March 2011 Office Technology

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CONTENTS Volume 17 • No. 9

FEATURE ARTICLES 10

Sales Force Automation Helping dealerships increase the bottom line

COURTS & CAPITOLS Time for New Policies?

Here are several changes to consider

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by Robert C. Goldberg BTA General Counsel

by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

‹ e early months of a new year are a perfect opportunity to introduce new policies and procedures for your dealership. In today’s economy, the new year also provides the opportunity to examine your costs and make adjustments where possible and necessary.

Are your reps still using software such as Goldmine and ACT to help them manage information and win new accounts? If so, perhaps the time is right to look at the three leading sales force automation software companies focused on our industry.

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Growth Achievement Expand your market without abandoning your roots

by Mitch Morgan & Chris Ryne Growth Achievement Partners

SELLING SOLUTIONS Selling in 2011 What salespeople need for success this year

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by Teresa Hiatt SMT.org

In addition to management challenges, dealers will increasingly focus on achieving growth, as it is perhaps the most important determination of future success. Several factors need to be in place to be successful in growing your business.

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Increasing Productivity Implement a managementby-statistics program

It is 2011 and sales organizations need to be ready to maximize opportunities in the recovering economy. Both sales teams and marketing professionals need to reach a common understanding of the kind and depth of information needed to sell in today’s environment.

Consultative Selling How to transition from a commodity-based model

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by Jim Kahrs PPMC Inc.

by Mike Lamothe Office Document Consulting

You are preparing for an annual review with one of your key people and you review the year, thinking about what he did well and where he fell short. After an hour of thinking about giving him a raise, the answer is not any more clear. Do you wish there was a better way?

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Sales Target: IT Promote your MPS program to the right person

by Leisa Thomason Strategy Development

If we all agree that real, quantiÿ able pain must be surfaced before MPS is embraced, why not start with the very person who deals with the pain every day? You need to ÿ nd the IT director who needs and welcomes a program that will free up his staƒ members’ time.

In this article, I will discuss how we can use the knowledge we have gained from the knowledge circle to approach customers and actually get their attention. I will also introduce the need for an eƒ ective value proposition when approaching a customer.

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

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• BTA Highlights

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Executive Director’s Page

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BTA President’s Message

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Advertiser Index

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S PAGE

Seeking Guidance?

Just Ask the Analyst

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or many years, the Business Technology Association has maintained an excellent relationship with market research ÿ rm InfoTrends, based in Weymouth, Mass. It has been my privilege to get to know a number of the analysts at the ÿ rm, visiting with them at InfoTrends conferences and other industry events. I hold InfoTrends and its analysts in high regard.

Meanwhile, for these same “many years,” I have often heard from dealer members seeking information from BTA regarding market statistics, etc. Oftentimes, if the answers are not included in our own reports, the questions can be best answered by an industry analyst. With that in mind, I am pleased to announce a new alliance with InfoTrends whereby BTA member dealers can access the expertise of InfoTrends’ analysts via the BTA website.

Speciÿ cally, our new Ask the Analyst service will allow dealers to quickly receive the guidance and information they are seeking on a range of industry topics. All you need to do is visit www.bta.org/AsktheAnalyst and submit your question. An InfoTrends analyst will respond to you directly via e-mail.

BTA will post submitted questions and answers on the site as a resource to all members. (You will need your member login and password to access this service.)

I decided to be ÿ rst to “ask the analyst” by submitting several questions to InfoTrends. Following is the response to a question I submitted, to provide you a better sense of the type of information this new member beneÿ t provides. ⁄ e response came from Robert Palmer, director of Digital Peripheral Solutions at InfoTrends.

My multi-part question: “At which speed

range for MFPs are color-enabled devices claiming the greatest share of placements?

How has this percentage changed in recent years and how do you believe it will change in the coming year or so?” ⁄ e response: “⁄ e shift to color slowed somewhat due to the recession, but is picking up and is expected to rebound nicely in 2011. In the early stages of the color laser market, growth was dominated by lowpriced products in the entry-level speed segments. ⁄ is growth was achieved by competitors who drove hardware prices down quickly in order to secure market share and create a strong annuity stream from the growing, installed base. Unfortunately, print volumes in the entry-level color market are very low and that has created challenges for vendors competing in that space.

Today, the entry-level color market is under attack from lower-priced business inkjet products that can deliver a more economical solution for customers and a more profitable solution for vendors. Products in the 20 to 45 ppm speed range currently hold the largest share of color laser MFP placements, and that is expected to continue throughout the forecast period. In prior years, the shift to color has been fueled by the vendors’ desire to ‘churn the base.’ In other words, convert as many monochrome devices in the ÿ eld to color as soon as possible in the hopes that color pages would follow. Now that the color market has matured, the focus must be on those applications that drive color volumes so that we continue to grab more color pages as we convert more of the monochrome installed base to color.”

To see my other questions and InfoTrends’ responses, visit www.bta.org/AsktheAnalyst. While you are on the site, submit your own question and let InfoTrends provide you the guidance you are seeking.  — 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 Teresa Hiatt, Professional Society of Sales and Marketing Training, www.smt.org Jim Kahrs, Prosperity Plus Management Consulting Inc. www.prosperityplus.com Mike Lamothe, Office Document Consulting Mitch Morgan, Growth Achievement Partners www.growthachievementpartners.com Chris Ryne, Growth Achievement Partners www.growthachievementpartners.com Leisa Thomason, Strategy Development www.strategydevelopment.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 ©2011 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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BTA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE 2010-2011 Board of Directors

2011 District Events Off to a Great Start

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his year the Business Technology Association has expanded the number of its district events from three to ÿ ve. I had the opportunity to attend the ÿ rst of these events on Feb. 17-18 — BTA Southeast’s Winter Break 2011 in Orlando, Fla. A great event, it featured six outstanding education sessions and the opportunity to learn about the latest products and services of 20 exhibiting sponsors.

