Print4Pay Hotels Goes Bigger, Better and Badder

On June 25th of 2013 (our tenth anniversary), we'll be launching our new Print4Pay Hotel site, the site is built on the Hoop.la platform.  We're pretty exciting to bring this new platform to our members.   The Print4Pay Hotel is the worlds only interactive sight for Imaging Professionals to share their knowledge, collaborate with their peers, gain insightful information from other Print4Pay Hotel members.

Our new sight still has the popular secure forums, but we've also been able to combine the non-secure forums, the MFP Solutions Blog and our web portal to one main site.  Print4Pay Hotel members will not only be able to share information in the forums, but they will also be able to share video's, share photo's, upload avatars, see the latest industry trends, press releases, view industry polls, download competitive price proposals/quotes, view recent RFP's, view industry related video's, purchase p4p self help sales documents, vote in industry polls and garner additional knowledge from our staff of Guest Bloggers.

Since 2004 the Print4Pay Hotel has accumulated more than 70,000 threads in 32 forums that are related to the Imaging Industry, more than 2,300 registered members, 1,400 connections through linked in and more than 450 followers via twitter.

We hope that all of our linkedin followers, and twitter followers to join the new site. The site is more social than the old forums and if I had to best describe the new site, I would state that it's a hybrid of linkedin, facebook, which then combines the power of our members in the forums.

Tune in here on June 25th and then select the forums link and you'll be directed to the NEW Print4Pay Hotel site.

-=Good Selling=-

My Top 4 Office Sales Traditions

There was a recent Print Audit thread on linkedin that asked "What are your Office Traditions"? 

I responded with one that we have a sales genie, in fact we just started the sales genie thing when I came back from the Photizo Transform Conference in May of this year.  While at the airport waiting on another delayed flight, I visited one of the Southwest themed gift shops at Sky Harbor.  I was able to pick up something for the wife and then I caught size of a neat looking handcrafted Native Indian Hopi Doll.

I bought the doll and brought it back to the office, and not one to believe in superstitions I'm named it our Sales Genie. 

We have it sitting on the front counter and for the last few weeks we would give it a rub or two before we went on appointments.  When I get into the office on Monday I'm going to burn the son of bitch because sales have been horrible for the last 30 days or since I got back from Phoenix. 

Another tradition around the office centers on some of the new hires for sales.  In our office we have eight cubicles, but doesn't it always seem like there is one of two cubicles that just can't seem to hold onto a salesperson.  With any new hire we'll make sure they don't take up residence in that cubicle.  

I've been told by others that some offices will actually have a cash pool for how long the new sales person will last.  Every one picks out how many weeks the new rep will last, if the new rep goes beyond the weeks that were picked the cash pool stays in effect for the next sales person hired and then the pool doubles. Dang, I wish I could in on some of that action.

We have another tradition to break in the new reps, we'll make up a phoney lead, but not just any lead.  We'll make up a legit lead sheet and give the phone number and address of the local zoo. From there we'll have them call for Mr. Gee Raft or Mrs. Ele Phant. 

I tell you, if you haven't done this you've got to do it.  We do it when we're all in the office, and it's a riot, on one occasion we had the rep ask for Mr. Gee Raft (Giraffe), you can here the person on the other end (cause they don't get it either) state, there is no Gee Raft that works here, and then our rep stated, "well Mr. Gee Raft called our office and left a message that he was interested in a copier and to call", with that the secretary gets it and blurts out "very funny", our rep went with, "I'm not trying to be funny but just asking to speak to Mr. Gee Raft", the secretary then states to the rep, "do you realize who you are calling, it's a zoo"  and "don't you get it"?  With that the rep finally got it and hung up.  We had a great laugh all afternoon that day!  Who says you can't make work fun!

-=Good Selling=-

4 Key Factors in Sales Order Process Automation for Office Equipment Dealers

We're so fortunate to have Rick Backus  (Cybercon Services) as a Print4Pay Hotel Sponsor/member. Rick is the guru of Business Process Optimization and we as Dealers should look no further than our own business process for sales orders.  It's the old "Eat what you Cook" and if more of us had SOPA in place, well.....we can sell the heck out of it.  This month please welcome back Ricoh Backus with:

Sales Order Process Automation

During my years of consulting for office technology resellers many conversations have led to the topic of equipment order processing and how to make it more efficient.  Management is frequently frustrated with the time it takes to fulfill an order, the lost paperwork, the lack of tracking and control not to mention the seemingly endless requests from sales reps about when their orders will be delivered and will it count towards this month’s quota.

