July 2010 Office Technology by Business Technology Association

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CONTENTS Volume 17 No. 1 G

FEATURE ARTICLES 10

MPS Everywhere! A guide to the industry’s many resources

COURTS & CAPITOLS Effective Interviewing Begin by selecting fully qualified individuals

Compiled by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

by Robert C. Goldberg BTA General Counsel

Today, the promise of managed print services (MPS) has captured the attention of most office technology dealers. MPS programs and initiatives have become commonplace among the industry’s manufacturers and suppliers. As a resource for its readers, Office Technology invited a number of players in the MPS arena to submit brief overviews of how they can assist dealers in developing and supporting successful MPS programs.

As individuals return to the workforce, they must be recruited and interviewed. Conducting an effective interview is essential to a good hire.

PRINCIPAL ISSUES 27

by Tim McMahon The BizCAT Group

Q&A: Rock Janecek BTA’s new president assumes office July 1

Here is a look at four products that might make a big difference in your business and will not break the bank: Gmail, Google Alerts, MyKlpz and LogMeIn.

by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

On July 1, Rock Janecek became the 76th national president of the Business Technology Association (BTA). He serves as a division service manager for Burtronics Business Systems Inc., a Lanier and Konica Minolta dealership located in San Bernardino, Calif. Recently, Office Technology magazine had the opportunity to visit with Janecek. He was asked about the association, the dealer channel and his role as a BTA volunteer.

Dealer Strategies BTA Southeast hosts educational event June 16-17 By Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

The BTA Southeast district’s Dealer Strategies Summit 2010 featured two education tracks and 20 exhibiting sponsors. The event, which drew approximately 80 dealer and vendor attendees, was held June 16-17 in Orlando, Fla. At the conclusion of the event, BTA hosted a Data Cleansing Summit, to help the industry better address the risks associated with confidental information being left on copier/MFP hard drives. 4 | w w w. o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | J u l y 2 010

Even More Cool Technology Products that might make a big difference for you

MPS STRATEGIES Farming for Opportunities ‘Plow’ your field to bring MPS to current accounts

by Kelli Jones Strategy Development

Marketing folks who are not using the latest marketing technologies are putting themselves at a great disadvantage, but often, they just do not know it.

DEPARTMENTS Business Technology Association

Education Calendar

G BTA Highlights

Executive Director’s Page

BTA President’s Message

Advertiser Index

Docuware ad June 10:Layout 1

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S PAGE

2010 BTA BEQI Now Available to Dealers am pleased to announce the availability of the 2010 BTA Business Equipment Quota Index (BEQI), providing market potential (product demand) indices for the U.S. market. If you have not used the BEQI in the past, I encourage you to take a close look at this valuable industry resource. Based upon the results of a comprehensive study conducted on behalf of BTA, users of the BEQI are provided with market potential indices for the desired ZIP codes, counties, MSAs (metropolitan statistical areas) or states within the United States for 17 office technology product categories. The BEQI is commonly used to forecast sales, evaluate territories, measure sales potential, establish sales quotas and measure sales performance. Shipment volumes by geography can be estimated by combining the indices with Gartner Inc. forecast numbers, included in the BEQI Introduction and User’s Guide. Each BEQI index number is based on two data sources: (1) Dun & Bradstreet data showing the number of employees by industry in each geographical area; and (2) data from a survey of 721 decision-makers regarding the amounts of equipment purchased in 2009, and planned for 2010 and 2011. Respondents took part in a Web-based survey (stratified by 13 industries) conducted by Lieberman Research Group, a marketing research and consulting firm, in partnership with MarketResearch.com. Respondents were screened to verify that they were involved in business equipment purchasing decisions, and that they were employed by non-governmental organizations with at least 10

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employees. To derive the BEQI indices, ratios of equipment purchases per employee were computed at the industry level and then applied to the distribution of employment by industry at each geographic level. As noted, the BEQI provides market potential indices for 17 product categories. In the monochrome category, they are: 11-30 pages per minute (ppm) MFPs (Segments 1 & 2); 31-69 ppm MFPs (Segments 3 & 4); 70plus ppm MFPs (Segments 5 & 6); all monochrome MFPs combined; and all singlefunction laser printers. In the color category, they are: 11-30 ppm MFPs; 31-69 ppm MFPs; 70-plus ppm MFPs; all color MFPs combined; 11-30 ppm (single-function) laser printers; 31-69 ppm laser printers; 70-plus ppm laser printers; and all color laser printers combined. In addition, the BEQI provides market potential indices for the following: all monochrome and color MFPs combined; facsimile machines; wide-format printers; and dedicated scanners. There are several new enhancements to the BEQI over the 2007 edition. They include: an increase in survey sample size by 28 percent; the results of questions of those surveyed on current and planned use of managed print services; and the results of questions on centralization/decentralization of office equipment purchasing. In addition, BTA is now offering a State & Local Government Supplement to the BEQI. It is based on 95 interviews with state and local government offices with 10 or more employees. I encourage you to place your order for the 2010 BTA BEQI today. You can do so at www.bta.org/2010BEQI. If you have any questions, e-mail me at brent@bta.org. I — 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 Robert C. Goldberg, General Counsel Business Technology Association Kelli Jones, Strategy Development www.strategydevelopment.org Tim McMahon, The BizCAT Group www.thebizcat.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: (800) 869-6688 Valerie Briseno Membership & Marketing Manager valerie@bta.org Mary Hopkins Database Administrator mary@bta.org Teresa Leerar Bookkeeper teresa@bta.org Brian Smith Membership Sales Representative brian@bta.org ©2010 by the Business Technology 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.

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Trouble keeping up with IT supplies? Supplies Network is the distributor you can rely on. Equipment and service dealers are often challenged with how to handle supplies. Coordination can be painful. And, there are the concerns about distributor reliability, responsiveness and taking customers direct. Supplies Network has earned the trust of thousands of dealers like you. t The OEM and compatible supplies you need for transactional and MPS fulﬁllment. tù1 or 2 day ground shipping direct to your customer or technician. t The performance excellence and integrity you demand. Contact us about our full line of printer, copier and fax supplies, including laser printer maintenance kits/parts. We’ll help you streamline IT supplies to make your business run smoother.

doing

better!

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877-427-3261

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BTA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

2010-2011 Board of Directors

BTA Making Strides; Adding More Events t is an honor for me to assume the presidency of the Business Technology Association this month for the 201011 year. I am following in the path of some great leaders, including my predecessor, Bill James. I am also taking on the responsibility of leading an organization with an incredibly rich heritage — one that has played an important role in so many businesses throughout the years. I am confident that this is going to be another great year for BTA. In case you haven’t noticed, BTA has made some significant strides in recent years. And , I ’m pleased to say, we just finished another fiscal year with a positive membership retention rate; so, another year of growth. I attribute our successes, in part, to the efforts of our volunteers and the BTA staff members who have collectively worked to add to our benefit offerings, increasing the value of membership. Of course, beyond those efforts, in today’s competitive marketplace — on the heels of the recession — more dealers are seeing how BTA can help them achieve greater levels of success. As I assume my new role, I can’t help but look back at my years as a BTA volunteer, first at the local level and then at the district level. In recent years it has been a privilege for me to serve at the national level, as a member of the BTA Board of Directors. Looking back, there has been a primary, ongoing benefit that has been invaluable to me — interaction with my fellow BTA members. If you get involved by attending association events and reaching out to others, you will reap the rewards.

