UDOCX and Scan2Fax "Eric the Office Worker"

When we last heard from Eric "the office worker" he was was our featured office worker in these blogs:  Eric the "Office Worker" Gets a Supra Wide Format!, Print Audit Green with "Eric the Office Worker" and Ecopy Desktop & "Eric the Office Worker" along with Ricoh's PPDM enables an Epiphany for Eric the  "Office Worker"

The last we heard of Eric, he was working for DigDug Systems in Frostberg, MD, since then Eric the "Office Worker" has moved back to New Jersey (home of Rhutts Dogs) and found a job with GigaHertz Power System in Wannakopier, NJ.

Over the years Eric has developed into a techie guru of sorts.  Eric's new job was to process order that were faxed to the company daily. He was one of 12 people that gathered the incoming order, entered the order in the system and then made of copy of the order for filing.  Eric alone (cause he was on top of his game) would process almost 100 orders per day and keep in mind that he was one of 12 users gathering documents from the three fax machines that were dedicated for inbound faxing.

Did I ever tell you Eric's last name?  It used to be Betterbid (sounds like a copier sales person name to me) and he got tired of that and had it changed to Sakash (whoa, sounds like another copier salesman's name too), but enough with Eric's name.  With three fax machines and 12 users there was a lot of jam ups at the fax machines, orders were getting mixed up, misplaced and lost!  Eric was also having a hard time with Wanda (you know Wanda, large girl, ornery and quite intimidating at the fax machines), Eric always waited for Wanda to finish getting her documents and then he'd meander and slither to the fax and lift his documents.

After many months of gathering faxes, processing, misplacing and losing faxes, our "Office Worker" that would be Eric make a mental note that there's gotta be a better way! So Eric went on a mission to see if there was a better way so he didn't have to deal with Wanda anymore.  Eric started search for all sorts of fax terms on the Internet, on one particular search Eric found this link MFP's can now Scan2Fax with UDOCX .

"Whoa" he thought, this could be the holy grail that he was looking for.  Eric in the past had some knowledge of MFP's, and by the looks of the video he figured he check out what MFP's were in use by GigaHertz.  Eric discovered that GigaHertz was using Xerox and Ricoh MFP's (Multifunctional Product) and with additional research realized that each of these machines were capable of adding a "browser" module to the MFP. 

Geesh he thought, if this technology could be added to the MFP's, well first he wouldn't have to deal with Wanda anymore and he wouldn't lose a fax, misplace or have to copy incoming faxes anymore! There'd be no more lines, no more mixups and no more Wanda.  It's sounding like a win win for our boy Eric right?

Well, kinda, Eric knew that technology is not cheap, and what would be the cost and would management go for it.  No one's spending additional money nowadays unless they can get an immediate ROI, right?

On the sly Eric made a few calls and found out from a UDOCX dealer that all three of the fax lines could be eliminated which means no line charge, no call charge, no long distance, no taxes, no fees to pay anymore.  Along with that for an additional few dollars every user (remember the other 11 workers) could have their own "Cloud" fax numbers! Imagine that everyone having their own dedicated fax number!  No more going to fax machine (yeah), no more butting heads with Wanda,  (yeah), no more lost faxes, no more misplaced faxes and no more copying of faxes. Plus Eric could use Scan2fax from the MFP and always have a digital paper trail!! 

When Eric did the math, GigaHertz could eliminate all of the fax lines, increase productivity and save money each month.  The beauty was in the ROI and the fact that the Scan2fax service was a monthly subscription, thus there's no lay out of cash, no IT people or resources needed because the software is running in the cloud!!

So, what did Eric do??  Well as all good workers Eric made a mad dash to the Controllers office with information in hand, on the way he ran into Wanda, fell, broke his pelvis and had to go to the hospital.  Wanda felt so bad for Eric that she delivered the information on UDOCX scan2fax to the controllers office. 

Wanda called Eric a few days later see how he was doing and told Eric that when he comes back to work at GigaHertz in Wannakopier, NJ that he would have his own cloud fax number!!!

-=Good Selling=-

MFP's can now Scan2Fax with UDOCX

I aways enjoy enlighting my customers and others with the latest technology.  If you're like me and you're in the field selling MFP's.  What's a better talk track than solutions, especially when it comes to eliminating the fax machine and all of the bs charges that go with it.

Check out this awesome video frm UDOCX to "learn more"

-=Good Selling=-

Copiers, MFPs and "The Power of the .001 (one thousands of a penny)"

The Power of the .001 (one thousands of a penny)

It's getting kind of late but thought I'd give a stab at this.  The lowly penny and the power of profit that can be collected from Copiers, Printers and MFP's that are under maintenance contract is astounding.  

Years ago, with out the aid of copier maintenance software it was interesting to see what machines were pulling a profit and which were not.  When I was a newbie in the industry I can remember the service manager coming to me with a service card that outlined the cost that incurred with "x" machine and he had to make the call either try and get the system out of the field (thanx for the lead, just what I wanted to deal with a customer whose machine was breaking all the time) or to lose money on the system and raise the maintenance contract next year.

