September 2020 Office Technology Magazine

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CONTENTS Volume 27 • No. 3

FEATURE ARTICLES 10

Our COVID-19 Response Succeeding during the pandemic & thriving beyond

DEALERSHIP SPOTLIGHT Stone’s Office Equipment Virginia dealership celebrates its 50th year

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by Wayne Outlaw Outlaw Group Inc.

by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

Now is an inflection point for all organizations. The pandemic has put stress on our business systems and our staffs. Change has been required to sustain our organizations. Let the pandemic be the catalyst to motivate the changes needed to thrive in the future.

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Glad to Have a Job Bermuda dealer shares his pandemic story

by Ian Nash A.F. Smith

Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, Stone’s Office Equipment has a legacy that is, undoubtedly, always smile-inducing to anyone who learns about the company’s history. It was founded in 1970 by Frank Stone, who initially repaired typewriters.

DEALERS HELPING DEALERS Unachieved Fees & Levels How dealers are handling contracts

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Compiled by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

The pandemic has thrown the world and the economies of all countries into chaos. As vice president of technology for A.F. Smith in Hamilton, Bermuda, in this article I will outline some of the things my company has done to capture as much revenue as possible.

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Q&A: Toshiba LeBlanc shares successes & looks to the future Compiled by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

How are the industry manufacturers assisting dealers in the current environment? What advice do they have for dealers? What changes in the workplace do they expect? This month, Ted LeBlanc, vice president of BTA and international sales at Toshiba, answers these and other questions.

How are you handling customers that have print/copy base fees or volume commitment levels that are not being achieved and/or contracts that are only realizing 40% to 50% of their volume commitments? Submitted by a dealer member, several fellow dealers address the question.

P R I N C I PA L I S S U E S Brother Briefing Manufacturer hosts 2020 Virtual Analyst Update

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by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

On August 11, Brother International hosted the Brother Business Solutions 2020 Virtual Analyst Update. The online event provided the opportunity for a report on the company’s performance in fiscal year 2019, comment on its actions during the pandemic and more.

COURTS & CAPITOLS 25

PPP Loan Forgiveness Some guidance for completing the application

by Robert C. Goldberg BTA General Counsel

The past seven months have been a challenge for every dealership. As essential businesses, dealerships were able to continue providing products and services. With PPP funds in the bank, and employees and business expenses paid, it is now time to seek forgiveness.

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

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S PAGE

Register for Online BTA Service Training

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ith social distancing still in effect thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic and, perhaps, with slightly more time for employee training, I’d like to encourage you to check out two upcoming Business Technology Association (BTA) online training courses. Both are focused on different aspects of service management and are presented by veteran service manager Ken Edmonds, who previously served at both Konica Minolta and Sharp. Both courses start on September 22.

For those new to service management, BTA Service Success Training addresses the fundamentals of supervision and management. The online format, with live lecture and discussion, will allow your supervisors and managers to continue working in their jobs while learning at the same time. Supervisors and managers who take this course will have a better understanding of their service departments, and the actions they can take to increase productivity and profitability while boosting their teams’ morale and competence.

The program covers the following areas: Introduction to Supervision and Management; Leading and Improving the Team; Working with Other Departments; Service Department Costs; Identifying Areas for Improvement; Time Management; Dealing with Customers; Understanding and Using Service Metrics; and Service’s Role in the Dealership.

Sessions are recorded so students who miss a session can watch the video and not miss the instruction. There will be graded quizzes and a final test. Edmonds will provide the results to participating dealerships for future reference.

This program meets twice a week for 15 weeks. BTA member tuition is $995. For more information, visit www.bta.org/SST. For service managers who want to take their skills to the next level, BTA Advanced Service Management Training is the next step in their evolution. This course provides training in areas that enable a service manager to become better equipped to assume an advanced management role within a dealership. The course covers the following core modules: Budgeting; Business Planning; Personnel; Staffing; Futureproofing the Department; and Service Pricing.

BTA Advanced Service Management Training meets once a week on Wednesdays for 27 weeks. BTA member tuition is $1,795, and for those who have already taken BTA Service Success Training, tuition is only $1,395. For more information, visit www. bta.org/AdvService. If you would like to sign up for both BTA Service Success Training and BTA Advanced Service Management Training, member tuition is only $2,390.

Edmonds also teaches BTA Service Troubleshooting Training, which is an ongoing, subscription-based video course.

This self-paced training covers all aspects of service troubleshooting, starting with what troubleshooting is and the processes that are involved. In this course, Edmonds will help the technician see how to collect all the symptoms and use that information to narrow his (or her) focus until he sees what the actual problem is. The next step is to identify all of the factors that can cause the problem. Finally, the last step is using identifying tests that can help determine which of the possible causes is, in fact, the cause of the issue. The cost of the course provides one year of access to the modules.

For more information or to see pricing, visit www.bta.org/STT. 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 Bob Goldberg, General Counsel Business Technology Association Ian Nash, A.F. Smith www.afsmith.bm Wayne Outlaw, Outlaw Group Inc. www.outlawgroup.com

Business Technology Association 12411 Wornall Road Kansas City, MO 64145 (816) 941-3100 www.bta.org Member Services: (800) 505-2821 BTA Legal Hotline: (800) 869-6688 Valerie Briseno Marketing Director valerie@bta.org Brian Smith Membership Sales Representative brian@bta.org Photo Credits: Bigstockphoto. Cover created by Bruce Quade, Brand X Studio. ©2020 by the Business Technology Association. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the publisher. Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of published material. However, the publisher assumes no liability for errors in articles nor are opinions expressed necessarily those of the publisher.

FLASHBACK

The association’s magazine cover 55 years ago this month — the NOMDA Spokesman, September 1965

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BTA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

BTA Virtual Meeting to be Held Oct. 14

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he COVID-19 pandemic has affected all dealerships in myriad ways. Over the past seven months, the Business Technology Association (BTA) has been keeping its members abreast of changes to legislation pertaining to businesses and ways dealerships can adapt to this “new normal.”

While the association has postponed its inperson educational and networking events until 2021, BTA Southeast has planned a free virtual meeting to help dealers cope and connect during these changing times.

The meeting, “Facing the Future Together: Navigating 2021 & Beyond,” is scheduled for 1 to 3:30 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, Oct. 14. Presented through Zoom, the meeting is open to employees of BTA members and non-members. There is no charge to participate.

The meeting will include a 45-minute panel discussion with manufacturer representatives entitled “Facing the Future Together: Navigating 2021 & Beyond.” The panel will be moderated by BTA General Counsel Bob Goldberg. Panelists will include: Laura Blackmer, senior vice president of dealer sales at Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A. Inc.; Jim Coriddi, vice president of the Ricoh Family Group U.S. Dealer Division at Ricoh USA Inc.; and Mike Marusic, president and CEO of Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America. A 15-minute Q&A session will follow the panel, allowing attendees to ask questions of these industry veterans.

The panel is sponsored by Konica Minolta, Ricoh and Sharp.

Following the Q&A session, three 15minute BTA Talks on Hot Topics — presentations focusing on subjects relevant to

dealers — will be held. These talks will include: “COVID Fallout,” presented by Goldberg and sponsored by Xerox; and “MNS Security,” presented by Brian Suerth, president of Technology Assurance Group (TAG) and sponsored by TAG. The third BTA Talks presentation is being finalized at press time and will be sponsored by Epson.

