December 2022 Office Technology

FEATURE ARTICLES

10 2023 Industry Forecast

Manufacturers look to the year ahead

Compiled by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

The decline of printed pages has accelerated, the remote worker trend has become mainstream and, it appears, end users are increasingly embracing A4 MFPs. With such realities in mind, what will be the greatest opportunities in the year ahead?

Generating Leads

26

Using social media to leverage relationships by Ryan Mulvany

Technology Assurance Group (TAG) Social media has changed the way humanity connects, relates, shares and communicates. This has strong implications for the business world because businesses are built on communication. Strong communicators have always won in business.

DEALERS HELPING DEALERS

Marketing Ideas How to generate leads & using ZoomInfo

Compiled by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

This article includes two questions submitted by dealer members as part of BTA’s Dealers Helping Dealers resource, and several of the answers received. These answers and many oth ers can be found in the members-only section of the BTA website at www.bta.org/DealersHelpingDealers.

COURTS & CAPITOLS

32

Know Your Rights

Be sure to post/distribute the new EEOC poster by Robert C. Goldberg

BTA General Counsel

Many dealers have had to address complaints alleging violations of the laws enforced by the EEOC. In its investigation, the EEOC often visits the dealership. One of the first things it will request during its visit is to view where federal disclosures are displayed for employees to review.

PRINCIPAL ISSUES

35

IT Nation Connect 2022

ConnectWise hosts event Nov. 9-11 in Orlando by Elizabeth Marvel Office Technology Magazine

On Nov. 9-11 in Orlando, Florida, ConnectWise hosted IT Nation Connect 2022, an in-person and virtual event gath ering 4,700 technology service provider (TSP) own ers and employees, and others. The event featured four keynote addresses, more than 120 educational sessions and 140 exhibitors, and networking events.

36

Bigger Bolder Brother OEM announces enterprise product lineup by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

Following on the heels of its Nov. 7-9 “Bigger Bolder Brother” dealer meeting in San Diego, California, on Nov. 16, repre sentatives of Brother International met with indus try analysts and editors in New York City, New York, to preview the company’s new line of color business, A4, all-in-one laser printers.

Winning MPS Deals

37

How cloud software can elevate your business by Aleya Ericson In Time Tec

The old adage is “work smarter, not harder.” But the big question is: “How?” No one sets out to create unnecessary work. Plus, there is always the consideration of what will actually make your life easier. Thankfully, there are many technological solutions ready to swoop in and make your business run more efficiently.

Congratulations 2022 Frank Award Winners

On Nov. 10, I had the privilege of at tending The Can nata Report’s 37th Annual Awards and Charities Gala, themed “Shake It Up,” held at The Madison Hotel in Morristown, New Jersey. It is always a very enjoyable event, attended by both dealers and vendors. Congratulations to Frank, Car ol and CJ Cannata — and the rest of the team at The Cannata Report — for their collective efforts in hosting such a wonderful event. Congratulations, too, to the 2022 Frank Award winners. Following are the winners listed in the order they were announced at the event:

n Best Production Print Manufactur er: Ricoh USA

n Best A4 Manufacturer: KYOCERA Document Solutions America

n Best in Class: Sharp Imaging and In formation Company of America

n Best Diversification Partner (new this year): ConnectWise

n Best Marketing Strategy: Sharp Im aging and Information Company of America

n Best ECM/Document Management Software Provider: DocuWare

n Best Print Management Software Provider: ACDI and PaperCut

n Best IT and Security Services Pro vider: ConnectWise

n Best Technical Service Provider: Ricoh USA

n Best Leasing Company: GreatAmeri ca Financial Services

n Best Female Executive: Laura Black mer, president of dealer sales, Konica Mi nolta Business Solutions U.S.A.

n Best Male Executive: Mike Marusic, president and CEO, Sharp Imaging and In formation Company of America

n Best Manufacturer: Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America

In addition to the Frank Awards, two special awards were bestowed. Larry Weiss, CEO of Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office, was presented with the Frank G. Cannata Philanthropy Award for his support of a wide array of charitable organizations, in cluding The Mariano Rivera Foundation, the National Kidney Foundation and the Jillian Fund, among others. Weiss, a board member of The Mariano Rivera Founda tion, was congratulated at the gala by Baseball Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera via a video tribute.

Mike Jones, president of vendor equip ment finance, CIT Business Capital, a division of First Citizens Bank, was also honored, receiving The Cannata Report‘s Veteran’s Award in recognition of his mili tary service and dedication to helping fel low veterans transition from military life to the workforce. Jones is devoted to many veterans’ initiatives, including Wounded Warrior Project and Operation New Uni form, where he serves as a board member. Through the years, the gala has served as a fundraiser. This year’s event raised $180,000 to create the Marie Cusumano En dowed Scholarship at Hackensack Merid ian School of Medicine, located in Nutley, New Jersey. The scholarship serves as a me morial to Frank’s late sister. Beginning in the spring of 2024, the Marie Cusumano En dowed Scholarship will provide funds to a student selected by the Hackensack Meridi an School of Medicine’s academic board. To date, The Cannata Report’s Annual Awards & Charities Gala has raised $1.5 million for endeavors funded by Hackensack Merid ian Health Foundation and has collectively raised more than $3 million for many chari table organizations nationwide. n — Brent Hoskins

Executive Director/BTA Editor/Office Technology

Brent Hoskins brent@bta.org (816) 303-4040

Associate Editor

Elizabeth Marvel elizabeth@bta.org (816) 303-4060

Contributing Writers

Aleya Ericson, In Time Tec www.cartosmps.com/bta

Bob Goldberg, General Counsel Business Technology Association

Ryan Mulvany, Technology Assurance Group www.tagnational.com

Business Technology Association 12411 Wornall Road Kansas City, MO 64145 (816) 941-3100 www.bta.org

Member Services: (800) 505-2821 BTA Legal Hotline: (312) 648-2300

Valerie Briseno Marketing Director valerie@bta.org

Brian Smith Membership Sales Representative brian@bta.org

Photo Credits: Adobe Stock. Cover created by Bruce Quade, Brand X Studio. ©2022 by the Business Tech nology Association. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the publisher. Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of published material. However, the publisher assumes no liability for errors in articles nor are opinions expressed necessarily those of the publisher.

FLASHBACK

The association’s magazine cover 58 years ago this month — the NOMDA Spokesman, December 1964.

Why we are here:

We exist to help office service providers improve their “people to process” ratio.

Our Belief:

We believe that in a mature market we are in greater need of the most accurate data that enables better knowledge and process. Which leads to greater employee happiness and improved customer experience

How we do it: We provide the best account management and ecommerce tools available to improve account knowledge and customer experience.

What’s our success:

In the last two years over 600 dealers are benefitting. Shouldn’t you?

www.predictive insight.com

BTA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Manufacturers Share 2023’s Opportunities

Iam told that the In dustry Forecast fea ture, appearing as the cover story in this issue of Office Technology, has been an annual tradition in the magazine for more than 35 years. What an amazing resource to the BTA Channel. Like you and so many other dealers, I always value the opportunity to learn about the visions that our manufac turers have for the future. With the new year comes a new set of opportunities. Knowing what manufacturers see as the greatest op portunities for the dealer community can help guide us in the year ahead.

Starting on page 10 is the first of 12 sub missions from our imaging equipment man ufacturers — from Brother to Xerox. Allow me to express my thanks and appreciation to all of the participants for their willingness to be part of this special feature. I would es pecially like to thank those participants that are also members of BTA, several of them for decades: Brother, Epson America, Konica Minolta, Kyocera, Lexmark, Ricoh, RISO, Sharp, Toshiba and Xerox.

In the introduction to the feature, you will see a synopsis of the questions the manufacturers were asked to address in preparing their forecasts. In the initial in vitation to participate, one of the full ques tions asked was: “What do you believe will be the primary market and product op portunities for dealers in the new year in terms of helping to optimize the business conducted by their dealerships and better ensure a prosperous future?”

As this is being written, I have not read any of the forecasts submitted, although I am anxious to do so. With that in mind, the editorial staff at BTA has provided a few ex cerpts from the submissions to share with

you, having to do, specifically, with an em phasis on the word “opportunity.” Perhaps these excerpts will inspire you to take the time to read through the entire 2023 Indus try Forecast feature.

n Canon: “The current climate has seen some competitors weakened, which can provide an opportunity to pick up addi tional customers.”

n Epson: “ ... We still see the demand for A4 continuing to grow. Dealers can take advantage of this opportunity through strategic planning and open communica tion with both customers and OEMs ... ”

n Konica Minolta: “2023 is projected to be a growth year, with some analysts predict ing up to 10% growth in unit volume, creating a tremendous opportunity to place devices.”

n RISO: “It is 2023 and print buyers still view color printing as a luxury. If that does not scream ‘opportunity,’ then nothing does.”

n Xerox: “ ... There are three significant areas of opportunity for dealers. First is ex panding their presence in the production market’s color and mono segments; second is capitalizing on the power of apps and other digital solutions to solve common — but critical — workflow issues; third is advancing their business agility in the market by aggressively accelerating their digital transformation strategies.”