— e BTA Southeast leadership team did an excellent job planning and hosting the event. — ose who attended would agree that the schedule featured some of the industry’s most knowledgeable consultants, such as Mitch Morgan of Growth Achievement Partners and Jim Kahrs of Prosperity Plus Management Consulting. I know that attendees also welcomed the opportunity to visit with a number of their fellow dealers in a relaxed, informal setting.

I would like to speciÿ cally thank BTA Past President Bill James for being among the presenters. Bill presented on the topic of copier/MFP security, an issue that has become particularly important within the industry and among end users as a result of the April 19, 2010, report on the CBS Evening News. Likewise, my thanks to BTA General Counsel Bob Goldberg, who provided an update on the interest among some state legislators to ÿ nd ways to address the issue of copier/MFP data security.

Bob emphasized BTA’s focus on encouraging legislators to support end-user education as the best strategy.

Winter Break 2011 also provided a great venue for BTA to present its 2011 Channel’s Choice awards. Congratulations to our winners: Toshiba America Business Solutions,

which received the top award for superior performance, as well as the awards for corporate support, distribution and inventory; Muratec America, receiving the award for outstanding performance as a secondary product line provider; and Kyocera Mita America, receiving the award for product line. — e winners were determined by ballots cast by approximately 390 dealers.

In addition, I had the opportunity to present the 2011 BTA Volunteer of the Year Award at the event. — is year’s winner: Todd J. Fitzsimons, president of Network Imaging LLC in Southington, Conn. Todd, who currently serves as president of the BTA East district, stepped forward several years ago as a volunteer. He has since served as an outstanding and loyal member of the national BTA Board of Directors and has played a key role in the growing success of the BTA East District’s Grand Slam, helping to plan and host that event. — ank you, Todd, for your commitment to serving your fellow dealers.

Of course, the Winter Break 2011 event would not have been possible without the participation of our exhibiting sponsors.

Our thanks goes to each of the following companies for their support: Color Imaging, Crawford — omas, Densi, Diversiÿ ed Computer Supplies, Digital Gateway, DocuWare, EDA, emFAST, Epson, ESP, FMAudit, GreatAmerica, Hytec Dealer Services, Image Star, InkCycle, Kyocera Mita America, Muratec America, SalesChain, Square 9 Softworks and West Point Products.

As noted, the BTA Southeast event was the ÿ rst of ÿ ve such events in 2011. — e second, BTA Mid-America’s Gateway to Success, is scheduled for May 3-4 in St. Louis, Mo. See the ad on pages two and three for more details. Remember, all BTA district events are open to both members and non-members. I look forward to seeing you in St. Louis.  — 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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Sales Force Automation Helping dealerships increase the bottom line by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

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here is no doubt that the practice of the dealership sales rep relying on manual tools — the Rolodex, note cards or hand-written notes — to manage information on current and prospective accounts has long since passed. So, too, have the resulting inefficiencies. Today, most reps use one of several sophisticated software-based tools that help them more effectively manage information and win new accounts. Of course, your reps are among them — right?

Or, are your reps (although they long ago gave up their manual tools and processes) using less sophisticated software, such as Goldmine or ACT? If so, then perhaps the time is right to take a look at the three leading sales force automation software companies specifically focused on the office technology industry — Compass Sales Solutions (www. compasscontact.net), Falcon Technology Solutions (www. efalcontech.net) and SalesChain (www.saleschain.com).

While the three companies’ products offer a range of capabilities, it does not take long to see the benefits of their use. Troy Casper, president and founder of Compass, cites the savings in time as key among the product’s benefits. “We can save them 70 percent of the sales process time,” he says, regarding the use of his company’s product, Sherpa, as compared to the time consumed by manual processes. “Put that in dollars. If your reps can do their jobs 70 percent faster, that’s huge.”

There is also the benefit of ensuring that sales reps are fully informed, which is particularly important when calling on a current customer. “The sales rep will have quick access to the contract information, leasing information and all the critical things that will make him (or her) sound intelligent when he talks to the customer,” says Scott Lindsoe, general manager of Falcon, makers of Soaring. “I think customers are fairly insulted when the rep doesn’t know the

information. That could be a problem, especially in this industry with a fairly high amount of turnover. If a rep asks the customer a number of questions and six months later a new rep comes in and asks the same questions, that can get frustrating for the customer.“ Of course, the use of sales automation software offers benefits greater than simply easy access to account information. Tim Szczygiel, president of SalesChain, shares a partial description of his company’s mySalesChain product, which provides a sense of the broad scope of the product’s capabilities. His description reveals the “chain” attributes reflected in the product name. “We have a structured telemarketing module that fully integrates with a comprehensive sales management module, which is fully integrated with advanced user activity and forecasting tools,” he explains. “They are integrated with our deal pricing, order documentation, delivery and workflow automation system, which is fully integrated with our commission management system.”

The “chain” also extends into the dealership’s back-office service automation solutions, whether it is integration with Digital Gateway’s e-automate or ECi’s OMD or La Crosse.

Access to the data from the service side can arm the rep with information that can lead to increased sales, says Robert Treitel, national sales manager for SalesChain. He cites examples of the types of data mining possible using the company’s product. “The sales rep could seek specific information through advanced queries,” he explains. “‘Show me all of my customers who required three or more service calls last month’ or ‘Show me all of my color copy devices doing 10,000 copies a month or more’ or ‘Show me accounts where leases expire in the next six months that haven’t been touched in the last 60 days.’”