As an added bonus for participating, all dealer attendees will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win one of 15 $1,000 vouchers that can be used for the March 2021 Spring Break event, hosted by BTA Southeast. (Only one $1,000 voucher can be won per dealership.) Spring Break is scheduled for March 18-19, 2021, at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa in Orlando, Florida.

For more information or to register for the virtual meeting, visit www.bta.org/SE VirtualMeeting. There you can find session descriptions and the link to register directly with Zoom.

In anticipation of returning to some sort of normal activity next year, BTA has released the dates of its 2021 in-person events.

Be sure to mark your calendar for these five educational and networking events: n Spring Break, hosted by BTA Southeast: March 18-19, Orlando, Florida n 2021 BTA National Conference, hosted by BTA Mid-America: June 9-10, Chicago, Illinois n Capture the Magic, hosted by BTA West: Aug. 18-19, Coronado, California n Grand Slam, hosted by BTA East: September, location to be announced n Fall Colors Retreat, hosted by BTA Southeast: Oct. 14-15, Asheville, North Carolina I encourage you to register for this virtual meeting to stay in touch with your industry and fellow dealers — and receive guidance — in these uncertain times. n — Tim Renegar

2020-2021 Board of Directors President Tim Renegar Kelly Office Solutions Winston-Salem, North Carolina trenegar@kellyofficesolutions.com President-Elect David Polimeni RITE Technology Sarasota, Florida dpolimeni@ritefl.com Vice President Don Risser DCS Technologies Corp.

Franklin, Ohio don.risser@dcs-tech.com Immediate Past President Bob Evans Function4 Sugar Land, Texas bobevans@function-4.com BTA East Aaron Rubin Docutrend Imaging Solutions New York City, New York arubin@docutrend.com Mike Ardry Automated Business Solutions Southington, Connecticut mardry@absne.com BTA Mid-America Mike Nerland Elite Business Systems Sioux Falls, South Dakota miken@elitebusinesssystems.com Matt Jackson Copynet Digital Imaging Solutions Inc. Plano, Texas matt@copierfax.com BTA Southeast Adam Gregory Advanced Business Solutions LLC St. Augustine, Florida adam@goabsinc.com Debra Dennis CopyPro Inc. Greenville, North Carolina ddennis@copypro.net BTA West Mike McCurdy Integrated Technologies Inc. Twin Falls, Idaho mikem@itechinc.com Dan Bombard Yuma Office Equipment Yuma, Arizona daniel@yumaofficeequipment.com Ex-Officio/General Counsel Robert C. Goldberg Schoenberg Finkel Newman & Rosenberg LLC Chicago, Illinois robert.goldberg@sfnr.com

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Our COVID-19 Response Succeeding during the pandemic & thriving beyond by: Wayne Outlaw, Outlaw Group Inc.

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e all know the COVID-19 Marketing Strategies — Based on Future Revenue Projections Planned Utilization pandemic has had a treDisplayed by those who project an increase or decrease in revenue Increase* Decrease* mendous impact on us Develop or enhance your email program to reach more people 75% 40.74% both personally and in our busiImprove your website attraction & capturing of leads 58.33% 51.85% nesses. Social distancing, wearing 58.33% 66.67% masks and limiting contact has Engage more fully in social media 50% 42.59% made it feel as if there is a barrier Improve the quality & content of marketing emails to increase response between us and other people. This Enhance marketing materials with higher-quality content 41.67% 42.59% barrier has had a tremendous im- Establish targets for email touches by salespeople 33.33% 33.33% pact on the way we do business.

Additional blog posts or white papers 25% 33.33% While we initially thought it Develop a way to identify & stay connected to those who visit the website 25% 31.48% might be a couple of months or a Require a level of activity of salespeople on LinkedIn 25% 25.93% short hiatus, it has evolved into 16.67% 9.26% what feels like an endless series Increase advertisements in the local media 16.67% 11.11% of dramatic changes and unprec- Start or increase online ads edented challenges to the way we Sponsorship of organizations or events 16.67% 9.26% do business. The shift to remote Provide a specific call to action on each page of the website 8.33% 9.26% work and embracing routine use Other 8.33% 14.81% of video technology has created a * Percentage of survey respondents who are implementing (or plan to implement) each strategy, segseismic shift in the way we inter- mented by whether they project an increase or decrease in revenue in the next six to 12 months. act with others and do business.

Those who see changes and focus only on short-term strate- be a result of many small events over a period of time. If an gies to cope with reduced revenue and restrictions to face- organization has not been responsive to the evolutionary changes that have been occurring, an event like the panto-face contact are missing the real impact.

Those who recognize the significant shifts or changes in demic can be catastrophic. Those organizations that have the way we do business and respond correctly will thrive not perceived a need for change and responded effectively and succeed. These changes make it imperative to develop will have an even greater demand to make the changes innovative sales and marketing processes, improved pric- needed to succeed today and thrive tomorrow.

In 2003, we interviewed dealers and conducted a survey as ing structures that recognize the true value and, very importantly, more effective ways to ensure highly competent the basis for an article in Office Technology magazine entitled people are in every position. Those who focus only on ad- “Early Adopter or Procrastinator? Which One Are You?” The dressing revenue decline through short-term strategies focus was on the slow adaptation and lack of change among like reducing expenses or adding short-term supplemental dealerships to sell connected systems. The article’s focus was products without making significant improvements and ad- on how many dealerships had not embraced integrating products into their customers’ networks and the need to be full justments will pay a heavy price in the long run. partners in their information technology systems. It highlighted the price of failing to change and adapt to the conditions in Change Change does not have to be initiated by a major event the future. Many dealers had been very successful in the past such as 9/11 or the pandemic we are dealing with now. It can selling standalone units and were reluctant to move away

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from their “tried-and-true” approaches, unforgiving and cruel to those who are not even though indications pointed to the insightful about customer needs and agWe must be open to need to embrace change. Are there any ile in reacting to them. While yesterday’s change and commit to practices that you are comfortable with approaches may have been right then, identifying, adapting and and reluctant to give up even though they those approaches may not yield success embracing innovative may not be working as well as before? in today’s and tomorrow’s marketplaces. new methods, even if While new technology and innovative The essential questions to ask today are: products create a need for change, that “What do you need to do and how well do they are not considered change is relatively slow to occur and you need to do it to ensure future success?” “tried and true” ... allows ample time for adaptation. The For this article, Outlaw Group interchanges required by a dramatic event viewed a number of top people in dealeror situation — such as 9/11 or the pandemic shutdown — ships, including presidents, chief sales officers (CSOs) and must occur quickly and can catch us off guard. They force chief marketing officers (CMOs). In cooperation with the us to change, even if it is reluctantly. COVID-19 has a unique Business Technology Association (BTA), we conducted an characteristic in that it has broken the mold of our typical online business technology sales and marketing flash poll. and comfortable way of doing business and forces us to em- The objective was to quantify what dealers were doing to brace new ways of working. While there are many changes cope with the current business situation and, even more we were forced to make and some we did not like, we can use importantly, how they are adapting to thrive in the future. them as an impetus to make our businesses more successful We received more than 100 completed surveys and analyzed in the future. By determining what will be most effective in them by a number of factors. The results were extraordithe future and embracing those things now, we can be posi- narily eye-opening and we learned far more than can be intioned for much greater success in 2021 and beyond. cluded in this article. Those who participated in the survey will receive a more detailed white paper once this article is Embracing Change published; it will be available to all BTA members.

