September 2012 Office Technology

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CONTENTS Volume 19 • No. 3

FEATURE ARTICLES 10

Strategic Selling What got you here may not get you there

COURTS & CAPITOLS Business Ethics They determine your dealership’s reputation

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by Robert C. Goldberg BTA General Counsel

by Mitch Morgan & Chris Ryne, Growth Achievement Partners, and Kate Kingston, Kingston Training Group

You have sales reps in your bullpen who are working harder than ever before. They may be selling the same number of machines, but the average selling price has decreased. In addition, the gross profit margin has gone down. This is a trend that will not reverse — and it may accelerate. You see the trends in the industry and know you must combine competitive takeaways with a growing set of products and services to be successful. You must invest in your current sales force today if you want to succeed.

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Recently, there have been two calls to the BTA Legal Hotline regarding questionable ethical situations.

Establishing rules, policies and checks and balances — as well as leading by example — are essential to sound ethical practices. Having such programs in place is important, as breaches can be costly.

SERVICE CONNECTIONS Minimizing Discounts Protect your aftermarket & stay healthy

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by Ken Staubitz Strategy Development

Are You LinkedIn? How to generate leads in 10 easy steps

If your reps are able to discount service without offsetting the aftermarket hit with the hardware gross profit (GP) they packed into a deal, your service revenues and profit will suffer for the term of the agreement. The effects of aftermarket discounting will affect various factors that impact your profitability.

by Martin Perry in2communications Inc.

Social media marketing is the hottest thing in Internet marketing.

The opportunities to connect with your users in fantastic new ways is working miracles for marketing and customer service departments. But what about sales departments? As these technologies become more mainstream, most sales departments and sales reps can effectively leverage social media sites and their networks to generate qualified leads. There are no more qualified leads than those on LinkedIn.

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SELLING SOLUTIONS No Magic Button Social media will not replace traditional prospecting

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by Troy Harrison Sales Force Solutions

Ever since the cold call was invented, salespeople have been trying to invent a “magic button” that will allow them to quit cold calling. The latest is the online social network (OSN). Just Tweet enough, experts say, and you will never need to smile and dial again. That is nonsense.

Q&A: Sharp’s Doug Albregts SIICA president addresses negative news reports

by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

Japan’s Nikkei reported on Aug. 17 that Sharp Corporation is considering selling its copier business and other businesses as a means to address current financial challenges the company is facing. Sharp quickly responded that the report is untrue. On Aug. 24, Office Technology magazine conducted a telephone interview about the news of Sharp’s financial difficulties, the negative press reports, etc., with Doug Albregts, president of Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America (SIICA).

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

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• BTA Highlights

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Executive Director’s Page

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BTA President’s Message

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Advertiser Index

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

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S PAGE

Download the 2012 BTA Service Report

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f you have not downloaded your copy of the 2012 BTA Service Report from BTA’s website (www.bta.org/Bench markingReports), I would encourage you to do so.

This report, the first in the 2012 BTA Benchmarking Series, examines the results of a survey completed by 311 office technology dealers. It shows the levels of dealership performance and metrics by both size of business and geographic region. I think you will find the report to be a valuable resource for comparing the service operations of your dealership to other U.S. dealerships.

My thanks to those who took the time to complete the online survey. By doing so, you have played an important role in creating an industry resource that will serve as a guide for your fellow dealers, helping to further strengthen the BTA Channel. By the way, congratulations to the first 25 of you who completed the survey, earning a $25 American Express gift card.

Prepared for BTA by Survey Advantage, the report provides data in four categories: profitability (service revenue per service employee and per technician, service sales per unit in base, service gross profit, rental and CPC revenue allocations, clicks per unit on contract, etc.), personnel (technician accountable time, average billing rate, incentive plans, distribution of time, clicks per technician, etc.), call center efficiencies (response times, gross calls per day, recalls and incompletes, installation times, service department automation, etc.) and product (copier/MFPs on contract and T&M, percent of sales, etc.).

The report provides the median (and, in some cases, mean) of the responses to the survey questions. The results reflect the

answers to such questions as: What is the average response time from the time the customer places a call until a tech arrives?

What is the length of time for your typical, successful installation? What is your typical car stock value? What is your average number of total calls per day? After the base cost is subtracted, how is CPC money allocated for color copier/MFPs? What is your average hourly billing rate for shop and field work? How many parts inventory turns do you experience annually? For what job performance areas do you provide incentives?

As noted, the results of the survey are reported by both size of business and geographic region. For example, looking at the “by business size” results, the report reflects the responses from 58 $5 million to $10 million dealerships, with total annual service revenues averaging $2,466,280 (mean).

They have 11 field technicians and a median copier/MFP billing rate of $128.03 per hour.

These techs spend 60 percent of their time repairing equipment, and each brings in an annual revenue of $171,666 (median).

Conversely, looking at the “by geographic region” result, we see that, for dealers in the West (11 states designated; 57 respondents), total annual service revenues average $1,586,024 (mean). They have seven field technicians and a median copier/MFP billing rate of $132.26 per hour. The techs in the West spend 57 percent of their time repairing equipment, and each brings in annual revenues of $159,285.71 (median).

Want to see all of the numbers in the full report? Download your copy from the BTA website today. The report is free to BTA members. Watch for BTA’s other 2012 Benchmarking Series reports — the 2012 BTA Compensation Report and the 2012 BTA Finance Report — later this year.  — 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 Kate Kingston, Kingston Training Group www.kingstontraining.com Mitch Morgan, Growth Achievement Partners www.growthachievementpartners.com Martin Perry, in2communications Inc. www.in2communications.com Chris Ryne, Growth Achievement Partners www.growthachievementpartners.com Ken Staubitz, Strategy Development www.strategydevelopment.com

Business Technology Association 12411 Wornall Road Kansas City, MO 64145 (816) 941-3100 www.bta.org Member Services: (800) 505-2821 BTA Legal Hotline: (800) 869-6688 Valerie Briseno Membership & Marketing Manager valerie@bta.org Mary Hopkins Database Administrator mary@bta.org Teresa Leerar Bookkeeper teresa@bta.org Brian Smith Membership Sales Representative brian@bta.org Photo Credits: Goodshot, Hemera Technologies. Cover created by Bruce Quade, Brand X Studio. ©2012 by the Business Technology Association. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the publisher. Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of published material. However, the publisher assumes no liability for errors in articles nor are opinions expressed necessarily those of the publisher.

