July 2020 Office Technology Magazine by Business Technology Association

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CONTENTS Volume 27 • No. 1

FEATURE ARTICLES 10

Meet Tim Renegar BTA’s 2020-21 national president assumes office

SELLING SOLUTIONS Social Selling I believe it is neither social, nor selling

by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

by Gil Cargill Cargill Consulting Group Inc.

On July 1, Tim Renegar, co-owner of Kelly Office Solutions, headquartered in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, became the 86th national president of BTA. Recently, Office Technology had the opportunity to visit with Renegar, asking about his dealership, volunteerism, etc.

Amidst the Storm Where have my printed pages gone?

by Dennis Amorosano Dendog Strategy Insights LLC

Social selling has become a huge topic of discussion and activity within the sales and sales development communities. However, in my opinion, social selling is neither social, nor is it selling. The foundation of good salesmanship is the ability to build and maintain relationships.

P R I N C I PA L I S S U E S Processes for Driving Growth Five ways to build & optimize in uncertain times

At what point will industry executives, particularly at OEMs, recognize that the traditional office technology business model is inherently broken and until that model is revised, the industry will continue its downhill slide? I keep waiting to see some definitive action on the part of OEMs and dealers.

Leadership Messaging Skills Announce your news before someone else does by Joanne L. Smikle, Ph.D. Smikle Training Services

by Darrell Amy Convergo

How can you accelerate revenue growth in this uncertain environment? While you may not be able to control the economy, you can build and optimize processes. Ask any management consultant and he (or she) will tell you that processes are the keys to an efficient business.

Do Not ‘Put on the Ritz’ How to improve the customer service experience

If ever there was a time when a leader’s messaging skills matter, it is now. The capacity to use language to create dialogue and build trust is essential. Recently, I have witnessed major messaging dilemmas that have cost individual leaders and their organizations credibility and trust.

by Troy Harrison Troy Harrison & Associates

In my experience, most customer service training is about conflict resolution when it should be about conflict avoidance. Many customer service issues — and the attendant conflicts — do not have to happen. I was reminded of this recently when I decided to have a snack.

COURTS & CAPITOLS 24

Changes in the PPP New act is intended to provide additional flexibility by Bob Goldberg BTA General Counsel

On June 5, 2020, the president signed the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act (PPPFA) into law. The act is intended to provide additional flexibility on the use of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds in order to maximize foregiveness. 4 | w ww. o f f i c e te c hno lo g ym a g. c o m | J uly 2 0 2 0

D E PA R T M E N T S Business Technology Association

• BTA Highlights

Executive Director’s Page

BTA President’s Message

Advertiser Index

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S PAGE www.bta.org/COVID-19

BTA Names 2020-21 Scholarship Winners

ach year, the Business Technology Association (BTA) awards a number of scholarships to the qualifying children of full-time employees of dealerships that are current BTA dealer members. Since the 1984-85 school year, BTA has awarded 1,493 scholarships to deserving students, totaling $1.692 million. The BTA Scholarship Foundation was started in 1968 when the Dorothy R. Ames Scholarship Fund was announced in honor of Ames at her retirement dinner for her many contributions to the industry. BTA scholarships are awarded based on a thorough review of completed applications, transcripts and essays by an independent, impartial evaluator. For the 2020-21 school year, BTA recently awarded a total of $28,500 in scholarships to 23 students. The association would like to congratulate this year’s recipients and their sponsoring BTA member dealerships: n Andrea Bloom, LDI Color ToolBox, Jericho, New York n Sloane Brown, Current Office Solutions, Bryan, Ohio n Brooke Conner, RK Black Inc., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma n Anne Dotzler, Gordon Flesch Company, Dublin, Ohio n Amanda Griesman, LDI Color ToolBox, Jericho, New York n Abigail Hamvas, Coordinated Business Systems, Burnsville, Minnesota n Alexandra Hasenour, Hoosier Business Machines Inc., Jasper, Indiana n Amy Marigo, Discovery Office Systems, Santa Rosa, California n Jennifer Mays, Howard D. Happy Co., Mayfield, Kentucky 6 | w ww. o f f i c e t ec hno lo g ym a g. c o m | July 2 0 2 0

n Olivia Moore, Applied Imaging, Grand Rapids, Michigan n Macy Naylor, ABM Automation, Edmond, Oklahoma n Benjamin Philpot, Precision Duplicating Solutions Inc., London, Kentucky n Adam Plant, Pacific Office Automation, Beaverton, Oregon n Madison Pritchard, Ashley’s Business Solutions, Tifton, Georgia n Maizie Richard, Advanced Business Methods, West Fargo, North Dakota n Katie Sanchez, Standley Systems, Chickasha, Oklahoma n Rylan Schlup, Standley Systems, Chickasha, Oklahoma n Savanna Service, Service Business Equipment & Sales, Kent, Washington n Grace Trammell, Pacific Office Automation, Beaverton, Oregon n Madison Turner, Duplicator Sales & Service, Louisville, Kentucky n Haley Webb, Pacific Office Automation, Beaverton, Oregon n Connor Williams, Loy’s Office Supplies, LaGrange, Georgia n Andrew Zea, Gordon Flesch Company, Dublin, Ohio The BTA Scholarship Foundation is supported by contributions from individuals, dealers, manufacturers and distributors. If you would like to contribute to the foundation, you can mail a check made out to the BTA Scholarship Foundation to: Business Technology Association, 12411 Wornall Road, Ste. 200, Kansas City, MO 64145. You can also donate online at www.bta.org/Scholarships. The scholarship application for the 202122 year will be available in December on the BTA website at www.bta.org/Scholarships. For more information, visit that link or contact Elizabeth Marvel at elizabeth@bta.org or (816) 303-4060. n — Brent Hoskins

As long as necessary, as a means to offer assistance, the Business Technology Association is providing its members with information and counsel to help in handling the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

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 Dennis Amorosano, Dendog Strategy Insights LLC www.dendogstrategy.com Darrell Amy, Convergo www.convergomarketing.com Bob Goldberg, General Counsel Business Technology Association Troy Harrison, Troy Harrison & Associates www.troyharrison.com Joanne L. Smikle, Ph.D., Smikle Training Services www.smiklespeaks.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 Marketing Director valerie@bta.org Brian Smith Membership Sales Representative brian@bta.org Photo Credits: Bigstockphoto. Cover created by Bruce Quade, Brand X Studio. ©2020 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.