While younger workers may be extremely comfortable with technology and remote communication, more tenured Survey Approach employees are being forced to embrace new communication The survey asked respondents to examine the following facmethods. As a result, in most parts of the country, there is tors: what they see impacting business over the next six to 12 currently greater acceptance of communication through months; the perceived level of customer and prospect recepelectronic means and less comfort with face-to-face sales tiveness or resistance; what innovative marketing approaches calls. Digital communication, especially involving video are being utilized; and the current level of salesforce compeand automated contact with customers and prospects, both tence or effectiveness. The responses were also segmented by saves time and produces results. While some may not be the respondents’ position and perception of revenue change. comfortable with or have the expertise needed for new ways Special focus was given to the CEO, COO, CFO and CSO reof working, they must be embraced. sponses. This approach allowed for not only an overall view How do we define and then adopt better ways of getting, of the industry, but also a correlation of the strategies to the servicing and keeping customers now and in the future? We organization’s expectation of revenue momentum. must be open to change and commit to identifying, adapting and embracing innovative new methods, even if they are not Sales Climate considered “tried and true” or make us feel uncomfortable.

Overall, the results of the survey are very enlightening. In Many of the strategies and practices implemented during the terms of the sales revenue of the 70 top managers and CSOs, pandemic will end up being long-term strategies and the norm 49.2% of them expect revenue to decline, 14.7% expect to infor the future. How well we innovate, adapt and implement to- crease revenue and the balance expect revenue to remain day will determine our success both now and in the future. relatively the same.

As to current customers’ and new prospects’ openness to enDefining Changes tertain new purchases, it appears relatively the same. For curExecutives and top managers for dealerships and manufac- rent customers, it is felt that 16.4% are much less likely, 62.3% turers must take a fresh, objective look at where they are and are less likely and only 6.6% are slightly more open to considerwhat they must do to avoid finding themselves in a shrinking ing a new purchase than before. As far as new prospects, 15% business with eroding gross margins and red bottom lines. To- are much less likely, 55% are less likely, 23.3% are the same and day’s economy and the COVID-19 business environment are 6.67% are more likely to consider new purchases than before.

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Sales resistance appears to be almost The table on page 10 lists the responses the same for both current customers and of current or planned marketing strate... Applying short-term new prospects. If the resistance to makgies.

They are displayed based on whether measures and expecting ing a new purchase decision is not higher the dealer projected an increase or a debusinesses to go back with new prospects, a logical way to bolcrease in revenue. Which of the strategies to the way things ster declining revenue is to have a more listed are being used by your company? were is not the solution. concerted effort to identify and sell new Which should be added or increased? prospects. Increasing new business is Integrated marketing and sales apInnovative ... strategies traditionally more difficult and requires proach efforts pay dividends. According must be employed. additional prospecting efforts. However, to interviews with marketing personnel at the current time, it could be difficult in dealerships, a number of programs can to significantly increase prospecting activity using tradi- be used to leverage their efforts and marketing budgets. The tional approaches. Improved and increased marketing and most effective marketing programs for organizations that integrated sales efforts can be the most effective strategies. want to mount effective integrated campaigns are HubSpot, Salesforce, Drip, Wishpond and Marketo. Some integrate Strategies well with industry-specific CRMs. Survey responses indicate As a strategy to bridge the gap or mitigate the loss of revenue many dealers are using solutions such as Constant Contact caused by COVID-19, many dealers now offer innovative prod- and Mailchimp, which may not have some of the more inteucts and services. Twenty-seven percent offer products such as grated aspects of marketing, such as tracking opening, speciftemperature kiosks; 46.3% concentrate on increasing remote ic webpage visits or even the time spent on a page. These more support to their customers tailored to the unique demands advanced functions can enable an automated email camof COVID-19; and 51.9% have created specific packages of paign to continue to develop prospects’ interest. Some dealers hardware, software and services tailored for remote workers. indicate they rely on Outlook to send individual emails or to COVID-19’s unique circumstances have created a short-term groups using the blind carbon copy feature. opportunity for these requirements; however, it likely will not fill the gap in the future due to the shift to remote work.

Social Media Simply applying short-term measures and expecting busiFor marketing or social media to pay dividends, it is esnesses to go back to the way things were is not the solution. sential to commit sufficient resources and remain consisInnovative and more effective strategies must be employed. tent over the long term. LinkedIn and Facebook are the only To discover the right strategies for your company, carefully two mediums being used to a significant degree. LinkedIn is, examine your situation with a fresh look that is unencum- by far, the leader in utilization. According to the responses, bered by perceptions of what worked in the past. For example, it is important to have a compelling company profile page; a “tried-and-true” traditional strategy to generate prospects is many indicated that theirs must be improved. Like your to do a high volume of face-to-face cold calls. It is easy to rely website, your company profile and the profiles of your emon what is comfortable because it worked years ago and/or ployees represent your company. Many dealers require sales was how the salesperson’s manager learned to do it. But it does activities on LinkedIn, such as creating posts, and sending not mean that it is the best way for the future. I recommend messages and requests for connections. Some set targets using the “blank slate” approach of looking objectively at the and track them weekly. For additional tips and practices for organization: How is it performing now, what is the current sit- using LinkedIn to prospect, take a look at Kate Kingston’s uation and what is needed for the future? Once the strengths, webinar, “How to Prospect With Social Distancing,” availweaknesses, opportunities and threats are clearly defined, you able to BTA members at www.bta.org/BMBArchives. can decide the actions that must be taken to enable the company to fulfill its vision and accomplish its goals. The results Sales Competency from the survey can provide insight to help begin the journey.

While prohibited from making in-person sales calls during the lockdown, many salespeople have invested significant time Marketing on webinars and online courses to build skills and knowledge.

It is clearly evident that COVID-19 has created dramatic new While skills and knowledge are important, what determines challenges in prospect generation. The survey looked at the sales results is an individual’s application of them. This is what best ways to use marketing to generate prospects now and go- constitutes an individual’s sales competency. An individual ing forward. We examined the marketing strategies that deal- who has a high level of competence in the behaviors needed for ers are using or planning to begin in the next six to 12 months. a sales position will be more successful and have higher sales www.offi cetechnol ogymag.com | Se p te mb e r 2020 | 13

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results than a salesperson who has a lower Getting an accurate perception of the level of competency or significant deficienoverall competency of your salesforce is There has never been a cies. Sales success today requires an even only the beginning. Making a real imbetter time than now for higher level of sales competency. provement in a salesperson’s effectivesales managers to be We developed 11 sample statements ness requires observation, evaluation of actively engaged — from the 65 indicators we use to measure competence and agreement as the basis not by just selling with a salesperson’s competency in the 15 critiof a development plan that produces real, cal sales behaviors for sales success with positive change. While team meetings salespeople, but by our proprietary Business Technology Asand attending workshops will develop frequently observing ... sessment of Individuals and Sales Teams. an individual’s knowledge and, possibly, Dealers rated their overall impression of a level of skill, true competence must be their salesforces’ effectiveness in these 11 critical areas. They developed by observing an individual performing his job rated how often (from 1 - Almost Never to 5 - Almost Always) and consistently coaching him. each statement described their sales forces. The following are There has never been a better time than now for sales their perceptions of strengths and weaknesses. managers to be actively engaged — not by just selling with salespeople, but by frequently observing, providing feedAreas of Strength back and coaching. A salesforce’s competence, which transn Develops positive relationships with prospects, clients lates into increased results, is grown one person at a time. and others.