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I recently experienced this once again. In June, I attended BTA Southeast’s Dealer Strategies Summit in Orlando, Fla. It was an outstanding event. There were many quality education sessions, the opportunity to visit one-on-one with exhibiting sponsors in a relaxed setting, networking opportunities and time for some fun — an evening at Universal Orlando Resort. If you attended, then you saw firsthand the great interaction between the speakers and audience members. No one was hesitant to speak up, sharing with their fellow dealers in the audience. All left with information and guidance that will help them in their businesses. The growing momentum that BTA has achieved in recent years has been apparent at our district events. BTA Southeast’s events have broadened in scope. In addition, the BTA East district has hosted two very successful events, with a third scheduled for September of this year. Not only have we had great attendance at these events, but we have seen an increasing number of sponsoring exhibitors as well, and we are grateful for their support. It is apparent that dealers welcome the opportunity to be in a group of 80 to 100 of their peers, where there are many opportunities to interact one-on-one. More of these opportunities are on the horizon. Recently, the board of directors developed plans to broaden the schedule of district events to include BTA Mid-America and BTA West as well. Watch for details in Office Technology and on the BTA Web site, www.bta.org, as plans are finalized. In the meantime, I encourage you to take a look at your association’s growing list of benefits. I suspect you will be surprised. I — Rock Janecek

President Rock Janecek Burtronics Business Systems Inc. 216 S. Arrowhead Ave. San Bernardino, CA 92408 rjanecek@burtronics.com President-Elect Tom Ouellette Budget Document Technology 251 Goddard Road Lewiston, ME 04240 touellette@bdtme.com Vice President Terence Chapman Business Electronics Corp. 219 Oxmoor Circle Birmingham, AL 35209 tchapman@businesselectronics.com BTA East Todd J. Fitzsimons Network Imaging LLC 122 Spring St. Southington, CT 06489 tjfitzsimons@networkimaging.biz BTA Mid-America Ron Hulett U.S. Business Systems Inc. 3221 Southview Drive Elkhart, IN 46514 ron.hulett@usbus.com BTA Southeast Mike Upchurch Business Machines Inc. 3121-C Glen Royal Road Raleigh, NC 27617 mike@bmi4u.com BTA West Greg Gray Burtronics Business Systems Inc. 216 S. Arrowhead Ave. San Bernardino, CA 92408 ggray@burtronics.com Ex-Officio/Immediate Past President Bill James WJS Enterprises Inc. 3315 Ridgelake Drive Metairie, LA 70002 bjames@wjsenterprises.com Ex-Officio/General Counsel Robert C. Goldberg Schoenberg Finkel Newman & Rosenberg LLC 222 S. Riverside Plaza, Ste. 2100 Chicago, IL 60606 robert.goldberg@sfnr.com

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Samsung MultiXpress 6555N

Samsung MultiXpress C8540ND

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At Samsung we use our extensive exte R&D research to develop blazing-fast printers that deliver eliver best-in-class perfo performance, day after day and page after page. The workhorse SCX-6555 black-and-white MFP boosts office productivity at a rapid-fire 55 pages per minute minute. The CLX-8540 color laser MFP features high-volume paper finishing options while providing vibrant business color at 40 pages per minute. And as an authorized Samsung dealer, you’ll have the peace of mind partnering with a company that is 100% channel committed with great margins, exclusive programs and impressive support that you expect from the world’s largest IT company. Because at Samsung, it’s not just business. It’s business, innovated.

Discover our full line of future-forward printers at samsung.com/printers or call a specialist at 1.866.SAM4BIZ.

Be responsible with free toner recycling. Learn more at samsung.com/consumables. © 2010 Samsung Electronics America, Inc. All rights reserved. Samsung is a registered trademark of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. All products and brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Screen images simulated.

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MPS Everywhere! A guide to the industry’s many resources Compiled by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

oday, the promise of managed print services (MPS) has captured the attention of most office technology dealers. MPS programs and initiatives have become commonplace among the industry’s manufacturers and suppliers. MPS is everywhere! As a resource for its readers, Office Technology magazine invited a number of players in the MPS arena to submit brief overviews of how they can assist dealers in developing and supporting successful MPS programs in their dealerships. Following are the submissions received. (Editor’s Note — Vendors and suppliers: Should your company be on this list? If so, submit your entries to brent@bta.org. They will be added to this guide, which is posted on the BTA Web site, www.bta.org/MPSResourcesGuide.)

Digital Gateway www.digitalgateway.com Digital Gateway continues to invest in MPS tools to simplify the entire workflow of conducting MPS busin ess. Tool s include: Digital Quote Manager (DQM), which automates proposal generation and the profitability analysis process for CPC, CPP and MPS contracts; real-time pricing and automated invoice processing connections in DQM to key MPS vendors; e-automate Commissions Module (ECM) with automated MPS commissions processing, history tracking and new-models analysis engine; and automation tasks for processing orders generated from sales teams, service calls, meter capture tools (PrintFleet, FMAudit, Print Audit) and/or direct-customer e-commerce requests.

Compass Sales Solutions www.compasscontact.net Compass Sales Solutions is a sales force automation and print management software developer. Our clients are dealerships looking to increase the bottom line. We provide everything needed to sell copier/MFPs, services, MPS and solution applications as individual deals or bundled into a fleet solution. Our solutions include software to create profitable print management programs, including complete integration with the industry’s meter gathering tools and ERP systems.

ECi Software Solutions www.ecisolutions.com ECi’s OMD® and La Crosse™ software is flexible and scalable, perfect for the managed print services dealer. We understand that the biggest challenge in MPS is not just winning the deal, but managing it after the fact while maintaining profitability. Through our unique programs and partnerships with manufacturers, wholesalers and thirdparty applications, we help you efficiently handle all aspects of the printer lifecycle. We provide you with the tools and professional experience to support your MPS initiatives and ensure success.

Densigraphix www.densi.com The Densigraphix 360 program offers dealers the ability to sell MPS by providing just-in-time fulfillment of high quality consumables for both printers and copier/MFPs. We have aligned with GreatAmerica to offer FleetView remote monitoring software.

FMAudit www.fmaudit.com FMAudit is a leader in the development and deployment of software solutions for print management. The total solution offered by FMAudit provides cost effective and results-producing tools and workflows for device assessment, data analysis, TCO proposal generation, ongoing

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DEALER MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

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device monitoring for supply levels, supply triggered marketing, integrated ERP meter billing, service alert filtering and green reporting. The software can be utilized to collect device management information from both network and local, connected print devices. GreatAmerica Leasing Corp. www.greatamerica.com GreatAmerica Leasing Corp. is committed to being a leader in the delivery and execution of MPS. The primary focus of our core business is providing financing, with a specialization in MPS contracts. We offer customized program agreements to meet the needs of each reseller’s MPS program. GreatAmerica has also developed MPS documents that make establishing a contract clear and simple, and we offer complementary MPS tools including: Navigator Executive Team Business Planning; MPS Sales 101 and 201 Training; FleetView remote monitoring software; PathShare HR Consulting; and infozone.com. Hewlett-Packard www.hp.com/partners/us/partnerone Hewlett-Packard offers a variety of MPS partner programs. HP’s Office Printing Solutions Elite program recognizes partners who have a developed managed print practice, offering marketing support, selling tools, training and compensation. Additional managed print enablement tools and programs are available through NER (Print 4.hp), SYNNEX (PRINTSolv), Supplies Network (CARBON SiX) and United Stationers (HQueue) — companies that collaborate with HP to provide unique HP-managed print development and sales programs. Partners working with HP gain expertise on industry-first solutions including HP AutoOn/Auto-Off, Smart Install, user authentication and Web Jetadmin technology to lower costs and environmental impact while enhancing security and workflow. InfoTrends www.infotrends.com Using interactive, online training programs, dealer principals can provide their sales reps the knowledge tools they need to effectively engage and sell MPS. There are eight key steps in the MPS sales process, from approaching prospective customers to maintaining their MPS investments. The Managed Print Services eLearning Sales Program, created by InfoTrends and Strategy Development, will lead your reps step-by-step through the MPS value chain, testing comprehension and certifying them as trained sales representatives. Get started today at www.bta.org/MPSeLearning. BTA members are eligible for discounted course rates. 12 | w w w . o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | J u l y 2 0 1 0

