOC. Today, with six of CBE’s 38 employees dedicated to managed IT services, Eckstrom is projecting that the department will generate about 20 percent of the dealership’s revenues in 2015.

The key to CBE’s success in managed IT services has been its employees, Eckstrom emphasizes. “Whenever I talk about the relative ease in how we do things, it is only because we have a group of solid people,” he says. “Without that, it would be very difficult for anybody to get this to take off.”

One of those “solid people” is John Morelock, hired by CBE in December 2013 to oversee its Managed Network Support Program. Morelock, with 20 years of IT experience, says that if a customer is seeking an IT team, “we are that team.” Utilizing an RMM solution from LabTech Software, “we monitor to predict trends so that we can be proactive to head off issues before they become issues,” he says, noting that CBE also relies on such companies as Webroot for antivirus; Datto for cloud backup; Motorola for Wi-Fi access points; and Lenova for IT hardware. “We provide both remote service and on-site service, but, quite honestly, we can handle about 80 percent of our work remotely.”

The staff skill set and resources at CBE allow it to provide managed IT services to customers ranging from a two-person operation to a manufacturing plant with 100 nodes on its network, “so we have a large profile of customers we are providing services to today,” Morelock says, noting that CBE has become the trusted advisor to its managed IT services

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customers. “If one of our cusmatter what their infratomers is meeting with a vendor structure, we were offer“BTA dealers are the to bring on a new software soluing services for whatevultimate ‘payment sellers.’ tion, a phone system or changer they had in place.”

If there is a payment to ing ISPs, I am in that meeting Today, DPOE has a be sold, we are the guys with them. It is just like I am a “rip and replace” process who know how to do it. part of their team.” for IT hardware, Miceli That’s why were are Ramping up its managed IT explains. “We started goservices department was not ing back to our customdoing so well with without a few “learning experiers and standardizing managed services.” ences,” Morelock says. For exthem on HP computers,” — Chip Miceli ample, he says, initially CBE’s he says, noting that cusDes Plaines Office Equipment Co. website had no mention of the tomers are also being company’s IT services, which led standardized on Winto the loss of one pending client engagement after the compa- dows 7 and 8. “If we had not standardized, we would probny’s remote CFO looked at CBE’s website. “Today, if you look ably be at about 70 percent break/fix today with only about at our website,” he says, “it has ‘IT and technology’ all over it.” 30 percent of issues handled by our NOC.” BTA dealers are particularly well suited for managed Des Plaines Office Equipment Co. IT services when compared to traditional providers. “BTA Ten years ago, Des Plaines Office Equipment Co. (DPOE), dealers are the ultimate ‘payment sellers,’” he says. “If there Elk Grove Village, Ill., stepped into the IT world. Initially, is a payment to be sold, we are the guys who know how to do says company president Chip Miceli, two of the dealership’s it. That’s why we are doing so well with managed services.”

MFP installers who were “pretty IT savvy” began removing viruses, installing drivers, etc., for no fee. That ultimately East Texas Copy Systems led to the decision to begin selling fee-based blocks of time In 2009, Greg Walker, president of East Texas Copy Sysfor such services in increments of 20 hours. tems (ETCS), Tyler, Texas, was looking to hire a new docuFast forward six years. Miceli attended an industry edu- ment management salesperson. Kenny Prince emerged as a cational event that led him to transition DPOE from simply candidate. However, given his IT skill set, it quickly became offering IT services in blocks of time to offering managed IT apparent that Prince would be better suited to manage a services for a monthly fee. Today, nine of the dealership’s 70 new initiative that was being considered at ETCS — the foremployees work in its managed IT services department. Spe- mation of a Professional Services Group (PSG) that would cifically, three employees work in the dealership’s in-house provide managed IT services. Prince was hired to do the job.

NOC; one manages the NOC; two engineers handle on-site Today, 20 of the 72 employees at ETCS work in the PSG, IT break/fix; two handle all of the software situations that which offers a full scope of managed IT services both rearise; and one employee manages the department. Miceli motely and on site. In 2014, IT services, utilizing N-able’s Nsays the department is on track to generate about 15 percent Central RMM solution as well as Symantec Corp. products of DPOE’s revenues in 2015. for antivirus and malware protection, contributed about 22 Even after the establishment of a NOC and the implemen- percent of the dealership’s overall revenues. Says Walker: “In tation of the N-Central RMM solution from N-able Technol- 2015, we are expecting it to increase to about 35 percent of ogies by SolarWinds, DPOE’s managed IT services depart- our revenues.” ment has continued to evolve. Initially, Miceli says, the NOC Walker emphasizes that IT customers are “very, very was operating “just like a dispatch center,” sending techs sticky” and that they generally provide more revenue to the into the field. Today, he says, approximately 85 percent of dealership than an MFP placement. “There are a lot of addcustomer IT issues are handled remotely by DPOE. on sales that just happen — server projects and ancillary The decision to standardize customer IT hardware about products that just come along naturally,” he says. “You don’t a year and half ago is among the latest strides for the DPOE get that when you just sell an MFP.” managed IT services department. “From a financial standTypically, when “selling a $10,000 box to a company for impoint, we weren’t making a lot of money on this,” Miceli aging,” that sale only occurs every three to five years, Walker says, noting that the variety of hardware in customer loca- says. “But, with IT, we sell a customer $20,000, sometimes tions was “eating up” much of DPOE’s engineers’ time. “We $30,000, in services and hardware in a single year, depending were taking on all kinds of machines under contract and no on the size of the company and how much we can actually 12 | ­w w w. o f f ic et ec hno lo g y m a g.c om | Ma r c h 2 0 1 5