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

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BTA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE 2012-2013 Board of Directors

Two MPS Workshops Announced by BTA

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o you need some guidance to better ensure the success of your dealership’s managed print services (MPS) program?

Do you even have an MPS program in place?

Either way, BTA recently announced two new educational workshops that will provide you the guidance and tools you need. Both will be launched in November as front runners to the Nov. 1516 Capture the Magic event (www.bta.org/ BTAWestEvent), to be hosted by BTA West in Las Vegas, Nev. The BTA MPS Client Engagement Workshop, designed for MPS sales specialists (BTA member tuition, only $699) is an interactive, full-day course that will take participants through the entire sales cycle for MPS engagements with clients. Utilizing the eight-step MPS Client Engagement Model, participants will learn how to create a compelling value proposition to increase success in securing MPS engagements, practice conducting C-level appointments in a “live” setting, conduct an efficient and effective assessment process, and build compelling, profitable proposals.

The BTA MPS Survival Guide Workshop, designed for dealership owners and executive-level management (BTA member tuition, only $899), is a day-and-a-half interactive course that will cover the various MPS program options available in today’s market, explore the resource and skill requirements for each, and highlight the financial impacts of an MPS business model on your current business. Attendees will leave the workshop with a personalized business plan outline, a tailored sales compensation plan, and a clear understanding of the assets and competencies needed to be successful.

Our instructors are two leading minds in the area of MPS — Doug Johnson, senior vice president of Supplies Network, and Mike Lecek, who serves as director of MPS at Supplies Network. Both Doug and Mike will serve as the instructors for the MPS Client Engagement Workshop; Doug will lead the MPS Survival Guide Workshop.

With more than 30 years of industry experience, Doug was with Hewlett-Packard (HP) for 20 years, serving as senior vice president of worldwide marketing for the Imaging and Printing Group (IPG), and as vice president and general manager for HP’s Supplies Imaging Division. He later joined Print Inc. as a startup in 2001. He served as senior vice president and COO of Print Inc., and president of its subsidiary, PrintValue Solutions Inc. In 2006, Print Inc. was sold to Pitney Bowes. After leaving Print Inc., Doug had a three-year engagement as an MPS consultant, founding RedSage Consulting and RedSage Partners. He joined Supplies Network in 2010.

Mike has been in the industry since 1983, starting with ComDoc in Pittsburgh, Pa. After a successful 15-year career, he joined Toshiba as a district sales manager. After a period of running his own consulting practice, he joined Print Inc. in 2004 to manage sales for the company’s PrintValue Solutions program. His team was responsible for all facets of bringing MPS practices to Print Inc.’s channel partners, including sales, service, training and sales compensation models. In 2009, Mike joined Konica Minolta to manage its West Region for managed print.

He joined Supplies Network in 2011.

Want to learn more? Visit www.bta.org/ MPSClientEngagement and www.bta.org/ MPSSurvivalGuide. Attend either of these classes in November and receive free registration to Capture the Magic.  — Terry Chapman

President Terry Chapman Business Electronics Corp.

219 Oxmoor Circle, P.O. Box 531066 Birmingham, AL 35253 tchapman@businesselectronics.com President-Elect Todd J. Fitzsimons Network Imaging LLC 122 Spring St., Ste. B3 Southington, CT 06489 tjfitzsimons@ni-ct.com Vice President Ron Hulett U.S. Business Systems Inc. 3221 Southview Drive Elkhart, IN 46514 ron.hulett@usbus.com BTA East Rob Richardson Allied Document Solutions & Services Inc. 200 Church St. Swedesboro, NJ 08085 robr@ads-s.com BTA Mid-America Dave Quint Advanced Systems Inc. 2945 Airport Blvd., P.O. Box 57 Waterloo, IA 50704 dquint@asiowa.com BTA Southeast Debra Dennis CopyPro Inc. 3103 Landmark St. Greenville, NC 27834 ddennis@copypro.net BTA West Mike Ehlers Yost Business Systems 685 E. Anderson Idaho Falls, ID 83401 mike@yostonline.com Ex-Officio/Immediate Past President Tom Ouellette Budget Document Technology 251 Goddard Road, P.O. Box 2322 Lewiston, ME 04240 touellette@bdtme.com Ex-Officio/General Counsel Robert C. Goldberg Schoenberg Finkel Newman & Rosenberg LLC 222 S. Riverside Plaza, Ste. 2100 Chicago, IL 60606 robert.goldberg@sfnr.com

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

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Strategic Selling What got you here may not get you there by: Mitch Morgan & Chris Ryne, Growth Achievement Partners, and Kate Kingston, Kingston Training Group

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ou have sales reps in your bullpen who are working harder than ever before. They may be selling the same number of machines, but the average selling price has decreased. In addition, the gross profit margin (percentage and dollars) has gone down. This is a trend that will not reverse — and it may accelerate. While you may be growing your business, that growth is likely based on taking business from your competitors. You see the trends in the industry and know you must combine competitive takeaways with a growing set of products and services to be successful.

It is likely that you have recently attended an industry event or read an article in a trade journal outlining the need to invest in a new business activity (like software solutions or managed network services) or to get your managed print services (MPS) business in order. These look like separate businesses with foreign sales processes.

So how do you manage an additional business that sits next to your core business? Success is uncertain.

Your sales reps are looking for new tools and techniques.

Just ask them. Chances are they like the industry, enjoy their customers and want to be successful within your company.

While they generally know what to do, they are not sure exactly how to get there. In the past, you could rely on the manufacturer for assistance. But many of these new solutions are not made by your traditional core manufacturer.

You must invest in your current sales force today if you want to succeed in this new space.

First, let’s take a look back before we go forward. There has been a distinct evolution of the sales process in the office technology channel. If you started your business, or sold equipment for a company that was in start-up mode, you probably remember a very defined sales process and metrics focused on net new business. You managed a sales funnel with sales steps that looked something like this: calls,

contacts, appointments, demos, proposals and closed business.

Over time, you built a base and, with it, the focus shifted to “base retention” tactics, while still focusing some attention on growing the customer base. Your reps likely migrated sales activities to accounts that were entering the “sweet spot” in the lease expiration cycle. It has been our observation that as this shift in the sales process occurred, you focused your management inspection on results (upgrades, retention, closed business, etc.) and away from activities (calls, contacts, appointments, demos, proposals, etc.).