Jaffe Design www.jaffedesign.com Jaffe Design distinguishes itself by focusing exclusively on the MPS industry. With more than 10 years experience, we speak your language. Working with us is like having your own internal marketing department. We strive to bring a “Go Green” focus to your marketing initiatives while also ensuring your message fosters brand recognition and reflects your business. From in-depth case studies to print brochures, corporate services overviews, e-mail marketing campaigns, direct mail programs and sales collateral, we customize everything. Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A. Inc. www.kmbs.konicaminolta.us Konica Minolta’s Optimized Print Services (OPS) program allows users, via direct and dealer channels, to customize a total solution for Konica Minolta bizhub MFPs and desktop printers, and OEM desktop printers. The program allows a business to customize a total solution by choosing from an array of support options that meet their specific needs. The process begins with the opt-WORKFLO professional services and software solutions — fully customized solutions that will assess the organization’s document and print environment, optimizing document workflow and reducing maintenance costs to improve document output. Kyocera Mita America Inc. www.kyoceramita.com Kyocera has taken a multi-phased approach in creating and delivering a comprehensive MPS program to its dealers. Kyocera’s FASTtrack program provides dealers a guide to integrate an MPS business model in their dealerships, complete with training and KMA-tested resources. In the fall of 2009, Kyocera deployed a team of MPS specialists tasked with certifying dealers to KMA’s MPS business standards and supporting those certified dealers on customer calls. Just recently, KMA opened its remote monitoring server to its MPS-certified dealers, providing another simple, yet powerful way to manage their businesses. LMI Solutions Inc. www.lmisolutions.com LMI Solutions has a proven track record of making dealers profitable with its turnkey approach to managed print. As a leading aftermarket toner manufacturer, LMI combines a “buy-direct” relationship with the LMI PageTrac Advantage and MPS Peak Performance System — a powerful suite of MPS tools including software, sales training, MPS marketing and ongoing support to maximize dealership profits.

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The first choice in print management

Green Reporting for your clients Consulting with your clients on the environmental and energy impact of their print operations adds depth to your managed print program. FMAudit Green Reporting provides data to cover key environmental and energy issues that are important in helping your clients achieve their “earth friendly” business objectives.

t t t t t t t

'MFFU 0VUQVU (SFFO *NQBDU "OBMZTJT 1BQFS &MFDUSJDBM BOE $P *NQBDU #FTU 1SBDUJDFT GPS &DP &óDJFOU 1SJOUJOH 0QUJNJ[JOH UIF 'MFFU GPS &BSUI 4BWJOHT 0QUJNJ[JOH UIF 'MFFU GPS &OFSHZ 4BWJOHT 5PUBM 1PXFS 4BWJOH 4VNNBSZ 3FQPSU %FUBJMFE *NQBDU "OBMZTJT CZ .PEFM

FMAudit Green Results for your company. Incorporating Green Reporting into your comprehensive Managed Print Solution selling best practices will enhance your company’s client value and win business. Green Reporting, combined with FMAudit’s award winning Enterprise Print Management software, provides the most complete solution available today for MPS success.

Contact FMAudit today to learn more about how Green Reporting can add more “green” to your profits.

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Managed Print Services Association www.yourmpsa.org The MPSA is an independent, non-profit and international organization that seeks to develop standards and best practices within the MPS industry. Our primary charter provides educational resources to multiple segments of the industry including customers, dealers, manufacturers and other providers of MPS infrastructure, which we provide through educational webinars, newsletters and special “Beyond the Classroom” articles designed to provide our members a competitive edge within the MPS industry. Metrofuser www.metrofuser.com StockWorksMPS is Metrofuser’s advance stock program designed to reduce shipping costs and remote inventory risk for our MPS provider customers. Metrofuser will advance or “consign” stock of select remanufactured maintenance kits and some high mortality printer parts. These parts are strategically placed at customer sites, warehouses or in technician’s vehicles and are ready for immediate use on down printers or printers sending the “Printer Maintenance Required” message, all but eliminating exorbitant expedited shipping costs. MPSConnect www.mpsconnect.com MPSConnect provides a centralized, collaborative, noncompetitive forum for the MPS industry. Its Web portal, newsletters, industry-specific search engine and related tools are free of charge. The MPSConnect audience is comprised of business managers, senior technical decision makers, print service providers, dealers, consultants and hardware/ software vendors. Our mission is to provide free and easy access to the fullest array of industry research and information in order to simplify and accelerate solution acquisition and implementation. It does this by providing centralized access to all identified industry resource providers around the world via its free, convenient, one-stop portal. MWA Intelligence Inc. www.mwaintel.com MWAi is an M2M/M2P enterprise-class asset management solution provider of leading-edge software, enabling full automation between service personnel, PDAs, laptop PCs, imaging units and ERP systems. MWAi provides the intelligent, secure and seamless integration necessary for optimal infrastructure support, cost recovery, human and system asset management and actionable data fields, all leading to “value up and cost down” business returns. 14 | w w w . o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | J u l y 2 0 1 0

NER Data Products Inc. www.nerdata.com NER’s Print4 covers all aspects of managed print through a comprehensive suite of software, support, mentorship programs, supplies and parts fulfillment, national service delivery/dedicated help desk, efficient program deployment/ management, leasing options and CPP billing. We work with you at the end-user level and teach you how to close managed print business. OMI www.outsourcemanagement.com The Managed Print 4 U service provides hardware, supplies and service organizations the ability to monitor, manage, report and communicate events associated with the customer’s print environment. It also offers personal branding to the service organization with personalized reporting and marketing-related activities concerning the service organization/customer relationship. Managed Print4 U aggregates printer information to drive additional revenue by identifying new opportunities in supplies, parts and service areas. Parts Now! www.partsnow.com The industry is changing fast and it probably has you wondering how you will compete when the things you have always done do not work as well as they used to. That’s where we come in, with the ideas and innovations that help you not just survive, but thrive. It’s all here: MPS, training, tech support, printer parts and toner. Photizo Group www.photizogroup.com Photizo Group is a research and consulting firm specializing in managed print services providing MPS insights, perspectives and success to clients around the globe. In April of 2009, Photizo hosted the first-ever Managed Print Services Conference and has continued to offer educational and networking events, expanding the MPS conferences to Europe, Asia Pacific and the Americas. Photizo offers the dealer/ reseller community many tools to assist in navigating and succeeding in this changing environment, including: the Market Intelligence Package, reports and the MPS Insights Journal. Print Management Solutions Group www.printmanagementsolutionsgroup.com The Print Management Solutions Group supports and accelerates print management training initiatives within the document imaging industry. Our consulting and MPS training solutions help you build and sustain a competitive advantage. By leveraging our talent, experience and extensive

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resources, we provide a seamless solution to improve sales and sales management effectiveness, service productivity and profitability, and operational efficiencies. We have built our value proposition and reputation as a dynamic organization with the ability to provide measurable returns. Print Tracker www.printtracker.net Print Tracker, a print management solutions company, offers training with modules that include: Planning for MPS Success; A Case for Print Management — Print Tracker Prospectus; and MPS Deployment Best Practices. The sessions are available now and can soon be downloaded by Print Tracker clients from an eLearning link on the Print Tracker Web site. These training classes are included as tracks in Print Tracker’s ongoing MPS Certification process. Recharger Magazine www.rechargermag.com Recharger Magazine offers the Managed Print Summit, a full-day frontrunner to its World Expo. The summit features

a line-up of industry experts providing an in-depth look at the ins and outs of managed print. Recharger also produces a supplement, Recharger Magazine’s Managed Print; Total Print Solutions, a quarterly e-newsletter focused on managed print; and RechargerMag.com’s Managed Print Portal, an online resource of managed print news and articles. Ricoh Americas Corp. www.ricoh-usa.com Building upon years of experience with MPS best practices, Ricoh has developed a Managed Document Services (MDS) approach that reaches beyond the printing realm. Ricoh offers its dealers a suite of effective MDS tools based upon its four-phased approach of assess, design, implement and manage. MDS enables providers to move beyond a reseller role by becoming a long-term consultative partner with their customers. Strategy Development www.strategydevelopment.org Strategy Development is a management consulting and

