Print4Pay Hotel Weekend Updates for 2/21/10

Print4Pay Hotel Weekend Updates!

Here's some of the HOT content from the last few days that's been posted on the Print4Pay Hotel's forums in recent weeks. It has been busy with over 31,000 page views, and 88 new members.

Print4Pay Hotel U Webinars:

The Copier Marketing arm of your company, your sales reps always wanted!
When: DATE: MARCH 1ST TIME: 2PM EST P4P U (University)

Most Viewed Threads:

Print4Pay Value Membership
Riso ComColor Review
Rumor has it.....
PostScript Vs Fiery
Canon Buyout Marketing Dollars "Canon Ball"
Print Audit® To Exhibit At ITEX Hybrid Dealer Event In Las Vegas

Interesting Threads:

Green Initiatives
Canon launches ‘Business Leap’ competition
Ricoh Production Printing
Océ and Konica Minolta revise production print alliance
The US Photocopiers Market to Reach 1.5 Million Units by 2015
New Photizo Managed Print Services Study Reveals Significant Changes in
Kodak i1405 Scanner Helps Small-to-Medium Sized Businesses
Xerox Color Qube Samples!

Posted Price Quotes:

Toshiba Bid for 40 Units
Sharp MX3100N_MX2600N_MX5001N
Sharp 363n_453N proposal
Canon 7095 bid award and proposal


Leads, RFP's & RFQ's:

RFP for 12 MFP's in COlorado!
RFP for 2 45ppm color MFP's (Expires 3/18/10)
Wide Format Lead in British Columbia
17 MFP's in Maryland Area!
Multi MFP's for Connecticut

The Print4Pay Hotel is the world's only business/social site dedicated to people who work in the office equipment industry. Go ahead log on.....become a member of the Print4Pay Hotel!

become informed, share and maintain your knowledge.

-=Good Selling=-

Ricoh GelSprinter Technology Secures 2010 Canadian Olympics

Three years ago, when the  Vancouver Organization Committee (VANOC) considered a secure, sustainable, cost  effective method for producing Accreditation Badges for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, Ricoh Canada Inc. was there with the solution.

For the 2010 Winter Olympics, the Vancouver Organization Committee (VANOC) had to issue approximately 90,000 badges to the entire Olympic Family including athletes, sponsors, officials, workers, volunteers and the media. Since these badges ultimately serve as visas into the host country, the accreditation process required extensive security and immigration verification. While tight control was undoubtedly a critical concern, the expense and waste formerly associated with production of secure badges had proven problematic.

Prior to the 2010 Games, the International Olympic Committee had produced plastic badges with embedded security codes, an expensive and slow process, not to mention environmentally unsound. However, while plastic was not desirable, neither was printing on paper  with ink that could easily be manipulated. That’s when Mike Fast, VP Technical & Professional Services, Ricoh Canada, recommended the ideal solution. Mike had initiated contact with the Organization Committee and had played a major role in securing the bid in which Ricoh Canada was named exclusive provider of document solution equipment for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympics Winter Games. Ricoh’s role as an Official Supporter of the XXI Winter Olympics had given Mike the understanding and insight to address the Committee’s needs and meet their goals.

The RICOH® Solution

Mike determined that there was only one type of technology
that could meet this highly specialized accreditation application – the RICOH® Aficio® GX5050N GelSprinter was the answer.
It not only offers high quality at an affordable price, but employs a completely unique way of printing on paper. While the standard inkjet printer lacks the high resolution needed to print all of the secure data codes and is limited by choice of stocks, the typical laser printer is also unacceptable because the ink can be easily scraped off, thus the data can be modified.

The solution was the Ricoh Aficio GX5050N, combining the best qualities of inkjet and laser printing, with the added value of Ricoh’s exclusive viscous ink technology – perfect, permanent, high res and low cost. The GelSprinter technology delivers crisp, quick drying, photo-like images without bleeding, smudging, or blurring.

Additionally, its one-of-a-kind ink adheres to almost any kind of stock, a feature that makes the
GX5050N ideal since the paper specified by the Olympic Committee is a high security stock produced by the Canadian Bank Note company. The imaging ability of this paper/ink combination had to meet strict security testing before it was validated by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).

Another important factor in VANOC’s choice of the GX5050N was its compliance with the Committee’s stringent sustainability objective to host the greenest Olympics ever held. Of course, Ricoh technology plays a crucial role in meeting this goal. The Ricoh  GX5050N insures maximum productivity with a minimum of waste, requires a smaller footprint, and consumes a fraction of the electricity required by most  laser printers. And, its Level Color Mode controls supply usage without affecting quality, a benefit that will be very important once the GX5050Ns are repurposed after the Olympics.

Approximately 52 GX5050N units havebeen placed since the fall to tackle the accreditation process; the bulk of the badges (60,000 - 70,000) are printed a few weeks prior to the start of the games.

