March 2020 Office Technology

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CONTENTS Volume 26 • No. 9

FEATURE ARTICLES 10

Strategies for Success: Part 2 Dealers share insight into growth opportunities

DEALERS HELPING DEALERS Production Accessories Do dealers add costs for these additions?

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Compiled by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

What do you believe will be the greatest opportunities for office technology dealers in 2020? What do you believe will be the best strategies for success in pursuing those opportunities? Recently, Office Technology magazine asked these questions of dealers.

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One Gone, One Restructured Two U.S. remanufacturers transformed in 2019

Compiled by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

When selling maintenance for production machines, do you add additional costs for any accessories (i.e., Fierys, GBCs and Plockmatic options)? This member-dealer question received several answers from fellow dealers.

P R I N C I PA L I S S U E S Empower 2020 Laserfiche hosts provider, end-user event Feb. 11-14

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by Charles Brewer Actionable Intelligence

by Elizabeth Marvel Office Technology Magazine

Last year, two of North America’s largest remanufacturers, Clover Imaging Group (CIG) and LMI Solutions, were forever changed. CIG was restructured and sold, while certain parts of the business filed for bankruptcy. LMI fared much worse.

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Smarter Calendarization A powerful time management tool & motivator

by Kate Kingston Kingston Training Group

With a focus on using its software for human-centered digital transformation, Laserfiche hosted its Empower 2020 conference Feb. 11-14 at the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center in Long Beach, California.

The event gathered more than 4,000 attendees.

SELLING SOLUTIONS Good, Bad or Ugly?

A close look at the merits of micromanagement

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by Gil Cargill Cargill Consulting Group Inc.

Many sales executives approach their calendars as spots where they list some of their upcoming “action items.” But what they do not see is that proper “calendarization” is a powerful time management tool and can effectively be used as a motivator to accomplish more work.

COURTS & CAPITOLS 32

Binding Signatures Ensure the signer has the authority to do so

by Bob Goldberg BTA General Counsel

A lesson for anyone who signs contracts or purchase orders for his (or her) company: Unless you want to be personally responsible for performing the contract, be sure the document clearly indicates that you are signing as the company’s representative.

“Micromanagement” becoming a derogatory term is a problem for businesses. I could give examples of human activities that are successful because the people in charge hold everyone in their organizations accountable for the quantity and quality of activity they undertake.

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

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• BTA Education 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

Interested in Joining BTA’s SDG or PDG?

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ne of the key benefits of Business Technology Association (BTA) membership for just over 60 dealerships is the opportunity to participate in one of the association’s two peer groups. Both groups are focused on facilitating opportunities for the exchange of ideas and best practices.

The Select Dealer Group (SDG) was founded in 2003 and currently has 36 member dealerships. The group meets three times a year. The most recent meeting was for owners only, but SDG’s next meeting will also include the member dealerships’ CFOs and service management. The group’s fall meeting will include both owners and sales personnel. For more information on SDG, visit www.selectdealergroup.org.

The PRO Dealer Group (PDG) was founded in 2012 and currently has 26 member dealerships. The group also meets three times a year. PDG’s most recent meeting included training for dealership sales management as well. CFOs will join owners at the next meeting; service management will do so for the final meeting of 2020. For more information on PDG, visit www.bta.org/ PRODealerGroup.

To provide insight into the value of SDG and PDG, I reached out to several members with this question: “What is your assessment of membership in terms of how it has helped you and your company?” Following are several of the responses. n “SDG has been hugely beneficial to myself personally and to my company. Having these outstanding dealers to communicate and share ideas with is amazing! You can ask any question or propose any idea and you will get genuine, trustworthy feedback from leaders in your industry from around

the world (yes, we have a member from Australia). This type of information can help you avoid pitfalls and delays so you make decisions with confidence.” — Erik Crane, president, CPI Technologies, Springfield, Missouri n “Waltz has been an SDG member since its inception. Having confidential conversations and benchmarks at my fingertips has meant the difference for Waltz. Without a doubt, BTA and SDG have brought a much different picture for the success of our company. And the personal camaraderie that I am privileged to have with the SDG members is priceless!” — Jerry Jehn, president, Waltz Business Solutions, Crestview Hills, Kentucky n “PDG is one of the best investments we have ever made, and we are grateful to be a member. It is a tool that has made a profound impact on the rapid growth we have had over the last few years. The ability to work and interact in meaningful ways with other peers about what we are going through, what they are going through, past experiences and ideas for the future of our businesses is beyond valuable. PDG is an asset that has provided everyone involved with the opportunity to share processes, best practices and ideas that have been mutually beneficial, and has provided us all with a voice.” — Jeff Cousins, president, Kraft Business Systems, Kentwood, Michigan n “PDG has helped our company immensely. Being able to call other non-competing dealers and ask them a question is a big benefit, and the ideas learned during the sharing of best practices have more than paid for the cost of membership (and travel). It is comforting to know that others face the same challenges and decisions we do, and learning from others means we don’t need to reinvent the wheel.” — Ray Derstine, president, Altek Business Systems Inc., Telford, Pennsylvania 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 Charles Brewer, Actionable Intelligence www.action-intel.com Gil Cargill, Cargill Consulting Group Inc. www.gilcargill.com Bob Goldberg, General Counsel Business Technology Association Kate Kingston, Kingston Training Group www.kingstontraining.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 Marketing Director valerie@bta.org Brian Smith Membership Sales Representative brian@bta.org Photo Credits: Bigstockphoto. Cover created by Bruce Quade, Brand X Studio. ©2020 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

National Conference to be Held in Chicago

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he Business Technology Association (BTA) will be heading to the Windy City in June for its 2020 BTA National Conference. To be held June 11-12 at the Fairmont Chicago — Millennium Park in Chicago, Illinois, the conference will be an excellent way to learn from industry experts and your peers. The educational portion of the event will feature a keynote session by Marcus Sheridan looking at the digital consumer; a featured speaker, Zach Basner, talking about creating a culture of video in your dealership; and six additional educational sessions.

There will also be time to network with fellow dealers and exhibiting sponsors, as well as a dinner cruise on the Chicago River.

The event will kick off at 7 a.m. on Thursday, June 11, with breakfast, opening comments and the keynote session, “The Digital Consumer: How Today’s Buyer Has Changed & What Your Business Must Do About It,” with Sheridan, founder of Marcus Sheridan International Inc. He will bring clarity to the way buyers have changed and explain exactly what companies must do to build trust online, and create repeat and referral traffic.

A break, allowing dealers to visit with their peers and exhibiting sponsors, will follow. After the break, Basner will present his session, “The Visual Sale: How to Embrace the Visual Revolution & Create a Culture of Video in Your Organization.” He will show powerful stories of how B2B and B2C companies are using video to not only build their brands, but significantly drive sales and marketing revenue in the process. He will also discuss exactly how any organization, regardless of size, can develop its own culture of video and experience incredible results.

Lunch will be held from noon until 1:15

p.m. After lunch, three more educational sessions will be held: “The Battle for Office Printing Supremacy: Inkjet & Laser,” with Keith Kmetz, IDC; “How to Keep Culture at the Forefront of a Growing Company,” with Dan Meyer, Impact Networking; and “Overcoming the Top Three Challenges for Salespeople in 2020,” with Melissa Whitaker, Melissa Whitaker International.

The first day will wrap up with the Managed Print Services Association’s (MPSA’s) annual awards ceremony from 4:45 to 5 p.m.

That night from 7 to 10 p.m., attendees will enjoy a dinner cruise on the Chicago River aboard the Odyssey, a glass-enclosed vessel that offers marvelous 360-degree views of Chicago’s famous architecture.

The second day of the conference will begin at 7 a.m. on Friday, June 12, with breakfast, followed by opening comments, the final educational sessions and breaks. The sessions: “Ensuring Every Employee Interaction Promotes Customer Service, Appreciation & Excellence,” with Kate Kingston, Kingston Training Group; “2020: A Pivotal Year for the Industry,” with Charles Brewer, Actionable Intelligence; and “The Managed Office of the Future,” with Tami Beach, HP Inc. Closing comments and prize drawings will wrap up the conference from 12:15 to 12:30 p.m.

Two-for-one BTA member dealer registration is only $199. This price includes the Thursday and Friday educational sessions; Thursday breakfast, lunch and dinner cruise; and Friday breakfast. Additional attendees from the same member dealership are $99. Non-member registration is $249.