Today, maintenance software to monitor and track profits is now the norm for all dealers and manufacturers.  Thus with low profit systems or those systems producing a loss can be identified ASAP and measures can be put in place to make the system profitable.  The easiest way to make them profitable is to raise the cost of the maintenance agreement.  Most maintenance agreements sold now are all inclusive, meaning all parts, PM kits, consumables (toner, developer) and labor are included. Thus the cost per copy (I call it the cost per page) now rules the industry for most contracts.

So, what the heck does a penny get you?  Not much anymore, can you add a penny per page to a cost per page program, well you can if you 'd like to lose customers!

Here's some quick calculations on the power of the penny or in this case .001 (one thousands of a penny).  We'll deal with assumptions here for easy math.

XYZ Dealership has 500 systems that are on a cost per page contract. Each system generates 5,000 pages per month on average for a total of 2.5 million pages per month.  The XYZ dealership needs to generate additional profit because the owner needs a new boat. By adding .001 to each renewing contract each month, the added profit is $2,500 per month. Over the course of a year that's $30,000.  That's enough for the boat payments!  Really, if your current contract cost was .01 (penny) would you (the customer) be upset if the monthly increase was .001(one thousands of a penny) = $5 per month (Don't think so). What about an increase of .002 for each page, well now we're talking $5,000 per month and gee the owner can get an even bigger BOAT!

Now, here's some really crazy numbers for you.  The XYZ Dealership has 3,000 systems that are under a cost per page contract and each machine averages 10,000 pages per month.  The average monthly page volume is 30 million pages!  Adding just .001(one thousands of a penny) per page will give a profit of $30,000 dollars per month and a cool $360,000 dollars for the year. Now we're talking about a really really big boat!

Can the 3,000 systems averaging 10,000 pages a month be achieved, you betcha, it may take awhile but the opportunities are there especially with the emergence of managed print services in the last few years. 

Most profits from dealers go right back into the company, higher wages, additional people, new technology, cost of living.  I just thought it was neat run the numbers and see where they came out and have some fun!!

-=Good Selling=-

Xerox FREE High Volume Copiers

This is an ongoing topic on the Print4Pay Hotel forums.  I thought I would share some of the threads that were posted by Print4Pay Hotel members.

Me: Dig this. I followed up today with a small print shop here in NJ today, towards the month end for me and this print shop had been in the market for a color printer, however my price was not right for him a few months ago.


Anyway, I'm on the phone with him (he's a good guy and wouldn't bs me), he tells me that he signed and agreement from Xerox for a refurbished 120ppm digital copier and a 25ppm color system with NO Base charges and NO minimums for monthly click charges, along with that he stated the cost per page charge is right in line with new systems!

He has to keep the machine for a minimum of 3 years and if he decides to get rid of the system there is a $500 charge to remove.

To say the least I was shocked and to tell the truth the customer is too! He said he checked the paperwork and all looked well, I asked that he check it again and read all of the fine print because this just seems to good to be true. In addition he stated that one of his other printer buddies did the same deal in NJ. He also stated that he has to wait 4-8 weeks to get the systems.
Has anyone else seen or heard of this in other parts of the country????

Reply from Printfun:

This is legit. It is only open to current non-users. It is as advertised, there really aren't any "catches". The goal is to introduce non-users to Xerox production color machines, allowing smaller print for pay customers to get into the game afford ably.

Reply from Chuck:

Think about it - Xerox places a NEW device in a P4P or School location and picks up perfectly good (these are NOT fast plastic as they call 'em) 120 ppm device and rather than warehouse them they're placed in a NET NEW location generating half the revenue they were getting AND they've got a NET NEW color printer. It's all about the clicks and the aftermarket. In three years (or perhaps much sooner) there's another "great offer" and . . .

This topic has topped a couple of hundred page views over the last week and there are an additional 9 threads from other Print4Pay Hotel members.

Click here to become a member of the largest social group of copier professionals in the world!!

-=Good Selling=-

Weekend Copier & Multifunctional Print4Pay Hotel Notes 7/30/2011

My summer Collegiate Baseball season has ended, not a great year for the team record wise, however I'm always delighted being able to coach the game!

The end of July really, already!  It's been an ok year so far, I've already met my annual quota (our year ends in December), Presidents Club is in the bag and I'm going to try and focus on driving additional profit along with adding more potential accounts that have multiple units.  So, at least for now I'll be back to blogging on a regular basis!

So for all our Print4Pay Hotel Members and Members to be, here's some links of our latest and greatest threads. Check out the new beta portal here.

Recent Document Uploads:

"Pricing on th Street" for Xerox_Quote WC7755PC
"Pricing on the Street" for Lanier LDC 365C proposal
"Pricing on the Street" for IKON_Quote Ricoh MPc 6501
"Pricing on the Street" for Canon iR6075

There's many more, just the latest from today!

Leads, RFP's RFQ's:
Bid for 23 MFP's in Canada
Bid in Canada for two Print Production units
Request for Proposals for 2 Copiers in California
RFP for 3 Print Production Units in Richmond
Copier lead in New Hope, PA

Many more of these also!!!

