November 2018 Office Technology

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CONTENTS Volume 25 • No. 5

FEATURE ARTICLES 10

Document Management As the industry evolves, is it time for a second look?

P R I N C I PA L I S S U E S Navigate 2018 Continuum anticipates the future of cybersecurity

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by Elizabeth Marvel Office Technology Magazine

by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

Continuum’s Navigate 2018 was held Sept. 24-27 at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston, Massachusetts.

The decline in printing and copying has given dealers a reason to diversify their product offerings.

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Fall Colors Retreat BTA Southeast hosts event in Asheville, N.C.

Encompass 2018 Square 9 simplifying the customer experience

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by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

BTA Southeast hosted its annual Fall Colors Retreat Oct. 18-19 at the Renaissance Asheville Hotel in Asheville, North Carolina.

COURTS & CAPITOLS 18

A Valid John Hancock Which documents can be executed electronically?

On Oct. 3-5 Square 9 Softworks hosted Encompass 2018, its third consecutive conference for end users and dealers.

Workplace Solutions Xerox Corp. maintains focus on innovation

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by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

by Robert C. Goldberg BTA General Counsel

Today it is possible to work from almost any location and, thus, there are challenges to requirements such as signing documents.

AIMED VIEWPOINT 20

Complete Mailing Solutions Colorado dealership emphasizes its values

On Oct. 10, Xerox Corp. hosted a press briefing providing the latest information on the company’s workplace solutions.

SELLING SOLUTIONS Specific Selling Ask below-the-surface questions for success

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by Troy Harrison Troy Harrison & Associates

by Elizabeth Marvel Office Technology Magazine

Complete Mailing Solutions, headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, takes a different approach to its customer relationships.

DEALERS HELPING DEALERS 23

Diversification Strategies Dealers share options for added products & services Compiled by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

What three product and services diversification strategies do you believe will best position the BTA dealer for the future?

To eliminate surface selling, you should position yourself so you have specific answers to your customers’ questions.

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

What Are the Best Ways to Diversify?

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n the October issue of Office Technology magazine, we launched a new resource for dealer members: Dealers Helping Dealers. To help further boost awareness of this new member benefit, below is yet another sampling of a recent question, submitted by a member dealer, and responses from other dealers. Over time, this member resource will broaden in scope.

For additional responses to this question, see page 23 or visit www.bta.org/Dealers HelpingDealers. If you have a question you would like to ask your fellow BTA members, email it to me at brent@bta.org. I will remove your name from the question before sending it to others and provide you the responses in short order. We will then post your question (again, anonymously, as I have done below) and all responses in the members-only section of the website for the benefit of others.

What three product and services diversification strategies do you believe will best position the BTA dealer for the future? n “IT, DMS and real technology consulting.” — Jeff Cousins, president, Kraft Business Systems, Kentwood, Michigan n “Managed print services, production and managed IT services are the three critical areas that can provide growth.” — Hunter McCarty, COO, RJ Young Co., Nashville, Tennessee n “MPS, document management and whatever your business already has expertise in that can be of value.” — Neville Chaney, president, WJ Office, Boone, North Carolina n “This depends in large part on your market and your dealership. Most BTA dealers are very good at copiers and printers. If you’re not into solution sales, I would

make that the first step, with managed IT definitely being the second step. It’s a longterm commitment with a slow payoff at first, but becomes a true differentiator to your customers. True production print is an option most BTA dealers are missing.

This is huge in terms of revenue dollars both in hardware and aftermarket. Again, it is not something you can just test the waters with. You must go in fully committed to the investment and the learning curve.”

— Tim Renegar, president, Kelly Office Solutions, Winston-Salem, North Carolina n “Document management and guidance for a successful path to enter the even more competitive IT market.” — Don Risser, president, Advanced Laser Printer Service & Supplies Inc., Emigsville, Pennsylvania n “Document capture and management solutions, and production print. Train reps on workflow solutions. Customers are looking for solutions.” — John Kerling, CEO & vice president, United Business Systems, Buffalo, New York n “MNS, solutions and MPS.” — Dean Boring, president & CEO, Boring Business Systems, Lakeland, Florida n “For a true MFP dealer, the addition of MNS is what I would suggest.” — John Eckstrom, president, Carolina Business Equipment Inc., Columbia, South Carolina n “I’m hoping to learn that. I’m mostly interested in some sort of printer or ink sales program since it feels everyone is already there and it lines up with what we do.” — Dennis McGalliard, president, Northern Business Products, Redding, California n “Managed IT services, MFPs and printers, and software solutions.” — Dave Carson, president, Plus Inc., Greenville, South Carolina n “Solutions, MNS and MPS.” — Bob Evans, partner, Function4, Sugar Land, Texas 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, Troy Harrison & Associates www.troyharrison.com

Business Technology Association 12411 Wornall Road Kansas City, MO 64145 (816) 941-3100 www.bta.org Member Services: (800) 505-2821 BTA Legal Hotline: (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. ©2018 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

AIMED Conference Planned for Dec. 5-6

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n February 1 of this year, the Association of Independent Mailing Equipment Dealers (AIMED) merged with the Business Technology Association (BTA) and became one of the association’s peer groups. To encourage AIMED members to connect with each other and keep them upto-date on industry trends, BTA is managing the 2018 AIMED Conference. This year’s conference will be held Dec. 5-6 at the Venetian Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Featuring a keynote address, two panel discussions, two educational sessions, plenty of networking time and a Cirque du Soleil KÀ performance, the 2018 AIMED Conference has much to offer mailing equipment dealers and their employees.

The conference will begin at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 5, with opening comments and the keynote address, “Postal Service & Mailing Industry Trends,” led by Steven Monteith, vice president of marketing at the U.S. Postal Service. A break will follow the keynote from 3:30 until 4:30 p.m.

Breaks will take place between sessions on both days, giving attendees time to visit with peers and exhibiting sponsors.

The first panel discussion will follow the break from 4:30 until 5:30 p.m. The panel, “Diversifying Your Product & Services Offerings in a Changing Market,” will be moderated by Carl Amacker, CEO of FP Mailing Solutions.

Panelists will include Frank Shoaf of Central Business Systems Inc., Lexington, Kentucky; Craig Wasilchak of Alternative Business Automation Solutions, Arlington, Texas; and an additional panelist to be announced. At 6:30 p.m., attendees will travel to the MGM Grand for a Cirque du Soleil KÀ performance.

The second day will begin at 7 a.m. on

Thursday, Dec. 6, with breakfast, followed by opening comments and two educational sessions: “Crushing B2B Digital Media: How LinkedIn Can Impact Your Inbound Sales Funnel,” led by Wasilchak; and “Certified Opportunities, Return Receipts Requested,” led by BTA General Counsel Bob Goldberg.