BTA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Meet BTA’s 2020-21 Volunteer Leaders

am honored to assume the presidency of the Business Technology Association (BTA) and am looking forward to helping guide our association as its 86th national president. However, I am not alone in leading BTA in the coming year. I would like to thank the following national and district volunteers who have stepped forward to give back to BTA and help guide the association during the 2020-21 fiscal year. National President-Elect and Board Member David Polimeni, RITE Technology, Sarasota, Florida. National Vice President and Board Member Don Risser, DCS Technologies Corp., Franklin, Ohio. National Immediate Past President and Board Member Bob Evans, Function4, Sugar Land, Texas. BTA East President David Scibetta, Copier Fax Business Technologies Inc., Buffalo, New York. BTA East President-Elect Mike Boyle, BASE Technologies Inc., Bethel, Connecticut. BTA East Vice President Joe Dellaposta, Doing Better Business, Hagerstown, Maryland. BTA East Immediate Past President and National Board Member Mike Ardry, Automated Business Solutions, Southington, Connecticut. National Board Member, representing BTA East, Aaron Rubin, Docutrend Imaging Solutions, New York City, New York. BTA Mid-America President Brantly Fowler, Zeno Office Solutions Inc., Midland, Texas. BTA Mid-America President-Elect Greg Quirk, JQ Office Equipment, Omaha, Nebraska. 8 | www. o f f i c et ec hno lo g ym a g. c o m | July 2 0 2 0

BTA Mid-America Vice President David Owens, Accel Imaging Systems, Fort Worth, Texas. BTA Mid-America Immediate Past President and National Board Member Matt Jackson, Copynet Digital Imaging Solutions Inc., Plano, Texas. National Board Member, representing BTA Mid-America, Mike Nerland, Elite Business Systems, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. BTA Southeast President and National Board Member Debra Dennis, CopyPro Inc., Greenville, North Carolina. BTA Southeast President-Elect James Buck, Carolina Business Equipment Inc., Columbia, South Carolina. BTA Southeast Vice President Michael Hicks, Electronic Business Machines Inc., Lexington, Kentucky. BTA Southeast Secretary/Treasurer Bill James, River Ridge, Louisiana. BTA Southeast Immediate Past President and National Board Member Adam Gregory, Advanced Business Solutions LLC, St. Augustine, Florida. BTA West President Mike McGuirk, ProCopy Office Solutions Inc., Tempe, Arizona. BTA West President-Elect Kevin Marshall, Copy Link Inc., Chula Vista, California. BTA West Vice President Brian Landgren, Electronic Business Machines, Everett, Washington. BTA West Immediate Past President and National Board Member Dan Bombard, Yuma Office Equipment, Yuma, Arizona. National Board Member, representing BTA West, Mike McCurdy, Integrated Technologies Inc., Twin Falls, Idaho. BTA is always looking for volunteers, so if you are interested in giving back to the association, contact BTA Executive Director Brent Hoskins via email at brent@bta.org or call (816) 303-4040. n — Tim Renegar

2020-2021 Board of Directors President Tim Renegar Kelly Office Solutions Winston-Salem, North Carolina trenegar@kellyofficesolutions.com President-Elect David Polimeni RITE Technology Sarasota, Florida dpolimeni@ritefl.com Vice President Don Risser DCS Technologies Corp. Franklin, Ohio don.risser@dcs-tech.com Immediate Past President Bob Evans Function4 Sugar Land, Texas bobevans@function-4.com BTA East Aaron Rubin Docutrend Imaging Solutions New York City, New York arubin@docutrend.com Mike Ardry Automated Business Solutions Southington, Connecticut mardry@absne.com BTA Mid-America Mike Nerland Elite Business Systems Sioux Falls, South Dakota miken@elitebusinesssystems.com Matt Jackson Copynet Digital Imaging Solutions Inc. Plano, Texas matt@copierfax.com BTA Southeast Adam Gregory Advanced Business Solutions LLC St. Augustine, Florida adam@goabsinc.com Debra Dennis CopyPro Inc. Greenville, North Carolina ddennis@copypro.net BTA West Mike McCurdy Integrated Technologies Inc. Twin Falls, Idaho mikem@itechinc.com Dan Bombard Yuma Office Equipment Yuma, Arizona daniel@yumaofficeequipment.com Ex-Officio/General Counsel Robert C. Goldberg Schoenberg Finkel Newman & Rosenberg LLC Chicago, Illinois robert.goldberg@sfnr.com

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Meet Tim Renegar BTA’s 2020-21 national president assumes office by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

n July 1, Tim Renegar, president of Kelly Office Solutions, headquartered in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, became the national president of the Business Technology Association (BTA). He serves as the association’s 86th president. Recently, Office Technology magazine had the opportunity to visit with Renegar, asking about his dealership, the current challenging times and his role as a volunteer. Following are his responses. OT: How did you get started in the industry? What led to your co-ownership of Kelly Office Solutions? Renegar: I started in this industry when I was 19 years old. My goal was to work for the summer with a guy who had a copier dealership. Back then, a copier dealership was pretty simple. We sold coated-paper machines; the fastest thing we had ran 20 pages a minute. I started out there, learning how to sell. With my very first cold call, I made a sale. I said, “This is easy.” So, I started selling copiers then and never quit. I was very happy and really pleased with what we were doing. So, I stayed there for a few years. Eventually, the company was acquired by another local company; I worked for them for 12 or 13 years. I was the only non-family member who made it to the board of directors of the company. I ran the copier division. When the company was acquired by Alco Standard, I did a six-year stint with Alco/IKON as a marketplace manager. In 1999, I left Alco, then IKON, moved back to WinstonSalem and started Triad Business Solutions with a partner. He had a $15 million company at the time; Triad was starting from $0. In 2008, we sold the whole works to Sharp Electronics; at that point in time we were about a $51 million group. So, we had grown it in eight years from $15 million 10 | w ww. o f f ic et ec hno lo g ym a g. c o m | July 2 0 2 0

to $51 million; it was really a fun time. I stayed with Sharp through August of 2010. In November of 2010, I bought into Kelly Office Solutions with Peter Kelly. Kelly was established in 1947; it started as a typewriter company. When I came to the company there were about 16 employees. Today, we have 79 employees and have made a few acquisitions; we now have locations in Winston, Greensboro and Charlotte, North Carolina. Kelly has transformed from a smaller, limited-offering dealership into a full-blown, comprehensive dealership with various technology divisions. OT: What led you to first step forward as a BTA volunteer? How has serving as a volunteer benefited you? Renegar: I’ve been in this industry a long time, attending all of the SEROMDA and NOMDA meetings back in the day. While at IKON, however, we didn’t attend those meetings. I got back involved with the association, then BTA, when I had Triad. When I bought into Kelly, I learned the company had been a BTA member forever. At that time, I started leaning hard on BTA, using the resources, such as the legal forms on the website, calling [BTA General Counsel] Bob Goldberg, etc. Some dealers don’t see the value of membership in BTA and don’t know what they’re missing. Clearly, they haven’t looked. BTA is vital. I’ve known John Eckstrom for years. One day, he called me, shortly after a BTA Southeast meeting. He said: “I really think you would be helpful on our board.” I started in the role of vice president, which put me on the fast track to become the district’s president. Since those early days as a volunteer, I have found that the relationships I’ve forged are amazing. There is no way to describe the value and knowledge I’ve received from others. BTA membership and becoming a volunteer has benefited me and my company beyond words.

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Today, there are now so many people I can call on and interact with, within BTA. By the way, that has helped to calm the waters in dealing with all of the challenges all of us have been dealing with during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Every dealer needs to connect with existing customer as much and often as possible...Make them understand you’re here and you are not going anywhere...“

OT: How do you think dealers can best address the challenges presented by the pandemic? Renegar: The first thing is, stay calm. Don’t make rash decisions. Some dealers immediately started furloughing and laying off their people, making drastic moves. Clearly, some needed to do so. But, for those dealers who have since realized that they didn’t need to take that step and have brought their employees back, they now have some nervous, confused employees. Every dealer needs to connect with existing customers as much and often as possible through this pandemic. Make them understand you’re here and you are not going anywhere, saying: “You’re going to have concerns; we’re here to help you address those concerns.” So, you’ve got to really stay in touch with your existing customer base — dramatically in touch — more so than ever. Finally, you’ve got to communicate to your employees

what’s going on. In other words, you’ve got to have weekly or bi-weekly meetings to keep them informed, because if they get nervous and they’re looking over their shoulder, they’re not performing properly.