However, there is also a high demand for on-site printing during the games, making good use of the unit’s remarkable speed and reliability. That’s when the Committee will really test the long
lasting print cartridges, the wide print heads that speed up the printing process, and the networking flexibility. In keeping with its commitment to sustainability, these GelSprinter units will be deployed to schools and other  charitable organizations once the 2010 Winter Olympics are over.

Need Specs and links?  Take a trip here GelSprinter Technology Secures 2010 Canadian Olympics

Riso ComColor Review

To tell you the truth, I was always skeptical about the Riso's new ComColor devices. The engine technology is ink, it's simple and the new ComColor's from Riso seem to be a hit and not a bust like the HP's Edgeline.

There are acutally six different models, the 3010 and the 3050 are 90 ppm full color devices that will copy, print and scan letter and legal only. The 7010 and 7050 are 120 ppm full color devices that will copy, print and scan letter, legal and ledger. Then there's the flagship models of the 9010 and the 9050 capable of 150 ppm color that will also copy, print and scan letter, legal and ledger.

Today, I had the chance to print various documents to the 7050, to say the least, I WAS IMPRESSED. This was my first "hands on" for the equipment. I printed a 12 page full color 11x17 booklet (saddle stitched) in about 15 seconds and a 32 page booklet (saddle stitched) in about 30 seconds. Not only was I impressed with the speed, but these speeds where acheived with the highest quality settings. I used 300x600, line smoothing and error diffusion , the quality of the color was exceptional! Since the ComColor uses ink, of course it won't give laser output, but it will give you knock your socks off color at a great price of three and a half cents per page and don't forget about the speed!

I also took notice that with the standard printer driver you also had the capability of using a 70 line screen and a 100 line screen. I tested these two screens on the booklets and again the output impressed me.

To me the ComColor's mantra should be "Print Shop in Box", it's a little limited with very heavy stock, however I was able to run 90lb index two sided with out a hitch. I also test pressure seal paper which fed very well and also produced very good quality.

The unit I tested had an MSRP of about $65,000. The system is designed to run 500,000 pages per month.

Where do I see this system making a big splash? Direct Mail and in house CRD's. Direct Mail has an awesome application with pressure seal paper. For just pennies, you can produce full color direct mail pieces that can include the outbound postal indicia and the return "reply card" postal indicia. The entire piece can be printed two sided with the variable data. No more boring direct mail letters in monochrome, combined with the pressure seal paper and color, this is an awesome solution for all Direct Mail Companies.

It's late, I think the ComColor is a winner, and give it a ten! Can't wait to see the next generation of these models. Maybe they'll get the price down to make them affordable for the SMB market.

-=Good Selling=-

BTW, if RISO is reading this, thanx for helping

Selling MFP's in Tough Times!

This was a topic on the Print4Pay Hotel forums from last year just around this time. Seems like we're still fighting our way through this recession, however here's some threads from Print4Pay Hotel members that help each other to get past the tough times!

Enjoy!

May we start a general discussing and share ideas on the economy and the major impact it has on our ability to generate sales.

Any other ideas on how to increase sales, best practices, models, deal structuring, etc? from Foxtrot in South Africa

I know that most of my sales career has been involved in start ups or branches and territories that have very few MIF, so it's always been a matter of "how do I set myself apart from everyone else"? The obvious answer is to do one of two things. Getinto deals where the prospect isn't looking and therefore there is little competition, or learn to create value that others can't or don't.

That isn't always as simple as it sounds, but with the current company I am with, the DSM has done a great job of building value through the sales process. Much of the value at times is through providing a total solution, not only "boxes" but overall soutions. Things like software, fax servers and the like. Under normal circumstances the likelihood of taking a deal from an incumbant is 1 0f 5, I see us pushing that to 2/3 of 5.

I think far too many rely on gimics rather than just good old hard work; hard work in finding the prospects and then hard work in the discovery process. It's the only way. from Neal in Indiana
Good Post. My take is stay away from speaking about the hardware. What will distinguish and set yourself apart is your ability to focus on the clients core business process which at some point could involve hardware. If you ask questions such as "What are some of your key corporate initiatives for 2009"? "What challenges are you facing within your business"? These will allow for them to open up. Stay away from speaking about hardware. You will only sound like all the rest of the crowd.  from Larry in Southern Cal

Yes, and yes to the above posts!

I've stepped up my cold calling, returned to my base more often lloking for pain or problems.

I too an trying to stay away from talking about hardware which is hard thing to do.

Instead of handing brcohures or information out in reference to copiers, I am handing EDMS, Print Management and E-Copy related items. from AP in NJ

In all there were about 10 threads related to the topic, if you'd like to read all of the threads, take a trip to the Print4Pay Hotel and become a member of the largest social group of Imaging Professionals in the World!

-=Good Selling=-

3 Numbers to Think About!

How about it, are there any scifi fans out there? If so, how about Star Trek fans? Tell me, what's the one item you never see in a Star Trek episode or movie? Well......................it's paper!!!! Kirk, Spock and Picard all have either tricorders or flat panel display (not the ipad)  that they'll read from or sign.