Recent Interesting Threads from P4P'ers:
Rumor has it....(Xerox to Market MFP's through Global only?) 
Material Data Safety Calls to the Manufacturer

Cloud SAS (Software as a ServicePoll)
New Sharp End of lease HDD feature
Xerox marketing FREE 120PPM Copiers
List your favorite funny copier moments

MFP Cloud Threads:
UDOCX in hybrid environments
Print email from the cloud (Video)
Generic advantages and differences of UDOCX vs.in house installs

These are just some samples of the threads from this week alone!! The Print4Pay has over 2,300 world wide members that are dedicated Imaging Professionals. Take a trip here www.p4photel.com/eve (registration link, don't worry man, it's FREE) and become a part of the largest social group of Imaging Professionals in the work and the opportunity to discuss solutions, best practices, rumors, and make new friends in the industry (it's nice to have a secure forum that's not out there for the public, eh?)

-=Good Selling=-
Art Post
"One of the Top 40 Most Influential People in the Imaging Business"

MFP Copier Wars and the Last Crusade

Sooner or later everything comes to an end, right? 

If you're a scifi buff like me, you'll understand that that technologies that we saw in Star Trek will eventually come true. Things like the replicator can now be directly tied to 3D printers, the tablets that Kirk and Picard used to view an sign are here now (ever wondered why you never saw a sheet of paper on the Enterprise), and how about the transporter (teleporter), it mas not be here now, however it's estimated that we'll have a transporter within 100 years.

Right, so what does the future hold for copiers, mfp's and printers? We all understand that page volumes are dropping due to the use of scan2email, scan2folder, and LAN fax along with software applications that will allow for markups, notes, and the ability to merge documents from different software applications and create one document. We also understand that there is no growth of the printed page, there's growth for manufacturers to capture additional printed pages by taking them away from Printing Presses.

The future whenever it comes to pass looks grim for Chester Carlson's invention of xerographic technology in 1938. Our beloved butt of office jokes, copied butts and breasts will be all but a memory in years to come.

I'm not big on all of the tech products and services offered on the market today, however I am familiar with one product that I believe will move us a step closer to the paperless office. That product is the eWriter from Ricoh.

The eWriter is a tablet based product that can improve remove traditional paper from a cumbersome work flow and direct it to an online process, thus saving tremendous amounts of time which translates to money.

The eWriter offers all of the quality of paper, with documents in a digital format that will be more secure than paper, reduce paper and increase efficiencies in the work flow of documents.

Point noted about the eWriter is that the tablet is priced around $500 however, it's my understanding that there is also a 3 year subscription service (SAS model) that need to be purchased. Along with that Ricoh already has additional apps that are available on it's eWriter web site.

As these devices gain popularity we will see another downturn in the printed or copied page. For the person who thinks that this will not be the norm in 5-10 years, I'm thinking that they'll be on the outside looking in.

Our industry is migrating to SAS solutions with a combination of hardware and software.

Dealerships and salespeople alike need to understand that what we do today will be gone tomorrow and if you're a new rep in the business and you are fortunate enough to stay in the industry as long as I have in 30 years you'll be making jokes about machines that once printed and copied documents onto paper.



Thoughts???

Selling MFP's & Copiers Like a LION!

I'm in the office the other day (which I hate to be in the office), and one of the new reps...well not that new but new to sales and new to the industry is having a tough go of it.  The rep in question has all of the tools to make an excellent rep such as polite, intelligent, quick thinker, quick learner and a good worker. 

Mind you the rep in question is getting the appointments, making the calls but is falling short in getting the orders.  I too struggled with this in my early years of selling, the problem for me in the early years is that I had no one to mentor me. For me, it took some 18 years in the industry before I had a true mentor.  Imagine that, no one to bounce ideas off of, no one to help hone your sales skills, basically you're  marooned to take care of yourself. 

Nowadays with the Internet there are many ways to get self help for sales, even on the Print4Pay Hotel forums we'll bounce ideas off of one another and there's even a forum titled Recommended Reading for Sales with over a dozen books mentioned.

Years ago I turned to "Act Like a Lamb and Sell Like a Lion" by Tom Hopkins, this book turned around my sales career! As I read theboo for the first time I told myself, dam this stuff is corny and it won't work. Alas, I had no other options but to make sales work. Hence I continued to read and learn.  After a few sales calls I found my self hearing a certain reply or a trigger word that sparked a response from the book. Yeah, it was corny stuff, but it worked!

I guess the moral of this story is that there is a "art" to selling, guiding the prospect to the end result of buying your product and services. If you're an excellent listener the prospect will tell you where they are in the sales cycle. If they are not convinced that they want your product you'll hear replies like "let me think about it", or "we haven't made a decision yet" and my favorite "we're going to check out competitors models".   "WHY" it's an awesome reply isn't it??

Back to our rep, I brought the book in the office today and told him make sure you give it back to me, and I also told him to read a few pages at a time and take it everywhere you go, it's your key to success.