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do for them. For example, if ultimately leading to the we can get in with a contract significant growth of Top“We find that among the of $1,000 to $1,500 a month, Notch, Drake says. “We dealers we talk to, the that’s $12,000 to $18,000 made every mistake you biggest fear factor is that a year — and that’s before could possibly make, and they don’t know IT. They we start talking about any then probably two more,” think, ‘How do I know if I IT hardware.” he quips, recalling the first am doing an acquisition that Walker and Prince acyear. “That’s what happens I am getting the right guy?’ knowledge that despite the when you are burning a trail promise of significant revand nobody else is doing it.”

It’s just a fear of the unknown.” enues, many dealers remain Drake recalls one of the

— Kenny Prince hesitant about pursuing the early mistakes: “We thought, East Texas Copy Systems managed IT services oppor‘OK, we already have distunity and, in particular, patch personnel in place acquiring a small, local IT company as a means to move for- on the copier side through Office Works, so we’ll let them ward. ETCS has added talent through the acquisition of four handle dispatch for IT.’ That was a disaster. You have to have one-man companies and a six-man company to drive its IT industry-specific people to answer the phone and interact services growth. “We find that among the dealers we talk to, with customers. They can’t be generalists.” Today, TopNotch the biggest fear factor is that they don’t know IT,” Prince says. utilizes ConnectWise business management software for IT “They think, ‘How do I know if I am doing an acquisition that services dispatching, billing, etc. ConnectWise integrates I am getting the right guy?’ It’s just a fear of the unknown.” with the LabTech RMM solution used by TopNotch.

Prince and Walker encourage hesitant dealers to begin In addition, says Drake, the first year of the partnership also building their knowledge of the opportunity through edu- made clear the importance of allocating time and resources. cational events, articles, dealer groups, etc. “As an owner, I “Balancing the workload to the amount of people needed as feel that if they don’t do something, they are going to be left we were growing was difficult,” he says. “We would do a bunch out,” Walker says. “For the dealer who is hesitant to move of business and while working to get it all installed, everything forward, it is just going to become more difficult in the fu- else we were working on would go ‘kerflooey.’ As a result, the ture, because others are going to get ahead of that dealer.” project would end up at 90-percent complete for way too long.

So, we learned about balancing the workload the hard way.”

Office Works/TopNotch Networking Brown says he ultimately worked to ensure TopNotch had In the early 2000s, while working as the IT manager for a the right personnel to provide the level of service and suplarge mortgage company, Justin Brown was getting to know port that customers expect. Early on, he says, the thought his employer’s imaging equipment supplier, Matt Drake, was that a single technology “guru” could simply manage president of Office Works, Victorville, Calif. One day, Brown several low-skilled, $8-per-hour employees. “That model recounts, “Matt said, ‘We’re moving toward IT and we want doesn’t work,” he says, noting that he now only hires personto be in front of it; let’s do something.’” nel with IT consulting experience. “I think I cycled through Brown later left the mortgage company to start his own seven techs I had to push out the door as we hired new techs.

IT services company and ultimately found he needed some We had to do it. Today, our product is phenomenal.” administrative support, employees and more business Looking back at his own experiences, Brown advises knowledge. He reconnected with Drake and a partnership dealers who are now ramping up in the managed IT serwas formed. Today, 10 years later and with four “shared” vices arena to ensure that “the services they deliver are exemployees, Brown’s TopNotch Networking, with 18 direct cellent,” given the impact poor services could have on the employees, is headquartered within Office Works and has a dealership. “When you sell more than one product [to a cussecond location in nearby Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. tomer], every time you deliver any of those products you risk At the time the partnership was formed, TopNotch was losing all of them,” he says. “Don’t go to mardoing about $60,000 in annual revenues. “I am forecasting ket with something you are not 100-percent that in 2015, we will do about $2.8 million,” Brown says, sure is going to be phenomenal.” n noting that Office Works is projected to generate about $3 Brent Hoskins, executive director of the million in imaging equipment, service and supplies revenue Business Technology Association, is editor this year. “TopNotch grew about 67 percent last year.” of Office Technology magazine. He can be It took a while for the partnership to work smoothly, reached at brent@bta.org or (816) 303-4040.

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Making Data Work What are your supplies & service costs per page? by: Robert Sombach, Nexent Innovations Inc.

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ver the past few years, many office technology dealerships have offered a pay-oneprice-per-page or managed print services (MPS) program to customers. In order to do so, the first question that needs to be asked is: “What are my costs?� It is an easy question, but arriving at the answer can take a lot of work. The good news is that if you have a dealer management system, much of the information you need already exists inside it. Here is a quick look at how to leverage your data to increase the gross margin of your MPS program.