The action-packed educational sessions and great networking opportunities at this year’s national conference are not to be missed, so I encourage you to join us in Chicago. Learn more and register at www. bta.org/BTAChicago. n — Bob Evans

2019-2020 Board of Directors President Bob Evans Function4 Sugar Land, Texas bobevans@function-4.com President-Elect Tim Renegar Kelly Office Solutions Winston-Salem, North Carolina trenegar@kellyofficesolutions.com Vice President David Polimeni RITE Technology Sarasota, Florida dpolimeni@ritefl.com Immediate Past President John Eckstrom Carolina Business Equipment Inc. Columbia, South Carolina johne@cbesc.com BTA East Don Risser DCS Technologies Corp.

Franklin, Ohio don.risser@dcs-tech.com Aaron Rubin Docutrend Imaging Solutions New York City, New York arubin@docutrend.com BTA Mid-America DJ Hastings Hogland Office Equipment Lubbock, Texas dj@hoglandofficeworks.com Mike Nerland Elite Business Systems Sioux Falls, South Dakota miken@elitebusinesssystems.com BTA Southeast Michael Hicks Electronic Business Machines Inc. Lexington, Kentucky mhicks@ebmky.com Adam Gregory Advanced Business Solutions LLC St. Augustine, Florida adam@goabsinc.com BTA West Dan Bombard Yuma Office Equipment Yuma, Arizona daniel@yumaofficeequipment.com Mike McCurdy Integrated Technologies Inc. Twin Falls, Idaho mikem@itechinc.com Ex-Officio/General Counsel Robert C. Goldberg Schoenberg Finkel Newman & Rosenberg LLC Chicago, Illinois robert.goldberg@sfnr.com

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Strategies for Success: Part 2 Dealers share insight into growth opportunities Compiled by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

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hat do you believe will be the greatest opportunities for office technology dealers in 2020? What do you believe will be the best strategies for success in pursuing those opportunities? Recently, Office Technology magazine asked these questions of dealers via an email survey. The first set of responses appeared in the February issue. Following are the remaining responses received. Perhaps comments shared by your fellow dealers will provide some guidance to you for the year ahead.

Opportunities: “Though no one can go back and make a brand-new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand-new ending.” — Carl Bard. There are so many directions to look toward as opportunities — IT, document management, workflow, cloud and backup, along with hardware/ software. Any one of those could be a game changer for a dealership. You should look at the one(s) your dealership can take on within your core business and still keep momentum.

Strategies: It may seem simple, but get to know your people, market and manufacturer(s) better. This is hard work, but do not forget to enjoy the business, people and clients you have all around you. Spend some time reflecting on what motivational speakers have said over the years. You cannot inspire without being inspired.

DJ Hastings, president Hogland Office Equipment, Lubbock, Texas Opportunities: Basically, we need to continue to drill down within our client bases to find out more about how their businesses run and find problem areas where we can help either with hardware and software solutions or with additional training to better utilize their existing equipment. The other area is through acquisitions of other businesses that will blend into our business models; this may be the fastest growth opportunity.

Strategies: A continued changing of ownership’s mindset; we need to focus more on our customers’ needs and business

processes, and worry less about how many boxes we need to sell. If we become more of a consultant in our customers’ eyes, we become more like a teammate than just a sales organization, making hardware purchases easier ­­— or a smaller part of the transaction from the customer’s point of view.

David Forsberg, president Progressive Business Technologies Inc. Omaha, Nebraska Opportunities: Document management and all services related to document management, including document conversion and document conversion services. Also, managed print and managed IT services.

Strategies: We have been doing this for quite a long time — since 2000. The difference now is that this is more part of the sale and the sales reps have finally gotten to the point where they are comfortable selling all these other services, mainly because they feel it is protecting their clients and accounts.

Rick Salcedo, president & CEO KDI Office Technologies, Aston, Pennsylvania Opportunities: Cloud-based solutions with an annuity tied to the device. Also consider expanding into IT-driven sales products.

Strategies: Collaborate with current office technology dealers on what they are selling. Understand the introduction of new products into the market. Have the right training for sales staff members and, possibly, a tech, depending on the products.

Ian Nash, vice president of technology A.F. Smith Trading Co. Ltd., Hamilton, Bermuda Opportunities: I believe the biggest opportunities for BTA dealers are in production. We are finding opportunity around quality of print versus volume. The five-color Ricoh process is a really big deal for anyone who outputs documents and has traditionally outsourced that process.

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Strategies: We believe all reps at evStrategies: We have hired dedicated “The primary strategy ... ery experience level, through normal, sales personnel to drive the sales proeveryday prospecting and targeting net cess for our service and solutions offeris to ensure we have a new, can sell two units a year. At an averings. We determined MFP reps cannot thorough understanding age selling price of $65,000, that represell services and solutions. There are of each customer’s sents three to four months of quota for a too many moving parts, the sales cycle working environment, down-the-street rep and $2.7 million in is different, etc. We have built an interworkflows and office revenue for the 20 reps at ProCopy. We nal IT department to support our MNS talk about production in every meeting [managed network services] and docuequipment needs ... ” and every one-on-one. Focus, like it is ment management software customfor everything, is the key. We went from ers. We are partnering with third-party $250,000 in production sales in 2018 to $1.1 million in 2019. firms to sell security and cloud-based phone systems.

Mike McGuirk, president Bob Evans, partner ProCopy Office Solutions Inc., Tempe, Arizona Function4, Sugar Land, Texas Opportunities: (1) Adding to our technology stack to better support the needs of our clients through quick and nimble reactions to the emerging market trends that create value for our clients and profit for our company.

(2) Backfilling our existing client relationships with managed services by consolidating lines of business within organizations in pursuit of operational efficiency and greater ROI for our clients.

(3) Bundling lines of business (systems, telecommunications, MPS [managed print services], managed IT) secures the seat of trusted business advisor for a dealer at the client’s table. That, I think, is the biggest opportunity for all office technology dealers as we face competition from master MSPs, Comcast or any other large, national, technologydriven sales corporation for our markets’ operating expense dollars in addition to box sales.

Strategies: (1) Become fully persuaded that consulting from a position of trust to high-level decision makers will be the only way to survive the commoditization of everything dealers have to offer.

(2) Incorporate every aspect of our technology stack into our business operations as the ultimate proof of concept.

(3) Both client value and dealership profitability must exist in each transaction. If any selling situation becomes a race to the bottom with a potential client, politely leave the room; it is a waste of knowledge assets to participate in a profits bloodbath.

Derek Mills, president Tri-Copy Office Equipment Inc., Fayetteville, Georgia Opportunities: I believe it is still solutions and services — managed network services, MPS and document management software. These are the growth opportunities. Growth in MFP hardware and service is going to continue to get more and more difficult. The trend of declining placements and volumes, inkjet technology and competitive pressure will continue to have a negative impact on pricing for both.

Opportunities: Managed network services — there is lots of potential and high margins. Never-ending problems cause customer demand.

Strategies: Talented staff members; leverage existing customers; look at methods to capture all of a client’s business; M&A also adds scale and cost benefits; blending all services to client, print, image and IT; and find a good vertical in your market and exploit it.

Terry Willcox, vice president & owner Seminole Office Solutions Inc., Longwood, Florida Opportunities: Additional products being added to your existing portfolio that you can sell and service to your existing customer base as well as net-new customers, such as VoIP phone systems, and IT network (cybersecurity) and email security.

Strategies: Picking the right partners to help you grow and support the new products. Also, coming up with a solid go-to-market plan.

Kevin Fitzpatrick, president and owner DMC2 Inc., Maryland Heights, Missouri Opportunities: We believe there are significant opportunities for additional value-added services we can offer existing customers, including network support, remote monitoring and workflow solutions. As the office evolves, our customers are looking to us to provide sound strategies for connectivity, efficiency and security. We also recognize an opportunity to expand our rental program, which is popular with traditional construction companies, as well as many within the oil and gas industry.

Strategies: The primary strategy for added services is to ensure we have a thorough understanding of each customer’s working environment, workflows and office equipment needs, in order to identify areas of opportunity that we — or our customers — may not have been aware of.

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Jeff Thompson, president Business Equipment Service Loveland, Colorado

“Owners of office technology dealerships are scared to expand into areas they do not know, but they ... do not need to know how to do everything.”

Opportunities: So many dealers seem to be dismayed and even distracted by all of the shiny opportunities of diversification, whether it is MNS, MPS, office automation, etc. Yet, the copier/ MFP business is alive and well. When your competitors are distracted by diversification, they are creating opportunities for you to grow.

Strategies: Stay focused. Know your strengths and stick with them. Be careful to not allow the pursuit of diversification to take your eye off of the “ball” as it pertains to growing market share in the copier/MFP business.

