Copier & MFP Sales Tips

MFP Copier Cold Calling

Some of us like and most of us of don’t like it. It’s the COLD CALL, the day from hell or the day to have some fun. If you've been doing it as long as I have, well then you to have paid a small fortune in shoes, along with sore ankles at the end of the day.

I must say the most daunting task is to open a door where you can’t see what is on the other side, will there be rejection or jubilation! Most times it will be rejection. Get use to it, its part of the job and comes with the territory. Attitude, Attitude and more tude will help you overcome the rejection and plow ahead. You always must keep in mind that you are there to give them a better solution or a better way of doing things, and if they are not interested then that’s their loss!

What, I hate most is a NO SOLICITING sign on the door. I think it’s rude and vulgar, every single one of these companies sell something to someone. Full speed ahead right? You may want to think twice about this and send the owner or CEO a fedex letter or package. That will get their attention.

Here are a few tips to get you going

Make Quality Cold Calls

Make a plan to visit those companies you'd like to do business with. Before you’re on your merry way do some research on those companies via the Internet. Find out the name of the CEO, CFO or the principal, find out what they do and who they do business with. When you're in the office, ask for help. “Can you help me? I like to know who is the person who takes care of your blueprint system”, then ask for additional help such as “When I speak to him or her, can you help with some additional information so I can be prepared when we speak” Your main objective is to get the “right” name and you also may want to ask what the best time to contact that person is.

Send literature

As soon as you get back to the office, send an opening letter and some literature. Be specific when you are going to call that person such as naming the date and the time of the phone call.

Follow up call

Remember that date and time that you gave them for the follow up call. Use it to your advantage and stage your call at the precise time you said you would. Even if you don’t get through, the message will leave a big impression that you followed up when you said you would.

Create Interest in the first 5 seconds

Hello Mr. or Mrs. Smith. Our company specializes in the cost reduction of wide format blueprint systems. Depending on what equipment you have now, and your objectives you may want to consider taking a look at our cost saving devices.

ABC (Always Be Cold Calling)

Over the years I have found Cold Calling to be the best way to find new business. Try some vertical market cold calling next time. For instance let’s say you want to focus on the AEC market. Do the research on the Internet in your territory and pick out ten firms that you think would need your services. Vertical Market Cold Calls are awesome, the more you do, the more you’ll become proficient in their needs and applications.

Ricoh MPC Series "Best of the Best"

You think I could have gotten a little more creative with the title?

Just about eighteen months ago Ricoh launched the MPC series, this series Incorporated the same engine for 5 different models and 5 different speeds. Let me tell you this was genius, from a sales persons point of view, if I knew one I knew em all. From a technical side and I do have technical back ground, these units just keep running and running and the quality is awesome from print one to 1,000,000.

What did Ricoh do right, well for one they introduced PxP toner, where the toner is chemically grown and particles are more uniform in size. Fuser oil was eliminated thus creating less user involvement, preventative maintenance was increased to 80,000 pages, support for heavy paper was added and to top it off color speeds were equal to black and white speeds!

From a sales point of view this system kicks butt because of several options that Ricoh added, such as a booklet maker to all of the systems, before this booklet makers were only available on the higher speed units. We know have heavy paper with 140lb paper through the 100 sheet by-pass and 120lb index through all of the paper drawers (this was unheard of in a Ricoh product).

Features that I like best is fax4ward to email, this really acts as a mini fax server, all inbound faxes can be routed to a folder or a single email address (what a way to save paper). The ability to store documents on the hard drive, view them in color and then print the documents from the MPC series, did I mentioned that you can also load them on the hard drive via the print driver! How about the ability to print onto 12x18 paper, thus giving customer in the AEC market place the ability to print half size CAD documents.

Above all, the reliability of this unit has been awesome in the field, not one complaint from one customer over the last 18 months and I probably have about 60 of these in the field. Whether the customer is making 1,000 or 10,000 pages a month the system does its work flawlessly.

In the near future Ricoh will be expanding this line up with an 18 & 22ppm system, thus covering a wider range of speeds and volumes. So, if you're in the Print4Pay Market, AEC (Architects Engineers Construction) or anyone who needs and awesome color unit. Go buy it, or lease it, the MPC2000, MPC2500, MPC3000, MPC3500, and MPC4500 is an awesome value that just keeps on running.

-=Good Selling-=

Selling Copiers " How to Maximize GP"

Thought about this the other day in car, made myself pull over and jotted down a few notes for everyone. I've complied a laundry list of points that I have adhered to in order to maximize Gross Profit.

