Polling Copier Sales People

Here's a few more polls that were conducted on the Print4Pay Hotels Message Boards. The Print4Pay Hotel has dedicated message boards for Canon, KonicaMinolta, Kyocera, Xerox and the Ricoh Family Group. Enjoy!

Poll #1: With all of the acquisitions in our industry in the last 18 months, who do you think is going to get bought out in 08?

Who Will Buy Who in "08"?

(18%) Ricoh acquires IKON

(18%) Canon acquires IKON

(55%) HP acquires IKON

(0%) HP acquires Danka

(9%) Canon acquires Danka

(0%) Ricoh acquires Danka

Poll #2: Since scanning seems to be more popular than ever, geez I would have to say that 80% of my customers are now scanning!

How are you handling maintenance for scanning?

(19%) We have an additional MA that covers scans

(62%) We include unlimited scans with our MA

(14%) We're thinking about adding a Scanning MA

(5%) Geez, I never thought it would come to this!

Poll #3: Professional Corporations will offer a "piece" of the company to hold onto valued employees. This usually happens with Architects, Lawyers, Accountants, etc.Leads me to this poll:

Do you think Dealerships should offer "partnerships" to hold onto key employees?

(91%) Yes

(9%) No

Copier Sales Tips "Call Me Back One Time"

What's one of the most frustrating things about selling? Well, for me, its the promise of the return phone call. 

I make sure that I tell the client I will be making a follow up call on a certain day and confirm this with the client. Too many times, I find my self making countless calls because the client will not take the call or they are too busy, or something is a miss.

Hey, I'm a big boy, it's not going to break my heart if you don't buy from me, however please just pick up the phone, email me, send me a text, or leave me a voice mail, am I asking too much here?

Now, I can't take credit for this, however this was posted on the P4P Hotel Message Boards, trust me it works.

When all else fails trying to get in touch with a prospecting customer, make a last ditch effort.There are some situations when you have tried everything within your power and still make no connection. After you have made many attempts to get an appointment, there is one last-ditch tool you might want to try. A sales rep I know has used it, and says that 90 percent of the time, people will reply. So when you have tried everything else, try this:

Fax:(Date)(Name)(Company)

Fax #:Dear (Name),

I’m sure you have an excellent reason for not returning any of my calls. Because I don’t want to be a nuisance, please choose from the following options and fax this back to me at (123) 555-7890.

· I’m on safari and haven’t gotten my messages.

· I’ve been drowning in work. Call me next week… I will take your call then.

· I am not working here anymore; call in care of NASA.

· I am sorry and will call you back soon.

· Please call me back at _____ a.m. / _____p.m. on ___/___/08

· I hate you and don’t ever want to talk to you.

· Other ________________________________________

Sincerely, (Your name)

Yes, I have used this and yes I did receive a few responses. Some I wanted and some I didn't want, however it did allow me to move forward with some clients and acknowledged that I was wasting my time with other accounts.

Let me know if you have used this or will use it and how it works out for you!

-=Good Selling=-

"MFP Wars" Hi Speed A3 Devices vs A4 Devices

In the MFP (copier) business A3 devices are capable of reproducing Ledger Size documents (11x17) and A4 devices are confined to reproducing Letter and Legal Size documents.

In recent years HP led the charge with A4 devices with the HP4345 45 ppm), complete with duplexing, stapling, fax, print, scan and stapling. Hp is using an AIO (All In One Cartridge) that combines toner, drum, cleaning blade, toner waste, magnetic roller and cleaning blade. Samsung during the last year launched the 6345N(45 ppm), another A4 device that also has all of the features of the HP4345 plus a few more. The Samsung 6345N uses a separate drum cartridge and a toner unit (houses magnetic roller, toner and hopper). Six months ago Xerox launched the Work Centre 4150 (Xerox claims a monthly up to 200,000 pages a month), the Xerox 4150 is OEM'd by Samsung and is almost identical to the Samsung 6345N. Just three months ago Muratec launched their version the MFX 4550 (also the Samsung 6345N). Toshiba has recognized the need for hi-speed A4 devices also, and I expect them to launch a similar product in 2008. Samsung already has plans for a 55ppm A4 device to launch in 2008!

So whats the big deal with these devices? Industry reports indicate that upwards of 90% of users do need need to print A3 (Ledger), plus these devices can support average monthly volumes of up to 10,000 pages a month or more! Typically all of these devices have a higher per page cost that traditional A3 devices, the cost per page can be almost be half the cost of A4 devices.

Back in the 80's when Minolta launched the 350Z, it was a unique system in that it could scan 11x17, but could only copy letter and legal. The selling advantage was that you could reduce your 11x17 documents down to a more manageable paper size. Why can't this be done today? When are manufacturers stepping up to the plate and delivering real savings to customers. How about designing an A4 system that has a per page cost that is equivalent to A3 devices., and also giving customers that ability to scan 11x17 if needed.