David Polimeni, president & CEO RITE Technology, Sarasota, Florida Opportunities: I believe the greatest area of opportunity for dealers is to diversify their service offerings. They should specifically look at providing solutions like RPA [robotic process automation], low code, managed IT, cybersecurity and ERP. The marketplace for these solutions and services is growing rapidly and it is important that dealers get on board. The sooner they implement these new services and solutions, the better off they will be.

Strategies: To pursue more advanced solutions and services, owners need to hire the correct leaders to build out their departments. They should look for leaders who have past experience in the solutions, especially from the technical side. Owners of office technology dealerships are scared to expand into areas they do not know, but they need to realize that they do not need to know how to do everything. Instead, they need to hire experts to build out their departments, and then they can execute plans and strategies and sell.

Frank Cucco, CEO Impact Networking, Lake Forest, Illinois Opportunities: I interpret this question to be about what new things we should research, because it is certainly not time to dump MFPs, MPS or MNS. Those are still revenue-producing opportunities. The first step is to decide if you want to go low-tech or high-tech.

Strategies: My first go-to for research is other BTA dealers. Go to BTA events. Find out what other dealers are trying. I have even queried BTA staff members about other

dealers’ involvement in other industries. What products are successful?

There are some pretty smart people out there and they are not just buying other dealerships to grow.

Google other trade associations. If you are interested, go to one of their trade shows.

Research local businesses. Does their work sound interesting? Do they have the recurring revenue streams that we

all like so much?

Join your chamber of commerce or another local business group and attend their “business visits” or mixers. Ask attendees about their businesses. As you know, if you ask a businessperson about his (or her) business, you typically open a floodgate.

Sometimes an opportunity is just something a salesperson runs across that does not look like an opportunity at first.

The best strategies for success are what they have always been: hard work, hard work and more hard work. It has always been so.

Note: Not too long ago we started investigating an opportunity in video surveillance. Yes, I know — it sounds like a stretch from copier/MFPs and networks. I contacted Brian Smith at BTA and he gave me the names of several dealers he thought might have some experience in the field. It was a big help and gave me confidence to move forward. One dealer’s information prevented us from losing money on the first couple of deals, which usually you would chalk up to learning. Turns out, video surveillance systems are exactly like the networks we have been installing and servicing for more than 30 years — just with massive bandwidth and new application software called VMS (video management system).

You know upfront you will have to learn new buzzwords: field of view (FoV), ID distance, H.264 & H.265 (compression protocols), field complexity — and the list goes on. For us, this was a good high-tech direction. We are still looking for low-tech opportunities.

Robert F. Moore, owner Lockwood Moore Inc., Reno, Nevada Opportunities: To bring more adjacent services and value that “surround the box.” This helps lock in clients (by going deeper and wider), as well as helping them save time and money (economies of scale) by consolidating multiple vendors to a few business “partners.”

Strategies: First, ensure your MFP/service delivery “core” is solid and profitable. From there, identify partners that can help bring value to your clients. Dealers cannot be all things to all organizations, but if they are really good at a handful of

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complementary services, it will help protect their bases and grow their businesses.

Dean Swenson, president The Swenson Group Livermore, California

several manufacturers’ executives who recognized that, over the long term, experience has shown that rollups are rarely good for them.

With this in mind, go to your manufacturers, express your real intent to stay independent, and outline ways, in a mutually contributing discussion, that together you can grow both the dealership’s and the manufacturer’s revenue.

Continually focus on the customer service activities in your business. Make sure a live voice answers the phone; respond quickly and effectively to customer needs, problems and concerns; and deliver fast and effective service response. Invest in the capability to deliver and support key business process applications.

Focus on your employees. Make sure they know what your long-term plans are regarding staying private. Even lay out a succession plan. If you do not have one, develop one.

Develop marketing materials that communicate and reinforce the benefits to customers of dealing with a privately held, independent dealership.

Paul Archer, president Automated Business Products, Centennial, Colorado

“Stay independent ... Go to your manufacturers, express your real intent to stay independent, and outline ways ... that together you can grow ... ”

Opportunities: One key area that office technology dealers can capitalize on is the inherently service-based nature of their businesses. Many IT companies have struggled to transition from break/ fix to the service model we are already built for. The transition to becoming a complete technology solution provider is a necessary and natural progression.

Strategies: Invest in staff members with backgrounds in managed IT services and cloud services. Outsource the functions in which you have yet to build expertise and focus on services. Companies that neglect aspects of technology delivery will struggle against those that have complete offerings.

Martin Perkins, director of managed services Allen Business Machines, Fort Wayne, Indiana

Opportunities: A4 products and apps that force end users to stay with the manufacturer the dealership represents.

Strategies: Staying in touch with customers; account reviews; and relationships with specialists in both software solutions and larger product solutions (color) rather than copy/print centers and print for pay. This gives an account the ability to save costs and control its output.

Doug Petri, director of sales Quality Digital Office Solutions, Mount Joy, Pennsylvania Opportunities: This is for those dealers who stay independent. In a time of significant acquisition activity — five private equipment companies and multiple manufacturers — the consolidation of the industry is going through another phase. Furthermore, Xerox is finally “Xeroxifying” Global Imaging, as all former Global companies are losing key customer-touch functions such as dispatch, billing, supply chain and management of the local service teams.

As in past phases, ultimately these “rollups” will result in large, homogenized organizations, but with the ability to deliver excellent customer service decaying and local company cultures being blown away. We have seen it before. It always ultimately results in opportunity for the dealerships that stay independent and stay local — the ones that keep their cultures and their focus on customers.

Strategies: Stay independent. Manufacturers are concerned whenever an acquisition takes place, as it often results in a request for lower dealer pricing and a move away from key manufacturer relationships. I have spoken with

Opportunities: There are so many adjacent, related options for dealers to choose from that it can get confusing and distracting at times. There is opportunity in all of the available options — from ink to MNS, from document management to security, from A4 to VoIP, from furniture to postage, and from whiteboards to digital signage. The list of “opportunities” can seem endless. However, these opportunities are only attractive if market demand, dealership capabilities and management bandwidth are in alignment.

Strategies: Regarding the opportunities noted above, ensure there is market demand, dealership capabilities and management bandwidth for any given opportunity. If any one of the three are missing from the equation, then proceed with due caution.

Carter Hertzberg, COO Nauticon Office Solutions, Gaithersburg, Maryland Opportunities: Office technology dealers today must find ways to differentiate their messages as organizations and the actual value that is delivered by their sales representatives in the field. I believe that — even as much as our industry has moved toward strategic selling through advanced technologies — that message tends to get “lost in translation” in terms of the image of the dealership and the message from its sales representatives. Customers still tend to look at us like we are “just copier dealerships” and

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are expanding into. This investment in our reps as “just more copier sales reps.”

“So, I believe the biggest the right people to put us into consultaWe have to change that viewpoint. So, I tive roles is imperative to building trust believe the biggest opportunity for ofopportunity for office with our clients, showing that we can fice technology dealers is to develop technology dealers deliver on what we are providing. Edustronger portfolios of more diversified is to develop stronger cating our salesforce members is where offerings that add value for end users. portfolios of more that would begin, as they have to take Our core business expertise needs to exdiversified offerings that the message to the masses. Ultimately, pand, and dealers need to invest in other the best strategies are useless without areas in order to compete with the conadd value for end users.” the right people to pull them off. Whatsolidation and larger portfolio offerings ever the portfolio consists of, the opporof our competitors.

Strategies: The normal areas of focus for a dealer when tunity for success is elevated by a more educated salesforce “expanding the portfolio” are usually in production, MPS, and service organization.

Scott Whitt, vice president of sales large format and solutions. It is great to invest in those arHendrix Business Systems eas to add more value for clients, but our strategy needs to Matthews, North Carolina n move even further out to include display graphics, audio/viBrent Hoskins, executive director of the sual, security/security cameras, managed services, mailing Business Technology Association, is editor solutions, ink-based products and more. We have to be able of Office Technology magazine. to deliver more to our clients and become more ingrained He can be reached at (816) 303-4040 in their businesses as a whole. Most of all, we have to jump or brent@bta.org. into whatever we add by hiring experts in the fields that we

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One Gone, One Restructured Two U.S. remanufacturers transformed in 2019 by: Charles Brewer, Actionable Intelligence

L

ast year, two of North America’s largest remanufacturers, Clover Imaging Group (CIG) and LMI Solutions, were forever changed. After acquiring a new strategic investment partner, CIG was restructured and sold, while certain parts of the business filed for bankruptcy. LMI fared much worse. After going into receivership, the firm’s assets were sold off and operations shut down. My company, Actionable Intelligence, which follows the market for printing hardware and supplies used in the home and office, covered all of the news as it broke.