 While most ERP systems have some level of order staging which will produce reports related to order status they are limited to the information they have access to.  How do you notify all the relevant users when the order delivery date changes?  How many times has the “sticky note” that someone attached to a document with the new buyout figure on it mysteriously vanished?  And why was that demo machine at the prospects location for over two months?  The list goes on and it is not limited to office technology resellers but that is our focus today.

 There are many factors impacting the overall process are but some of the more important ones are:

1)     Size and sales volume of the organization.

2)     Level of attention paid to all the details of the process (credit, leasing, inventory, scheduling, delivery, etc.).  Not everyone is as in tune with this as you might expect, which is a separate issue for another time.

3)     Keeping all the relevant parties (sales, service, admin, management & customers) up to date on the status and scheduling of the order.

4)     Capturing and tracking the myriad of associated documents from numerous sources, several of which require signatures.

 After many days of identifying, questioning and documenting processes, developing an understanding of the nuances of the sales order process as well as the needs of both users and management I came up with a answer to the problem.

The solution I developed uses Microsoft SharePoint as the core product which binds everything together.  Most companies are already using SharePoint to some extent so it makes sense from a cost standpoint.  And even if you are not the Foundation versions are no-cost alternatives to get you started.  Of course you have less functionality but mainly with reporting and Excel services.

SharePoint has all the capabilities we need to build this application.  Content management, retention policies, security, device accessibility, versioning, annotation, calendaring, notification and workflow.  It integrates easily with the rest of the Office suite which again, nearly everyone already has.  Finally, there are a myriad of products out there all of which have connectors to SharePoint, making integration with other applications possible with “out-of–the-box” configuration and little to no coding.

Here are some screenshots of a typical sales order record in SharePoint.

 

 

 

 

 

The date and status fields insure full process compliance, monitoring task intervals and drive revenue projections.

While manual updates are possible and necessary in certain cases the majority of these fields are updated automatically based on status updates, task completion and document captures.

As time goes by and data accumulates we can analyze it to develop benchmarks for task timelines and employ those standards to measure performance of the sales, admin, service and warehouse staffs during order fulfillment.  Ultimately getting orders processed, delivered and invoiced faster.

We also have a fully, text-searchable and accessible central archive of all the documents, emails, forms and other files associated with the record that were accumulated (many automatically from OMD and eAutomate or tablets in the field) throughout the order process instead of waiting to file them at the end of the process.

I am confident this application will resolve several business issues related to your sales order processing.   Contact me via email if you would like to receive more detail on this solution.

 

=Good Selling

Top Ten Copier and MFP Proposals for May 2013

May 2013 business go me back on top of the leaders list for tops in total sales and tops in new business for the entire team. To date I've racked in $130k in net new business.  However, June is not looking so good, a lot in the pipeline but a lot of it has already moved to July!! It figures, last quarter of the month and I need to hit a number and that number isn't looking real good right now.  Last week I logged more than 150 calls, made only a few appointments, couple of opportunities, however I did develop a lot of potential ops for the August & September time line.

On another note, we'll be moving the MFP Solutions Blog to a new site.  I'll be able to condense all three sites into one site. The main objective is to save me time and to bring some of my ideas to the masses.

One more important item, each week I'll be writing a Premium Blog, thus the only way you'll be able to read this is to subscribe to a Premium Print4Pay Hotel membership.  The annual subscription will be $125 per year, however if you elect to take a Lifetime Premium Membership the cost is only $299 until July 1st, after July 1st the cost for the Lifetime Premium Membership will be $499. If you'd like please go here to access your Lifetime membership (since we made our announcement last week, we've had ten new Lifetime Members.

Each month on the Print4Pay Hotel forums we'll upload "Pricing on the Street" quotes, these quotes are certified as accurate since the pricing information is emailed to us from other Print4Pay Hotel members in the field.

We'll also receive and upload quotes and proposals from other

MFP Solutions Top Ten Copier & MFP Blogs for May 2013

MPF Solutions Top Ten Copier and MFP Blogs for April 2013  still tops the list every month for the last three months. That one blog now has close to 10,000 page views! 

Here's an note for all of you that are about to get a new sales position, make sure you get everything in writing, as a matter of fact when you're asked to sig a non compete, make sure you have your own contract in hand for your prospective employer to sign. Heck if they state you have to sign a non compete then I say you have the to tell them they have to sign a "what I expect from xyz company". 