Szczygiel further explains the value of data mining with

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the use of mySalesChain. of times, the reps want to “The rep could query, ‘How know how Soaring is going “Basically, Soaring users many of my customers and to work with Outlook, along will have a tool that will on which machines have they with Word and Excel. So, we gather the information, produced more volume than have tied Soaring to these organize it and analyze it they should?’ meaning those Microsoft programs. If the so that they can make a machines that are overused,” rep gets an e-mail from he explains. “Short-term, a someone that he wants to recommendation without dealer might make money store in the Soaring datahaving to sit down and on the overages, but ultibase, with a click of a link, spend a lot of time on manual work.” mately, excess overages are he can easily do so. In ad— Scott Lindsoe detrimental to dealerships dition, while working to Falcon Technology Solutions because that makes them generate reports and docuprone to competitors leverments, the rep can now aging the information and using it against them.’” write directly to Word and Excel from Soaring.”

The task of building a report of customers with overused The next enhancement for Soaring, says Lindsoe, will be equipment may have previously been within the domain of a managed print services (MPS) tool, now being tested by only the dealership owner, “but with mySalesChain, we can several Falcon dealer customers, with a target launch date bring that down to the average sales rep’s ability,” says Szcz- in May. “There is information associated with MPS coming ygiel. “The rep can proactively build such reports or use our from print auditing devices, the dealership’s back office, comprehensive workflow engine to implement an alert mech- etc.,” he says. “Basically, Soaring users will have a tool that anism so that he is alerted when machines are overused.” will gather the information, organize it and analyze it so SalesChain’s product is available at two levels. mySales- that they can make a recommendation without having to sit Chain Gold provides complete host system information for down and spend a lot of time on manual work.” all account equipment, meter counts, monthly averages, At Compass, the inclusion of MPS tools has been a part multi-meter usage, linked assets, service history, invoice of the company’s product offering since it was established, history, contract information, lease buyouts and competi- says Casper. With the use of Sherpa, the process begins with tive equipment details. The software also includes integrat- a TCO analysis for both printers and MFPs in the customer ed document imaging and retrieval to provide online access location, he says, to determine what the customer is spendto supporting documents. The product can be accessed at ing on document output. “With the TCO analysis complete, the desktop and also in the field via mobile devices. mySales- next, the rep can determine what he wants to propose to Chain Platinum enhances the value of the flagship mySales- the customer with a unique tool we call Asset Strategy,” says Chain Gold product by adding the capability to price and Casper. “With this tool, the rep is able to map devices in ordocument sales proposals and orders. A third product, my- der to determine whether it is best to recommend device SalesChain Delivery Desk Automation, provides workflow consolidation or replacement.” software to enable various personnel and departments inAnother tool, says Casper, allows for service pricing of volved in the delivery process to efficiently communicate existing equipment (that the rep recommends to remain in and collaborate. use) to be automatically calculated. “With the push of a butFalcon’s Soaring offers a full range of capabilities as well. ton, the rep gets his pricing,” he explains. “Sherpa scans the It, too, integrates with e-automate, OMD and La Crosse and list of printers to determine which are authorized for service can be accessed from the field, via mobile devices. The list by the dealership. For the authorized devices, a service rate of features, beyond serving as a CRM (customer relation- is provided. So, if there are, for example, five printers, they ship management) system, is lengthy and includes, in part, are blended together to give a cost per page of .017 cents.” tools for benchmarking, territory management, lead manFrom there, says Casper, Sherpa will calculate the cost agement, forecasting management, TCO (total cost of own- of any new devices and accessories included in the bundled ership) calculations, e-mail campaigns, account change/ proposal. “The rep can then use the software to blend all adding review, document and template integration, multi- of the costs together [existing and new equipment] and division capabilities and leasing data integration. determine one cost per page for the customer to cover evOne of the most recent enhancements to Soaring, says erything,” he says. “So, for example, the rep could say to the Lindsoe, is integration with the Microsoft Office Suite. customer: ‘For .019 cents per page at 30,000 pages monthly, “More and more, reps are using e-mail,” he says. “So, a lot we can replace these two pieces of equipment with new 12 | ­w w w. o f f i c e t e c h n o l o gymag.com | March 2011

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Casper, avoid allowing any hardware and we will cover “When we demonstrate our real or perceived “fear of the other 10 printers that change” to be an obstacle. you have on site.’” product for dealers, they “When we demonstrate our While TCO and MPS tools are always worried about product for dealers, they are are key components of Shertheir ‘old-timers’ on the always worried about their pa, says Casper, the product sales staff, since it is newer ‘old-timers’ on the sales includes a full range of actechnology ... In reality, staff, since it is newer techcount management capabilthey are the ones who nology; they say, ‘They’re ities. Beyond the industrynot going to be able to emspecific CRM, other capabilrespond the best.” brace this,’” he explains. “In ities include: electronic data — Troy Casper reality, they are the ones imports and integration with Compass Sales Solutions who respond the best. They e-automate, OMD and La say, ‘I’ve been waiting for Crosse; fleet management applications; on-site analysis agents; a financial calculator; something like this for years.’ They plug in proposal and paperwork automation; and order processing their information and they see good things management. In addition, Compass will be unveiling Sher- start to happen.” n Brent Hoskins, executive director of the pa Go this spring, which allows for access to the software Business Technology Association, is editor from mobile devices. of Office Technology magazine.

Is it time for you to take another look at a more sophisHe can be reached at brent@bta.org. ticated sales automation software product? If so, advises

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Growth Achievement Expand your market without abandoning your roots by: Mitch Morgan & Chris Ryne, Growth Achievement Partners

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howing up where growth is going to occur.

Having a knack for timing strategic growth initiatives. Developing a culture of change that enables the company to diversify and grow.

These are some of the signs of an effective, growing hybrid dealer.

The skills that have made us most successful in the past will continue to be important to our future success. Managing to a time-tested (yet evolving) financial model (taught in BTA’s ProFinance workshop), providing better customer service than any other office technology service provider, and the continued evolution of our sales professionals to support a more complex sales process (taught in BTA’s ProSolutions workshop) are likely the priorities for your management team.