Founded in the mid-1990s, CIG and LMI were in the vanguard of companies that established the North American remanufacturing industry. Regional remanufacturing began in the late 1980s and experienced hypergrowth in the 1990s as digital printers became a feature in offices and, increasingly, in homes. The industry hit its stride in the early 21st century and thousands of remanufacturers were thriving. But things have been tough in the industry for the past decade and the number of firms that remanufacture has dwindled to a few hundred. Calamity struck CIG and LMI at about the same time after each lost a key customer, proving just how tenuous the situation is for even the largest players.

Piercing the $1-Billion Mark It took a while for LMI’s business to grow, but things were different for CIG. Originally known as Clover Technologies Group, CIG quickly grew to become one of the world’s largest remanufacturers. CIG was founded in 1996 and, by 2004, was ranked 36th on Inc. magazine’s list of the 500 fastestgrowing privately held U.S. companies. According to The Hard Copy Supplies Journal, the firm’s revenue grew 642% to $68 million in the period between 2000 and 2003.

In 2005, CIG became one of the first remanufacturers with revenue approaching $200 million after acquiring Ricoh Printing Systems America’s (RPSA) compatible supplies divisions, which included assets such as the Dataproducts brand. It solidified its position as an industry leader through

acquisitions and expanded into new markets.

It established various overseas subsidiaries such as Clover Technologies Group Australia and Clover Technologies Group Asia Pacific, which operated a factory in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. By 2010, CIG was the world’s largest remanufacturer in terms of revenue with more than $450 million in annual sales.

In April 2010, Golden Gate Capital, an $8-billion private equity investment firm, took a controlling position in CIG and also acquired a smaller U.S.-based remanufacturer, West Point Products. The two remanufacturing firms, which initially operated separately, focused on different channels.

CIG supplied its Dataproducts line and private-label products to some of North America’s largest retailers, including office superstores, consumer electronics stores and mass merchandisers, as well as to the region’s largest office-supplies distributors, like SP Richards. West Point supplied its premium line of remanufactured cartridges to office technology dealers and IT VARs, and expanded its presence to other companies in the managed print services (MPS) market. As the two firms were integrated, what emerged was a true omnichannel player that dominated the North American markets, as well as certain markets in Europe.

With its proven record of identifying strategic acquisition targets and successfully integrating these new businesses, CIG leveraged Golden Gate Capital’s deep pockets to fuel more M&A activity. In 2013, CIG became the first remanufacturer to crack the $1-billion mark and expanded its business beyond cartridge remanufacturing to include collecting, refurbishing and marketing telecommunications and wireless devices. CIG expanded its printer parts business and made strategic investments in several large empties brokers, which provided the firm with an important competitive advantage — an endless supply of cores — and it allowed it to offer comprehensive reverse-logistical support to its customers.

CIG’s last major acquisition within the remanufacturing industry came in 2014, when it purchased Micro Solutions

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Enterprises (MSE). We estimate that, at the time of the acquisition, MSE was North America’s second-largest remanufacturer, with more than $100 million in annual sales. MSE had made acquisitions in Europe and operated sales offices in South America and the Middle East.

The firm marketed a line of premium remanufactured cartridges and competed with CIG in the markets that had been targeted by West Point Products before it was subsumed into the larger company.

not be found and it seemed that there would be no sale. Moody’s Investors SerWith CIG’s acquisition vice downgraded the debt rating of CIG’s of MSE, LMI Solutions parent company, 4L Technologies, in 2017. became the secondThe rating agency changed its outlook to largest remanufacturer negative after determining “the company in North America, a was mired in a multiyear contraction of sales and profitability.” Moody’s reported position it maintained ... that 4L’s revenue was off 8% as profits sufuntil it closed last August. fered “significant erosion.”

The Moody’s downgrade came as CIG lost business to competitors in various industry segments. The firm was feeling relentless pressure from low-end compatible LMI’s ‘One-Stop-Shop’ Strategy products imported from overseas that had become widely With CIG’s acquisition of MSE, LMI Solutions became the available online. These so-called “clones” had grabbed marsecond-largest remanufacturer in North America, a posi- ket share from many of CIG’s largest customers, such as Office tion it maintained right up until it closed last August. The Depot and Staples which, in turn, hurt CIG. The firm was also firm was founded in 1992 as LaserMasters LLC and was ac- feeling pressure from OEMs, especially HP. Having lost marquired in 1997 by Gary and Lisa Willert. Although the com- ket share for years to remanufacturers, including CIG, HP and pany did not enjoy CIG’s meteoric rise, it emerged from the other OEMs developed new channel programs to help their Great Recession as a strong competitor in the mid-market consumables better compete with remanufactured cartridges. segment, and successfully competed with MSE and West Although LMI’s troubles were not as well chronicled, it Point for business in the dealer and MPS channels. became increasingly clear that the firm was experiencing In the years following the recession, LMI experienced some extreme difficulties. Like CIG, LMI was under pressure from of its strongest revenue growth. In 2013, the company had cheap imports and from the OEMs’ channel programs. The $52 million in sales and the next year the company began to firm was also feeling more pressure from CIG, which began to make key acquisitions. Seeking to become a “one-stop shop” take business from LMI’s larger customers like Konica Minolfor dealers and firms marketing MPS programs, the company ta Business Solutions. Some of LMI’s troubles were also selfset out to offer low-cost refurbished printers and parts along inflicted. It had difficulties integrating its new assets and, with its remanufactured cartridges. In 2013, LMI purchased within a few years of being acquired, the operations at GPS, Global Printer Services (GPS), the largest independent U.S. Parts Now and Printersdirect had been shut down. By 2016, refurbisher of HP and Lexmark printers, and then acquired key defections at the company were underway and, within a a second printer hardware remanufacturer, Printersdirect. year, most of LMI’s management team increasingly became The next year, LMI purchased Parts Now, one of the largest members of the Willert family or others close to the family. printer parts vendors and refurbishers in the United States.

Following the acquisitions and some organic growth, Outlook Improves Gary Willert said in an interview with ENX Magazine that With annual revenue declines of approximately 15% and his company would have more than $100 million in sales accelerating, LMI struggled as it entered 2018. The firm was in 2015. In subsequent interviews, he indicated that more relying heavily on cartridge remanufacturing for revenue acquisitions should be expected. Unfortunately, that would after exiting the refurbished printer and parts markets. Carnot be the case. tridge sales were down, however, after a 2017 fire at the LMI plant in Guanajuato, Mexico, damaged numerous production Things Turn South lines and destroyed millions of dollars in inventory.

We estimate that both CIG and LMI reached their respecLMI worked with KMPG to find a strategic investor and tive high-water marks in 2015. By the second half of 2016, in August 2018, it announced Turnspire Capital Partners had however, each company was reallocating assets and word taken a position in the firm. Gary Willert stayed on as CEO spread that they were seeking new investors. and Turnspire brought in Sebastian Bretschneider to sit on In August 2016, Reuters reported that Golden Gate Capital the LMI board. Bretschneider had helped orchestrate a sucwas looking to sell CIG. Morgan Stanley was hired to help ex- cessful $52-million recapitalization program at Katun in 2016 plore a sale that Reuters said could be valued “at roughly $1.5 when he was Katun’s CEO. Gary Willert was confident that billion, including debt.” Apparently, a suitable buyer could within a year or two, LMI’s annual revenue would be back to 24 | ­w w w. o f f ic et ec hno lo g y m a g.c om | Ma r c h 2 0 2 0

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$100 million. He also suggested that the machines along with SKUs for units from North American third-party supplies inother OEMs. After partnering with HP, After partnering with HP, dustry offered various opportunities and Xerox cut its orders for LaserJet remans, Xerox cut its orders for Turnspire was considering making other which left CIG and LMI reeling.

LaserJet remans, which investments to support LMI’s growth.

Within weeks of the HP/Xerox anleft CIG and LMI reeling.

CIG also had its own good news to nouncement, LMI began shedding jobs, Within weeks of the HP/ share in August 2018; Moody’s reassessed including positions in the sales group.