		10 Awesome Tips for a Great MFP/Copier Demo   954 3D MFP Printer/Copier/Scanner "Ready for Prime Tim...   336 10 Things Might Not Know About Digital Duplicators...   286 8 Tips from Selling Copy Machines in the 80's   261 New Ricoh MPC8002 & MPC6502 Sneak Peek   258   Scan2Cloud Solution the Alternative to eCopy   218 7 Tips to Help Win Net New Competitive Copier & MP...   216 Growth Opportunities for Wide Format & The PEiR Gr...   198 How Can You be the Best at MPS, MFP, MNS?   178 Photizo Transform 2013 Wednesday Roundup -=Good Selling=-                                                       -=Good Selling=-

100 calls a day, 240 minutes talk time a day, 4 opps per day equals NO job

I was alarmed when I received and email from a very valued print4pay hotel member. I just spoke with him tonight and I'm hoping I can him connected with another job in his area. I also had his permission to post this and he may or may not want to remain anonymous. But I think this is a great topic of discussion and to see if any of us can help him. Below is the email to me:

Well...

A couple months ago they brought in a new sales manager and started changing our pay structure. Goals went to a 30% monthly incline and if you don't hit goal you don't get commission. Also, in order to hit goal you have to average 100 calls per day with an average talk time of 250 minutes per day and enter a minimum of 4 new business opportunities per day. If we miss any of these points we don't get paid.

On top of that the CEO has a very disrespectful and degrading management style to the point where he pretty much bullies the employees every day. He required that we call the office before and after every stop in the field and would call and email during meetings just to check up. He recently called the client's office because I wasn't answering. He had tracking devices on the work vans, which was fine, it let him know where we were but if I'm with a client I can't take calls for no reason.

Last week we had a total of 7 sales reps. He let 3 go early last week as well as the only accounting employee and 1 of the 3 customer service reps. Tuesday they called me out of the field to fire me along with 1 other sales person.

They now have 0 accounting employees, 2 customer service reps, 2 service techs and 2 sales reps that have only been in the industry for 4 months.

So...as hard as I work at hitting these sales goals I was let go with no notice, explanation or severance pay. They only thing I'm left with is a 4 page non-compete and bills to pay.

I've sent the non-compete to two different attorneys and they say it's solid. Since I saw this coming a head of time I tried to get a sales position with a local company, they really wanted me to work for them, but then had to turn it down once they read the non-compete.

As far as future plans, I sent a resume to xyz company  yesterday and didn't mention the non compete. We'll see how that goes...

I have a phone interview this morning with one of my clients, they're a large processing company. Since I'm going to school for a degree in network security I figured this could be a good option to get the experience since security is a major concern in the credit card processing industry.

I'm not sure where I'll end up but it seems like I've been kicked out of the industry with no explanation at all.

Would like to hear from others as to how we can help.

=-=Good Selling=-

Hard Copy Industry Decline....Whoa We're Not Dead Yet!

Below is a summary that I picked up from Photizo in reference to the State of our Industry.  I posted a rebuttal at the end.  Enjoy!

By: Charles LeCompte
June 4th, 2013

In the first quarter of 2013, for the first time in two years the hard copy industry’s revenue rose year-on-year. But, it turns out, a closer look demonstrates that the gains were entirely the result of the weakening yen, which boosted the overseas sales of Japanese companies in yen terms, even though those same sales were down in local-currency terms.

Total first-quarter industry revenue (based on the ten companies that report their hard copy revenue) was up $700 million, to $24.2 billion. But a perusal of the results of five Japanese companies that provide sufficient data to make the analysis (Canon, Ricoh, Seiko Epson, Konica Minolta, and Brother) shows that the yen alone boosted their sales by $1.6 billion, which in turn means that the industry’s revenue was actually down around $1 billion, rather than up.
So it is the same sad story again: The industry’s decline continues, even if exchange rates have temporarily distorted the picture.

MY View

Charles, good stuff.  However with me being on the front lines of selling imaging devices for 30 plus years, I'm still seeing a variety of conditions lead me to believe that the industry in NOT in decline.