The current emphasis is for the reps to go deeper and wider into accounts, offering a broader array of technology-based solutions to your customers. We recently talked to a client who told us that “there is no way we can put anything else on the plate for our sales reps; they have too much to sell already.”

Many reps have resorted to “menu” selling, where they put a list in front of the customer (sometimes literally) and see what looks good to him (or her) that day. The problem with this approach is that success is based on timing and the balance of power in the sales process goes to the customer.

Another challenge today is that many reps have (or think they need) a different sales process for each solution type they sell. The short list of these offerings includes traditional equipment, document-centric software, MPS and managed IT services. They get frustrated and the sales process tends to resort back to “pencil selling the upgrade.”

You can see the migration of three distinctly different sales processes for our industry described above. Your challenge (and opportunity) is to change the way your reps sell and how you manage. You do not need to change what you do, but rather, how you do it.

The answer to this issue is still in your sales bullpen, but it is also in your sales process. Experience has taught us that

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

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there are four steps to success: have been identified, a sales rep has (1) Getting to the right level (and getto schedule meetings to sit down with Sales reps must move ting better at securing appointments at these prospects in order to start the toward a solution all levels); sales process. There are at least two and consultative (2) Development of one consistent, reways to accomplish this goal. approach. Failure to peatable process the rep can use; One way to get that meeting is to purdo so will allow your (3) An ongoing sales engagement sue the C-level prospects themselves. model for expanding opportunities beThe quickest ways to communicate with competitors to get their tween lease expiration cycles (some call them are via phone and email. Systemfeet in the door. this an account review); izing your approach to include calling, (4) Adherence to a management and emailing and re-emailing has to be part inspection cadence with the appropriate balance between of that strategy. Being mindful of the content of that commuactivity and results. nication allows a sales rep to present a salient, well-crafted debate on why the decision maker should stop his business Making More Meetings day to let a sales rep come in and try to sell him something he Let’s start at the very beginning, before the appointment is not even thinking about. It is not a small task, but landing even takes place. Lead generation should be designed to get that meeting is the exact job description of a sales rep. to a new decision maker. We have been focused on the buyer Another avenue for getting to the C-level decision maker of office equipment and we need to move higher in the or- is to be championed by a lower-level employee. Often, these ganization. In today’s competitive marketplace, core sales are our day-to-day contacts. Research indicates that when a reps now have to do many things differently as they prepare C-level individual receives a recommendation from a trustto go after and land C-level prospects. ed subordinate to meet with a sales professional, 84 percent It starts with proper account planning. We believe ac- of the time he will “usually” or “always” accept the meeting. count planning begins with deciding which accounts/com- This sponsorship is achieved through establishing credibilpanies you are going to pursue. Identifying potential pros- ity as a solution provider, and describing the ways in which pects involves finding companies that fit the parameters of your products and services can assist the company beyond what your dealership has decided is an ideal client. “speeds and feeds.”

At the very least, we know those parameters must include The core sales rep must combine these two approaches if sales volume, industry and employee count. Having this he wants to stay relevant in today’s environment. Sales reps information allows for a better chance for you to discover must move toward a solution and consultative approach. a need for managed IT services, MPS, hardware, software Failure to do so will allow your competitors to get their feet and service contracts. Focusing on prospects within these in the door. guidelines will allow a sales rep to maximize his valuable prospecting time (which should be at least 10 to 12 hours One Consistent, Repeatable Process per week) going after real, “predefined” opportunities. The So now we are at the right level. Our meeting is with an account planning process needs to include identifying in- executive who has a broader view and understanding of his dustry trends and business goals, and your solutions need to company’s business goals, problems and processes. The esassist the prospect in achieving his own business goals. In sence of a time-tested solution sales process is in the ability simple terms, people will spend time and money to achieve to tie a solution into helping the company achieve its busitheir business goals. ness goals. Business goals represent the direction the comOne of the biggest time-wasting mistakes a sales rep can pany is seeking to go (opportunity) combined with the areas make is spending his prospecting time “geographically.” in which the company has not performed as well as it would Haphazardly approaching every business in his territory like (pain). Companies invest time and money in achieving (by foot, phone or email) and canvassing everyone regard- these goals. less of size, revenue or income is not a sustainable approach Additionally (and increasingly), companies are seeking to prospecting. A sales rep must start his prospecting cam- a better way to plan for technology investments. The shift paign by prioritizing and identifying 40 companies that fit in technologies that include cloud computing, mobility his ideal parameters. We suggest 40 companies so a sales and social media bring with it an opportunity for comparep can focus and consistently contact each company on his nies to utilize technology for competitive advantage. Oflist at least three times a week until a meeting is confirmed. ten, the best sales opportunities are associated with comOnce the companies and the specific C-level prospects panies that need a technology road map created for them, 12 | ­w w w. o f f i c e t e c h n o l ogymag.com | September 2012

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which may require a virtual CIO partThe Time is Now nership. This means a sales rep must As our industry evolves, our sales There are significant investigate and produce technology processes need to evolve with it. Old habopportunities for recommendations by understanding its will not yield new results. There are companies that choose what that specific C-level decision-maksignificant opportunities for companies to focus on building er’s interests and responsibilities are at that choose to focus on building (and (and managing) his company. managing) new sales techniques and Not only must you address the issues processes designed to deepen and widen new sales techniques concerning the particular individual you strategies. Investing in your sales reps and processes ... are approaching, but you must conduct will bring the results you are seeking. this discovery by addressing the specific Now is the time to focus on the suclanguage of his industry. For example, cess of your current sales force. After all, you want to conwhen dealing with a law firm, it will help if the rep can include tinue to prosper and grow your business so that you will respecific descriptions of its proprietary uses of technology. main successful for many years to come. n Mitch Morgan, Chris Ryne and Kate Kingston will be Ongoing Sales Engagement leading BTA’s Building My Business webinar, “New Skills for Nearly all of the business being closed today is on lease Your Current Reps,” at 4 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, Sept. 26. transactions. Your reps have built their businesses by mainVisit www.bta.org/BuildingMyBusiness to pre-register. taining contact with their accounts, while the dealership Morgan (left photo below) is a partner at Growth ensures that it provides customers with high-quality servAchievement Partners. He founded the Connectivity Dealer ice. In fact, the BTA Channel provides better service on its Program from NIA in 1991. After his business was office equipment than virtually all other office technology acquired by IKON Office Solutions in 1996, he led its providers. You leverage these great service relationships to Technology Services division. In 2001, he formed the facilitate the upgrade to the lease. The downside to our traProfessional Services division for IKON. Morgan has been ditional sales process is that there is no real incentive for consulting with CEOs on strategy, operations, sales reps to have ongoing, meaningful account reviews organizational development and sales since 2005. with their customers between lease cycles.