4L’s debt rating and raised its outlook In early July, an LMI representative conXerox announcement, LMI from negative to stable. A lead Moody’s firmed for Actionable Intelligence that began shedding jobs ... analyst said CIG had improved its operatthe company had cut some positions being performance, particularly the perforcause of a “reduction in sales due to the mance of Clover Wireless. However, while the new operational HP OEM program.” At the time, sources close to the situation efficiencies were recognized, the announcement underscored said that LMI was bracing for orders to fall as certain parts just how much CIG’s business had shrunk. According to of Xerox’s channel network, such as Xerox Business Solutions Moody’s, during the period from June 2017 through June 2018, (XBS), transitioned from remanufactured cartridges to HP’s CIG’s revenue totaled $825 million, which represented about a OEM consumables. Sources indicated that LMI’s business 22% decline from the high of more than $1 billion that the firm with Xerox was worth between $10 million and $15 million, had achieved immediately following the acquisition of MSE. which represented a significant amount of LMI’s total sales.

Although CIG’s sales continued to decline, the company After learning about the layoffs at LMI, we read Bloomreceived more good news late in the first quarter of 2019. In berg reports that said CIG was “exploring strategic options” March, two of the “big three” credit rating agencies, Stan- and had “brought in law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP and indard & Poor’s (S&P) and Moody’s, issued positive credit vestment bank Jefferies LLC to evaluate balance sheet alratings for 4L after the company said it would refinance its ternatives and strategic options.” According to Bloomberg, debt. Finding 4L’s debt was stabilized, S&P explained that CIG told its debt holders that two large customers — “one while CIG’s sales were slipping, “moderate revenue declines from wireless and one from imaging” — were expected to will enable modest improvement in credit metrics” through cut orders. The value of 4L’s debt dropped more than 25% the end of the year. Moody’s seemed to agree and reaffirmed when the news broke. We also learned that CIG’s total revits ratings from the previous summer despite CIG’s declin- enue for 2018 was $820 million, a drop of about 25% in just ing revenue. Both S&P and Moody’s commented that they three years. expected CIG’s revenue would improve during 2019, though neither firm explained why.

The Aftermath Reaction to the news came swiftly. The day after the Fortunes Shift Bloomberg article was published, Moody’s lowered 4L’s ratDespite all the good news, rumors persisted during the ing from “stable” to “negative.” The rating agency said it first half of last year that sales were dropping at both CIG and might further lower its outlook on the debt, which included LMI. Each company remained exposed to the adverse effects 4L’s $65-million revolving credit facility and a $650-million of growing new-build cartridge sales, and HP’s success wean- term loan set to mature in May 2020, if CIG lost another maing dealers off remanufactured cartridges continued and jor customer or if its cash flow was hampered. As the sumgrew. If the rumors proved to be true, the implications were mer progressed, things looked increasingly gloomy for CIG. enormous — the rating agencies could rethink their positions Its falling debt rating and other financial problems became on CIG’s debt and Turnspire could cut its losses and pull its big news and it drew the attention of the Wall Street Journal LMI investment. And that is just about what happened. and talking heads at CNBC, as well as others from outside The triggering event came last June after HP and Xerox the industry. It appeared for a while that CIG was heading formed a new technology alliance. Xerox tapped HP to pro- for bankruptcy. vide it with A4 and entry-level A3 print engines based on the Seeking to reassure customers that the company was laser technology HP acquired from Samsung in 2017. The deal stable, CIG CEO George Milton and President Eric Martin also called for Xerox to manufacture the toner for these de- issued a letter in mid-July saying it was business as usual vices, as well as other HP machines. While nothing was ever at the firm. In an interview with The Imaging Channel pubsaid officially, the deal resulted in changes to Xerox’s non- lished on July 22, Jim Cerkleski, chairman of the board for branded consumables business. For years, Xerox had mar- Clover Holdings, said the firm had the “right strategies necketed a line of third-party cartridges for use in HP LaserJet essary to remain strong,” adding that CIG had “enormous 26 | ­w w w. o f f ic et ec hno lo g y m a g.c om | Ma r c h 2 0 2 0

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liquidity.” Days later, Cerkleski gave a from the CIG transaction will be “used bullish assessment about the future of to partially repay lenders” and the It is safe to say that his company at a meeting of the Internabankruptcy court would oversee reCIG, one of the tional Imaging Technology Council (Int’l payment. In addition to 4L, various industry’s largest ITC). Attendees at the meeting later said CIG-related entities filed Chapter 11 remanufacturers, that Cerkleski told them that CIG had petitions, including Clover Technolois destined to be found a new strategic investor and the gies Group, 4L Holdings Corp., 4L Techcompany was authorized to once again nologies, Clover Ithaca Properties, Cloaround for many make acquisitions. ver Wireless, Refurb Holdings and Valu years to come.

The situation at LMI was worse — far Tech Outsourcing. worse. On Aug. 12, LMI’s lender, MidCap Financial, initiated proceedings at the Superior Court of the Our Take State of Arizona to place the remanufacturer in receivership.

Although there is the potential for some channel conflict, The move came after LMI informed MidCap that continued taking on NEP as CIG’s new strategic investor seems like a operations might not be sustainable because of the part- shrewd move by the CIG management team. Among NEP’s nership between Xerox and HP, which mandated that XBS many acquisitions is the megadealership Marco Inc., an ofdealers must use only HP-branded cartridges rather than fice technology dealership based in St. Cloud, Minnesota, remanufactured cartridges provided by companies such as with about $500 million in annual sales. CIG’s management LMI. On Aug. 19, the court issued an order appointing MCA team insists there will be no integration of the two firms; Financial Group as receiver to dispose of LMI’s assets. nevertheless, it seems quite likely that these two NEP holdings will be able to leverage certain synergies.

Where Things Stand As it firms up its position with one of North America’s Time has confirmed the validity of Cerkleski’s remarks largest office technology dealerships, CIG has also taken to the Int’l ITC gathering. On Nov. 21, CIG’s executive lead- steps to expand its business on Amazon. Last year, the firm ership team and Norwest Equity Partners (NEP) entered overhauled its Amazon storefront, which features a range into an agreement with 4L Holdings Group, which is owned of remanufactured and new-build cartridges. The firm says

by Golden Gate Capital, to acquire the CIG business unit. it is not using the Amazon platform to sell direct. Rather, Although the announcement of the agreement did not dis- it has revamped its Amazon presence to better support close any financial terms, the Wall Street Journal reported its customers that do business on the platform. When we that NEP paid approximately $215 million for the firm. checked, we noted that at least a dozen vendors, includCIG also made a new acquisition last year, although it is not ing Amazon and daisy-CIG, are currently marketing CIG’s clear if the deal is a sign of things to come. Prior to the NEP products through the Amazon storefront. transaction, CIG announced it would purchase LMI’s assets Although many of the competitive pressures noted above which, according to the court filings, sold for $3.75 million show no signs of abating, it seems CIG is in a good place. in cash. The purchase included all inventory, including raw Its revenue will continue to fall before stabilizing, but there materials and finished goods, as well as equipment. CIG also will always be demand for remanufactured cartridges. It is purchased LMI’s customer lists and order histories, as well as safe to say that CIG, one of the industry’s largest remanufaca wide range of other material related to business operations. turers, is destined to be around for many years to come. n As for LMI’s employees, details about their fate were scant, Charles Brewer is president and founder of Actionable but it seems CIG will continue to employ some LMI workers.

Intelligence. With more than 20 years covering technology, he Since the sale closed, however, Static Control Components, was previously an editor for Inc. magazine and ComputerWorld, which competes with CIG, has announced it has hired Gary and managing editor of The Hard Copy Supplies Journal.

Willert and other members of the Willert family.

Actionable Intelligence launched its website in 2010 and, As the year came to a close, Actionable Intelligence today, it is a destination site for news and analysis related learned that the NEP deal was part of a broader prenegotito the hardware and consumables markets. ated bankruptcy package that allows for the reorganizaBrewer is a popular industry speaker and tion of 4L and for the firm to “equitize” all of its $644 milpresents regularly at various events in China, lion in long-term debt. Bloomberg reported on Dec. 11 that Europe and North America. the bankruptcy covers 4L’s remaining “U.S. operations in a He can be reached at (508) 528-1297 deal that would give its lenders ownership of a reorganized or cbrewer@action-intell.com. company.” According to the report, part of the proceeds Visit www.action-intell.com.

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Brewer Mar 20.indd 4

2/28/20 8:38 AM

Smarter Calendarization A powerful time management tool & motivator by: Kate Kingston, Kingston Training Group

M

any sales executives approach their calendars as spots where they list some of their upcoming “action items.”

But what they do not see is that proper “calendarization” is a powerful time management tool and can be effectively used as a motivator to accomplish more work. Here at the Kingston Training Group (KTG), we understand that sales executives must address all types of activities each week, and one of the biggest challenges they face (after closing enough business to meet quota) is finding enough time in their workweeks to accomplish all of their responsibilities.