An accurate evaluation of a salesperson’s competence, cren Skillfully asks probing questions to uncover problems ating the awareness of each competence level and a mutual and identify pain. agreement of the areas to focus improvement on with a pern Closes effectively by ensuring all concerns are satisfied. sonal action plan will pay tremendous dividends. n Defines the capabilities required and determines solutions needed.

Sales Staffing n Consistently focuses on the next step of the sale.

Of all the dealers responding, 31.4% plan to reduce, 31.5% plan to keep the same and 37.1% plan to increase their numAreas of Weakness ber of salespeople. For the dealers who see their revenue n Maintains complete, accurate information in the CRM declining, slightly more plan to reduce salespeople, with and uses it wisely.

34.4% planning to reduce and 31.2% planning to increase n Analyzes the responses and timing of prospects to take their number of salespeople. An interesting note is that of action to ensure success. the 37.1% of dealers who see their revenue increasing, none n Researches the prospect sufficiently to enable build- plan to reduce their number of salespeople and 50% plan to ing rapport. add salespeople. n Conducts sufficient activities to ensure the pipeline is As for replacing salespeople, 61.1% of the dealers said they sufficient to meet goals. will be making selective replacements of poor performers or n Positively initiates contact and engages prospects by past performers who cannot adapt to new strategies. Dealers phone, email and in person. who said their revenue would increase do not plan to make sigWhat is of concern is the number of times a dealer rates his nificant replacements, while 9.1% of dealers who see their rev(or her) sales organization’s demonstration of a specific compe- enue declining will replace significant numbers of salespeople. tency described in a statement as a 1 - Almost Never, 2 - Seldom Approximately 25% of the dealers said they will increase or 3 - Sometimes. Of the sampling of statements that described — while 5.6% said they will decrease — the number of sales competency in business technology sales roles, only 69.7% were managers. Of those who expect less revenue, 7.3% will inrated or evaluated at a level of 4 - Usually or 5 - Almost Always. crease sales managers while 6% will decrease. Of those who The dealers and CSOs rated their salespeople Sometimes, Sel- expect more revenue, 33% said they will increase the number dom or Almost Never in 30.3% of the competencies. of sales managers, while none indicated they will decrease.

How do you see your organization and, more accurately, When reviewing planned changes in sales staffing, it is how would an individual salesperson and his manager rate the clear that those who expect better results are more aggresfrequency of displaying the critical sales behaviors required for sive in their efforts to hire salespeople, replace those who success? How often must a salesperson be demonstrating the are not or cannot perform in today’s environment, and add sales behaviors needed for success in the current environment? sales managers. Is that because of the trend of increasing revIs it Almost Always, or is Usually or Sometimes sufficient? enue or is it because of what they see they can do to cause 14 | ­w w w. o f f ic et ec hno lo g y m a g.c om | S e p t e m b e r 2 0 2 0

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action to get ahead of the competition and be positioned to seize opportunities when Now is an inflection point conditions improve. n for all organizations ...

Wayne Outlaw, certified speaking Let the pandemic be professional (CSP) and certified the catalyst to motivate management consultant (CMC), is author the changes needed of “Smart Staffing: How to Hire, Reward and Keep Top Employees For Your Growing Summary not just to survive, but Company. ” His company, Outlaw Group, Now is an inflection point for all orgato thrive in the future. provides companies with state-of-the-art nizations. The pandemic has put stress tools and systems to ensure they have the on our business systems and our staffs. talent needed for success. If you would like a tool to evaluate Change has been required to sustain our organizations. Let the your sales and marketing readiness, email Outlaw with “Postpandemic be the catalyst to motivate the changes needed not COVID Readiness Checklist” in the subject line. Outlaw Group just to survive, but to thrive in the future. has also developed a best strategies checklist Companies that have clear views of their situations and are to help your organization succeed during the agile in responding to the needs that change has brought will be the ones that thrive in the future. Take a clear, objective look pandemic and thrive beyond. If you would like a copy, email wayne@outlawgroup.com. at your organization. Which of the strategies other dealers are He can also be reached on LinkedIn at employing should your company be embracing? What areas of linkedin.com/in/wayneoutlaw. weakness should you be shoring up? What strengths and opVisit www.outlawgroup.com. portunities can you take advantage of? Now is the time to take increased revenue? While reducing staff members can lower personnel costs in the short term, the real cost is future success if market share is lost. Now is the time to ensure that those in every position have the capability to succeed.

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FAX: 562.921.1167 NBS / BTA | September 2020

8/14/20 12:20 PM

Glad to Have a Job Bermuda dealer shares his pandemic story by: Ian Nash, A.F. Smith

I

t has been more than six months since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The market is slowly revealing where it may be going or how long this might last — we think. Those of us in the office technology industry are trying to be optimistic, as the future of our companies is under attack, right? Not only are we under attack from the competition, but from a force we still do not understand. The pandemic has thrown the world and the economies of all countries into chaos.

As the vice president of technology for A.F. Smith, located in Hamilton, Bermuda, in this article I will outline some of the things that my company has done to reduce some of the risks, as well as to capture as much revenue as possible. Perhaps you will find my comments and advice to be of interest and useful.

January to March I noticed stories coming out of China in January that a new strain of the flu was possibly spreading in the central part of the country. Of course, like everyone else, I paid no mind to the news at first. But when a few more channels and the WHO started getting more involved, it really made my ears perk up a little. I certainly did not have the forwardthinking knowledge at that time to buy and sell stock, but thought about smaller things — like what products we could sell at A.F. Smith that might be hot for our market.

Luckily, we did jump on the face mask and hand sanitizer bandwagon early, but still had large back orders due to other like-minded people considering their future needs, too.

My company has been very distinct over the past 47 years.

Taking care of an entire country has demanded that we expand our product portfolio. One year ago, we had $0 in infrared thermometers; this year we sold hundreds of units as a brand-new category. That brings me to one of my first points for this article: Diversify, if you can.

We have a large product offering that is sold through our technology, supplies, retail and furniture departments.

Even under each of these departments, it seems the product offering is expansive. Our technology department alone

A.F. Smith’s headquarters in Hamilton, Bermuda. has us selling Ricoh, Xerox, HP, Frama, RPost, Seclore, PaperCut, Equitrac and DocuShare — and the list goes on. Of course, each one of these companies or solutions produces multiple other products that we sell as well.

I have always tried to pick the best products for the changing times, get the team involved and push forward with them for a period to see if they fit the local market or help support some of the international business here in Bermuda. It helps that I have a great team of technicians, account managers and an owner who is open to change.

In the early stages of the pandemic, the owner and the managers started to discuss possible issues that our company could face. Two questions — “What products are we selling now?” and “What should we consider selling?” — were the main topics at each of our weekly meetings. Our communication with each other was a key factor in being slightly prepared. I say “slightly” because we had no idea things would be as bad as they are now around the world.

April to June As the country slid into a full lockdown by the end of March, we had our thinking caps on 24/7 in terms of how we were going to manage the company, continue bringing in revenue, pay companies that we buy from and see which employees in the business were most versatile. Personally, I think this time period had extra stressors considering what

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added work; that will also reduce stress. we had to do was at the forefront of all of During the April-to-June time frame, we our conversations.

It is never easy to make did not always get it right, but when we It is never easy to make difficult dedifficult decisions did, it was noticeable, and people rallied. cisions about employees, especially about employees ...