OT: What do you see as some of the primary benefits that BTA membership has provided during these challenging times? Renegar: From the onset of the pandemic, BTA started to do great things online, with the establishment of the BTA COVID-19 Member Resources page on the BTA website (www.bta.org/COVID-19), featuring questions asked and answered by dealers, the various COVID-19 webinars, resources and insight provided by Bob Goldberg, etc. The counsel and information have been very welcome by our members, with many expressing their appreciation to BTA. Among our other initiatives: We now have two Dealers Helping Dealers discussion groups. Because BTA is nationwide, we can see what’s going on in the Northeast, the Southeast, the Midwest or the West. By hearing dealers talk about what’s going on in their region, you learn what works and what is not working. Together, we are going to have to get

BTA 2020-21 President-Elect David Polimeni BTA’s 2020-21 president-elect, David Polimeni, is owner and CEO of RITE Technology, headquartered in Sarasota, Florida. Founded in 1989, the company is a Ricoh and Sharp dealership that focuses on solutions and MPS. RITE Technology also has two additional offices in Tampa and Estero, Florida. Polimeni graduated college with a ministerial degree and spent 10 years in full-time ministry before he entered the office technology industry in 2007. He decided to volunteer for BTA after attending an association solutions training class. “It was during that training that I began to see the value that BTA brought to the dealer community,” Polimeni says. “It was not the training that caught my attention as much as the camaraderie I experienced with the other dealers in attendance. This is when I realized the value RITE would receive by my not only attending BTA educational workshops, but through volunteerism as well.” In the coming year as president-elect, Polimeni hopes to aid members as they work to reopen their businesses after the COVID-19 pandemic. “Our dealer community will need greater support than most — if not all of us — have ever experienced,” he says. “I intend to apply the focus and energy of my efforts as a volunteer on the BTA national board to help guide and support our dealer members as we reemerge from the pandemic.” Polimeni thinks BTA has been an essential resource for its mem-

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bers during the pandemic. “BTA has proven to be a tremendous value to its membership through its proactive approach to the supply of information, training and overall support of the dealer community during the crisis,” he says. “My hope is that our dealer community is trusting in and relying on the strength of BTA and the relationships that are available through the organization.” He sees interesting times ahead for the industry post-COVID-19. “As our industry is severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the manufacturers have been quoted as saying ‘We expect as much as a 30% sustained reduction in print volumes,’” Polimeni says. “Many of our dealers may not know what they need to do to scale their businesses to safeguard against this tremendous loss of workload and the resulting loss of revenue. I believe BTA has a dynamic position and responsibility to be a resource to our dealers. “During the next year, we will navigate the recovery from COVID-19 and its impact on our businesses, our customers and our communities,” Polimeni continues. “Beyond this year, we must continue to amplify our reach in regard to resources that help our members expand into ‘remote employees,’ IT, telephony, automation and other office technologies.” Polimeni sees these product categories — and others — as important to the continued success of the association. “We must increase our capacity to see the possibilities in adjacent lines of business,” Polimeni says. “I believe that we need to continue to explore and investigate these opportunities and bring them before our dealers.” — Elizabeth Marvel

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out of this mess, so it is valuable to hear what others are doing to help them be successful.

OT: Looking at the year ahead, what will be your primary areas of focus as BTA’s national president? Renegar: BTA is no different than any other organization right now. I mean, the main focus is navigating our way through this pandemic; we have the same problems as dealerships and everyone else. We have things that we’ve got to work our way through. There’s no better group than the members of the BTA Board of Directors and our staff than I can think of to do it. We’ve got a solid team. Together, we are looking forward to and moving toward the return to the day when we can host our district educational and networking events again. When we survey dealers, the networking at our events is seen as among the primary benefits of BTA membership. As president, I want to focus on how we can get these things going back in the right direction as soon as possible. The other thing is, we’ve got to step back and look at our organization; we’re the Business Technology Association. That doesn’t mean copiers and printers only. As a technology group, we have to become more inclusive of the other technologies that dealerships are selling, such as VoIP,

“If you’re running your business and you’re running your business to be successful, and you’re not using BTA... then you’re making a mistake.“

OT: What is your message to those dealers who, for whatever reason, are not currently members of BTA? What do you say to those dealers when you encounter them? Renegar: I’ve been pretty blunt with them. I’ve said: “Well, you’re just blowing it. You are missing a golden opportunity.” The biggest value that your dealership could possibly encounter is the opportunity to participate in BTA. The dues are $430 a year; it could be $4,030 a year and you would still get value from the association. When I first came to Kelly, if I didn’t have BTA, I don’t know how much I would have spent on HR, job descriptions, legal counsel and a variety of things that I had to have to run this business. It would have been far more than $430. BTA is an unbelievable value. If you’re not taking advantage of membership in BTA, it’s because you don’t know what’s there; that’s your fault. If you’re running your business and you’re running your business to be successful, and you’re not using BTA, which is the best value out there, then you’re making a mistake.

BTA 2020-21 Vice President Don Risser BTA’s 2020-21 vice president, Don Risser, is the document management specialist at DCS Technologies Corp., located in Franklin, Ohio. He previously served as co-owner of Advanced Laser Printer Service & Supplies Inc. (ALPS) in Emigsville, Pennsylvania. Risser has been in the office technology industry for 24 years; he was a service manager for five years before spending 19 years as vice president and co-owner at ALPS. He became a BTA volunteer after experiencing the benefits membership in the association brought to his business. “I saw what BTA was doing to help my business and wanted to share that with other business owners I knew,” Risser says. “Running a business is tough and keeping up with the fast changes in the industry can be challenging. Finding contacts who have ‘been there and done that,’ and can guide you along the way is necessary. BTA brings those contacts to you, and I thought volunteering would only help with that.” Risser thinks BTA’s biggest success in the past year was its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “I think the way BTA responded was exceptional,” he says. “That could be seen through the responses it received from dealers signing up for webinars and online events. “I don’t think dealers could have gotten more insight about the pandemic than what they got through BTA, which was feedback from other dealers as to how they were responding to the crisis, advice from [BTA General Counsel] Bob Goldberg on how to legally handle tough situations, and information from [BTA Executive

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Director] Brent Hoskins and his perspective on what he was seeing from vendors and dealers,” he continues. Risser sees BTA expanding its offerings in the future by focusing on new technologies. “I truly see BTA growing and expanding into new markets like RFID, IT, network security and more,” he says. “With BTA doing market research, bringing in new vendors, introducing them to dealers, and creating new training programs, I can only see BTA becoming more and more valuable to an industry that has been transforming greatly over the past decade. “BTA should continue to look forward for new opportunities — not necessarily the ones coming down from the OEMs, but ones coming from the outside,” Risser continues. “Influences like COVID-19 spark new opportunities that BTA can be proactively pursuing for upcoming events and training sessions. Dealers will be looking at ways to adapt to these types of changes.” When asked to share some advice for fellow dealers, Risser suggests really knowing your business and adapting to changes in the industry. “Know your capabilities and culpabilities,” he says. “Know what you can and cannot handle. There has been a lot of conversation floating around for the past few years about mergers and acquisitions. Change is happening faster now than it ever has in our industry, but changes are not simple implementations any longer. Most changes these days are big, expensive and consume a lot of man-hours. If your business is not ready for change, consider talking to other dealers about options. Keeping up with recent changes is necessary now more than ever.” — Elizabeth Marvel