It seems like Samsung and HP are driving A4 devices, while the likes of Xerox and Muratec are relabeling. Can or will Ricoh, Canon, Toshiba, KonicaMinolta or Kyocera design an A4 device for the ages that will copy, print, scan and fax with the traditional cost of A3 devices.

Love to hear from others on this.

Ricoh USA " GIANT Changes Ahead"?

If you haven't heard Kirk Yoshida is coming back to Ricoh Corporation USA. Rumor has it that another top exec will be gone shortly. I have also heard through the grapevine that another brand will disappear (Savin). Keep in mind that these are rumors, I am only passing on the information that I have heard. However there are some interesting possibilities down the road if you believe what you hear.

Could another brand really disappear? I can’t see any reason why it can’t can you? If you’re looking to cut costs, and maintain or increase profit it makes sense, right? You’ve got the Ricoh Dealer Channel, Savin Dealer Channel, Lanier Dealer Channel, and Ricoh Business Solutions all competing against each other . I believe it would make good sense to drop the Savin brand and move them all to Lanier or the other drop Lanier and make them all Savin (are you guys in Atlanta hearing me). Here’s an excerpt from a Ricoh Press Release last year “Ricoh’s Gestetner dealer network in the U.S. will merge with the Lanier dealer network and form a new national dealer network selling Lanier branded products”. Just the logistics of maintaining three different brands and a Direct Channel has to be overwhelming!

From yet a third person, I heard that Kirk is being brought in to FIX the Direct Channel, what does fix mean??? Are they intent on losing money, or are they intent on building a GIANT, the likes of Xerox. Look at all of the moves in the past year, the creation of the PPBG (Print Production Business Group) the joint venture with InfoPrint from IBM, acquiring Hitachi Printing Systems and the collaboration with Kodak’s Nexpress for four different models.

From that day in Dallas (Ricoh Vision) when Ricoh announced that the Gestetner brand was gone, along with all Gestetner Dealers now moving to a NEW NATIONAL DEALER NETWORK, I thought there was going to be more to the picture. I had called a few friends and stated “what if”, the “what if” referred to smaller Ricoh Dealers, and or Dealers that were not maintaining their quotas. Could or would Ricoh step up and tell them you have two choices, you can still sell our products however you have to go under the Lanier National Network. How many dealers would fall to this 30% maybe 40% or even more, and how about if some of these Dealers where in major market areas? Wouldn’t it be correct to assume that Ricoh would then able to build a GIANT Direct Channel, control price, profits and would just have to deal with the likes of Canon, KonicaMinolta and Xerox Direct for the Major Accounts.

I’m not saying this is going to happen, but we all are still hearing the rumblings of another GIANT that is looking to protect and increase market share…..HP! Rumors abound that HP may buy IKON, look at what has happened in the last few months with IKON, they have been buying back stock, along with the stock taking a nose dive in recent weeks. The stock has dropped almost 50% in the last year! If HP buys Ikon, Ricoh is in serious trouble especially after Xerox buying Global last year. Canon on the other hand escapes since they manufacture almost all of the HP engines and consumables.

We’ve all have seen stranger things happen in this industry, and lets face it with Document Management Systems making tremendous growth in the last year along with companies jumping on the “Green” bandwagon, everyone is looking to decrease the amount of pages printed. Where is the growth? I’m no expert, however with all of the recent changes I tend to think it is in the very high end of the market (Production Printing) and very low end of the market (SOHO).
I guess we’ll all just have to wait, won’t we?

Too Many MFP Solutions & Hardware?

How many do we need? At last count my manufacturer (Ricoh) has 66 current models of MFP's, 36 current models of laser printers, 9 current models of duplicators, 7 current models of Scanners, 9 currents models of Faxes, almost 30 different software solutions and a price list that comprises 1,977 products??

In order to be proficient with all of the products, I spent countless hours reading about all of the products and where these products will be able to help my clients!

In order to keep all of this information, I have my home/office PC, a notebook, a cell phone with all of my contact information, three plastic filers (that I keep in my card), countless USB drives packed with information and a brain that is just about fried.

Will the madness every stop??

Copier Sales "Populating Your Base"

There are "Hunters" and then there are "Farmers".

The Hunters in our industry will not bother with low margin sales, low volume systems, and will pull out of competitive deals. Typically Hunters will only go after high margin deals, and higher end systems, they are out for the one, two or three big scores per month that will pay the bills and generate big commissions.

Farmers on the other hand will take low margin deals, low volume systems and everything else that comes along. Farmers can place more than 10 boxes per month, while generating more new accounts.

Populating your base is essential to longevity in our industry,  reps that tend to place more boxes per month (Farmers) are basically sowing the seeds for future success with placing almost five times as many boxes as the Hunters. Down the road Farmers will have 5 times the opportunities than Hunters to upgrade existing accounts.