Ryne, a partner at Growth Achievement Partners, Many customers are not aware of the depth and breadth brings experience in driving growth and profitability, of your offerings. How many times have you heard a good possessing a comprehensive understanding of the industry customer say: “I wish I would have known your company that includes traditional and emerging markets from both sold (pick a solution category). We just bought one and a sales and operations perspective. His tenure includes 10 would have preferred to work with your company.” years with a national office equipment dealership where he Account reviews should combine a review of the outstandbuilt and led a successful professional services business unit ing service you have provided with a discussion of additional from start-up to a well-integrated team. areas you can assist with. By establishing a consistent review Visit www.growthachievementpartners.com. format, to include solution descriptions, case studies and a Kingston, founder and president of the Kingston Training discussion on company direction and goals, you have an opGroup, is a motivational sales trainer specializing in portunity for expansion. A key metric for our clients is revlanding qualified meetings. With more than 17 years of enue per customer. It is a strong indicator of success in crosssuccess in making appointments with decision makers, selling products and services to their base of accounts. she is a recognized authority on lead generation, cold calling and new business development, Management Inspection using humor, audience participation and proven Implementation of any new process requires practice and techniques in her training sessions. She has trained discipline. There is a tendency to slip back into old habits. more than 7,000 sales reps and managers to land more Consistent implementation of quality processes will yield meetings with consistent results. Managers need to be able to manage a their ideal time-tested solution sales process. There should be inspecprospective tion tied to activity (quantity and quality), in addition to clients. results. The processes should be consistently utilized by all Visit www. sales reps, and ongoing training and development should be kingston part of the sales culture. training.com.

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

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Are You LinkedIn? How to generate leads in 10 easy steps by: Martin Perry, in2communications Inc.

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ocial media marketing is the hottest thing in marketing since the Internet exploded not so many years ago. The opportunities to connect with your users in fantastic new ways is working miracles for marketing and customer service departments. But what about sales departments?

The monetization of social media marketing is evolving very rapidly. There are sophisticated tools and technologies emerging today that can help marketers and sales teams with measurement and ROI. As these technologies become more mainstream, most sales departments and sales reps can effectively leverage social media sites and their networks to generate qualified leads.

There are no more qualified leads than those available on LinkedIn, the world’s most professional social networking site. To make things easy for you, I have put together a 10step lead generation process to turn any business’s LinkedIn profile into a lead-generation tool.

Create a Solid Profile It is difficult to reap the benefits of LinkedIn lead generation without having a profile, so creating one is the obvious first step. But you cannot create just any profile — you need to create a professional-grade one. Here is how: (1) Descriptive Headline + Keywords + Photo = Complete Profile — To create a professional-looking profile that says to people, “This is a respectable company to associate with,” you need to ensure it is not only complete, but also has a professional appearance. This means it should have a descriptive headline that includes your company’s value proposition and a photo/image that is indicative of your company, like a logo. Including keywords is critical, not for professional appearance, but in order for other companies and people to find you.

(2) Add Content-Showcasing Applications — Having a professional-looking profile is a good start, but you need content behind the appearance to back up the legitimacy of your company. Adding applications to your LinkedIn profile not only adds to the overall look, but it also showcases and shares your content in an impressive format. Some of these

content-showcasing apps include SlideShare, Events, Blog Link, Google Presentations, LinkedIn Polls and more. For a complete list of apps, visit: http://learn.linkedin.com/apps.

These apps also show that you are putting time and effort into your company’s profile and want to be involved in your industry’s community.

(3) Post Regular Status Updates — LinkedIn is not Facebook. It does not receive as many updates, and you should post the Instagram photos of your lunch on Facebook, not LinkedIn. LinkedIn is more business related, but that does not mean you update it any differently from any other social network. Make sure that you create a regular stream of posts to ensure that your profile remains active and interesting to others.

Get Involved in Groups Having a solid presence on LinkedIn takes a concerted effort. It is not like Facebook where you update your status and add funny pictures and people will “Like” you. LinkedIn requires proactive participation. This means you need to join groups. What would be even better is starting a group — especially if others get involved in it.

(4) Join Relevant Groups — LinkedIn has made participating in its network easy by fostering a healthy directory of groups. Today, there is a group for just about everything,

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ESP-BTA-HalfPageAd-August2012.pdf 1 8/27/2012 3:30:41 PM

Pinnacle-MSE ads Sept 12.indd 1

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so you should be able to find a number of to be truly involved in a discussion/ Creating solid them to join. Just be sure not to spread group. You need to contribute regularly yourself too thin. and keep the conversations going. You connections with Finding groups is easy. LinkedIn has a need to be truly engaged or people will the people you meet handy page to help you find groups that see right through your one comment for virtually is half the match your vertical (http://www.linked what it is — a lead grab from a company battle. The other half in.com/search-fe/group_search?facee_ looking for a big payoff with no effort. is keeping those G=GMYL). It also has a searchable direc(9) Lead the Pack — Success in any tory of groups (https://www.linkedin. industry, as in any job role, means being connections alive. com/search-fe/group_search). a leader. Ditto for LinkedIn. You need to (5) Share your Existing Content — be a leader on LinkedIn to succeed in You likely have content that you have created and shared lead generation. To lead the pack, you need to combine your previously via marketing material, sales material, newslet- high-energy, consistent engagement with resourcefulness, ters, email marketing, blogs and other materials that com- demonstrated expertise and a willingness to help. For best panies regularly produce. These could be videos, e-books, results, do it more than others in your industry are doing. case studies, white papers, research, etc. Why not share them (10) Keep Up Connections with People Who Engage on LinkedIn, too? This is a great way to do a major content with You — Creating solid connections with the people you push without a lot of work. Sharing your existing content on meet virtually is half the battle. The other half is keeping LinkedIn means going back in time through your marketing those connections alive. Connections that create any ongoand sales materials, content posted on other social profiles ing value need to be nurtured. This can be done by invitand pulling evergreen content that can be re-shared. Ensure ing people to discussions that they would likely want to be that the content is still relevant though. Consider adding it a part of, throwing them connections and introductions, or to the various applications you have now installed. simply sending a piece of noteworthy news their way once (6) Engage and Share — LinkedIn is not a lecherous in a while. To keep you in the forefront of their minds (for network. In order to succeed on the network, you need to when they inevitably come across a lead they could send be an active participant who contributes something to the your way) you need to be in contact with them, in one way conversation. This means you need to join conversations or another, about three to four times a year. and start them, but more than that, you need to contribute