The second panel discussion, “Hiring & Retaining the Right Employees for Today’s Opportunities,” will be held following the educational sessions. Sally Brause, director of human resources consulting at GreatAmerica Financial Services Corp. will moderate the panel. Panelists will include Cindy Farmer of Texas Office Systems, Hewitt, Texas; and two additional panelists to be announced. The event will wrap up with closing comments from 11:45 a.m. until noon.

Two-for-one registration for the 2018 AIMED Conference is only $199. Registration includes the Wednesday and Thursday educational sessions; Wednesday Cirque du Soleil KÀ performance; and Thursday breakfast. AIMED members may also apply their $150 educational discount received with their BTA membership toward this event, bringing registration to only $49 for two attendees. An additional attendee from the same dealership is $99.

2018 AIMED Conference registrants can also attend the BTA West-hosted Capture the Magic event, to be held Dec. 6-7 at the Venetian, at no additional charge. If you register for both events, you will get an abundance of educational and networking opportunities, and tickets to two Las Vegas shows (KÀ and Reba McEntire with Brooks & Dunn) for only $49! To learn more about the Capture the Magic event, see the ad on pages 2-3 or visit www.bta.org/BTALasVegas.

To learn more about the 2018 AIMED Conference or to register, see the ad on page 13 or visit www.bta.org/AIMED18. n — John Eckstrom

2018-2019 Board of Directors President John Eckstrom Carolina Business Equipment Inc. Columbia, South Carolina johne@cbesc.com President-Elect Bob Evans Function4 Sugar Land, Texas bobevans@function-4.com Vice President Tim Renegar Kelly Office Solutions Winston-Salem, North Carolina trenegar@kellyofficesolutions.com BTA East Tim Seeley Jr. Seeley Office Systems Inc. Glens Falls, NY tseeleyjr@seeleyoffice.com Don Risser Advanced Laser Printer Service & Supplies Inc. Emigsville, PA drisser@alpslaser.com BTA Mid-America Greg Quirk JQ Office Equipment Omaha, Nebraska gquirk@jqoffice.com DJ Hastings Hogland Office Equipment Lubbock, TX dj@hoglandofficeworks.com BTA Southeast David Polimeni RITE Technology Sarasota, Florida dpolimeni@ritefl.com Michael Hicks Electronic Business Machines Inc. Lexington, KY mhicks@ebmky.com BTA West Mike Brandon ABC Office Equipment Co. Inc. Spokane, Washington mbrandon@abcoe.com Joe Escamilla Document Systems Oxnard, CA jescamilla@documentsystems.com Immediate Past President Dan Castaneda International Copy Machine Center El Paso, Texas dan@icmc-elp.com Ex-Officio/General Counsel Robert C. Goldberg Schoenberg Finkel Newman & Rosenberg LLC Chicago, Illinois robert.goldberg@sfnr.com

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Document Management As the industry evolves, is it time for a second look? by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

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he decline in printing and copying has given office technology dealers a compelling reason to seek ways to diversify their product offerings. Many dealers have embraced new opportunities, ranging from managed IT services to phone systems to water coolers. Are you still seeking ways to diversify? If so, perhaps it is time to take another look at an opportunity already pursued by many dealers — document management.

Josh Hartlage is certainly a proponent of the software category. Although he is not a dealer, he saw it as a means to diversify his company’s existing offerings. As founder and president of Advent for Solutions, a provider of online solutions, his company recently acquired the Sentry File document management solution product line, available for resale through independent dealers. “When these programs first came out, there was the thought that ‘it would be nice to digitize things and get rid of filing cabinets,’ but I don’t feel that document management was that important or really took hold,” he says. “Today, there is a very strong push in the market toward document management.”

The opportunity “is huge,” Hartlage says. “There are a ton of companies out there that haven’t addressed document management in the past, but are talking about it. I think document management companies were developing the need; now the need is there and people recognize it.”

This new enthusiasm is also on the rise among dealers, Hartlage says. “When we talk to dealers, they say they tried document management for several years, kind of lost interest, but now they are back,” he says. “They are re-energized and taking another look. It seems to be on everyone’s radar these days.”

While the interest in document management appears to be increasing, there has always been a substantial number of prospective buyers. “There are several million SMB businesses out there,” says Steve Behm, vice president of sales for the Americas at DocuWare. “In today’s world, maybe 30 percent of them are using a document management product. Then, when looking at the largest companies in the U.S.

market — the enterprise space — probably 70 percent have something they are using, although, when you look at that more departmentally, there may not be a solution in place.

There is no end or limit to this marketplace.

It’s in the billions of dollars. It will continue to be a growing, nice business into the foreseeable future.”

As the demand appears to be increasing, the product category itself continues to evolve. In fact, the term “document management” may be fading a bit. “Early on, we all said ‘document management,’” Behm says. “It was an easy term. It was ‘scan, store and retrieve.’ That’s what we did. But the documents became much more electronic. It then became more ‘content management.’ Today, however, we’re now seeing it as ‘content services.’ It’s not just, ‘OK, we’re going to manage all this content that we store.’ It is now about: ‘What can we do with the content? How do we use it in workflow systems?

How do we use it in electronic forms?’ So, it’s now morphing into content services.”

Hedy Belttary, senior vice president of sales at Laserfiche, offers a similar perspective. “If you talk to some of the analysts today, they describe this technology more as ‘content services,’” she says. “The biggest difference is that there was a time when the usage of a system revolved around the document and that document was either scanned in or imported in electronically and usage included archival, but also moving the document around through the automation of workflows within an organization. That hasn’t gone away; content services encompasses documents, but also much more, including field information, metadata and information that is preserved through social collaboration — any type of content that has been created that is either facilitating the document itself or is active on its own and ultimately needs to be archived.”

Beyond the evolving terminology, of greater importance to dealers, of course, is the revenue and profit that can be generated. “We provide high profit margins to dealers,” Belttary says.