A couple of things that I have learned over the years is that small accounts will grow to larger accounts, they tend to be more loyal, and their needs will change like everyone else. My Mother always told me to take care of the accounts who got you to where you are.

Another item to consider is account turnover, you may be the best salesperson and have the best sales department along with the best prices. Yet, you will lose 35% of your accounts every year. The account turnover could be a new contact in the company who wants to do business with a past supplier, accounts that go out of business, move out of state, close their doors, and buy just buy from someone else. Go ahead, if you are using a sales tracking system, look back five years and see how many accounts you have resold. I've looked back 13 years and only 25% of the clients are still in busy or in my territory.

If you sold 10 boxes a month for 12 months you would have 120 boxes in the field, losing 35% brings the number to 78 boxes or 78 opportunities (6.5 boxes per month) for upgrades down the road. If you sold 3 boxes per month, you would have 36 boxes in the field, losing 35% brings the number to around 23 boxes or 23 opportunities (2 boxes per month) for upgrades down the road. Where would you be better off?

Populating your base is hard work, there is anguish, the phone calls and some times you feel that the profit you made on the box was not worth the trouble. The brighter side is within three years these accounts will start coming to fruition. What about customer referrals, the average is one out of every 20 customers will pass your name on to some one else. Gaining 20 new customers a year will generate one lead referral, gaining 60 new accounts a year can generate 3 lead referrals.

Many years ago, I saw potential in an account, the account was price sensitive. I was not able to match the price, however I went back to my manager and asked it I could pay the extra $100.00 to make the deal work. He approved it, I made the sale, they took my $100.00, three years later I had an account that had purchased more than 30 new systems and I was able to make a decent profit off of every box. If you're in this business for the long haul.... become a "Farmer" and you still Hunt every now and then.

Good Selling!

Selling Copiers "Prospects Never Want A Lower Price"

I'm very pleased to present our next "Guest Blogger" Jim Parker from CBS Digital from Longview, Texas. Jim's a great salesmanager and has been oneof my "go to" guys over the years and he has put together a fanstastic Blog for everyone. Jim is also known as "Old Glory" on the P4P Ricoh Family Group Message Boards. Enjoy!

We are all often faced with requests to lower our price. However, is that really what is being asked of us? As Zig Ziglar says, “Thousands of ¼ inch drills are sold every year to people who did not want ¼ inch drills. What they wanted were ¼ inch holes.” Our customers never, I repeat NEVER want a lower price. What they want is a better deal. Whether you are competing with a current payment, competitive bid, whatever, it still boils down to wanting a better deal. The only way the prospect knows how to ask for a better deal is to ask for a better price. A peddler will just give him the better price. A salesperson will help him to see other options that may be available to them.

For the sake of this discussion, I am going to assume that the sales rep has already done their due diligence and gotten clarification. A professional sales rep will never “launch” into a rebuttal without first seeking clarification. “What leads you to believe that my price is too high?” or “Is there a number that we need to work together to try to meet?” are a couple of possible examples. The answer will go a long way toward determining which of the examples below you will want to try. If the answer has something to do with a competitive quote, make sure that the other aspects of the quote are comparable. If you are shopping for a kitchen appliance and get a quote that offers free delivery at a higher price, don’t you go to the cheaper place and ask for free delivery? You may have maintenance pricing that more than offsets the competitor’s cheaper equipment price. See the whole picture before you address the concerns.

I am also assuming the prospect would prefer to do business with you but needs help justifying his decision. If you aren’t his preferred vendor, probably nothing but price will win the deal.
Some of the choices below only apply to cash purchases and some assume a lease arrangement while some are applicable regardless. Every one of these will work for you someday while none of them will work every day. You just need to be prepared to try them all on every deal until something works. Nothing here is rocket-science, just common-sense and over 25 years of industry experience but don’t take any of them lightly. While some may seem obvious to you, none are obvious to your prospect.

In no particular order:

· Remove an accessory. “You can always add it later Mr. Customer.”

· Give away an accessory or supplies. Depending on your pay-plan, it is probably less expensive to give away an accessory worth $1,000 than it is to discount $1,000.

· Give away a printer…same principle as above, but may provide the incentive he needs. However, never suggest that they can take it home for personal use. That might constitute a bribe if the decision-maker is anyone but the owner. You might also consider giving away entry-level document management such as eCopy.

· Step down to a slower model. They may have wanted a 30 ppm because that is the speed of what they are replacing. However, the 25 ppm units of today are as productive as the 30 ppm units of yesterday unless all of their volume is long-run/single-page.

· Most units have multiple finishing options as well as multiple paper- feed options. What about offering a lesser option?

· Lengthen the lease. Sometimes just adding 3 months to the term gets the job done. If they prefer to do business with you, they should be willing to commit to an extra 3 months to get it done.

· If they have 3 months left on their old lease, add 3 months to the term and do a 90-day deferred payment lease rather than buying out the old lease. The customer gets the new equipment now but continues to make payments toward their old lease. Your payments begin when the old lease runs out. You haven’t paid the buy-out and they haven’t had to wait to get the new equipment or make dual payments.