During these months, our company those who have been with the business These tough decisions also had a mandatory three-week layoff for many years. These tough decisions helped us save more for all employees. Once again, it was a helped us save more cash and prepared difficult decision, but it was necessary, us for the coming months. Prior to the cash and prepared us as the lockdown had most people barely pandemic, we had 50 employees — 40 for the coming months. working and the operation was completeof them were full time and the other 10 ly dead. This led to further savings for the were either part time or contractors. We immediately had to let go of the 10 who were not full time business to ensure it was able to keep the remaining 40 employees working. Since some roles overlapped, some employand distribute the workload around the office.

That leads to my next point: Combine roles and stream- ees took a three-month layoff. At the end of this period, we all line wherever possible. You have your “key employees” and took a long-term pay cut to once again save more jobs.

These months also had everyone now working from home, “all-stars.” Meet with them and let them know what is happening and how you need to lean on them for a period of which was a challenge. Trust me. I have a 17-month-old son time. Do not just dump work on them and expect everything who is a bulldozer around the house and loves playtime. I to be OK. Communication during this time is essential. The found the adjustment difficult at the beginning, but I had more you communicate, the better prepared someone will worked from home years ago and got back into the routine. I be to take on extra work at the office. Offer training for the also made a point to communicate with my wife some basic

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rules while I was working from home. We our revenue numbers are still well below worked out a great schedule that had my the expected targets. We understand we I think it has been a coffee breaks become coffee and playtime will not be hitting the plan we calculatsaving grace to hear with my son for 15 minutes, or a quick ed back in November. This is something from my peers and walk outside. It was easier to “turn off” that each of us needs to review often and the companies that after 5 p.m. as well, since business was manage accordingly. What would your they represent, even if a little slower. This did not mean that I business look like if you were running was not thinking constantly about how at 70% for the remainder of the year? it is conference call to rebound the business, but my work How does that affect head count? What after conference call. and family lives did shift and pivot into products do you need to consider selling? new directions. I have always been a hard Who can you align yourself with to add worker, and that will never change, but the time I now spend customer benefits? One thing we have also been trying to with my wife and son has been the biggest highlight of this do as much as possible: Team up with other companies and entire ordeal. have the sales teams discuss ways to pass on leads to each The middle of June had me heading back to the office full other as much as possible. Net-new business of any kind is time. This was important, since we are a customer-focused gold. So, collaborate. company with distribution, a retail store, etc. During this We all have a long way to go, as there is no real timeline time, we delivered more to home offices than to businesses. on the issues that we are all dealing with as a result of the There was another hurdle during this time. With limited pandemic. What I have written in this article has helped my staff members, we had more places to travel to during a reg- business and me personally get through the first six months. ular work week, but we managed. Moreover, we diversified I can only hope to sound optimistic over the next six months into more product offerings that cover a back-to-work and and be glad I still have a job. back-to-school strategy — things like dividers for retailers So, to summarize, the points to note: (plexiglass), sanitation carts and more contactless technoln Diversify your product lines. ogy for the equipment reps to concentrate on. n Have a strong marketing and social media presence.

I found myself listening to my fellow BTA member dealers n Streamline wherever possible. to see how they were handling things. I think it has been a savn Communicate with and train staff members. ing grace to hear from my peers and the companies that they n Look for some highlights in all of this; be thankful you represent, even if it is conference call after conference call. are still employed.

They all seem somewhat repetitive, but some small insights n Listen to your peers and immerse yourself in information. have been useful. I also found I was opening up spam emails n Manage your stress and help employees manage theirs. more often, just to see if there were any takeaways I could use. n Collaborate internally with your departments and with other companies. n July to Now Ian Nash is the vice president of technology for A.F. Smith, Is anyone stressed from all of this? If any of you say “no,” based in Hamilton, Bermuda. He is always on, works please send me your magic pills. I have found the mounting hard and never stops thinking of the next step. Most stress from loss of revenue, employee management, finances importantly, Nash works with others to help them succeed as and, oh yes, the pandemic itself, to be overwhelming. What well. He has 15 years in the technology industry and more has helped is talking a lot of things through, as well as sepathan 20 years in sales. Nash has worked in Bermuda for more rating myself from work for short periods of time. than 11 years and has had exposure to international business Speaking with your staff members on a regular basis to in countries around the world. He has secured distributorship make sure they know what is going on and to ensure that for several technology products in Bermuda, for all of Latin they are OK is a big point I would like to make in this arAmerica and the Caribbean, and has been the lead project ticle. They need to realize the company has made it this far manager with associated international companies. Nash has because of them. A lot of the stresses can be worked out or a deep passion for giving back wherever managed, so make sure you are communicating with your possible and hopes to instill his belief staff members, as things are not changing any time soon. system in those he connects with.

There are great resources online. Do not be afraid to use His words to live by: “Always be busy. them; for example: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019Always work hard. Stress is your friend!” ncov/daily-life-coping/managing-stress-anxiety.html.

Nash can be reached at inash@afsmith.bm.

With only about 30% of people back to work in Bermuda, Visit www.afsmith.bm.

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8/20/20 2:53 PM

Q&A: Toshiba LeBlanc shares successes & looks to the future Compiled by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

H

ow are the industry manufacturers assisting dealers in the current environment? What advice do they have for dealers? What changes in the workplace do they expect? In August, Office Technology magazine launched a series of interviews to ask these and other related questions of manufacturer executives who oversee the dealer channel for their respective companies. This month: Ted LeBlanc, vice president of BTA and international sales at Toshiba America Business Solutions Inc. OT: In what ways is Toshiba providing additional support and guidance to its authorized dealers during these challenging times?

LeBlanc: We have been doing a number of dealer and end-user webinars focused on the various challenges they are facing with remote workforces. Let’s face it, nobody had a blueprint for this. We’ve had more than 3,300 dealer and end-user attendees. Our webinars have had such titles as “Enabling Success for Remote Workforces,” “Remote Office Productivity for End Users” and “Workflow Automation for End Users.”

We have also done the best we can to provide information regarding COVID-19 and the strategies that should be looked at, because it’s still going to be a tough road ahead.

From that standpoint, we have hired people from the outside. For example, we had Kate Kingston present a webinar targeted to dealership salespeople addressing how to manage daily activities, communicate with end users, the things to avoid, etc. We also had Jim Kahrs present a webinar on the basics of the CARES Act and how to file for Paycheck Protection Program funding.

In addition, we’ve created recurring online sessions, such as “Tools and Best Practices for Virtual Selling.” We are averaging roughly 213 live attendees every time we run it. We

also have “The Basics of How to Prospect in the Era of Social Distancing,” with an average of more than 180 attendees every time it runs. The one that I particularly love is “Securing Your Customer’s Print Environment With Toshiba’s Security Solutions.” I honestly think dealers are missing the boat if they’re not “pressing the security button.” We’re averaging about 170 attendees for this session.

Finally, we have many people taking advantage of our online Interactive Training Manuals or ITMs. For both end users and sales reps, they are available 24/7. They provide simulated, hands-on exercises for simple functionality, like copying, printing, scanning and e-filing. Plus, we have utilized YouTube to post a number of how-to videos on our MFP features. Each video serves as a vehicle for a rep to share with a customer in lieu of an in-person demo.

OT: If you owned an office technology dealership, what would you be doing currently to optimize your level of business?

LeBlanc: I would be focusing on managed IT services, if I already had them in place. Customers need help with VPN networks, printing, training on equipment with the remote sales force and setting up patches to get into their systems for employees who are now working remotely. Those dealers I know who have managed IT in place, frankly speaking, are “killing it.”