-=Good Selling=-

MFP & Copier Comp Plans

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's been awhile since I've had some extra time to write. The end of my summer Collegiate Baseball Season is ending next week and I hope to resume writing something at least three times a week again.
So, how is your commission compensation program? Is it simple, can you figure how much commission you're going to make on the fly? Or, does your commission compensation program take months and years to understand all of the if's and don'ts?

I've been around long enough to understand the two major commission comp plans such as the gross profit plan (here you get a percentage of the profit made off the sale) and the Revenue plan (Revenue Plans are quota based and your percentage of commission will be dictated by the percentage of discount along with monthly and quarterly bonuses for hitting certain month and quarterly revenue targets).

I'm no rocket scientist (matter of fact I just had to look up scientist to make sure I had it spelled properly), however I've got street smarts, quick thinking, a good listener and can go toe to toe with the best of them when negotiating deals. When I started in the industry I spent some 28 years under the Gross Profit Commission Compensation Program. I was blessed with an easy comp plan that allowed me to always figure in my head how much money I could make on the sale. Nothing is finer than walking out from the sale and knowing how much you made, and to tell you the truth it was also easier to negotiate price (if you had to) when the Gross Profit Compensation Plan.

During the last two and a half years I've been on a Gross Revenue Plan. Trust me I'm not saying that this isn't a good plan to have, it does have some finer points such as the monthly and quarterly bonuses. But it's been much harder for me to grasp how much money I can make especially if I have to negotiate price on the spot. Personally the reason I've been in this business for so long is the fact that I could also create additional income when needed.

Years ago, it was possible to make $1,500 - $3,000 per unit. Nowadays it's a whole heck of a lot less, but to be fair both companies that I worked for that had the Gross Profit Plan eventually bit the bullet! So, I guess the grass is not always green on the other side and comp plans are what you make of them. A key to everyone is to understand all of the points of the comp plan, pretty much know the in's and outs. This will lead to a much better relationship and will forgo any surprises that may come down the road.

I'd like to hear from others as to what type of plan you have and what you like about and what you don't like. I like my new comp plan however if I had one wish it would be that I had someone to explain it to me instead of me having to comprehend all of the finer points.



-=Good Selling=-

10 Tips for a Successful MFP Walkthrough

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

I thought it would be a good topic for everyone.

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

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

Me (New Jersey) posted:

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

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

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

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

 

-=Good Selling=-

 

 

Copier Dealership Gone BAD!!

I gonna try and keep this short. Visited a new account, could not get them for hardware since they just contracted for a new copier, however they stated they were unhappy with that dealer and already moved forward with another dealer because "we have a special relationship with bankone leasing and we can eliminate the old lease", hmmmmm, sounded hokie to me, but I was able to book them for a network service appointment because they were looking for a new IT provider.


Two weeks later, myself and our IT SE are there for the network appointment. On first glance I saw the new Savin copier, and I thought, gee guess all is well and we went in for the network meeting. I handed off to my IT SE and he did most of the talking, we then needed to make a copy of an inventory sheet of the PC's and what the customers issues. Off I went to the Savin, when I arrived, I was thinking to myself, dam, I should have made the stop two weeks prior and I would have gotten this nice 65ppm color device instead of the other dealer.

So, I put the originals on the finisher and I ran my hand across the finisher as to say "nice machine" (I gotta stop that), but something felt wrong... I looked at the model number and it was a Savin 6045 (odd), my suspicions were up, so I then checked the meter. Well the meter read 300 color and like 500 black. Ok, somethings still not right, I opened the front panel to check inside and low and behold on the inside of the door was the graphic instructions on how to install toner and remove a paper jam. One thing though, the instructions were "yellowed", %$#% I thought, this dam thing is used and they set the meter back to zero (rotten bastards), so I did another check on the document feeder just to see if the unit may have been refurbished/used/cleaned, thus the reason to turn back the meter. The inside of the document feeder was dirty, thus the machine was probably PM'd and cleaned.

When I went back to the administrator I question her on the system. "Do you know you received a used system"? She hesitated and then stated that they never discussed whether the systems (you means there's more than one) were to be new or used, they just needed a different solution. Ok, by her look when I stated the "used" question I think she very surprised.

So, I left well enough alone, later we went downstairs to look at additional pc's and there was the other copier. I went and checked that one also. That meter had been reset, and it was also used.

Later we were back upstairs and I noticed another copier, however it was being used as a fax (Ricoh 201SPF with SAvin label), so I asked why the separate machine for the fax, why couldn't they just put the fax option in the new color system? I was then told that they had called and the machine couldn't be configured with a fax option and they would have to add this other system. Alright I thought, you really got taken.

So, here's my beef, if the systems were suppose to be used then why would the dealer reset the meters to zero? In my eyes there's no need for that unless you are truly buying or leasing a "refurbished system". There's no way these systems were refurbished.

My gut feeling is that they (dealer) saw an opportunity and exploited the customer. let's face it NO ONE, can eliminate a lease that is three months old, unless you build it into the price. In this case they probably started with new pricing for a 65ppm color and 50ppm black and then went to used units to cover the amount on the old lease. Thus, I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that the lease they signed does not state the equipment is USED.