In addition to these management challenges, dealers will increasingly focus on achieving growth, as it is perhaps the most important determination of future success and the greatest challenge for our industry. Successful companies will achieve growth through carefully orchestrated adjacency expansions. This type of expansion, when properly executed, can serve as a vehicle for sustained, ongoing high performance.

These times are challenging, yet they can bring significant opportunities to the companies that can seize them.

Several factors need to be in place to be successful in growing your business.

Become personally involved We have created a new title for our dealer principal clients — chief diversification officer (CDO). In order to ensure that the company is on the right path, it will be critical for senior management to stay personally involved, from developing the strategy, through implementation and on to ongoing inspection.

Repeat the success you have had in the past Look back at your product/service launches that have

been successful. What are the reasons why those initiatives succeeded? Is there a repeatable formula that you can emulate for future success? Almost as importantly, be sure to analyze new business initiatives that have not been successful. We can learn as much from what has not gone well as we can from our successes.

Build a repeatable model for new growth initiatives First, gain a clear understanding of your core competencies. Then think about diversification opportunities that should allow you to leverage these strengths and increase your likelihood of success. Focusing on your strengths and building a repeatable model can be the most reliable method of making your business grow.

Get close to your customers Increasing your sales and diversifying your offerings to a customer base that enjoys the quality of service and account management that you provide is the fastest path to growth.

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Technology road-map planning Many of our customers are confused about the direction they need to take for office technologies. Issues like managed services, collaboration, business process redesign, uniÿ ed communications and cloud services can be confusing to our core customers. During a customer call with a client two weeks ago, the contact said his business was “so busy focusing on changes in my industry that I don’t have time to focus on making the best decisions on office technology. I need a road map for my technology and someone to bring me ideas based on what they see in the market.” Filling this void, especially for small-to-mediumsized accounts, allows you to become a trusted adviser. š e good news is that our industry is generally healthy in terms of operating performance. Most dealers who have focused on meeting the ÿ nancial model targets have the ability to reinvest to achieve growth. However, adjacent market growth takes time to become a signiÿ cant portion of your revenue mix. Getting started today in your role as chief diversiÿ cation officer can “future-proof” your business and ensure regular, sustainable, proÿ table growth.  Mitch Morgan (left photo) founded the Connectivity Dealer Program from NIA in 1991. After his businesses were acquired by IKON O€ ce Solutions in 1996, he led its Technology Services division. In 2001, he formed the Professional Services division for IKON. Morgan has been consulting with CEOs on strategy, operations, organizational development and sales since 2005.

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18 | w w w. o f f i c e t e c h n o l o gymag.com | March 2011

Morgan Mar 11.indd 2

2/28/11 12:15 PM

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Increasing Productivity Implement a management-by-statistics program by: Jim Kahrs, Prosperity Plus Management Consulting Inc.

S

o here is the scene: You are preparing for an annual review with one of your key people and you know the first thought in his (or her) mind is: “How much of a raise am I going to get this year?” And you are thinking: “I know he has been with me for another year, but I cannot afford to keep giving raises just for anniversaries. My payroll costs keep increasing each year.”

You lock yourself in your office and review the year in your mind. What did he do well and where did he fall short of your expectations? His main role with the company is dispatch, so you start there — “Well, he tends to come in late fairly often, the technicians complain about him a lot and he had that run-in with the service manager. On the other hand, he does a great job following up on parts calls and really bailed us out with our biggest account when a key machine went down.”

You have now spent an hour thinking this through and the answer is not any more clear. Does this sound familiar?

Do you wish there was a better way?

Well there is, and you do not have to have an MBA from Harvard to put a plan together. The solution involves measuring and managing production in all areas of the business. Production is what spells the difference between success and failure in any business, no matter how large or small. Many employees believe they are trading hours for a paycheck:­ “If I come in to the office for eight hours a day, I am entitled to my salary.” Very often employees totally miss the fact that production is what makes a business operate.

In fact, they truly believe that they are entitled to an annual raise, even if their individual production has decreased.

The key to increasing production throughout your business is to measure it via production statistics and then work to improve those statistics. For example, production statistics for a sales rep would be things like the number of prospecting calls made, number of appointments completed or total dollars sold. Production statistics for a technician would be things like the number of service calls completed or dollars of parts used on service calls. The use of statistics is a vital tool for good management. Statistics are completely

objective and offer a fair assessment of an employee’s actual performance. So how does this tie in to the example above?

One of the key concepts outlined in the Hubbard Management System states: “When you reward down statistics and penalize up statistics, you get down statistics.”

This offers a wholly workable viewpoint. It means that giving a raise to someone whose production (measured via statistics) has gone down will lead to further non-production. The perfect example of this is the sales rep who was given a large guaranteed salary when hired. This guarantee almost always represents a raise over his previous earnings.

If this large reward continues even when production is low or nonexistent, the result will inevitably be continued low production and a rep who goes off to find the next guarantee from your competitor. It is equally dangerous to penalize someone who is producing. Anyone who has been “punished” after increasing production can attest to that.

So let us go back to the example of the dispatch manager and review a plan. There are steps that can be taken to make next year’s review much easier. The steps below will outline an action plan for dispatch, but it can be easily modified for any position in the dealership.

22 | ­w w w. o f f i c e t e c h n o l o gymag.com | March 2011

Kahrs Mar 11.indd 1

3/1/11 8:11 AM

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(1) Determine measurements of Each week, a battle plan should be deproduction that lead to success. For vised that lays out the actions for the The best place to start is this step, you need to determine how coming week. The battle plan addresses with the next employee success is measured. For starters, you the things that need to be done to inwho is up for a review ... could measure response time. The lower crease production for the coming week.

Work out the production the response time, the better the disBy doing this weekly, you have 52 opstatistics for his area patcher is doing with routing techniportunities each year to increase procians and handling calls. You could also duction. Monthly and quarterly meaand start tracking and measure the time technicians spend sures limit your opportunities to react improving each one. servicing machines. If the dispatcher is to changing conditions. In our dispatch routing technicians improperly, travel example, the battle plan might include a time increases and the time spent servicing machines drops, review meeting each morning with the service manager to leading to lost production. Another measure of production pre-plan some of the technician routing. could be as simple as the volume of calls handled per day.