Otherwise, I’d work on the things we can do to enable the remote worker, such as network and device security. Most workers did not have access to their corporate networks from home. Now they have access, but we need to make sure that we have network and device security. Hacking goes on every day at home or at work. There are plenty of feature-rich benefits with Toshiba’s equipment that address security. Security gives sales reps something to talk about to new clients.

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I would also make sure that reps are speed devices. Back in the office, it will “Reps should call using voice-to-voice communication. be: “Oh, I can go over and print that 50Let’s face it, before the pandemic, things page document in just one minute on customers, see how had pretty much gone to texts and that device outside my office.” Looking they’re doing, check email. Reps should call customers, see at the pre-COVID environment, we’ll be on their families — do how they’re doing, check on their famiheaded back that way. However, I think a ‘welfare check,’ so to lies — do a “welfare check,” so to speak. the recovery is going to be a little longer speak ... It’s remaining What’s going on inside their businesses than any of us want it to be. on a corporate level? What activities will top of mind.” they be resuming? It’s remaining top of OT: What new Toshiba prodmind. Those customers are going to reuct — recently or soon to be remember who called them, as opposed to those who emailed leased — are you most excited about at this time? them or texted them constantly.

LeBlanc: What we’re most excited about is our new Toshiba-made A4, the e‑STUDIO™330AC/400AC series, which is OT: What key changes in the workplace do you now available. We will now have the same control panel on expect long term, if not indefinitely, as it relates all of the models that we’re offering, A3 and A4. That’s the to the use of imaging devices? one dilemma that anybody has in the OEM environment; LeBlanc: Fortunately — or unfortunately — corpora- you get a lot of the same features and functionalities when tions have stumbled upon this new horizon relative to you have it built by somebody else, but you often lack the staffing. If you don’t have to have brick and mortar and the complete interfaces. There is always a modification or two expense of that, it gives you money to hire people. So, I do to the control panels, the color schemes, etc. It is something believe that staffing, as it relates to remote workers, is going that dealers have been begging us for: “When are you going to go up. I honestly think that people will say, “OK, we don’t to get your own A4?” need these buildings or that building and we will save X, Well, the time has arrived — and what great timing for but we really need analytics. We really need process change. us, in the sense that we’re not looking to replace A3 devices We need someone to manage this or that.” So, they will take with this new A4 as much as we’re looking at new opportuthat money and spend it on hiring more staff members who nities. Where are those new opportunities? Remote employare working remotely. ees. We can drop them right in. We add the pricing right to What’s that going to mean? Probably a nice boon to A4. their current agreements and away we go; fulfilment is still With A4, you have pretty good functionality and a small Toshiba. Service is still provided by the Toshiba dealership. footprint. So, no longer will the corporation be asking re- I mean, honestly, right now you go in there and you’re trymote workers: “Don’t you have an old HP or an OfficeJet? ing to sell them a low-speed A3 device. It’s a footprint issue.

Can’t you print that stuff out?” Many workers respond: “I Who the heck has got enough room for one of those? It’s not print three things out for my kids each week. My printer that big in the first place, but it’s big enough that it’s a probcan’t stand this abuse.” So, the remedy to that is to ship lem. A4 will address that in no uncertain terms — the same those remote workers an A4 device, which, by the way, will interfaces, same capabilities and the same platform as their allow them to access Windows, scan, email and not have to core MFPs. run to Staples or Office Depot for supplies, because, with Toshiba, there will be a fulfilment program in place that au- OT: What can you tell us about the status of tomatically ships toner.

Toshiba’s next national dealer meeting?

As I stated, another opportunity with these remote LeBlanc: We were going to host a LEAD event in May, workers is going to be network security. They are going to but, obviously, we had to postpone that meeting until May need to print from the A4 and they don’t want the kids play- of 2021. Now, admittedly, the agenda and the highlights of ing around with the device. You’re going to have to limit the 2021 meeting will be markedly different than what we some of the access to these. The remote worker now has, at were planning on doing this past May, but we’re committed home, a device that is owned, managed and on the corpo- to May 2021. We feel that is a safe date. We will be providing rate network. some updates in the latter part of this year. n Even with a rise in mobile workers, I’m not saying that Brent Hoskins, executive director of the Business Technology the office environment is going away. Once people are back Association, is editor of Office Technology magazine. in the office, there will be a plethora of printing again, even He can be reached at brent@bta.org though those workers have been printing at home on loweror (816) 303-4040. www.offi cetechnol ogymag.com | Se p te mb e r 2020 | 23

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

Dealer Members Cooper Business Machines Inc., Erie, PA Elite Imaging Systems, Troy, MI Vendor Member Close the Loop, Hebron, KY

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

C2C Resources Collection Services

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

Close the Loop (CtL) provides sustainability solutions to help companies enhance corporate social responsibility programs. CtL first earned the trust of the global imaging industry where it continues to design and manage ink and toner takeback, recovery and reuse programs. These partnerships are with Fortune 500 companies like Xerox, HP and Konica Minolta. Today, manufacturers turn to CtL to minimize waste and work toward a circular economy, which makes the most of your valuable resources, transforming items that would normally end up in landfills and oceans into useful commodities. www.closetheloopusa.com

Learn how the powerful combination of C2C Resources’ Profit Maximizer, InfoMax Collection System and Legal Forwarding Edge can help your company be more effective with your in-house collecting and maximize recovery of accounts turned over for collection.

Explore how communication options provided by C2C Resources keep you up to date as it makes progress on your accounts, as well as how its weekly remittance program gets you money quickly once it does collect. Most importantly, learn how licensing helps protect your business during the recovery process.

BTA members receive a discounted rate on collection services.

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

CEO Juice provides business and artificial intelligence for office technology dealerships backed up by a team of industry experts who can help with software and best-practice questions. Its software and systems ensure your business runs as efficiently and smoothly as possible.

These systems know when something goes wrong with the intelligence so the correct steps can be taken to address the issue. CEO Juice only works with dealers running e-automate.

Because of this, it works with the majority of dealers in North America so you do not need to reinvent the wheel. https://ceojuice.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.

For more information, visit www.bta.org.

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Highlights Sept 20.indd 1

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COURTS & CAPITOLS

PPP Loan Forgiveness Some guidance for completing the application by: Robert C. Goldberg, BTA General Counsel

T

he past seven months have been a challenge for every dealership. As essential businesses, dealerships were able to continue providing products and services, exempt from mandatory closures. With Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds in the bank, and employees and business expenses paid, it is now time to seek forgiveness.

Each and every day, new rules and guidance are issued and must be followed. The Small Business Administration (SBA), U.S. Department of Treasury and PPP lenders are preparing for the next wave of activity for PPP loans. Specifically, the deadline to obtain a PPP loan was Aug. 8, 2020. Other key milestones related to PPP loan forgiveness are rapidly approaching. The SBA previously announced that it intended to make an electronic portal available on Aug. 10, 2020, to begin processing PPP loan forgiveness applications and, on Aug. 4, 2020, the SBA and Treasury released new FAQs regarding loan forgiveness. The new FAQs largely reiterate prior guidance, but include some clarifications that may affect borrowers’ applications for loan forgiveness.

Loan forgiveness applications can be submitted on SBA Form 3508, 3508EZ or a lender-equivalent form. The EZ form provides a streamlined process in that it does not require listing employee-by-employee details. The EZ form may be used if a borrower has not reduced employee headcount or reduced salaries by more than 25%.