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training firm that offers solutions to launch or expand a profitable, highly successful MPS program. Our suite of offerings spans all functional areas including planning, sales, back-office operations and service. Increase your share of wallet and maximize account penetration with our MPS sales consulting engagement or learn the details to make it work with an operations and service consulting engagement. We developed and team-teach the BTA MPS Sales Workshop, BTA MPS Operations & Service Workshop, BTA Sales Management Workshop and BTA Business Planning Workshop. We also developed, in conjunction with InfoTrends, the MPS eLearning Sales Training Program. Supplies Network www.suppliesnetwork.com Supplies Network offers a suite of training programs to help dealers successfully sell and administer a managed output services model. Sales/program trainings focus on a range of topics from getting and conducting “C-level” appointments down to deal crafting and proposal genera-

tion. Operational training focuses on the details of the CARBON SiX Print Management program, like setting up data collection software, arranging for our exclusive Auto Toner Replenishment System, and setting up the optional page billing and/or service components. Infrastructure training is also available for owners and senior managers interested in topics like business planning, sales compensation planning and deal pricing/profitability. Toshiba America Business Solutions Inc. www.copiers.toshiba.com Toshiba’s MPS program, Encompass, focuses on managing an existing fleet of devices, despite brand. It allows dealers to purchase services at three levels, from basic to advanced, as cost-per-copy. The national customer service dispatch for all devices with a single contact for dealers and customers, and simplified billing directly from Toshiba, help dealers manage their programs. LEAD 2010, Toshiba’s MPS and PS conferences, taking place this month, provide handson workshops to help dealers succeed. U.S. Bank Office Equipment Finance Services www.usbank.com/OEFS For more than 30 years, U.S. Bank Office Equipment Finance Services has been providing tangible finance solutions focused on your unique business needs. U.S. Bank’s Bundled Print Management (BPM) gives you the advantage to stay in rhythm with market trends while driving deeper relationships with your customers. By aligning your company with a financing partner that provides you with expert billing and collecting, professional tools and invaluable industry connections, you will elevate your print management proficiency. West Point Products www.westpointproducts.com West Point Products (WPP) offers its Axess™ MPS as part of its portfolio of products and services intended to add value for customers. Axess™ MPS has grown considerably since its launch, due to the solid reputation that WPP has built in the imaging industry. Axess™ MPS is scalable and customizable, allowing customers to enter the MPS arena in their own way, customizing their level of participation to suit their needs. Brent Hoskins, executive director of the Business Technology Association, is editor of Office Technology magazine. He can be reached at brent@bta.org.

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Q&A: Rock Janecek BTA’s new president assumes office July 1 by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

n July 1, Rock Janecek became the 76th national president of th e Busin e ss Te chnolog y Association (BTA). He serves as a division service manager for Burtronics Business Systems Inc., a Lanier and Konica Minolta dealership located in San Bernardino, Calif. In 1980, after four years of service in the U.S. Marine Corps., Janecek went to work for Saxon Business Products. He later worked at two Southern California dealerships — the second one International Images, purchased by Burtronics in 1999. Janecek is PDI+ and CDIA+ certified and is also a Microsoft Certified Professional and Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist. Recently, Office Technology magazine had the opportunity to visit with Janecek. He was asked about the association, the dealer channel and his role as a BTA volunteer. Following are his responses:

OT: How did you get involved as a BTA volunteer and how have you benefited from your service to the association? Janecek: I attended some of the BTA West district events and really enjoyed the interaction with others in the industry, being able to listen to and visit with them about their best practices, learning what they were doing in certain situations. Those experiences led to my interest in volunteering — first at the local level, then for the district and, in recent years, at the national level. At the national level I have found that it is particularly valuable to interact with members from different parts of the country, since they often view certain aspects of the industry from a completely different perspective. Plus, until 18 | w w w . o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | J u l y 2 0 1 0

I volunteered at the national level, I wasn’t aware of probably half of what BTA has to offer. For example, I wasn’t familiar with the full scope of the educational programs being offered or the many legal documents and forms that are available on the members-only section of the association’s Web site. OT: What has kept you active as a BTA volunteer through the years? Janecek: I think it’s two things. One is the friendships and the camaraderie among the volunteers. I ’ve really enjoyed developing friendships with dealership owners and others. The other part is, I have become very excited about the course BTA has taken. It has been renewed in recent years. Today, there is a stronger effort to bring dealers back into the association and let them know the impact BTA can have on their businesses. It is always exciting to be part of a winning team, a growing movement. OT: Looking to the year ahead, what are some areas you believe will be your primary areas of focus as BTA president? Janecek: One of my goals is to see BTA broaden its reach to include more non-office-equipment-centric companies. For example, I would like to see more printer repair companies and network VARs join BTA. BTA can provide such companies great value that can help them boost the bottom line as it has done with traditional copier/MFP dealerships. Similarly, there are also many companies that have only worked with low-end product manufacturers or have only bought hardware through distributors, never aligning with a large, full-line manufacturer. I believe some of these companies

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have never really been exposed to BTA. They don’t know that for only $430 a year they can get access to a vast amount of information, educational programs, research reports and legal assistance, plus all of BTA’s many discount programs. I plan to guide BTA to bring more of these companies into the membership.

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Looking back at BTA’s long history and its many educational programs, BTA has set the ground rules for how a dealership should be operated.

OT: Why do you believe BTA is important to the industry and dealers today? Janecek: Looking back at BTA’s long history and its many educational programs, BTA has set the ground rules for how a dealership should be operated. Through the BTA educational programs of the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, BTA has played a significant role in helping to grow some of our industry’s largest dealerships. Today, that has not changed. For example, BTA is now setting the ground rules and helping dealerships achieve success in managed print services through its latest educational programs, including our MPS Sales Workshop and MPS Operations & Service Workshop. Dealers who take advantage of BTA membership know what a great partner the association can be in helping them achieve the greatest level of success possible. That was true in BTA’s earlier years. It

remains true today. In addition, as I mentioned, there is BTA’s research, legal services, etc. Collectively, all of these offerings — along with the educational programs — make BTA vital to any dealership looking to set itself apart from competitors.

OT: What do you see as some of the greatest challenges today for office technology dealerships? How can BTA help dealers address those challenges? Janecek: Today, technological advances are occurring so quickly that it is difficult for dealers to stay up to speed with software developments, document management requirements and the changing complexity of machines. Salespeople have to be well-equipped so they can confidently show how today’s equipment will benefit end users on a daily basis. Similarly, the demands of customers are changing, which, in part, is giving rise to MPS. Manufacturer training is helpful, particularly when it comes to the capabilities of machines, but it is not enough. If you only rely on a manufacturer’s training and do not keep an open mind in terms of the other choices that are out there, then you

BTA 2010-11 President-Elect Tom Ouellette Nearly 25 years ago, after receiving his honorable discharge from the United States Navy, Tom Ouellette began his career in the office technology industry. He first took courses at the Electronics Computer Programming Institute (ECPI) in Chesapeake, Va. After graduation, Ouellette began working as a service technician on electric typewriters and copiers. In 1989, Ouellette founded Budget Document Technology in his garage as a single-man operation. Since then, the company has grown and now employs 20 people serving central and southern Maine. The company sells Kyocera Mita and Konica Minolta products and has two locations. It is headquartered in Lewiston, Maine. In 2009-10, Ouellette served as BTA vice president. He now serves as president-elect. He says he originally decided to volunteer for BTA in order to give back to the association. “I just felt it was time to give back to an organization that has been good for the industry,” he says. “We work on providing discount programs, as well as bringing education and multiple vendors together. This gives dealers more options when they make choices for their businesses.” During his time on the BTA Board of Directors, Ouellette has been able to work with other board members to better the experience of BTA members. “Last year’s president, Bill James, recommended that we start task force teams in order to increase membership, promote

education and research, and to discuss marketing strategies,” says Ouellette. “We assigned two board members to each task force, and asked them to brainstorm to come up with new ideas. I would like to see this continue and would welcome any BTA member to forward his or her ideas on to BTA so that we can use them to further help the dealer community.” In addition to being visible in the dealer community, Ouellette says BTA has made an impression on manufacturers and vendors in the last year. “When I attended ITEX this year, the vendors I talked to seemed to realize that the BTA channel is a great point of distribution for their products or services,” he says. “This tells me we are on these vendors’ radars. At our district events, it does not take us long to fill our vendor sponsorships. I believe we are on the right track and need to keep the momentum going.” One goal he has is to revisit the subject of a group health insurance plan for BTA members. “Now that health care reform has passed, I would like to see us rethink this subject again to try and create a BTA group plan that could be put in place nationwide,” says Ouellette. Ouellette has high hopes for BTA’s future. “I imagine the association will keep growing and growing. I believe with the board of volunteers that is in place, as well as vendor members taking an active role in BTA, we have nowhere to go but up. We are a strong voice in this ever-changing industry.” — Elizabeth Marvel