· Step Lease. This is a lease where the first year has a lower payment than subsequent years. “Mr. Customer, what if I had a way for you to have that lower payment for the first year, would that make it easier?” If you can get away with a higher payment for the subsequent years, great! If not, you are still better off than had you given it all away.

· If you can’t compete apples-to-apples, bring in an orange.

By the time you have tried all of these, the prospect will probably have voluntarily told you the real reason he isn’t buying from you and it probably had nothing to do with price to begin with. Either way, you have saved face and maintained your integrity. As long as we can say that, we’ll do OK in this business.

Jim Parker
Director of Sales
Complete Business Systems, Inc.Longview, TX

MFP Leasing Companies Crying About Portfolio's

I was going to do a little work on some quotes tonight, and then I received an email from a leasing company. Many leasing companies are not accepting applications for equipment from Mortgage Brokers, Real Estate Agents, Title Insurance Companies, & Residential Construction Companies.

Here's my take on this, we the Dealers did not force you to take these types of business, you looked at their credit, and approved them for financing. We as Dealers have been loyal by giving you all of the applications whether the good, bad or ugly. You the leasing company then picks what you want and what you don't want. Now, you the leasing company tells us you need to cream our applications only to take the markets that are performing well. To turn it around it would be like us sending ABC leasing company all of the marginal deals and sending the best deals to XYZ leasing company, ABC company would be offended and would tell us that they would no longer do business with us. So, why can't we tell them to take a hike, NOW you get zero applications from us and we will take our portfolio to someone who will take all of the applications! Hey, you made your own bed, so now lay in it and work it out.

It's leasing companies and many banks that are flaming the market! If this continues it will only make things worse for the economy not better.

If you are using any leasing company who has done this, I urge you to pull your whole portfolio, there are many other seconday leasing companies around who would love to have our business! yes, the rates will be higher, but think about this..... it seems the average 60 month FMV rate is now .0196 or $19.60 per thousand, compared to $1.00 out average rate of .0217 or $21.70 per thousand, the difference is $2.10 per thousand. So a $10,000 copier on a dollar out lease would only cost the customer $21.10 more per month or $1,266 over 60 months. What favor are they really doing us with FMV, we struggle to upgrade, struggle to return, pay shipping to return, struggle to inventory, struggle to make sure system is returned on time!

If we, are truly good sales people, we should always sell 10% or $1.00. Plus if you are that good, it would be easy to cost justify the customer even if they owned the copier at the end of the lease! Dealers must see the light at the end of tunnel instead of realizing profit NOW, is really no profit at all when we spend hours struggle to return systems.

Here's a statement from one leasing companies web site: At ABC Leasing we like being "unconventional" because finding ways to get things done is a lot more fun than accepting the "way things are." Seems to me that they are like everyone else!

I know of one leasing company that has a rate of .0203 for $1.00 out and rates for 10% are comparable to FMV. I making the switch as of today and will no longer be held hostage by the these leasing companies.

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.

EIS Quatra Color Wide Format MFP Saves the Day!

I just finished my first install on the EIS Quatra "M" series from Paradigm Imaging. This is an awesome unit! The ease of set-up and install is exceptional along with the configuration of scan, print and copy drivers!

First, we had the unit dropped shipped to the customers location, this was a great savings since the shipment did not have to come to our office first and then ship to the customer. Second, we had the unit up and running inside of one hour! There were no issues with software, hardware or print drivers (whew)! Third, the software was easy to use and was very user friendly, we took about and hour to train the customer on all of the features they needed to use. Very cool software!

For those of you not aware of the EIS Quatra "M" series, Paradigm Imaging has combined a Graphtec 36" color scanner (24 bit) with Graphtec 24" color printer and their awesome Rocket controller and Image Flow software. Customers can scan scan wide format in color or monochrome, print in color or monochrome and copy in color or monochrome, all for under $9,000! We were also able to batch print, scan and copy.

Clients looking for a wide format color scanner (24bit) can expect to see prices upwards of $14,000 for a 36" wide system. The Quatra fills the void for the price conscious buyer that still needs high end productivity and solution work flow software. If you are player in the wide format arena, I highly suggest that you get on board with these systems!

Document Management Software & Vircosoft

Each month we will feature a "Guest Blogger" from third party solution companies that have a superior solution for our hardware along with being committed to the Dealer Community. This months "Guest Blogger" is Steve Breault from Vircosoft!



VircoSoft is a nationally recognized provider of total document management solutions with their roots stemming from the office equipment and systems integration industries. Today, businesses of all sizes require more from their technology suppliers than “boxes”. They demand sound advice and solutions that will save their business time and money. They want technology solutions that increase their bottom line. Imagine showing your customer a return on investment (ROI) within 60 to 90 days. Users agree that Pinnacle is an asset not just another liability. That is powerful.