managed IT and document manageinformation for businesses. Even when we ment-type systems. We need to broaden were just selling copiers, we were creating “But we also need to our scope. Within each of our four disdocuments that had to be copied or printfocus on managed IT tricts, when we do start having events ed and distributed. So, dealers will continopportunities, managed again, I encourage our district officers to ue to need BTA to provide resources, infordocument opportunities, look outside of just the typical vendors, mation, insight and counsel as it relates to software opportunities... even though we love these vendors; don’t facilitating information in the workplace. misunderstand me, they are part of our BTA is not going away. We’re going to things that will bring roots. But we also need to focus on manbe right here, as long as there are busiadditional value...” aged IT opportunities, managed docunesses that need their information moved, ment opportunities, software opportuniwith dealers working to figure out ways ties — the types of things that will bring additional value to to do that to make money and remain successful. Actually, your dealership. You’re going to be a part of such opportuni- that’s why BTA needs to be stronger than ever, because as the ties moving forward or you’re not going to be a dealer. So, as marketplace evolves, dealers have got to have lots of differdealerships evolve, BTA has to evolve along with them. ent resources to figure out the right ways to make money and succeed. n OT: If you look out five to 10 years, what is your Brent Hoskins, executive director of the vision of what BTA will be doing at that point? Business Technology Association, is editor of Renegar: BTA will remain a viable organization, because Office Technology magazine. there are still going to be independent dealers facilitating inHe can be reached at brent@bta.org formation for businesses. That’s all we’ve ever done; facilitating or (816) 303-4040.

www.offi cetechnol ogymag.com | J u l y 2020 | 15

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Amidst the Storm Where have my printed pages gone? by: Dennis Amorosano, Dendog Strategy Insights LLC

et’s turn the clock back, shall we? It is the mid-1990s and the office technology industry is beginning to make the transition from standalone single-function products to multifunction network-connected systems. It is a time for rapid growth in the industry as most vendors are shedding their traditional product portfolios, migrating to digital technology and beginning to capture revenues historically reserved for networked print providers. The advent of multifunctional systems connected to networks is also heralding the introduction of software, and many providers (OEMs and dealers) are capturing success through document capture and distribution software. It is a great time to be in the office technology industry. With sunny skies, double-digit growth rates and record profits for OEMs and dealers alike, it is difficult to see the storm that is taking shape in the distance — a storm that is not imminent, but one that will grow in intensity in the coming years. Like many storms, there are usually warning signs — and this particular storm is no different. In fact, the forecast associated with this storm is accurate and delivered well in advance of danger, providing OEMs and dealers ample opportunity to adjust course. This begs the question: “How many OEMs and dealers took action to heed the warnings and make adjustments?” There is no doubt that some did. The last 10 years have seen many industry players make significant investments in software and service delivery capabilities. Unfortunately, those efforts by HP, Lexmark and Xerox, although noble, can only be classified as failed attempts. The efforts by players including Konica Minolta, Ricoh and Canon (which decided to build versus buy) have stories that have yet to be fully written, however, most seem to be lackluster at best. In the dealer community, success has been more readily achieved, as many dealers incorporated software into their portfolios and delivery capabilities while others layered on network management services either through direct acquisition or partnering. The question remains, however, whether these “new” businesses are capable of producing the revenue and profit the traditional business is bleeding. 18 | w ww. o f f ic et ec hno lo g ym a g. c o m | July 2 0 2 0

Thus far the answer to this question (particularly for OEMs) is an emphatic “no.” Predictably, many industry players were not giving much thought to down-the-street challenges during the good times, even though the warning signs were beginning to become apparent. When things are going well, why worry about the fact that the lifeblood of the industry is beginning to decline? A decline may have begun, but how quickly will things progress? This can certainly be managed, right? This was the common thinking among most personnel in the industry, including analysts who get paid to follow such trends. Yes, print volume was beginning to decline — a direct result of the digitization that was taking place across the business world — but the decline was small and, for most industry players, almost negligible. Even during some of the more catastrophic challenges faced by businesses during this time, such as 9/11 and the 2008 financial crisis, while painful, did not seem to change the view of most industry

players that page-volume decline would lenge given the trajectory of the market. remain steady and manageable. Like Based on office technology indus...Why is it that seasoned many trends, the decline of page volume try history, why is it that seasoned exexecutives think they can began to pick up a little steam, although ecutives think they can capture enough capture enough market it was still lacking in significance to market share at the expense of their share at the expense create major changes in the operating competition to overcome the rate of of their competition to practices or business models of industry page volume decline and its impact on players. revenue and profits? Shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t these overcome the rate of page Even over the last five years, when it executives recognize that the ability to volume decline...? has become quite evident that page volcapture significant share gains each year ume decline and industry commoditizais highly dependent on completely maintion were putting the squeeze on revenues and profits, few, if taining their existing bases of equipment while unseating any, industry players took action. Most took the approach of competition? Do they not have statistical data that clearly attempting to outrun the decline in page volume and com- indicates their results in this respect over the last 20 years? moditization by capturing market share. Yet, even for those Having been in the industry, I can affirmatively say that OEMs that have been successful in capturing market share, this data exists and is readily available. In fact, any execugrowing revenue and profit has remained elusive. tive who wants to bother looking at this information would At the dealer level, the pain has not been quite as evident, clearly recognize that you would either have to dominate since most dealers have had the opportunity to use acqui- the market for this strategy to be effective or a multitude of sitions and geographic expansion as a means of capturing suppliers would need to exit the industry, neither of which growth. But, rest assured, dealers will not be spared this chal- is likely to happen.