Here's what I see:

More end users opting to buy their leased equipment at the end of the lease

Buyers remain fickle about the economy at least here in the US, and then they may have upgraded 6-12 month prior to the end of the lease they are holding on to the last moment to make a move on their equipment

The economy, after the Great Recession (which I believe has not ended), companies are trying to more with less

Companies are turning to used equipment more frequently than they did prior to 2008
Many companies went out of business during the last five years

More companies are purchasing equipment and leasing with $1.00 purchase options which enables them to lengthen the life cycle of the imaging equipment

When I look at the number of units sold after 2008, that number is steady with no decline

I offer than we are not in decline, the industry in the last 5 years has seen a major recession here in the US and now in the Euro community. With the industry being down by 1 billion that represents a 5% decline.  If that's all we've lost with what we've gone through in the last 5 years with the Great Recession, the Great Earthquake & tsunami in Japan, the flooding in Thailand, Hurricane Irene in 2011 and then Hurricane Sandy in 2012,  then I think we've done pretty well.

Art

-=Good Selling=-

Closing the Perfect Duplicator Deal or So I Thought

I posted this a few years ago and thought it would be a good read for those of us in the trenches every day. Enjoy!!

I'm watching the Met game tonight and I'm hearing that a pitcher for the Tigers is about to throw another perfect game, that would be #3 this year!

You just don't hear of that many being thrown let alone being at a game where one is thrown. My son and I was able to see David Wells perfect game at Yankee Stadium many years ago,  it was the thrill of a life time for the two of us.

I tuned into  ESPN to see if they've got the game covered, I watching.... and the last batter grounds out to the first baseman he flips to the pitcher covering the bag and he's out, no wait he's safe!!1 The umpire clearly blew the call! My first thought is that this kid will probably never ever come that close again in his career. What a shame, a blown call takes away a perfect game.

It just goes to show you that nothing is given, even if it's earned. Many years ago I had demo'd a duplicator at a print shop in Trenton, NJ. The duplicator performed everything that it needed to do. I had the lease ready for the buyer, handed him the pen, the prospect had started to sign and then my boss (who was with me), asked the buyer a question, the buyer obliged and answered the question.

What happened next you might ask, well my boss blew the call! We were never able to get back to that closing point and the print shop never did buy the duplicator. From that day forward, I never ever let him go with me on any future closing calls of demos.

Like I said, sometimes even if you EARN the order, you still might have it stripped away from you because of something that's out of your control.

Armando, I feel for you!

-=Good Selling=-

Scan2Fax with "Eric the Office Worker"

When we last heard from Eric "the office worker" he was was our featured office worker in these blogs:  Eric the "Office Worker" Gets a Supra Wide Format!, Print Audit Green with "Eric the Office Worker" and Ecopy Desktop & "Eric the Office Worker" along with Ricoh's PPDM enables an Epiphany for Eric the  "Office Worker"

The last we heard of Eric, he was working for DigDug Systems in Frostberg, MD, since then Eric the "Office Worker" has moved back to New Jersey (home of Rhutts Hot Dogs) and found a job with GigaHertz Power System in Wannakopier, NJ.

Over the years Eric has developed into a techie guru of sorts.  Eric's new job was to process order that were faxed to the company daily. He was one of 12 people that gathered the incoming order, entered the order in the system and then made of copy of the order for filing.  Eric alone (cause he was on top of his game) would process almost 100 orders per day and keep in mind that he was one of 12 users gathering documents from the three fax machines that were dedicated for inbound faxing.

Did I ever tell you Eric's last name?  It used to be Betterbid (sounds like a copier sales person name to me) and he got tired of that and had it changed to Sakash (whoa, sounds like another copier salesman's name too), but enough with Eric's name.  With three fax machines and 12 users there was a lot of jam ups at the fax machines, orders were getting mixed up, misplaced and lost!  Eric was also having a hard time with Wanda (you know Wanda, large girl, ornery and quite intimidating at the fax machines), Eric always waited for Wanda to finish getting her documents and then he'd meander and slither to the fax and lift his documents.

After many months of gathering faxes, processing, misplacing and losing faxes, our "Office Worker" that would be Eric make a mental note that there's gotta be a better way! So Eric went on a mission to see if there was a better way so he didn't have to deal with Wanda anymore.  Eric started search for all sorts of fax terms on the Internet, on one particular search Eric found this link MFP's can now Scan2Fax with UDOCX .

7 Tips to Help Win Net New Competitive Copier & MPS Deals

"My pipeline is always 100,000k+ and I'm required to do 12-15 appointments per week.  I'm finding the opportunities, but not winning competitive deals. (I have a small base list of 10 accounts)."

Was one of the statements that was emailed to me by a Print4Pay Hotel member in Canada this week.  I thought this would make a good topic for this week to see if I can help.