Supply costs are fairly straightforward. Most dealerships have entered in a price and yield for their OEM and, where possible, aftermarket supplies. Typically, if you are going to offer an MPS program, you will need remote monitoring software (RMS) like Print Audit, Print Tracker or PrintFleet. These systems will supply you with a spreadsheet showing devices, their monthly page volumes and (where the data is available) the toner coverage of each device. These data points, coupled with your supply prices and toner cartridge yields, are the basis for your costs.

Determining the parts and labor costs you will charge can be more difficult to manage. An industry estimate for parts and labor costs per page used by many dealers is between $0.003 and $0.004. Those costs can vary greatly depending on your labor rates, travel time to customers and the efficiency of your service technicians. Keep in mind that a dealer management system (like Miracle Service and others) can help you adjust your service costs per page based on your actual service activity over the years.

As an example, you can determine the number of devices you service on an annual basis and, more specifically, which devices tend to need more frequent service than others. You can also note which devices require more expensive parts than others. Here is a quick rule: printers average one service call every two years. MFPs average one call per year.

If you have device models that exceed those numbers, you

can give them a higher cost per page for service parts and labor. Likewise, assign a lower cost if the average is lower for other devices.

The chart below shows a sample of how this could work in practice:

In this example, the color MFP required more service calls, even though it had fewer device instances and pages printed than the single-function device. You would expect that if you had a fleet of laser monochrome printers

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service. As the dealer, you are providing it would cost less to manage than a fleet ... A major attraction a form of insurance to the customer. of color MFPs. That is not necessarily a A target gross margin for MPS reflection of one device’s reliability; as of MPS for customers should be 50 percent. While no dealer we mentioned earlier, a color MFP does is that it provides cost has the ability to accurately predict more than a single-function printer. You certainty ... As the how often a device will fail and how will likely never see a fleet of devices dealer, you are providing much it will cost, the high gross marthat are all the same model. In this case, a form of insurance gins for MPS should help ensure that, if you never knew the costs per device, fleet-wide, you are earning a superior but you estimated a service number to the customer. profit. By using the information in your of $0.003 per page, you would have acdealer management system to monicrued $1,650, but only spent $1,160 on service and you would likely find your MPS program was tor and manage your MPS profitability, during quarterly more profitable by $490. An estimate of per-page costs is reviews you can determine precisely where improvements just that: an estimate. It can never be exact and I hope this can be made going forward — or you can make adjustments exercise shows that it does not need to be exact, merely rea- as they are needed. n Robert Sombach is vice president of sonably accurate. operations and development at Nexent While all of this may seem complicated, it is an exercise Innovations Inc., providers of Miracle Service every dealership that provides MPS goes through. At the service management software. He can be end of the day, a major attraction of MPS for customers is reached at rsombach@nexent.com. that it provides cost certainty and predictability. They pay a Visit www.miracleservice.com. premium for this service over the cost of toner and break/fix

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The Art of Disruption Konica Minolta hosts dealer conference Feb. 15-18 by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

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ith a focus on boldly challenging dealers to break away from the competition by embracing any of a number of disruptive technologies, Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A. Inc. (KMBS; Konica Minolta) hosted its 2015 Konica Minolta Business Conference & Expo Feb. 15-18 in Los Angeles, Calif. The conference, themed “The Art of Disruption,” drew more than 1,000 attendees, including representatives from 196 of the manufacturer’s 318 authorized dealerships.

Providing a comprehensive look at Konica Minolta’s solutions offerings for the health care, education, hospitality and legal industries, the conference also addressed a variety of industry trends through presentations on topics ranging from 3D printing to graphic communications to the cloud.

Attendees also had the opportunity to tour an expansive exhibit area with more than 70 stations. It was the largest exhibit showcase of products, solutions and services that Konica Minolta has ever presented.

In the conference’s general sessions, company executives thanked and congratulated dealers on their successes during the past year. They also reported on Konica Minolta’s strides. “Together, we had an extremely successful year,” said Rick Taylor, president and COO of KMBS. “We have experienced growth in our revenue, profits, units and page volume in our core businesses.”

Noting that Konica Minolta has grown its revenue by $800 million in the past six years, Taylor said the company’s production print business and enterprise account business continue to “grow dramatically.” In addition, All Covered, the KMBS division, will grow $200 million in managed network services revenue this year, he said, while “our brandnew enterprise content management practice will reach $40 million in the coming year.”

In his general session presentation, Alan Nielsen, executive vice president of the KMBS Dealer Sales Division, reported on the successes of KMBS dealers. “At our last conference, I shared the success of our Konica Minolta dealer partners over the last six years, growing total gross revenue at a compound annual rate of 9 percent and hardware at 11

Rick Taylor (left) and Alan Nielsen address dealer attendees. percent,” he said. “This success has continued through fiscal year 2013 with total gross revenue growing 8 percent, total hardware revenue growing 9 percent and total units growing a whopping 13 percent.”

Nielsen also noted the significant role dealers have played in comparison to KMBS direct sales operations. “These strong dealer channel results have played a key role in the overall success of our company,” he said. “In fact, the dealer channel sold 51 percent of total KMBS units for fiscal year 2013 and 53 percent of total units so far this year.”

