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=-

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.”

# # #

The Future of Imaging a Round Table Discussion

I had the opportunity to sit in on round table discussion at this weeks Photizo Transform 2013 Event in Scottsdale.

I thought we had a great slice of people from the industry, a couple of MPS players from South Africa and Canada (Go Leafs!), another MPS provider from LA, a representative from Dell, marketing person from a Document Management Software provider, two additional providers that I did not get the chance to meet and then myself . 

The open discussion or statement from the MPS provider in LA was that he was not sure that Managed Network Services was the Holy Grail for his company. However he did admit that he had lost a tremendous volume of pages to a company that decided to move the information from being printed on pages to email.  One day it was there and the next

Checking In & Out at The Print4Pay Hotel

This was an article written by Scott Cullen (Scott also operates The Week in Imaging) back in 04, I've  updated some of the numbers such as total members, membership demographics, page views and a few other items to keep it current. (Art)

By: Scott Cullen

When one checks into the Print4Pay Hotel it’s the guests who receive tips, not the staff. The Print4Pay Hotel: The Imaging Professional's Resource Center is a Website (www.p4photel.org) and message board focused on providing extensive imaging product information to resellers as well as a forum for imaging industry personnel to share knowledge. Although most members work for different dealerships, virtually all sell and service the Ricoh, Lanier, Savin, Sharp, Canon, KonicaMinolta, Toshiba, Muratec, Okidata, Lexmark, Xerox  and Kyocera family print devices.

The site also contains an impressive collection of documents, price quotes, competitive proposals, self help documents, RFP's, and brochures on various manufacturers office equipment. Art Post, CEO of the Print4Pay Hotel and Docusultant with Century Office Products in Edison, NJ, is the architect behind the Print4Pay Hotel. The site allows digital imaging specialists to share information and find answers quickly, says Post. It's also a place where imaging professionals can store their knowledge, search their knowledge, and share their inspirations, ideas and passion for the industry.

Launched twelve years ago on a MSN community, Post eventually switched to his

MFP & Copier Industry Weekend Notes 2/26/2012

March will see the end of the first quarter of 2012 and I hope we're all doing well! I'll be off to Cabo San Lucas in 10 days for our companies Presidents Club Trip. I'm looking forward to relaxing with no web, no phone, no calls!

So, what's big for this week? Well Ricoh launched new C4502/5502 and what's really cool is that we now have the ability to connect to cloud services. I'm looking forward to getting our first one and setting it up with UDOCX, can't wait!!!

I've started a new forum for posting our "best sale of the month", I think it would be educational for all of us to hear you brag about the sale, how you nailed it, how you found the customer, did a solution deal the deal, how much GP of revenue you gained, and or clicks that you captured. There's also a $25 gift card incentive for one P4P'er each from from one of our advertisers. Tell us About Your Best Sale this Month!

You've heard it before, we need your help in clicking on the banner ads, these banner ads support the P4P and keep the basic membership FREE, give them a click to see what's new, you maybe surprised at what you find.

On another note we've posted "Effective emails for obtaining appointments", and they are great! They are not from me, but from your peers, check em out in the P4P Document Library!

Please take advantage of the sales documents, quotes, proposals, rfp's, rfq's, uploads, p4p library, downloads and all of the additional forum features that are enabled with a Premium Membership!

Please support our Advertisers by clicking their links and giving them a call! LCA Leasing Corp, Stethos USA, Jetmobile, Polek & Polek, UDOCX, Print Audit, & Cybercon Dealer Services, sfSCAN, Pahoda Imaging, Dealer Marketing Systems, Industry Analysts, The Week in Imaging

Recent Blogs of Note
SMART MFP's 2the Cloud
 I dare you...
Managed Documents "The Next Big Thing"?
7 Tips When Competing with the Direct Channel
Chip Crunk Talks About RJ Young’s Acquisition of Ricoh Direct Branches

Interesting & Most Viewed P4P Forum Threads

New from Ricoh the C4502/5502
Profit Breakdown Question
New Samsung 11 x 17" Colour MFPs due Oct 01 USA
Can you trust the Cloud?
Oce cutting my throat in every deal!!!
Charging for computer related calls
Integrated cloud environment
RBS Takedown
New Ricoh 4410SPF "brainshark" review
Tell us About Your Best Sale this Month!