Yes, the forecast feature is lengthy, but I know it will be worth your time to read through it at your convenience. Take the time to learn what your vendor partners and competitive vendors have to say about the year ahead. My expectation is that it will help you better see what the greatest strate gies for your dealership’s continued success may be in 2023. I extend my best wishes to all of you as you embrace the opportuni ties that are best for your dealerships in the coming year. n

— David Polimeni

2022-2023 Board of Directors

President

David Polimeni

RITE Technology Sarasota, Florida dpolimeni@ritefl.com

President-Elect

Don Risser

DCS Technologies Corp. Franklin, Ohio don.risser@dcs-tech.com

Vice President

Adam Gregory

Advanced Business Solutions LLC St. Augustine, Florida adam@goabsinc.com

Immediate Past President

Tim Renegar

Kelly Office Solutions

Winston-Salem, North Carolina trenegar@kellyofficesolutions.com

BTA East Mike Ardry

Automated Business Solutions Warwick, Rhode Island mardry@absne.com

Mike Boyle BASE Technologies Inc. Bethel, Connecticut mboyle@baseinc.com

BTA Mid-America

Brantly Fowler

Zeno Office Solutions Inc. Midland, Texas bfowler@zenotx.com

Greg Quirk

JQ Office Equipment Omaha, Nebraska gquirk@jqoffice.com

BTA Southeast Debra Dennis CopyPro Inc. Greenville, North Carolina ddennis@copypro.net

Jim Buck

Carolina Business Equipment Inc. Columbia, South Carolina jimb@cbesc.com

BTA West Dan Bombard

Yuma Office Equipment, a Fruth Group Company Yuma, Arizona daniel@yumaofficeequipment.com

Mike McGuirk

ProCopy Office Solutions Inc. Mesa, Arizona mmcguirk@procopyoffice.com

Ex-Officio/General Counsel

Robert C. Goldberg

Schoenberg Finkel Beederman Bell & Glazer LLC Chicago, Illinois robert.goldberg@sfbbg.com

2023 Industry Forecast

Manufacturers look to the year ahead

Compiled by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

The perils and challenges of fice technology dealers faced during the intense throes of the COVID-19 pandemic are mainly in the past. However, that’s not to say that there were no lasting effects. The decline of printed pages was acceler ated, the remote worker trend became mainstream and, it appears, end users are increasingly embracing A4 MFPs. With such realities in mind, what will be the greatest opportunities in the year ahead? To find the answers, Office Technology magazine asked 12 MFP and printer manufacturers to share their expectations for 2023. Perhaps the insight shared in this year’s indus try forecast will help you better position your dealership for continued success.

Each of the contributors was asked to address four ques tions in essay form. The questions focused on: the primary market and product opportunities, and best strategies for success in the new year; the most significant challenges dealers will face in 2023 and how can they best address them; anticipated changes in demand/needs/expectations for office technology among end users in 2023; and the char acteristics of the office technology dealership that is best po sitioned for success in 2023. Following are their responses.

Brother International Corp. Fernando Maroniene,

transformation, decentralized and dis tributed print solutions will continue to play critical roles in office technology, such as a surge in demand for A4 sheets and the concept of everything as a ser vice. We predict that in 2023, companies will continue outsourcing printing ser vices for their flexibility while creating demand for print and scan devices that are affordable, easy to use and secure.

One big printing trend for 2023 is the shift from A3 to A4 sheets, particularly on color machines. Despite an ongo ing demand for A3 printing, we see an increased demand for smaller (A4), yet enterprise-level, products. With a de centralized workforce and everything online, companies only see the need to overspend on large machines or large paper sizes for special needs. Future printing consists of a mixed fleet of A3 and A4 products, with some acceleration on A4 due to distributed offices. Al though a diverse fleet of brands will continue, we also see some concentration on fewer brands to make fleet manage ment an easier task. Dealers will also work with brands to create streamlined experiences for companies looking to outsource their printing needs.

Senior

Director of Product Marketing

As employees return to the office, they will return to a hybrid work concept, which means that office technology companies and dealers must consider the unique needs of a workforce caught between fully re mote and entirely in-person. With the acceleration of digital

From a business perspective, as companies learn that they do not need to focus on acquiring and managing technology, but instead on their core business and more strategic projects, they will continue and expand their use of outsourcing for their technology needs. This outsourcing will evolve into a business model that makes more sense for them. For example, in the printing arena, we see customers who value flexibility due to a variable print volume need (and all controls IT needs to operate in this model). On the other hand, we also see customers who have a more constant print volume who value the simplicity of their outsourced business models, which usually translates into flat rates and hassle-free, easy-to-manage business models.

At Brother, we mainly focus on providing the technology

WELCOME TO THE INTELLIGENT CONNECTED WORKPLACE

Where you’ve got the confidence to run business your way. Secure. Connected. Empowered. With a digital solutions partner who tailors services to care of your business, you can scale up and stand tall. When I.T. works, WORK IT Visit RethinkWork.com

When I.T. works, you’re winning as a team

and the resources for dealerships to im plement their models that make sense. Our goal is to enable them to support the contractual business with tools that go from infrastructure needs, such as hardware and a supplies program de signed exclusively for contractual busi ness, to solutions that help them access, design and implement managed print services. A team of presales consultants that allows them to maximize the con tractual business offer is also necessary. We take the “At your side” brand promise very seriously.

Aside from providing technology and resources, we also encourage dealers to leverage the Value Subscription Plan (VSP). The VSP is a program created for our dealer partners who see an opportunity for a simple-to-sell, flat-rate con tractual business model that addresses some customers’ needs, but is only sometimes easy for them to implement.

As companies continue to migrate toward a hybrid work force, collaboration becomes more complicated and IT ad ministrators must adjust to manage and secure many grow ing devices. As a result, it is more important than ever for dealers to standardize their offerings to ensure they will be secure and remain nimble. A dealership that is flexible, focused, innovative, truly comprehends their customers’ atmospheres and is willing to go the distance for their ac counts will be poised for success in 2023.

Canon U.S.A. Inc. Karin Harrington, Senior Sales Director, Dealer Sales Division

The upcoming year can present new opportunities for dealer com munities. Production print services remains a business that relies on relationship building. In-person ac tivities can help strengthen ties with dealers and can lend some assurance that together we are well prepared to address the challenges ahead, such as the continuing chip shortage and product back orders. Main taining a strong logistics group and having consistent con versations with dealers can help to optimize the business relationship and work toward a more prosperous future.

Customers are looking for solution providers who can help them expand within existing clientele. Focusing on technology — both hardware and software that can support the hybrid business style — can help those striving to build a prosper ous future. Collaboration tools that can assist in more uni fied communication, such as the AMLOS (Activate My Line of Sight) solution from Canon, as well as cloud solutions offered

by Canon that can enhance day-to-day operations in hybrid setups thanks to flexible workflow options that include security features, can be important of ferings for dealers working to address changing customer needs.

Expanding into new markets can be an avenue for growth. The current cli mate has seen some competitors weak ened, which can provide an opportunity to pick up additional customers.

For Canon, continued expansion into the production print space remains promising. Complementing this strong effort, which started during an earlier phase of the COVID-19 pan demic, are continued inroads in the large-format sector, pro viding new growth opportunities.

Focusing on verticals such as health care and education remains important, as they are both growing segments of our business. Many end users are returning to the office either full-time or on a hybrid schedule. After a couple of years of remote assistance, end users are now needing more in-person support, and it will be up to dealers to antici pate that need and plan accordingly. Adding value for hy brid work styles is important, but hybrid working has not replaced all facets of previous working conditions. Dealers can be well served by being able to pivot to meet the various needs of their customers.

To be well positioned for success in 2023, it is important to retain flexibility. Supporting hybrid environments will be im portant for office technology dealerships for the coming year. Investments in production, large format and display graphics are examples of key areas to target for the upcoming year.

While there have been many changes from 2020 to now, the importance of dealers prioritizing delivering highquality and reliable customer service remains. But dealers can also attempt to position themselves as solution provid ers and can be well served by being willing to expand into new markets. A strong goal could be netting new customers while driving out the competition.

Focusing on and investing in the business of print has been a reliable way to help meet the demands and expectations for of fice technology. Canon’s commitment to technology can help print service providers increase print production efficiency while working to lower their operating costs, with the goal of growing their businesses.

Epson America Inc.

Elliot Williams, Director of Product Marketing, Business Imaging

Over the past year, we have seen the

Focusing on technology — both hardware and software that can support the hybrid business style — can help those striving to build a prosperous future.

market demand for A4 devices increase. However, sales did not fully reflect this due to supplychain challenges. Moving into 2023, product availability will gradually im prove, but we still see the demand for A4 continuing to grow. Dealers can take advantage of this opportunity through strategic planning and open com munication with both customers and OEMs to understand business needs, product availability and develop a realistic approach to meeting customer requirements.

It is no surprise that building and establishing a rapport with customers is a key element to a successful relation ship. However, the art of face-to-face, in-person commu nication with customers has fallen to the wayside due to circumstances beyond our control. We had to adapt and grow accustomed to living in a virtual world. A lot of time has been spent meeting with customers on Zoom calls and communicating through emails. Additionally, with turn over within sales teams, some dealers have lost veteran staff members and the relationships they held prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As we exit 2022, we are seeing the world change again. Dealers will be challenged to learn or relearn the skills to get in front of customers because they may have been lost. It will be critical to reestablish customer relationships to regain their confidence and trust by listening and un derstanding. Whether cold calling, scheduling in-person meetings or attending open houses, being physically pres ent is very important, because in this space, people pur chase from those they know and can depend on.

Dealers can also build rapport with customers by fully understanding how their businesses operate, as well as their future goals and challenges. They may need other hardware technologies beyond printing to help employees operate more efficiently. Dealers can develop additional revenue opportunities by expanding the portfolio of solu tions offered. Partnering with a trusted OEM that offers a range of technology solutions beyond MFPs, such as pro jection and scanning, can increase value to the customer. While it may be an adjustment to sell outside of the printer space, dealers can advance their skill sets and further build that customer trust by addressing these needs.

Anticipating any issues that may arise and proactively offering solutions before they happen is another way deal ers can gain confidence from their customers. While it may

Dealers can also build rapport with customers by fully understanding how their businesses operate, as well as their future goals and challenges.

not be the most immediate topic ad dressed, security is a growing concern. More businesses have become victims of hacking and phishing. This is an area where dealers can be more proficient and proactive, not only in security, but in preemptively articulating how the products they offer are secure in antici pation of potential threats.

Approaching 2023, dealerships will see success by putting in the work to build a knowledgeable and experienced sales team, whether that consists of seasoned professionals or new hires. It is a team that is willing to get in front of customers and fully understand their needs. It does not wait for a customer com plaint, but strategically plans and offers preventative op tions. Businesses are looking for reassurance as opposed to the latest and greatest tools. They want to feel their money and time are being well spent, and that the solutions they of fer enable customers and employees to be productive. Deal erships that can convey and exemplify these characteristics will be strongly positioned for success in the coming year.