So, here's some interesting numbers I found on the web today from Gartner & IDC!

SOME NUMBERS TO THINK ABOUT

IDC estimates that executives spend 45 percent of their time working with documents. 610 billion e-mails are sent each year out of which half are printed. Whoa, that's 305 billion sheets of paper!!

According to IDC, companies spend as much as 10 percent of revenues on document production, management and distribution. True, and most CFO's and CEO' will not put up an agrument with this number!

According to Gartner, up to 3 percent of corporate revenue is spent on the office output fleet (print,copy and fax). Another number that is accepted amd must be remembered that this is an average, you may have a hard time selling an SMB account on this number.

Been saying this for years, dealers need to become Value Added Resellers and or Partners. Business owners and CFO's will listen if we have a story to tell about how to improve the process and reduce the paper.

-=Good Selling=-

FREE Admission to ITEX 2010 Show!

ITEX is the premier show for Office Technology & Imaging Dealers (including office products, office supplies, and telecom resellers) looking to expand their growth opportunities including MPS.

Get free admission courtesy of the Print4Pay Hotel.  ITEX presents the latest in technology and industry trends, and provides access to experts sharing beneficial insight and know how. A must attend event for the Independent Dealer…

Registration includes:
• Admission to the show floor
• Your Selection of 25 Power Hour Education Sessions
• Networking with peers to gain valuable ideas and new contacts

Show Dates March 3-4, 2010 at Las Vegas Convention Center (It's Vegas Baby!)

Get FREE admission to ITEX now!

If you're already a member of the Print4Pay Hotel, the FREE access code is listed in our ITEX Show forum along with the link. If you're not a member go to Print4Pay Hotel and register, from there we'll send you the link and the FREE access code for the show!

See ya there!

MFP Dealer Incentives "What Now!'

This is a recent topic of disucssion on the Print4Pay Hotel Forums.

 Here's the question that was raised by a Print4Pay Hotel member.

Can anyone comment on which dealer incentives or programs work best for your market? Which manufacturers offer the best/worst programs? Do any of your manufacturers have ridiculous terms and conditions? Just curious...

I have limited knowledge of this area, and have only seen a few manufacturer-to-dealer programs. Your feedback will help me think. Thanks!

We've had about eight responses to thread in the last week. Seems to me that over the years in the business that a lot of the dealer incentive programs do work! However, the paper work involved to get these incentives can be mind blowing. To keep things simple, wouldn't it be easier just to lower the price on the box to do the dealer and cut out all of the bs paperwork?

Here's a few short clips of the responses for you:

If most dealers are like mine, most incentives do not get passed on to the customer and/or the sales force. The only ones that are passed on are passed on due to the fact that ......

You need to be more specific when you say dealer incentives. What do you mean? From my standpoint some of the programs Ricoh offer are quite good. I am speaking about ..........

I can see you'd say they are an incentive to the client, who gets to choose between commercial and the discounted contract. But, on the admin side of things, these special contracts aren't always the great value to the dealership that manufacturers........

Oh, don't worry, the manufacturers find ways to heap paperwork.........

If you'd like to read the full threads, please become a member of the Print4Pay Hotel.

-=Good Selling=-

ITEX 2010 Targets New Business- Ready, Aim, Fire!

ITEX 2010 Targets New Business- Ready, Aim, Fire!

ITEX is the ultimate educational forum and exhibit hall for serious providers of office product and services. Learn the latest in technology, hardware & software solutions, office supplies and trends, implementing MPS methods, field service initiatives and more. Dealers, VARs, ISVs, consultants, associations, business professionals, C-level decision makers, IT and service managers attend ITEX to find the latest innovations to enhance their business models and meet new partners.

Learn how to put into action the needed changes it takes to make money.

Attend any of the 25 Power Hour education sessions with just the price of a low-cost show admission. Get the latest strategies in the areas that matter most - increasing sales, effective service, best-bet marketing methods, ramped up operations, effective network technology, new product.

Challenge your expertise! Get the best from ITEX business training and developer sessions ranging from apprentice to expert. Explore integrated solutions and why it’s important to become a hybrid provider to better service your customers and increase profits. Learn how to add new revenue streams from networking with peers found in the exhibit halls, pavilions, classes and forums. Enjoy planned networking events for social fun!

It’s all waiting for you at ITEX 2010 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, March 3-4, 2010. Once a year you owe it to your business to gather the best tool kit to address today’s market. It’s up to you to pull the trigger and attend! Only a few weeks away…Get details and to register at www.itexshow.com

MFP Manufactuers "Are They The Fool on The Hill"

To those MFP manufacturers that are still ignoring the market transition to A4. We give you this, special thanx to the Beatles!

Day after day, alone on the hill,
The manufacturers with the foolish grin is keeping perfectly still.
But nobody wants to know them,
They can see that there just fools.
And they never give us an A4 device



But the fools on the hill,
Sees the sun going down.
And the eyes in their heads,
See the world spinning round.