www.offi cetechnol ogymag.com | J u l y 2020 | 19

At what point will industry execufeared, the question that must be asked tives, particularly at OEMs, recognize is: “How does the industry cope with What happens when that the traditional office technology this situation and survive?” There are no the next business business model is inherently broken and easy answers to this question, however, crisis strikes? until that model is revised, the industhere are several things that OEMs and Can industry players try will continue its downhill slide? As dealers can do to lessen their exposure overcome what may someone who spent 25 years in the into page volume dependency. The first dustry, watching this from the outside is step begins with an immediate shift in become a “new normal” not pleasant. I keep waiting to see some the business model. I have written about in terms of print? definitive action on the part of OEMs this in past articles and would reference and dealers, but instead I see more of readers to my most recent article on the same, and a seeming willingness to accept the status this subject (“Death of a Business Model: How to overcome quo and ride it out as long as possible. While being the “last changing business economics” in the July 2019 issue of Ofman standing” is certainly a strategy, the ride is painful and fice Technology), which provides business modeling ideas those who do survive will be shells of their former selves. for consideration. In addition to business model changes, As print volume began its steady decline, many of us in both OEMs and dealers alike need to strongly consider opthe industry realized this as a threat while also acknowl- tions that include: edging the fact that print erosion was predictable and, n Significantly reducing costs associated with sales, detherefore, manageable. As mentioned previously, although livery and support. Technology is the key here — not necesthe challenges faced after 9/11 and the 2008 financial cri- sarily staff reductions. sis resulted in a printing environment quite different than n Investing in new business areas outside of the core what had previously existed, printing did not reach a tip- business. In many cases, dealers are doing this effectively, ping point. For years, industry leaders have been raising but they need to think beyond network services. questions as to whether there were events on the horizon n Shifting existing customers to newly devised business that would cause printing to fall off the proverbial cliff. With models. no such event clearly visible, the industry has been content n Eliminating non-profitable customer relationships. to stay the course. n Shifting compensation plans to actively scale non-core Enter COVID-19. businesses. When conducting scenario planning, I cannot think of n And the list goes on. many who would have incorporated a global pandemic into How do OEMs and dealers alike view the market followtheir thinking. Even Shell Oil Corp., the recognized leader in ing the recovery from COVID-19? What happens when the planning of this type, is likely to have overlooked such a pos- next business crisis strikes? Can industry players overcome sibility. So, you can hardly blame industry executives for not what may become a “new normal” in terms of print? The considering such a situation. However, given our current answers to these questions will be critical in determining state of business both here and abroad, you must ask the the future of the industry and many of its individual playquestion about the future of printing once this crisis ends. ers. For those content to “stay the course,” I can only hope Do industry executives think printing will return to pre- that the days ahead do not have you asking: “Where have pandemic levels? What impact will workforce relocation my printed pages gone?” n have on page volume? Will workforce relocation be permaDennis Amorosano is the president and founder of Dendog nent? Now that so many are familiar with video conferenc- Strategy Insights LLC, a management consulting firm focused ing and streamcasting, will these technologies further eat on strategic planning, new business development and go-to into print? Those who are invested in this industry would do market execution. Providing services in the areas of strategic well to begin asking these questions. business planning, business development, marketing autoAs someone who has lost many nights of sleep over this mation and technology sourcing support, Dendog Strategy topic, it is my contention that the impact of COVID-19 on Insights brings 30 years of technologypage volume is the watershed event we feared. We could oriented experience to help clients not see this on the horizon because we were thinking in implement strategies that yield success. terms of business and technology as the primary causes of Amorosano can be reached at page volume collapse. We were not thinking in terms of hudamorosano@dendogstrategy.com man health. or (631) 252-0102. If, as I suspect, this is the watershed event we have Visit www.dendogstrategy.com. 20 | w ww. o f f ic et ec hno lo g ym a g. c o m | July 2 0 2 0

Leadership Messaging Skills Announce your news before someone else does by: Joanne L. Smikle, Ph.D., Smikle Training Services

f ever there was a time when a leader’s messaging skills matter, it is now. The capacity to use language to create dialogue and build trust is essential. Recently, I have witnessed major messaging dilemmas that have cost individual leaders and their organizations credibility and trust. This has negatively impacted relationships and reputations on the individual and organizational levels. In this article, I will share two distressing leadership messaging examples and offer four techniques for effective crisis communication. Disastrous Dilemmas A multisite organization found that three of its headquarters employees had COVID-19. These employees did not just test positive — one was hospitalized and the other two experienced several weeks of dire illness. Each employee, two of whom were senior leaders, let the CEO and COO know of their status. The other employee, a front-line employee, notified his direct supervisor who then made sure the senior team was notified. One of the directors called asking if her department had been notified of her status since her team members worked in relatively close confines. The COO said they had decided not to tell employees or anyone else because it was not a large employer; it only had three locations. This director decided to call her team members and let them know. They were considered essential employees and were still working in the facility. To make a long story short, the senior executives made the decision not to tell employees, vendors, customers and other stakeholders that the company had three employees stricken by the virus. The CBS affiliate in the company’s city somehow got wind of the outbreak and sent a news crew to the company to cover the story. The entire region learned all about the sick employees. Needless to say, this was a disaster for the organization. The CEO scrambled to get a message to all employees, the board of directors and every imaginable stakeholder at midnight after the news report ran. The email assured everyone that precautions had been taken, and all of the company’s

employees and everyone who encountered them were safe. That was a ridiculous message because it assumed that everyone who had been in contact with anyone in the facility had been tested and was fine. The CEO came under fire from all sides. Employees were afraid, the board members were annoyed, and vendors and customers were distrustful. Imagine how much different things could have been if the leadership team had immediately crafted an honest message and sent it out sooner rather than later. Another messaging misstep happened when an owner was shopping for buyers for his business. The company employed roughly 1,800 employees spread throughout the state. This was a family-owned business that had a mission statement emphasizing open dialogue, honesty, a family atmosphere, trust and other truly laudable values. It had managed to create a culture that actually lived up to those values. The owner found a buyer and opted not to tell anyone other than the CFO and a select group of key players that he was going to sell. At first blush, that seems acceptable. It was his company and he had every right to sell it. www.offi cetechnol ogymag.com | J u l y 2020 | 21

The problem was that the company had your business, it is important to think spent years touting family values and about how best to communicate with emHave the humility to trust. ployees and other stakeholders. Knowing admit your mistakes. A news release was published in a how to craft and deliver messages is a critThe hero complex is major industry publication announcing ical leadership skill that can be developed not useful during crises. the sale of the company. This is how the and gets stronger with practice. The four People respect leaders company’s employees officially learned techniques presented below will help you about the sale. There had been rumors, become more confident and competent at who can be honest but nothing was confirmed until the messaging. about their errors. news release. The CEO said he was look(1) Spin Wears Thin — People are lising for the right opportunity to meet tening for substantive, straightforward with employees at each location and tell them, but that he messages during crises. They want to know that their leadnever had quite enough time. In fact, he was fraught with ers have spines to deliver the facts. Crises are not a time to emotion because he did not want to sell the business that practice your ability to sugarcoat or put a shiny veneer on his father started 50 years ago. He was selling because he your communication. This is not to say that transparency had grown weary and did not have an heir who wanted the should be absolute; it is a tool that should be used with care. business. He felt that he had let down the employees who The trick is to modulate between giving a direct, candid had made the company so successful and simply could not message and providing too much information. face them. Imagine if he had allowed his vulnerability to For instance, in the case of the organization where the show and had real conversations with all of those employees three employees contracted COVID-19, the leaders could who he thought of as family members. have constructed a message that acknowledged the outThese examples, while different, illustrate the impor- break. While it would have been transparent to state that tance of forthright messaging from leaders. This becomes at least 300 people had come in contact with the employmore imperative in the midst of crises. ees during the time they were showing symptoms, the inBefore introducing effective messaging techniques, it is formation about the 300 people is too much transparency. important to clearly identify the lessons learned from the Divulging that much information creates more panic and two examples. In the first, putting health and safety first does not serve anyone well. It is also information that canshould have been the leadership team’s first instinct. Pre- not be readily or easily verified. The direct, candid approach tending that staff had not contracted the virus was almost verifies the facts that need to be known. It does not share insane. The initial message needed to acknowledge the em- more information than required. It also does not interject ployees having contracted the virus. In that message, the any guesses. This approach assumes that the listeners are steps that were taken and plans for additional precautions discerning and respects their intelligence. should have been clearly explained. It would have been wise (2) If You Mess Up, Fess Up — Have the humility to adto call for a press conference instead of letting the press de- mit your mistakes. The hero complex is not useful during scend on the company’s headquarters. crises. People respect leaders who can be honest about their In the second example, while most would have compas- errors. During crises, there will surely be mistakes and mission for the owner’s deep emotional response to selling his steps. Be prepared to quickly acknowledge yours and those business, that did not absolve him of the responsibility to of your team. Do not dwell on them. Clearly identify the corlive the values that he had so vehemently advanced for so rective actions that you have taken, address the questions long. When you have built a company culture around dia- that come up and then move on. Dwelling on your mistakes logue, honesty and treating each other like family, you have is not useful. Rather, acknowledge them, have limited, to model those values consistently — especially during the structured dialogue, and then articulate the next steps. most difficult times. At the sunset of such a wonderful enterReturning to the example of the owner selling his busiprise and career, he should have been able to exit with grace ness: He could have exited on a much higher note had he and dignity. Imagine how much more respect and esteem called an all-hands meeting and apologized for not comhe would have maintained had he been willing to share his municating his decision to sell to the employees who he emotional angst with the people he valued so dearly. thought of as family. He would have maintained their esteem had he acknowledged his own vulnerability and come Four Messaging Techniques clean about his sadness regarding his decision. Because he Whether you are looking for tools to message about the was not able to do that, he left with people feeling that he current pandemic or are facing other pivotal junctures in was just greedy for wanting to sell and wanted to get a lot 22 | w ww. o f f ic et ec hno lo g ym a g. c o m | July 2 0 2 0