HP Inc.

Mary Beth Walker, Head of Global Channel

Strategy

In 2023, our greatest challenge will also be our greatest opportunity: how we unlock value in the face of an ever-evolving macroeconomic envi ronment. Within that, the largest op portunities will be found through hy brid work, sustainability and data. But the value imperative looks different for customers and dealers.

Hybrid Work & Collaboration — The office is no longer one place. 2023 will continue to see tech solutions nudge workers closer to a reality where they are their own IT hubs. From printers to PCs, people want solutions that are both integrated — helping them connect and collaborate — but also independent — enabling their unique needs and making them available in the places where they work best. Current re search indicates that as many as 61% of hybrid workers waste an hour or more per week due to tech issues. Moreover, half of employees feel their companies are not using the right tools for hybrid work. Customers will also continue to emphasize more sustainable operations and corporate agendas. These are opportunities for dealers to fulfill needs in the market.

Sustainability — For dealers who have well-articulated value propositions, unexpected opportunities can be found in customers’ more focused mindsets or the opportunity for dealers that stems from sustainability. A study on responsible

leadership found that companies with high ESG [environmental, social and corporate governance] performance rat ings enjoyed average operating margins 3.7 times higher than those of lower ESG performers. Additionally, HP’s commit ment to sustainable impact helped it win more than $3.5 billion in new sales in fiscal year 2021, representing a more than three-times annual increase. While there are headwinds, dealers can find growth by reshaping the way companies enable agile and sustainable work.

Leveraging Data — Unlocking value in 2023 will require dealers to sharpen the tools in their toolboxes — the most im portant being data. In times of uncertainty, data underpins a resilient strategy and can offer cues even when things feel unpredictable. Data can pinpoint need and enable prioritiza tion of resources. It also creates stronger touchpoints when the relationship between customer and dealer is critical. And data enables accountability — by showing how more sustain able solutions are impacting customers’ long-term goals.

We are finding that partners who opt into HP Amplify Data Insights — our industry-first channel intelligence plat form — are growing two times faster than average. Accessing this intelligence platform provides more business opportuni ties than relying on proprietary data alone. In fact, in 2023, 30% of organizations that harness the collective intelligence of their analytics communities will outperform competitors that rely solely on centralized analytics or self-service. Le veraging data has helped identify opportunities for device upgrades and renewals for more than 30 million PCs and 10 million printers across 900,000 customer offices.

Driving Change — Few places have seen a bigger shift in the value conversation than the office in recent years — how we work, where we work and what we get out of work. Technology will continue to play a pivotal role in redefining the value of the workforce built for the world today. Dealers will be key in driving that change in the year ahead.

Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A. Inc. Laura Blackmer, President, Dealer Sales, & Dino Pagliarello, Senior Vice President, Product Manage ment & Planning

For dealers who have well-articulated value propositions, unexpected opportunities can be found in ... the opportunity ... that stems from sustainability.

EMPOWERING THE ART OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION FROM ANYWHERE

Getting the most out of the digital transformation journey takes a special touch. At Toshiba, we understand that every business is unique in its challenges, processes and existing infrastructure. Having guided thousands of organizations through their digital transformations, Toshiba has the expertise, toolbox and ability to help you rapidly assess, implement and deploy personalized solutions from anywhere. Whether your journey begins with converting paper documents to digital, searchable, shareable files, or you seek a better way to securely store and share data across a mobile and distributed workforce, Toshiba is ready to meet you where you are today, and prepare you for tomorrow. Learn what Toshiba’s workplace digital solutions and services can do for the art of business at business.toshiba.com

©2022 Toshiba America Business Solutions, Inc. Electronic Imaging Division. All rights reserved.

2023 will be about getting back on track. The industry should be mostly out of inventory backlog after taking a step back due to supply-chain issues. Deal ers can now focus on normalizing their businesses. This means getting current customers equipment they have been waiting for and getting lease renewals going again. Our production print busi ness did very well last year, and there are many product opportunities in different growth segments such as label, wide format and packaging. These are relatively new for many dealers, but we have many training and marketing resources available to support them.

2023 is projected to be a growth year, with some analysts predicting up to 10% growth in unit volume, creating a tremen dous opportunity to place devices. As we look even further into 2024 and 2025 — and a forecasted unit and page downturn by IDC — placing as many units as possible next year will be key to mitigate challenges we could face down the road.

While 2023 will be a catch-up year, filling backlogs, extend ing leases, etc., dealers should also take time to assess their preparedness for a potential downturn. This means evaluat ing current resources, skill sets, and exploring and develop ing the right diversification strategies. They should carefully prepare their marketing strategies, explore e-commerce op tions and consider how their websites are performing. Deal ers who are ready for real growth beyond the MFP can begin to branch out into production and industrial print in addition to other services (e.g., MITS). Any diversification can add to your resilience during the continual changes in the industry.

Digitizing workflow is a customer need that was acceler ated in the last two years and will continue to be a priority. Customers are also looking to be more cost effective when it comes to overall print needs. Dealers need to be creative in their overall offerings to customers with an appropriate mix of solutions for their needs, combining A3 and A4 devices, all while keeping costs down.

Dealers will not be successful just replacing existing ma chines. They need to be able to have conversations with cus tomers about their true needs — whether they are security, workflow or managed services — and help them uncover ways to optimize their businesses using technology. Any dealer only thinking about replacing leases is missing what custom ers are asking for and, therefore, missing opportunities.

Dealers have been trusted advisors to their customers, offer ing support before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic through constant change and the evolution of print. This con tinued support is a very unique characteristic of the office tech nology dealership that will always be good for its customer base.

In an ever-changing marketplace, there are many

advantages for a vendor that can offer different solutions. Office technology dealers who have expanded into IT, se curity, intelligent information manage ment, software and other solutions, and who are up to speed on technology and know their customers’ needs, can tie ev erything together and offer the best — and most competitive — solutions.

Having sales and technical teams with skill sets in verticals will also position dealers for success. These teams need to be able to have busi ness-level discussions with customers about trends in verti cals, which will only become more prevalent. At Konica Minol ta, we have built out rich certification programs for sales reps in both the health-care and education verticals so they can be better versed to sell into them than they have been in the past.

Uncertainty and economic instability will continue to condition the market for dealers in 2023. Inflation and sup ply-chain issues are making business leaders increasingly cautious, and the news of cost cuts continues to grab the headlines. Recruitment is another major challenge in our industry — there is a shortage of technicians, warehouse and administrative staff members. Despite these challeng es, we at Kyocera see many reasons to be optimistic in 2023.

First, to successfully navigate supply-chain issues, a fluid relationship between dealers and OEMs is essential; one based on transparency and regular communication. Dealers should be looking to combat this period of disruption by controlling the controllable and becoming even better at what they do. With companies seeking ways to reduce expenses, dealerships can position themselves not only as value-added solutions pro viders, but also as partners that help optimize every customer dollar. Portfolio diversification will be fundamental to this.

With hybrid work here to stay and the stock of A4 printers continuing to rise, dealers must identify which customers are moving to A4 and they should be looking to OEMs with prov en pedigrees in this space. They need manufacturers with quality lineups coupled with the value-added features that you would expect from A3 devices. Moreover, with teams now

KYOCERA Document Solutions America Inc. José Estébanez, Vice President, Corporate Marketing Group (left) & Don Duvall, Vice President, Channel Sales

2023 is projected to be a growth year, with some analysts predicting up to 10% growth in unit volume, creating a tremendous opportunity to place devices.

handling physical and digital documents across offices and remote workspaces, the need for solutions that drive automa tion, accelerate digitalization and ensure strong collaboration between colleagues has never been greater. This increased mobility has also propelled cybersecurity into the spotlight, and customers will be looking for solutions that allow their teams to become more agile without sacrificing data security. The demand for cloud-based content and print management solutions contin ues to increase, and dealers can add a new dimension to their portfolios with cutting-edge ECM and DMS products. By giv ing businesses greater control over their digital and physical documents, as well as enhanced visibility over their printing ecosystems, there is huge potential for smarter working and cost savings.

Customers are placing a premium on convenience — the demand for one provider for multiple services is increasing. With the wide-scale outsourcing of basic functions like helpdesk support becoming the norm, those who can complement their services with ICT solutions will reap the rewards. Beyond convenience, IT teams can instead dedicate their expertise to other value-added areas. For dealers, this will require a con siderable investment in terms of infrastructure. Luckily, there are OEMs that have the capacity to build out ICT platforms for managed services to help dealers bridge technology gaps.

Nowadays, customer experience matters. Amazon Prime and the likes have redefined and elevated customer expec tations. They expect next-day delivery for their toners. They want a quick response when there is an issue. A great custom er experience is paramount — there are no second chances to make a first impression. The modern office technology deal ership needs to be an agile organization that proactively of fers outstanding service throughout the entire process, from the point of sale to servicing and customer support.

This brings us back to people. To address knowledge gaps, dealers must invest in ongoing education while cre ating a lucrative strategy to attract new talent. It is about investing in the strong foundations needed for sustainable success. For dealers, 2023 will be about making themselves indispensable business partners — achieving this will require the best people and the best technologies working together.

Lexmark International Inc.

We have seen much change over the past two-plus years and dealers have con tinued to adapt and grow to find new reve nue streams and offerings to engage their customers and keep the lines of commu nication open. Innovative technology and programs have been a bridge to help deal ers communicate and differentiate. There are several areas Lexmark will continue to focus on in 2023 to support our dealer community to grow and thrive.

Lexmark has always focused on vertical markets and in 2023 vertical differentiation will continue to be a key play for us in helping dealers change the game when they are in line-of-business conversations. Rather than just talking with IT and procurement, dealers are talking to customers about how a device or process could help speed up a timeconsuming manual process. These conversations result in a more significant financial gain because value usually equals added margin. With our Lexmark Industry Advantage Pro gram (LIA), Lexmark is poised to help our customers opti mize their successes in pursuing vertical markets. A team of industry experts around the globe maintain strong relation ships with customers in their areas of expertise, staying on top of trends and best practices. LIA is designed to share that valuable knowledge with Lexmark partners, equipping them with the vertical-industry expertise needed to better serve their customers and grow their businesses. Partners can gain a competitive advantage through educational resources and opportunities to engage with seasoned industry consultants and positively impact their organizations’ bottom lines.