Ok, I'm thinking if you only have a base of 10 accounts and you're not winning competitive deals that means all of your business is net new.  Here's a few things that I try and do with net new business.

1) Find out what brand of equipment they have now and who is servicing the product.

2) Once you've found out what brand they have, ask them what brand they had before their current brand along with who was servicing the equipment. If they had a different brand and servicing dealer this can tell you that they have no brand or service loyalty. If they have the same brand and the same servicing dealer or direct branch, then you've got a tough road to hoe since they have brand and service loyalty.

3) I will dig deep with the customer to see if there is some type of lockout feature or software that will position my company at the top of the pack. I've often found that many reps are lazy and won't take the time to explain many of the features, advantages and benefits of their systems.  Thus you may mention something as simple as embedded scanning to create searchable .pdf's and this could swing the decision in your favor.  Try not to leave any stones unturned when you are in a competitive situation. If you're selling MPS, make it more about the service, the reporting tools, and your fleet software advantages.

4) Make sure you meet with the DM, if not you need to put your best foot forward with the quality of your presentation and proposal.  Many times the DM may leave the decision making up to the person you met with, in this case the cheapest/lowest price may not be the right choice for the person you met with and most likely they will not select the highest price, nor the lowest price.

5) Ask "When will you be making a decision on acquiring the system and what is the process for choosing one vendor over another", make this one of your first few questions.

6) ABC, Always be closing, if a closing opportunity comes up, don't pass it buy. The worst that can happen is you'll get additional info on how the process will transpire.

7) I'm not sure of your market, however in large markets you've got to be prepared and I hate to say this, is to "offer your best deal" in order to get the business.  If you're in this for the long haul and your company services the product well, you'll be able to have an upgrade or additional units in the future that you'll be able to hold margin.

These are just a few items that came to mind.  What I can also tell you is that you need to remove yourself from competitive situations, you need to find the prospects who are NOT in the market. Basically this means that with your skill set you've been able to secure an appointment, assess their pain or challenges and offer a solution that will help them NOW.  Hard to do, but the opportunities are out there, all you need to do is find them.

-=Good Selling=-

Photizo Group Thought Leaders Honored as Most Influential in the Imaging Industry

Photizo Group Thought Leaders Honored as Most Influential in the Imaging Industry

May 30, 2013

The Week in Imaging has recognized Photizo Group’s Edward Crowley and Ken Stewart in its biennial list of the Top 40 Most Influential People in the Imaging Industry. The Week in Imaging is an online publication dedicated to sharing news, information, and commentary about the imaging industry. Every other year, the publication releases its list of influential business leaders, decision makers, and thought leaders who successfully drive and navigate the ever-changing landscape of the imaging industry.  

This is the second appearance on the list for Crowley, founder and CEO of Photizo Group. According to The Week in Imaging, Crowley “truly is one of the managed print services [MPS] pioneers and continues to influence the imaging industry with his insights into the ways MPS is impacting traditional hardware and supplies markets and how MPS continues to evolve into managed services, digital workflow transformation, and business-process optimization.”

This is the first year that Ken Stewart, Photizo Group’s MPS Advisory Service director, has been included in the list. The Week in Imaging recognizes Stewart as a leading expert on managed print, citing his newly developed framework for forecasting managed print services.

For the complete list of the Top 40 Most Influential People in the Imaging Industry, visit The Week in Imaging (http://www.theweekinimaging.com/).

The Week in Imaging Honors Art Post One of Most Influential in Imaging Industry

The Week in Imaging Honors Art Post One of Most Influential in Imaging Industry

Ewing, New Jersey, May 28, 2013 – The Week in Imaging (TWII), a weekly online publication focusing on news, information, and commentary about the imaging industry, has named Art Post, founder of the Print4Pay Hotel and The MFP Solutions Blog as one of its Top 40 Most Influential People in the Imaging Industry for 2013. This is the second time Post has been recognized in TWII’s Top 40, the first time in 2011 when the awards were first presented.

Every other year The Week in Imaging presents its Top 40 Most Influential People in the Imaging Industry. The broad mix of individuals consist of those who make the tough decisions either at the top or at various levels within their organizations, those who others in the industry follow or emulate as well as thought leaders whose commentary and experience help them navigate through the ever-changing landscape whether it be hardware, solutions or services that make up the imaging industry.