of money for the company. The employneed to develop to build their toolkits ees felt they had been duped by all of the whether there is adversity or not. This Make sure you wind up emphasis on trusting and valuing each skill enhances credibility, builds conwith a message that is other as family. fidence in the leader and creates more consistent with your core (3) Candor With Compassion — “We trusting relationships. Mastering these beliefs, diplomatically are closing, we care and we know that skills takes practice and patience. Emsays what you intend to your lives are forever changed.” This is ploying these four techniques will enthe type of candid, compassionate comable you to get your message across in a say and reflects the wise munication that is required during thoughtful, deliberate manner. n counsel you gathered... catastrophic times. It acknowledges the Joanne L. Smikle, Ph.D., an authority on reality of the situation and the human leadership and organization development, impact, and does not leave any uncertainty about what is provides virtual and on-site services to businesses across coming. This direct approach demonstrates respect for the the country. Her virtual leadership learning prepares employees and keeps the leader in a positive position as a resilient leaders for an ever-evolving world. Beyond Smikle’s straight shooter. consulting business, she actively serves on What is equally important is sharing the unknown. What advisory boards and volunteers with I mean is, if you are facing a merger, layoffs or a transfer of organizations that assist poor ownership and do not know all of the details, it is wise to say and underserved populations. that. What does that communication look like? It is clearly Read more of Smikle’s insightful stating that there are negotiations pending, elements of the articles at www.smiklespeaks.com. negotiations are confidential, and details will be communicated as they become available. This lets employees know that you are sharing as much as you can, are concerned about quelling their angst and are not hiding information. Using candor with compassion also acknowledges the unspoken and the awkward — the elephants in the room. It eliminates the mystery and provides as much clarity as possible. (4) Test the Message Before Delivery — We are wellintentioned when crafting communication. However, what sounds good in our heads may not sound as good to recipients and may not actually communicate the message that we intend. I know that I am very direct and that can be viewed as blunt and uncaring. When I have important messages to deliver, I bounce them off trusted confidants who care enough to tell me the truth. Find people who will listen to your messages and critique them. I try to get people who have different world views to listen to or read my communications before I send them. This is not to say that I take a survey and whittle it down to a weak, noncommittal message. Rather, I use their feedback to enhance or sometimes soften what I am trying to convey. I find it especially helpful to jot down their comments, come back to the message and see which elements I think need to be changed. Make sure that you wind up with a message that is consistent with your core beliefs, diplomatically says what you intend to say and reflects the wise counsel that you gathered from your trusted advisors. Summary While it is imperative to deliver skillful, compelling messages during crises, this is a critical skill that leaders www.offi cetechnol ogymag.com | J u l y 2020 | 23

COURTS & CAPITOLS

Changes in the PPP New act is intended to provide additional flexibility by: Robert C. Goldberg, general counsel for the Business Technology Association

n June 5, 2020, the president signed the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act (PPPFA) into law. The act is intended to provide additional flexibility on the use of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds in order to maximize forgiveness and to make some additional limited changes to the CARES Act (under which the PPP was initially enacted). The following is a general summary of the changes to the PPP made by the PPPFA. As there are several items that need clarification, it is expected that the Small Business Administration (SBA) will revise its existing guidance and issue further advice on the implementation of these changes. (1) A 24-week covered period for use of funds with an option to keep the eight-week period has been added. Borrowers that have received PPP funds will have the option to use a 24-week covered period or keep the covered period at the original eight-week period previously set forth under the PPP. (2) The 75%/25% requirement is now 60%/40%. The PPPFA has eliminated the SBA rule that no more than 25% of the loan forgiveness amount may be attributable to non-payroll costs. In its place, the PPPFA provides that in order to receive loan forgiveness, at least 60% of the loan amount must be used on payroll costs and no more than 40% may be attributable to non-payroll costs. Note that, despite this change, the requirement to maintain an average monthly full-time employee count and annual average salary or hourly wage employees at no less than 75% of the base salary or hourly wage received by those employees during the period of Jan. 1, 2020, to March 31, 2020, remains in place. (3) The June 30 FTE [full-time equivalent] Safe Harbor has been extended to Dec. 31. (4) The new Safe Harbor for inability to rehire or restore FTE is due to regulatory and guidance compliance. The PPPFA provides for an additional FTE Reduction Safe Harbor whereby any reduction in forgiveness based on a reduction in FTE will be disregarded in the event a borrower is able to document that: n It was unable to rehire individuals who were employees on Feb. 15, 2020, and unable to hire similarly qualified employees for unfilled positions on or before Dec. 31, 2020, or: n It was unable to document its ability to return to the same level of business activity as it was operating at before Feb. 15, 2020, due to compliance with requirements established or guidance issued by the secretary of Health and Human Services, the director of the Centers for Disease Control 24 | wÂ ww. o f f ic et ec hno lo g ym a g. c o m | July 2 0 2 0

and Prevention, or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration during the period beginning on March 1, 2020, and ending Dec. 31, 2020, related to the maintenance of standards for sanitation, social distancing or any other worker or customer safety requirement related to COVID-19. (5) The loan repayment period provides a minimum of five years on new loans. The PPP guidance issued by the SBA provided that the period to repay loans would be two years. The PPPFA adds a minimum repayment period of five years (and retains the maximum of 10 years) for those loans that are issued after the date of the PPPFA. Existing PPP loans may extend the maturity date up to 10 years if the lender and the borrower agree. In addition, the first payment would be deferred until such time that forgiveness is granted by the SBA and remitted to the borrowerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lender. (6) Payroll tax deferral is possible regardless of whether or not forgiveness is granted. Borrowers will have the ability to defer their share of payroll taxes for 2020. Rules and guidelines continue to change on a regular basis. These changes are more generous, although further guidance is necessary. BTA will continue to monitor all developments and keep you updated. If you have any questions, you can call the BTA Legal Hotline at (312) 648-2300. n Robert C. Goldberg is general counsel for the Business Technology Association. He can be reached at robert.goldberg@sfnr.com.