VircoSoft’s world-class document management product, the Pinnacle Knowledge Management System™ is an extremely robust document management solution that comes standard with all the features you’ve been looking for. Pinnacle™ is actually two powerful applications in one. Pinnacle™ comes bundled with vFiler™ VircoSoft’s world-class automated filing system that will scan batches of documents all at once – error free. It will split batches of documents by barcode, create searchable PDF, OCR zones and full pages, recognizes multiple form types and is 100% hardware independent. That means it will work with whichever MFP or scanner you are currently selling or competing against. vFiler™ creates hands free scanning workflows by validating indexed information against your customers accounting system or database guaranteeing 100% accuracy.

Pinnacle™ is available through Vircosoft’s rapidly expanding national and international base of Authorized Reseller and Distribution Partners. Vircosoft products offer an affordable feature laden alternative to the often over-priced “main-stream” applications. Pinnacle™ is an enterprise level product designed and priced for virtually any size business.

Stefan Hoppe, president of DocuXtrategy say’s “VircoSoft’s solution software, sales & technical support training programs are incredible. Vircosoft is always there for us and our customers”.

Vircosoft recognizes that every business has its own specific paper management requirements. Pinnacle™ is easily customized to reflect each individual businesses unique filing, storing, managing and retrieval needs. Imagine a system that does what you want, not what a developer has built in.

Vircosoft has an amazing reseller training and support program and a field-tested solutions sales system that works. When is the last time you requested assistance and it took hours, sometimes days to get a response? The Vircosoft principle’s cut their teeth in the office equipment and information technology industries. They understand the challenges their resellers and distributors face every day.


VircoSoft’s highly trained distributor and reseller partners offer a complete range of professional services, including onsite implementation, data migration from current systems, technical support and training. As a trusted partner, great service is a requirement from every Pinnacle™ Reseller and Distributor.

Polling Copier Sales People #3 (Presidential Poll)

One of the neat features we have on the p4photel is that we often run many polls throughout the year. We've conducted polls about Color Cost per Page, Do You Think the Manufacturer that you Represent is Fair to Dealers, the Super Bowl and many others. The information provided comes from our members. The p4photel consists of 1,500 members from around the world, our largest group is from the United States.A recent poll of our membership were asked to answer this question:

These Polls Were from the Ricoh Family Group P4P:

Poll #1: Four years go by pretty quick. Lets see if we can pick who will win the Republican Presidential Primary!

(42%) Rudolph Giuliani

(4%) John McCain

(17%) Mitt Romney

(13%) Fred Thompson

(21%) Mike Huckabee

(4%) Ron Paul

Poll #2: Four years go by pretty quick. Lets see if we can pick who will win the Democratic Presidential Primary!

(54%) Barack Obama

(38%) Hillary Clinton

(0%) John Edwards

(8%) Dennis Kucinich

(0%) Joseph Biden

(0%) Christopher Dodd

(0%) Mike Gravel

(0%) Bill Richardson

Smart Copier Sales Person or Not So Smart with Lost Deals

How long have you been in the business, five years, ten, fifteen, 20 or more years? The cliches never stop do they, one that comes too mind is "what comes around goes around". For those of us who have been in the business a long time, well we've seen it all, new tactics get old and old tactics get new again.

Do you remember who you sold your first copier too? Hmmmmmmm, can't say I remember, how bout the first deal you lost? Do you remember the customer, sorry to say, I can't remember that customer either. How did you first schedule your appointments? I can remember getting a Doctors appointment book to write down the locations, appointment times, and phone numbers. As the days turned into months and the months turned to years I would find myself getting another appointment book for every year. After about four years I realized that could go back and review the accounts that I sold and contact them again for the potential upgrade, gee wasn't that smart of me to keep those books.

These days most of us keep our appointments, contacts and lists of things to do on our pc's and the appointment books have all but disappeared.

It's a fact that we lose more deals than we sell, you can't sell everyone right? Well, that may be an understatement, how many us of actually track the deals that we lose. Meaning, you didn't get the sale, you know who you lost to and you know the term of lease or purchase that the buyer committed to. A little of bit of "extra" tracking can go along way if you commit to scheduling call backs for the accounts that you lost. Heck, if you know they signed a 36 month lease why let them go and never contact them again. You already have the name of mr. or mrs. right, the make and model number of the system, plus the volume.

Put your lost deals back in your contact list and schedule a follow up call for 18 months, then 24 months, and then 30 months on a 36 month lease. You can spread the time a little further for the 60 month leases, try getting back in touch with them at 30 months and then every six months thereafter. Customers lost, can be a customer gained down the road. Another thought would be to keep them on a mailing list, where you will send them something every six months. If you've been in the business a long time, you'll agree that the months and years really do fly by.

If anyone has any additional comments, we'd love to hear them.