“While most of the folks on our most influential list are upper-level executives in dealerships; key executives with OEMs, services, and solutions providers; or industry consultants, it’s refreshing to know that plenty of feet-on-the-street sales reps and dealer principals still appreciate the opinions, sometimes controversial, of one of their peers,” states Scott Cullen, editor and publisher of The Week in Imaging. “What impresses us about Art is that he has thousands of readers all around the world, many just like him in sales positions, who appreciate his knack for telling it like it is.” 

“I’m honored to be included among such a distinguished group of individuals, many of whom have made a huge impact on the imaging industry and are people I respect,” adds Art Post. “To be acknowledged for something that began as a hobby and has evolved into something that has been so influential to so many people is especially gratifying. I’m looking forward to sharing my insights in my blog and allowing others to share their best practices and opinions in our various Print4Pay Hotel forums for many years to come.”

# # #

How Can You be the Best at MPS, MFP, MNS?

What does it take to be among the elite sales people at your branch or your dealership?

For starters you've got to have a passion for being number 1.  Nothing floats my boat more than being at the top of the totem poll each and every month. I like to win, don't like to lose and will do the extra work to make sure my numbers are the best they can be month in and month out.

I've spoken about the 3D's of selling before and they are Desire, Dedication and Determination.  Too often I see reps that will slack off once they've hit their number. The phone calls, the appointments and the opportunities drop. On the other hand I also understand why this can happen, our business unlike any other is filled with rejection, riddled with price driven customers and reps, along with countless hours of research that can lead to failure.

To be the best you've got to WANT IT!  Why would you be in sales if you didn't want to be at the top of the ladder each month, each quarter and year end?

For me, I pick out a goal each year, this years goal is to be number one, not only in percentage of quota but overall sales volume (it's gonna be a dog race to the finish).  This year in 2013 wanted to raise my quota by $10K per month, you know what I did?  I refused it and asked then to raise it by $25K per month. I'll admit, I'm driven and once I set my mind on something I'll try my hardest to achieve that goal.  Along with claiming the goal,  everything else seems to fall in place like the commissions, the spiffs, the placements and additional knowledge of the competition. It's a never ending learning cycle and what I like best about sales is that as long as you put the work and effort in, you never know what the next day is going to bring!

So, I've got these three targets that I try to hit every month, I know that as long as I hit these targets I'm going to be Number 1.

If you'd like those targets, then please email me and after you've registered for the forums and I'll send them to you. Feel free to log on and become a member of the largest group of Copier (Imaging) Professionals in the world!

If you're interested in raising the level of your sales team(s) excitement with a motivational seminar. I'm available to speak at your dealership or direct branch. I have an awesome story to tell that can inspire reps to stay in the industry, sell more, and have more passion.  Send an email to art@p4photel.com

-=Good Selling=-

8 Tips from Selling Copy Machines in the 80's

When you've been in the business as long as I've been there always seems to be that little something that you can write about.

I was taught that after every order/sale I would then ask Mr. or Mrs. Right for three referrals that I could call on.  Seems back in the 80's everyone needed a plain paper copier. Wait! Let me stop right there, I'll go out on limb and bet that at least 60% of today's reps that are selling copiers probably always thought that copiers always printed on plain paper! Yes, the 80's, everyone needed a plain paper copier, and at the end of every sale we asked "Would it be possible to get the name of two or three businesses that may be interested in our services"?   That was then, and to tell you the truth the last time I used that is when a prospect asked for a better price and I tied in, "If I give you a better price will you sign the order today and I'll need two or three businesses that may be interested in my services".

But, it does bring back memories of things we used to do. Here's a short list of how we did things in the 80's:

1) Send a Thank You card for every sale you made.
2) Send a check for $25 or an in house credit to a customer that gave us as a reference and we made the sale.
3) Ask for referrals after every sale you made.
4) Knock on the doors of the businesses next to the customer you just made the sale to.
5) Give a check to the technicians for leads (they loved this, and I was very generous to many, now it seems that most dealers are controlling this, because too many sales people never paid up).
6) Send Christmas cards (I sent them with my name and the dealership name).
7) Call an existing customer and ask them if they know of anyone who is interested in my services (offer them free toner if a sale goes down).
8) Call and ask for a letter of reference (now you can still call them and maybe email them and ask them to post a referral for you on linkedin. I include my linkedin signature link on my emails)

I'm sure that some of are still doing a few of these today, but I plan to pick up my game with mailing Thank You cards again, asking for referrals after the sale, calling an existing customer to see if they know of anyone they could refer me to along with adding more referrals on linkedin.