something worth reading. The more worthwhile the advice/ Final Advice comment/share is, the more leads you will draw. Share your The above is great advice, but still, the best advice I can give industry insights, breaking news, best practices, expertise, you is to start slowly. Get comfortable before you start makcompetencies, etc. Do not be generic though; it is only cut- ing big moves, because the office technology community on ting-edge and knowledgeable people who benefit from these LinkedIn may be smaller than you think and you do not want types of discussions. to burn any bridges. Start off slowly until you get the hang of (7) Turn Content into Discussions — Use the content it, and definitely do not be overly promotional or “sales-ey.” that you are sharing on LinkedIn as topics for discussion After all, it is a social network. Be social, collaborate, enin LinkedIn’s groups, Q&A and discussions. Take ideas and gage, network and do not push content. n themes from this content and post questions to the public Martin Perry is the managing partner for about it. Do this to promote a genuine discussion on the in2communications Inc., a full-service marketing and topic, but do not be overly promotional about your post becommunications agency. In2communications’ services cause it will turn people off and will make you appear phony include website design/redesign, search engine optimization and forced.

(SEO), video production, inbound marketing services, social Instead, fit it naturally into discussions and do not be media and marketing strategy. The company helps afraid to engage with other people’s opinions and interprebusinesses integrate new “social business” methodologies tations of your information. And, if another person is right, into their sales and marketing strategies using consider incorporating their response or comment into technology, inbound marketing your content. This will show people that you are an expert methodologies, SEO and social media to who is not afraid to learn, grow and adapt. generate leads, build their digital brands, (8) Keep Conversations Going — One of the biggest erengage with their customers and prospects, rors people make on LinkedIn is to comment in a discussion/ and grow their businesses. group once, then leave and never look back. This is not enough Visit www.in2communications.com.

20 | ­w w w. o f f i c e t e c h n o l o gymag.com | September 2012

Perry Sept 12.indd 2

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Q&A: Sharp’s Doug Albregts SIICA president addresses negative news reports by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

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apan’s Nikkei reported on Aug. 17 that Sharp cases, those challenges stem from a lack of deCorporation is considering selling its copier mand, an aging technology or something that business and other businesses as a means to falls short of its value proposition for customaddress current financial challenges the comers, and key internal and external stakeholdpany is facing. Sharp quickly responded that the ers. This is not necessarily the case with us. It report is untrue. However, subsequent news rehas been very public that we have suffered from ports quickly emerged expressing uncertainty what has happened with the yen, like many of about Sharp’s future. our Japanese competitors. The TV business has On Aug. 24, Office Technology magazine conbeen extremely difficult for everybody. Sharp ducted a telephone interview about the news of also invested a significant amount of capital in Sharp’s financial difficulties, the negative press the Sakai [Sakai City, Japan, LCD HD television] reports, etc., with Doug Albregts, president of Doug Albregts factory, which made it very challenging during Sharp Imaging and Information Company of a time when the economy was in a complete America (SIICA). Albregts spoke to Office Technology from withdrawal of any sort of growth whatsoever.

Prague, Czech Republic, during a Sharp dealer incentive I can’t give you any update to anything that hasn’t already trip. He emphasized that SIICA is among the most profitable been published, but the fact of the matter is, the reason why Sharp subsidiaries and, as a result, he does not expect Sharp we know it is going to work itself out in a very favorable Corporation’s financial challenges to have a direct, negative manner, not only for our dealers, but for everybody — from impact on SIICA. He also reiterated that Sharp is not cur- our partner network, our employees’ and everybody’s perrently negotiating the sale of its copier business, as had been spective — is that we have exceptional display technology reported by Nikkei. coming out in our IGZO technology. There are a lot of key Following are excerpts from the interview: stakeholders within the industry that want access to that technology. There are also a host of other capabilities that OT: Sharp has stated that Nikkei’s report that we have in our business that are very much coveted by a lot the company plans to sell its copier business is of people. We are actually very excited about that. not true. Regardless, dire financial challenges are looming at Sharp. What can you share about OT: What sort of impact might Sharp Corporathese challenges? tion’s financial difficulties have on Sharp’s copiAlbregts: I would be remiss to not say that the chal- er/MFP business in the United States? lenges, financially, on the Sharp Corporation side definitely Albregts: In the short term, we are still sending all of our exist. Let’s be very clear, I’m not in the meetings with banks engineers and our product planning people to Japan to conand Hon Hai in Japan [Hon Hai is a Taiwanese company tinue to discuss products, not only for the coming year, but that announced plans in March to buy a 9.9-percent stake for years ahead. Plus, we are obviously continuing to build in Sharp]. I don’t have a direct connection into those con- out our capabilities around the cloud, and how that impacts versations. However, I am in very close contact with our se- [Sharp’s] OSA [Open System Architecture]. nior executives in Japan. They have been very forthcoming [General Manager] Mr. [Fujikazu] Nakayama’s group with information.

[Information Equipment] represents the business systems I think the key thing that everyone has to remember here of Sharp, which comprises most of our B2B business. On is that when companies have financial challenges, in many Aug. 2, Sharp Corporation reported a profit in Information

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Equipment for Q1, and revised its growth some reason, a dealer feels this is a conWe haven’t given to 4.5 percent this year. When you look cern, then, certainly, we would address at the document imaging space, not only it one-off. But, at this point in time, we any indication at in the U.S., but on a global basis, we are don’t anticipate any problem. all that our business outpacing market projections in most has been impacted categories. We continue to grow. That’s OT: Sharp Corporation has by this. Because, the something I’m not sure all of our comstated it will be reducing staff fact of the matter is, petitors can say. by 5,000 employees worldwide.