Well on their way, their head in a cloud,
The manufacturers of a thousand devices, talking perfectly loud.
But nobody ever hears them,
Or the sound the new A3’s they make.
And they never seems to notice the market transition to A4

But the fools on the hill,
Sees the sun going down.
And the eyes in their heads,
See the world spinning round.

And nobody seems to like them,
They can tell what they want to do.
And they won’t develop a true A4 device,

But the fools on the hill,
Sees the sun going down.
And the eyes in their heads,
See the world spinning around.
Ooh, ooh,
We copy and print and scan.

And he never listens to the market,
He knows that end users are the fools
They don't like him,

The fools on the hill
Sees the sun going down,
And the eyes in their heads,
See the world spinning 'round.

Ooh,
They’ll never give up their A3 devices!

-=Good Selling=-

Ricoh's DocumentMall "New Beta Eval"

Ricoh's DocumentMall is a Software as a Service (SasS) that allows users to share documents vis the Internet. Documents can be uploaded via MFP, PC or email. DocumentMall has been around for years and continous upgrades to the software has been enhanced over the years.

Seems, Ricoh is at it again with a new user interface that claims to have better functionality. Basically it's designed to simplify basic user tasks as for uploading and searching of documents. Ricoh has added some advanced feature such as Check in / Checkout and Barcode are hidden from the casual user.

DocumentMall can be purchased with time and storage space. For example you can get a one year subscription that's good for 15GB, or three years and 15GB. The cost about $1,000 for the one year and $3,000 for the 3 year subscription. Both of these packages have a limit of 5 users. There's also a DocumentMall advanced package for 25 users which includes 50GB of storage for one and three years with a price tag of $7,500 and $21,000.

Over the years, I've sold quite a few DocumentMall subscriptions to my accounts. Point is, when it came time for renewal, none, count em, none of the companies renewed the subscription. I've realized over the years that DocumentMall is not for everyone, besides have a high price, there is a decent learning curve to DocumentMall.

What I'd like to see from DocumentMall is another level of pricing for on-line storage. Let them create a folder structure for the documents, and cut out the document management applications and feaures. Keep it Simple!  I beleive you can use this starter package as a seed to get many new users and then offer upgrades to the full DocumentMall service.

From meetings with customers in the field, most are now accepting off-site on line storage as something they would like to have. However, at a cost of $80 per month for 15GB, it doesn't cut the mustard on being economical for the SMB user.

Off them them the 15GB for $30 per month and cut out the extras, once they find themselves using DocumentMall, and then having to retrieve documents, they'll see the advantages of having the full version.

Just my opinion, DocumentMall as it stands right now is only a viable soluition for a handful of accounts. Make it affordable and scalable and the users will come!.

-=Good Selling=-
















users

Selling Copiers? A Few Good 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 Print4Pay Hotel 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'll 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've 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 that 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!

How 2 Sell Digital Duplicators in the Print4Pay Market!

Cold calling, nine times out of ten the owner is always somewhere in the shop and 50% of the time you may have the chance to met him or her on the first cold call.

Once you have the name of the owner or the buyer, (keep in mind this is all you want too accomplish on the first call) and a good look at the equipment that he is using, you'll want to create a dedicated mailing list for P4P. I will then send them a direct mailer every three months and follow up with an in person call every three months or every month if you think you have peeked their interest.

I have four different mailers that I use for P4P and will alternate them each and every month for the a quarter and then start over in the next quarter.

If you have half tone samples from your HQ 9000, make sure you are putting a sample of the half tone along with your mailer.

Investigation:

The rest of this blog is posted on the Print4Pay Hotel forums, if interested become a member by click anyone of the Print4Pay Hotel links. In a week or so, I'll be publsihing my second book titled "How 2 Sell Digital Duplicators in the Print4Pay Market.

=-Good Selling=-

Print4Pay Hotel Weekend Updates!

Here's some of the HOT content from the last few days that's been posted on the Print4Pay Hotel's forums in recent weeks. It has been busy with over 31,000 page views, 88 new members and a little over a 1,000 downloads.

Print4Pay Hotel U  Webinars:

February 10th---- NEW Print Audit "MIF" (machines in field) Review Webinar! Managed Print Services

The Copier Marketing arm of your company, your sales reps always wanted!


Most Viewed Threads:

Panasonic Canada discontinues A3 Copier Distribution March 2011
Rumor has it.....
Is selling at cost the future for print hardware?
Canon Buyout Marketing Dollars "Canon Ball"
MPS Deals and Comp Plans

Interesting Threads:

Selling Copiers "Machines in Field" Review
1st A3 Mono Desktop Printer From Ricoh In Five Years
New!! Color Envelope Press from OKI!
CPI Fax, Print & MFP Credit Card Billing Systems
Sharp Takes Printing to New Frontiers: Introducing the Sharp MX Series Color and Mono
Ricoh Pro C720
Xerox Color Qube Samples!