-=Good Selling=-

Ricoh Plotworks "Way To Screw Up the W3601"

Back in March of 2013 I was alerted via an email from a Print4Pay Hotel member that Ricoh would be updating the wide format W3601 and the only update would be the addition of PLP's Plotworks. Just to make it clear, any W3601 purchased by a dealer or direct branch will have Plotworks period. The MSRP of the W3601 went from $13,495 to $14,890. 

PLP Plotworks is Ricoh US answer to not having a true batch plot software, that went away many years ago when Ricoh parted ways with Ratio.

With Plotworks my price has increased by more than 27% for the addition of batch plotting!  Thus, I have many questions that will go unanswered, and I'll start with; Did anyone in the Ricoh wide format division ever think of asking end users of the W3601 if they needed batch plotting, or better yet, did you ever think of contact some of your reps and ask them if Plotworks was needed for the W3601?   I've been selling wide format Ricoh devices since the inception of the W240 and after Ratio software went away I was bummed because we would lose the batch plot software. Little did I know that at least 80% of my end users had no need for the Plot Client Win (Ratio batch plot software), I didn't find this out until I started asking prospects if they needed batch plotting because of Ricoh dropping Ratio. Yes. I lost a few deals on the W3601 because I did not have a batch plot program, but I've one far more deals without the need for Plotworks because I was able to be competitive!

I'll admit we need a batch plot software on the higher

3D MFP Printer/Copier/Scanner "Ready for Prime Time"?

3D printers are hot, and they got even hotter after President Obama made mention of them in his State of the Union address this year.  My google alerts now carries at least 10-15 mentions of 3D printers each week, before the State of the Union address, maybe 5 or 6 per week.

Since you have or may be thinking about getting that 3D printer, could we possible see 3D MFP's (multifunctional device) that will scan 3D and copy 3D items in the near future?

Think about it, if I'm a novice user with a 3D printer and I'm really not good with engineering software or I'm tired of the template files that came with my 3D printer, why the heck would I want one?  Where I see the value at least for me, is the ability to place and item on the 3D MFP and then make copies of them. Think of it, you could make a copy of just about anything, whether it's a small part, a sculpture, nick knacks, flower pots, or whatever the heart desires. I'll admit I'm knew to the entire process of 3D printing, however if we had a 3D MFP would we'd be able to scan an item and then have that data transformed into a CAD or some type of engineering file.  Better yet, what about sending a copy of that item to another 3D printer that could be located anywhere in the world.  Could there be a 3D printer portable image format that's just dedicated to 3D MFP's for copying and scanning?  Would I be able to them email that to someone else?

Maybe 3D MFP's could be the first replicators that were used in Star Trek in the seventies.  I'm thinking there is a place for 3D MFP's in the very near future.  Would it be far fetched that we could scan out favorite pet and keep the likeness of them around forever?  Could we see color 3D MFP's in the near future?  The possibilities can become endless, but could also open up new businesses opportunities for those creative entrepreneurs.

Why haven't we seen any of the major copier manufacturers enter the industry?  It's a no brainer to me, closed consumables, service contracts, on site service and training it's all there. 3D printers would be a great additional to your dealerships portfolio of products and services offered also!

3D printers, 3D MFP's (maybe), but for right now it seems like it's the Wild, Wild West about this for this growing industry.

-=Good Selling=-

10 Things Might Not Know About Digital Duplicators

Every so often it seems I'm back on the duplicator band wagon for awhile.  For years I was only able to sell the Ricoh Priports, let me stop here for a moment. 

What does Priport mean or what possessed Ricoh to choose the name Priport?  If I had to choose a name for a hi speed duplicator I would have chosen something like DocuPress, Image Print or DupliPress many years ago.

In the last few months I've been able to learn more about the Riso Duplicators, and while my heart is still with the Ricoh Priport there are some awesome features with some of the Riso Duplicators. 

• The first true digital duplicator was developed

Growth Opportunities for Wide Format & The PEiR Group

This week I had an interesting email from Joel Salus. Joel is the Author "Reprographics 101" blog ad over the years we've been able to trade some information here and there.  Joel's blog can now be located at the IRgA web site.  The email was so informative about wide format that I asked Joel if I could use him as our Guest Blogger for this month.  Enjoy!

Hi Art,

The last time I dropped you an e-mail, your son had just graduated from Infantry Boot Camp. I hope your son is doing well!