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may lose some potential customers. This shared focus who are like-minded. BTA is one area in which BTA can be very dealers have been learning from each BTA dealers have been helpful, again, through its educational other and helping one another for years learning from each other workshops. Dealers who attend BTA through our various educational proand helping one another workshops are better able to stay abreast grams and networking opportunities. for years through our and more in tune with what is actually There is strength in our numbers. various educational going on in the marketplace. Through programs and discussion of real-world examples, best OT: What is your vision for BTA networking opportunities. practices and road maps to success — as you look to the years ahead? whether it’s development of a business Janecek: Five years from now, or even plan, a thorough understanding of financial benchmarks or 10 years from now, there is still going to be a Business Techstrategies for success in MPS — BTA’s workshops are providing nology Association and it will be very active and thriving, dealers with the tools they need to succeed. serving the needs of the industry’s leading office technology Of course, there are other big challenges, not the least of dealerships. Consider that 10 or 15 years ago, people were which is growing competition. For example, today, compa- talking about the paperless office and some dealers were nies that were once just taking care of networks and work- afraid that the coming paperless office was going to be the stations are now selling printers and MFPs as well. We have demise of their businesses. Today, dealers are pushing more more competition now than we did 10 years ago. There was paper than ever. So, while the devices that dealers sell will a day when end users who wanted a copier would just go to change, the purpose for placing those devices will remain a copier dealership. Now if they want a copier/MFP, they the same. Similarly, BTA’s role will remain the same — may also go to a computer VAR or, in some cases, just pull it helping dealerships achieve greater levels of success. off the shelf at a local superstore. It seems to me that for a Brent Hoskins is executive director of the Business Technology Association and editor of Office Technology magazine. dealer to succeed in facing increasing competition, he (or He can be reached at brent@bta.org. she) can best do so by aligning himself with others with a

BTA 2010-11 Vice President Terry Chapman Terry Chapman has served as president of Business Electronics Corp., a Toshiba and Lanier dealership in Birmingham, Ala., for 22 years. He is a graduate of Birmingham Southern College. He received his bachelor’s degree in 1984, and his master’s in 1989. Before moving into office technology, he worked in the banking industry. In 1988, Chapman’s father, Larry, who was serving as a Xerox employee, encouraged his son to start his own business, helping him establish Business Electronics Corp. “After working with another dealership for a while, my father worked with me to found Business Electronics,” says Chapman. “We’ve found it to be a great partnership and family business, and enjoy working together. Larry has been involved with BTA for many, many years, and he introduced me to the BTA Southeast group. I first attended the BTA Southeast conference in Waynesville, N.C., with him, and one or both of us have attended it every year since 2002.” Chapman’s interest in BTA Southeast led him to volunteer for that district’s board of directors, which led to his position on the national board. He currently serves as BTA’s national vice president. He is also a past president of BTA Southeast. In 2008, he was named BTA’s Volunteer of the Year. Chapman says most of his work for BTA is done in the areas of membership recruitment and conference planning. “I’ve worked on the

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BTA Southeast conference since 2007, recruiting speakers, working with venues and recruiting sponsors and exhibitors,” says Chapman. “As to membership, I volunteered for the national task force on membership. We are working there to build up the prospective member lists and target the most important non-members in each region.” He cites several strengths that will help him with his work on the national board of directors. “I’ve had a vision for how to improve the organization and have been able to bring other people into the organization to work on it,” says Chapman. “People tell me I’m a born salesperson, and selling BTA is not that difficult to do, so that’s been an area where I’ve been able to help — to promote BTA and make sure people understand the benefits of the organization and what it can do for them.” Chapman anticipates that BTA will become more integral to BTA dealers’ businesses in the years to come. “I think the organization is going to continue to become more important to dealers,” he says. “We’re certainly offering more benefits to them, and we’re doing a much better job of representing the dealer community. Not only are we offering more benefits, but we’re also doing more to advocate positions that the dealers want. We are the advocate for our dealers, which is something that really hasn’t been done fully until now. We’re doing a better job of that, and I think we’ll continue to improve.” — Elizabeth Marvel

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Dealer Strategies BTA Southeast hosts educational event June 16-17 by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

xpanded in scope over previous BTA Southeast education and networking events in recent years, the district’s Dealer Strategies Summit 2010 featured two education tracks and 20 exhibiting sponsors. The event, which drew approximately 80 dealer and vendor attendees, was held June 16-17 in Orlando, Fla. “Based on the positive response to our recent conferences, the schedule in Orlando was expanded to include 15 education sessions and 10 presenters,” said 2009-10 BTA Southeast President Mike Upchurch. “As expected, this change proved to be the right decision, based on the comments we have received and the high degree of audience/ presenter interaction that occurred in each session.” Feedback from Hector Bezuidenhout, president of Digital Business Machines, Nashville, Tenn., supports Upchurch’s comments: “I really appreciated the event because I got to hear other dealers’ solutions to the same problems I face. I always learn a lot at BTA events. They are a great investment.” Another attendee commented on one presenter in particular. “Thank you for a great conference,” said Chris Gaiser, assistant service manager at North American Office Solutions, Orlando, Fla. “I thought it was very insightful. The speakers were very pleasant and knowledgeable. I especially liked Mike Woodard’s ‘Service Delivery in the MPS World.’ I gained a great deal of knowledge from him.” Sponsors for the event were: Color Imaging, De Lage Landen, Digital Gateway, Digitek Computer Products, DocuLex, DocuWare, ECi Software Solutions, Epson America, Equipment Data Associates, ESP, FMAudit, GreatAmerica Leasing, Image Star, Muratec America, Polek & Polek, Print Audit, Print MIB, SalesChain, Sharp Electronics and Supplies Network. The next BTA Southeast event is scheduled for Oct. 22-23 in Waynesville, N.C. Watch www.bta.org for details. Brent Hoskins, executive director of the Business Technology Association, is editor of Office Technology magazine. He can be reached at brent@bta.org.

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Clockwise from top: Attendees and exhibiting sponsors visit in the exhibit hall at the BTA Southeast Dealer Strategies Summit; Teresa Hiatt, Ricoh Americas Corp., presents “New Skills Required for Solutions Selling,” one of two sessions she presented; Terry Chapman (left), immediate past president of BTA Southeast, presents a Past President’s plaque to outgoing 2009-10 BTA Southeast President Mike Upchurch; Upchurch presents the 2010 BTA Southeast Volunteer of the Year Award to Debra Dennis, incoming 2010-11 BTA Southeast president-elect; and Larry Breed, MarketMentorOnline Inc., presents “Multiply Sales Without Adding Salespeople.”