It just so happens that Sharp CorpoWill there be any staff reducit just hasn’t. ration is struggling. What that means tions within SIICA here in the for us I can’t tell you today except for it United States? has been business as usual. Nothing has changed. We are Albregts: We are not planning any layoffs at SIICA in the still investing in the business. We are continuing to grow U.S. as a result of the news coming out of Sharp Corporaand we are profitable. tion. That does not mean we may not do some reorganizing.

I am not saying we’re going to do that, but any moves we OT: Will Sharp’s financial situation impact its make here directionally will be the result of what was disR&D efforts? cussed at the [July 15-18 Irresistible Force] dealer meeting in Albregts: At this point there is absolutely no impact on Dallas, Texas, not because of the news of the financial situaour investment in R&D in this space. I have told the dealer tion coming out of Sharp Corporation. community that I would be very candid if I had information that showed an impact on our R&D spend.

OT: Do you anticipate that equipment, parts or supplies will be in short supply due to any Sharp OT: Dealers are facing adverse publicity in the manufacturing cutbacks? press and from competitors regarding the future Albregts: We have not been told, nor do we anticipate, any of Sharp. What programs will you put in place to issues of supply at this point in time. As a matter of fact, if we help your dealers overcome these obstacles? have that issue it would be because we are actually selling out Albregts: Our dealers here in Prague have said: “We have of the product introduced at the [July] meeting; we’ve had trenot really been impacted, in the sense that we have not had mendous demand and support from our dealer community to go out and say, for example, ‘It’s OK if you stick with the of those products. So, if anything, it is because we missed the 20 Sharp machines in your location, because Sharp will be forecast. It has nothing to do with what’s happening in Japan. healthy in the next three to four years.’” They haven’t mentioned any kind of conversations like that.

OT: After the current dealer trip, what do you In terms of programs, if anything, we are continuing to see as some of your top priorities when you get build out some of the programs we currently have in place. back to your office, as they relate to the news We haven’t eliminated any of them per se. We haven’t given about Sharp’s financial situation? any indication at all that our business has been impacted by Albregts: I can’t prognosticate as to where this is going. I this. Because, the fact of the matter is, it just hasn’t. The only can only tell you what they told me — that the copier business way it has been impacted is that we have had to do a lot of is not for sale, etc. One of the things I told my team is we must these types of conversations to set the record straight. continue to “stay the course.” The worst thing we can do is to get off track with the message that we shared at the meeting OT: Will there be quota and incentive program back in Dallas. To be honest, we are so busy with changing our adjustments for dealers due to the negative business, simplifying our marketing programs and doing all backlash from reports of Sharp’s financial situa- the things that we said we are going to do, I don’t know what tion, since this is beyond the dealer community’s else we could be doing. That’s all we can do; continue to drive control? our business and continue to make the changAlbregts: We are not seeing anybody’s programs being im- es. We are not seeing any indication that the pacted. The conversation that we are having is, “How can we investment in our business is going to stop. n even do more at this point in time because of the bad press?”

Brent Hoskins, executive director of the No one has come to me from Sharp Japan and said: “You have Business Technology Association, is editor of to cut back incentives.” They want to continue to invest in Office Technology magazine. this part of the business, which is doing well for Sharp. If, for He can be reached at brent@bta.org. www.officetechnologymag.com | S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 2 | 23

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

Dealer Members Alexandria Business Machines, Alexandria, LA Citywide Office Solutions, Brooklyn, NY Classic Business Solutions, Columbia, SC Global Supplies NY, Brooklyn, NY Texas Document Solutions, Austin, TX

For the benefit of its dealer members, each month BTA features two of its Vendor or Service Associate members in this space.

BTA Managed Services Workshop

BTA Vendor Associate member Mars International is a full-service wholesale re-marketer of high-quality, pre-owned copiers. The company’s extensive inventory comes from strong relationships with some of the world’s largest leasing companies. With a thorough quality control and equipment-handling process, Mars International’s technicians check for completeness and functionality. Mars offers monthly specials, quantity discounts and discounted fixed national freight rates, as well as tech support and technical documentation for nonauthorized brands. Mars will also send digital photos upon request. www.marsintl.com

Managed services (MS) offers a more costeffective way for your customers to manage their current spending on IT support. By utilizing technology and automation versus traditional break-fix labor, performance and stability increase and costs go down. In this workshop, Mitch Morgan and Chris Ryne of Growth Achievement Partners will show you how to set up a MS business in your company. Areas of focus will include: the phases of the MS process, financial targets, packaging of services, the MS sales process and more. Visit www.bta.org/ MS for more information or to register.

BTA Service Associate member International Business Products Inc. (IBPI) is an office technology buying group representing the interests of more than 320 independent dealerships nationwide. Its members have a combined annual sales volume in excess of $3.7 billion, which generates buying power for the group’s membership. IBPI’s members sell and service Canon, Konica Minolta, Kyocera, Panasonic, Ricoh, Sharp and Toshiba products, as well as other copier/ MFPs, digital duplicators, printers and business machines. www.ibpi.net

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

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

Vendor Associate Members Supplies Wholesalers, Reno, NV Frontier Imaging, Compton, CA Publishing Associate Member Print4Pay Hotel, Highlands, NJ For full contact information of these new members, visit www.bta.org.

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COURTS & CAPITOLS

Business Ethics They determine your dealership’s reputation by: Robert C. Goldberg, General Counsel for the Business Technology Association

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am honored to have calls to the BTA Legal Hotline come into my office. This communication line clearly provides the pulse of and a window to the industry. In the past month, there have been two calls that hopefully do not indicate a trend. The problems are disturbing and, in fact, criminal.

In both situations, the owners were unaware of the occurrences and were shocked to learn that their salespeople had engaged in wrongful conduct.

The first call inquired as to the owner’s responsibility for a forged personal guarantee on an equipment lease.

The good news was that all the lease payments had been made, but when the cancelled lease was returned to the end user, he quickly noted that a personal guarantee had been added with a forged signature. The end user alerted the company to this fact and the owner called in the salesperson, who ultimately admitted to this and other forgeries.

The second situation involved the inflated sale of product where a portion of the lease funding was paid back to the end user. The payment was disguised as a payoff of a nonexistent previous lease. The purchase was, in fact, bogus, and the equipment was never unwrapped and installed when the purchaser disappeared. Again, the owner sought to determine his responsibility.