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“Our software margins are Hartlage offers another much higher than what dealreason for pushback among “There have been a lot of ers are accustomed to on the some prospective buyers. changes within the imaging hardware side. On certain “The objection we hear is the industry. I believe those platforms, the margins on price point,” he says. “Dealchanges point to the next our recurring support plans ers say: ‘My customers can’t evolution of information are even higher than the softeven think about document management, which includes ware margins. This does not management because it’s MFPs, but also the software even include the professional too expensive.’” services dollars dealers will The price-point objection technology that needs to go hand in hand.” earn from implementation.” was a key part of the appeal

— Hedy Belttary Behm similarly touts the of acquiring Sentry File, Laserfiche appeal of the margins. “It is which “fills that gap,” Harta new opportunity for proflage says. “We provide the it,” he says. “For dealerships that are not currently selling so- program for those companies that can’t really afford the big lutions, by including a product like DocuWare, this is a new stuff, but ‘I can get into this solution for $4,000 — a lot less opportunity for profit. We have been hearing for many years than what others are charging.’” that everything is getting squeezed in the printer industry, To help overcome any hesitation among dealers about whether it’s the price going down or people printing less. So, entering the software category — and to help them to later if a dealership is not a ‘services company’ now, it should be.” overcome the “non-decision” issue among prospective buyFor dealers who are “looking to not just sustain, but to ers — document management solutions vendors are poised grow their businesses and impact the bottom line, it’s the to provide dealers a considerable amount of training, supnext logical step in their progression as a technology com- port and resources. “We have our DSA [DocuWare Sales Adpany,” Belttary says. “There have been a lot of changes with- visor] training, where we go through and say, ‘OK, how are in the imaging industry. I believe those changes point to the you going to find an opportunity? What do you say to that next evolution of information management, which includes person?’” Behm says, citing an example of the type of trainMFPs, but also the software technology that needs to go ing DocuWare offers. “That training is critical for identifyhand in hand. That kind of a marriage allows the dealer to ing the opportunities and helping the sales rep identify the provide a total solution to the customer, not just a part of it.” benefits to get the prospect interested.”

While there are dealers who have taken a look at document Similarly, Hartlage cites the webinar and in-person management, but have remained hesitant, it may not be that training his company offers dealers for Sentry File — “how they fail to see the merits of the solutions. “I have never heard it works and how to demo the product to get them up to anyone say, ‘No, this is not for us,’” Belttary says. Instead, she speed.” The company also offers product brochures and assays, when dealers better understand the capabilities of a doc- sistance with advertising and email blasts. In addition, he ument management solution, they, too, become enthusiastic. says, “we’ll participate in any demos they ask us to.”

“However, sometimes I think it’s just in one’s mind as, Belttary emphasizes Laserfiche’s focus on training deal‘What is my priority and does everything have to be per- ership personnel to identify sales opportunities by knowing fect before I can take this on?’” Belttary says. “The answer the right questions to ask. “One of the things that we do as is ‘no, not everything has to be perfect.’ We’re working with part of our sales training is to provide organizations with entrepreneurs every day who have an attitude of ‘roll up what to look for when walking into an opportunity to see if your sleeves and get it done.’ I think dealers who have not Laserfiche is the right fit,” she says. “So, there’s a physical aspursued document management have probably been more pect of the prospect’s surroundings and the questions that concerned about issues related to internal adoption.” need to be asked about how they’re conducting their busiThere is also hesitation among prospective buyers. ness. The focus for most organizations is on helping them “Within the SMB space, our biggest competitor is the non- see how they can run more efficiently, cut costs, increase decision,” Behm says. “It’s just the unknown or the fact profitability, and be compliant with the rules and regulathat someone hasn’t come in and taken the time with these tions of their industries. However, you have to ask the right businesses to do a proper assessment, understand the pain questions to be able to identify at least one problem so that points and then explain how they can be addressed with you can solve it.” document management so that a company understands Dealerships new to document management generally start and is comfortable enough to say, ‘Yes, we need that.’” with their current customers, Belttary says. “Because of the 12 | ­w w w. o f f ic et ec hno lo g y m a g.c om | Nov e m b e r 2 0 1 8

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be a very profitable business size of the customer bases when you consider the prodealers have built over the “If you do this correctly, fessional services that go on years, they have the great opit can be a very profitable top of the actual software portunity to go back and let business when you consider sale, along with the potential customers know about their the professional services of bringing pieces of imaging recent adoption of this techthat go on top of the actual equipment along with that nology,” she says. “It’s a gold software sale, along with sale,” he says. “So, the overmine they are sitting on. Of the potential of bringing ... all sale is sometimes much course, most dealers do, in larger than what they would fact, prospect the people they imaging equipment along with that sale.” ever buy from us. Plus, one of have relationships with; that

— Steve Behm the greatest things I see is is really the best way to do it, DocuWare once they are in there with at least in the beginning.”

DocuWare, rolling the prodDealers looking at document management should consider how the “subscription- uct out and showing people how to use it, it based licensing model for software is very much aligned opens the door for them to be a much higherwith how equipment is leased; how it is paid for by custom- level trusted advisor.” n Brent Hoskins, executive director of the ers,” Belttary adds. “So, the alignment of the licensing makes Business Technology Association, is editor it very complementary with imaging devices.” of Office Technology magazine. He can be Behm offers one final look at the payoff for dealers considreached at brent@bta.org or (816) 303-4040. ering document management. “If you do this correctly, it can

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Fall Colors Retreat BTA Southeast hosts event in Asheville, N.C. by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

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TA Southeast hosted its annual Fall Colors Retreat Oct. 18-19 at the Renaissance Asheville Hotel in Asheville, North Carolina. The event featured a keynote address, “Great Balls of Fire! Staying Motivated — No Matter What!” led by Denise Ryan of FireStar Speaking.

The event also featured two additional educational sessions. “Build, Buy or Partner?” was a two-part session led

by Hannah Erb, account manager at Collabrance LLC. Erb focused on getting into managed IT services, walking attendees through the pros and cons of each option (building, buying or partnering). Tim and Blake Renegar of Kelly Office Solutions, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, also spoke during Erb’s sessions, giving the dealer perspective on moving into managed IT services. “Economic Outlook,” led by Tim Quinlan, director and senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities, looked at international, national and regional economic trends.

A highlight of the Fall Colors Retreat was the roundtable discussions with exhibitors. These roundtables gave attendees time to hear more about the exhibitors’ products and services in small groups.

On Oct. 18, attendees traveled to the Broadway Arts Building for an evening celebrating the food and culture of the city. They enjoyed a dinner of Asheville specialities and local buskers — street entertainers that included an acoustic guitarist reminiscent of James Taylor; an American jazz group, the Big Dawg Slingshots; and the Skinny Beats Drummers, who gave an overview of drum language — provided the evening’s entertainment.

The Fall Colors Retreat exhibiting sponsors: Epson, ESP AMETEK, FP Mailing Solutions, GreatAmerica Financial Services Corp., Imaging Solutions Direct, LD Products, LEAF, LMI Solutions, Muratec, NA Trading and Technology, OKI Data Americas, Panasonic Scanners, Print Audit, Static Control, Supplies Network, SYNNEX, TIAA Bank, Wells Fargo and Xerox (breaks sponsor). n Brent Hoskins, executive director of the Business Technology Association, is editor of Office Technology magazine.