It is possible lenders will implement their own forgiveness forms, which is not prohibited. Applications for PPP loan forgiveness and supporting documentation are required to be submitted to the lender that is servicing the applicable PPP loan, not to the SBA directly. Accordingly, PPP borrowers should contact their respective lenders or loan servicers to confirm the process that will be required when applying for forgiveness of their PPP loans. The lenders, not the borrowers, submit forgiveness applications through the SBA portal.

Once a complete loan forgiveness application and supporting documents are provided to the PPP lender or loan servicer, it has 60 days to review and process the forgiveness application. Any disputes are to be resolved between the lender and borrower. Supporting documents include bank statements, payroll service provider reports, tax filings, unemployment insurance tax filings, payment receipts, canceled checks, amortization schedules and lease agreements.

When the lender has completed its review, it is required to notify the SBA regarding its determination of whether all or a portion of the PPP loan may be forgiven. The SBA has a period of 90 days after its receipt of the lender’s determination of loan forgiveness to remit payment to the lender to give effect to the loan forgiveness. This 90-day period may be extended if the loan is subject to SBA review.

The SBA has announced that all loans in excess of $2 million will be subject to SBA review, meaning that borrowers with loans in excess of $2 million should expect the forgiveness process to take 150 days or longer. Other loans may also be subject to SBA review on a case-by-case basis. Clearly, the SBA will be overwhelmed with applications, making it questionable as to whether all suggested audits will really take place.

It is anticipated that lenders will work with borrowers to maximize forgiveness. The SBA will repay lenders all funds forgiven, making them available for loans at higher interest rates.

The PPP has been a lifeline for dealerships during these challenging times. Be sure to keep abreast of the latest updates and make certain to meet all deadlines.

Note that a dealership has 10 months to submit its forgiveness application. BTA will continue to keep you advised of the latest developments. n Robert C. Goldberg is general counsel for the Business Technology Association.

He can be reached at robert.goldberg@sfnr.com. www.offi cetechnol ogymag.com | Se p te mb e r 2020 | 25

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DEALERSHIP SPOTLIGHT

Stone’s Office Equipment Virginia dealership celebrates its 50th year by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

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eadquartered in Richmond, Virginia, Stone’s Office Equipment (SOE) has a legacy that is, undoubtedly, always smile-inducing to anyone who learns about the company’s history. It was founded in 1970 by Frank Stone, who had initially repaired typewriters for Royal Typewriter, but later opted to venture out on his own, opening his one-man typewriter repair business. Today, celebrating its 50th year, the dealership, with 25 employees, is at about $6 million in annual revenues.

It remains a family business. Following in the footsteps of Frank and Sally Stone, the dealership is now owned by their son Sam Stone, who serves as president, their daughter Tina Berry, who manages the business office, and her husband Mike Berry, who serves as vice president of service. The three manage as a team, says Sam Stone. “We are running the dealership together,” he says. “I have the president’s role, but the three of us often sit down and say, ‘What are we going to do about this or that?’ That’s how we come up with ideas.”

Stone got involved in the business in 1980. “I was working summers,” he says. “I would go around the city cleaning typewriters. When I graduated high school in 1982, I said, ‘Well, I’ll try this for a little while and then decide what to do.’ Some 40 years later, I’m still here.”

Of course, SOE long ago moved on from solely repairing typewriters. In its 10th year, the dealership began selling Royal typewriters and later added IBM typewriters. “Eventually, we could see that typewriters were dying down,” Stone says.

“We said, ‘Well, we’re going to go toward computers or copiers.’ We decided on copiers because it seemed like, from everybody we talked to, they were very service-intense products.

We wanted something we could repair.”

Initially, SOE sold Panasonic copiers until the manufacturer exited the market (although the dealership does offer Panasonic scanners). Today, SOE is an authorized Sharp dealership, selling both MFPs and display boards, and is an authorized Lexmark dealership. In addition, SOE sells Epson wide-format printers and FP mailing solutions. As noted, SOE is headquartered in Richmond, but also has an office in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

To what does Stone attribute SOE’s longevity? “We are blessed to have some really ‘good genes’ in our company as far as employees,” he says. “And we’ve always run it as a family business. I have met consultants and family planners, etc., who say there are ‘business owners’ and there are ‘entrepreneurs.’ I was talking to someone once [an ‘entrepreneur’] who started a company, was very successful and sold it for $50 million, and

Sam Stone ( far right), who serves as president, and his family members (left to right) ­— brother-in-law Mike Berry, vice president of service; sister Tina Berry, who manages the dealership’s business office; and parents Frank and Sally Stone. then moved on to something else. He said to me, ‘You are a ‘business owner.’ You look at your business as: ‘It’s your family.

It’s your baby. You’re going to take care of it.’”

As business owners, “we are always invested in the fact that our employees are our backbone,” Stone says. “We have employees who have been here for 25 years; we just had one employee retire who had been here for 26 years. We do have some ‘young guns’ coming in right now. So, they bring down the average some, but our average tenure is still about 15 years. We’ve seen our employees have children. Then we’ve seen those children graduate from high school or college and get married.”

Having long-term, loyal employees “makes you feel good because you not only get the benefit of having them work here and help you grow something, but they also realize they are part of the family as well, and I think that’s been our strength,” Stone says. “If we didn’t have that, we wouldn’t have great customers; they wouldn’t come back.”

Stone says SOE’s employees are dedicated to a high level of customer service and work hard to keep customers when, in some cases, much larger companies based elsewhere have entered the SOE market. “This is our town,” he says. “We’ve been here for 50 years. If you come in here, we’re not just going to roll over. We are going to defend what is ours. Actually, we don’t judge ourselves too much against the competition. I’m a big believer in what Steve Jobs once said: It’s not enough to look

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want the customer to tell us that we were at your competitor and say, ‘I want to be ‘above and beyond.’ That’s how we know better than them.’ You have to look at your “One of the things we’re successful.” competitor and say, ‘I want to be different.’” we stress so hard So how has SOE celebrated its 50th year, How is SOE different? One key differentiin our company honoring the legacy of Frank and Sally ator is that the dealership diligently strives is that it’s not how Stone, during a pandemic? Actually, in a to make sure it has satisfied customers; all we think we did, similar fashion to the way it celebrated its receive a survey every time they interact 40th anniversary, when the dealership sent with the dealership. “You are going to get it’s how the customer 40-plus care packages to Marines serving in one if you order toner, have a service call or thinks we did.”

Afghanistan. “That was better than just havbuy a product,” Stone says. “You don’t have ing a party with customers that would last to fill it out if you don’t want to, but you are always going to have the option to fill it out and tell us how two hours,” Stone says. For the 50th, “turning lemons into lemonade,” SOE has been selling KN95 masks with a special benefit. we did.”

Knowing how customers view SOE and making changes as “For every 25 masks a customer buys, we’re donating five [one necessary is of paramount importance, Stone says. “One of the for each of SOE’s decades] to charity. We’ve donated thousands things we stress so hard in our company is that it’s not how of masks to nursing homes, long-term care facilities and first rewe think we did, it’s how the customer thinks we did,” he says. sponders. It has been our way to give back to the community.” n Brent Hoskins, executive director of the Business Technology “We may walk out of a meeting with a customer ‘high-fiving’ Association, is editor of Office Technology magazine. ourselves, patting each other on the back, saying, ‘We nailed He can be reached at brent@bta.org or (816) 303-4040. it,’ but the customer may be saying, ‘They were OK.’ Instead, I

www.offi cetechnol ogymag.com | Se p te mb e r 2020 | 27

Dealership Spotlight Sept 20.indd 2

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DEALERS HELPING DEALERS

Unachieved Fees & Levels How dealers are handling contracts Compiled by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

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ollowing is another of the questions submitted by a dealer member as part of BTA’s Dealers Helping Dealers resource, and several of the answers received.