Today, I visited your blog and read a couple of articles you posted about the Photizo Group conference you attended in Scottsdale. I received a "complimentary" invitation to attend the conference, but, unfortunately, I couldn't make it because I've had a very heavy workload the past couple of months .... and that hasn't let up yet.

I wanted to take just a minute to drop you a note about one thing you said in one of your recent blog posts.

Below, I've copied a sentence form that recent post:

"There seems to be growth opportunities for wide format systems, and we also mentioned the potential explosive growth for 3D printers".

Art, you may recall,

7 Questions for Lisa At OES

From time to time I try to get my sponsors involved with the MFP Solutions blog.

Sometimes a banner ad does not tell you enough about the company nor the person behind the product.  Many months ago I had an email from Lisa Chiu introducing her self and asking for help in promoting the products and services that she sells.  Over the last three months my team was able to help Lisa with building her website, optimizing for SEO, and promoting her brand.  While you may not know Lisa like I do, I think when you're done reading what we've put together you'll have a better understanding that Lisa is committed to the channel and committed to offering quality products and service. 

Without further ado (keep in mind that your truly does not do many of these interviews and I'm just learning) please enjoy my interview with Lisa!!

How long have you been in the toner supply industry and what did you do prior to OES Tech?

I've been in the industry for almost 10 years. I started in this field by selling OEM parts and supplies in laser and copier to individual technician in 2004. Not knowing anything about this industry, I really mean it..... zero knowledge.  Two months after I started, I asked one of the technicians give me a lesson by taking apart our copy machine Toshiba BD 2860.  It was then that I realized where all the consumables were in the equipment along with the function for each part.  I made sure to store them all in my head as  world map and I'd be able to relate to any supplies when technician calling order, I was also learn the interchange able models in between brands. I thought this is FUN!!!!….....Before that I was  in the Shoe industry as a Office manager , Shipping Supervisor & sales assist for east coast contract sales… pretty much I ran the whole company , I love selling and trading and anything that turns into green as everyone else out there. (Lisa)

What's special and unique about your company?

Things got twisted by the poor economy condition.  Since 2007 start shifting left and right till rolling down the hill three years ago, luckily  we are in the field will never die out but compress in size which trigger lots of thinking to lots others and including myself.. thinking change to different supplier with lower cost or changing business field. Then I thought with the resources I have in Compatible Supplies will definitely help customers to save in cost . “ If it is the Same then Why Pay More” from that point on I was able to change my business strategy and only deal with OEM Equivalent Supplies (O E S) , it’s not easy to convince your OEM user to aftermarket but everyone is interesting to saving. By passing out samples as free trials,  they loved it and started ordering pallets and pallets to central America and US domestic reseller. Things start working well and I keep tell my customer "No feedback it’s always a good feedback”.

Is there any one sale/order that stands out from another?

 I ran into a presentation with a well known Original Equipment Manufacturer and presented our products to 10+ directors and supervisors from Head corporation and sub dealers (I were sweat like no  tomorrow, with my 4 inches  on my feet… what a killing!! ) and every word you said it counts as a promise and documented. … after 30 minutes of the meeting /presentation the head director of the aftermarket supplies chain department asked me “ Why makes you think you capable to do business with us ? What makes you think you are special compare to all other companies out there?”  … I sat back the chair a little and thinking … Quality? Price? … Service ? Oh no,  I cant think of any thing my brain went blank but in less than 10seconds  I reply------ “well, we do not alternate sourcing of our products and I can invite all of you for a manufacturer site inspection” … I had found my spirit in business as Dedication.

Do you attend any of the ITEX or BTA events?

We do not exhibit any conventions but we do attend shows as to social with some of our clients and obtain information of the market.

Where do your supplies ship from and do you offer special discounts to Print4Pay Hotel members?

All our products are FOB CA 91789 ( Walnut, CA) . Full Fill 95%, rest will fulfill with 1-business day.  Daily cutoff 4pm . order can be accept by email or you may obtain User ID and Password to browsing and place order on our site.  Normal Customer who order over $750 will get Free shipping . For P4P Hotel member you will get Free shipping when order over $500.00.

Do you guarantee your products?

We do pallet loads order all time , we guaranty 1year with 1:1 replacement.

Note from Art:  If you're a Print4Pay Hotel member and even  a dedicated reader of the MFP Solutions Blog, I can't do what I do without the help of companies like OES Tech and our sponsors. Please find the time visit Lisa's site www.oestech.com and to also call Lisa and ask us to tell us more about those 4 inch heels!!  Thank God I don't have to sell in those.

 

-=Good Selling=-