Over the years I've also concentrated on moving boxes no matter what the cost. I will address this in a blog later this month.

"Maximize GP"

1. Stay away from Clients who are just looking to replace a box. If you are aware there are multiple players quoting, be prepared to get a low GP and not get the deal. These Clients are buying on price, it will take an extra special effort to get the deal and also get a decent GP. Do you have the time or the fortitude to hang in there? Why not set your sites on sales that will pay the bills.


2. Search for Clients who are NOT in the market! While cold calling in person, take a good look at how they do things. Ask the receptionist if they are scanning, LAN Faxing, printing to inkjets etc... Try to get an appointment to introduce yourself and when you're there don't ask about replacing a piece of hardware, however do ask if they are experiencing document problems, such as lost documents, making too many copies, high maintenance bills, excess breakdown of hardware, how their document workflow is conducted. Selling like this enables you to find their pain and may help you introduce a solution that can be bundled with a new piece of hardware.


3. Sell the Extras! As you are writing the order or as you are drawing up the lease ask again about any accessories that may benefit the customer. Finsihing, Papertrays, 3-Hole Punching etc... the Client will be more apt to spend the extra money at this time to conclude the order.


4. Lead With Solution Software! Look at what your manufacturer has to offer for embedded solutions along with third party solutions that your dealership has to offer. Lead with offerings for embedded print management, document management and LAN Fax solutions. Here you are setting yourself apart from the BOX seller (trust me, there are too many reps that still just sell boxes).


5. Upgrade Your Account Base Early! Do not wait for them to call you or for the last 90 days of the lease. You've got to be in there at lease one year or more prior to the end of the lease.


6. Become an Expert in Secondary Systems! Specialize in Wide Format, Digital Duplicators if your company offers these hardware solutions. There is is less competition and less reps who are competent with the solutions that come with these system. Take the time to learn your Vertical Markets for AEC, Print4Pay, Schools and Religion Accounts. Once you become an expert, you will stand out among the crowd.
   
   

In order to be successful you have to be the best at what you are doing. Put your self in opportunities to succeed and make a move to break away from the pack. Our job can be very rewarding, however being an order taker and just relying on Clients who are in the market will be the kiss of death.

Riding the Wave of Wide Format Color Copiers!

Are you riding the wave or still looking for your surf or boogie board? As the demand for scanning (color & monochrome) is at an all time high in the general office, the demand for color scanning is also gaining popularity in the AEC (Architectural, Engineering and Construction).

Recently, a few accounts have asked me for color wide format scanners to complement their existing wide format technology.

We have the a full line of scanners available through Paradigm Imaging, so in search of a solution one day I paid a visit Paradigm Imagings web site and to review all of their wide format scanners. I was in search of a color scanner, with a 36" throat (this would be the widest document that you could insert for scanning). What I found was amazing, a good quality color scanner could retail anywhere from $12,000 to $17,000! Plus, the margins were ok at best.

Now, I've been working with Paradigm Imaging for awhile and never really saw the value of their new EIS models. To tell you the truth, I saw, I read but didn't comprehend the value of these systems! Let me tell you this, if you are selling in the AEC market place and you have not checked out the EIS models (Multifunctional Wide Format), then you're missing the wave for increased sales and solutions!

Paradigm has about 12 different EIS configurations, the one that impressed me most is the Quatra series. The Quartra series is available in three different configurations, the M, C & E.

The one that I needed is the "C" series which includes a 36" color scanner, a 24" wide format ink printer and a Rockect PC Controller. Once installed the customer can color scan, color copy, scan2print or print and this is all controlled from the touch screen UI (User Interface) that comes with the Rocket Controller. BEST OF ALL, the MSRP is only $8,995. Now you can probably guess where I'm going with this.

We now have the ability to add value to our existing wide format placements, make the calls, there is a need for wide format color scanning, & copying. If you've hit a wall with your existing monochrome devices, along with many new players now selling wide format. You now have a real story to tell and solution to sell to your existing wide format accounts. Typically wide format copies can sell for as much as $3.00 per square foot and color wide format scans can be as high as $20 per scan. So, how many square feet or wide format scans do it take to justify one of these? I have done the math, with wide format color scanning, it only takes 9 scans to justify a Quatra, and this may be the easiest path to follow when conducting the ROI.

Go ride the wave, this is really what we needed!!!!