A 45-hour workweek should be the minimum expectation of hours spent and accounted for in a successful sales executive’s calendar. If you look at all of the responsibilities of typical sales executives, they can usually be categorized into three segments. Many well-known billionaires have shared how they find the time to accomplish the work needed to build and maintain their business empires. Elon Musk and Bill Gates schedule their days in five-minute blocks. They are very busy and their time is precious — but so is yours.

Five-minute blocks may feel too aggressive, so working your calendar in half-hour intervals will be easier to accomplish.

The first segment would be tasks involved in the pursuit of net-new sales. This includes finding and researching new potential customers, prospecting to schedule net-new meetings with potential customers and, finally, attending those meetings.

The second segment is usually related to current customer care. This includes answering daily inquiries, putting out “customer fires,” and identifying, preparing, scheduling and attending partnership review meetings.

The third segment is the time needed to accomplish the responsibilities of working at the dealership: inputting content into the CRM, attending mandatory meetings, doing product training, customer installations, and preparing and submitting paperwork.

The following is a quick and easy 30-minute sales management exercise that will help to immediately identify where each sales executive is and allow him (or her) to control his time more effectively while accomplishing his netnew prospecting goals.

Step 1 — Have your sales executives take screenshots of their calendars for the next week. Do not give them any warning, just simply ask them to screenshot their calendars and email them to you. This will ensure that they will provide you with real snapshots of how they are currently using their calendars as effective business tools.

Step 2 — Review their calendars quickly as they come into your email and count how many open hours or “holes” there are in each day. Explain that any “holes” need to be filled with tasks, including prospecting.

Step 3 — After your review, have them edit their calendars in order to fill in every “hole” in their workweeks so that every moment is accounted for. Share with your team members that if they do not already have meetings planned, then they should be prospecting during all open spaces in their calendars. Give them 10 minutes to make these changes www.offi cetechnol ogymag. c om | M a rc h 2020 | 29

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to their calendars and email you anothmicromanaging — it is managing and er screenshot. requiring accountability, which must ... Implementing smart Step 4 — Count all the scheduled be part of any successful sales manager/ calendarization prospecting hours and multiply those sales executive relationship. is the first step to hours by 10 (the number of calls that accomplishing a should be completed in any 60-minute A Sample Day more productive block of calling). This now becomes the n 7 to 8 a.m. — Make three prospectprospecting activity minimum for your ing dials when you get in your car (before and profitable sales executives for the week. the car is moving during the commute). workweek.

When KTG conducts this exercise, n 8 to 8:30 a.m. — Check emails and many of the sales executives will fill in deal with customer issues. their calendars with as many as 21 hours of prospecting. n 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. — Prospecting and making at least 12 However, when they arrive for the next week’s training, dials and/or emails. many of them will have completed 100 prospecting touches n 9:30 to 10 a.m. — Finish meeting prep work. or less. This means they were prospecting at a rate of five n 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. — Make three prospecting dials touches per hour, which is far from a full effort from any rep when you get in your car before the car is moving. Have your trying to meet or exceed quota every month. first current-client or prospect meeting. Make three dials Part of this exercise is to establish a reality check on when you get in your car. Have your second current-client how much work is actually being completed and at what or prospect meeting. Make three dials in your car when you pace. Once a sales executive becomes aware of his pace, get back into your car. he can acknowledge that there is a need to speed up to at n 1 to 1:45 p.m. — Lunch. Make three more dials after lunch. least 10 prospecting touches per hour. KTG works to get n 1:45 to 4 p.m. — Make three dials when you get in your sales executives up to at least 15 touches per hour, but 10 car. Have your third current-client or prospect meeting. is the minimum.

Make three dials when you get back into your car. n 4 to 4:30 p.m. — Go back to the office.

Smarter Calendarization n 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. — Current-client care time.

Once this exercise is completed, implementing smarter n 5:30 to 6 p.m. — Prep for tomorrow, do paperwork and calendarization is the first step to accomplishing a more send completed checklist to sales management. productive and profitable workweek. Following is an exn 6 p.m. — Go home. When you get in the car, “file inample of how to implement this strategy. Start by making a stead of dial.” list of everything that must be accomplished in an average week and then categorize it into the three segments: End-of-Day Checklist (1) Net-New Weekly Did you: n Finding and researching new potential customers n Do 60 minutes of meeting prep paperwork? n Prospecting to schedule five to six net-new meetings n Have three current-client or prospect meetings? n Attending five to six net-new meetings each week n Make 21 prospecting dials from the car?

(2) Current Customer n Spend 90 minutes on customer issues? n Answering daily queries and putting out “customer fires” n Prospect (in office for at least 60 minutes) to new pon Preparing and scheduling four to five client partner- tential clients by phone or email? ship reviews n Spend 30 minutes on paperwork and prep time? n Attending four to five partnership reviews n Take time at the end of the day to file from your pros(3) Employee Dealership Responsibilities pect binder? n Inputting content into the CRM n Spend 60 minutes to reach out to five current customers? n Attending mandatory meetings and trainings n Spend 30 minutes on paperwork and prep time? n Customer installations (not every week) n Do 150 minutes of prospecting, researching new clin Preparing and submitting paperwork ents and setting the following week’s schedule?

After identifying all the tasks needed for a successful n Take some time at the end of the day to file from your sales week, it is time to build out the calendar. Below is an prospect binder? example of what an average business day would look like.

I also suggest creating an end-of-day checklist that could Color Coding be shared with sales management every night. This is not A great way to calendarize is by color coding your calendar.

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Kingston Mar 20.indd 2

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Here are instructions on how to color in calendar “holes” and reality checking code your Microsoft Outlook calendar: will ensure that time is being utilized to Sales management Step 1 — Right-click on any calendar its fullest. must look at sales entry in the list and choose “Color” to Use time wisely, calendarize all tasks executives’ calendars change its color. and you will make more meetings and weekly to guarantee Step 2 — Select “Automatic” from the more money. n that every moment is Color submenu to let Outlook choose Kate Kingston is founder and president of complementary calendar colors for you, the Kingston Training Group (KTG). successfully planned or pick from one of the nine options.

With more than 17 years of success in out and acted on ...

KTG defines “calendarization” as the making appointments with act of working all activities needed into decision makers, she is a a calendar for success. Sales management must look at sales recognized authority on lead generation, executives’ calendars weekly to guarantee that every mocold calling and new business development.

Kingston can be reached at ment is successfully planned out and acted on to ensure kkingston@kingstontraining.com. more sales, better customer care and to ensure dealership Visit www.kingstontraining.com. responsibilities are being accomplished. Color coding, filling

www.offi cetechnol ogymag. c om | M a rc h 2020 | 31

Kingston Mar 20.indd 3

2/28/20 8:43 AM

COURTS & CAPITOLS

Binding Signatures Ensure the signer has the authority to do so by: Robert C. Goldberg, general counsel for the Business Technology Association

A

recent case provides a lesson both in transactions with your end users and your own dealings. A dealership was successful in taking a major client from a competitor.

The competitor, unhappy with the loss, continued to call on the client, pointing out deficiencies in the products installed and the services rendered.

Eventually, the competitor convinced the end-user company to cancel its lease, maintenance and support agreements with the new dealership and resume services with the competitor.

The end user questioned how it could walk away from the agreements it had entered. Although the migration to the new dealership’s equipment and services was not without issue, none rose to the level of a material breach. The competitor suggested that the customer terminate its agreements, stating that the individual who executed them was not authorized to do so. Thus, the contracts could not be enforced against the end-user company.

Not wishing to involve the competitor with a claim for interference with a contract, the dealership principal decided to proceed against the end user. The principal faced losing the business and a breach of his representation to the leasing company that the signature on the lease was valid. Being a sixfigure transaction, the stakes were high.

This is a lesson for anyone who signs contracts or purchase orders for his (or her) company: Unless you want to be personally responsible for performing the contract, be sure the document clearly indicates that you are signing as the company’s representative.

A suit was filed against both the end-user company and the individual who signed the contract. The individual who signed the contract was sued for breach and the end-user company was sued under the theory of quantum meruit. Quantum meruit stands for the proposition that a reasonable sum of money should be paid for services rendered or work done when the amount due is not stipulated in a legally enforceable contract.

In simple terms, if you receive and accept a benefit, you must pay for it.

Fortunately, we had a “learned judge” who ruled in our favor. The court held the individual personally responsible based on two factors. First, when signing the document, the individual did not indicate a corporate position or title. Only his name was signed and, thus, he was found personally liable for the purchase. Second, the terms and conditions provided that the individual signing the agreement represented he had the

authority to do so. If the individual did not have authority (as the company contended), then the representation was untrue and the individual was responsible.