Another area where we have seen technology address com munication problems and help our dealers grow is cloud ser vices. With staff shortages and copier/MFP technicians retir ing at a very high rate, there is a desire to improve customer service and experience with technology. Because of this, many dealers are turning to cloud services to provide an easier way to manage and maintain customer fleets. They also allow you to integrate your office systems into one cohesive strategy that improves efficiency and productivity in the workplace.

Cloud services give you access to powerful software that al lows you to manage your devices from anywhere, at any time. This helps you monitor usage patterns on each machine to better plan for future needs or make necessary adjustments. It also makes it easy for technicians to perform remote repairs when necessary — saving time and money.

Bugg, Director, North American Channel Sales

Clark

To be positioned for success in 2023, dealers need to dif ferentiate themselves with industry-specific knowledge that quickly and efficiently addresses the mission-critical needs of today’s customers. They also need to choose an OEM that can be a trusted advisor. It is essential to consider whether a

With the wide-scale outsourcing of basic functions like help-desk support ... those who can complement their services with ICT solutions will reap the rewards.

company has the necessary industry ex pertise, the efficiency in identifying and solving the many challenges that arise each day, and the flexibility to help man age problems that occur in these chal lenging times. Dealers should arm them selves with diverse portfolios of devices and solutions to fit a broad spectrum of needs to win in 2023.

Ricoh USA Inc.

Jim Coriddi, Senior Vice President, Dealer Division

Businesses are changing at a break neck pace, embracing new, more effec tive ways to manage information. The dealer’s challenge, in the midst of such unprecedented change, is to offer solu tions that make his (or her) customers more efficient and lay the groundwork for their success. That starts with truly knowing his customers.

As customers span a wide spectrum of stages in their digital transformation journeys, staying in tune with each cus tomer’s progress, industry, challenges and goals will be more important than ever. Dealers can offer tremendous val ue by fully understanding their custom ers’ information management needs to unlock the value of their data, offer rel evant workflow solutions, and leverage technology to improve efficiencies. And, through these relationships, dealers can continue to evolve their roles from being technology providers to trusted infor mation management partners as they help customers em brace digitization to lay the foundation for success.

Dealers have many exciting opportunities to tap new routes to revenue and increased profit potential by expanding their offerings and diversifying into adjacent, new and growing ar eas. There has been considerable growth in automation into the cloud, amplified demand for XaaS, more interest in ecommerce-enabled solutions, and increased engagement with

Dealers should arm themselves with diverse portfolios of devices and solutions to fit a broad spectrum of needs to win in 2023.

customers in finance, insurance, health care and government looking to stream line their operations through production — an area that has grown significantly in recent years with major growth in print volume. All of these trends present excel lent opportunities for dealers to pursue new business and expand their own.

Dealers will also continue to benefit from being well-acquainted with the nuances of horizontal and vertical mar kets. This expertise will enable their end users to employ effective digital strategies and anticipate key trends across a range of areas, including document management, work flows, security, cloud, in-plant, hybrid work, and talent ac quisition and retention.

In a market that continues to evolve and change rapidly due to the accelerated adoption of digital technology, the new hybrid and remote workforce is completely changing the definition of “workplace.” Dealers with in-depth un derstanding of hybrid workers and what helps them stay productive — at any time, from any place — will be ahead of the curve. Additionally, dealers who invest in digital ex periences, such as digital enablement and web updates to capture well-informed buyers, will be well-positioned to ex pand their reach to multiple buyers.

One of the most significant challenges dealers will face in 2023 will be shifting conversations with customers toward a deeper understanding of workflow and solutions that help improve operational efficiency, and how these elements can advance business. Anticipating changes in customer demand and expectations for office technology — and ac celerating their own go-to-market strategies in advance of the changing dynamics — will help dealers successfully dif ferentiate themselves in the market.

Dealers who invest in the customer experience and prioritize business conversations that address the highly personalized goals and challenges specific to each customer will cultivate long-term, trusted relationships. Honest, open and fully trans parent communication will continue to be key to maintaining and growing customer relationships that deliver true value.

RISO Inc.

Andre D’Urbano, Executive Director

Do you ever get the feeling that the past three years have been one long two-minute drill? In fact, dealers in our community deserve some type of Heisman Award of their own given the manner in which they have had to pivot, cut back and stay nimble. As

they duck and weave through the many growth options available to them, dealers will have to settle on a growth equation in 2023 that involves two equal parts: (1) solidifying legacy services and products that they have built their businesses on; and (2) identifying market segments with emerging niche opportunities.

Much has been said and written about production print as a means of re placing lost meter clicks. And while this is certainly a path to growth, dealers need to clearly identify the emerging segment of the production market.

Start with production toner devices and put yourself in the shoes of an owner or manager of a reprographics entity (commercial or in-plant). Does the purchase of new mono or color toner production print devices introduce new revenue streams to the business? Will an investment into toner-based printers help carve out a profitable niche, or are they simply injecting capital into a commoditized segment of the market?

From a customer’s perspective, if the sale is an upgrade, then they are simply modernizing an existing revenue stream. This is not the definition of an emerging segment.

Alternatively, the offset press has, in large part, been pushed to the side, which leaves one-third of the print shop dedicated to the digital production print of monochrome jobs, another third set up for digital color work, and the re maining floor space for finishing devices. Print customers on tight budgets will, on a daily basis, engage the print shop with black-and-white jobs where color is being considered. The question is often posed, “How much to add some color?” The shop manager will do the math and offer a price for col or that is all too regularly deemed as unaffordable. It is 2023 and print buyers still view color printing as a luxury. If that does not scream “opportunity,” then nothing does.

Enter cut-sheet inkjet, a solution that will allow print con sumers on a limited budget a chance to move out of the mono chrome world and into the color arena at a price that can fit inside most operating budgets. The print shop itself benefits as well, given that color inkjet jobs are three times more profit able than monochrome toner jobs. For every black-and-white job that is converted to inkjet color, a print shop will increase its profits from $.02 per copy to about $.06. And you wonder why so many print shops are tripping all over themselves in vesting in production cut-sheet inkjet printers. Again, this screams opportunity for any dealer.

The conversion from monochrome toner to color inkjet will turn into a runaway locomotive in 2023. Those dealers who offer cut-sheet inkjet to their production accounts will help their production customers introduce a newfound abil ity to offer color printing at a price that sits in between mono

Dealers who invest in the customer experience and prioritize their business conversations ... will cultivate long-term, trusted relationships.

and color toner — an emerging third level of pricing that print customers have been demanding for years. This emerg ing opportunity will continue to develop in 2023 with print shops investing in more inkjet printers that fill the “gap” between black-and-white and color toner. That “gap” is a mystery to many customers (and dealers). But where there is mystery, there is margin.

Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America (SIICA)

Mike Marusic, President & CEO

I look forward to 2023 as the year we begin to return to some normalcy. I am extremely optimistic about the industry’s prospects in the coming year, which is why we recently themed our 2022 roadshows around “opportu nity.” Why am I so optimistic? Well, for one, you are reading this. That means you and your fellow dealers have weathered some of the toughest challenges this industry has seen and have come out on the other end more resilient than ever.

The ramp back will not be smooth, and we will face some sort of economic slowdown in the coming months, but I do be lieve we can recover, see supply chains improve and have more people back in the office in the second half of the year. As with any times of change, you also have great opportunity. Business owners are reconsidering everything they do and the creative and aggressive among the dealer community stand to gain sig nificant business by addressing their customers’ needs. At the most simplistic level, those needs revolve around ease of do ing business and maximizing the productivity of their people. Dealers who can offer a broader menu of offerings will succeed versus those who remain complacent with their portfolios.

I often joke that I sound like a broken record when I discuss diversifying your offerings, but I prefer to believe it is this con sistency in direction and messaging that has served Sharp and its dealers well. During our roadshows, I shared very spe cific data on the growth and revenue size of the dealerships that are buying a diverse offering from Sharp versus those that are not. The numbers are overwhelming, with double the revenue and revenue growth for those dealerships buying the wider variety of products we offer. It simply works.

Now, of course this sounds self-serving. Sharp not only makes MFPs and printers, but also laptops and displays. So,

When you can get identical quality and performance for a lower price – it’s pretty easy to wean yourself off the higher price. In fact, hundreds of office equipment and office supply dealers around the world have recently switched from OEM to Katun and are so pleased with the quality and cost savings – they’re not going back.

Contact your Katun representative today or visit us online: www.katun.com

Those dealers who offer cut-sheet inkjet to their production accounts will help their production customers introduce ... an emerging third level of pricing ...

As inflation and the high cost of doing business eat away at your organizational profits, purchases are being scrutinized like never before.

The premium prices you are paying for OEM products might not be worth it.

So ask yourself – are OEM prices a luxury you can still afford?

naturally, we promote selling them all. But we got here by design, through product en hancements and acquisitions, as well as by understanding the needs of the customer.

From the customer perspective, we are all in the information business, not the printed paper business. We always have been. We make our money on the printed page, but the service we provide is mak ing sure customers can share informa tion via that printed page. It is time for us to offer the other ways we can share information behind glass — either through laptops, desktop displays or confer ence room collaboration displays. The BTA Channel can pro vide a higher level of support and bring all those technologies together under a managed IT services contract to drive that recurring revenue and create that stickiness with the cus tomer. More importantly, we block the entry of traditional IT VAR suppliers by not allowing them to take over the managed print part of the business by becoming the one supplier that fills all of a customer’s needs in a comprehensive approach.

As a side benefit, this type of approach helps address a significant challenge for our industry, bringing new talent into our space. We all struggle to bring new entrants into the business and offer open positions. Today’s new workers grew up in a digital world and are more tech savvy. By of fering a variety of technology products and services, deal erships can become more enticing places to work. They can experience multiple paths to success with the ability to move with the product needs of their customers. This is good for the dealer and his (or her) team members.