Posted RFP's:

3000 MFP RFG!
RFP for 2 45ppm color MFP's (Expires 3/18/10)
50ppm color Lead for Montana (RFP)
Lead for Midland-Lubbock, Texas 100 Plus Printers!
New! 3 MFP RFQ for Canada!
50ppm color MFP RFQ in Ca
RFQ for 13 MFP's in India

Pricing on the Street:

Canon 7095 proposal
KM bizhub C360 Proposal
KIP 3100
Ricoh MP C3300SPF

The Print4Pay Hotel is the world's only business/social site dedicated to people who work in the office equipment industry. Go ahead log on.....become a member of the Print4Pay Hotel!

become informed, share and maintain your knowledge.

Weekend MFP Industry Notes

Gathered from Print4Pay Hotel Members from around the world and a few moles in very good places!

Kodak announced its first quarterly profit ($443 million) in over a year due to increased sales of its desktop color inkjet printers and MFPs. In 1988, it employed 145,300 workers, now it only has 20,300.

Samsung of Korea stated it earned 3.05 trillion won ($2.63 billion) in the fourth quarter of its fiscal year. Other announcements:
- Moved its U.S. printer/MFP division from southern California to New Jersey (where it will be close to its major competitors)
- Is now world’s second largest maker of laser print engines
- In Asia, the company relabels the Toshiba MFP product line

Fuji of Japan (which makes most Xerox branded MFPs and printers) announced a reorganization to its copier/MFP division:
- Has realigned and consolidated its development and manufacturing functions to form
two new companies
- Fuji Xerox Advanced Technology Co., Ltd. will take on developing functions
- Image capture
- Paper feeding
- Fax functions
- Finishing devices
- Custom development
- Production print
- Fuji Xerox Manufacturing Co., Ltd. will manage manufacturing functions
- Ground toner in Japan
- Photoreceptors in Japan
- Emulsion aggregate (EA polymerized) toner in Japan
- Electronic parts in Japan
- Optical apparatus in Japan
- Shift all desktop printer production to China

In a survey conducted by Ricoh of businesses that have in-house copy/print shops (CRDs), the results were:
- Top types of work that is outsourced
- 73% went to offset printing press
- 43% went to digital production color units
- 34% went to digital production b/w units
- 32% was variable data jobs
- Top reasons why work was outsourced
- 52% did not have right equipment
- 48% did not have enough capacity
- 30% because of cost concerns
- 23% unaware of capabilities
- 14% doubted capabilities
- 11% lack of software
- 9% quality concerns
- 7% delivery concerns

Quad/Graphics, a large print for pay headquartered in Wisconsin, announced it purchased rival, World Color Press of Canada (fka Quebecor), for $1.3 billion. This would create North America’s second largest commercial printer, behind R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. Expected revenue from new combined company is $5.1 billion, and includes locations in U.S., Poland, Latin America & Canada. Quad/Graphics is owned by Quadracci family of Sussex, WI.

Michael McDonald Collins and Michael Cass were arrested in West Madison, Missouri after they were caught using a color copier to make fake U.S. currency.

Thomas Onan of Williamstown, Kentucky was sentenced to two years and six months in prison for using a color copier to turn bleached $5 dollar bills into $100 bills.

EFI announced a new free option for its Fiery print servers, called Fiery VUE offering:
- Standalone application or plug in for Microsoft Office applications
- Users can specify complex finishing with few clicks of mouse
- Goal is no training for end users to print/finish with Fiery driver color MFP
- Result of data gathered by EFI during customer focus groups
- Uses plain English and images
- Thumbnail views of pages and documents
- Premade templates
- users can flip through pages of their document, showing paper types, tabs, inserts, etc.

In an article in the Wall Street Journal titled; “Ten Brands That Will Disappear in 2010”, the author included Kodak. Better sell now!

Comments regarding the future of the PC/laptop market from David Carini, managing director of Maverick China Research in Bejing, China:
- “will we need to store all our files on a local hard drive, and will we need to carry a laptop around?” (if people use cloud computing and data storage, they could log on to Internet, and complete work without need for laptop computer)
- “If Dell and HP were to invest more into making cooler, funkier PCs, then I think it is an overstatement that they will disappear, but if they keep on competing on price, then the Taiwanese and Chinese manufacturers will continue to gain”
- “The success of Apple computers show that consumers are willing to pay when they see value”
-“The U.S. can still operate factories efficiently, but you still have to pay workers $20 per hour. In China, you could pay same workers $1 an hour”

Canon, in a press release, stated that it was “looking into merger and acquisition opportunities and business tie-ups towards launching into biotechnology, nontechnology and life sciences”

IKON, a division of Ricoh, announced a new division, called IKON Managed Document Services:- Headed by Terrie Campbell, VP
- End to end printer/MFP fleet management with IKON TRAC for automated service call dispatch
- Consulting and business process support services
- Intelligent device rationalization