-=Good Selling=-

Copier Sales Selling Tips #2

About 6 weeks ago I attended a Gittomer Sales Event. He was very entertaining, I would highly recommend for everyone to see him if he comes to your area.

Gittomer, made many notes of keeping sales FUN! Keeping Sales Interesting! He suggested delivering brochures and your business card in a waste paper basket!!!! Then using this line, Hello my name is so and so , I just wanted to pass along some information for the person who may have interest in this product and that I had taken the liberty of putting it in the trash can for you in advance (of course the trash can had my name, telephone, and logo on the can). I have handed out six so far and have gotten two return calls for appointment to talk about the wide format products!!

Did the gimmick do it! I'll have to ask, however it is something different and it is quite fun to reverse the cold calling.

Print Much?

You hear it over and over; printed pages on laser printers can have twice the volume of conventional copier and MFP's. Use your eyes when walking into accounts and the number of printers can be astounding, especially since manufacturers have the average monochrome laser printer price about $300.

Your mission is to capture these prints either with your MFP's or your laser printers. Lets face it, it's much easier for clients to authorize buying a new laser printer for $300 than buying or leasing a new MFP. What the clients are not aware of is the cost per page on these low end devices. Some of these low end laser printers can a black per page cost of almost .07 cents per page, while most of the low end color laser printers could be as much as .22 per page. Volume is the critical point for recommended a new print solution with and improved work flow.

Mission Possible

Secure an appointment with a "C" level exec, if there is no "C" level exec, the owner of the company will suffice. Your job is to be a consultant or a "Docusultant" (someone who can advise on page costs of hardware and document work flow). You can offer this service for free or you can charge for your services, $150 per hour is not uncommon in the industry. Here's what comes along with being a "Docusultant", you will have to stop selling! Use a consultative approach, explain that you are an expert in the industry and you believe that there may be a better way of doing things, that may increase productivity and lower costs.
Productivity is key when speaking with "C" Level executives.

Then, prior to your meeting, take the time to research the costs that are associated with the costs of laser printers. Most copier manufacturers now have software that will allow you to find the cost per page of most laser printers. Your goal on the first appointment is to secure permission to get meter reads from all of the print devices and permission to interview each user. Interviewing the users in critical, they know the work flow and you don't, just getting meter reads can be a disaster if you do not understand the work flow of the printed pages. Some users will state they have not idea how much they print, and if you can't generate a "meter" or configuration page from the printer you will have to rely on their information. Take the time to answer these few questions:

1. Do you only fill the paper tray when it empties? If yes, ask if they fill the paper tray to the top? If no, ask about how much paper they put in.

2. How many times to you put paper in the paper tray per week? It is much easier for them to remember weekly than monthly.

3. What type of documents do you print? Invoices, Letterhead, Research from Internet, Email, etc.

4. Do you ever print pages and then walk them to the copier to make copies?

5. When printing, do you print from different applications to make a final document? If so, ask them what happens to the final document, is it then copied, faxed or mailed.

Research

For large companies with fleet printers there are devices available that will allow you to gather detailed printing device information, perform print audits, collect meter reads, check supply levels, and troubleshoot devices without installing any software. Once you have gathered all of the desired information, you will need to do the research.

Researching can be fun and exhausting work, make sure your numbers are accurate! Nothing will sour a proposal more that numbers that are not accurate or inflated. Present the client with information on daily, weekly, monthly and yearly page volumes along with the associated cost per day, per week, per month and per year.

Replacement Costs

There's another cost that usually goes unnoticed to the client and this is "Replacement Cost" . Replacement Cost is the cost to replace the laser printer when the device fails or when the derived needs to be replaced. Since most desktop printers are purchased rather leased, you will also have to find the cost that they paid for these printers or give them a guesstimate if they do not have the paper work. Once you have the cost you can do a straight line amortization over "x" amount of months. Under $400, I give the printer a 24 month life cycle or less, if something goes wrong with the printer the customer will most likely throw it out and buy another. Over $400 but less than $800, I would then use a 30-36 month life cycle. Over $800 and less than $1,500, I'll use 48 months and anything higher than $2,000 I would use a 60 month cycle. Take the cost of the printer and divide by the life cycle for the monthly replacement cost. I have never had a client that did not agree to this, because they all agree that the equipment will not
last forever.

Some locations will have larger and faster laser printers, when you are presented with these make sure you ask if they are under a maintenance agreement or not. Remember it's good to have all of the facts and all of the costs associated with every print device. Here too, include a separate line in your spreadsheet for the monthly cost on maintenance agreements. Keep it simple, and informative!

Provide them with the costs for each printer or the cost that is associated with each work group or department. Provide the customer with creative solutions or fixes to their document work flow that can use a mixture of MFP's and Laser Printers that will best meet their needs. Be creative, think of new ways to do things, present options to the customer to reduce printed pages, reduce the costs with printed pages, increase productivity and or improve their work flow.

Remember your mission; it is to capture pages on your devices! Present the customer with an all inclusive proposal that will include hardware, maintenance and supplies.