In their general session presentations, both Nielsen and Taylor emphasized the significance and importance of the conference’s “The Art of Disruption” theme. The theme was further reflected in the exhibit area, which featured such “disruptors” as: Robin Powered, a software company that is dedicated to making workplace coordination as efficient as possible, facilitating, for example, responsive conference rooms that sense an employee’s arrival and push that information to fellow employees, such as a team member who may have forgotten a meeting; and Knightscope, a company that utilizes technology to make communities safer and stronger with robots that can see, hear, feel and smell, and watch over corporate campuses and neighborhoods.

Citing the dictionary definition of “disruption” as “an act or instance of the order of things being disturbed,” Taylor

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that I could,” he said. “I was given the provided the reason that it is necessary “Using the ‘art of job of grinder. It was hard work manufor dealers to move forward with disally cranking the wenches to trim the ruptive technologies: “Because our core disruption’ to sails as fast as possible, but it was also business is changing.” Changing infrabreak away from exhilarating to be able to feel the wind structure, workflow and technology, as the competition is a and the power of the sea.” well as the changing workforce, he said, team strategy for Ultimately, Nielsen said, he saw that demand that dealers and their product success ... It requires with the “right people” who had “the and services offerings change as well. desire to win,” the crew was destined to Proclaiming that the “riskiest thing a great leader.” become a winning team. He could also we can do is stay the same,” Taylor noted see that breaking away from the other that dealers who “successfully disrupt our market” will see exponentially greater returns. The yachts into the open water provided an advantage that dealer conference was intended to show dealers the prod- would accelerate the team’s lead. “We began to look at the ucts, software and services that offer “billions of dollars in rest of the fleet as a spirited competitor and a force to be potential,” he said. “Together, we will share in the rewards of reckoned with,” he said, applying the story to the dealership principal’s challenge. “Using the ‘art of disruption’ to break executing the art of disruption.”

Nielsen shared a personal story of a past experience — away from the competition is a team strategy for success ... when he learned about yacht racing as part of a competi- It requires a great leader; a leader who makes the right strative team off the shores of Long Island, N.Y. — in order to il- tegic calls for the right actions and builds a great team.” n Brent Hoskins, executive director of the Business Technology lustrate the reward of breaking away from the competition.

Association, is editor of Office Technology magazine.

“I knew nothing about sailing and even less about yacht racing, but I jumped at the chance and eagerly learned all He can be reached at brent@bta.org or (816) 303-4040.

engage ‘n exchange Who’s Making a Difference in the Document Imaging Industry?

This May ENX celebrates the people who are making a difference in the document imaging industry and we’re looking for your recommendations. We invite you to suggest as few or as many people as you’d like with a line or two as to why or how they’re making a difference.

Our intent is to acknowledge the thought leaders and individuals from all corners of the industry whose knowledge, opinions, and guidance are valued by their peers and others in the industry. Some of these difference makers are also doing a terrific job of leading their organizations and growing their businesses and are often front and center at industry events.

E-mail your suggestions to ENX Editorial Director Scott Cullen @ scott@enxmag.com or susan@enxmag.com

Profiles of the individuals who are making a difference will appear in the May issue of ENX. engage ‘n exchange

engage ‘n exchange

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engage ‘n exchange Konica Minolta Mar 15.indd 2

2/27/15 10:08 AM

EDUCATION CALENDAR March 25

April 8-9

May

Building My Business Webinar: “Communicating Your Sales Compensation Plans“ Sales compensation plans can become quite complex and even difficult to understand. Having your comp plans well documented is key for all parties involved to be able to understand, maximize and process. In this webinar, Luis Gonzalez of SalesScoreKeeper.com will go over a few best practices for documenting your compensation plans. Visit www.bta.org/BuildingMyBusiness to register.

ProFinance 2.0

Houston, Texas The principles of ProFinance have dramatically improved the performance of hundreds of dealerships. But with the introduction of color, connectivity, software, managed print services (MPS) and managed network services (MNS), the business has changed — and ProFinance has changed with it. ProFinance 2.0 incorporates these changes into the new industry model, including benchmarks for MPS. With more than 30 key benchmarks, this management tool will help you and your team achieve double-digit operating income. Visit www.bta.org/ProFinance to register.

6-7

BTA Dealer Marketing Workshop

Minneapolis, Minn.

It is time to get serious about online marketing. The BTA Dealer Marketing Workshop, led by Darrell Amy, Lindsay Kelley and Jon Mitchell of Dealer Marketing, makes sure your dealership is ready to implement best practices in online marketing. You will see real-world examples of how dealers use the Internet to generate leads, cross-sell current clients and position themselves as local experts. Workshop attendees will receive free registration to BTA Mid-America’s May 7-8 Cruise to Success district event. Visit www.bta.org/DealerMarketing to register.

7-8

Cruise to Success - Hosted by BTA Mid-America Minneapolis, Minn.

BTA Mid-America will host Cruise to Success May 7-8, 2015, at the Radisson Blu Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minn. The event will feature a keynote session by Rick Taylor, president and COO of Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A. Inc., a dealer panel focused on moving into managed IT services and six 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. From 6 to 9:30 p.m. on Friday, the event will wrap up with a dinner cruise aboard the Anson Northrup riverboat. Visit www.bta.org/BTAMidAmericaEvent to register.