NEW! Uploaded MFP Docs in P4P Document Library
Customer Expectations 770 Digital Color Press v1-03 For Launch
Oki MPS files
"Unlocked" Winning Proposal Generator for MPS & MFP's
Production Print Study Excel Guide
Effective emails for obtaining appointments
5 Tips 4 Using the Web4Prospecting the “First Contact

Press Releases
Top North American School Districts Choose Print Audit®
Industry analysts from BERTL, Inc. award Canon for "Best Wide Format Product Line of
Research shows decision making swing toward individuals, says Ricoh
Konica Minolta to Exhibit Healthcare Solutions and Managed IT Services at HIMSS 2012
Paper-Intensive Businesses Use New Xerox DocuMate 4760 to Easily Scan Piles of

P4P Poll Questions
January 2012 Sales Quota Poll
New Color Cost Per Page Poll for 60 ppm plus
New Color Cost Per Page Poll for 30-44 ppm COLOR
New Color Cost Per Page Poll for 45 - 59 ppm COLOR

New Leads, RFP's & RFQ's Uploaded!
Illinois
Georgia
Colorado
South Africa
West Virginia
Ohio
Texas

Uploaded Pricing Proposals & Quotes
End User Report for Xerox 700 vs KonicaMinolta
konicaminolta bizhub c360
Copystar (Kyo) CS255C
Ricoh S5200 proposal
Ricoh C751 proposal

The Staff at the Print4Pay Hotel

Weekend Copier & MFP Updates for 2/12/2012

Seems Kycoera now has a cost per page billing model based on coverage, similar to Xerox's Cube. Plus, could there really be a move by Direct to start selling off Direct Banches that are Losers? You can read more on this in the forums and the blog.

Look, I've added BLI reports for FREE, get the full report, these are limited to what I found and they are in the Competition Lounge & Street Pricing II forums.

You've heard it before, we need your help in clicking on the banner ads, these banner ads support the P4P and keep the basic membership FREE, give them a click to see what's new, you maybe surprised at what you find.

On another note we've posted "Effective emails for obtaining appointments", and they are great! They are not from me, but from your peers, check em out in the P4P Document Library!

Please take advantage of the sales documents, quotes, proposals, rfp's, rfq's, uploads, p4p library, downloads and all of the additional forum features that are enabled with a Premium Membership!
Please support our Advertisers by clicking their links and giving them a call! LCA Leasing Corp, Stethos USA, Jetmobile, Polek & Polek, UDOCX, Print Audit, & Cybercon Dealer Services, sfSCAN

Click the headline link to access the log in page, if you're not a member please register while it;s still FREE!

Recent Blogs of Note
Death of the Direct Copier Channel? "part two"
Selling Copiers & MFP's "Color Cost Page for 2 Cents"
Selling Copiers & MFP's "From Rags to Riches for 20 cents a Day"
The Death of The Direct Copier Channel?
Selling Copiers & MFP's "P4P Hotel Members Are Quota Busters"

Interesting & Most Viewed P4P Forum Threads
ITEX 2012 OFFERS COMPREHENSIVE DEALER EDUCATION INCLUDING
... and you thought copiers were boring!
RICOH/IKON sales merge
Canon shaking up the great white north
Konica Minolta 10% Price Increase April 01/12
Using email to set appointments
Ricoh 2352 & 2852?
Print4Pay Hotel TV
ELP New Product Video

NEW! Uploaded MFP Docs in P4P Document Library
Effective emails for obtaining appointments
5 Tips 4 Using the Web4Prospecting the “First Contact
FREE Xerox® Phaser® 6280DN vs. Lexmark C544dn
FREE KonicaMinolta bizhub PRESS C8000 BLI Production Print ReviewFREE
FREE Kyocera TASKalfa 7550C BLI Test Reports

Press Releases
Canon U.S.A. Receives Seven Winter "Pick" Awards from Buyers Laboratory LLC
Fuji Xeroes in on rivals with 'revolutionary' new printer
Japan's Ricoh & group companies downgraded to 'A'
Konica Minolta Launches bizhub C754/C654 Color MFP Series Featuring New INFO-Palette
Print Audit® Welcomes INNATO to its New Premier Subscription Program

P4P Poll Questions
January 2012 Sales Quota Poll
New Color Cost Per Page Poll for 60 ppm plus
New Color Cost Per Page Poll for 30-44 ppm COLOR
New Color Cost Per Page Poll for 45 - 59 ppm COLOR

New Leads, RFP's & RFQ's Uploaded!
GENERAL OFFICE EQUIPMENT (MFD’S) FOR THE CITY OF
REQUEST FOR COPIER PROPOSALS The School District of University
12 MFp's in Illinois
MFP & MPS RFP in California
17 MFP's in Michigan

Uploaded Pricing Proposals & Quoteskonicaminolta bizhub c360
Copystar (Kyo) CS255C
Ricoh S5200 proposal
Ricoh C751 proposal
Kyocera 3500 Quote

-=Good Selling=-
The Staff at the Print4Pay Hotel

Weekend Copier & MFP Updates for 2/5/2012

There's been a few interesting developments this week such as customized cost per page billing, major delays in getting equipment due to the hard drive shortage, a major recall of printers and MFPs from KonicaMInolta and the resignation on Canon.jp CE0.  You can read more on this in the forums and the blog.