Owners are responsible for the sales actions of their employees. In addition, Master Lease Agreements contain several warranties and representations that dealers make in regard to each transaction submitted. Among these warranties and representations are the facts that all signatures are genuine and that there are no payments being made to the end user. If these warranties are breached, then specific buyback provisions are triggered. Needless to say, the buyback terms are not favorable, but are clearly established in the agreement.

These situations present several points to be considered in the operation of your dealership. What are the steps you are taking to investigate the backgrounds of your employees? Have

you checked your potential and current employees’ references, criminal records and court cases? Do you have a system to verify and review a transaction with the end user by someone other than the salesperson? Do your sales meetings review the company’s expectations of your salespeople? Do you have a procedure to solicit feedback from end users?

Establishing rules, policies, and checks and balances — as well as leading by example — are essential to sound ethical practices. Having such programs in place is important, as breaches can be costly. Depending upon the exact nature of the misconduct, employees who break the rules hurt morale, reduce profitability and expose the company to legal liability.

Although insurance may cover certain fraud or theft, it only can be collected if the conduct is reported to the authorities.

Owners should not hesitate to report criminal conduct. The failure to do so sends a message to continuing employees and suggests the conduct is condoned.

Owners should give careful consideration to a “whistleblower” program that rewards an employee for coming forward with information regarding wrongful activity. Although this can be disruptive to a team approach, it will help eliminate improper behavior. The program should assure confidentiality and permit anonymous submissions.

Develop a set of values by which your company operates.

These values should match the way in which you operate. If you reward employees, it should not always be the salespeople who have the highest sales. When recognizing employees, consider ethical issues, charitable work, cooperation with others to further the company and the company’s values. Your business ethics are your reputation. Keep them high.  Robert C. Goldberg is general counsel for the Business Technology Association.

He can be reached at robert.goldberg@sfnr.com. www.officetechnologymag.com | S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 2 | 25

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service connections

Minimizing Discounts Protect your aftermarket & stay healthy by: Ken Staubitz, Strategy Development

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magine you are a business owner sitting in your office working on a project to help your organization. Your focus is abruptly interrupted by a knock at your door and in walks your star sales rep along with his (or her) manager, who want to explain a huge sales opportunity to you. The rep conveys that the deal is “yours to lose.” The only stumbling block is your current service pricing.

According to the rep, all the other pricing is in line, but there is no way to get the deal unless you discount your service rate. After further discussion and “internal selling,” you concede and agree to reduce the service rate in order to get the deal inked. Excited that you conceded to help the rep win the deal, he and his manager leave and you continue working on the project at hand.

Time passes, and upon reviewing the commission payout, you notice that your star rep is about to be issued a healthy commission from the monies associated with the deal you helped him ink, wherein you discounted your service rate for the term of the contract. Ironically, your company was at risk of losing the sales opportunity, but the rep was able to build hardware gross profit (GP) into the deal in order to make a healthy commission.

More time passes, and after looking into various key performance indicators for your entire organization, you find that your service revenue and margins are trending down while your selling expenses have an upward trend despite flat hardware sales.

Can you relate to this scenario? I am not implying that the sales rep, or anyone else for that matter, is intentionally doing anything wrong, nor am I intending to place blame. This situation is more common than not, and is often fostered by the organization’s internal processes and leadership. The good news is that it is not too late to change the game.

After reading this, you may be thinking, “This situation does not happen here. If there is hardware GP in the deal, we always make service whole before paying the rep.” If this is a current policy, do you randomly audit this process to ensure service is truly being made whole? Are you still making service whole when a rep bundles hardware and other profitable services (MS, MPS, document management) into a sale, even though there might not be any hardware GP in the deal?

Again, my point is not to place blame. But just understand that if you choose to discount your aftermarket pricing and not reallocate any profits to offset the service discount, you

risk lowering your profitability. If your sales reps are able to discount service without offsetting the aftermarket hit with the hardware GP they packed into the deal, your service revenues and profit will suffer for the term of the agreement. The scary part is that you may not even recognize the diminishing returns of your service discounting until two or three years into the contracted period.

Studies have shown that service contracts are typically more profitable in the early years due to the performance of new or reconditioned equipment because the equipment is more reliable during this period. Over time, other factors (image volume, type of use, etc.) will demand additional service on the equipment, increasing your parts and labor expense. This is why it is extremely important to ensure your organization is capturing as much revenue and margin as possible on your service contracts in order to offset future maintenance and expenses.

The effects of aftermarket discounting will affect various financial factors that impact your profitability. Even though your service expenses may remain constant, the reduction in service revenue from such discounting will eventually erode your service margins. In this situation, service labor expense and parts expense as a percentage of service revenue will creep up, gradually reducing your service profits. Unfortunately, the decline in aftermarket profit is slow, making it difficult for

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“Profit” is not an ugly word; it provides organizations to track the true cause. the means for organizations to grow and On the other hand, even though you “Profit” is not an ugly provides income for their employees. Theremay be making service whole by reallocatword ... Therefore, it is fore, it is critical to ensure that your service ing revenue, these financial adjustments critical to ensure that pricing is set appropriately and aftermarare not deferred for the term of the conyour service pricing is set ket discounting is kept to a minimum. n tract, making your service contract apappropriately and Ken Staubitz is a service consultant with pear ultra-profitable in early periods when Strategy Development, with 15-plus years your expenses are typically lower. aftermarket discounting experience in all levels of service When managing to the industry model, is kept to a minimum. operations and MPS service structure. it would appear that service head count Previously with Modern Office Methods and parts expense are the culprits for the (MOM), Cincinnati, Ohio, in various service and operational decline in service returns since these expense categories are roles, most recently Staubitz was MOM’s director of client over benchmark, causing many managers to cut staffing and services, where he oversaw all service operations further hedge parts spending. and managed a staff of 60-plus Determining and managing parts spending targets parfield service personnel. He also served ticular to your machines in field (MIF) and managing staffing on the Lanier Dealer Advisory Council levels to your base’s associated workload will allow you to efand was an e-automate Service Committee fectively manage these parts and labor expenses, giving you member. Staubitz can be reached at the opportunity to hone in on other factors (e.g., service disstaubitz@strategydevelopment.com. counting, compensation plans, pricing, etc.) that are impactVisit www.strategydevelopment.com. ing your profits.