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

www.offi cetechnol ogymag. c om | M a rc h 2015 | 23

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

Dealer Members Action Imaging Group, Tucson, AZ Broken Acres Electronics, Sandusky, OH Computer Consultants & Merchants, Greenwood, SC Copier Technologies, Feasterville, PA Document Strategies, Duluthe, GA Service Associate Member Sagamore Business Services, Braintree, MA Vendor Associate Member ConnectWise, Tampa, FL For full contact information of these new members, visit www.bta.org.

Buyers Laboratory Products & Services Buyers Laboratory (BLI) is a source for unbiased and reliable intelligence for MFPs, printers, scanners and software solutions. Its offerings: bliQ, a database and sales tool that allows you to compare thousands of devices, research product performance, read reviews and more. bliQ Mobile provides on-the-go access. Solutions Center allows quick research and comparison of hundreds of software solutions, including specs, independent reviews and more. The BLI Education Program allows you to leverage BLI’s services with a curriculum designed to help your sales reps make a greater impact in the field. BTA members receive a 20-percent discount on new BLI subscriptions.

Visit www.bta.org/BLI 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.

Made for companies that sell, service and support technology, BTA Vendor Associate member ConnectWise offers a leading business management platform. Today, more than 90,000 users rely on ConnectWise to achieve greater accountability, operational efficiency and profitability. Leveraging the cloud, the platform fully integrates business-process automation, help desk and customer service, sales, marketing, project management and business analytics that dramatically streamline a company’s operations. ConnectWise also gives its users access to a powerful network of ideas, experts and solutions. www.connectwise.com

BTA Service Associate member Sagamore MCS is a division of Sagamore Business Services LLC. It provides a new variable cost model that takes all of the key data from your documents, forms and communications and puts it at your fingertips.

This way, your data can work for you and not the other way around. Sagamore MCS brings business process optimization, workflow automation and content management to the marketplace on a pay-as-you-go basis, which saves time and money. www.sagamoremcs.com A full list of BTA Vendor and Service Associate members can be found online at www.bta.org.

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COURTS & CAPITOLS

Automatic Renewal Clauses The trend toward regulation is growing by: Robert C. Goldberg, general counsel for the Business Technology Association

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just concluded a matter that may indicate a trend that will change the nature of the industry. Most maintenance, support and lease agreements contain automatic renewal clauses. The terms differ, with some requiring a 30-day notice of cancellation while others require a window in which notice must be given of an intention not to renew. In addition, the provisions often state the agreement will renew “at the then-current rate.” While a few jurisdictions have enacted regulations that apply to renewal of lease agreements, the application of these regulations to maintenance, support and managed services agreements has been minimal.

Most restrictions on automatic renewal provisions have been limited to “consumer” transactions. In many agreements, one will note that the party states that the goods are not being used for personal, family or household purposes. This language establishes the transaction as a business use and eliminates the requirements placed upon consumer transactions.

Regulations affecting consumer transactions require that the terms be clearly and conspicuously disclosed, the length of the relationship indicated, the cost, how renewal will occur, how to cancel and a required reminder to the consumer prior to an automatic renewal. Health clubs, Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime service, Time magazine and Sirius Radio have had to adjust their practices following legal scrutiny of their automatic renewal policies.

In the recent dispute I mentioned earlier, the end user went into an automatic renewal of a managed services agreement.

The end user was in the process of changing to another provider and, thus, the dealer was not concerned with losing the relationship, as it was already lost. The dealer insisted that the agreement had automatically renewed and the end user was responsible for 12 additional months — and possibly more — if the agreement was not subsequently cancelled properly. When the end user failed to pay the dealer, contrary to my advice, the dealer insisted on bringing suit.

Although the jurisdiction in which the dispute took place had no laws or regulations regarding automatic renewal, it

did have a statute that prohibited misleading, unfair and deceptive acts or practices. The end user contended that the automatic renewal provision was unfair and cited Federal Trade Commission (FTC) findings that similar automatic renewal provisions in consumer transactions had been found to be misleading, unfair and deceptive. The state statute under consideration prohibited false and deceptive practices and provided it should be interpreted consistent with rulings by the FTC. The judge brought us into chambers and indicated that he agreed renewing the agreement for 12 months was unfair and felt a 30-day notice was more appropriate. The automatic renewal provision was included in the numerous terms and conditions and was not highlighted or pointed out to the end user when the document was signed. The dealer settled for two monthly payments.

Although some state automatic renewal statutes exempt business-to-business transactions (Florida, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Illinois, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Utah), clever attorneys may have found a way around the exclusion through various state deceptive business practices acts. The law is clearly unsettled, but this recent experience caused me to consider the best practices to follow.

If you wish to have an automatic renewal provision, it should be highlighted in bold type. Having a line where the end user initials the provision is an even clearer indication of conspicuous disclosure and acceptance. Finally, it is good policy to send the end user a reminder that an agreement is about to renew. Wisconsin has joined New York in enacting a business-to-business statute regulating automatic renewals requiring clear disclosure and notification prior to the automatic renewal. While the majority of states still allow automatic renewals, the trend toward regulation is growing and dealers should be prepared. n Robert C. Goldberg is general counsel for the Business Technology Association.