Look, I've added BLI reports for FREE, get the full report, these are limited to what I found and they are in the Competition Lounge & Street Pricing II forums

You've heard it before, we need your help in clicking on the banner ads, these banner ads support the P4P and keep the basic membership FREE, give them a click to see what's new, you maybe suprised at what you find.

Hotel's Production Print Certification Testing!  That's right now posted on P4P U Certifications & Testing are the first five tests in a total of ten tests. There will be a new test posted each month for the next five months!

Please take advantage of the sales documents, quotes, proposals, rfp's, rfq's, uploads, p4p library, downloads and all of the additional forum features that are enabled with a Premium Membership!

Recent Blogs of NoteThe Death of The Direct Copier Channel?
Selling Copiers & MFP's "P4P Hotel Members Are Quota Busters"
Ricoh A4 MFP vs Canon A4 MFP "Who Wins with Scanning"?
Selling Copiers & MFP's "First Contact"
Selling Copiers & MFP's "The Tax Man Cometh"

Interesting & Most Viewed P4P Forum ThreadsITEX 2012 OFFERS COMPREHENSIVE DEALER EDUCATION INCLUDING
The Death of the Direct Channel?
Fire! Fire! Fire sale @ KonicaMinolta!
SP 5200 Series A4
Canon President Steps Down as Forecast Misses
Using email to set appointments
End of 2011 Sales Quota Poll
Print4Pay Hotel TV
ITEX 2012 in Las Vegas


NEW! Uploaded MFP Docs in P4P Document Library 5 Tips 4 Using the Web4Prospecting the “First Contact
FREE Xerox® Phaser® 6280DN vs. Lexmark C544dn
FREE KonicaMinolta bizhub PRESS C8000  Production Print ReviewFREE
FREE Kyocera TASKalfa 7550C Test Reports
FREE Kyocera TASKalpha 5550ci  Lab Test Report

Press ReleasesCanon President Steps Down as Forecast Misses
Kyocera Mita America Multifunctional Products and Printers Named ...
Xerox Unveils IaaS, Backup SMB Cloud Services
Ricoh's Unique New Publishing Event Showcases the Industry's Future:
Konica Minolta 3rd Quarter/March 2012 Consolidated Financial Results

P4P Poll QuestionsJanuary 2012 Sales Quota Poll
New Color Cost Per Page Poll for 60 ppm plus
New Color Cost Per Page Poll for 30-44 ppm COLOR
New Color Cost Per Page Poll for 45 - 59 ppm COLOR

New Leads, RFP's & RFQ's Uploaded!Request for Proposal For Digital Copiers in Houston
3-Year Copier Lease
Health Support Services Needs Color COpier
200K copier Bid in Meid West USA
3-Year Copier Lease

Uploaded Pricing Proposals & Quotes
Ricoh S5200 proposal
Ricoh C751 proposal
Kyocera 3500 Quote
"Pricing on the Street" Canon 3245i
"Pricing on the Street" KonicaMinolta bizhub423

-=Good Selling=-

Countdown to the 1,000th Copier & MFP Blog

What started as a way to vent, turned into an aspiration to share informative information among my peers in the Copier and MFP Indsutry.

In the last 5 years I've met some awesome people and keep in touch with many awesome P4P'ers (that's our short name for forum members) that I've never met.  In short most or all of these people have helped me sell more, become more knowledgeable and continue to inspire me!

I started the MFP Solutions Blog in January of 2007, I can't believe it's been five years!  The Blog title was Has Ricoh Under Estimated Color Scanning?  With this blog we'll have 952 with 48 left to reach the 1,000th Blog.

Over the years, I've tried to get readers of the MFP Solutions Blog to migrate to the Print4Pay Hotel forums. With the forums we have a closed secure way of sharing just about everything related to the Imaging Industry.  To date the Print4Pay Hotel has over 3,000 followers via the forums, twitter, feedblitz, and Linkedin. 

This year marked a milestone where the Print4Pay Hotel and Forums hit the ONE MILLION page view mark in late October of this year.  October of this year also saw our highest page views ever on the forums at 143,000 page views! 

On some other notes, our advertisers have benefited also, October of this month readers of the blog and forums produced almost 10,000 click through to one advertisers, while 5 others came in at close to 4,000 click through, and one new advertiser came in at over 3,000. If you like information about advertising with us please send me an email art@p4photel.com

Our revolver map shows visits from 171 countries in the last year. 