But, what a shame it is that something like this happens in our industry, I know the dealer who did this, not personally but know of them (would never work for them). Plus, the account is a church.

As the Administrator stated that "they never discussed new or used". I'm thinking she's covering her own ass, but why the dealer turn the meters back to zero unless they are hiding or misrepresenting something!!!

SHAME ON THEM!!

-=Good Selling=-

"What I Like About" Leasing MFP's & Copiers

In the previous blog, I had a response from a reader that he could not find anything on the Print4Pay Hotel forums in reference to a Bakers Dozen lease.


Back in the Eighties I got hooked up with one of the best leasing reps in the business, he taught me the in's and out's of leasing and I haven't forgotten them. Kudos to Dennis G, at the time he was working for Hertz Commercial Leasing (HCL), and pretty much every couple of months he would pay a visit to our office to teach us on how to sell leasing. Dennis is now with LCA (Lease Corporation of America) and I highly recommend him and his company.

Today’s reps are handed rate sheets and shown how to figure out a payment and how to write the lease and that's about it! You know..., that’s BS, there's so much you can learn from qualified veterans like Dennis and others. Such as the Bakers Dozen lease, which was very popular in the late Eighties and early Nineties. I mention the Bakers Dozen lease in the office every once in awhile and all I get is "whoa, what's that", you mean there's other types of leases other than FMV (Fair Market Value) and a 60 month term? Sad but true, there's not many dealerships of leasing companies that teach leasing to their new reps and even keep up with the old reps.

Here's the Bakers Dozen for you:

1,000 Ways to Increase MFP Sales

Really, did I say 1,000 Ways to Increase MFP Sales.  Yup indeed I did.  Over at the Print4Pay Hotel forums there are over 100,000 threads related to MFP's from the top sales people in the world.  The Print4Pay Hotel forum was founded back in 2002 and to date we have over 2,300 registered members from around the world!

Now, I didn't say that I had them categorized in a list, however if I did, I'd be getting BIG BUCKS for them. The idea of the forums is for sales people to share information that will help them close additional sales. Let's face it, I've been a down the street rep for 31 years and I still don't have all the answers and even though I work for a large dealer we still don't have all of the answers alss.  However, on the Print4Pay Hotel forums there are expert reps that are willing to help and share information with others.  Let's say that I need  help with a fiery question, I know that I'm not an expert and there are very few resources I can turn to from the dealership that I work for. Realistically some of the answers you get back from the manufacturers don't make a bit of sense either.  This is when I turn to the forums to post the question or questions and in turn can get the responses I'm looking for or get some real world advise as to what will work, will not work or someone else has found a creative workaround!

So, I'm gonna list a few of them here and I urge you to follow this link to be a Print4Pay Hotel member, btw, it's FREE, no charge, nada, all we ask is that you register with correct info and none of the BS info like Mickey Mouse, or 908.555.1211 for a bs phone number. I personally approve every member to make sure we have people in the industry on the forums and not end users. On to....1,000 Ways to Increase MFP Sales!

1. You gotta give it time and stay in the industry for more than three years, this will allow you to upgrade existing accounts.

2. You gotta make at least 100-200 touches per week. A touch can be anything from an email, a phone call, a drop in, or a meeting, the sales will come believe me!

3. You gotta eat, sleep and breath the industry! It will show when you meet with clients and discuss hardware or software solutions.

4. Be creative, think out of the box for hardware and software solutions, just because the customer wants a (5) 45 ppm systems does not mean those are the right systems.

5. Eat, sleep and breath ROI, nothin is finer that being able to save a customer money and be able to place hardware and software solutions without increasing their costs (matter of fact we have ROI spread sheets posted on the forums).

6. Stop with the 60 month leases!! Sell the shorter term and SELL the finance savings, proposing 36 month leases will have you back in the door in the 30 months instead of 44 months!

7.  How about this one, the customer does not want to lease for 36 months, wanted to buy, however they don't have the funds to BUY now! Well suggest a bakers dozen lease (more on this in the forums)

8. - 1,000 That's all I'm gonna give you here, go to the forums get registered, log in and I'm sure you'll find at least 1,000 Ways to Increase MFP Sales.

Print4Pay Hotel Registration

-=Good Selling=-

I Want My....I Want My..... SMART MFP

MTV, the Eighties, what a special place in time for some of us!  So, where am I going with this??  Not really sure yet, however I wanted to give end users a little more insight on today's MFP's (Multifunctional Products/Printers).

Years ago we called them copy machines,  of course they were used to make copies, about ten to twelve years ago we saw the transformation of copy machines (analog) to digital copiers.  The only difference was that the manufacturers had the technology to convert the scanned page to a digital format and then use a laser beam to write the image to the photo conductor (drum).  The old copiers (analog) that were unreliable, service intensive and the butt of office jokes was transformed into reliable hi speed copiers that could scan and print from the network. 

So, a few years back, digital copiers took another leap forward with the ability to add software cards (Java) that would allow the digital copiers to become work flow and information hubs in the office.  This next generation is what I call a SMART MFP, pretty much they are designed to work with software that will enhance productivity and increase efficiencies in the office. 