According to The Legal Intelligencer magazine, here are the Top 10 low cost ways for a law firm to market itself
- Keep attorney bios fresh (need high quality color laser MFP to print on demand rather than
- outsource to printing press)
- Record and post video to law firm website
- Make firm’s marketing materials downloading from website. (use color MFP to scan to PDF)
- Create on-line newsroom (more PDFs)
- Make marketing virtual (use of LinkedIn, YouTube, etc.)
- Blogging
- Align marketing and business goals
- Monitor reputation on-line
- Ask “why is this important” first before creating press release
- Still can’t beat face to face (make time for meetings)

While Xerox announced last fall that it had acquired one of its biggest dealer agents, Mr. Copy (with offices in California, Nevada and Oregon), what was announced recently is that its former owner, Bob Leone, is part of a group of Xerox agents that filed suit against Xerox in 10/2007, after the Global acquisition, that may go to trial in 2010:
- Will take place in Los Angeles County Superior Court
- Their lawyers stated that Xerox agents “have suffered and will suffer losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars” due to Xerox’s “breach of their respective contractual agreements to exclusively market Xerox products”

At recent symposium held by Lyra Research in Rancho Mirage, CA, analysts stated that growth of managed print services is being hampered by a lack of inclusion of inkjet printers and MFPs.

Ovum Research stated following on IT hardware purchasing in 2010:
- U.S. market will grown 2% in 2010
- Will grow 3$ in 2011
- Hugh unemployment will be a drag on technology sales in 2010
- End will remain in a defensive IT spending position in 2010

Auxilio of Mission Viejo, CA announced it won a managed print services contract with Palisades Medical Center of North Bergen, NJ:
- Partnered with Sodexo, a healthcare service solution provider
- The hospital servers 400,000 people per year
- 202 bed hospital and 245 bed nursing home
- Value and term of contract not stated

One of the largest chains of office equipment dealers in China, Lanxum, went public. Details:
- Owners sold some 26.5 million shares on Shanzen Stock Exchange
- Ended 2009 with market capitalization of $500 million
- Has 6.1% marketshare, behind Fuji which has 17%
- In managed print services, it is behind Fuji and Hewlett Packard
- Authorized to sell Ricoh, Toshiba, Canon & HP devices
- Headquartered in Bejing, with ten other offices in China
- Plans on opening up 19 more branches

Hewlett Packard’s VP of Healthcare Business, Chris Mertens, announced:
- HP is launching programs to take advantage of the “rolling cascade” of opportunities in the healthcare market due to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) mandate of Electronic Medical Records (EMR) software
- HP announced it is now a partner with McKesson, maker of EMR software
- HP dealer/VARs will be able to source McKesson products from Tech Data, a computer hardware/software distributor
- HP hopes that this will help its VARs penetrate independent physician practices
- “It’s such a huge population, and what we’ve seen plays absolutely to the strengths of partners and HP”
- “Physicians are looking for a local partner to be able to deliver the solutions they need in the new healthcare paradigm”
- Physician practices are now required to implement “meaningful use” EMR systems, or lose out on tens of thousands of dollars in Medicare and Medicaid incentives within a few years.
- “Physician practice market needs to move to technology, and they have not only a carrot, but also a stick; payments to them will be reduced if they don’t get that technology”
- HP estimates the size of the physician practice EMR opportunity at 600,000 businesses in the U.S.
- HP also works with McKesson’s competitor, Cerner, through Tech Data’s competitor, Computer Discount Warehouse (CDW).
- “Physicians want to buy from partners in their communities – people they see in the supermarket, that may be patients of theirs. They don’t want to buy from a Website.”
- McKesson products include; Practice Partner, Lytec, Medisoft, Bright Note Technology, etc. Keep in mind Hospitals need to have implemented a certified ERM by October 2010 and Medical Practices by October 2011

In Japan, Ricoh announced to its shareholders that it is revising its sales forecast downward by 3.1%, but its net income will be up by 50%, due to cost cutting measures.

When asked about economic recovery, Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft stated; “When you have a financial crisis like that, it’s years of digging out”. The current economic situation is “the toughest Microsoft has ever faced”.

Xerox announced it is reducing what it pays U.S. workers in severance. Details:
- Will cut another 2,500 jobs
- “We are identifying various cost reduction actions to help us re-size our company in the face of significant revenue decline and to be getter positioned to invest going forward.”, according to Jim Firestone, President of Xerox.
- Instead of receiving 1.5 weeks for every year employed, now laid off workers will only get 1 week for every year with company.

-=Good Selling=-

Panasonics Exit from A3 Devices "P4P Hotel Comments"

The news of Panasonic's decision to stop manufacturing A3 devices (systems that are capable of printing or copying 11x17) kinda came as a surprise for me. If anything, I thought that they would sell the MFP division and or just drop out entirely.

I can remember a blog I did on the new Panasonic A4 device a few months ago. The Panasonic DP-MB350 is equipped with a document feeder and two paper trays, network scanner, scan2email, ethernet print and a fax. What was unique about this system was the MSRP at or around $1,500. Just maybe Pansonic too has seen the writing on the wall and will continue to invest R & D, along with a ton of cash into the booming A4 market. Just a thought!