He can be reached at robert.goldberg@sfnr.com. www.offi cetechnol ogymag.c om | M a rc h 2015 | 25

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PRINCIPAL ISSUES

Bigger & Better Dealer recounts process of dealership move by: Jose Lopez, Barlop Business Systems

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n August 2013, my company, Barlop or supplies department) face to face.

Business Systems, acquired a new This event helped us learn more about 15,000-square-foot building. We beour clients, and they learned much more gan the journey of moving our dealership about our company and all we have to ofwith the design of our new warehouse and fer. We focused on celebrating and thankoffice space. After more than a year of reing our clients in order to really show modeling, we were finally able to move in our appreciation for them; after all, it is this past October. because of our clients that we have been We moved into the building slowly and able to flourish and grow throughout very conservatively; it took approximately these 32 years. a month to implement the entire change. Barlop Business Systems’ reception area.

Our new location has been a tremenIt was imperative that the move not affect dous benefit for everyone. For example, our order processing and customer service, so the majority of sales team members can now bring in their prospects and the move was done after hours and on weekends. The ware- current customers and show them all of their options using house was the most difficult part because we needed to re- our innovative demo room. The conference room, with its structure the racks and bins, as our new warehouse was twice large, interactive digital displays, has made meetings more the size of the previous one. proficient and productive. Our administration working enviOnce the warehouse was logistically organized, we started ronment is more spacious and pleasant, making our employto deploy our IT network infrastructure. We did an analysis and ees more productive and resourceful. The warehouse is twice evaluated which network and phone companies would be best the size of our prior warehouse, which enables us to keep evfor our new location. It was important for our new system to be erything well organized and easy to find. It also allows us to able to handle increased productivity and future growth. Once process orders much more quickly. The kitchen area has made we decided on our network and phone providers, we installed lunch time more enjoyable for all of our employees.

Ethernet cables, tested our network and made it live. After that, As for business, our new location has made it more comwe deployed the phone system. All of this had to be done on the fortable for clients to come in and see new products while same day, so we made sure to schedule it for the same weekend waiting for their orders to be processed. We have also had as the administration move. Thankfully, we were up and run- more business opportunities, as the new location is on a main ning by Monday morning and business resumed as usual. street versus the “hidden warehouse” of our prior location. CliIn the new building, we made a few changes and created ents now see the actual size of Barlop and can visually see all new positions. In previous months, we hired an in-house IT our company has to offer them. director and introduced Barlop Technology Solutions, our My suggestion to other dealers considering a move: Plan managed IT services division. Two of our most vital addi- and meet weekly, with group meetings, in order to make tions were the reception/entrance area and the demo room. sure everything is communicated. That way, you can more We concentrated on these rooms because they give our clients easily make necessary changes and keep an open mind for their first impressions of Barlop. We made sure the design of different options. n these rooms represent who we are as a company.

Jose Lopez is founder and president of Barlop Business Systems, Our grand opening event was held Dec. 10, 2014. We had an Miami, Fla. Prior to founding Barlop in 1983, he was a national incredible turnout with more than 200 guests, including emparts manager for Saxon Business Products. ployees, clients and vendors. The event included music, food, In 1981, Lopez’s division was acquired by drinks, a photo booth and prizes for our guests. Our clients, TRW Customer Service. He was then long-standing and new, had a great time and were happy to responsible for relocating the Miami office to learn that Barlop had grown so much throughout the years.

Fairfield, N.J., and training personnel.

Many were glad to actually meet the people who had helped Lopez can be reached at jlopez@barlop.com. them through the years via the phone (whether from the service Visit www.barlop.com.

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PRINCIPAL ISSUES

FutureVision 2015 Dealers meet to discuss future plans & strategies by: Elizabeth Marvel, Office Technology Magazine

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n Feb. 18-19, industry consulting firm Growth Achievement Partners (GAP) hosted its fourth-annual FutureVision dealer event at the InterContinental Kansas City at the Plaza in Kansas City, Mo. The invitation-only event gave attendees the opportunity to learn about strategies for future success and to share best practices with fellow dealers.

GAP partners Mitch Morgan and Chris Ryne hosted 42 attendees from 17 customer dealerships at the event. GAP provides direct consulting to these dealerships, and they also work together as a peer group, regularly sharing ideas and best practices. Collectively, they are working toward a goal that was established at the 2014 FutureVision event: getting adjacent revenue to represent a group average of just over 30 percent of total revenue within five years.

Working toward this goal, Morgan spoke about the Internet of Things, the growing prevalence of connected devices in our lives and how dealers could take advantage of these trends. He noted that there are 25 billion connected devices in the world today and that number is expected to double in the next five years. By 2020, he said, Internet-connected devices (not including computers, smartphones or tablets) will generate $9 trillion.

“There is a huge opportunity for dealers that can be realized through success in managed services,” Morgan said. “I look at this as an investment and I’d like you to look at it the same way.

This industry, if you do it right, produces double-digit operating income and nice cash flow. There’s no question about it ... And the businesses that perform well are dripping a lot of cash in this industry. Take money from the cash cow [managed services] and invest it in an adjacent business that is a growth business.”

He suggested several steps to get this adjacent revenue: (1) Perform a market analysis — look at changes in technology to find out how to get part of that $9 trillion.

(2) Decide on your commitment level; are you all in or not?