Also I've posted a short list of our most viewed Blogs from the last 5 years:

Copier Sales Forums Oct 15, 2007 3,272 Pageviews

I Want My....I Want My..... SMART MFP Jun 21, 2011, 2,892 Pageviews

HP LaserJet Pro CM1415 Color "What's the Total Cos... Sep 29, 2010, 2,143 Pageviews

Print4Pay Hotel's Copier Forums "Weekend Updates" Apr 3, 2011 1,833 Pageviews

"MFP Weekend Industry Updates" P4P Hotel forums Apr 10, 2011 1,576 Pageviews

Panasonic Copier Division Dumps all but a Handful ... Feb 14, 2009, 1,525 Pageviews

Special Kudos to all, thank you for taking the time to read what I post and write on the forums and the blog. 

-=Good Selling=-

Selling Copiers & MPF's "The Perfect Storm"

Since 2007 our industry has been tested with the Great Recession, many of the companies we did bsuiness with are now out of business or just fighting to stay alive.

Some say the Great Recession is over, I'm not buying it, I think we've never come out of it.

The Great Recession is one part of the Perfect Storm that's humbled our industry.  Years ago, talk was that the copier industry was always the least affected when there was an economic slowdown.  Those days are gone...probably forever. 

In early March the Great Tohoku Earthquake of 8.9 devastated Northern Japan with a Sunami, failure of the Fukushima Nuclear reactors and caused severe supply chain issues for companies like Ricoh, Canon, Toshiba, Fuji Xerox along with all of the secondary tech companies that supported the copier/printer industry. We're still feeling the effects of certain MFP models that are on the "constrained" list. Some toner supplies are still in short supply and some key factories were closed in Northern Japan to never open again.

Just last week, seems I was not even aware of this until a Print4Pay Hotel member posted a thread on the forums about the sever flooding in Thailand.  A quote for Storage Newsletter "The HDD industry never encounters such a natural disaster in its history. Earthquakes in Japan had a minor effect compared to what's happening in Thailand."

25% of all Hard Drive assembly plants are located in Thailand, 95% of all Copiers and MFP's are equipted with Hard Drives.  The shortage looms on the copier industry again, in addition another company named Nidec was hit hard.  Here's a thread from a Print4Pay Hotel member about Nidec "And everyone better hope that Nidec's factories that were hit by the flood were not its printing related factories. Few know Nidec, but they make a solid portion of the motors and brushes found in copiers."

I admit I knew nothing of the flood, and how devastating the flood is for the people of Thailand and the effect on the Bang Pa Industrial Park.

It seems it been one thing after another, the economy, the devastation in Japan and now the historic flooding in Thailand.  I'll be watching the situation with Nidec and the Hard Factories closely and I'm sure there will be additional threads posted on the Print4Pay Hotel forums from other P4P'ers.

Anyone have anything they can add on the situation in Thailand??

-=Good Selling=-

P4P Hotels Look Back at Special War Time "Ways to Save and Serve"

I was going through some items that had been my parents and came across boxes full of media from the late 30's through the 70's. One pamphlet that I found was printed in 1942 and suggest on "Ways to Save and Serve" during the wartime effort.

I enjoyed reading this and thought that other P4P'ers might enjoy the read and get a better handle on what their parents or grandparents went through during WWII.
120 Ways to Save on Food
A Word to the Wise

Government study has shown that Americans waste fully 20% of their food through spoilage and over-generous portions which are "pecked at". Practice the food savers in this book. Serve moderate helping first, second helping if wanted. This sensible practice minimizes unusable leftovers-and moderate servings look more appetizing. If your food bill is $10 per week, you can save about $100 a year, according to the Government, merely by adopting this conservation corps habit.

Don't be too bashful to add up your grocery and butcher bills before paying them. To err is human, but don't let the error be at your expense.

Plan your meals by the week with a careful eye to ration values, as well as prices. The savings you will make by such foresight will buy many a war stamp.

Canned Good Facts

Now that the lid is down on canned goods, drop your prejudice against lower-grade markings. Higher-priced markings some¬times indicate only larger, better¬shaped and "matched" contents, not greater food value.

Bulging ends on tin cans are a danger signal. The contents have probably begun to ferment and spoil. Nothing wrong, though, with cans that are merely dented.

Use the liquid from canned vegetables in soups, sauces, stews, gravies, casserole dishes, and for making white sauce for creamed vegetables.

Note from Art:

Since I'm one of those late boomers. I now realize maybe where the phrase "make sure you finish your dinner" may have come from. The line that states over generous portions are "pecked" at. Please all comments or stories are welcome.