Most clients have no clue as to what they are spending for printers, supplies, paper and maintenance; your analysis will be a breath of fresh air. If you have done your job well, they will agree with your findings, and then presenting them with cost savings alternatives is usually a slam dunk. One other note, do not leave a copy of the findings with them unless they have signed a confidentiality agreement, these type of agreements agree that the information that you presented is you and your companies intellect property and can't be shared with anyone else.

The Brownys (P4P's Top Ten Picks) for 2007

I've wanted to do a Top Ten Picks for quite awhile and I guess the end of the year is a good time to look back and reflect on the products of 2007.

When the P4PHotel was in its infancy back in 2004, and we had 200 or so members, one member stood out among the others. His name is Greg Brown, Greg and I became mentors to each other and we often called each other about the business and just to keep in touch. In March of 2004, Greg and I were finally going to met at the AIIM/OnDemand Show in NYC.

Unfortunately and sadly Greg Brown was killed in a car accident on Valentines Day of 2004. Greg loved selling Ricoh Products, along with Water Skiing, and powered down by a dose of Xbox. In less than one year Greg had amassed 285 posts on the P4P and was truly one of the first "Docusultants". So, in his memory and hence forth, when we do our top ten each year we'll call them the Brownys! What makes a Browny? An innovative feature on a system, a system that filled a void for end users or just the style or awesome power of the unit.

Winners of the 2007 Browny Award from the P4PHotel!

1. Samsung 6345N (45 ppm MFP with no 11x17)


2. EIS Quatra Series (Wide Format Color MFP)


3. KonicaMinolta BizHub C550 (Coolest feature with Biometric scanning)


4. Ricoh DX 4640PD (Duplexing Duplicator, innovative for duplicators)


5. Xerox Nuvera 288 (288 ppm, awesome, plus it looks cool)


6. Formax FD170 Bookletmaker (Offline Bookletmaking becomes affordable)


7. Canon imagePRESS C7000VP Digital Press (70ppm Color @ 1200x1200 dpi)


8. Panasonic C3 Series MFP's (The colors of the machines are awesome)


9. Ricoh MP C2000SPF (20ppm Color MFP, affordable color to the office)


10. Ram Logic (Ram Speed, Scotti give me more speed, innovative chip to make MFPs run faster)

There you have it, my picks for the 2007 Browny Awards. Greg, we didn't forget about you buddy!

Copier Sales Selling Tips

Over the years I've relied on many tips that I have either read, heard of or figured out for my self. One of my resources is the p4photel, over the years I make sure I post all of my tips. When I'm in a slump (we all have them) or I have some free time, I can go to the P4P and read them again. Listed below are some of my personal favorites, hope they work as well for you as they worked for me!

#1: When challenging another digital competitor, I will go the that manufacturers web site and download the print driver and other relevant software. From there I can evaluate the features of the driver and the click threws. I have found clicks threws to be very important to the end users, they want the least amount of clicks as possible. Once I understand my competitors print driver, I can the attack the weaknesses.

#2: Tired of playing voice mail tag? Tired of the prospect not returned your calls? To some this means that the prospect is not interested! Too others (the sharks) this means that the prospect is too busy and has not found the time to return your call. Use this to your advantage!! The next time you get the dreaded voice mail, leave them this message. Hi this is Art Post with XYD company, I tried to reach you on several occasions, I going to be in your area next week. What I'd like to do is to stop by at 1PM to meet with you, if this is not convenient for you, please call me at (phone number). Other wise I'll see you then. Most times you will not get a call back and if you do get a call back, and if you do get a call back it's a double win. I have even used this to place machines on demonstrations!

#3: Let me share something I do with cost solution proposals for everyone. Lets say I'm upgrading existing fax and printers in the office with an MFP or higher end fax or printer. Once I find out that the existing faxes or printers are paid for (there are no outstanding leases). I will then attack the premise of replacement cost and have the customer agree that there is a certain monthly replacement cost that is associated with these units. I will state that they will not last forever and will have to be replaced! I find out how many years they have had the equipment, plug in the estimated purchase price and divide by term of length owned (or compute a monthly lease). I then tell the customer even though these systems are bought and paid for, you have to have a replacement cost budget in place for when replacement is necessary. Once he has agreed to the replacement cost, I include a line item in the proposal outlining his existing costs along with cpc for those "paid" devices. How does this help? His monthly cost is higher that having just the cost to supply and maintain the equipment, therefor cost justification is easier and you may be able to cost justify a the system easier!

Good Selling!

Polling Copier Sales People #2

One of the neat features we have on the p4photel is that we often run many polls throughout the year. We've conducted polls about Color Cost per Page, Do You Think the Manufacturer that you Represent is Fair to Dealers, the Super Bowl and many others. The information provided comes from our members. The p4photel consists of 1,500 members from around the world, our largest group is from the United States.A recent poll of our membership were asked to answer this question:

These Polls Were from the Ricoh Family Group P4P:

Poll #1: Since there has been a change in the COO and the CFO and now that Nori is CEO, how do you think things will pan out in the future for Ricoh Dealers?