As we enter 2023, we can be proud of what we achieved in making it through such turbulent times. That well-earned confidence in the ability to adapt can now be put to work in adjusting other aspects of office technology dealerships and growing in new areas to position them for long-term growth. Those customer relationships are your golden tick et. Use them to enter new opportunities for growth in sup porting more of their businesses.

2023 will be a great year for the dealer channel. Embrace the opportunities in front of you.

United States (left) & Cary Butler, Vice President of Regional Sales, Eastern United States

Team Toshiba approaches 2023 with much anticipation and optimism. Suc cessfully introducing signature hard ware and solutions was a theme for us in 2022. And we are looking forward to continuing that momentum into the new year.

Opportunities abound for our val ued dealers. We and our dealers have seen pent-up prod uct demand to upgrade existing Toshiba systems. Our 12 next-gen e-STUDIO multifunction printers (MFPs) un veiled in late September are especially popular. Also, be cause we manufacture our MFP toner in the United States, our authorized dealer partners have been pleased with the continuous availability of toner to service existing and new accounts as they ramped back up post-COVID19 pandemic.

Working as partners, our sales leadership meets regular ly with dealers to discuss important topics relating to their businesses. Employee retention, recruitment, productivity and, of course, supply chain are always top of mind in these discussions. And, while supply-chain constraints continue to improve dramatically, we expect the employee aspects to remain a challenge into 2023 as top talent continues to ebb and flow.

Employee retention is one subject we continually address. Dealers are losing some of their best personnel. Investing in your people will separate your company from others. This includes assisting support staff members, bolstering their work skills by allowing them to attend online and in-person seminars, lectures and other educational events.

Our team is continually creating live training and educa tional sessions for dealers surrounding the benefits of Toshi ba’s hardware, solutions and service offerings. Training for technical service best practices is also highly popular with our authorized dealer community.

The sessions highlighting Toshiba and third-party solu tions emphasize how these offerings specifically improve workflow as well as organizational operations for custom ers. Most importantly, the training workshops have proven impactful for dealers. Sessions addressing the benefits of Toshiba’s hardware, managed print as a service (MPaaS), and solutions for individual vertical markets such as health care, education, nonprofit and governmental organizations are well received.

We are also shifting to more on-site, in-person training. Opening a service training facility near Memphis, Tennes see, to supplement our California center allows us to train

Toshiba America Business Solutions Inc. Dan Garner, Vice President of Regional Sales, Western

It is time for us to offer the other ways we can share information behind glass — either through laptops, desktop displays or conference room collaboration displays.

increasingly more authorized dealer partners. Such training was challeng ing to say the least during the previous two years.

Furthermore, dealers need to prop erly recognize as well as incentivize their sales forces, particularly when they secure net-new accounts. We addition ally encourage dealership principals to further empower their sales profession als by granting them more responsibility and decision-making authority.

Toshiba now helps dealers secure more talent by collabo rating with Sevenstep, a talent recruitment organization. This allows us to assist dealers with everything from help ing design the job description and vetting candidates to supporting the interview process.

When it comes to growing share of wallet in new and existing accounts, dealers will also require innovative solu tions capable of making life easier for 2023 workforces. Two recent Toshiba offerings achieve this objective:

n Our e-BRIDGE Global Print en ables end users to print anywhere at any time and place. Whether working from home, the office, a coffee shop or a ho tel lobby, Global Print comprehensively simplifies the printing process.

n Toshiba’s Sky Suite for Service is another such solution meeting a defini tive need for authorized dealer custom ers. The platform reduces support and service costs while managing these ele ments in the cloud.

We also strive to make it easier for dealers to expand their reach into accounts. Toshiba’s partnerships with 15 consortiums further facilitate the purchase of our sys tems and services in virtually every vertical, particularly within the health-care, education, government and non profit markets.

Beyond offering end users ultracompetitive pricing, these alliances enable them to purchase our systems and solu tions while bypassing the bid process, thereby saving time

When it comes to growing share of wallet in new and existing accounts, dealers will also require innovative solutions capable of making life easier ...

and money. Such contracts further help seal deals with many state, county and local entities, including large school dis tricts and universities.

Whether it is growing into new ac counts, expanding new revenue oppor tunities through cloud and software offerings, or assisting with key busi ness challenges like sales team rollover, Toshiba is deeply dedicated to helping dealers succeed in 2023 and beyond.

Xerox Corp.

Mike Pietrunti, Senior Vice President, U.S. Multi-Brand Dealer Channel

As all businesses face changing market conditions, dealers must re main increasingly flexible and laserfocused on delivering workplace so lutions that meet today’s dynamic and evolving demands.

Heading into 2023, there are three significant areas of opportunity for dealers. First is expanding their presence in the production market’s color and mono segments; sec ond is capitalizing on the power of apps and other digital solutions to solve common — but critical — workflow is sues; third is advancing their business agility in the mar ket by aggressively accelerating their digital transforma tion strategies.

Placing a focus on the color and mono production mar ket is important as page volume continues to migrate from offset to digital press. Additionally, customers are look ing to save money any way they can. In many cases, that means moving outsourced jobs in-house to deliver dra matic savings to users. Today’s customers are also looking to differentiate their messaging with eye-catching media. This includes specialized inks like vivid and fluorescent toner, and the ability to print on specialized media. This is particularly attractive for dealers since customers are more willing to pay higher prices for special applications for higher margins.

Beyond the actual output, a streamlined and efficient process is increasingly critical for end users. As custom ers face staffing issues, higher costs and delayed schedules, workflow apps can help ease their pain by streamlining the way information moves and how jobs get done, saving time and money. For example, Xerox offers workflow apps that can translate right from the multifunction printer or make the redaction process simple with minimal degrees of man ual human interaction.

End users are also looking for business continuity

assurances and more efficient work en vironments. Those dealers who invest in robust digital transformation strat egies can increase their wallet share with new and existing customers by helping them automate routine tasks, optimizing their print infrastructures, and managing data and information capture more effectively. Taking it a step further, integrating augmented re ality (AR) technology, such as CareAR, will dramatically improve the speed and efficiency of their technical service and post-sale support delivery, leading to higher customer satisfaction and reduced delivery costs.

When it comes to the challenges dealers will face in the new year, they are not dissimilar to those of their cus tomers. Staffing and retention will remain key limiting factors when it comes to maximizing growth and oppor tunity. The tight labor market makes it more difficult to find strong sales talent, with industry competition from recruiters becoming evermore present. As such, deal ers will need to better determine what their employees require beyond compensation to stay on board, such as flexible hours and more training.

Another challenge will be product availability due to ongoing supply-chain constraints. While this has im proved and is expected to continue in the short term, lingering effects from the ongoing shortages will persist in some capacity. Related to broader macroeconomic trends, rising costs are creating margin pressures, which means dealers must enforce the automatic cost-per-copy (CPC) price escalation clauses in their contracts to main tain profitability. Paired with tighter availability of busi ness loans and higher interest rates, dealers must chal lenge every plan they consider and weed out those that are “nice to have’’ versus “mission critical” to evaluate the best short- and long-term growth strategies.

Despite the challenges dealers face today, there is also an inordinate amount of opportunity for those willing to go out and take it. To be successful, dealers must em brace new ways of thinking and look for opportunities to implement creative solutions and technologies for their customers. Dealers who can adapt to these new demands and ways of working, and continue to differentiate their market offerings — versus simply selling one commodity — will come out on top in 2023 and beyond. n

Brent Hoskins, executive director of the Business Technology Association, is editor of Office Technology magazine. He can be reached at brent@bta.org or (816) 303-4040.

... Dealers will need to better determine what their employees require beyond compensation to stay on board, such as flexible hours and more training.

Generating Leads

Using social media to leverage relationships

by: Ryan Mulvany, Technology Assurance Group (TAG)

Have you ever scrolled through social media to see a fellow successful professional performing a cho reographed TikTok dance routine that leaves you scratching your head and wondering, “Does this stuff actu ally work?” Social media has permanently changed the way humanity connects, relates, shares and communicates.

Obviously, this has strong implications for the business world because businesses are built on communication. Strong communicators have always won in business and this revolutionary tool is being leveraged by the most intelli gent marketers on the planet to create platforms that enable individuals to reach millions at the tap of a button.

Most business success is a function of how well a company communicates its value proposition, and in the digital age it is no different. With dozens of new social media platforms sprouting up every day — like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook (Meta), BeReal and LinkedIn — the modern managed print services (MPS) dealer must learn how to integrate these tools into his (or her) marketing strategy before he is left in the dust.

But then again, how is a meme of someone doing the Elec tric Slide actually going to generate real, qualified B2B leads? Eighty percent of social media is a waste of time, but 20% is gold. Just like any business tool, the problem with social me dia arises when we try to simplify it. It is tempting to toss out all nuance and just poll colleagues to see if most people think social media is either “good” or “bad.” The problem with that approach is that it is never that simple.

To put it bluntly, at least 80% of the conversations on so cial media are not conducive to business no matter what marketing strategy you use. However, instead of dismissing it altogether, we just have to get better at finding the 20% of interactions that can generate business.

The key is in choosing where we put our focus, wisely. For example, Dr. Eric Berg is a medical doctor who produces content about ketosis, intermittent fasting, weight loss and many more things related to healthy living. He has never had his own TV show, nor did he gain fame from working with celebrity clients, and he essentially started from scratch.

However, by consistently delivering content for years, he

has built his own media channel on YouTube, which now has 8.8 million subscribers and more than 2 billion views on his videos. So, even though there are a lot of pointless inter actions to sift through, it is important to ask how 8.8 million raving fans (who have opted-in to be notified the moment he releases new content) could affect your business.

It took Berg years to become “an overnight success.” In a recent interview, he said: “It’s very, very, very, very difficult to talk to one person or two people ... To send a YouTube video and you’re getting like, six views. You could really easily go into a severe depression ... [but] it gets a lot easier as you get bigger.”

Later in the interview, he talked about “reaching criti cal mass.” He shared that it took him seven years to hit 100 million views, but then only four more months to reach 200 million views. How would 100 million views in four months impact your business?