-=Good Selling=-

Daily Copier & MFP Industry Notes from around the World

Fuji Xerox (Kanagawa / Japan; http://www.fujixerox.com/) has developed a biomass plastic containing more than 50% by weight of plant-derived materials for use in mechanical components in interior moving sections of its printing and copying machines. The company began introducing...need to read more?

Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta) today announces the launch of SchoolFlow®, EducationFlow®, HealthFlow® and LegalFlow®, customized electronic document management suites developed in conjunction with Prism Software to address workflow demands across key vertical markets. Fully integrated with Konica Minolta’s...what to know more?


One of the questions I hear frequently is about the potential impact of memjet – the inkjet print head technology – on the wide format digital print market. This question is likely to become even more common following the announcements at Graph Expo and LabelExpo that two companies have become the first to integrate the memjet print head technology into wide format digital print solutions...read more

UDOCX will be at the SharePoint Conference next week in Anaheim. My collegue and UDOCX Product Manager Fabien van 't Woudt will be attending the conference next week monday and tuesday (3rd and 4th of October 2011). Please let me know if you need any additional information...read more

Redwood City, Calif. and Ramsey, N.J. - All Covered, a division of Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A. (Konica Minolta) focused on delivering high-performance Managed IT Services to small- and medium-sized businesses, is pleased to announce that Vertical IT Solutions, a Managed IT outsourcing company based in Tampa, Florida, has joined All Covered...read more

-=Good Selling=-
You know the story, it is not free.

You built a TV or a stereo into your cost and gave it away at N/C to the Decision Maker. I heard of one DM who get a free Recreational Trailer ($15k) if he signed on the dotted line.... and he did. ($10k copier + $15k trailer = $25k lease). I let how the DM handles these gifts up to themselves. If they object, no problem but the price remains the same. Is this ethical business practice?...want to read the rest?

MFP Scan2Cloud Poll from the Print4Pay Hotel

I'm watching the Giants lay waste to the RAMS, hopefully it stays that way!  In the mean time, a few months ago we posted a poll on the Print4Pay Hotel forums titled "Scan2Cloud Poll".

 We asked "Please vote on your estimation of what cloud-based solution integration would best help you in the field to capture additional business?

With many manufacturers having or ready to release scan2cloud services, we figured we'd ask the guys and the gals in the field what they would like to have.  I always like to see these polls turnout because I feel that the salespeople on the street have a better grip on what their customers want and not some wishy washy product manager trying to come to grips of what customers want.  Tell me when was the last time a product manager was in the field trying to sell a solution to an end user?  NEVER!

"Please vote on your estimation of what cloud-based solution integration would best help you in the field to capture additional business?


Scan2Microsoft SharePoint/Microsoft exchange server/Mircosoft 365/OCR & searchable pdf/Scan2Print (unlimited users)  50%

Scan2Fax Documents/multi cloud fax numbers (unlimited users) no mfp fax modem require 17%

Scan2Cloud/Documents stored offsite 33%

Scan2Evernote/Scan2box.net/Scan2google docs/Scan2email w/ OCR 4 Word & Excel/Scan2print (2 users) 0%

Scan2Evernote/Scan2email w/OCR & searchable .pdf 0%

There you have it, what I can tell you is that the first two poll questions are features that come with the UDOCX solution, 67% of our members felt that this was the best choice for them.

The third solution is a basic scan2cloud that is now being offered by a few different companies and last but not least are the last three.  But, key in a 4 & 5, this is a cloud solution soon to be released by one of the Big 4 (Xerox, Ricoh, KonicaMinolta and Canon) and not one member voted for that solution.  I can tell you upfront that the product being offered with those features will BOMB.

So you wanna know who?  Well, I ask you to log on to the Print4Pay Hotel forums and we'll show you which on eof the Big 4 it is.

-=Good Selling=-

What gives with the Copier Industry?

Recent months have seen major execs leaving the industry, either by their own accord or they got the boot (we may never know).  It seems to me after 32 years in the business that the industry is in turmoil.

Consolidation has taken it's toll with the likes of Canon, Ricoh, Xerox and KonicaMinolta.  However others like Kyocera and Sharp have been affected as well with the departure of McLaughlin (Sharp) and Pietrunti (Kyo). 

Focus....where is the focus, most still rely on revenue from box sales and consumables. The reduction of paper in the office seems to be taking it's toll thus the reason that the Big 4 have ventured into Managed Print Programs, Print Production and Healthcare document applications.

Just today Ricoh lost another Top Notch Exec (read my blog on this here).... that's at least 7 or 8 guys in the last three months that have been shown the door, retired or left for other opportunities from either Ricoh, Sharp, and Kyocera.

Where does that leave us, are we painting a picture of our own demise for the printed page?  The Big 4 continue to launch solutions that will reduce the amount of paper that printed and copied.  Kinda crazy for companies that rely on revenue from the printed page right? 