(3) Get top-down buy-in from your executives; they have to adopt technology themselves.

(4) Create a competitive matrix.

(5) Figure out how to differentiate yourself from the competition, if necessary.

(6) Do customer research, especially in verticals.

(7) Examine your operational capabilities; you must have sufficient support and a good backend. This, Morgan noted, is as important (if not more important) as all of the previous steps.

The event’s educational sessions focused on other aspects of managed services and dealership management. They included

Above: Ryne leads one of the round-table sessions where dealers shared best practices and successful initiatives. Right: Morgan presents one of the meeting’s educational sessions, “GAP: Ensuring Your Success in 2015.”

“Industry Report: What SMBs Want — U.S. SMB & Midmarket Cloud & Managed Services for 2015,” led by Morgan and Ryne. This session summarized a report created by Techaisle that examined 900,000 interviews with SMBs about the cloud, mobility and changing managed services priorities.

Morgan and Ryne also led other sessions, including: “The Predictive Enterprise”; “Ensuring Your Success in 2015”; “ICP and Big Data for GAP Clients”; and “Business Model Updates, Planning and Cadence.” There were also sessions by outside experts, including: “Mergers & Acquisitions,” led by Mike Dudek of Zygoquest; and “Evolving Your Brand From the Traditional Business to Technology Provider,” led by Nikki Leach of MUSE Marketing.

The final session on the first day divided attendees into two groups where each dealership shared best practices and successful initiatives they had put in place in their businesses. These round-table discussions gave dealers new ideas to use in their dealerships, ranging from sales leads contests to marketing videos. n Elizabeth Marvel is associate editor of Office Technology magazine. She can be reached at (816) 303-4060 or elizabeth@bta.org. www.offi cetechnol ogymag.c om | M a rc h 2015 | 27

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SELLING SOLUTIONS

Ask for Referrals Do so early on; there is no reason to wait by: Tibor Shanto, Renbor Sales Solutions

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espite all that is written about the importance and success of referrals, I continue to be amazed by how few salespeople actually leverage this proven and effective method of sourcing new sales opportunities. Whenever I ask a group of sales reps, “How many people here ask for referrals?,” I still find that fewer than half raise their hands.

When I follow up with the question, “How many of you have sold to referrals?,” the same people raise their hands again. I am not sure what the others are waiting for.

Even among those who make referrals a habit, many are not fully maximizing the opportunity. The main problem is “waiting.”

Generally, salespeople are waiting too long to ask and are leaving the request until late in the process, or they are missing the opportunity altogether.

Ask any group of salespeople when they ask for a referral and an overwhelming majority, around 90 percent, will say they ask after the sale is completed and the product/service is delivered. Most of these salespeople will say they wait three to six months after the sale “so the value can set in and be proven, and the customer is happy.”

But why? You should be thinking about referrals from the time you park your car in the visitor’s spot until the end of your relationship. Let’s look at it from two perspectives. First is the question of value delivered. Your value comes in many shapes and forms, not just in the delivered product. So, even when your referral process is tied to value, it will present itself before the close or the delivery of goods.

How many times have you sat with a prospect and had a discussion not about your product, but about something within your field of expertise? I have always stated that good salespeople are subject-matter experts. I often sit with prospects and will share a perspective or a way of doing something, and the prospect will respond positively to what I shared, telling me what he (or she) learned or could use. For example, when discussing forecasts, I may point out a way of calculating something that is better than what the prospect is currently doing, or I may comment on how he uses a formula in a

spreadsheet. Prospects often say, “Wow, I never looked at it that way.

Thanks for pointing that out,” or “Man, I wish I knew that years ago,” or other similar comments.

In my view, the prospect just saw something of value in what I said, so why should I wait to ask for a referral? In my example, I would follow up with: “Great. I’m glad I could help.

Do you know anyone else who may see value in this type of conversation?” I do not expect him to whip out his Rolodex, so to speak, but I plant the seed and build from there.

You would be surprised how many times customers respond by saying they “think ‘so and so’ should know about this as well.”

The other reason you need to think about referrals from the start is because you may never close the prospect, which means there is no “after.” Some time ago, I had an initial appointment with a manufacturer; this was a company that had its act together. I presented at the company’s annual meeting; after that, there were no other opportunities. But we had a good dialog that included talking about the company’s distributors. We agreed to meet again to talk about the kickoff, but before I left, I asked my contact if he thought any of his distributors could benefit from some of the areas of expertise I presented. Not only did he list three and give me contact names, but encouraged me to use his name. In the end, he even sent an email or two. If I would have waited, the opportunity might have been wasted.

Make things happen instead of waiting. All you have to do is plan and ask. n Tibor Shanto is a 25-year veteran of B2B sales, an awardwinning blogger and author of an award-winning book.

Called a brilliant sales tactician, he has helped companies like Ricoh, ChevronTexaco and Pitney Bowes sell better by helping them improve execution.

You can see Shanto at the Toronto Sales Performance Summit on April 6.

He can be reached at (855) 25-SALES or tibor.shanto@sellbetter.ca.

Visit www.sellbetter.ca.