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Data Cleansing Summit Held in Orlando In the wake of the April 19 CBS Evening hard drive security. In fact, explained one News investigative report and other televiof the Summit attendees, a legislator in sion news reports regarding the risks associNew Jersey had recently introduced legislaated with confidential information being left tion that would require that records stored on copier/MFP hard drives, many in the on a digital copier be destroyed under ceroffice technology industry have been tain circumstances. In part, the legislation, responding to numerous inquiries from conproposed by Assemblywoman Linda cerned end users. To help the industry better Greenstein, D-N.J., states: “Any person that address these concerns, BTA hosted the Data willfully or knowingly violates the proviCleansing Summit at the conclusion of the sions of this act shall be liable to a penalty BTA Southeast event in Orlando, Fla. The of not more than $10,000 for the first Summit drew 26 attendees. offense and not more than $20,000 for the Representatives of 17 vendors were among “This is a critical issue,” said BTA second and each subsequent offense.” General Counsel Robert Goldberg, organFollowing the Summit, Goldberg wrote the Data Cleansing Summit attendees. izer and moderator of the June 18 Summit. Greenstein, stating that the Summit had “There has been a lot of fanfare and a lot of concern from all levels taken place and that efforts are underway to address the risks associof the industry. Our purpose today is to come up with a direction, so ated with confidential information on copier/MFP hard drives. He that we can go back to the government and say how we as an induswrote, in part: “We believe our educational effort, industry-wide, is a try can, perhaps, address the data cleansing issue and the retention better alternative than legislation with financial penalties for end-users of information on hard drives.” who fail to erase or have their data erased. BTA would welcome the Goldberg told attendees that he had been in contact with the opportunity to discuss our efforts with you and share our plans to eduFederal Trade Commission (FTC) and U.S. Representative Ed Markey, cate end users to the perils of un-cleansed hard drives.” D-Mass. He shared with Summit attendees a copy of a letter from Also subsequent to the Summit, Goldberg sent the following list of Markey to the FTC that states, in part: “I am concerned that these hard strategies to the attendees, documenting what had been agreed upon drives represent a treasure trove for thieves, leaving unwitting conduring the meeting as action steps going forward: sumers vulnerable to identity theft as their Social Security numbers, birth (1) Develop an end-user publication regarding data and image certificates, medical records, bank records and other personal informaretention on copier/MFPs and printers. tion are exposed to individuals who could easily extract the data from (2) Coordinate education efforts with the FTC on data and image the digital copier’s hard drive and use it for criminal purposes.” retention. Markey’s letter also expresses his interest in learning about actions (3) Work with Congress regarding industry efforts to educate end the FTC has taken to investigate the issue and includes this counsel: “I users regarding data and image retention. also encourage the Commission to pursue measures to provide con(4) Monitor, testify and submit comments on any proposed state or sumers with additional information about the privacy risks associated federal legislation. with the use of digital copiers for copying sensitive information and the In addition to dealers and BTA staff, the vendor representatives steps consumers can take to protect themselves against these risks.” attending the Summit were as follows: Laryssa Alexander, ECi Software Goldberg also shared a copy of the FTC’s reply to Markey from Solutions; Bob Blais, CopEx Inc.; Anthony Bragoli, Ricoh Americas FTC Chairman Joe Leibowitz. Leibowitz states, in part: “The FTC is Corp.; Peter Davey, Toshiba America Business Solutions Inc.; Lance now reaching out to copier manufacturers, resellers and retail copy Dickson, GreatAmerica Leasing Corp.; Jim D’Emidio, Muratec America and office supply stores to ensure that they are aware of the privacy Inc.; Mark Hart, Lexmark International Inc.; Michael Howard, Hewlettrisks associated with digital copiers and to determine whether they Packard; Terry Knopsnyder, Kyocera Mita America Inc.; Mike Marusic, are warning their customers about these risks, whether they are proSharp Imaging and Information Company of America; Bryan Punzel, viding education and guidance on this subject, and whether manufacU.S. Bank Office Equipment Finance Services; Kim Rivera, Tygris turers and resellers are providing options for secure copying.” Commercial Finance; Paul Scarlett, GE Capital; Mike Stramaglio, Referencing several telephone conference calls he has had with MWA Intelligence; Raj Thadani, Mars International; Jonathan Fischer, representatives at the FTC, Goldberg said they had suggested several Samsung Electronics America; Jay Reagan, Wells Fargo Financial possible responses, including a national registry for copier/MFPs, Leasing; and Calvin Rosen, Kyocera Mita America Inc. where each machine would be linked to a title, like in the automobile The group plans to have a second meeting in conjunction with the industry, so that ownership could easily be traced. However, discourBTA East “Grand Slam 2010” event, scheduled for Sept. 23-24, aging a regulatory response, Goldberg said he had, instead, encour2010, in White Plains, N.Y. aged the FTC to focus on consumer education as the best avenue for (Goldberg has prepared two documents that are intended to help the FTC and others to pursue. FTC representatives are receptive to the BTA member dealers address the data cleansing issue: “Data strategy, he said, and they are open to partnering with the industry in Cleansing or Hard Drive Removal Agreement” and “Data Cleansing facilitating consumer education. Waiver.” Both are available to members only via the BTA Web site, During the open discussion at the Summit meeting, it was noted www.bta.org. On the home page, click on “BTA Legal Services” and that state legislation may increasingly emerge regarding copier/MFP then “Legal Documents.”)

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COURTS & CAPITOLS

Effective Interviewing Begin by selecting fully qualified individuals by: Robert C. Goldberg, General Counsel for the Business Technology Association

s the economy begins to improve, there is a reduction in unemployment as well. As individuals return to the workforce, they must be recruited and interviewed. Conducting an effective interview is essential to a good hire. Gut decisions may bring stomachaches, whereas a thorough interview should result in a sound employment decision. Start with a standard application for all candidates. There is a sample employment application on the BTA Web site, www.bta.org. Review the completed application outside of the applicant’s presence. Determine if the applicant has the necessary job requirements for the position. Many candidates may be eliminated based upon their application responses. This process will save considerable time and allow you more time to interview the fully qualified individuals. Of course, you will have determined the job’s requirements by preparing a job description at the start of this process. Determine the format of the interview process. Will a single individual, a panel or a succession of individuals conduct the interview? A combination of the approaches can be used if a candidate is going to be asked back for a second or third interview. Attempt to ask the applicant a core set of questions. Questions should be open-ended so you can learn from the applicant. An interview is not an opportunity to impress someone about your own accomplishments. Confirm the details of past employment and inquire about any gaps in employment. If an applicant took time off to have a family, do not start asking about his (or her) family. All questions should be related to the open position. An applicant who volunteers information not related to bona fide occupational qualifications should be steered back on track without comment on the information shared. In regard to past employment, you should inquire about the size of the company, reason for leaving, references he would expect to receive, duties, salary information, what he liked best and, of course, his dislikes as well. Determine the individual’s interest in the position. What part of the job interests him most? What does he know about your company? Ask a question or two about your Web site to

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determine if he has done any preparation prior to the interview. Inquire as to why you should hire the individual. Ask him for a description of his ideal boss, the hardest thing he may encounter about his new position and the availability to travel or work overtime, if required. You may inquire about military experience if military experience is related to the position. You may ask about convictions, but not arrests. If the job requires driving, ask the applicant if he has a valid driver’s license and to summarize his driving record. After a conditional offer of employment is made, you can confirm the driving record with the completion of an authorization from the applicant. A sample authorization is on the BTA Web site. Following the candidate’s interview, check all references. If the applicant provides family members as references, ask for additional non-family references. Ask each reference how he knows the applicant and the length of time he has known him. Also ask on what basis is the reference being provided — by personal observation or second hand. For employment references, verify the position held, dates of employment, compensation, reason for separation and an opinion of the individual. All information received should be documented. There are numerous areas that should not be discussed during an interview: age, dates of school attendance, previous home addresses, religious affiliation, name of priest, minister, or rabbi, maiden name, marital status, whether pregnant or planning to become pregnant, children, whether the candidate owns or rents his home, if he has loans outstanding, sexual preference, any workers’ compensation claim, nationality or family medical history. The simple rule is that if the question is not related to the job or a job qualification, it should not be asked. Finding good employees is a difficult task. Asking the wrong questions or conducting an ineffective interview can cost you more than a bad hire. Prepare for interviews, consider your questions carefully and be sure to verify the information provided. Robert C. Goldberg is general counsel for the Business Technology Association. He can be reached at robert.goldberg@sfnr.com.