Once you implement a management-by-statistics proThe key here is to make sure that an increase or decrease in gram, the annual review process with an employee becomes production in each area can be linked to the performance of much easier. Once again, we will go back to our example the individual. with the dispatcher. Imagine having a full year of produc(2) Convert production measures to statistics. Now tion statistics to go over during the review. Over the year, take the actions that lead to success and convert them into the average response time went from 5.3 hours to 4.1 hours, measurements that can be counted and reported. In the ex- the technician’s time spent on machines went from 63 perample above, you would take items like: average response cent to 70 percent and the number of calls handled per week time in hours, percentage of technician’s time spent servic- went from 200 to 230. Now you can give the dispatcher a ing machines and number of calls handled per day. The key raise and feel good about it knowing that the production is to have a measurement that is easily counted. If the mea- (and most likely, the profitability) of the service department surement cannot be translated to a quantifiable number, has increased. Further, by rewarding the increased producthen it will not work. For example, a dispatcher is expected tion, you set the stage for additional increases in the coming to create happy customers, but this would be very difficult, weeks and years. if not impossible, to measure, since you do not hear from If you follow the steps outlined above and implement happy customers on a weekly basis and would have no way them with each member of your staff, the results will speak to accurately count them. In this case, we measure the ac- for themselves. It is not uncommon for clients of ours to tions that lead to happy customers. more than double their profitability in less than a year. The (3) Capture and report statistics weekly. You must now best place to start is with the next employee who is up for a determine how statistics will be counted and reported. In review. Make this process part of his review and planning the case of the dispatcher, this is fairly easy if you are us- for the coming year. Work out the production statistics for ing a software system. The information can be taken from his area and start tracking and improving each one. If you system-generated reports. Based on these reports, the dis- do this with each employee as his review comes up, you will patcher can see, for example, that the average response time have the entire company driving production as a team withfor the week was 5.3 hours, technicians spent 63 percent of in a year and will reap the rewards for years to come. n their time working on machines and there were 200 calls Jim Kahrs has been a leader in the office systems industry done for the week. for more than 20 years. He has been recognized as a top sales (4) Graph statistics weekly. Now the numbers need to producer, sales manager, operations manager, dealership be graphed using a simple line graph. A graph will show the executive and business consultant. As president of Prosperity relationship of this week’s performance to that of previous Plus Management Consulting, Kahrs works directly with office weeks. Graphing these statistics makes it very easy to see if technology dealership principals and senior executives, production is up or down. The graph must be scaled properhelping them improve their sales, cash flow ly to show the increases and decreases in the statistics each and bottom-line profitability. He has also week. Once the statistics are graphed, the graphs should be helped many dealers successfully navigate posted in the employee’s work area and reviewed weekly the sales of their dealerships or the purchases with his supervisor. of other dealerships. Kahrs can be reached at (5) Review statistics weekly. The final step in the pro(631) 382-7762 or jkahrs@prosperityplus.com. cess is to review the statistics weekly with each person.

Visit www.prosperityplus.com.

24 | ­w w w. o f f i c e t e c h n o l o gymag.com | March 2011

Kahrs Mar 11.indd 2

2/28/11 1:23 PM

InkCycle ad Mar 11.indd 1

2/25/11 4:34 PM

Sales Target: IT Promote your MPS program to the right person by: Leisa Thomason, Strategy Development

I

t is interesting that there is still a huge emphasis on selling managed print services (MPS) to C-level management. These are not the individuals who are dealing with printers on a daily basis, so to ask them to make a decision about how to best manage their device fleet is usually not going to be the correct entry point.

If you get the CFO’s attention by talking about all the money you are going to save him (or her) without knowing a single thing about his company’s fleet or business processes, and you just sell on the “pain” inherent to the fact that he does not know how much his print fleet is costing him, what will his response be? If it is, “I don’t know,” and you then conduct a print assessment, you will have succeeded in taking away his pain — but you haven’t made a sale.

If we all agree that real, quantifiable pain must be surfaced before MPS is embraced, why not start with the very person who deals with the pain every day? You need to find the IT director who needs and welcomes a program that will free up his IT staff members’ time so they can focus on delivering IT improvements within the company.

It is painful when I recall the IT directors I alienated by incorrectly (before I learned the best entry point) going to the CFO first. I have not landed a single MPS client by calling on the CFO first, but it is quite possible I may have lost a couple of good opportunities. In mid-size to large companies — the companies you are targeting with your MPS program — delegation is critical to the success of C-level executives. Executives delegate to senior managers, senior managers delegate to managers, etc. Delegation does not mean the CFO has relinquished his power; after the subordinate decides on a course of action, he brings his findings to executive management for approval. This process is common, so starting your selling process for MPS at the senior management level is a valid approach.

There is a great deal of politics involved in large companies. Thankfully, those of us who have spent our time working for smaller companies do not have to endure this cultural

phenomenon, but it is a fact of life in larger companies.

The IT department reports to the CIO and 85 percent of the time, the CIO is a CFO peer. If a CFO infers that he has a better way of handling a portion of the CIO’s job responsibility (basically telling him that he does not know what he is doing), the CIO may get defensive. The CIO may even work hard to prove to his CFO peer that he is quite adept at managing his department and build a business case against the CFO’s suggestion.

Let’s go back to the CFO whose attention you just got by talking about savings. The very first thing he will do is take the new concept to his IT department. How does he describe MPS to them? Does he know enough to get the real point across regarding an effective MPS program? Of course, he does not. I have to guess that this is what he will stress: “savings” from “outsourced management.”