Today's SMART MFP's will allow users to scan documents as scan2word, scan2excel, scan2ftp, scan2url, scan2sharepoint, scan2folder, scan2drive and process them as search able pdf's, editable pdfs, index, and OCR and that's just the tip of the iceberg.  I could probably bore you to tears with all of the applications that are available today.

What I see in the field is that most end users still treat the MFP as a commodity, clients looking to buy on price instead of buying on savings . Let me elaborate on the savings, the savings would come from saving countless hours of handling and managing a paper based work flow. If you can cut 10-20 hours a month of labor, that's a big savings. How about if you could cut 5 hours of labor per month per employee?  It can be done with today's SMART MFPs.

If I were an end user I'd want my MFP to process all of those mundane tasks related with the handling of paper. I'd also want my MFP to tell me who is printing what (files) and how many along with having restrictions of what files they can and can't print. If I were using forms, I'd like to be able to have my MFP print onto  NCR paper and auto staple these forms so I don't have to buy them from a print shop.  While I'm at it, why can't I have a virtual (cloud) fax numbers for all of my employees do they can send and received faxes from the PC's without wasting time going to and from the MFP. 

Good news is that everything I mentioned above can be done with SMART MFP's.

-=Good Selling=

Baseball, Sales & MFP's "What Do We Have in Common"?

Right, nine days later my Summer College baseball team on a 5 game winning streak, so what started at 0-6 went to 5-6. However in game 12, found us down 1-0 after 7 innings.   In the top of the 8th we busted out for three runs and took the lead 3-1.  I stayed put with my pitcher because he was getting ground balls and we were making the plays.  The the other team gets a hit, a walk, and we then proceed to make three errors in a row and allow them to tie the game. Our record is now 5-7, guess you figured out how that one ended up.

Errors are a part of the game and no team or player is perfect, it they where there would be no sense in the playing the game, right?

So, this is all to true with sales, everything is going along smooth until, oops, what the heck just happened?  Sales errors can come from talking too much, not listening enough, not knowing your product, publishing the wrong price on a proposal,  or you erred in a certain speed or feature or just trying to bs your way out of a direct question.

The nice thing about errors is that in most cases you can make up for them as long as you're upfront with your customer. Hey, it's a mistake and mistakes are made. You won't see me yelling at my guys during the game for making errors.  But, I will talk to them at the end of the game and tell them that the error was due to a mental mistake, maybe it was not enough concentration, not knowing what the speed the runners have, and not knowing the situation can all lead to mistakes on and off the field.

Over the years, and especially the last couple of years I find my self double and triple checking features, speeds, options, what an MFP can and can't do and also what can and can't be done with the embedded software or third party solutions.  I'm doing my home work and making sure that when we're ready to move forward with an order or a presentation that I won't make the error that could cost us the sale or the game.

The saying is that the game of baseball is 20% skills and 80% mental, dumb ass you gotta think when you're on the field. How true with sales, you gotta think, plan ahead, have what if scenarios.  When you're at the top of your game, it's smooth sailing ahead, when you're making mistakes or making the errors it's a long game or a very rough sales cycle.

So, after all my years I find myself spending more time dotting the i's, crossing the t's to make sure I'm not gonna screw it up in the ninth.  Still, every now and then I find a way to screw something up!!!

BTW, here's neat stuff I never know about "Take Me Out To the Ball Game".

Hope you enjoyed this!

-=Good Selling=-

Weekend Copier & Multifunctional Print4Pay Hotel Notes 6/11/2011

My apologies for not posting as many blogs,  it's been very busy with selling and baseball.  My summer Collegiate Baseball Team is now 0-6, not a good way to start the season, however we have only one place to go and that's up!

The baseball season is very long and it's not all about winning, it's about having the right attitude, playing the game the right way, working hard to improve your skills, working with a team, and trying to out think the other player (hitter or pitcher) and the other team. I follow the three D's of Baseball which are Desire, Dedication and Determination, believe it or not these three core values can take you through life to be the best at any sports and can help you through your selling career also.

Desire to be the best and a true professional in what you do.
Dedication to the industry or the sport. Eat, sleep and breath everything you do.
Determination to get back on your feet and never ever give up, out work everyone else and you'll be in a winner in whatever you do!

So for all our Print4Pay Hotel Members and Members to be, here's some links of our latest and greatest threads. Check out the new beta portal here.

Recent Document Uploads:
FINALLY, AN AFFORDABLE LOW-VOLUME, WIDE-FORMAT SOLUTION (intro letter)
HP new MFPs M4555 & CM4540 MFP
"The Final Frontier in Cost Control"
"Pricing on the Street" for Canon iR6065
"Pricing on the Street" for KonicaMinolta BizHub 751
"Pricing on the Street" for Xerox 5775PT
"Pricing on the Street" for Canon iR6075
"Pricing on the Street" for Konica Minolta BizHub 950
Sharp 4101n street price and service cpc


There's many more, just the latest from today!