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EDUCATION CALENDAR August 10-11 BTA MPS Sales Workshop

Kansas City, MO Taught by Tom Callinan and Ed Carroll of Strategy Development, this two-day education workshop is designed to provide dealerships with the tools they need to establish a managed print services strategy that will allow them to significantly increase the quantity of captured prints, lock in customers, distinguish themselves from competitors and sell more hardware.

11-12 BTA ProFinance

Chicago, IL ProFinance instructors John Hanson and John Hey of Strategic Business Associates will teach you the financial model that helped them make the decisions that grew DC Hey from a $5 million to a $170 million IKON-acquired enterprise. In addition to helping you implement the model in your company, they will help you understand the strategies required to become more client and employee focused.

17-18 BTA Service Management University (SMU)

Denver, CO Service managers are under pressure to deliver sustainable margins greater than 52 percent. In order to achieve this goal, they need to understand a multitude of profit inputs such as setting prices, how employees are deployed, parts usage and logistics, and employee performance and development. In order to be effective, today’s service managers need to be able to communicate with other company leaders, interpret reports, use data to develop and execute plans and develop their employees to ensure maximum productivity. When service leaders leave SMU, taught by Mike Woodard of Strategy Development, they will be able to assess the service department’s strengths and weaknesses, develop specific actionable plans to address areas of opportunity, execute action items to drive sustained profitability and quality customer service, successfully deliver profitable service in the MPS world and more.

Building My Business Webinar — “Leadership Development & Empowerment for Office Equipment Dealers” Too often business leaders take too little time to focus on their own development because they are simply too busy running the day-to-day of their businesses. A void in your company's leadership can hold back or hurt your dealership. During this webinar, presented by Sally Brause of GreatAmerica Leasing Corp., you will learn the attributes associated with successful leadership and how you can develop these attributes yourself and within your dealership management team. Practical and actionable tools will be shared based on current business case studies. Free to BTA members, this webinar is scheduled for 4 p.m. Eastern, Wednesday, August 25. For additional information or to register for courses or webinars, visit www.bta.org or call (800) 843-5059.

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

Dealer Members Alexandria Business Machines, Alexandria, LA Allied Business Solutions, Boise, ID Blue Technologies Inc., Cleveland, OH Branch Office Solutions Inc., Indian Trail, NC Copy Doctor Inc., Los Angeles, CA Electronic Business Machines, Everett, WA Vendor Associate Member Payable Systems Inc., Charlotte, NC Service Associate Member Market Mentor Online, Forsyth, GA 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 or Service Associate members in this space. BTA Vendor Associate member Union Technology International (UTec) is one of the world’s bestknown suppliers of topquality aftermarket printer consumables, serving customers in more than 120 countries for more than 20 years. UTec offers more than 4,000 SKUs in remanufactured and compatible laser cartridges and inkjet cartridges, CISS, wide-format supplies, compatible ribbons, print media, inkjet and laser cartridge parts, bulk ink and toner. www.union-tec.com

BERTL MegaNet Discount BERTL is pleased to offer BTA members a free one-week trial to its all-inclusive MegaNet service, as well as an exclusive special rate of $475 for an annual subscription. With MegaNet’s one-stop viewing, you will be armed with the industry’s most vital digital imaging information and comparison analysis data to make competent business decisions and to position yourself strategically in this competitive market. For more information or to subscribe to MegaNet, visit www.bta.org and select “Member Benefits” from the left menu. For more information on BTA member benefits, visit www.bta.org.

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BTA Service Associate member Lease Corporation of America (LCA) is a national equipment lessor dedicated to supporting small-ticket (under $250,000) equipment vendors, distributors and manufacturers by providing access to convenient, competitive and efficient financing to customers of their products. LCA is dedicated to providing convenient point-of-sale financing solutions to help small-ticket equipment vendors, distributors and manufacturers shorten the sales cycle and facilitate the close of a potential sale. www.leasecorp.com A full list of BTA Vendor and Service Associate members can be found online at www.bta.org.

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PRINCIPAL ISSUES

Even More Cool Technology Products that might make a big difference for you by: Tim McMahon, The BizCAT Group

Editor’s Note: Tim McMahon took a look at other Web-based products in the February and March issues of Office Technolog y. Those tw o articl es, “Cool Technolog y” and “More Cool Technology,” are archived for BTA members on the BTA Web site, www.bta.org. n this article we will look at four products that might make a big difference in your business and will not break the bank. The first two are from Google: Gmail and Google Alerts — and yes, they are serious business tools. Next comes MyKlpz, which just might be the best prospecting tool we have come across in a long time. And, finally, we will take a look at LogMeIn, a remote PC and smartphone access tool that could be a handy lifesaver.

Gmail for Business Mail? Should you use Gmail for your business? For a long time my answer was “no.” After all, having an e-mail address with “@gmail.com” on the end is not really professional, especially if your company already has its own Web site domain and you want your e-mail address to reflect that domain name. Also, you do not want to change your e-mail address. I realize now that I was wrong. I am convinced that Gmail is a much better business option than Outlook or any other desktop e-mail program. So let’s look first at what Gmail is and why it is so good. Then we will look at how to use it with your own domain name or existing e-mail account. With Gmail, your e-mail is accessed and stored online and you get to it through your Web browser. You would be surprised at just how convenient this is when you are no longer tied to that laptop. And with virtually unending storage, you never fill up your hard drive — or lose it all to a virus or when it crashes. What if I don’t have an Internet connection and need to get to my e-mail? That usually happens to me when I am in the car and need to get to those driving directions a client sent me. The answer is to enable the Gmail “offline” feature, which automatically stores duplicates of all your e-mails — and your calendar — on your hard drive. Problem solved.

Now about that @gmail.com e-mail address. Yes, when you set up Gmail you will have to establish a personal Gmail account and @gmail.com e-mail address. But if you go to the settings/ general/accounts menu, you can add any existing e-mail addresses — like the ones associated with your company — into your Gmail account. Once you have set this up — and it is easy — you can send all your e-mails via Gmail using your business e-mail address. To receive business e-mails at your Gmail account, just go to your e-mail provider and set up e-mail forwarding to your Gmail address. If yours is a very small business of one or a few people, this should work great for you. If your business is a bit larger and you want all your employees on Gmail but on one system, Google offers Google Apps — a more sophisticated offering that comes in both free and paid versions. Give Google’s Gmail a try. You will not be disappointed. Wake Up With Google Alerts This is one of those great little business tools that is relatively unknown but is a real winner. Google Alerts is free and worth its weight in gold. The idea is really simple. Google Alerts are e-mail updates of the latest relevant Google results (Web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic. Some handy uses of Google Alerts include monitoring what is going on with your customers, keeping current on a competitor or industry, watching to see if your business is “in the news” or if others are commenting about you. Each day, Google scours the Internet on whatever criteria you tell it to watch for — industry news, a customer name, your company name, issues you care about, etc. — and you receive an e-mail with the results. It looks for Web site updates, news articles in magazines, blogs, newspapers, press releases, etc. Why would you care? I remember when I was caught flatfooted when a client assumed I knew about his company’s merger with a major competitor. When I said I did not know, his answer was: “Don’t you watch our Web site?” Unfortunately, w w w . o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | J u l y 2 0 1 0 | 27

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I rarely have the time to continuously visit every client’s site, much less search for what is new. Even reading industry press releases and business news can be a hit-ormiss proposition. That is where Google Alerts has improved my business life. Just go to Google Alerts (www.google. com/alerts) and in seconds you will be creating your first alert. Google Alerts is simply a super business tool that ought to be in your tool kit.

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... With My Klpz, you create a sales prospecting campaign ... and then the program works continuously to keep you on track.