He can be reached at (816) 303-4040 or brent@bta.org.

Clockwise from top: The Fall Colors Retreat featured a keynote address, two educational sessions and roundtable discussions with exhibitors; Ryan presents her keynote address; attendees participate in a group activity during the keynote; and 2018-19 BTA Southeast President Michael Hicks serves as the event’s emcee.

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Renegar: MNS Q&A O

Clockwise from top left: Erb; Quinlan; Tim Renegar; Mike Garofola (left) and Jim Hawkins (center) of OKI Data Americas meet with Jeff Eaves of Appalachia Business Communications of Kingsport Inc., Gray, Tennessee, during the roundtable discussions; and Blake Renegar.

Above left: Attendees enjoy dinner at the Broadway Arts Building on Oct. 18. Above right: The Skinny Beats Drummers form a drum circle after dinner, inviting attendees to participate.

ne of the educational sessions at the Fall Colors Retreat was a two-part session, “Build, Buy or Partner?” presented

by Hannah Erb, an account manager for Collabrance LLC. Erb’s focus, in part, was on addressing the pros and cons of building, buying or partnering in the development of a managed network services (MNS) operation.

In her second session, Erb invited Blake Renegar, director of MNS at Kelly Office Solutions, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to the podium. The dealership partners with Collabrance. Audience members were presented an opportunity to ask him questions about Kelly’s MNS operation. Following are several of the questions and excerpts of his responses.

Question: How long have you been selling MNS? Renegar: “We’ve been doing it as a company for about threeand-a-half years, since about 2015, and I started it. I started brand new out of school and we just hit the ground running with it. We’re still learning every day. It’s definitely a learning process for us.”

Question: How long did it take you to be successful when you first started?

Renegar: “As copier dealers, we’re at a little bit of an advantage because we have a big customer base that buys office equipment from us. So, we can target that base; it’s a warm call under that circumstance, but you’ve got to find the right prospect within your customer base that wants this type of service. It took 90 to 100 days for me to close our first deal, our first all-in package.”

Question: How did your relationship with Collabrance play out with that first sale?

Renegar: “They worked hand in hand with us, from start to finish. When we have a prospect we think is going to be a good fit, we’ll have a meeting [with Collabrance via conference call].

Then, from a sales perspective, we work together step by step in putting the deal together, putting the proposal together and getting things situated.”

Question: Does your MNS engineer go into presales meetings with you?

Renegar: “At first, it will typically just be me, and that’s where I meet the client and see if we’re a good fit. Before we put a proposal together, we do a network assessment, which is where we go in and have the engineer look at the environment from top to bottom; he is absolutely essential in that step of the process.

That’s where we look at how the clock is ticking in the environment, how the customer has that environment set up ... Then we work with the engineer to put a proposal together along with the Collabrance folks. So yes, he’s heavily involved on the front end.”

Question: Does your dealership get its MNS assessment questions from Collabrance?

Renegar: “Yes. They do a great job providing documentation when we’re going in and doing the assessment. We have a checklist we go down. There’s one for the engineer; he has his own checklist. I have my own checklist, and we go through that. They did a great job teaching what to look for and what questions to ask.”

Question: Do most of your clients have a server in-house or are they in the cloud?

Renegar: “Most of our clients have servers in-house. We prefer that. We push for that. We like to be able to put our hands on it. If something is going on, I like to be able to send an engineer out; he can touch it and deal with it, and not have to deal with the vendor that is hosting it in the cloud.” n — Brent Hoskins www.offi cetechnol ogymag.com | Nove mb e r 2018 | 17

BTA Southeast Nov 18.indd 2

11/2/18 8:41 AM

COURTS & CAPITOLS

A Valid John Hancock Which documents can be executed electronically? by: Robert C. Goldberg, general counsel for the Business Technology Association

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he digital age has brought with it a host of new issues regarding the legal effectiveness of certain practices. The BTA Legal Hotline receives regular inquiries regarding the validity of electronic signatures. Today it is possible to work from almost any location and, thus, there are challenges to routine requirements such as signing documents. Technology has made our work area larger and the world smaller.

Unfortunately, the laws and regulations regarding the necessity of original documents and original signatures varies among documents and jurisdictions. Most jurisdictions do permit documents to be electronically signed and delivered in a manner that makes them legally enforceable. One must know these requirements to ensure the paper they have is, in fact, worth the words printed on it.

To address these issues, there are laws on both the state and federal levels. On the state level, every state other than Illinois, New York and Washington has enacted some form of the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA). This law is a set of uniform laws proposed by the Uniform Law Commission (ULC; also known as the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws) to establish a baseline of what is and is not able to be signed electronically. On the federal level, the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (ESIGN) was passed, in part, to preempt any state laws that were inconsistent with the UETA and to ensure a more uniform treatment of electronic documents across state lines.

Both UETA and ESIGN were formulated on the principal that “an electronic record and an electronic signature may not be denied legal effect or enforceability solely because they are in electronic form.” An electronic signature does not have to be a written name to be effective. An electronic signature can be almost anything, and probably the most familiar to us is clicking “Accept” on a webpage or signing with your finger on a touch screen. The important factor in these actions is making it clear to the signer that the act constitutes acceptance of the agreement.

Generally speaking, UETA and ESIGN apply to all documents except wills, codicils to wills, testamentary trusts and matters relating to family law, such as adoption agreements, separation agreements and divorce decrees. However, some states have added additional categories of documents that are not permitted to be signed electronically. Among the exceptions are official notices of termination of utility services; documents related to the repossession of property or eviction;

recall notices affecting health or safety; documents required to accompany hazardous materials; termination of life or health insurance; documents of title; and documents regarding secured transactions.

Documents requiring notarization present additional issues. There are only eight states that allow electronic signatures for notarized documents. The developing law seems to expand the areas for electronic signatures where the risk is low and eliminating them when the importance of the document is high. What does this mean for the dealer channel?

Purchase orders are probably safely executed electronically, as well as maintenance agreements, support agreements and software license agreements. Of course, you need to establish that your state is not one of the three that have not yet passed appropriate legislation. However, if a purchase order includes a personal guarantee, one would want to obtain an original signature for that guarantee. Lease documents should bear original signatures. The prudent course to follow is accepting an electronic signature followed by an original signature. If you can obtain both, you can never go wrong. 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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AIMED VIEWPOINT

Complete Mailing Solutions Colorado dealership emphasizes its values by: Elizabeth Marvel, Office Technology Magazine

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omplete Mailing Solutions (CMS), headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, takes a different approach to its customer relationships, says the company’s co-owner, Paul Johnson. It all starts with the six core values the company and its employees operate by: to be personally and professionally growth-oriented; to use teamwork with individual accountability; to have a high level of responsiveness with consistent follow-through; to always exhibit honesty and integrity; to work hard and work smart; and to act as vested owners.