SELLING SOLUTIONS

Social Selling I believe it is neither social, nor selling by: Gil Cargill, Cargill Consulting Group Inc.

ocial selling has become a huge topic of discussion and activity within the sales and sales development communities. However, in my opinion, social selling is neither social, nor is it selling. The foundation of good salesmanship is the ability to build and maintain relationships. Our current pandemic prevents sales professionals from creating relationships the old-fashioned way, but modern technology has allowed us to make face-to-face video sales calls and presentations. One could argue that the disadvantage of working with video (in terms of interpersonal relationships) is dramatically offset by the speed and efficiency of that same technology. To the best of my knowledge, no studies have been done to determine the actual result of this theory. But social selling via any platform does not fulfill the optimum interpersonal relationship value needed by a good salesperson to close advanced concepts and help clients solve problems. A second component of the foundation of good sales, especially in our industry, is the ability of the salesperson to solve business problems. Social selling essentially assumes that customers have deduced their problems. They then go to Google and search for companies that offer the products or services they think they want. In this sense, social selling should be more appropriately labeled branding or advertising. If you put up a billboard and enough people go by that billboard and recognize the need for what you sell, you will get some traction and business. I believe the same is true with social selling. You might believe you can maintain relationships with social selling, but I really wonder how many salespeople build and maintain business relationships using social platforms exclusively. Please note: I define a business relationship as one wherein the customer will default to or inquire to buy from you when he (or she) recognizes a need that you and/or your business can address. The key message in that previous sentence is “when the customer recognizes a need.” Consultative selling is needed to be successful coming out of the current economic depression. If your team members do not proactively introduce themselves to prospects, show prospects there may be a better way to run part or all of their businesses, and identify — in a quantified fashion — the return on investment, then your salespeople are going to have to wait for customers to deduce the conclusions to all of these statements on their own and

hope that they will: (1) find you and (2) make a buying decision. Social selling is clearly not consultative selling. As I mentioned earlier, I believe a huge component of a salesperson’s value is his ability to interact with a large number of people in a personal way. The book “Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive” details 66 personal points of interest (e.g., college degree, marital status, number of children, etc.) that a good salesperson needs to understand about a prospect in order to optimize the value of their relationship. Social selling pretty much guarantees that level of interpersonal knowledge will never be gained because, again, the salesperson is waiting for the customer to find him. If your team members are not solving problems for customers — problems they did not realize existed before your team approached them — then they are not selling. They may be branding, advertising, networking or communicating, but they are not solving problems. A much more efficient and effective way to approach social selling would be to hire a person who has the necessary computer skills and make him responsible for the social selling activities of your entire team. As I always say, salespeople should sell and everyone else should do everything else. If you put social selling into the category of marketing, branding and/or advertising, then it is clearly not the salesperson’s responsibility. Look at the return on investment you are getting from social selling versus traditional lead-generation activities. If it is better, then stick with social selling; but I doubt that it is. Top-performing salespeople get business from customers who may not be looking for the products they sell, but for the results that a combination of their people and products deliver. If you would like to discuss this further, feel free to contact me. n After concluding a sales and management career at IBM, Gil Cargill launched his own consulting practice in 1978. He has spent the past 42 years as a consultant, speaker and trainer, helping thousands of businesses achieve dramatic, permanent improvements in sales productivity. Cargill has taught salespeople across diverse industries the importance of developing sales processes, the advantages of implementing new technology and the benefits of tracking sales performance. He can be reached at (310) 447-4102 or gil@gilcargill.com. Visit www.gilcargill.com. www.offi cetechnol ogymag.com | J u l y 2020 | 25

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

Consultant/Trainer Member Dendog Strategy Insights, Smithtown, New York

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

BTA’s Ask the Analyst Seeking information and insight regarding office technology industry trends and developments? BTA can help. Through an alliance with Keypoint Intelligence, a global data and market intelligence leader for the digital imaging industry, BTA members can simply submit their questions for a Keypoint Intelligence analyst to address. There is no charge. Rather, BTA’s Ask the Analyst feature is FREE to the association’s dealer members. It’s simple — just visit www.bta.org/Ask theAnalyst, fill out the form to submit your question and a Keypoint Intelligence analyst will respond. (You will need your BTA username and password to submit your question.) Your question and the response you receive will be archived on the BTA website as a resource for other dealer members at www.bta. org/AsktheAnalyst. For more information, visit www.bta.org/AsktheAnalyst. For information on BTA member benefits, visit www.bta.org/MemberBenefits.

For the benefit of its dealer members, each month BTA features two of its vendor members in this space. Dendog Strategy Insights is a management consulting firm focused on strategic planning, new business development and go-to-market execution. With nearly 30 years of technology marketing, sales, product planning, software engineering, professional services and technical support experience, it has the skills and track record of success required to help any client implement strategies that yield success. Dendog focuses on management consulting services including strategic business planning, new business development, content creation and marketing automation, technology sourcing support, and management. www.dendogstrategy.com For more than 40 years, Katun has been one of the world’s leading providers of OEMcompatible imaging supplies, photoreceptors and parts for copier/MFPs, printers and other imaging equipment. It is the company’s mission to be the world’s best and most-trusted OEM-alternative source for supplies and parts. From its humble beginnings in 1979, the company has pioneered and helped legitimize the imaging supplies aftermarket. Today, it serves 10,000 customers in 116 countries from its headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and dozens of worldwide locations. www.katun.com A full list of BTA vendor members can be found online at www.bta.org.

For more information, visit www.bta.org. 26 | w ww. o f f ic et ec hno lo g ym a g. c o m | July 2 0 2 0

PRINCIPAL ISSUES

Processes for Driving Growth Five ways to build & optimize in uncertain times by: Darrell Amy, Convergo

ow can you accelerate revenue growth in this uncertain environment? While you may not be able to control the economy, you can build and optimize processes. Ask any management consultant and he (or she) will tell you that processes are the keys to an efficient business. We find processes in departments throughout a business — in finance, human resources, service, production and fulfillment. But why is it that, when it comes to revenue growth, sales and marketing teams typically have few, if any, documented processes? In the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), Gino Wickman asserts that processes are a core part of an organization’s success: “This is the secret ingredient in your organization. This means systemizing your business by identifying and documenting the core processes that define the way to run your business. You’ll need to get everyone on the same page with what the essential procedural steps are, and then get everyone to follow them to create consistency and scalability in your organization.” While most departments have well-thought-out processes in place, sales and marketing teams are often left to wing it, with managers telling employees to “Go sell something” or “Manage our social media.” The challenge is that, when you have unpredictable processes, you get unpredictable results. Because of this, many companies experience either inconsistent or flat revenue growth. What are your processes when it comes to revenue growth? In my new book, “Revenue Growth Engine: How To Align Sales and Marketing To Accelerate Growth,” I itemize the core sales and marketing processes that you need to drive net-new revenue and cross-sell current clients. Let’s consider the following five process areas. Net-New Business Processes To drive net-new business, you need a coverage strategy to ensure that you are on the radar of your ideal prospects.

