Top Ten Copier and MFP Proposals for January 2013

Nothing stunning this month from the proposals that were uploaded to the Print4Pay Hotel forums last month. What I am seeing though is a slight rise in cost per page in down the street business. We'll have to see if this is a new normal.

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 Print4Pay Hotel members and these quotes will be "the proposal or quote" that was emailed to the end user.

Each month I'll list those proposals/quotes and "Pricing on the Street" here with the associated links.  You need to be a Premium Member in order to download the documents.  So without further ado here's the top quotes from January 2013.  Enjoy!

• "Pricing on the Street" for Kyocera TASKalfa 4550ci v3
• "Pricing on the Street" for Kyocera TASKalfa 8000i
• "Pricing on the Street" for Canon C4051
• "Pricing on the Street" for Canon C4051 v2
• "Pricing on the Street" for Ricoh MP5002SP
• "Pricing on the Street" for Sharp MX-503
• "Pricing on the Street" for Savin MP5002SP
• "Pricing on the Street" for KonicaMinolta Bizhub 501
• "Pricing on the Street for Canon C5250 MFP
• "Pricing on the Street" for Kyocera TASKalfa 2550ci

-=Good Selling=-

8 Talking Points for Selecting an Imaging/Copier Vendor

I've been in down the street office equipment sales for 33 years, over that time I've seen and heard it all when I meet with prospects who are considering a new vendor or manufacturer.

Many times... and by the way I just had a prospect email me today that price only is the driving factor as to who they will buy from.  I sent then back an email declining to offer a proposal. I work for a well respected dealer with an excellent support team and I won't compete with many of the fly by night dealerships that are out their.  Having one of my customers wait two to three days for on-service, a week for parts or not getting a return call is not an option!

Please consider the below points as more of an educational process to choose the right vendor for your needs.

Know your present and analyze your future needs: Since almost all MFP/Copiers are leased, you need to have a handle on your present and future needs. Will I need Network faxing or walk-up faxing, scan documents to email, scan to folder, walk up authentication, TWAIN scanning, Apple Air Print, envelopes, scan2cloud, scan2folders to a network drive, paper sizes needed to print, scan, fax or copy, color scan, color copy, color print.

Know what your existing costs are: How can you make a decision on a new product or service if you don't know your existing costs. Consider the cost of the current lease if any, cost of current print devices, costs for supplies, cost for service, cost for maintenance agreement, how many sheets of paper you have used for printing or copying in a week, month or year.

Why Buy or Lease from an Authorized Copier Dealer

Many years ago you could only buy copy machines from Authorized Dealers. An Authorized Dealer is usually a privately owned company that is local to your geographic area. That has changed and most copier manufacturers now have direct branches. A Direct Branch is owned by the manufacturer and may or may not be local to your geographic area.

For many years the debate has raged who should I buy from. Too me it plain and simple, you should buy from the company or the sales person that you trust, that has the best support, and the best people.

Local Authorized Dealers can have more that one brand to offer and they can choose which copier/mfp or software solution is best for you.  Typically Manufacturers Direct branches will only offer their brand or their software solution and it just might not be the best fit for you. You can think of it like buying car insurance you can go to the agent that reps for Prudential, Allstate and Farmers and they can find the right insurance solution for you.  The same is true for the Authorized local Copier Dealer, most have two or three brands that they sell, support and service.

Typically you should ask these 8 questions from your sales person.

1. Ask the sales person how long they have worked with their current company. A sales person who has less than 2 years experience may not have the resources nor the knowledge to meet your needs.

Top Ten Copier Proposals for November 2012

In my last blog I spoke about a recent sale that I secured and after the sale I was able to get a copy of the quote.

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 Print4Pay Hotel members and these quotes will be "the proposal or quote" that was emailed to the end user.

Each month I'll list those proposals/quotes and "Pricing on the Street" here with the associated links.  You need to be a Premium Member in order to download the documents.  So without further ado here's the top quotes from November 2012.  Enjoy!

• "Pricing on the Street" for ricoh mp7502sp
• "Pricing on the Street" for ricoh mp301spf
• "Pricing on the Street" for ricoh mp5002sp
• "Pricing on the Street" for ricoh mp4002sp
• Proposal for canon ir2525
• Proposal for canon 1740i
• "Pricing on the Street" for Ricoh mp1357EX PRO
• "Pricing on the Street" for Savin W3406
• "Pricing on the Street" for ricoh 240W
• Ricoh W3601 Proposal

-=Good Selling=-

Take Advantage of Recent Copier Proposals & Knockout the Competitor

For those of you that read my blog often, I don't want to sound like a broken record with why I believe it's a good thing to review proposals see street pricing from other dealers, and direct branches.

Let me take a recent A4 sale that I secured.  The account was an incumbent, and excellent service and support was issued through out the last three years. However, this account (small account) always wants to check pricing (think of all the time they would save if they did not get additional quotes and focused on their core business) from other vendors.  After many phone calls and a visit to the account I was able to keep the business for another three years.  But this time, I asked for copies of the quotes that he had received from other vendors. Some people tend to be a little wishy washy about this and not give them to you and then others will hand them over without a second thought.  Believe it or not I still get a rush when a customer gives me the quotes from the other vendors. Hey, if you're really in this business to stay you need to see all of the quotes and proposals you can even if they are not from a direct competitor.  There's a lot to learn from each and every one of them.

For example, I noticed on my competitors proposal these points:

Polek & Polek Donates Supplies for Hurricane Sandy Relief

I live at the Jersey Shore in a small town known as Highlands. It's called Highlands because the eastern area has a high bluff (I live on the bluff), but most of the population of Highlands is located at sea level on Sandy Hook Bay.

Highlands was devastated by Hurricane Sandy, most of the town was without power for two weeks and the main section of Highlands had a surge of water anywhere from 6-15 feet.  Most of the homes in Highlands were flooded with sea water and everyone was evacuated in the low lying areas.

While I was without power I was helping with the relief effort at my church. Our town was in dire need of clothes, cleaning products, food, blankets and just the everyday items that you need to survive. 

I was able to post a message on linkedin that we were in need of those items, early this week I had a call from Polek & Polek they are one of my accounts that is a sponsor of the Print4Pay Hotel forums.  They informed me that they wanted to help and asked what was needed.

When I got home from work yesterday, there were nine giant boxes on my front porch with cleaning supplies, batteries, personal hygiene supplies and new clothes!  Today, I delivered all of the supplies to the church.

I'd like to personally thank the employees and owners of Polek & Polek for donating these much needed supplies to our small town.  The donation is greatly appreciated and tells me a lot about the character of the employees and owners of Polek & Polek.

Kudos to Polek & Polek for their generous donation.

-=Good Selling=-