“Using these core values as a guide, each employee is empowered to make decisions when a situation arises with a client,” Johnson says. “This allows us to be more responsive to our clients. When mistakes happen, we don’t point the finger at each other. Rather, we ask what was learned and how the situation can be better handled in the future. Our goal is to become better from our mistakes.

“The strength of CMS is our team,” Johnson continues, noting that more than half of the company’s 13 employees have been with CMS more than 10 years, and two have been with the company more than 20 years. Its sales and service team members also have more than 125 years of combined experience in the industry.

“Everyone knows their job and we count on each other for seamless execution and high performance,” he says. “Since we are family-owned [Johnson’s wife Karen is co-owner and their son Nate also works in the company as a service technician], we have built a family-oriented culture with a concern for each employee’s well being. We strive for a healthy balance of family and work. We also believe strongly in personal development and encourage each employee to pursue new interests and gain new skills.”

CMS serves territories in Colorado and southern Wyoming from its Englewood office and a second location in Loveland, Colorado. It provides a full line of Neopost equipment and software, including mailing equipment (postage meters, mail machines, folders/inserters, addressers, tabbers, letter openers and printers), parcel lockers and software (outbound shipping and inbound parcel management software). CMS also offers a line of Duplo finishing equipment (bookletmakers, cutter/ creaser/slitters, perfect binders, saddle stitchers, laminators and spot UV coaters) and envelope printing services.

“We optimize communications through mailing, printing, digital and logistics solutions,” Johnson says. “We strongly believe in building honest, long-term relationships with our clients

Paul and Karen Johnson outside CMS’s Englewood headquarters. and becoming a reliable partner for them, coupled with high customer service levels. This is a value-oriented — not price-oriented — approach to doing business. As a result, we take the long view on the best solutions that will fit our clients’ needs rather than selling equipment or software based on the lowest price. Our goal is to make our clients’ lives easier, giving them a single resource for all their needs.”

To ensure its customers have the right solutions to meet those needs, the company has developed the CMS Proven Process: (1) Discovery to identify and understand the customer’s needs and budget.

(2) A presentation to demonstrate CMS’s solutions with hands-on experience.

(3) A proposal that outlines the recommended solutions and pricing details.

(4) Implementation to install and configure equipment and to train users.

(5) A review to allow the customer to give CMS feedback on how its solutions are working.

(6) And maintenance to keep equipment running smoothly.

“We want to own and solve problems for our clients, which flows back to our core value of responsiveness with consistent follow-through,” Johnson says. “This means they have one source to assist them with all their questions and issues for the lifetime of our relationship with them.” 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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AIMED Nov 18.indd 1

11/2/18 8:46 AM

EDUCATION CALENDAR November 13

BTA Building My Business Webinar: “Office Technology Hardware Vendors: The Key Macro Trends”

In this webinar, Charles Brewer, president and founder of Actionable Intelligence, will identify key macro trends as he takes a detailed look at the latest product introductions from the industry’s leading hardware manufacturers. He will also assess how competing vendors are doing in their battle for share in various market segments including A3, A4, electrophotographic and inkjet.

Visit www.bta.org/BMB to register.

December 3-5

BTA Sales Management Workshop

Orlando, Florida The BTA Sales Management Workshop is a career development “must-have” for sales management at all levels. Taught by Kim Ward of Learning Outsource Group, 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.

5-6

2018 AIMED Conference

Las Vegas, Nevada The 2018 AIMED Conference will feature: a keynote led by Steven Monteith of the U.S. Postal Service; two panel discussions; two additional educational sessions led by industry leaders; time to network with peers and exhibiting sponsors during breaks between sessions; and a Cirque du Soleil KÀ performance at the MGM Grand. AIMED member dealers receive 2-for-1 registration and can use their $150/$250 discount codes received with membership. They can also attend BTA’s Capture the Magic event at no additional charge! Visit www.bta.org/AIMED18 to register.

6-7

Capture the Magic - Hosted by BTA West Las Vegas, Nevada The Capture the Magic event, hosted by BTA West, will feature: a keynote led by Dr. Coyte Cooper of Ollin Leadership; a featured educational session led by Mike Marusic of Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America; six additional educational sessions led by industry leaders; time to network with peers and exhibiting sponsors, including during a welcoming reception and breaks; and a Reba McEntire and Brooks & Dunn concert at Caesars Palace. Dealer attendees can also enter the BTA Events Sweepstakes on-site. BTA member dealers receive 2-for-1 registration and can use their $150/$250 discount codes received with membership. They can also attend the 2018 AIMED Conference at no additional charge!

Visit www.bta.org/BTALasVegas to register.

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

www.offi cetechnol ogymag.com | Nove mb e r 2018 | 21

Calendar Nov 18.indd 1

11/2/18 8:53 AM

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

Dealer Members 3 N 1 Office Products Inc., Texarkana, TX Advanced Integrated Systems Ltd., Kingston, Jamaica American Business Equipment, Maynardville, TN Crew-Tech, Wilmington, NC digitalprint.ie, Dublin, Ireland Integrated Office Technology, Santa Fe Springs, CA Network Digital Office Systems, Fairfield, NJ Office Copy Solutions, Mendham, NJ STCR Business Systems Inc., Endwell, NY United Reprographic Supply Inc., Centennial, CO Vendor Members ITD Print Solutions, Los Angeles, CA Print Management Partners, Des Plaines, IL For full contact information of these new members, visit www.bta.org.

For the benefit of its dealer members, each month BTA features two of its vendor members in this space.

Print Management Partners Inc. is the inserter-friendly envelope company.

It is a source for envelopes that run flawlessly on inserters, including reverse flap envelopes and double window options. These are stock items for Print Management Partners, so you can test them before you place an order as opposed to placing an order and hoping they work.

Test samples are always free. The company is experienced with virtually every folder/inserter and its envelopes are already running smoothly on machines in countless offices across the United States and Canada. www.inserterfriendlyenvelopes.com

Seeking information and insight regarding office technology industry trends and developments? Through an alliance with Keypoint Intelligence-InfoTrends, BTA members can submit their questions for a Keypoint Intelligence analyst to address. The Ask the Analyst feature is FREE to BTA dealer members. Just visit www. bta.org/AsktheAnalyst, click on the link to submit your question and a Keypoint Intelligence analyst will respond to you directly via email.