These answers and many others can be found in the members-only section of the BTA website. Visit www.bta.org/Dealers HelpingDealers. You will need your username and password to access this member resource.

How are you handling customers that have print/ copy base fees or volume commitment levels that are not being achieved and/or contracts that are only realizing 40% to 50% of their volume commitments? Are you creating credits or cash back to prepaid contracts? Are you lowering their base and increasing the click rate?

“We are trying to defer the contracts as much as possible. If they have six months left and we allow them no clicks or minimal clicks, we will keep extending the contract while they are in deferral. For some customers, we have had to lower the base and the increase in rates does not cover the total shortfall because we would have to raise the click rate so far as to be unreasonable.”

John Hines, CFO Copiers Northwest Inc., Seattle, Washington “We take every case as it arises. We help anyone we can.

We will restructure agreements and suspend maintenance billing. We will lower volumes but increase rates. We work with them because we want to continue our relationships. We check to make sure they are not using the equipment or verify meters. We have only been asked to do something in maybe five to 10 accounts.”

Stephen Valenta, president Offix, Gainesville, Virginia “When a client contracts us, we generally will rebalance their contract going forward. We have given some credit for unused base, but most people are very appreciative of us helping them out by rebalancing or even pausing the contract if they are closed. We see this as an opportunity to strengthen our relationships with our clients. When we lower the base, we

generally keep the same click rates, but we do require a minimum billing base regardless of volume.”

Robert Siemon, president HGi Technologies, Miami, Florida “We will adjust the base and volume commitments should they ask us to reevaluate. For large, high-profile clients, we will proactively work to get creative to help their situations. Are we creating credits or cash back to prepaid contracts? We rarely provide a credit for the past and we handle these situations on a case-by-case basis. Are we lowering their base and increasing the click rate? On a case-bycase basis, moving forward in time, we will make concessions to lower the base and volume commitments, but in all cases when we make these concessions we increase the click rate.”

Ken Staubitz, vice president of client services Modern Office Methods, Cincinnati, Ohio “We were proactive with this and created a unified response of our [being] willing to work with customers that are not achieving their committed volumes. We began by temporarily reducing their volumes by 50% for three months with a reevaluation afterward. This demonstrated our willingness to support while not giving up the entire recurring revenue. For businesses that still showed little to no increase in use after three months we used the following strategy: (1) Depending on where they were in the lease, we early upgraded the copier(s) or refinanced with a 90-day deferral and potentially downsized/right-sized the fleet.

(2) We deployed desktop units to remote workers to capture volumes that could be driven from remote workers.

(3) In some cases, we were forced to modify some contracts for time and material before they became AR aging problems.

Jayson R. Beasley, COO 1 Touch Office Technology, Torrance, California Do you have a question for your fellow dealers? If so, email it to brent@bta.org with the subject line: “Dealers Helping Dealers.”

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

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

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DHD Sept 20.indd 1

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PRINCIPAL ISSUES

Brother Briefing Manufacturer hosts 2020 Virtual Analyst Update by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

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n August 11, Brother International hosted the Brother Business Solutions 2020 Virtual Analyst Update. In part, the online event provided the opportunity for a report on the company’s performance in fiscal year (FY) 2019, comment on its actions and strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic, and an update on recent strides in its solutions offerings.

Dan Waldinger Among the presenters was Dan Waldinger, senior director of B2B marketing, who opened the event with a look at Brother’s U.S. performance for FY 2019, which ended March 31, noting that his comments were primarily focused on Brother’s B2B or SMB category, so, excluding retail business through such companies as Staples and Amazon. Brother hardware — that is, primarily business workgroup products — was up 9% year over year, he said, noting that color laser was up 17%, with single-function color laser printers up 7%. He reported, too, that Brother’s monochrome MFPs were up 6%, with single-function monochrome printers up 3%. In addition, he said, the company’s dedicated business scanners category was up 2%.

Growth within the dealer channel was up 11%, Waldinger said. “A lot of this, we believe, is driven by the shift from transactional business to contractual business and our Value Print Program [providing an extended warranty and static pricing on supplies],” he said. “We had a really strong year from a contractual standpoint; we were up 33% putting machines under contract. We now have more than 125,000 business products contractually in the field.”

In terms of Brother’s actions and strategies related to the pandemic, “when the pandemic hit and there were businesses shutting down across the country, we were very cognizant and concerned about helping our dealers stay in business and focused on their customers,” Waldinger said. “So, we immediately looked at some of the industries that would still be functioning, deemed at the time to be essential. Those could be, obviously, health-care institutions, shipping and logistics, or it might be public-sector services.”

Brother created sales material its dealers could use to help sell products to those environments that were still operating, Waldinger said. “Obviously, the work-from-home trend was a big push and we saw an immediate demand for some of our

smaller-office, home-office laser products, but we wanted to take it a little further,” he said. “We developed a work-fromhome hub on our website to give tips and tricks on how to get people up to speed quickly working from home; [and to highlight] the technology that they would need that Brother could provide.”

Waldinger said Brother also began talking about the day that businesses would come back, focusing on the “six-foot office” and how the company’s products can be deployed. “We started to create a lot of material and get it out in the field to help our dealers, delivering it a couple of different ways — through a number of webinars and our Brother Knowledge Center,” he said. “We’ve been talking about a balanced deployment approach; that’s been our value in the marketplace, to either coexist with A3 machines or, in some cases, replace A3 machines. Now, obviously, the device-to-employee ratio becomes a very important discussion to have with customers, because, frankly, employees are going to feel more comfortable when there are fewer people touching a device. So, deploying a ‘six-foot office’ with what we call our ‘printer pods’ makes a lot of sense. The concept of contactless printing or fewer touches on the printer has been something that we’ve been putting out in the field.”

Finally, Waldinger provided an update on the development of Brother’s solutions offerings, acknowledging it as an area where Brother was once lacking. “I can certainly say that we’ve done that in a big way over the last 12 months,” he said.

“On our website is a solutions portfolio that has more than 120 different solutions; our partner solutions are on there as well. It’s really designed to bring awareness and explain what products and solutions work with which hardware, and what problems that they’re going to solve for customers.”

Brother has tracked “a lot of traffic” to its website in terms of visits from those seeking to learn about the company’s solutions, Waldinger said. “We’ve also developed a playbook for our partners so that they can engage with customers and ask the right questions, finding out what solutions they need — from a mobility solution to a TCO solution to a digital transformation solution,” he said. “So, all of these things exist now on our website and are there for both our partners and our end customers to gather information about Brother.” 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. w w w. o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | S e p t e m b e r 2 0 2 0 | 29

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ADVERTISER INDEX 27 • BPO Media

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30 • BTA Advanced Service Management

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19 • CET Group

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http://business.toshiba.com

15 • DocuWare

9 • Miracle Service

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(866) 463-9368 / www.miracleservice.com

31 • ENX Magazine

16-17 • NuWorld Business Systems

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

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Service Mgt ad - Ad Index Sept 20.indd 1

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