Will there be additional consolidation?  Not in the near future, I could be wrong but I'd bet dollars to doughnuts nothing major for the remaining months of 2011.

Remember to go to the Print4Pay Hotel forums to read about the latest exec to leave one of the Big 4.

-=Good Selling=-

Top Five Short Notes for MFP & Copier Industry

Sometimes you'll have the ability to rattle off 500 to 600 words with a blog and sometimes you're just left with a  little bit of this and a little bit of that.  Thus this brings to me my Top Five Short Notes for the week or the last two weeks.  If it's popular I'll try and continue for everyone. 

1.  Seems traffic at Graph Expo in Chicago was excellent for Monday and Tuesday of this week, however Sunday was no where near as good with 9/11, and the Bears game.

2.  Ricoh seems to have a definite hit on their hands with the new Ricoh C651 series print production color system!  Traffic was awesome and reviews were just as good.  I for one am chomping at the bit waiting for us to get our first system in the door.  More to come on this unit very soon!

3. Even though I run the Print4Pay Hotel forums, and I'm still out on the street selling, I still find the time to make the forums work for my customers.  I had an issue with postscript printing of booklets, and internally I had no one to turn to that could help me.  With the recent downturn of support and this goes for all manufacturers, I turned to the P4P forums and found a workaround that a fellow P4P'er had posted a few months ago.  I turned the customer onto the workaround, it worked and all was good for the account.  As one P4P'er stated a few years ago, "The service you have and are providing is INVALUABLE. Any RFG consultant/rep worth their salt should be utilizing your site. I would highly recommend you charge a reasonable fee for these services, as the information you provide from around the world cannot be packaged adequately by the manufacturers. Other associations from other industries charge for memberships; this is a very small investment that provides tremendous "edown-in-the-trenches" resources to the members."  BTW, the Print4Pay Hotel has a FREE basic membership.

4. I just read an article about Kodak and about how they are reinventing themselves as a digital player for print production and printers.  I'm thinking this was a recycled article and I'm thinking they've been trying to do this for years.  About a year ago Kodak was high on my list to sell their print production business, however with Ricoh still struggling with IKON, Canon still trying to join two different cultures with themselves and OCE, Xerox, ACS and Global still buying dealerships, KonicaMinolta???  Anyway you slice it, seems like no one may have the cash to pull off something big.

5. When will it start,  meaning it's not a matter of if it's going to happen, however when and by whom.  I see Auxilio as a prime target to be bought by like the likes of Ricoh, Canon, Xerox, or KonicaMinolta, hey maybe even Lexmark or Okidata.  To me the writing is on the wall. With the BIG 4 focusing on health care, government and law, Auxilio is fruit that's ripening on the vine and ready to be picked!

Well that's for those thoughts that have been pounding around in my head for the last few days, enjoy, comment if you wish but above all good selling to everyone!!

-=Good Selling=-

Top Ten Print Production Certification Tests

I'm excited to announce a new feature on the Print4Pay Hotel forums!  We just launched our first Certification Testing for the Print Production Industry. 

In all we'll have 10 tests that are intended to help you learn more about the terms, instruments, technology and language that's used in the Print Production Industry. The speeds and feeds are up to you. These Certification Tests are posted in the Print4Pay Hotel U forums.

We realize that the growth in the Copier/MFP industry is at the very high end.  However, the systems from Canon, Ricoh, Xerox, HP and KonicaMinolta require you to be an expert with work flow and know what your system can and can't do along with your competitors. Now we can't tell what each machine can and can't do, but we can help with growing your knowledge in the Print Production Industry.

The Certification Testing is open to all members, however all of the research documents will need to be downloaded from the Print4Pay Hotel forums.  These documents will be posted in on the P4P's Document Library for easy access.

For each week for the next 10 weeks we'll post a new Print Production Certification on the forums.  We'll be uploading new documents to the P4P Document Library also.  Make no mistake!  This is an excellent way to gain additional knowledge and become and expert in a matter of months.  Upon completion of a passing grade you'll be able to print out your Print Production Certificate that recognizes your achievement.

I've got a head start on this and we've already posted the first two certification tests, and they can be accessed here.

Print Production Certification Test 1

Print Production Certification Test II

-=Good Selling=-

10 Tips for a Successful MFP Walkthrough

Just yesterday this question "I'm searching for best questions to ask on a walk through. New to the industry and would welcome your input." was posted on the Print4Pay Hotel forums.

I thought it would be a good topic for everyone.

Emie (Louisiana) posted:  "I'm searching for best questions to ask on a walk through. New to the industry and would welcome your input." and then "Working on a bid proposal and have scheduled a walk through at the client's locations. I'd like to know specific questions and or best practices that I should use when doing the walk through."