The court also found the end-user company responsible under the contract, as it had accepted the services and used the equipment. The court entered judgment against the individual for breach of contract and against the company for quantum meruit, awarded the same damages against each and attorney’s fees, and held the defendants jointly and severally liable.

Jointly and severally liable means either party could be made to pay the entire sum.

The court held that because the contract “bears Mr. X’s signature and does not mention his employer or indicate representative capacity in any way ... it unambiguously shows it is the obligation of Mr. X personally.” The clear message being that when having an end user sign a document, make certain he has the authority to do so and indicate his position. Likewise, when a dealer enters an agreement, be certain to always indicate his title or position. Finally, check your transactional documents to ensure a representation is made that the individual signing has the authority to do so. 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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Goldberg Mar 20.indd 1

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EDUCATION CALENDAR April 6-8

BTA Sales Management Workshop

Orlando, Florida The BTA Sales Management Workshop is a career development “must-have” for sales management at all levels, and provides the knowledge, skills, processes and tools to immediately increase effectiveness and achieve higher levels of success. Taught by Kim Ward of Learning Outsource Group (LOG), the workshop focuses entirely on the “how-to” skills that will help each attendee reach his (or her) full potential as a great sales leader and coach, as well as best practices to build and sustain elite, high-performance sales teams. Visit www.bta.org/SalesMgt to register.

16

BTA Building My Business Webinar: “Twelve Key Steps in LinkedIn for High Impact & High Sales” Social media plays a huge role today in the sales landscape. In this webinar, Melissa Whitaker of Melissa Whitaker International will discuss how to navigate through LinkedIn and the important steps you should take to maximize your exposure, network effectively and start conversations that land big business. Visit www.bta.org/BMB to register.

22

BTA Service Success Training Taught by veteran service manager Ken Edmonds, BTA Service Success Training addresses the fundamentals of supervision and management. Supervisors and managers who take this course will have a better understanding of their service departments and the actions they can take to increase productivity and profitability while boosting their teams’ morale and competence. The online format, with live lecture and discussion, will allow your supervisors and managers to continue working in their jobs while learning at the same time. This program runs for 15 weeks, meeting twice a week. Each session will be between one and one-and-a-half hours, depending on the subject and level of participant discussion. Visit www.bta.org/SST to register.

Ongoing

BTA Service Troubleshooting Training Taught by veteran service manager Ken Edmonds, this self-paced, video-based course covers all aspects of troubleshooting, starting with what troubleshooting is and the processes involved. The course consists of video modules, assessments, quizzes, written material and checklists for use in the field. The cost provides one year of access to the modules. Edmonds will help the technician see how to: collect all the symptoms and use that information to narrow his (or her) focus until he sees what the actual problem is; identify all of the factors that can cause the problem; and use identifying tests that can help determine which of the possible causes is the issue. Visit www.bta.org/STT to register.

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

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Calendar Mar 20.indd 1

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

Dealer Members Altec, Rockledge, FL Applied Business Concepts, Baton Rouge, LA MOS/McCrimon’s Office Systems, Gainesville, FL Pee Dee Office Solutions, Myrtle Beach, SC Vendor Member Digitech Systems LLC, Denver, CO Upland Software, Austin, TX Consultant/Trainer Member Performance Now, Gilbert, AZ

For full contact information of these new members, visit www.bta.org.

BTA Scholarship Foundation Each year, BTA awards one $3,000, one $2,000, and a number of $1,500 and $1,000 scholarships to qualifying children of full-time employees of dealerships that are current BTA retail dealer members. Since the 1984-85 school year, BTA has awarded 1,470 scholarships totaling $1.664 million.

The BTA Scholarship Foundation is supported by continuing contributions from individual dealers, as well as manufacturers and distributors. To contribute to the BTA Scholarship Foundation, visit www.bta.org/Scholarships.

To download a scholarship application, visit www.bta.org/Scholarships. The scholarship application deadline is May 1, 2020.

Visit www.bta.org/Scholarships 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 members in this space.

Digitech Systems LLC enables organizations of any size to more effectively and securely store, manage and retrieve digitized documents using PaperVision, PaperVision.com and ImageSilo. In addition to records management products, Digitech provides Forms Magic artificial intelligence for automatically classifying and extracting data from important documents. Its mission is to create a competitive advantage for its customers by delivering value-priced, easy-to-use, feature-rich, architecturally flexible document management software and services supported by legendary customer service. www.digitechsystems.com

Performance Now is a strategic business development and performance management company. It brings visibility, planning, inspiration and hands-on mentoring to your organization, providing a system for support that accelerates growth and development.

Performance Now focuses on back office, operations, administration and finance utilizing a consultative and performance-based approach to identify areas of opportunity and rapidly transform productivity. http://performancenow.us A full list of BTA vendor members can be found online at www.bta.org.

For more information, visit www.bta.org.

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Highlights Mar 20.indd 1

2/28/20 9:02 AM

DEALERS HELPING DEALERS

Production Accessories Do dealers add costs for these additions?

Compiled by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

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ollowing is another of the questions submitted by a dealer member as part of BTA’s Dealers Helping Dealers resource, and several of the answers received. Six dealer respondents simply responded “no,” while two simply responded “yes.” These answers and many others can be found in the members-only section of the BTA website. Visit www.bta.org/DealersHelpingDealers. You will need your username and password to access this member resource.

When selling maintenance for production machines, do you add additional costs for any accessories (i.e., Fierys, GBCs and Plockmatic options)?

“We try to, but we do not do it all the time. Not so much for Fierys, but we do for GBCs and Plocks.”

Juan Maldonado, vice president of service UBEO Business Services, Austin, Texas “We add in $75 per month for Fiery. We have not sold the GBC or Plockmatic, but we would charge something for those; we haven’t figured out a price.”

Mick Dean, managing partner SaraMana Business Products Inc., Sarasota, Florida “Currently we do not have additional charges for production accessories. These can be difficult to introduce in the light production arena. I have experienced these fees in a previous life, though these were sales from a few $100,000s to $1 million.

“We are relatively new to this space. As we develop this vertical, I foresee additional charges to not only hardware, but also to analyst services.”

Dan Bowie, vice president of sales Corporate Business Systems, Madison, Wisconsin “Yes, you have to. Especially the Fiery, as it takes an IT guy to fix that product.”

Chip Miceli, president Pulse Technology, Elk Grove Village, Illinois “We are new to production machines and have found that manufacturer guidance on cost of maintenance is often lacking or not included in suggested pricing models. Future

maintenance agreements will include the additional costs.”

Richard Hermann, president TC Technologies Inc., Tonawanda, New York “For non-metered devices, I calculate the annual amount of the maintenance is 12% to 15% of the sales price or MSRP of the actual item. For example, say a GBC has a $10,000 sales price. Twelve percent of the sales price would be $1,200 per year or $100 per month.”

Matt Halsrud, director of service & operations Koch Office Group, Des Moines, Iowa “Fierys no, but yes on all GBCs and Plockmatics. We generally charge 10% of the cost as a flat monthly service fee.”

Kevin Laury, COO SumnerOne, St. Louis, Missouri “These options (as well as computers and HDDs) are not included in regular maintenance contracts. We do not add additional costs to contracts because these items are expensive and may not be covered, if needed, to be replaced by the regular copy rates.”

Dan Castaneda, general manager International Copy Machine Center, El Paso, Texas “We would like to add service base fees for production accessories ($25 to $45 per month), but the competition does not charge for it.”

Jeffrey Ford, vice president of client experience Impact Networking, Lake Forest, Illinois “At this point we do not charge separately for accessories or Fierys, but we are looking into that.”

Mike Ardry, general manager, Connecticut Automated Business Solutions, Southington, Connecticut Do you have a question for your fellow dealers? If so, email it to brent@bta.org with the subject line: “Dealers Helping Dealers.”

BTA will then share your question with the full dealer membership with a request for guidance from your fellow dealers. n Brent Hoskins, executive director of the Business Technology Association, is editor of Office Technology magazine.

He can be reached at brent@bta.org or (816) 303-4040. www.offi cetechnol ogymag.c om | M a rc h 2020 | 35

DHD Mar 20.indd 1

2/28/20 9:04 AM

PRINCIPAL ISSUES

Empower 2020 Laserfiche hosts provider, end-user event Feb. 11-14 by: Elizabeth Marvel, Office Technology Magazine

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ith a focus on using its software for humancentered digital transformation, Laserfiche hosted its Empower 2020 conference Feb. 1114 at the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center in Long Beach, California. The event gathered more than 4,000 solution-provider and end-user attendees from more than 30 countries to Long Taylor Grosso Beach to discuss new additions to the company’s software solutions; to train users on its products; and to show how customers could “go beyond” simple optimization and create true digital transformation in their companies.