Social media is being paraded around as the newest silver bullet that will magically repair a broken business. Howev er, the truth is that it is just another marketing tool (albeit a very powerful one) that works as long as you do. Real growth requires consistency, a long-term approach and a genuine desire to impact the lives of others, which social media is enabling for creators and companies alike.

What do customers in the digital age want? And why does social media work? You are probably asking yourself: “OK, which platform is the best one?” That is the wrong question to

ask. The real question is: “How have pros pects changed over the past 30 years and how is social media better at addressing those changes in demand?” The answers:

(1) Prospects have more options than ever before. Gone are the days when the local provider would win business because it was the only one people knew to call. Social media has flood ed prospects with more choices than ever before, which is forc ing businesses to step up their games and truly differentiate.

(2) Prospects are more educated than ever before. Pro spective clients can instantly research your competitors and, in only five minutes, they can read a few reviews, check your social media links, skim your website and be totally informed about what they need. Many customers prefer to do this re search on their own so they enter sales interactions from an informed place, where they have already decided whether or not to work with a company. This is often preferable instead of subjecting themselves to a likely high-pressure, uncomfortable sales experience with someone who may or may not actually have the ability to help them.

(3) Prospects are more skeptical than ever before. Most companies have sought to overcome the growth in competi tion by making bigger, bolder claims — which are tough for clients to believe without a relationship. The problem is, these companies are overlooking the importance of building rela tionships with their customers, which fosters trust more than bolder claims.

Relationships are built, not bought. For the business own ers who are fortunate enough to recognize the value of the opportunity in front of them, their next reflex is typically to dump a bunch of money into ad spending. However, more of ten than not, that earnest intention backfires and they lose a bunch of money and then have to resentfully decide whether or not to hire an agency that can actually work through the drawn-out scientific process of profitable ad generation.

The reason this does not work most of the time is because it is tough to purchase a relationship, especially when we ap proach it with a transactional mindset. This is what we refer to as “below-the-line” prospecting. “Below-the-line” pros pecting is when you do anything cold — cold emailing, cold calling, cold outreach, cold direct mailers, etc. — with the defining trait being that there is no relationship between you and the customer beforehand.

While cold outreach was never really very effective back when we relied more heavily on traditional sales methods,

Social media has flooded prospects with more choices than ever before, which is forcing businesses to step up their games and truly differentiate.

customers from the digital age espe cially do not like this style of outreach. In fact, Apple just released a “Silence Un known Callers” setting for the iPhone, which is the industry’s acknowledgment that robocallers and other forms of cold outreach have gotten out of hand. Apple is taking a stand for customer privacy not out of nobility, but because there is tremendous customer demand for it. In other words, if your business is built on cold outreach, it is going to get more and more difficult to keep attracting clients because there are more obstructions being placed in the way.

How do you leverage relationships for “above-the-line” prospecting that is easier, more enjoyable and much more profitable? If you were to reverse engineer a handful of your most profitable, loyal, best clients to analyze where they came from, you will discover that they typically came from an introduction or referral from a trusted third party.

This works so well because in contrast to the aforemen tioned “below-the-line” cold marketing approaches, “abovethe-line” prospecting is when sales or marketing efforts leverage trusted relationships to open a prospect’s mind to hear your value proposition. The important detail here is to remember that it does not matter if you are the one with the relationship with the customer or if it is someone else who is leveraging that relationship for your benefit. It just matters that there is some relationship and some trust available for you to leverage. This is why salespeople always prefer to work with referrals over cold outreach. Instinctively, we know that it is much easier to win a sale when it comes from a referral.

But the real reason it works is because there is implied trust inherent in the very act of a referral. Every funnel, retargeting campaign, email autosequence and social media channel is another attempt to build this trust from the ground up — which can work, but they take time. And each will either work or fail to the degree that it engenders that trust.

This is why social media can work sometimes. If it ef fectively builds trust with an audience, it transforms every lead into an “above-the-line” lead, which has a much, much greater likelihood of closing. Of course, building a whole new marketing channel requires consistent investment of resources, time, effort, authenticity and value to achieve this level of trust with audiences, especially if we are start ing from scratch. (Remember, it took Berg seven years and 3,000 videos to reach billions of views.)

However, there is a far simpler way to reach clients with “above-the-line” prospecting sitting right under your nose. How do you mine your existing customer base for gold and what, exactly, should you say? Technology Assurance Group

(TAG) works with hundreds of managed technology service providers across the country who collectively represent nearly $800 million in products and services. Still, it blows us away when everyone wants to focus on new marketing meth ods to attract new clients when they al ready have juicy lists of low-hanging fruit sitting in their CRMs.

Our existing customers are just like prospects, except they already trust us to some degree. Why would we focus on chasing prospects that cost five times more to target, with no existing relationships, using unpredictable methods, when we have thousands of qualified leads who might actually appreciate a contact? Imagine if a former vendor (that you had at least some per sonal relationship with) contacted you tomorrow and said: “Hey (your name here), I know it’s been a long time since we last spoke, but I wanted to find out how your business is do ing. Is everything going well? Is there anyone I could intro duce you to who might help with whatever projects you’re currently working on?”

Can you feel the utter shock you would experience if you were contacted by a salesperson who was more interested in hearing about your current challenges, regardless of if they had anything to do with his company’s particular products? Could you imagine if he actually tried to help you by con necting you with someone in your network? Would that re kindle the relationship? Would that make you more or less likely to want to hear from that person in the future? There are likely hundreds, if not thousands, of these existing re lationship opportunities in your customer base waiting pa tiently for you to reach out and leverage.

“But what if they don’t need my products and services?” If your customers need services that your company does not provide, you did not waste time — you just discovered some one else’s lead.

For example, the customer may respond: “Everything is great, but man, I’ve got to be honest — our website could use a refresh and I don’t know any good designers.” Even though your company may not provide website redesign services, other companies — like those in your customer base — may do exactly that. You did not miss a sale; you repaired a rela tionship and found a lead.

Now you get to go into your base, call your customer who does website redesign and say: “Sorry it’s taken me so long to reach out, but how’s your business? Also, I had a lead I wanted to send your way if that’s OK?”

Do you see how simple, yet effective, sales can be, espe cially when you are leveraging relationships to uncover op portunities? What do you think could happen if you reached

... Social media can work sometimes.

If it effectively builds trust with an audience, it transforms every lead into an “above-the-line” lead ...

out to every one of your customers and started sending them leads, while con necting with them in a way that makes you truly stand out as a thought leader who is demonstrating how much you val ue the relationship?

Sure, it will not be a match every sin gle time, but can you imagine how much goodwill and momentum you would cre ate toward your company? This is when people start working with you because they like you, not just because they need your services.

Relationships have always been and will always be the only silver bullet you need. Whether you are using social me dia to build trust-based relationships or you are simply min ing your customer base, the objective is the same — to posi tion your company as a trusted advisor that is a resource others look up to. Not only does this do wonders for rejuve nating your sales and marketing, increasing your close ra tio and strengthening your brand, but it puts the humanity back into your business. It also happens to be the most cost-

effective way to grow your empire and take your company to new heights. n Ryan Mulvany is vice president of member advancement at Technology Assurance Group (TAG), an organization of managed technology service providers (MTSPs). Collectively, TAG members do $800 million per year in IT, cybersecurity, telecommunications, video surveillance/ access control, copier/MFPs and managed print. TAG’s members are located in 148 cities across the United States and Canada, and are presently serving more than 780,000 SMBs. Mulvany provides TAG members with expert consultation, analysis, advice and counseling. He also creates innovative programs designed to increase members’ profits and sales, conducts business management trainings, and develops new curriculum, tools and systems. He can be reached at ryan@tagnational.com. Visit www.tagnational.com.

Relationships have always been and will always be the only silver bullet you need ... position your company as a trusted advisor that is a resource ...

DEALERS HELPING DEALERS

Marketing Ideas

How to generate leads & using ZoomInfo

Compiled by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

Following are two questions submitted by dealer members as part of BTA’s Dealers Helping Dealers resource, and several of the answers received. These answers and many others can be found in the members-only section of the BTA website. Visit www.bta.org/DealersHelpingDealers. You will need your BTA username and password.

What is your best marketing idea to generate leads for your business?

“Good, old-fashioned cold calls in person are proving to be the best for us.”

Ron Weaver, president Weaver Associates Inc., Lancaster, Pennsylvania

“We have a good social media presence and are having suc cess with Google Ad Words.”

Gerry Ryan, president Emerald Document Imaging, Farmingdale, New York

“Maintaining a great presence on Google and actively man aging our Google reviews has directly resulted in an increase in leads.”

Thomas Fimian, CEO Docugraphics, Charleston, South Carolina

“Phone calls, persistence and networking.”

Chap Breard, president MOEbiz, Monroe, Louisiana

“Consistency in prospecting. The right list via ZoomInfo. Coaching on the right messaging and, of course, follow up. Using Evolved Office and/or HubSpot for specific campaigns before and after call days. Social media.”

Sheryne Glicksman, vice president of sales Kelly Office Solutions, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

“Old-fashioned salesmanship.”

Chip Miceli, CEO Pulse Technology, Schaumburg, Illinois

“We have a telemarketer and we also use SEO for our website.

It has provided nice opportunities.”

Peter Napolitano, sales manager

United Business Systems Buffalo, New York

“Find someone who knows how to do SEO and you can customize it to target ex actly who you would like it to.”

Colin Bailey, general manager

D.L. Gallivan Office Soutions, Portage, Michigan

“We use a free network assessment or dark web scan for a cost analysis of [a customer’s] copier/printer spend.”

Tony Sanchez, managing partner

C3 Tech, Santa Ana, California

“ZoomInfo seems to be the most successful so far.”

Shawn Donelson, president

New Jersey Office Systems, Cranbury, New Jersey

“Excellent customer service and word-of-mouth advertis ing. Radio spots also keep the company name top of mind.”

Doug Powell, operations manager

Copiers Plus Inc., Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey

“Expand offerings outside of the traditional products sold today. Understand the quick change in customer needs and respond with new solutions outside of traditional products and services.”