In today’s cost-cutting/productivity improvement environment (decoded as fewer employees), what do you think the IT director is going to hear from his CFO? In my experience, it can potentially put the IT director on the defensive, and that is not the position you want the person you are going to work with to be in, even if the program is forced upon him. The IT director is, after all, responsible for the entire IT infrastructure and the print portion of this could be a mess.

He may know it is an area that he has poorly managed or has not managed at all. The IT director is your target and not a person you want to alienate.

Now, this is not to say that the CFO is not interested or will not be a part of the process — it is quite the contrary.

At some point, he must be brought into the sales cycle and his buy-in is absolutely required. By that point, however, the IT director has agreed that this program is going to help his department achieve its goals and that there are solid, quantified benefits. Therefore, the IT director is your champion.

He will want to take the program to his CFO and say: “Look what I found!” The emphasis is on “what he found” of course.

Be prepared with a professional and practical proposal

26 | ­w w w. o f f i c e t e c h n o l o gymag.com | March 2011

Thomason Mar 11.indd 1

2/28/11 1:35 PM

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presentation for the CFO. The CFO will In my experience also want to know leading an MPS how the benefits of company ... I have MPS will be meafound that a services-led sured on an ongoapproach maximized ing basis and he should be present, the return on our at times, for your investment of ... time. quarterly reviews.

But, you first get your champion to say: “Hey Mr. Finance, let’s do this.” You can ensure that both the IT director and CFO shine.

Some of you may believe in top-down selling, a concept that works well in small companies. You may be thinking: “If the CFO ultimately has to be involved, why not just start with him?” You know my opinion on this, and yours may differ, but I am sure we can agree that a CFO cannot possibly be the project champion for everything that touches finance; there simply would not be enough time in the day.

By this point, you realize that I am describing a selling cycle that follows a services-led MPS approach. In my experience leading an MPS company and selling MPS contracts that cover 23 million pages, I have found that a services-led approach maximized the return on our investment of something we all needed more of — time. (Although we were not able to close an MPS deal by going to the CFO first, a few accepted our offer for a free assessment to tell them what their costs were. These assessments were a waste of time.)

Your MPS program may be focused on small companies or you may deploy a full-blown device consolidation approach. I have sold a lot of equipment too, but most of the time that revenue followed selling the initial outsourcing contract. You will experience far lower close ratios than with a services-led approach. I know this from personal experience, and I do not believe this approach will maximize your revenue or profits. For those who want to add large recurring revenue with accompanying high profits, focus on the IT director. n Leisa Thomason is an MPS consultant with Strategy Development, focused on helping companies transition their business models to MPS. She is also the president of Genesis Technologies, Charleston, S.C., which she transitioned from a printer service provider to an MPS provider with more than 23 million prints under contract. She brings nearly 20 years of experience and deep knowledge of the MPS space. Thomason can be reached at (843) 345-4549 or thomason@strategydevelopment.com.

Visit www.strategydevelopment.com.

28 | ­w w w. o f f i c e t e c h n o l o gymag.com | March 2011

Thomason Mar 11.indd 2

2/28/11 1:35 PM

BEI Services ad Mar 11.indd 1

2/24/11 8:16 AM

COURTS & CAPITOLS

Time for New Policies?

Here are several changes to consider by: Robert C. Goldberg, General Counsel for the Business Technology Association

T

he early months of a new year are a perfect opportunity to introduce new policies and procedures for your dealership. In today’s economy, the new year also provides the opportunity to examine your costs and make adjustments where possible and necessary. Changes made at the beginning of the year seem less abrupt to employees and, therefore, less disruptive and harmful to morale.

In the last two years, everyone has strived to become more efficient. Getting more productivity out of fewer employees, lowering costs and paying greater attention to details have all helped to weather the storm. With the economy improving, the results can go right to the bottom line if the same diligence is maintained.

If you do not have a company handbook now, the beginning of the year is a good time to introduce one. If you already have a policy and procedure manual, it is a good time to make necessary revisions. A well-prepared employee handbook clearly establishes the rules of the business, the benefits the business offers and penalties for failure to comply with the rules.

A handbook reduces the likelihood of inconsistent treatment and establishes procedures to be followed if a wrong, such as harassment, is perceived. When you hand out your new or revised company handbook, acknowledgment of receipt clearly establishes that the policies were communicated.

With the current federal and state scrutiny of exempt and non-exempt employees, it is a good time to re-classify your staff members. This is most important for your office employees and managers. A recent case found that a service manager was not exempt from overtime compensation because he was serving customers more than 20 percent of the time. Once you reclassify your positions, you should also revise the affected job descriptions.

The beginning of the year is also a good time to adjust compensation plans for your employees. Implementing a pay-forperformance plan can be a great incentive for the new year, and announcing new spiffs and contests can start the year off right. Automatic pay raises become expected and seldom motivate employees, so change things up and bring new excitement to sales and service employees.

Time off can also be examined at this point in the year.

Many employers are switching to personal time off (PTO) and eliminating vacation, sick and personal days. Enlarge the time period to qualify for PTO, vacation or holiday pay. In this manner, you will not have to pay short-term employees for vacation

time accrued that was not really earned. There is no legal requirement to pay employees for holidays, so the beginning of the year may be an appropriate time to cut back on certain paid holidays, such as the day after Thanksgiving.

Each year, the cost of health benefits increases. Be sure your employees are bearing their fair share of the health benefit.

Announce the new plan and rates, revealing the increase and the need to share the burden. Encourage employees to participate in an HMO to reduce their costs. Raise the deductible or the self-insured threshold of the policy. Offer a stipend to an employee who accepts insurance on his (or her) spouse’s plan.

Be certain to explain the basis for the adjustments and how it permits you to continue the benefit. Employees should not think that these steps are being implemented to take money from them, but rather to avoid layoffs and ensure the stability of the company. Avoid promising to restore benefits when conditions improve. Be fair and your employees will understand the necessity for the changes. n Robert C. Goldberg is general counsel for the Business Technology Association.