On Feb. 11, Laserfiche executives and employees held a keynote specifically for solution providers that focused on the company’s growth in 2019 and its plans for the future.

Justin Pava Taylor Grosso, director of channel sales at Laserfiche, kicked off the solution provider keynote by telling attendees that the company added new midsize and enterprise organizations in 2019. He noted that Laserfiche Cloud was an integral reason for this growth. “ ...

We’re getting some really good traction here, and Laserfiche Cloud has been one of the avenues that has provided many of our solution providers the tools and alternative options to sell to the enterprise customers,” Grosso said. “Cloud opens up new opportunities to sell to the mid-size enterprise market because the SaaS model appeals to a variety of unique circumstances.”

He went on to explain the benefits of Laserfiche Cloud for solution providers, and encouraged them to leverage cloud packaging to help drive professional services; exceed a oneto-one software-to-services ratio; and maximize training opportunities. “We need to take advantage of all of the benefits the Laserfiche Cloud package offers and increase our capture process automation and integration services that are required to roll out Laserfiche across departments. We also need to maximize the amount of training with each implementation

to guarantee the best user experience to get to the next phase of the process as soon as possible.”

Justin Pava, director of product management, laid out the company’s long-term product goals during the solution provider keynote. He focused on three trends the company has been seeing in the marketplace: interoperability, artificial intelligence [AI] and machine learning, and flexibility in hosting.

“So I’ve seen a lot of trends this past year but they all really come under the same umbrella of expecting things to just work,” Pava said. “ ... It’s very important to be able to say, ‘Hey, here is where we are and we’re going to get started.’ There are a lot of places where this theme comes into place. One of them has to do with integrations and interoperability. The industry expects that things will just work together.

“Another element of this is the realm of AI and machine learning,” Pava continued. “ ... A place where AI can really help out is in the realm of your initial configuration. Instead of having to go in and manually configure how everything works, AI and machine learning can dynamically understand what it is you’re trying to do.

“The last element I want to talk about is the idea that the environments where your systems are located really stop mattering as much,” he concluded. “ ... So, for example, AI scenarios make a lot of sense to be in cloud environments. Other scenarios may make sense to be in self-hosted environments.

The idea really just comes down to, in most situations, it simply doesn’t matter and items just need to be where they make the most sense for them so that things just work.”

Addressing these three trends, the company announced some recent releases at Empower: workflow bots that use robotic process automation are a no-code way to automate repeatable clicks and time-consuming data entry across applications; smart invoice capture allows machine learning to automatically capture information from any invoice; and direct share offers a secure way for users to share files stored in the Laserfiche system to people outside of their organizations.

Additional segments of the solution provider keynote covered Laserfiche’s growth in subscription products; two solution-provider panel discussions looking at the cloud and upselling, as well as marketing; and the Laserfiche Solution Provider Awards. n Elizabeth Marvel is associate editor of Office Technology magazine. She can be reached at elizabeth@bta.org or (816) 303-4060.

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Laserfiche Mar 20.indd 1

2/28/20 9:06 AM

SELLING SOLUTIONS

Good, Bad or Ugly?

A close look at the merits of micromanagement by: Gil Cargill, Cargill Consulting Group Inc.

“M

icromanagement” has become a derogatory term during my career.

Today, many salespeople expect to do their own thing, whether management wants them to or not. In many cases, this behavior exhibits a belief that they are entitled to operate in whatever fashion they would like. There are many causes for this behavior and this symptom.

After all, who would not like to get paid a full salary for doing whatever he (or she) wants, both quantitatively and qualitatively?

The fact that “micromanagement” has become a derogatory term is a problem for businesses that I coach. But, before I go into how to identify and remedy this, let me ask you two questions: (1) How many teams have won the Super Bowl with a head coach who did not micromanage the team, the players, the assistant coaches — everything? (2) How many airplanes fly from one airport to another without being micromanaged by air traffic control?

I could go on with example after example of human activities that are successful because the person in charge was holding everyone in his organization accountable for the quantity and quality of activity they undertake. So, is micromanagement bad — or is it just plain old management?

When I was a rookie at IBM, I had a manager who required us to write a narrative at the end of every week detailing our activities during the previous five days. As a young sales rep eager to make his mark, I complied with this request and wrote a weekly narrative. I have to point out that my typing skills have never been very good, and this was in the days before PCs, spellcheck, voice-to-text, etc., made creating a weekly narrative quite easy.

However, I got curious along the way as to whether or not the information I provided my manager was being reviewed and, even more importantly, I continued to ask myself the question: “How does this help me?” So, one day when I was in a particularly bad mood, I wrote a narrative that contained absolute nonsense. I am almost embarrassed to admit how badly written that narrative was, but, you see, I did it on purpose to see if my boss actually reviewed these narratives.

I turned it in and sat at my desk for a period of time making phone calls, scheduling appointments, etc. At some point, he

came out of his office and, as he walked past my desk, he said: “Good report, Gil. Keep up the good work.” That told me that he was not reading my narratives. No manager in any business could have read the narrative that I wrote and walked away saying that it was a good report.

You see, the difference between micromanaging and coaching is that, in a coaching environment, information collected from the sales rep, regardless of how it is collected, is used to help the sales rep improve his proficiency and production and, therefore, in most cases, his W-2. If you are collecting information from your team members but it is not being used to help them achieve their goals, then you probably are involved with the negative aspects of micromanagement.

Even worse, if you are collecting information and providing no feedback, then all you are doing is repetitively declaring that you are the boss, you are in charge and you can ask your team for whatever you would like. All of the data shows that well-coached sales forces dramatically outperform sales forces that are not coached. So, do not just collect data. Use the data to observe trends in the performance of your sales team and to work with individuals on your team to project their year-end positions.

Essentially, you want to say to your salespeople: “If you continue doing what you are doing, here is where you will be at the end of the year. Is that good enough?” Use the data www.offi cetechnol ogymag.c om | M a rc h 2020 | 37

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to rehearse and role-play important prehigher revenues than those that are not. n sentations that your sales reps are going ... When you do collect After concluding a sales and management out on. When your team recognizes that career at IBM, Gil Cargill launched his own data, use it to help your you are working with them and that your consulting practice in 1978. He has spent sales reps understand mission is to help them succeed, then you the past 42 years as a consultant, speaker how they can navigate will find that your team members will not and trainer, helping thousands of businesses to higher levels of view the collection of data and inquiries achieve dramatic, permanent improvements regarding their activities as intrusive but, consistent, predictable in sales productivity. Cargill has taught rather, collaborative. salespeople across diverse industries and profitable success.

In my opinion, that is the “secret sauce” the importance of of being a successful sales manager. Do not developing sales processes, collect meaningless data. Do not collect data and provide no the advantages of implementing new feedback. And, most importantly, when you do collect data, technology and the benefits of tracking sales use it to help your sales reps understand how they can naviperformance. He can be reached at gate to higher levels of consistent, predictable and profitable (310) 447-4102 or gil@gilcargill.com. success. Well-coached teams enjoy lower attrition rates and Visit www.gilcargill.com.

ADVERTISER INDEX 2-3 • 2020 BTA National Conference

9 • Epson

27 • Muratec

(800) 843-5059 / www.bta.org/BTAChicago

https://epson.com/business-printers

(469) 429-3300 / www.muratec.com

39 • BPO Media

40 • GreatAmerica Financial Services

20-21 • NuWorld Business Systems

www.workflowotg.com / www.theimagingchannel.com

www.greatamerica.com/smarketing

(800) 729-8320 / www.nuworldinc.com

7 • Brother

5 • Hytec

15 • SalesChain

(866) 455-7713 / https://brothersolutions.com

(800) 883-1001 / www.hytecrepair.com

(203) 262-1611 / www.saleschain.com

31 • BTA Scholarship Foundation

13 • Konica Minolta

11 • Supplies Network

(800) 843-5059 / www.bta.org/Scholarships

www.reshapework.com

(800) 729-9300 / www.suppliesnetwork.com

18 • DocuWare

25 • Lexmark

17 • Toshiba

(845) 999-6743 / www.docuware.com

www.lexmark.com

https://business.toshiba.com/recruitment

39 • ENX Magazine

19 • Miracle Service

23 • U.S. Bank

(818) 505-0022 / www.enxmag.com

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