Selling Copiers "Is Your Dealership Prepared for the Future?"

The blog below was posted some time ago on the Print4Pay Hotel forums. It was intended for P4P Members on how to gauge the type of dealership or direct channel that they are working for and if they should continue or look elsewhere.

Mike K had written this for us and has since left the industry and he worked for one of the largest direct dealers in the US.  Do I need to say more?  Anyway it's good stuff and it's a good read. ENJOY!

Are you working for a dealership prepared for the future of Office Technology?

This might sound like I am making a big deal out of nothing, but I am not.  You are making good money and the deals are closing, but you are losing some of the bigger deals, people in immediate need and you cannot compete in bids or large deals.  Your dealership could be a sinking ship and you better be one of the first out and not the last because your reputation will be tarnished.

I had asked myself these exact questions a year ago. My answer was mostly no for each one. Below are questions that you should answer yes for at least 80% of them.  Questions with the # next to them are “a must.”

#Does your dealership have inventory?

          -What good is a sale if you have no product!!!

Does your dealership have demo/loaner inventory?

          -You need to show and make sure it is the correct solution.

#Does your dealership have Certified Network Engineers?

          -What if something happens while doing network install?

Does your dealership have a software solution expert?

          -You need someone with completely understands all possible software.

#Does your dealership have delivery staff?

          -You need to be selling and not delivering!

#Does your dealership have a real retirement plan that they contribute?

          -The dealership should invest in the well being of their employees.

Does your dealership have a gated commission plan for each deal?

          -This way you or they will not lose money later on.

#Can your dealership pay you all you commissions on time? 

          (Ex: March commissions paid by April 30^th)

         

Does your dealership have an internal bonus program?

          -They need to invest in the strongest reps and keep them happy.

          80/20 rule applies here!

Does your dealership have President Club Trips?

          -They need to invest in the strongest reps and keep them happy.

          Not to Dealer Sales Meetings!

          80/20 rule applies here also!

Is there a better printer or copier that would do this type of work?

Here's an email I got from one of my Blog readers.  Special thanx to that person and I hope we've helped and a Certified P4P Hotel Member should have contacted you by now.
Art,

I read your advice on total cost of a Ricoh Aficio SP 430DN. do you have any suggestion of a longer term lower cost solution. I have real estate agents that we produce marketing materials for in color. Our current color printer(HP3600n) is way under powered for what we need. I like the Ricoh because of the low cost of consumables, realize that once you hit 50,000 prints there are quite a few components that need to be replaced.

We are printing newsletters on legal paper from Word, two sided in color, then we fold them with a machine. The goal it to send a print job of 1500 newsletters and let it rip. 25-30 prints per minute will do, speed is not the main goal, reliability and low cost per print is.

Is there a better printer or copier that would do this type of work? We're trying to keep the initial outlay at $1000 or less. I'm ok with a used machine if the copy count is low. I'm a pretty technically skilled end user and refill my own print cartridges and can change out drums myself. I'm looking at buying two machines (two offices) and purchasing bulk toner to refill the cartridges.

Your suggestions?
You posed this: "The goal is to send a print job of 1,500 newsletters and let it rip".

Me:  How often will you do this per month or per year? (I had an answer a day later that the volume was going to be 15,000 - 20,000 color pages per month)

This will give me a better idea of what to recommend.

There's a funny thing about color printers and it's from all of the manufacturer’s not just one of them. When a manufacturer states a cost per page most times (95%), it does not include certain parts that need to be replaced in order to maintain optimum print quality, thus the low cost of consumables is not that low any more. These items are usually the transfer belt (imaging belt) and fuser (fixes the toner on the paper). Plus another not so well know fact is the page coverage for printers is rated at 4% coverage, which means if you condensed all of the image area into a square it can't cover more than 4% of the total area (for color printers this gets raised to 16% since there are four colors). I doubt that you are only printing 16% coverage on the page and probably more likely it's 40% (you could email me a sample page for verification).

Another not so good thing about color printers is most manufacturers over state how long the consumables will last. Printing onto thicker stock, envelopes, thin stock, printing less than 5 pages at a time, heat, humidity all take their toll. It's very rare that I see a printer get the manufacturer’s suggested yield for transfer belts, drums, fusers and developers.

Service usually is not included, meaning if the printer breaks and needs a part you'll need to pay extra for this, again this drives up your cost per page. So, where the Ricoh 430DN is .0976 (I don't believe this is correct, however that's what Ricoh states, I think it's more like .15 cents per page when you factor in service, parts and premature consumables) per page is does not include parts, nor service, nor premature failure of the parts I just mentioned.