Leads, RFP's RFQ's:
Arizona town needs copiers
Request for Proposal - Black and White Copier/Printer
Copier lease & purchase in Mid Atlantic USA
RFP for 3 Print Production Units in Richmond
RFP for two color systems in Canada
Many more of these also!!!

Recent Interesting Threads from P4P'ers:
Rumor has it.....
Intro Letters that have been successful
Interesting Take Over by Xerox...

JOINT STATEMENT BY SHARP ELECTRONICS CORPORATION AND EDWARD MCLAUGHLIN
MFP's & Cost Per Page Agreements

MFP Cloud Threads:
UDOCX in hybrid environments
Print email from the cloud (Video)
Generic advantages and differences of UDOCX vs.in house installs

These are just some samples of the threads from this week alone!! The Print4Pay has over 2,300 world wide members that are dedicated Imaging Professionals. Take a trip here www.p4photel.com/eve (registration link, don't worry man, it's FREE) and become a part of the largest social group of Imaging Professionals in the work and the opportunity to discuss solutions, best practices, rumors, and make new friends in the industry (it's nice to have a secure forum that's not out there for the public, eh?)

-=Good Selling=-


Art Post
"One of the Top 40 Most Influential People in the Imaging Business"

Selling Copiers and MFP Solutions

Times could not be better for reps that are in tune with technology solutions.  "How can you improve my work flow or efficiencies? is NOT a question we hear from our clients in the field.  Most Copier/MFP reps are selling boxes, selling price and are on gross revenue plans. 

There are many opportunities with third party providers to improve your customers work flow with paper and make then more efficient.  Over the years I've found that if I can offer a solution that enables a company to increase their efficiencies then most likely I'm going to be at the top of the pack when a decision is going to be made.  In most cases I'm the only one with this type of offering and that pretty much secures the order.  Selling a copier is not about speeds and feeds but more about how was document created, who created it, what happens with the document after it's been created, who else handles this documents are just a few of the probing questions.

Solutions that I like to focus on are ones that will have an immediate impact on ROI (return on investment).  I like Fenestrae UDOCX Cloud solution because if I find a user that is using MS share point we can give them a cloud based serverless solution for scanning. Now, not everyone is using sharepoint however UDOCX also has a cloud fax solution.  This is big.....no fax modem is needed in the MFP, plus you can have multiple cloud fax numbers.  This gives me the opportunity to know out the competition and also allows me to offer multiple cloud fax numbers at a low cost.

Another is Stethos,  I recently came across this solution that will enable customers to print their own forms on NCR paper. Basically the software will manipulate the print stream and allow for the printer to pull un collated NCR paper from each paper draw and then staple!  This is big too.....a basic two part pre printed form can cost as much as 25 cents each, do the math it's a home run and you can offer an immediate ROI to the customer.

Speaking about solutions brings me to Ricoh's new equill tablet, not to be confused with all of the other tablets on the market today. Ricoh's equill is designed to improve work flow and is basically replacing paper on the tablet.  Great for sales orders, insurance docs, medical forms, service tickets and much more.  This should be an awesome talk topic when in any account!

It's late I'm done, hope this helps!!

-=Good Selling=-

Weekend Copier & Multifunctional Print4Pay Hotel Notes

Well.......I've been busy!!! Memorial Day kicks off my Summer Collegiate Baseball Season and I'm sorry to tell everyone we dropped both ends of the DH!!  Argggghh!  The first we dropped 3-1 and the 2nd game 9-6, and dam we were down in the second game 7-1  going into the 7th inning.  The guys could have quit however they didn't and I was impressed with one pitcher who pitched with a "tude" and brushed back a hitter who thought he owned the plate! It's a long season and we'll see how we do. 

So for all our Print4Pay Hotel Members and Members to be, here's some links of our latest and greatest threads.

Recent Document Uploads:
A Message to CFO's (Another Letter)
Are you aware of your printing environment?
Synopsis of business case for businesses
A Predator’s Guide to Selling

There's many more, just the latest from today!

Leads, RFP's RFQ's:
50 plus Copier Bid in California
32 MFPs up for Grabs in Southeast USA
13 plus MFP's in Mid Atlantic State USA
Color Copier RFP in Louisana
Lease of Production Copier in Mid West USA

Many more of these also!!!

Recent Interesting Threads from P4P'ers:
Rumor has it.....
MPS And Profit
question on powerline adapter
Fax Machines, let's have some fun!
KGB returns broken copier to United Civic Party's activists in Homyel

MFP Cloud Threads:
Print email from the cloud (Video)
Generic advantages and differences of UDOCX vs.in house installs
Toshiba Canada launches new Colour Line

These are just some samples of the threads from this week alone!! The Print4Pay has over 2,300 world wide members that are dedicated Imaging Professionals.  Take a trip here www.p4photel.com/eve (registration link, don't worry man, it's FREE) and become a part of the largest social group of Imaging Professionals in the work and the opportunity to discuss solutions, best practices, rumors, and make new friends  in the industry (it's nice to have a secure forum that's  not out there for the public, eh?)