Chuch (Arizona) posted:  "Bids are very precise things versus a RFP/RFQ's or Quotes. If a bid and you can offer something no one else can then push for your strengths to be included e.g. if you can offer PCL at no cost (or PPDM) try to have it included. If its a large opportunity do a SWOT (Strengths/Weaknesses/Opportunities/Threats) analysis over your known competition. If its an RFP or RFQ I've had good luck by offering something of true value that others would charge extra for, this sets you apart and gives reasons for justifying a higher cost."

Me (New Jersey) posted:

1. Take a picture of each device (this helps jog the memory banks)
2. Takes notes for all accessories or options on each device
3. Find users for the device and ask them what type of media do they print onto (card stock, envelopes, ncr, bond paper, etc..)
4. Print out a configuration list for each device
5. Ask a user what they like most about the system and then ask what they dislike the most
6. Ask a user what paper sizes they are printing, scanning, faxing or copying onto
7. Record serial numbers and or ID's of each device
8. Print a meter count from each device, the more comprehensive the better
9. If possible make of map of the device locations along with department names and key user
10. Drill down or aks if they are using OEM or Third Party apps with the device

Walkthrough's use to be simple.  As the population of "Smart" MFP's grow along with the use of embedded solution software we'll need to be diligent with our process of each device.

My favorite is to make a map of the location and place the MFP's in the departments with a comprehensive list (like the one above) for each device.

This question was posed to Print4Pay Hotel members by someone new in the industry and after a day there were great responses to help and help is all about the Print4Pay Hotel forums.  There's no end users , no sales recruiters (like linkedin groups), you're able to find answers and ask for advise in a closed and secure forum.  To date we have over 2,300 members from around the world.  Please take a trip to Print4Pay Hotel.

 

-=Good Selling=-

 

 

Top 40 Most Infuential in the Imaging Industry

The Week in Imaging just released their Top 40 Most Influential in the Imaging Industry.  Each week for the next four weeks they will be posting ten of the Top 40.  What a great way to get readers coming back, I like it!

So, who's in the first group of 10?  Well, it's pretty much the who's who in the Imaging Industry.  Mentioned were Frank Canata (President and Founder MRC Consultants), Ed McLaughlin, President, Sharp, Carlyle Singer, President & CEO, Katun Corp., Rick Taylor, President & CEO of KonicaMinolta USA, Bob Goldberg, BTA General Counsel, Art Post, Print4Pay Hotel & Print4Pay Hotel’s MFP Solutions Blog, Jerry Blaine, CEO, LDI Color Toolbox, Ed Crowley, President & CEO, Photizo Group, Frank Gaspari, CEO, FlexPrint, Jim Cerkleski, CEO, Clover Holdings, Inc.

The Week in Imaging also states that all of these Industry Guru's were nominated based on comments that were emailed to them others in the industry.  None of the top 40 new about be honored in advance.

For me, well.....I'm honored that my name was passed along to The Week in Imaging and I'd like to thank those that passed my name along with recommendation.  A lot of time and effort goes into the Print4Pay Hotel forums and the MFP Solutions Blog.  Countless hours researching, reading, and thinking of ways to improve the way we communicate as a group has always been a goal of mine. 

Take some time and read about each of the honorees, and I'll be looking forward to next weeks publication.

-=Good Selling=-

MFP Weekend Industry Notes 5/1/2011

Can you beleive it we've posted leads for over 2,500 copier in the Print4Pay Hotel forums!

What's Hot!!  Scan2Cloud, and Scan2Shorepoint MFP's!!  Click one of the threads below and learn how to turn your MFP into a "SMART" MFP!
Below are some of the threads that were posted for discussion on the Print4Pay Hotel forums. Enjoy!

Announcements & Discussions Forums:

Tohoku Earthquake Wreaks Havoc on Printer Industry Supply Chain

Average Monthly Page Volumes
Xerox Marketing Campaign April2011
List your favorite funny copier moments
The Office Copier turns 50!
Rumor has it.....
Invitation Webinar from UDOCX

Print4Pay Hotel's Document Library:

Sharp Dealer Meeting
MPS White Paper
Copier Security Booklet
HP Cost Per Page Chart
Toner Page Cover Examples

Print4Pay Hotel's Industry Proposals & Quotes:

Anyone have any contracts/pricing info for Ricohs new color A4s?
mp6501 c
Ricoh Aficio PRO C901 "Pricing on the Street"
Ricoh Pro 720S
KonicaMinolta bizhub 360
savin 9240SP lease n sales order

RFp's, RFQ's & Leads:

Copier Lease Agreement
76 plus MFP's in Southern Cal
School District
Arizona
HARPSWELL