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

30 | ­w w w. o f f i c e t e c h n o l o gymag.com | March 2011

Goldberg Mar 11.indd 1

2/24/11 9:08 AM

IBPIspecads11:ibpi_OT_half_11 1/17/11 1:34 PM Page 1

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

Dealer Members Accurate Imaging Resources, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA Arista Business Imaging Solutions, Concord, CA Dewitt Poth & Son, Yoakum, TX Eagle Business Machines, Elmsford, NY Governor Business Solutions, Dearborn, MI Indiana Business Equipment, Terre Haute, IN OSDI – Spacesaver, Des Moines, IA RPB Systems & Services, Norwell, MA RTD Office Products, Quincy, IL Vendor Associate Members ComputerPlus Sales & Service, Deland, FL Formax, Dover, NH Innovolt, Atlanta, GA Mars International, Clifton, NJ Micro Solutions Enterprises, Van Nuys, CA N-able Technologies, Ottawa, ON, Canada Service Associate Members Evolved Office, Ft. Lauderdale, FL LEAF Commercial Capital, Philadelphia, PA For full contact information of these new members, visit www.bta.org.

Discount on Recruitment Services Crawford Thomas specializes in the recruitment of office automation sales reps, MPS reps, production print specialists, sales managers and all support staff. The company is offering a 20 percent discount on its recruitment/staffing services to all BTA members. Visit www.bta.org/ CrawfordThomas for more information.

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 or Service Associate members in this space.

BTA Vendor Associate member Image Star is a wholesaler of imaging products that include a wide range of OEM and compatible printer, fax, copier and data media supplies. The company, in business for more than 15 years, offers these services: guaranteed next-day delivery, Hyperioncompatible imaging supplies, a user-friendly website, extended business hours, a blind drop-ship program and no minimum order fee. A dedicated staff is available to answer your questions, provide price quotes and place orders, focusing on personalized service. www.imagestar.com BTA Service Associate member Hytec Dealer Services is a leader and innovator in circuit board repair services for the office imaging industry. Hytec provides the widest variety of skilled depot repair services on many lines of office equipment including Canon, EFI, HP, Kodak, Konica Minolta, Kyocera, Océ, Ricoh, Sharp and Toshiba. Hytec is able to provide quality circuit board repair services from its state-of-the-art repair facility in Orlando, Fla., to anywhere in the world. www.hytecrepair.com A full list of BTA Vendor and Service Associate members can be found online at www.bta.org.

32 | w w w. o f f i c e t e c h n o l o gymag.com | March 2011

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Se l l in g So l u t io n s

Selling in 2011 What salespeople need for success this year by: Teresa Hiatt, Professional Society of Sales and Marketing Training

I

t is 2011 and sales organizations need to be ready to maximize opportunities in the recovering economy. One of the top ways this will happen is through adding new products and services to the portfolio of offerings. Historically, this is also where sales and marketing reach communication roadblocks. If an organization has ever tried to launch a new product or service and seen the initiative fail to achieve desired results, it has encountered the difference between what marketing departments typically provide and what salespeople really need in product training. Both sales teams and marketing professionals need to reach a common understanding of the kind and depth of information needed to sell in today’s solution-selling environment.

In the past, new product or service launches focused on the specifications of the product. It became the salesperson’s job to intimately understand those features and actively sell the product on its own merits. Today, especially with products like network security and managed print services, it is more important for the salesperson to understand how the product or service fits into a customer’s business strategy and be able to position it within a solution offering.

Gathering and presenting these key pieces of information is often done by marketing or new product training teams, but failure to launch can often be traced back to the wrong information given to salespeople who were expected to sell the product. For 2011, there are six items sales teams need to have for every new product or service being added to the product mix.

(1) Market Analysis ­— What trends are happening in the marketplace that have created a need for this product? What industry research or customer data drove the development of the product? What are the market demographics (number of potential customers and sales expected)? This information should be given in facts, industry references and data evidence, not the hopes and dreams of the marketing team.

(2) Opportunity Qualification­— What five questions can someone ask a customer and get answers that will qualify the customer as needing or wanting this product? What are some common characteristics of customers who are expected to buy this product? How could a sales professional determine how many potential customers who need this product are in a given territory?

(3) Value Proposition — What are the key points of the product that will bring value to the target customer? What

exactly is the product (not specs)? How can that be articulated to the customer? What business objectives do customers have that this product or service could help them achieve?

(4) Prospecting Guide — How do I locate the decision maker who would typically be the right one to buy this product or service? Are there any trade associations, user groups or professional assemblies that this segment would congregate to? What title or job description does a typical decision maker have? What specific business concerns or problems would keep this decision maker up at night worrying? What are some specific businesses that might be potential contacts for this product or solution?

(5) The Message — What would be a simple opening message to the target buyer that will lead the prospect to ask for more information? How does this product complement or enhance the existing company mission statement? How does it integrate into other successful products and services being sold by the sales organization?

(6) Case Studies — Do any success stories from early adopters clearly show real value for the customer in a reallife situation? What are the details and the story of why the customer implemented the product? If case studies do not yet exist, what would they look like? What is the expected ROI of the product for the target customer?

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˜ e common response when these pieces e€ ects can be expected.  of information are requested from the new If the sales team is Teresa Hiatt is the current president of product teams or product training groups the Professional Society of Sales and stumbling for answers, is that they are not available, are too comMarketing Training. She was most recently or is even providing plex or need to be developed by the sales the director of sales education at Ricoh wrong information ... team. Yet, it is clear that to properly introAmericas Corp., where she spent 10 years action has to be duce a new product or service, salespeople directing sales training teams and have to have this information and have it in taken to clarify the conducting research. She also spent ÿ ve a timely manner. years at Sony Corp. developing launch product training.