Process One: Outbound Marketing — Outbound marketing processes ensure that you have a communication plan in place to share helpful ideas with your ideal prospects. Unlike inbound marketing where you hope a buyer will stop by your website, outbound marketing is a direct approach to reach your ideal clients. Process Two: Outbound Selling — For every buyer who is actively looking for what you sell, there are many more who are not actively looking but could benefit from your value proposition. Documented sales processes define the ideal client, how data will be managed, how reps prospect and how they influence the buying team throughout the sales cycle. Cross-Selling Processes What additional products, services or solutions could you provide to your current clients? Most companies could quickly double their revenue if they got this right. Without defined processes in place, most companies experience anemic growth in cross-sell revenue. Both sales and marketing have a role to play here. Process Three: Client Management — What happens after the prospect says “yes” to your offer? This is where most businesses drop the ball. Processes should be defined for onboarding a new client, conducting periodic business reviews www.offi cetechnol ogymag.com | J u l y 2020 | 27

and renewing contracts. Without these any? Are they documented? If you are unprocesses, balls get dropped and cross-sellhappy with your flat or inconsistent revIn addition to sales and ing does not happen. enue growth, I would suggest looking at marketing processes to Process Four: Client Communication your sales and marketing processes. n drive net-new business — Survey most clients and you will hear: Darrell Amy helps companies grow revenue and cross-sell, you also “You never write and you never call until so they can give back to their communities. need processes in place it is time for me to renew my contract.” He is the author of the new book, “Revenue Client communication processes ensure Growth Engine: How To Align Sales & Marto continually update that your clients feel valued. Documentketing To Accelerate Growth.” Amy is the your message. ed processes need to exist for segmenting chief innovation officer at Convergo, which clients, managing data, communicating helps companies that use EOS Traction consistently with relevant messages and delivering client develop and execute revenue growth plans. He hosts loyalty programs. the “Revenue Growth Podcast” and co-hosts Process Five: Focus Your Message — In addition to the “Selling From the Heart Podcast” with sales and marketing processes to drive net-new business Larry Levine. Amy is a member of and cross-sell, you also need processes in place to continuthe Forbes Business Council and ally update your message. Your message is the fuel for your C-Suite Network Advisor. revenue growth engine. Make sure that you have documentHe can be reached at ed processes to refresh your website, sales collateral, adverdamy@convergomarketing.com tising and social presence. or (888) 598-1912, ext. 101. How are your sales and marketing processes? Do you have Visit www.convergomarketing.com.

28 | w ww. o f f ic et ec hno lo g ym a g. c o m | July 2 0 2 0

PRINCIPAL ISSUES

Do Not ‘Put on the Ritz’ How to improve the customer service experience by: Troy Harrison, Troy Harrison & Associates

n my experience, most customer service training is about conflict resolution when it should be about conflict avoidance. Many customer service issues — and the attendant conflicts — do not have to happen. I was reminded of this recently when I decided to have a snack. I love Ritz crackers. Well, at least I used to. For the past few years, I have noticed that far too many Ritz crackers turn into crumbs as soon as you open the package. I threw away a new box yesterday because I opened all four sleeves and it was impossible to remove an intact cracker from the package. I have seen this a lot and decided to do a little research. My research quickly found that thousands of other people had been complaining about the same thing. On the Ritz Facebook page, there is a six-year-old thread that has more than a thousand comments from people reporting the same issue. Here is the funny part: Someone at Ritz took the time to respond to every post saying (and I am paraphrasing; not all responses were worded identically, but they were of the same sentiment): “We’re sorry this happened to you. Please send us a private message with the batch number and the store where you bought the crackers so we can investigate.” This reply was made thousands of times, to thousands of comments, essentially pretending that it is an isolated problem with just a few affected boxes when, in reality, this is pretty much a systemic problem. What is happening is that someone at Nabisco has decided that he (or she) has two options: He can figure out why this is happening now when it was not before and fix the problem, or he can train an entry-level employee to type out rote responses every time someone complains, knowing people will continue to buy the crackers because of the brand. He has chosen the second option. This syndrome is not just confined to big corporations either. I see small and medium-sized companies doing the same thing every day. Do not do this. If you have a recurring problem, the following are the steps you need to take. Be Honest Is this a real problem? In other words, is what customers are experiencing a genuine problem with the product or service or is it an isolated incident? If it is happening consistently

and repeatedly, it is not an isolated incident. For example, if you have been married seven times, at some point you have to admit that it is not them — it is you. Embrace Transparency You must realize that, whatever the problem is, it is going to get out. That is one of the ways that social media has changed the world. The old saying used to be: “If you do something good for someone, they will tell one person. If you do something bad to someone, they will tell 10 people.” Now, either way, they have the capability to tell the entire world. The Ritz representative is responding to customer complaints as if he is communicating one-on-one. You have to recognize that not only will the problem get out, but how you handle the problem will also get out. Investigate Why is the problem actually happening? Is it traceable to a human error (most are), a product or raw material error, a process error or a customer error? Nearly every service issue is traceable to one of these things. Fix It Human or customer errors are fairly easy to fix through training and setting expectations. Processes can be rewritten, and product or raw material errors can be addressed. But first, you have to know what the errors are. Individualize Your Communication One of the aspects of this that really upset customers on the Ritz Facebook page was not only that Ritz was pretending that these were isolated incidents (hundreds of times over), but it was giving the same rote response and not responding to individual queries. When a customer asks a question, answer his question — not everyone else’s — and respect his situation. Yes, you might be communicating with the entire world (see “Embrace Transparency” above), but you are still dealing with his problem. Set Customer Expectations Too often, customers are blamed for expecting too much from a product or service when, in fact, it was the seller who set that expectation in the first place. I once worked in an industry as a sales manager where our service manager told the www.offi cetechnol ogymag.com | J u l y 2020 | 29

salespeople: “It’s your job to sell fantasy; If you know you have a problem, you my job is to sell reality.” In other words, my need to either fix or acknowledge it before If you know you have team was supposed to paint an unrealistic the customer buys so he can make an edua problem, you need to picture of what the result would be, get a cated decision about his purchase. either fix or acknowledge contract signed and then turn the customIn the case of my beloved Ritz crackers, it before the customer er over to service, which would reset their all I want is something I can put cheese or buys so he can make expectations. Not surprisingly, customers peanut butter on. After reading that thread were not delighted with this approach and on Facebook (and throwing away many, an educated decision I left that industry not long after that conmany bad crackers over the last couple of about his purchase. versation. If your sales or marketing teams years), I have decided to switch to a differare painting an unrealistic picture, you ent cracker. Will I go back? Probably not. If need to fix that; false expectations will damage your business you have a problem and do not acknowledge or fix it and your far more than losing a few deals because someone else is “sell- customer finds out, he probably will not come back either. n ing a fantasy.” Troy Harrison is the author of “Sell Like You Mean It!” and “The Pocket Sales Manager,” and is a speaker, Make It Right consultant and sales navigator. Find a way to make the customer “whole” again. This can He helps companies build more profitable be done any number of ways, but the worst way is to give him and productive sales forces. more of a flawed product. I am thinking of the airlines that, To schedule a free 45-minute after delaying you for hours and messing up your plans, give Sales Strategy Review, call (913) 645-3603 or you a voucher for more flights, or Ritz, which offered to send a email troy@troyharrison.com. replacement box of crackers. Visit www.troyharrison.com.

ADVERTISER INDEX 28 • BPO Media

31 • ENX Magazine

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15 • BTA Service Success Training

5 • Epson

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www.ricoh-usa.com/newworldofwork

23 • Business Equipment Quota Index

11 • Express Sales Corp.

7 • RingByName

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2 • Crawford Thomas

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9 • Supplies Network

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19 • Datablaze

16-17 • NuWorld Business Systems

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11 • DocuWare

32 • OPEX

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30 | w ww. o f f ic et ec hno lo g ym a g. c o m | July 2 0 2 0

OPEN NOMINATIONS FOR THE

2020

DEALER AWARDS

G I

ELITE

2020 Th

A eW e e k In I M

NOMINATION DEADLINE:

SEPTEMBER 13, 2020

Elite Dealer Nomination Form Available at www.enxmag.com www.offi cetechnol ogymag.com | J u l y 2020 | 31

PRSRT STD U.S. Postage Paid Fulton, MO 65251 Permit #38

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

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