MyKlpz — Power Up Prospecting If there is one issue I have with sales force automation programs, like CRMs, it is that they do not always do enough for the sales reps who use them. Yes, there is a lot of good history information that is valuable to the company or a new sales rep inheriting a territory or account, but on a day-to-day basis, SFA/CRM systems ask salespeople to do a lot of data entry without much immediate benefit (i.e., it does not do much to help you close a deal). So, I am always searching for a sales tool that both inside and outside sales reps would love because it actively works to help them make money. And being a small businessman myself, I want something that is easy to set up, learn and use. And, it has to be light on the wallet. Recently, I came across a new product called MyKlpz by Contact Science (www.contactscience.com) that is designed to increase the efficiency of sales prospecting whether you are an enterprise or independent sales professional. Pronounced “my clips,” it can be a standalone tool or a front-end to an existing CRM or contact management system. I am oversimplifying for the sake of space, but essentially, with MyKlpz you create a sales prospecting campaign (goals, target customers, calls per day, sales messages, follow-up strategies, etc.) and then the program works continuously to keep you on track. By actively watching the results of what you are doing, the program can let you know if you are doing the right things or if your campaign needs to be adjusted. The monthly cost is less than $40, which meets my “light-on-the-wallet” criteria. It does not take a lot of success to justify the expense. In sales there is no “silver bullet” to success, so it is worthwhile to point out that no software package will ever take the place of the hard work of prospecting and the commitment to doing it. Few salespeople, inside or outside, really like to coldcall prospects even though it is clearly one of the most necessary functions of business. If a tool like MyKlpz can improve results, however, then it can make prospecting a lot less 28 | w w w . o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | J u l y 2 0 1 0

painful and maybe even reduce call reluctance a bit. MyKlpz is definitely worth a hard look and a trial.

LogMeIn Remote Access Have you ever gone somewhere without your computer and suddenly realized there was a document you absolutely needed on your desktop? Maybe your computer is running slowly or acting strangely, but your computer-guru buddy lives across the country — and an over-the-phone walkthrough simply will not cut it. Does your business have multiple locations or people who work from home? Do you have an IT department that gets swamped with phone calls and spends hours each week troubleshooting? There might be a good solution for all these problems, and depending on your needs, it might not cost you anything at all. At th e Bi zC AT S, we have b een lo oking at L ogMeIn (www.logmein.com) and its remote access technology. Remote access is not really new and there are several good competitors in this product area. I installed LogMeIn for myself to give it a trial run. I tried a similar product some years ago that let me access my home computer remotely when I was traveling. At the time, I found it somewhat slow and cumbersome. I also realized that as a small business owner, I might only need these capabilities occasionally — certainly not enough to justify paying a monthly fee. In other words, it was something I could live without. Testing LogMeIn, however, was eye-opening on several levels: First, it was easy to set up and very fast. Second, the basic free version does not expire. Third, the “Pro” and “Rescue” versions are actually cost effective. Lastly, I can access my PC from my iPhone. LogMeIn is supported on Windows PCs, Macs and smartphones, including BlackBerry devices. The “LogMeIn Free” product will meet the basic needs of many very small businesses or independent professionals and is a great way to try out this technology. Paid versions offer some very nice additional features that are well worth considering. Tim McMahon held senior executive positions for many years with IBM and DEC before founding Catalyst, a global consulting firm, in 1995. He is a best-selling author of four books and has been featured on CNN and CNBC International. He can be reached at tim.mcmahon@thebizcat.com. Visit www.thebizcat.com/reviews.

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MPS STRATEGIES

Farming for Opportunities ‘Plow’ your field to bring MPS to current accounts by: Kelli Jones, Strategy Development

magine what your life would be like without e-mail and wireless Internet connections for your laptop and BlackBerry. Sure, you could function, but if you are not taking advantage of current technologies, you are putting yourself at a great disadvantage. Marketing folks who are not using the latest marketing technologies are putting themselves at the same disadvantage, but often, they just do not know it. Here is what most dealers’ marketing efforts look like: You want to send out a snail mail or an e-mail blast to try to find potential new customers, so you purchase a list and send out the communication, blanketing the same message to everyone. Even with a compelling message, you will likely see response rates around 2 percent. That is a lot of work for very little return. Is this scenario familiar to you? The best place to start is actually to look within your own customer base. Why? Because you know a lot about them and your foot is already in the door. What do you know about your customers? Well, you know their company names, contact names and their addresses. But you also know their purchasing histories and environments, which is the biggest difference. Using this information, you can “plow” your field of customers to find hidden managed print services (MPS) opportunities. A key marketing technology is a customer relationship management (CRM) system. CRMs allow you to run queries and communicate to specific subsets of your customers. For instance, you can run a query of those who have purchased a production printer, but not the workflow software solution that you sell. You can then send a communication about harnessing the power of the production printer and the benefits of your workflow software. This is a not a new concept; I am sure you have heard about it before. However, where this was once reserved for large companies with large marketing budgets, a wide variety of highly scalable solutions are on the market today. Taking it a step further, add a variable data package. Variable data printing (VDP) allows you to vary the content in real time. Go back to the CRM and export a customer list with purchase histories. Instead of sending out a single message to a

targeted group, a series of targeted messages can be incorporated into a single campaign. The campaign options could include workflow software, a sale on consumables for color devices and information on your available maintenance packages. Those companies that purchased a production printer would receive the workflow software message, while the sale on consumables would go to customers who have purchased color devices. Then you hit “Send” and the software goes through and looks at the business conditions you defined in the VDP software and automatically prints the appropriate message for the appropriate customer. The numbers speak loudly: When adding a colorful, personalized communication, response rates increase 34 percent; repeat orders/retention increase by up to 48 percent; and response times decrease by 35 percent. I frequently shop on amazon.com and based upon my last purchase, whether a DVD for me or a toy for my kids, I receive an email advertising other products I am likely to purchase based upon my spending habits. I open Amazon’s e-mails because I have purchased from them and have a level of trust with the company. I at least take the time to look at their suggestions and there is no question that these e-mails have resulted in a sale they w w w . o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | J u l y 2 0 1 0 | 29

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would not have had otherwise. Apply this They are a large customer with a cenGiving your marketing concept to your customers. tralized IT department. Even if you cannot purchase a CRM Once you have flagged these current department the system, VDP software alone can be used to customers, use this as your list to send proper tools will allow personalize your communications. communications. Hit them with snail you to sell more, Another idea: Put targeted marketing mail and e-mails inviting them to open more efficiently. It is messages on invoices. You are already houses, lunch-and-learns and webinars, worth the time and spending the postage to send the invoice, detailing the specific customer benefits investment. so why not include a targeted message? that come with your MPS offerings. It is This is a great opportunity for cross more work up front, but you are weeding selling. Again, this is automated by VDP software that handles out a lot of time spent offering your MPS solution to custransactional data streams. tomers with no interest. There is a wide variety of levels of personalization; the more These techniques can be applied to every solution that you personalized the message, the higher the response rate. sell. Giving your marketing department the proper tools will Adding a person’s name and title is better than “Dear Cus- allow you to sell more, more efficiently. It is worth the time tomer.” Send a message that is relevant to the customer and and investment. Kelli Jones is the marketing manager for Strategy Development, watch your response rates increase. You are spending less with more than 11 years experience marketing solutions and because the message you are printing or e-mailing is to a tarservices in the industry. Prior to Strategy Development, Jones geted, smaller audience. Because of this, you are getting higher worked for Objectif Lune and IKON Office Solutions. response rates. She is an expert in variable data printing, including Uncovering MPS account opportunities in your current custransactional, transpromotional and promotional; a sales tool tomer base will require flagging customers as MPS prospects. development guru; relationship-building expert; powerful This can be done in your CRM or, in the absence of that, marketing and technical writer; and export a report from your invoicing system that includes the skilled in the facilitation of knowledge following fields: customer name, address and e-mail. Sales transfer and cross training. reps will need to go through and flag the account if they meet Jones can be reached at the following criteria: They have a mix of output devices from different brands. kjones@strategydevelopment.org. They have a fleet of at least 25 output devices. Visit www.strategydevelopment.org.

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17 • Epson

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