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

ACDI’s flagship product, PaperCut MF, is print management software that allows an organization to easily answer who, what, when, where, why and how its printing behavior affects its bottom line. In fact, more than 50,000 organizations in 100plus countries already use PaperCut MF to do just that. ACDI’s portfolio also includes document capture software, document management software, QA & indexing software, mobile print solutions, hardware payment systems, proximity card readers, card technology and a full array of professional services offerings. www.acd-inc.com

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

A full list of BTA vendor members can be found online at www.bta.org.

BTA’s Ask the Analyst

For more information, visit www.bta.org.

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Highlights Nov 18.indd 1

11/2/18 9:18 AM

DEALERS HELPING DEALERS

Diversification Strategies Dealers share options for added products & services Compiled by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

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he cover story in the October issue of Office Technology magazine featured questions from three Business Technology Association (BTA) member dealers and responses from fellow dealer members.

Following is another of the questions submitted and many of the answers received. These answers and others can be found in the members-only section of the BTA website. Visit www.bta.org/DealersHelpingDealers. You will need your username and password to access the Dealers Helping Dealers resource.

What three product and services diversification strategies do you believe will best position the BTA dealer for the future?

“MPS, MNS and VoIP.” Daniel Bombard, owner/general manager Yuma Office Equipment, Yuma, Arizona “I feel that having your hands in all of the office technology at your customers is key. The second is, again, customer service. If you do not offer a solution for a certain problem, find one for your customer. Third is honesty and integrity. Those have to be at the top of your list to succeed.”

Dan Castaneda, general manager International Copy Machine Center, El Paso, Texas

“Managed IT services, unified communications and managed print services.”

Brett Butler, CEO Excel Office Services, Los Angeles, California “Signage/digital displays, IT solutions and predictive services.”

Sam Stone, president Stone’s Office Equipment Co. Inc., Richmond, Virginia “Providing IT support, and being able to offer and support a full product line (i.e., desktop printers to production presses).”

George Peckham, president Office Systems of Texas, Houston, Texas “I believe we need to transition to ‘everything as a service’ [XaaS]. The XaaS model is probably where we will all end up.

With so many competitive ways for customers to acquire product, the traditional dealer will have to change. We need to do what a website can’t do, and that is put a person in a businessperson’s office on time and with professionalism.”

Mike Brandon, president & CEO ABC Office Equipment Co., Spokane, Washington “Networking, document management and mail management.”

D.J. Hastings, president Hogland Office Equipment, Lubbock, Texas

“MPS, MIT and software.”

Tom Callinan, president FlexPrint, Mesa, Arizona

“IT, wide format and MPS.” Dan Detrick, vice president CopyLady Inc., Ft. Myers, Florida

“Cloud offerings, managed IT services and VoIP.” Mike McCurdy, president Integrated Technologies Inc., Twin Falls, Idaho

“3D printing, managed IT services and packaging printing.”

Darren Metz, CEO Novatech, Memphis, Tennessee

“Document management, managed services and MPS.” Jerry Jehn, president Waltz Business Solutions, Crestview Hills, Kentucky “I feel any dealers who wish to remain leaders in their markets must offer managed services and provide world-class service.”

Erik Crane, president CPI Technologies, Spring field, Missouri

Do you have a question to ask your fellow dealers? Email it to brent@bta.org with the subject line: “Dealers Helping Dealers.” Office Technology will 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.com | Nove mb e r 2018 | 23

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PRINCIPAL ISSUES

Navigate 2018 Continuum anticipates the future of cybersecurity by: Elizabeth Marvel, Office Technology Magazine

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ontinuum’s Navigate 2018, held Sept. 24-27 at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston, Massachusetts, focused on cybersecurity and how Continuum partners can provide expanded security services to their customers.

The conference, which drew more than 700 attendees, featured keynotes by Continuum CEO Michael George, Former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis and Shark Tank’s Barbara Corcoran; the Cyber Attack Simulator, showing how attacks happen and how cybersecurity experts work to resolve them; and breakout sessions in four educational tracks.

Another highlight was the MSP (managed service provider) Shark Tank competition, where four Continuum partners shared their cybersecurity marketing plans with a panel of judges (including Corcoran) to determine which company would win $15,000 to use in marketing its security offerings.

George explained this year’s focus on security in his Sept.

25 keynote, “Scale the Summit.” He said that 2019, 2020 and 2021 will each be known as the “year of security,” noting that cybercrime now exceeds the sum total of all other forms of organized crime — money laundering, extortion, gambling, prostitution, the drug trade, etc. — worldwide.

“This is an endemic issue for our nation; a pandemic issue around the world,” George said. “Like any other issue in IT that we’ve ever seen, there isn’t a fix for this. There isn’t a quick patch and it’s not going away.”

He compared security to a boulder or an avalanche on a mountainside. “Much in the IT services industry is true in the world of mountaineering,” George said. “You have to keep moving, keep climbing, keep acclimating, keep adjusting — and in business, keep pivoting. And sometimes on these journeys ... there are other opportunities — other times when you have to move really quickly. Sometimes in mountaineering it’s to avoid a big boulder or avalanche ... So for some in the industry — and hopefully not anyone here in this room — security is going to be that big boulder, that avalanche. But for others, it is the greatest opportunity we have ever seen in this market.

“It is, in many ways, the opportunity we’ve all been waiting for,” he continued. “Throughout this conference, we’re going to focus on how to empower our partners ... to ensure you have all the right tools and technology to be really successful — to reach that summit, however you define it.”

George cited three things necessary for a successful mountaineering trek, all of which are also needed for a successful business. The first is to “know the mountain” — the state of

Michael George presents his keynote address at Navigate 2018. the company and the market, what it takes to win and how to capitalize on certain opportunities. Second is having the right equipment — the right team members, the right resources and the right technology partners. Finally, there must be a plan. For Continuum partners, this is the new Continuum Security Goto-Market Business Plan, created to “guide and empower MSPs, MSSPs [managed security service providers], VARs, IT and solution providers to design and deploy advanced cybersecurity offerings as a means of better protecting customer environments and generating new high-growth revenue opportunities.”

George also shared some interesting research about the IT skills gap that pertains to hiring in MSPs. According to CompTIA, George said, 40 percent of the MSP labor force is retiring in the next three to seven years. “The IT skills gap is becoming more and more pronounced every day,” he said. “The reduction in STEM education in the United States ... in combination with the fact that we are retiring 10,000 Baby Boomers a day ... these are highly predictable economic certainties.