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Selling solutions

No Magic Button Social media will not replace traditional prospecting by: Troy Harrison, SalesForce Solutions

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ver since the cold call was invented, salespeople have been trying to invent a “magic button” that will allow them to quit cold calling and have prospects simply beat paths to their doors. Over the years, many different methodologies, including customer reselling, networking and other methods, have claimed to be that magic button.

The latest is online social networking (OSN). Just Tweet enough, experts say, and you will never need to smile and dial again. That is nonsense. It may work if you are already established, but if you are like 99 percent of America’s salespeople, you definitely have cold calls in your future.

Let us back up a minute. For most people, the appeal of a career in sales is that, unlike other business disciplines, salespeople can control their income and have better results through increased commissions. It is this controllability that mitigates against OSN as a primary strategy.

The basic equation of sales achievement is: Quantity of Activity x Quality of Activity = Results.

In other words, the more you sell and the better you are at it, the better results you will get.

Over the years, salespeople have been able to break down their activity into ratios or numeric road maps that help them achieve what they want to achieve. For instance, if your closing ratio is one sale for every two proposals, you need double the number of proposals to get sales. These ratios work all the way back to calculating the number of phone calls you need for a prospect appointment.

For reference, most B2B salespeople can make 20 dials per hour; they will get five to six contacts in those 20 dials; and they will set an appointment in about one in every four of those contacts.

Herein lies the problem with OSN as a primary prospect generation strategy: There are no valid and viable ratios. No one — including those people who are training or evangelizing for OSN — can tell you how many Tweets yield an initial appointment, or how many “likes” on Facebook produce a proposal. The very foundation of a selling career — controllability — goes out the window.

Worse, the people likely to see your messages on the various OSN platforms are not decision makers; if you think corporate CEOs, vice presidents and the like are trolling Twitter to find their next capital equipment vendor, think again. The people who have buying authority are simply too busy being productive to dig through the morass of OSN messages to find

vendors and solutions.

If that is not bad enough, even the best messages can get lost in the pile of banality and nonsense that composes most OSN. You might Tweet the secret to perpetual motion, but in most people’s Twitter feeds, it will quickly get lost among 500 other Tweets about what people are having for dinner.

Trying to sort through the meaningless messages most people post on their Facebook and Twitter accounts reminds me of an old story about a boy who, upon receiving a pile of horse manure for Christmas, begins digging enthusiastically into the pile yelling, “There has to be a pony in here somewhere!”

I should point out that I am primarily discussing B2B salespeople here. There are some B2C venues — particularly in dining and entertainment — where OSN can be strikingly effective. If you are promoting a rock band, trying to draw people into your restaurant, etc., then Tweet your heart out — because you are talking to decision makers. Individually purchased products or services mean every reader is a decision maker.

For B2B salespeople, the best OSN platform I have found is LinkedIn. If you are not a member, you should be. LinkedIn, used properly, can be a terrific facilitator of introductions, referrals and new business. Even so, this should be a secondary approach rather than a primary approach. www.officetechnologymag.com | S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 2 | 29

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Those who claim to have success in monbut that day is not here yet. n etizing OSN tend to be those people who Working from a Troy Harrison is the author of “Sell Like already have well-established reputations You Mean It!” and the president of well-qualified database, and who already have a large number of SalesForce Solutions, a sales training, salespeople can people seeking them out. Or, they are the consulting and recruiting firm. He will be continue to predictably people who are making money by training among the presenters at the Fall Colors set appointments, and people in OSN. Retreat, to be hosted by BTA Southeast on In the same vein, OSN simply becomes control their incomes Oct. 26-27 in Waynesville, N.C. another method of being found by customVisit www.bta.org/BTASoutheastEvent. and achievements. ers and prospects. Most salespeople in the For information on booking world have to find their customers; hence, Harrison for speaking/ a good data-driven teleprospecting program should be the training engagements, consulting or primary means of new business development. Working from a to sign up for his weekly e-zine, well-qualified database, salespeople can continue to predictcontact him at (913) 645-3603 or ably set appointments, and control their incomes and achieveTroyHarrison@SalesForceSolutions.net. ments. The elusive “magic button” may be invented someday, Visit www.SalesForceSolutions.net.

Advertiser Index 15 • ACM Technologies Inc.

19 • ESP Energy Intelligence

7 • Samsung

(800) 722-7745 / www.acmtech.com

www.espei.com

(866) 726-4249 / www.samsung.com/mpa

2-3 • BTA East District Event

9 • Miracle Service/Nexent Innovations

11 • Sharp

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

(866) 639-3681 / www.miracleservice.com

www.sharpusa.com/touchpanel

27 • BTA Southeast District Event

32 • MSE

31 • The Imaging Channel

(800) 234-8996 / www.bta.org/BTASoutheastEvent

(800) 673-4968 / www.mse.com

www.theimagingchannel.com

16-17 • BTA West District Event

28 • Niche Equipment

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

(877) 446-4243 / www.nichee.net

5 • DocuWare

13 • OKI Data

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Your link to the business and people of managed print. in-depth features channel profiles industry Q&A expert analysis vertical profiles industry experts hardware profiles channel pulse and much more

The Rules of MPS

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INSIDE: Defining the Indefinable: The Rules of MPS pg. 20 We can see the results, feel the power and know they are real, but the rules of MPS are not easy to define.

The Laws Your Clients Contend With pg. 12 There’s a lot to consider when “assuming responsibility” for clients’ devices, especially in light of today’s privacy laws.

Five Things to Consider When Developing Your Mobile Field Service Strategy pg. 33

theimagingchannel.com

April 2012 Volume 3, No. 2

Mobile technology has become a necessity in the service business

The Evolution of MPS INSIDE:

The Evolution of MPS: A Matter Of Perspective pg. 24 From papyrus to paper, the evolutionary path of MPS, like most technologies, is a long one. Its direction, however, depends largely on your perspective.

M&A Activity Connects Print With Other Services pg. 15 A new strategy of reshaping business serves to combine and conquer the ever-changing marketplace.

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Avi Resort & Casino Hits the Jackpot With MPS pg. 30

theimagingchannel.com

July 2012 Volume 3, No. 3

This Nevada casino got on board with MPS and cut printing costs by more than 65 percent.

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