What I'm getting at is your printing 1,500 pages and the cost per page of the new Ricoh is .15 cents that means on average you’ll spend $225 per month in consumables, service, parts and maintenance. Plus the cost of the printer, let's say you bought it for $1,000, amortized over 36 months means another $30 per month in the hardware cost. You add the consumables and the hardware and you're spending $255 per month. Odds are the printer won't last 5 years either and you'll have to buy another, and that adds another increase to your costs~

I'd like to see you get a color copier/printer that will last for years and years! These systems can be leased for 5 years for $83 (MPC 2030) per month and you can buy a cost per page agreement. The cost per page agreement means that the dealer will charge you .09 cents per page for color and bill you for 1,500 pages each and every month for a total of $135. Included in the $135 is all consumables, all parts, labor, maintenance and service, and basically you could put as much toner on the page as you want. So for $218 you have maintenance, service and parts included!! Not a bad deal.

My point, color printers are sold so you'll keep buying the consumables, it's a never ending cycle. Color copiers by far are the best choice as long as you have the volume. The more you print on a color copier the cheaper it becomes.

If you're in need of an expert to help you in making a total cost of ownership decision, I have Certified Print4Pay Hotel members that can consult and lead you in the right direction.
You posed:

I'm a pretty technically skilled end user and refill my own print cartridges and can change out drums myself. I'm looking at buying two machines (two offices) and purchasing bulk toner to refill the cartridges.

My response:

I'm not being rude, but if your volume is the 1,500 pages per month, you need to concentrate on your core business which is selling and not jerking about with refilling, replacing, and ordering of cartridges, you'll make more in one extra sale per year.

-=Good Selling=-

Cashing in with MFP Solutions

Another Labor Day has come and gone. Schools are back, along with getting stuck behind the caravans of yellow buses, especially when I'm trying to get to an appointment. Why must New Jersey school buses stop every two blocks or so, come on kids, get up earlier and walk 6 miles to school every day! I did it, well kinda, I had almost a two mile walk to and from school everyday.

What are your thoughts about a solution? Does selling a solution means that you sold a software applcation such as PPDM, NSI or Digi Doc Flow? Well.......yes, and how about if you just sold and MFP with no software application, does that mean the deal was not a solution? Hell No, MFP's have embedded solutions too!

Finding a clients pain means and having a solution to the clients pain means you're going to get a decent margin on your system or you're of the top choices for the client.

We found such a solution with one of our Ricoh devices, however it didn't start out that way. The client presented thier pain to us (that made it simple and we didn't have to drag it outta them), they needed a way to capture all of the pages of a walkup out bound fax electronic and seemless to the end user (meaning the user did not have to anything but input the number and press start/send). MY first thoughts were.........uh...well....NSI, Document Mall, and ....and that was kinda it. With that I stated we'll get back to you, so off I went to collaborate with the team and after many emails, and many phone calls we were'nt getting anywhere with an easy, inexpensive solution. With that I decided to put a post on the Print4Pay Hotel forums and see what the P4P guru's had to say.

Within 48 hours and 9 threads we had our answer, the solution was already embedded in the Ricoh box! With a few touches in the user control panel we were able to capture all outbound faxes and have them routed to a folder on the network, along with that the person sending the fax just had to keep on doing what they were always doing, dial the number and hit start/send!

So, what's my point? First point is that the client had no need to shop us since the solution was embedded and thier was no additional cost. The second, is that I don't know all of the features that the MFP's are capable of. I now realize that I need to spend more time reviewing the product manuals for these devices, I could have saved countless hours, but thanx to the resource and efforts of collaborating with Print4Pay Hotel members I had found someone who had the used the same type of solution.

Guess, it's kinda like KISS (Keep it Simple Stupid), go the book, check out the FAB (Features, Advantages and Benefits), if your answer isn't there check out the Print4Pay Hotel forums and at last resort check out all of the software solutions.

In this case the solution was in the MFP already, and in my book, that's a darn good solution sale! Special thanx to the the P4P member who took the time to help and post the solution.

-=Good Selling=-

Copier Questions Forum Launched!

The p4photel has just released a beta version for Copier Questions Message Board Forum. The Copier Questions Forum is designed to give end users the ability to ask our Docusultants questions that pertain to copiers and office equipment.

The Copier Questions Forum is the first forum dedicated to end users where they can have their questions answered from our p4photel members. Members will be able to monitor the boards and assist end users with tips, provide answers and even provide consulting advise to those looking to purchase a new system or evaluate their current cost and document workflow.

Registration is free, and like other p4photel forums there is no cost to become a member. Please take the time to visit, and ask questions. We will be adding additional features to the Copier Questions Forum in the upcoming months.

The p4photel also manages industry message boards for copier sales people, copier technicians and customer service representatives for Dealers and Manufacturers. Manufacturers boards now include Ricoh Family Group (Ricoh, Savin, Lanier), Kyocera Mita, KonicaMinolta, Canon & Xerox.