“The national salary survey posted by Channel Futures recently said that the median salary for all IT now exceeds $90,000 a year and is increasing at a rate of 14 percent a year,” George continued. “Now you add to that a need for security skills. This is a labor force that is unattainable and completely unaffordable. But that, of course, is not a problem for you. That is a problem we solve for you. In fact, not only is that not your challenge, it is your opportunity. Because anybody not leveraging this platform is at a disadvantage.” 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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PRINCIPAL ISSUES

Encompass 2018 Square 9 simplifying the customer experience by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

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n Oct. 3-5, enterprise content management (ECM) provider Square 9 Softworks hosted Encompass 2018, its third consecutive conference for end users and dealers. The conference was held at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

Attendees were provided exclusive insight into Square 9’s product innovation strategy, with a significant focus on simplified Stephen Young content management.

Among the many educational sessions was “Company and Product Strategy with Square 9 Leadership,” co-presented by Stephen Young, president and CEO, and Brian Banet, chief technology officer. The duo presented an end-user version of the session on the first day of the conference and a dealer version on the second day. Looking specifically at Young’s comments during the dealer session, much of his focus was on the company’s strides to ensure the ease of use of the Square 9 ECM product, GlobalSearch.

“Our goal for 2018 was to really simplify the customer experience,” Young said. “Everything that we did in development, everything that we did in delivery, everything that we did even in e-learning — everything came down to simplifying the experience for the customer.”

Young noted that on the sales side, too, the desire at Square 9 is to make it easier for dealers to do business with the company. “We are looking at simplifying the pricing book; I’m sure a lot of you have looked at our book before and struggled to get through it, and we are going to continue to work on that,” he said. “And from a service perspective, I think many of you know we completely overhauled our model for solutions delivery. This was all done based on the incredible growth we saw over the last three years — an average of 36 percent, year over year, for the last three years.”

The new methodology for delivery “has brought a much better level of service to our customers and to our dealer community,” Young said. “From a customer service perspective, we introduced the Customer Success Team. So, if you use our professional services, after we complete a project, the most important thing is that we have a referenceable account. That

is what we are looking for, for you, for us. We want to make sure that customer is happy.”

Young explained that the Customer Success Team follows up with a dealer’s customers (again, only for those dealers using Square 9’s professional services), and ensures that there are no outstanding issues. “They make sure that the customer is using the product,” he explained. “If they are not using the product, they reset the calendar for another 30 days. If there are any outstanding issues, those are conveyed back.”

Meanwhile, Young said, last year Square 9 also implemented a weekly Hot Stove Report meeting that he attends along with Banet, support team management, representatives of the professional services team and any sales reps assisting dealers having issues with Square 9 product usage. “Those issues stay on the ‘hot stove’ until they are resolved,” he said. “That has dramatically increased the satisfaction levels of our customers. Now, when we do these surveys, we get about a 65-percent response rate. We started out with an average rating of 79 percent, which is now sitting at 90 percent.”

In their follow-up calls with customers, Young said, Square 9 representatives ask such questions as: How was the sale experience? How is the product experience? Does it live up to your expectations? How is the service experience? “It’s a very simple thing,” he said. “It only takes a few minutes to have this conversation, but the results have been dramatic. We’ve seen a spike in our average rating [as noted], going up 11 points. Our goal is to hit 93 percent by the end of the year on those initial calls, and I think we are well on our way.”

In terms of product development, again the focus is on simplification, Young said, noting that the goal is to deliver product and service in a “frictionless environment,” making it easy to “consume” Square 9’s products. To accomplish this goal, the company has transitioned to offering a web-based solution delivery model, though its on-premise platform remains available.

“So, all of our products — ECM, Capture, Workflow and Web — are now fully web-based,” he said. “This simplifies deployments and simplifies upgrades. Again, companies can take advantage of all of the added features that we’re rolling out on a near-continuous basis, and they can consume those easily because there is no client to upgrade. It makes it much simpler for them. It directly responds to the demands of the marketplace.” 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.

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Square 9 Nov 18.indd 1

11/2/18 3:38 PM

Are you an ELITE Dealer?

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Demand - ENX ads Nov 18.indd 1

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PRINCIPAL ISSUES

Workplace Solutions Xerox Corp. maintains focus on innovation by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

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n Oct. 10, Xerox Corp. hosted a press briefing providing office technology industry analysts and editors the latest information on the company’s workplace solutions, with a significant focus on its ConnectKey-enabled Workplace Assistant platform, which helps users to communicate, connect and work from anywhere. The briefing took place at the Xerox Executive Briefing Center in Tracey Koziol New York City, New York.

Among the presenters was Tracey Koziol, senior vice president of global offerings, presenting “Accelerating Workplace Digitization with Xerox Technology and Services.” She provided an overview of Xerox’s recent technology strides. “What we want you to take away from this is that Xerox is a mammoth technology company,” she said. “We are innovating at our core again in terms of trying to help our customers be more productive and to drive workflow for everybody — the individual all the way up through enterprise.”

Looking back at 2017, Koziol cited Xerox’s initiatives to expand its printing capabilities and technologies. “We also redefined our category in terms of the boundary of our segment,” she said. “No longer are our printers and MFPs stand-alone, lonely machines sitting in the corner; they are true citizens of the internet of things and are connected to cloud and mobile.”

In March 2017, Xerox introduced 12 A4 and 17 A3 MFPs. The two product families — VersaLink for small workgroups and AltaLink for mid-sized and large workgroups — feature consistent user interfaces, as well as common features and functionality. “Our 29 devices are native in terms of design for the mobile workforce, cloud connected and mobile-print-ready for all, so you can work wherever and whenever,” Koziol said.

“We have the largest consistent user interface across a portfolio, enabling our customers to use a device whether they walk up and use a very simple A4 printer, all the way up to a highly capable, multifunction printer.”

Koziol also commented on Xerox’s distinctive view of security. “We do not believe in charging extra for security,” she said. “We believe that [our products] should come out of the box [secure]. That [security] is on the device and, actually,

everything that surrounds us. So, we’ve been continually updating our capabilities here in terms of device protection and content protection. Of course, we don’t think we should do this on our own. Security is very complicated, so we partner with the best in the industry, McAfee and Cisco.”

Looking to 2018, Koziol emphasized Xerox’s efforts to continually evolve and further strengthen its ConnectKey technology. “The user experience is a relentless focus for us,” she said. “As you add more capability and you add more apps and solutions, it is even more important to make sure the user experience is simple, right down to being personalized, so that you are able to come up and set up your own personalized workflows.”

On the day of the press briefing, Xerox announced new apps to connect Xerox device users to Salesforce, QuickBooks Online and SAP Concur. Citing Salesforce, in particular, Koziol noted the value to a company’s sales reps of being able to get into their files and folders and update their pipelines from an MFP — “all those types of things on the go.”