Robert Mesch, production/industrial print, mail & marketing solutions specialist

DSI, Albuquerque, New Mexico

“Targeted spending by sponsoring events, funding schol arships and working with the local community, such as the chamber of commerce.”

Todd Deluca, president

Boston Business Technology, Plymouth, Massachusetts

“We believe offering competitive services and a knowledge base other competitors lack is key.”

Joshua Warren, remote services manager

Appalachia Business Communications of Kingsport Johnson City, Tennessee

“Autorunning email blasts. We create 35 to 50 of them and run them every two weeks.”

Nick Lioce, president

The Lioce Group, Huntsville, Alabama

“Cell phones glued to the top of all my service cars.”

Tim Stanley, founder & owner TDSiT, Lowell, Arkansas

“We send out email blasts on service issues they may be having and other info that may strike an interest.”

Van Seretis, managing partner

Premium Digital Office Solutions, Parsippany, New Jersey

We are looking at ZoomInfo and have talked to a few dealers who have used it. If you have used ZoomInfo for a while, how are you feeling now about the investment?

“We incorporated ZoomInfo into our sales process for pros pecting with a purpose. The key is building a target list and using the tool for initial calls and follow-up. The Intent portion of ZoomInfo provides additional insights to prompt conver sations. We track our ZoomInfo prospects in our CRM and how they move through the pipeline to close. ROI is around six months or less if used consistently.”

Sheryne Glicksman, vice president of sales

Kelly Office Solutions, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

“It is a lot of money, but if you are using it right, it will pay off.”

Chip Miceli, CEO

Pulse Technology, Schaumburg, Illinois

“It is expensive cold calling.”

Todd Deluca, president

Boston Business Technology, Plymouth, Massachusetts

“[It is a] great investment if trained and used properly. Com bined with a good CRM database, it provides the vehicle to drive new levels of net-new business.”

Robert Mesch, production/industrial print, mail & marketing solutions specialist

DSI, Albuquerque, New Mexico

“We are just starting with it so our experience is minimal, but I find that I have to remind the reps on a daily basis to learn it and use it. It will take a while to get them to change their pro cesses, but at this price you have to stay on them.”

Michael Kenny, president & CEO

U.S. Copy Inc., Kenner, Louisiana

“We are happy with the investment.”

Ken Staubitz, COO

Modern Office Methods, Cincinnati, Ohio

“I think it is a great investment, as long as you use it properly and fully every day.”

Shawn Donelson, president

New Jersey Office Systems

Cranbury, New Jersey

Do you have a question for your fellow dealers? If so, email it to brent@bta.org with the subject line: “Dealers Helping Dealers.” BTA will then share your question with the full dealer membership with a request for guidance from your fellow dealers. n

Brent Hoskins, executive director of the Business Technology Association, is editor of Office Technology magazine. He can be reached at brent@bta.org or (816) 303-4040.

“The key is building a target list and using the tool for initial calls and follow-up ... ROI is around six months or less if used consistently.”

Know Your Rights

EEOC poster

by: Robert C. Goldberg, BTA General Counsel

Over the years, many dealers have had to ad dress complaints filed by current or former employees alleging violations of the laws enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). A complaint to the EEOC is a prerequisite to the filing of a private lawsuit. Follow ing an investigation, the EEOC may issue a Notice of Right to Sue (i.e., a “right-to-sue letter”) to the com plainant. The right-to-sue letter does not conclude a violation; it is merely an authorization of the indi vidual to address the matter in a federal court.

In its investigation, the EEOC often visits the dealership to interview individuals and evaluate the work environment. One of the first things the EEOC will request during its visit is to view where federal disclosures are displayed for employees to review. On Oct. 19, 2022, the EEOC released an up dated “Know Your Rights” poster. This new poster replaces the previous “EEO is the Law” poster that employers are required to display. The EEOC explains that the updated “Know Your Rights” poster is available in both Eng lish and Spanish, and will be available in additional languages at a later date.

Covered employers (including private employers with 15 or more employees) must place the poster in a conspicuous loca tion in the workplace where notices are typically posted. His torically, you would find the EEOC poster (as well as additional posters required by federal and state law) in a break room or lunchroom. With the proliferation of remote work, the EEOC en courages employers to also post a notice digitally on a website or otherwise make them available to employees electronically.

According to the EEOC press release, the “Know Your Rights” poster includes the following changes from the prior “EEO is the Law” poster:

n Updated language and formatting;

n Explanation that harassment is a prohibited form of dis crimination;

n Clarification that sex discrimination includes discrimi nation based on pregnancy and related conditions, sexual ori entation and gender identity;

n A QR code for digital access to the EEOC’s website on how to file a charge;

n And information about discrimination based on pay inqui ries and other forms of discrimination for federal contractors.

It will now be even easier for employees to access, under stand and enforce their rights to be free from unlawful work place harassment and discrimination — with just the aim of their smartphones or other devices. This proves that there can truly be a QR code for anything and everything — in this case, saving workers precious seconds and adding convenience and expediency when they seek to file an EEOC charge against their employers, make an inquiry or learn more about the laws enforced by the EEOC.

Failure to comply with the EEOC’s posting requirement may not only result in financial penalties (currently a maxi mum of $612, adjusted annually) but further compromise a dealer’s defenses to an EEOC claim. The EEOC has not an nounced a deadline for replacement, but dealers should swap out their posters as soon as possible. A post on your dealer ship’s website for remote workers should also be considered. The notice does not need to be available to all website visitors, but can be in an employees-only section. The notice may also be sent electronically to all employees, but this does not eliminate the need to physically post it inside the business. This update must be made, so do not put it off. n

Robert C. Goldberg is general counsel for the Business Technology Association.

He can be reached at robert.goldberg@sfbbg.com.

BTA would like to welcome the following new members to the association:

Dealer Members

Atlanta Business Technologies, Atlanta, GA

Digital Office Solutions, Brooklyn, NY Hyman’s Ink Center Ltd., Kingston, Jamaica J T Ray Co., Tupelo, MS

For full contact information of these new members, visit www.bta.org.

For the benefit of its dealer members, each month BTA features two of its vendor members in this space.

Credit Card Processing

Your customers are changing the way they pay their bills. Global Payments Inte grated understands that and has built pay ment technology that can keep up. Global Payments Integrated gives BTA members access to fast, secure and simple payment solutions that can increase cash flow, re duce expenses and maximize revenue.

• Accept all major payment types includ ing debit, credit, ACH/e-check and more.

• Get paid even faster — next-day funding is available.

• Protect your business with fraud pre vention and data security tools

• Get dedicated support from Global Payments Integrated’s team of experts. For more information, visit www.bta.org/FeaturedBenefit.

For information on BTA member benefits, visit www.bta.org/MemberBenefits.

Miramar Copies Inc. buys used office copier/MFPs, wideformat machines, plotters and copier/ MFP supplies from companies in the United States and exports them to other countries in the world. It aims to create a win-win situation for both U.S. and international companies that buy used office equipment. The company is made of multiple regional teams. In the United States, Miramar Copies has a professional purchasing team that is responsible for contacting U.S. suppli ers, providing buyers offers and helping U.S. suppliers find buyers for their machines.

http://miramarcopier.com

ecoprintQ was founded in 2011 by Alfredo Milanes and Ever Milanes — two brothers driven to cre ate a company 100% focused on customer service. The company is a certified PaperCutAuthorized Solution Center servicing all of North, Central and South America. ecoprintQ provides unparalleled customer service rooted in dynamic technical support for today’s print/ scan/fax/copy management applications. It is a bilingual organization with vast experience in management solutions addressing your grow ing technology needs.

www.ecoprintq.com

A full list of BTA vendor members can be found online at www.bta.org.

For more information, visit www.bta.org.

PRINCIPAL ISSUES

IT Nation Connect 2022

ConnectWise hosts event Nov. 9-11 in Orlando

by: Elizabeth Marvel, Office Technology Magazine

On Nov. 9-11 in Orlando, Florida, ConnectWise hosted IT Nation Connect 2022, an in-person and virtual event gathering 4,700 IT service provider (TSP) owners and employees, and others. The event featured four keynote addresses, more than 120 educational ses sions and 140 exhibitors, and networking events. IT Nation Connect kicked off with a welcome keynote on Nov. 9, featuring presentations from company executives focused on ConnectWise’s vision for the future and how it has helped its partners succeed in the last year. An innovation keynote on Nov. 10 gave attendees a look at ConnectWise product releases and up dates, integrations and partnerships.

CEO Jason Magee welcomed attendees during his Nov. 9 keynote presentation. He emphasized that TSPs need to be ready for anything. “We need to be prepared for what’s ahead of us on three constantly changing dimensions: the economy, the ecosystem and technol ogy,” he said. “Let me get started first with the economy. There’s been a lot of talk in the media and around the world about a potential recession. Here’s what I would tell you about that.

“There are more than 140 million small and medium-sized businesses globally; 8 million approximately here in the U.S.,” Magee continued, giving attendees an idea of the opportunity. “If you add microbusinesses, that blooms to 333 million; 33 million, give or take, here in the U.S. ... These, along with midmarket companies ... they all need your managed services. They need you to help them. This is a huge opportunity for you all.”

Despite economic pressures, Magee noted that TSPs have been growing. “Our partners are telling us that they’re doing well and still expect to be growing in 2023, no matter what’s thrown at them,” he said. “ ... The IT Nation grew more than 16% year over year in revenue and 22% in recurring revenue. And in a recent ConnectWise survey, 70% of respondents are forecasting more than 10% growth in 2023 and 94% of respondents are forecasting more than 5% growth next year. That’s awesome.”

Magee also brought up an economic topic that was discussed at last year’s IT Nation Connect: talent constraints and job vacan cies. “This is going to be a problem that we need to solve for years to come ... The fact is, we don’t have skilled workers in certain

areas like tech and cybersecurity ... There are millions of cyber job vacancies ... Think about that and what it means for you all; what that means for your customers. There are so many people going unprotected and who are unprepared for cyberthreats.”