Anyway here's some great comments from Print4Pay Hotel Members in reference to Panasonic electing to stop manufacturing A3 devices:

These units are proven reliable machines in the congested 20 - 30 ppm colour MFP space, so aren't they worth anything to anybody? Surely a smaller player or somebody currently not in the space could do well with a proven performer.

This is like GM closing Pontiac and Saturn instead of selling them. Nuts. from Clinton in Canada

Yes, they are very dependable and reliable boxes. There were rated #1 by JD Powers and Associates in 2006 and 2008 for color. They brought features to the table that at the time back in 2008 were some hot commodities. We beat Ricoh, KM, Xerox, Canon machines everyday with these boxes. I have customers that swear by these boxes. The problem for many years is that Panasonic has been very slow to bring out anything new and slowed down on the R&D side. I could never figure out why they had sparse showings in certain market segments. I think Panasonic was shooting for the majority of potential customers needs. They had.....go here for more  from Montecore in US

I read the article on limewire and it stated the factory in Japan is ceasing to manufacture A3's guess thats it for the US market also!! AP in New Jersey

The letter has hit US Dealers, as I have been informed. D Morgan in Pittsburgh

In mid-January Panasonic notified its major Chinese copier resellers and distributors that it will withdraw from the market following the 2010 Asian Olympic Games in November 2010. This is about as official as it gets without a public announcement. A mole in CA

The most notable thing about Panasonic's exit is that it left without being acquired. Is that stage two of the consolidation process? Maybe stage 1B. First is acquisitions, then drop outs. Another Mole in NV

I'm thinking we haven't heard the last from Panasonic for some strange reason...............

Need more chatter, take a trip to the P4Photel

-=Good Selling=-

Office Equipment Industry Still Sliding........

In Japan, Ricoh announced to its shareholders that it is revising its sales forecast downward by 3.1%, but its net income will be up by 50%, due to cost cutting measures.

Kodak announced its first quarterly profit ($443 million) in over a year due to increased sales of its desktop color inkjet printers and MFPs. In 1988, it employed 145,300 workers, now it only has 20,300.

EFI gave out details of its last financial quarter:

- Revenue in North America declined 19%
- The Fiery division posted a drop of 34%
- In U.S., Fiery revenue was down 24%
- Net loss of $3.4 million
- Total revenue down 18% for $114 million
- Now has 1.7 million Fiery print servers in operation
- Inkjet printer revenue down 2% in U.S.
- Inkjet supply revenue up 24%

When asked about economic recovery, Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft stated; “When you have a financial crisis like that, it’s years of digging out”. The current economic situation is “the toughest Microsoft has ever faced”.

Xerox announced it is reducing what it pays U.S. workers in severance. Details:
- Will cut another 2,500 jobs
- “We are identifying various cost reduction actions to help us re-size our company in the face of significant revenue decline and to be getter positioned to invest going forward.”, according to Jim Firestone, President of Xerox.
- Instead of receiving 1.5 weeks for every year employed, now laid off workers will only get 1 week for every year with company

Toshiba stated that its net loss for its fiscal third quarter are less from a year earlier as its memory chip business recovered on demand for mobile gadgets.
- Cut its full year sales prediction by 6% as a result of continued weakness in economy
- Expects to lose 50 billion yen in current financial year
- No comment given on its MFP/printer business.

Toshiba still seems to be hurting, to me it's just a matter of time before they give up on the MFP business and concentrate on their core business.


In an article in the Wall Street Journal titled; “Ten Brands That Will Disappear in 2010”, the author included Kodak

Canon reported info on its last quarter’s financials:- Net profit of 61.6 billion yen (compared with 217.1 billion yen last year)
- Sales of 954.1 billion yen down 4.1%
- Digital camera sales were up, but copier/printer sales were down
- Predicts that net income will rise 52% to 200 billion yen ($2.24 billion) in 2010
- Predicts sales will rise to 3.45 trillion yen
- Copier/printers accounted for 51% of 2009 revenue
- Predicts that copier sales will rise 7% in 2010

-=Good Selling=-

Panasonic States A3 Copier Distribution to Cease in Canada

Posted by a P4PHotel member:

Panasonic Canada put out a letter to all of their dealers this week that effective March 2011, A3 copier distribution will cease. No new A3 copiers will be introduced between now and March 2011. Parts, supplies and Technical support will be available until March 2018.Panasonic will focus on A4 MFPs, Fax machines, Scanners and Panaboard presentation products.


=-Good Selling=-

Marketing Copiers and MFPs "101"

In an effort to keep adding value and solutions for our Print4Pay Hotel members. The Print4Pay Hotel is exciting to announce a NEW P4PU Webinar "Marketing arm of your Copier Company that your sales reps always wanted!"

I've had this site in a beta test for awhile now and I'm happy with how it's evolved and the amount of calls and sales I've received. I'm not gonna let the cat out of the bag right now, however give this a read through and log on to the Print4Pay to get detailed time and date for this POWERFUL Webinar!