Koziol also took the opportunity to report that Xerox is working diligently to ensure its direct and dealer sales reps are prepared to sell today’s evolving technologies. “No longer can they talk about speeds and feeds; they need to talk about pain points of the customer, finding those pain points and being able to help them in terms of being consultative on how to take out some workflow steps,” she said. “We are investing millions and millions of dollars in educating our sales force and our partners to be able to solution sell. So, they are going to turn from just ‘John, who turns up for a nice meeting on a Monday’ to becoming trusted advisors.”

Concluding her presentation by sharing comments on what can be expected in the future from Xerox, “we do not stand still,” Koziol said. “We continually listen to our customers. So, we will be expanding on our workflow capabilities in terms of the Workplace Assistant. We’re going to build out and continue with sector-specific offerings that are truly thought through properly and deliver on the pain points. We’re going to keep looking at security; it is something that you cannot let rest on your laurels. And [as noted] we’ve got to educate and make our sales force [employees] trusted advisors to our customers so that we can make the most efficient workplaces.” 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.

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SELLING SOLUTIONS

Specific Selling Ask below-the-surface questions for success by: Troy Harrison, Troy Harrison & Associates

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ecently, and for the first time, I was considering moving the hosting and servicing of my website to enhance its lead draw and conversion rates. I approached a professional web developer in my networking circles; he asked me a few quick questions and then confidently responded, “I recommend Facebook ads.” He then looked at me as if he had just given me the winning Powerball numbers for the next drawing.

I have nothing against Facebook ads. They have not worked for me in the past, but I know that is not a universal experience. My follow-up question was logical: “What is it, specifically, about my business that makes you think Facebook ads are a good fit?”

“Well, uh, you can target a specific demographic with your message and get the click-throughs,” he responded.

I asked a very specific question (and even used the word “specifically”) and I received a general answer. For instance, he said “target a specific demographic” instead of verbalizing what my actual target clients look like, what their patterns are on Facebook and how they might respond to an ad. Although he knew what I did at a surface level, he really did not understand what I do or how I provide value to my clients — which makes it difficult for him to help market my business.

To successfully sell to today’s customer, you must get beneath the surface. I have bought and sold many old cars in my life. When you are looking at an old car, what lies below the surface is vital to knowing the actual condition of the car.

That car might have shiny paint, but if it is just covering up plastic filler and rust, it is not going to look good for long. The buyer who just buys shiny paint and does not carefully inspect the car’s condition is going to get a raw deal when the paint starts cracking and bubbling.

Too many salespeople sell in a manner that is as superficial as that coat of shiny paint covering up bad metal and structure. I think of that approach as “surface selling.”

In surface selling, salespeople ask questions without a structure to interpret answers or without dedicated time to drill down on the customer’s responses. Or, they may only offer a limited selection of solutions or recommendations. Many times, it is a salesperson who simply does not listen to what

the customer is saying, using the time the customer speaks to plot his (or her) next statements. Worse, during surface selling, the salesperson asks a handful of leading questions, then presents an offering not tied to the customer’s needs.

Today’s customers demand that not only do you know what they do, but that you “get it.” That requires more than asking good questions, listening or even actively listening.

Consider two doctors. One doctor might run a standardized set of tests, read out the results and tell you the tests say you should take a particular pill and that “should fix it.” The second doctor asks you numerous detailed questions, examines you closely and then explains what he thinks is wrong with you, why your body is acting the way it is, and what — based on his expertise — you should change to solve the problem. Which doctor is going to do a better job solving your problem?

That is the difference (from the customer’s perspective) between surface selling and specific selling. The first type sends you through the same discovery process as everyone else and gives you a solution many people hear. The second speaks directly to you and your situation. In the first case, if the pill does not work, the doctor will say, “The tests said it should have worked,” and have you try a different pill. If the second doctor’s solution does not work, he has to admit he was wrong.

When you strive to understand a customer’s unique situation and speak directly to it, you risk being wrong — but the rewards are numerous, including a better closing ratio and far better relationships. To sell this way, you should understand: n Your Contact: First and foremost, you should understand your contact and his viewpoint as it expresses itself in his business decisions and approach. You should understand how your contact is rewarded (whether the contact is the owner of the company or a middle manager) and how he prioritizes rewards. If your offering does not fit with your contact’s priorities, your presentation will fall flat. n The Organization: Understanding the specific makeup and overall organizational approach — as well as understanding the organization’s overall position — is vital. Even in the most struggling industries, there are wildly successful www.offi cetechnol ogymag.com | Nove mb e r 2018 | 29

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sell for them (theoretically), or at least becompanies — and solving an “industry” come an enthusiastic advocate and referral problem might not have much appeal if the Being an enthusiastic source? Being an enthusiastic advocate of company has it figured out already. Not evadvocate of your your customers is a great foundation for ery company has the same goals. If you fail customers is a great the kinds of customer relationships that to understand your customers’ goals, sales foundation for the kinds can withstand both competition and the will be lost. of customer relationships occasional service mistake. n Staffing & Resources: What internal My web developer was only selling to me resources are available to implement your that can withstand ... at a surface level. Hence, he will not be getsolution and how enthusiastic will they be competition ... ting my business. If you are only selling at a in doing so? Does the company have the surface level, you are probably missing a lot manpower available to perform whatever internal functions will be necessary for a successful imple- of business that you should be getting.

To eliminate surface selling, you should position yourself so mentation? If not, can you provide a pathway to success? n The Organizational Culture: What are the people in the you have great and specific answers to the question: “Why is organization all about? Are they unified around a mission, or this a solution for my business in particular?” n Troy Harrison is the author of “Sell Like You Mean It!” and are they simply punching a clock and putting in their time? Is “The Pocket Sales Manager,” and is a speaker, the organization focused on task completion or on results? If consultant and sales navigator. He helps your customer’s culture is highly change resistant, then the very companies build more profitable and best solutions to problems can get mired down in resistance. productive sales forces. To schedule a free n Their Value Proposition: Why do their customers buy 45-minute Sales Strategy Review, call from them and what keeps them coming back? Again, this is next-level thinking, but what if instead of endeavoring to (913) 645-3603 or email troy@troyharrison.com.

Visit www.troyharrison.com. learn enough to sell to your customers, you learned enough to

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30 | ­w w w. o f f ic et ec hno lo g y m a g.c om | Nov e m b e r 2 0 1 8

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MAY 2016

BUSINESS IN THE ‘AC

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INSIGHT:

OPTIMIZE

ALYTICS TO USING AN PROCESSES BUSINESS

The Imaging Channel

An integrated resource for the print and imaging industry that brings together the leading market information, business concepts, solutions, strategies and people in the industry. print | digital | website | e-bulletins

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| Number

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