-=Good Selling=-

Art Post

"One of the Top 40 Most Influential People in the Imaging Business"

Ricoh Convergence "A Smash Hit"

It's late, just got back from the Ricoh party event at Universal in Orlando and to date everything has been awesome!  No one, has an event like Ricoh and that's not coming from me it comes from the dealer community!

From the Monday night reception, then the opening ceremony, the seminars, the tech expo and the night at Universal all is well in Ricoh land.

I got a chance to keep catch up many many P4P'ers, make some new friends and enjoy the comradery of others in the copier industry.  It was one big happy family!

I must say that Ricoh's commitment to the channel and the products that are coming in the future will keep Ricoh atop of the MFP industry and a major commitment to MDS will enable us to retain existing customer and attract new customers. 

It's late, I'll be posting more on the P4P forums, Youtube  in the near future.  BTW the way, the highlight of the night was Yoshi singing a Bon Jovi song. I thought I captured the whole video, however when I checked I only had the first 30 seconds, dam memory. If anyone has it please upload or send me a link, it was awesome!!

-=Good Selling=-

Pennies from Ricoh

Thirty Two years in the down the street sales of copiers will teach you a few things along the way.  I tend to think that I've become an expert in many areas, not only am I an expert with copiers but I've also progressed to be an expert (professional) in others things.

Professional Directions Giver:  Where do you need to go in New Jersey?  With all my years behind the wheel who the heck needs map quest or one of those fancy GPS's.  I can get you from point A to point B with all the short cuts and no tolls.  When traveling with the wife there's no need for me to get lost or get off the beaten track because I'm embarrassed to ask for directions!

Professional Cold Caller:  Right, what the bloody hell, are companies going to shoot me or call me nasty names for calling them on the phone or stopping in. Over the years I learned what I need to get from a stop in, how to  track down Mrs. or Mr. Right, and been thrown out of more places than I can remember.  Full speed ahead!

Professed Expert with Ricoh Equipment:  With 13 years of selling the Ricoh product line, I know more than most and generally smarter than the average bear with configurations and what can and can't be done!

Professional Driver:  Over 20,000 miles per year for 32 two years is ..........(need the calculator for this one) for 640,000 miles travel in the beautiful State of New Jersey.  My wife tells me I'm a horrible driver, I tell her that....she needs to mind her own business and let me drive!  If I'm still doing this in 18 years I'll have a million miles under my belt and will be absolutely insane.

Professional Penny Counter:  Tell me, where else can you count pennies or tenths of pennies in your head and give the correct answer for volumes of 600,000 pages at .005 or .008.  Better yet add them up for 5 years and have the correct answer.  I've seen some really weird looks from customers when give them the numbers with out the aid of a calculator!  I'm always telling the wife and others that I'm in the penny business and make over six figures a year!!

Professional Finder of Lavatories:  When you're on the road as much as I am, you always have your fav spots for relief whether inside or outside!

Professional Lie Dectector:  Believe it or not, I can tell when your BS'ing me. I've learned to listen very carefully and can pick apart inconsistencies in your story, and your body language.  So, whether you're a potential client, sales person, or sales manager I know when your feeding me bull.

Just one other note, I named the blog "Pennies from Ricoh" because in the last 13 years of selling Ricoh products have been excellent years, and the popularity of customers who engage in cost per page maintenance agreements, again it's made me and expert in the penny counting business.  Boy, do those pennies add up, especially when you get a 1% overage on a cost per page of .008!

-=Good Selling=-

Scan to the Cloud for eCopy & Salesforce.com

This is Hot!  Finally an ecopy connector for salesforce.com, I'm sure this can be an additional product for all of us to focus us.

Announcing the connector for Salesforce.com for Nuance eCopy Sharescan. Partnering with Nuance a company called 2112 http://www.scan-to-salesforce.com has announced they have released a “connector” for eCopy Sharescan that will allow users to scan documents directly into Salesforce.com accounts using an eCopy enabled MFP or scanner. Batch scan using barcode cover pages will allow users to scan batches of documents that will then be converted to individual PDF files and automatically uploaded to the correct Salesforce account.

Salesforce.com is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with regional headquarters around the world. Salesforce.com has its services translated into 16] different languages and currently has 82,400 customers and over 2,100,000 subscribers. The application runs in the cloud, so the user can access it anywhere through an Internet-enabled mobile device or a connected computer. The Sales Cloud includes a real-time sales collaborative tool called Chatter, provides sales representatives with a complete customer profile and account history, allows the user to manage marketing campaign spending and performance across a variety of channels from a single application, tracks all opportunity-related data including milestones, decision makers, customer communications, and any other information unique to the company's sales process. Other activities can be done on the Salesforce cloud. These include using the Jigsaw business data to access over 20 million complete and current business contacts from right inside Salesforce CRM, and designing and automating any process in Salesforce CRM.

VP Shashi Klamath “We see a great need in the marketplace to scan and store documents directly into Salesforce.com accounts leveraging a company’s existing infrastructure. This simplifies and automates that process saving companies thousands of dollars in paper document storage and labor.”
 
-=Good Selling=-