(17%) For the Better?
(17%) For the Worse?
(17%) Things Will Stay The Same?
(50%) They Have No Clue at All about Dealers

Poll #2: Should Ricoh Develop and Bring to Market a non 11x17 MFP, that will have a speed of 45ppm and will have the same cpc cost of thier MP4500 MFP's? This system would compete against the HP4345 and the Samsung 6345N, but would have the cpc of the MP4500 series.

(75%) Yes
(25%) No

Poll #3: How is your Dealership or Branch handling maintenance for scanning?

(16%) We have an additional MA that covers scans
(63%) We include unlimited scans with our MA
(16%) We're thinking about adding a Scanning MA
(5%) Geez, I never thought it would come to this!

Selling Color Printers to the P4P Market

Ah yes, the print 4 pay market, some will say it is one of the hardest accounts to break into and others will say they are the easiest to breakdown the walls.

As B2C color improves, along with improved thick stock media ability, there are a few color printers that I'll refer to as a "Print Shop in Box". You might ask whats a print shop in a box, well I got this saying from a printer in New Jersey that referred to his color printer as a "Print Shop in a Box" and the term has stuck with me. That printer was referring to the quality of color, the ability to handle many different types of media, and the ruggedness to run 60 or 70K worth of prints per month!

When I look at some color laser printers that would fit the mold of the "Print Shop in a Box", the Oki 9650hdn (just launched) and the Ricoh C811dn.

We'll take a brief look at the new Oki 9650, and I like what I see. Oki has finally added thick stock capability for duplex (65lb cover) through the paper drawers and 120lb through the base. You can add up to 4 additional paper drawers for a total of 2,650 sheets. Do not under estimate the Banner Paper feature on the this unit. KonicaMinolta has promoted this heavily on thier B2C MFP's. This is a feature that adds value to the printer, they can produce vertical signage for their customers, this can be an additional source of revenue!

In reference to the Ricoh C811dn, this is also a "Print Shop in Box. Quality is 9600 x 9600 (4 Bit) , along with the ability to duplex 90lb index. The C811dn-dl can hold up to 3,200 sheets of paper and can also produce banners for signage. Both the Oki and the Ricoh are superb units that will make a splash in any printers shop. I thing that I would like to see from both of these manufacturers is the option to add a Fiery from EFI. Keep in mind that when selling these systems in a print shop that you must max all of the memory, hard drives and RAM.

Enough about these systems here's a few tips I put together for marketing to Print Shops:

1. You've got to know your product upside down and inside out! They have no time for someone who lacks product knowledge. You must also know their language.

2. Also be ready to ROI sell them, if it is a new product, be ready to show them how to make more money with your product or how to increase their productivity.

3. Go out and invest in a artist portfolio, one that will hold 12x18 documents and build a library of samples and stocks to show them. Keep this with you at all times and also make sure you get samples of jobs from other printers that were done with your equipment!

4. Memorize your cpc's and the competitors cpc's, already be ready to have an answer for single click billing on 11x17.

5. Cold calling has always worked best for me, the first call is treated as a look see and introduction and that's it. Keep visiting them every few months and you will gain their trust.

6. Treat them like as #1 TOP Priority, some printers have incredible volumes and they need to be treated as #1 when there service call comes in.

7. They are in business to make money and if you can show them a way to make more they will listen. If selling them a new product such as wide format, offer to conduct a marketing blitz for them. Meaning, you take two days a month for the next three months to cold call for them their literature. Make sure you bring them back all of the business cards and you keep copies for your self. Never know what you may stumble across.

Special thanx to Shaja from the P4P Hotel for this quote:

Be aware that not all printers have embraced digital printing and you will be competing against press manufacturers. (By my digital printing definition, I am including good high-volume copier/printer systems such as Konica's bizhub 1050 with digital presses such as Kodak's NexPress.) Actually, you are competing against digital presses (ie., NexPress, iGen, Indigo, Xeikon) AND traditional presses designed for short runs (ie., Printmaster). So, in addition to being informed about other copier vendors' products, get informed about the big iron products, too.

Some printers are still VERY skeptical of digital's quality - be able to demonstrate how good digital actually looks and holds up (Art's portfolio suggestion above). And if you can get your hands on some digital press samples to compare against, even better. I have a color sample from a Heidelberg that my Konica bizhub color stacks up very well against.

Some printers are interested in digital's cost benefits but haven't been able to wrap their minds around the technology transition (for example, read up on UV coating). And, some of them have this unconscious mindset that if the technology can't be traced back to Gutenberg, then it's not really printing! So, don't go in with an attitude that you can change their world, because that's not what they want! Respect their past and their industry's traditions.

"Print Shop in a Box"

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.