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SELLING SOLUTIONS

Dialing for Dollars Five ways to succeed at telephone prospecting by: Troy Harrison, SalesForce Solutions

T

o paraphrase Mark Twain, “The rumors of telephone prospecting’s demise are greatly exaggerated.” There is a reason for that. One of the most marketable things any sales trainer or author can do is tell salespeople, “You don’t have to prospect.” Today’s plethora of social networking tools have fed this fire, telling salespeople that if they Tweet enough, customers will beat paths to their doors. There is only one problem — it does not work. The average B2B salesperson might pick up one or two new pieces of business here and there, but if growth is needed, a dedicated prospecting effort is the only answer. Still, there are obstacles.

Consider these questions: How can you make prospecting a good use of your sales reps’ time? How can you manage a process that will ensure results? How do you motivate your salespeople to prospect? How can your salespeople effectively win appointments? The answer to all of these questions is a quality, data-driven teleprospecting process.

A data-driven teleprospecting process is far different than what most salespeople do. Most prospecting processes fail because they are based on an obsolete approach (door-to-door prospecting) or because they have inadequate resources or metrics (most telephone prospecting). Without the right processes, tools and metrics, your salespeople will not get the appointments they need to grow their territories.

The good news is you can put the right tools, metrics and resources in place to get appointments with new customers efficiently and effectively — whether you are a salesperson, a sales manager or a business owner. All you need to do is implement these five key points: (1) Have a good database. For some reason, data acquisition is the most intimidating part of teleprospecting to many people. It shouldn’t be. You can acquire a calling list for a fee (from Dun and Bradstreet, Hoover’s or InfoUSA) or even for free (from ReferenceUSA, an offshoot of InfoUSA, which is available through most public libraries). Start by describing your target customer. Use geography, business type and business size as your primary selectors and you can branch out from there.

Then, either buy a database from one of the three companies mentioned above, or get a library card and PIN and access

ReferenceUSA from a nearby library. Either way, without a database with a quantity of contacts (500 to 1,000 per territory as a minimum), you will not be able to succeed.

A “quality database” includes, at the minimum, the following fields for each company record: contact name and title, company name, phone number, address, website, type of business and business size (either in employees or revenue). If you have this information, you have everything you need to know in order to make the call — extensive pre-call research is unnecessary and a time waster. Research after getting the appointment.

(2) Import the database into a good customer relationship management (CRM) system. A CRM system can be fairly inexpensive and installed on one computer, or it can be an enterprise solution. Either way, you need your database imported into your CRM system so a salesperson can pull a contact up on his (or her) screen, make the call, type a couple of quick notes and then move on to the next contact. Successful teleprospecting depends on quick repetition. (Are you a salesperson at a company that does not have a CRM system? Spend $100 or so and buy a one-user copy of ACT.) (3) Have the right metrics. Too many salespeople fail at teleprospecting because they do not know what success looks like. From many studies over the years, a focused B2B salesperson working with the proper database (as above) can typically hit the following metrics in a focused hour of prospecting: 20 dials, six to seven contacts (a voice-to-voice conversation with the target decision maker) and one to two appointments. Keep in mind, these are achievable by a focused salesperson who is equipped to make a call, type a couple of quick notes, move to the next person and make another call.

If the numbers sound too high, work backward through time. Thirteen to 14 of these 20 dials will not result in a contact, so even leaving a voice mail will take a minute, maximum. The appointment-setting conversations will take the longest, perhaps as much as 10 minutes each. That is 20 minutes, so we now have approximately 25 minutes for five conversations that will not result in appointments, or five minutes for each. Give your salespeople the tools, monitor their calling efforts and you will find that the numbers are quite reasonable. www.offi cetechnol ogymag. c om | M a rc h 2015 | 29

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or meeting. “Call blocking” is the process of (4) Use a quality infomercial. Your insetting up a time, preparing to make calls fomercial is a quick, 15- to 20-second introYour infomercial is a and then only using that time to make prosduction and pitch to earn a conversation quick, 15-to-20-second pecting calls. You can do this individually with your prospect. It is an expression of introduction and pitch to or as a sales team; what is most important confidence and how you help your customearn a conversation with is that you do it. ers. Basically, the parts are: introduction your prospect. It is an If you implement these steps, your sales (who you are and who you work for), stateforce will win more new business and that ment of help (how your customers benefit expression of ... how you new business will likely be of better quality from doing business with you) and a folhelp your customers. than you are getting now. And, back to my low-on question (a question that ties back Mark Twain paraphrase, you will discover to the statement of help, designed to spot that teleprospecting is very much alive. n a need). For instance, my own infomercial Troy Harrison is the author of “Sell Like You Mean It!” and a might be: “Hello, Mr. Customer. I’m Troy Harrison and I help speaker, consultant and sales navigator. He helps companies my customers profitably grow their sales and market share build more profitable and productive by training salespeople and sales managers to perform at a sales forces with his cutting-edge sales training world-class level. How do you feel about the effectiveness of and methodologies. For information on booking your sales force?” speaking/training engagements, consulting or to (5) Use call blocking to your advantage. Salespeople who sign up for his weekly e-zine, call (913) 645-3603 succeed at teleprospecting are salespeople who make prosor email troy@troyharrison.com. pecting a priority. To make prospecting a priority, schedule it Visit www.troyharrison.com. on your calendar as you would schedule any other appointment

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