The second dimension Magee discussed was today’s rapidly changing ecosystem. “Larger players moving downmarket and rapid M&A consolidation in this space are just two things that are changing the landscape,” he said. “ ... These aren’t things to be afraid of ... These are things for you to be aware of so you can remain competitive and capitalize on the opportunities.”

The third dimension is rapidly changing technology. “We have to get our arms around the constant innovation that will change how you do business and how your customers expect to interact with you.” Magee said. “ ... Here’s a question you need to be asking yourself: Are you going to allow all of this to be a headwind or a tailwind? If you’re prepared, you’ll grow above the average TSP. But not only that, think about what it means for the valuation of your company.”

Magee shared some keys to success in terms of what TSPs should be doing over the next five years to prepare for these mar ket changes. “Think automation; mastering automation,” he said. “Take it to a whole new level. The concept of putting data to work for you — make it a reality. And then the customer experience; make sure you focus on that. It’s important. It’s a game-changer.”

The rest of the Nov. 9 keynote focused on how TSPs can master these keys to success. “Automation is the path forward with a lack of employees,” said Chief Marketing Officer Amy Lucia during her presentation. “Get more automation out of what you already have ... Leverage AI [artificial intelligence] and machine learning [ML] so you can make decisions faster. Take advantage of the [ConnectWise] Asio Platform for the next level of automation.

“Put data to work for you and your customers,” Lucia con tinued. “There are already systems using AI and ML, so ... fo cus on what’s important. Talk about how you’re a trusted ad visor, and AI/ML will let you be more prescriptive.

“You need to have an exceptional customer experience,” Lucia said, noting that “customer-centric companies are 60% more profitable than companies that don’t fo cus on customers.

“And focus on cybersecurity,” Lucia conclud ed. “There is no other option but to engage.” n

Elizabeth Marvel is associate editor of Office Technology magazine. She can be reached at elizabeth@bta.org or (816) 303-4060.

Jason Magee

Amy Lucia

PRINCIPAL ISSUES

Bigger Bolder Brother

OEM announces enterprise product lineup

by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

Following on the heels of its Nov. 7-9 “Bigger Bolder Brother” dealer meet ing in San Diego, California, on Nov. 16, representatives of Brother International met with industry analysts and editors in New York City, New York, to preview the company’s new line of color business, A4, all-in-one laser printers. Launched publicly on Nov. 28, the small-footprint but floorstanding models mark Brother’s entrance into the enterprise print environment. “This is an expansion of our lineup; we’re not replacing anything,” said Bob Burnett, director of B2B solutions deployment and planning, during the media event. “All of our current products stay in the line. This expands out and up.”

The expansion includes eight color models: the HL-L9410CDN and MFCL9610CDN, available to all Brother-authorized partners; the HL-L9430CDN, HL-L9470CDN, MFC-L9630CDN and MFCL9670CDN Brother Workhorse Series models for all Brother Gold authorized partners; and the HL-EX470W and MFCEX670W Brother Workhorse models for select Brother Gold partners. The products will begin shipping in the first and second quarters of 2023.

Keith Kmetz, program vice president of imaging, printing and document solutions at IDC, was among the attendees at the media event. “As the print market continues to take shape in a post-COVID-19 world, the introduction of the new Brother enterprise color laser printer lineup smartly focuses on the key essentials required for business customers,” he said. “These business prerequisites include low acquisition and ownership costs; high-quality output; fast speeds; se curity; and several ease-of-use features that make the new Brother family of enterprise color laser printers an appeal ing choice.”

Burnett shared a few key reasons why the new models are seen as an appealing choice. “They offer our boldest color ever out of our laser machines,” he said. “We made an extreme ef fort, listening to customers; they wanted even better, brighter, bold color ... We feel that [the new models offer] extremely competitive color quality [compared to what is] out there to day; in a lot of cases, it exceeds our competitors.”

In addition, the models are the fastest ever for Brother “on the color side, at [up to] 42 pages per minute; the entire enter prise family is at that speed,” Burnett continued. “It is also our lowest cost-per-copy ever. So, at a regular transactional price and [with] our Value Print Program pricing, it’s a significant reduction for our channel partners, making the machines very competitive.”

Burnett noted that the Value Print Program provides chan nel partners with a discount on supplies when the customer commits to using only Brother supplies for three years, which also provides a product warranty extension of up to three years. “This has been a tremendous sales tool for our chan nel partners selling to larger corporate customers because it gives them that extra value on the warranty and special pric ing on supplies,” he said.

The changing workplace helped to drive the decision to ex pand the Brother product line, Burnett said. He cited today’s print volumes as one example of that change. “Print volumes are on the decline,” he said, emphasizing a key message to end users. “‘Do you always need that large A3 device in the environment? There’s absolutely a need for it. But do you [still] need 10 of them? Maybe you only need two?’ [Fewer A3 devices can be] supplemented by A4 devices around the work environ ment, making that enterprise space more efficient, more se cure and able to address the needs. It may be that they have way more capacity than what they need today. Our machines can address that need by still giving all the full-featured ben efits of a larger device, but a small footprint; that A4 size.”

During the press event, the Brother representatives empha sized the need for increased security on imaging devices, due, in part, to the rise of the hybrid workforce. The new enterprise models are equipped with Brother Triple Layer Security fea tures to help keep devices secure, protect documents in tran sit to and from print devices, and safeguard the network.

“Security is definitely something that we’ve been focused on,” said Shelly Radler, senior product marketing manager at Brother, in her presentation. “This is a key area that we wanted to bring to the next level ... We’re very happy to say that these products have been certified with Buyers Lab (BLI) Security Validation Test ing, which helps to validate that they have the level of security required for their use in the enterprise space.” n

Brent Hoskins, executive director of the Business Technology Association, is editor of Office Technology magazine. He can be reached at brent@bta.org or (816) 303-4040.

Bob Burnett

Shelly Radler

PRINCIPAL ISSUES

Winning MPS Deals

How cloud software can elevate your business

by: Aleya Ericson, In Time Tec

The old adage is “work smarter, not harder.” But the big question is: “How?” After all, no one sets out to create a bunch of unnecessary work. Plus, there is always the consideration of what will actually make your life easier. Thank fully, there are many technological solutions ready to swoop in and make your business run more efficiently.

But what is actually worth your time? For managed print services (MPS) providers, an important consideration is the benefits of cloud software. Cloud software — software that can be accessed and installed remotely via the internet — of fers many improvements over traditional software models.

Why the Cloud?

First of all, cloud software is much easier to install. When you can install software remotely, you save IT expenses such as on-site installation and management. This cloud installa tion also works with an existing fleet, so it saves you the hassle of having to update many devices.

Cloud software also offers greater opportunities for cus tomization. When they are starting, businesses often default to general-use software (like Microsoft Excel) that sort of works to fulfill a critical requirement. The general-use soft ware works for a while, until the lack of specialization snow balls into a bigger problem. Cloud software allows for software to be more customized and better suited for your business’ unique needs.

Another major benefit of cloud software is having access to your software and data on the go. You can remotely access up-to-date statistics, printer designs and other information critical to MPS at the push of a button. If you are still Googling MFP statistics, your business is behind the times.

Design a Better Print Fleet

So, how can cloud software empower your business? There are many options available. Cloud software can help you de sign a better print-fleet layout, look up the latest device sta tistics and make stunning client presentations. Excel cannot offer you these client-impressing feats.

There are also ways to improve your print offerings above the competition with MPS cloud software. With preloaded apps, you can specifically tailor your printers to your customer. What apps do schools use? What apps would an accounting firm use? Thanks to cloud software, you can add premade apps to your printers to help them stand out from the competition.

Manage MPS Better

Once the printer fleet is set up, the next stage is monitoring it. An important step is ensuring your print security. People leave documents unattended all of the time without thinking about what would happen if an unauthorized person was to grab them. Worse, hackers can access your print fleet to un cover all of your classified data.

So how do you protect your documents? Cloud software en ables you to secure your devices by mandating your print set tings. You can make it so only authorized users can print and that documents can only be printed when the user is physical ly at the printer. There are also other security settings that can decrease the number of unattended documents. Cloud soft ware even enables you to monitor an employee’s printer use while he (or she) works from home, to ensure consistent print drivers and prevent him from printing restricted documents.

Using MPS cloud software tools can also save you a lot of money. You can more accurately track who is printing what and where. This helps improve the print environment by cap turing user data. Plus, thanks to not needing dedicated serv ers for printers, your business saves significantly on infra structure costs.

Moving to the Cloud

So, how do you get started? First, it is helpful to understand the various ways cloud software can be priced. There is the traditional licensing model where you make a one-time purchase to gain access to the software. There is the software-asa-service (SaaS) model, where you pay a recurring fee to access the software. The SaaS model can also have seat- or us age-based pricing. Seat-based pricing is when you pay based on the number of people using the soft ware. Usage-based pricing is when you pay based on the vol ume of software used (e.g., number of tests run, the amount of time the software runs, etc.).

Two major benefits of SaaS are the alternative pricing mod els and the motivation to keep it updated. Smaller compa nies may want to only pay for those who are using the soft ware versus committing to a lifetime license for anyone who

needs a license. Plus, with a subscription, the software company is motivated to keep the software up to date. Out-of-date or bug-riddled software means people will cancel subscriptions, driving down profit for the software company.

Cloud software represents a new and exciting field that offers many possibili ties. Most importantly, it offers your MPS business the best way to work smarter, not harder. Make sure your business does not miss out on cloud software’s vast potential for MPS. n

Aleya Ericson is a marketing content writer for In Time Tec, based in Meridian, Idaho. She has written on printing for four years and serves on the MPSA Marketing Board.

Ericson can be reached at aleya.ericson@intimetec.com or (208) 258-2424. Visit www.cartosmps.com/bta.

Cloud software ... offers many possibilities. Most importantly, it offers your MPS business the best way to work smarter, not harder.

Office Technology Magazine Business Technology Association 12411 Wornall Road Kansas City, MO 64145 (816) 941-3100 www.officetechnologymag.com www.bta.org