Having been in the printer and copier sales business for years, many of the processes used by the industry do not leverage the technology available to make sales reps and copier companies as profitable as possible. Manufacturers push MPS because they want to lock in the clicks, but you have to do all of the heavy lifting. Once tracking devices, who determines whether there is a good fit. This is especially true on the printer side of the fence where there is little total gross profit per transaction making it an area of our customers which winds up costing them a lot more than necessary if we can't get them to "get rid of all those old printers."


In our webinar, I will go over several components of my sales process which I am branching out to copier dealers which has made my numbers stay level and slightly rise while the industry has taken a hit with the economic downturn. Here are some of the things I will show you.


I will show you how I use Print Asset tracking software to AUTOMATICALLY notify me when there are opportunities in the printer fleets which I am responsible for. It will also create the comparisons for me so that I can talk to customers with side by side comparisons which I don't have to produce. (Well, I have to enter in all the data, but you won't).

I will show you how I use this software to Automatically generate printer and copier supplies quotes.

I will show you how I use the web and search engine optimization to create new leads for copiers.

I will show you how I create side by side quote comparisons in less than 3 minutes which include: product photos, pdfs, basic speed, cost of toner, lease pricing, and TCO.

I will show you how you can have a simplified version of this on your site which will allow a customer to do some of this legwork and make you look like more of an expert.

I will show you how to get competitive information on over 800 printers and copiers in ONE LOCATION!

I will show you how this can work for you regardless of the brand you sell. I sell printers and copiers, I do not work for Xerox, for Lexmark, or Ricoh...

We only work with one reseller/dealer per major metro area. Chances are that if you have any (or all) of the problems I did listed above, you could benefit. Your cost will be less than $500 per month (and even lower depending on needed feature sets...) What are we? We are the Marketing arm of your company your sales reps always wanted! Why? Because I am a sales rep who built this system and continues to improve it!

Please sign up for our webinar if this looks intriguing and we'll spend an hour going over all of these features in a live setting so you can SEE how this works!

You'll need to be a member of the Print4Pay Hotel, so please click the link and register today for this awesome sales advantage webinar!

-=Good Selling=-

Oki Launches KILLER proColor pro510DW web printer!!

Every now and then I'll get captivated by a "new" product or some "new" design from our industry.


Today, one of my "go to" print production guru's turned me on to Oki's proColor pro510DW color web press. At first glance and seeing an MRSP of $36,200, well I pretty much passed it up and continued with some additional items that needed to be done with the Print4Pay Hotel site.

Just a few minutes ago, I took the time to read the press release and then downloaded the brochure . Egads, this system has a roll feeder, personally this is the first time I've ever seen a roll feeder on a color LED printer of this size, plus this is an awesome concept. Color custom labels are one of the hottest items for marketing.

The system is capable of cut sheet or roll media up to 12.9" widths, plus it will print on industry-standard converted or non-converted face stocks, paper, synthetic and adhesive-backed substrates. With sequential or variable data personalization. Whoa! Awesome, just wish I had a few of these to sell now! You want a "Print Shop on Box", take a trip to Oki and see for yourself.

Over the years, I've seen my fair share of laser printer, laser copiers that print in color, however I had the opportunity sell the OKI color engines and I believe for the price, you can't get a better quality print on the low end of print production from any other device. The quality and the thickness of stock that the system accepts will blow you away!

Yup, enough for me Oki's not paying me for this, however Kudos to Oki for creative thinking and creating a niche market where they can flourish. Seems most of the Japanese manufacturers and Xerox have moved away from graphics color with their laser printers. Kudos to OKI!!

-=Good Selling=-

P4P Hotel "News & Updates" Week of January 26th 2010

Here's some of the HOT content from the last few days that's been posted on the Print4Pay Hotel's forums in recent weeks. It has been busy with over 30,000 page views, 81 new members and a little over a 1,000 downloads.

Webinar Threads:

February 10th---- NEW Print Audit "MIF" Review Webinar!


Most Viewed Threads:

PC issues with MP W5100/7140 c...
Ricoh Pro C720
Toner Page Cover Examples
Xerox Plans to Cut 2,500 Jobs
Help, IKON CPP500 Relationship with Konica Minolta

Interesting Threads:

Selling Copiers "Machines in Field" Review
KonicaMinolta loses NJ Dealer!
New University Copier Contract (Xerox)
Soda, Pop, Coke or Other
The Next One
Bizhubs and Alchemy

Posted RFP's:

3 MFP's RFQ (Due 2/12/10)
6 MPF's "BIDS ARE DUE BY FEBRUARY 15, 2010"
Copiers for Iraq
Bid for 20 MFP's
Qty 1 New Production Copy Machine "Expires 1/21/10"
RFP for 431 units

Pricing on the Street:

Ricoh Pro 907EX
Canon imagePRESS 1110S
Xerox DocuColor 242
Ricoh Pro C900

The Print4Pay Hotel is the world's only business/social site dedicated to people who work in the office equipment industry. Go ahead log on.....become a member of the Print4Pay Hotel!

become informed, share and maintain your knowledge.

-=Good Selling=-