Copier Stuff We Found on the Web:

Arkansas Politics Secretary of state lowers copy charges
Buonomo to collect pension while serving time
According to an article in “The Imaging Channel” magazine, Canon’s Precision, Chemica
In 2009, it refinanced that lease, providing new copiers and lowering the monthly
State Legislation to Address Privacy Risks of Digital Copiers


The Print4Pay Hotel forums are closed to the public and only accessible for industry professionals. To date we have over 2,300 registered members that consists of Dealer Owners, Dealer and Direct Sales Managers, Dealer & Direct Account Representatives, Manufacturers Direct Reps, and Industry Analysts. Log in here to become a member of the largest social group of imaging professionals in the world!

-=Good Selling=-

Selling Copiers "How did we Get Here"???

When you've been selling copiers as long as I have, well..... let's say that you've been able to learn a few things along the way that help lead the way to a sale. So, a short story on how one of my recent sales went.

Almost two months ago, I had a call from an existing account that had leased and A4 MFP device from me about 26 months ago.  The account had upgraded a few PC's in the office and the OS was Windows 7, it seems that the older (2 years) had a problem scanning to Windows, thus the door was open for a possible upgrade. 

One of the biggest issues I had to overcome was the fact that there were still 36 months of payments on the lease, as we all know those payments just don't magically disappear.  We end up building the payments into the new and pray and hope the numbers aren't too crooked that would halt the upgrade process.  In this case the numbers were crooked, so crooked in fact that we needed to get another $80 per month with the new lease.  It was a no brainer that I had to dump the color MFP and come up with something else or I wouldn't have a sale!



I would have to say one of the most important strategies that I use is to find out as much as I can about how the customer uses the existing equipment, or if there is additional equipment, how they create there documents and even ask if the send documents out to be printed!!  BANG!, BANG! When I posed the last question to the account I found out something I didn't know about the account!

It's always good to dig right? What I mean is to  keep asking questions like who to do this, why do you do it that way etc. For this particular account I uncovered that they were outsourcing 120,000 prints a year to a print shop.  They were single and double sided prints and they would get 2,500 - 5,000 printed on color paper, and then have them tri-folded by the printer. 

What was my solution and how much money did I save this account?  You'll have to log in the the Print4Pay Hotel forums and read the rest.  Click hear to become a member of the faster growing social network of copier professionals in the world!!!  Print4Pay Hotel forums

-=Good Selling=-

"MFP Weekend Industry Updates" P4P Hotel forums

This week equals over 500 Multifunctional Copiers are up for Grabs in the Print4Pay Hotel forums!

I'm finally starting to feel that a real spring is just around the corner.  In the Northeast it's been wet, windy and cold, and seems some sort of winter wants to keep hanging around.

Here's a bit of interesting news, over the last few days I had the chance to speak to a few companies who showed their services or goods at the ITEX show. All of them told me that the attendance was poor, and a few comments that it was worst than last year!  Well, next years show will be back in Las Vegas and I'm guessing that will be a good excuse to get some warmth and rays next year!

Below are some of the threads that were posted for discussion on the Print4Pay Hotel forums. Enjoy!


Announcements & Discussions Forums:


Cloud Printing
KIP in Trouble?
Rumor has it....Ricoh interested in.....
IKON steals University of Kentucky MPS contract from Lexmark!
Canon iR2525 is Killer!
P4P Hotel's Document Library:

MFP Journals
Sharp GSA Catalog
How to win a negotiation
Price Positioning Ricoh MP C300 vs HP CM3530


P4P Hotel's Industry Proposals & Quotes:

Assorted Bid Summary for KM, Ricoh, Toshiba, Kyocera
ricoh mp7001 _mp2851
copystar cs-250ci color
Xerox WorkCentre 5665 "Pricing on the Street"
Canon imagePRESS 1110S


RFp's, RFQ's & Leads:

Huge Managed Print & Multifunctional Copier RFP
300 plus MFP "Request for Proposal: in the Mid South
100 MFP's in Southern Cal
Multi Copier RFP in New England
More in North Carolina, South Dakota, Michigan and South Carolina

Copier Stuff We Found on the Web:

competing against xerox docucolor 252
Sales Manager Advice
Should you ever sell something for nothing?
Emailed request for quote????
9 Questions for UDOCX & their Cloud Solution!


The Print4Pay Hotel forums are closed to the public and only accessible for industry professionals. To date we have over 2,300 registered members that consists of Dealer Owners, Dealer and Direct Sales Managers, Dealer & Direct Account Representatives, Manufacturers Direct Reps, and Industry Analysts. Log in here to become a member of the largest social group of imaging professionals in the world!

+Good Selling=-