Marketing teams can test this hypothetraining for the VAIO computer launches. As sis by simply asking a ÿ eld sales team these a Six Sigma Black Belt, she has conducted questions for any recently launched product and see if the an- process improvement projects on training e…ectiveness and has swers are quickly available. If the sales team is stumbling for published return-on-investment projects certiÿ ed by the ROI answers, or is even providing wrong information on the target Institute for Training. Hiatt has served on industry panel customer or the messaging of the product or service, action discussions at national conferences with Gartner Research has to be taken to clarify the product training.

Group and CompTIA. She has delivered breakout sessions on ˜ is list of questions was posed to a sales team recently sales training at the InfoTrends O⁄ ce Document Technology when the launch of an MPS program failed to gain traction at Forum, SMT Sales Training conferences and BTA channel a dealership. It became clear that while the sales team clearly partner seminars. She is a regular contributor knew what MPS was, they did not have the information needto O• ce Technology magazine and a ed to link the value of MPS to their customer, and that was contributing author to “Fortify Your Sales what led to the failure. A new training program that focused Force,” a ground-breaking handbook for on what salespeople needed was delivered and sales improved. building productive sales teams. She can be When the product launch process considers the needs of reached at teresa@hiattaviation.com. the salespeople when developing launch resources, dramatic Visit www.smt.org.

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Se l l in g So l u t io n s

Consultative Selling How to transition from a commodity-based model by: Mike Lamothe, Office Document Consulting

I

was recently asked to listen to a number of reps on the phone and determine if they would get my attention. Sadly, most were unable to articulate why they were calling. Some were able to have a discussion, but more often than not, that discussion was not business related. In moments of desperation, a number of calls quickly shifted back to basic copier conversation: “When are your leases up? Are you happy with your current vendor?” Needless to say, most of the calls did not last long and did not get the desired results.

In my last article (“Back to Basics: Seek to boost sales rep learning opportunities,” February 2011), we discussed going back to the basics before beginning to position strategic programs like managed print services (MPS). In this article, I will discuss how we can use the knowledge we have gained from the knowledge circle (described in my February article) to approach customers and actually get their attention. I will also introduce the need for an effective value proposition.

Recently, I introduced the knowledge circle to one of the dealers I am working with and I must admit I was very pleased at the level of interest and excitement it created in the bullpen.

In one of my recent one-on-one meetings with a senior rep, he confided in me: “When you first asked us about cloud computing, I nodded my head indicating I was fully aware of the subject matter.” Later that evening, he went on to tell me he had begun to dive into the subject and was now confident enough to present the information to the rest of the team.

Each week, reps are now presenting topics like cloud printing, green IT, fleet rationalization, MPS, document management, etc., to their peers. The point is, each rep is now combing the Internet looking for subject matter that will or has already affected customer environments. This is now a weekly practice at all of the dealerships I am working with and I would suggest you begin doing it with your sales team if you are not currently doing so.

Are your sales representatives having trouble getting quality appointments? As my work continued with these reps, we began discussing how we could begin to use the research they had been focusing on and look at alternate ways to approach prospects on the phone. These calls were now stra-

tegic in nature, with a predetermined subject matter (one the reps were comfortable discussing) and the results were significantly more positive.

The knowledge circle is now making an impact on approaching customers.

In this age of global awareness, which started with the Internet and has been magnified with the introduction of social media like blogs, Twitter and Facebook, do not lose sight of the fact that your current and potential customers are investing more in self-education.

Turn these resources in your favor. Approach a director of IT with an impact statement that asks how he (or she) is expecting green IT or cloud printing to make a positive impact in his environment. I am sure you will pique his interest and get the appointment you are seeking.

What is the significance of a well-positioned value proposition? In my early days of selling, I had difficulty trying to determine how to approach potential customers. I had so many ideas and often found myself searching for the right thing to say. My manager told me to develop an elevator pitch.

The elevator pitch comes from the basic analogy of a rep with a sales territory in a large city who is not making the right first impressions to get quality appointments. He takes the time to think out what he needs to say and what will pique the interest of the prospect. He stakes out the elevator, waiting for his prospective customer to enter, then he jumps in at the last minute and takes advantage of the situation to make his pitch. Today, we call it a value proposition.

The message should not be more than 30 to 45 seconds and should provide the prospect with who you are, the organization you represent, a benefit statement introducing relevant subject matter and a call to action. Sales reps can now take the new information they have learned in their sales meetings and spin it into their own personal value proposition that will help them articulate a consistent, hard-hitting message that gets results.

In one of my recent visits to a dealership, I overheard a rep speaking to someone on the phone saying, “Good morning.

My name is John Doe. I represent ABC Company and I have been working with XYZ Corporation to introduce green IT initiatives to help reduce its carbon footprint. I would like www.officetechnologymag. c o m | M a r c h 2 0 1 1 | 37

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of their competition by making the investto take 15 to 20 minutes of your time to ment in strategic selling. As a result, their discuss how I might be able to introduce You will need to align margins are much higher, equipment and green IT initiatives into your environment. yourself with an dealership profitability is up, their busiWould Tuesday at 10 a.m. or Wednesday organization that can nesses are growing and, more imporat 1:30 p.m. work?” I later learned the rep provide the training tantly, they are in a much better position was speaking to the director of IT and XYZ and tools that can to capitalize on the improving economic Corporation is a base customer. The rep got conditions. Can you say the same? n the appointment. support this new way Mike Lamothe is president of Office Making the transition from comof consultative selling.

Document Consulting (ODC). With 25-plus modity-based to consultative selling. So years of professional sales and how do we teach reps who have traditionmanagement, he brings extensive industry ally been box sellers focused on getting the experience, having worked at both the dealership and customer a lower price to become reps who are able to posimanufacturer levels. Today, Lamothe assists clients with the tion strategies like MPS? implementation and ongoing support of MPS programs and In the next couple of articles, I will discuss the need for an offers guidance in such areas as strategic ongoing learning process. This is not a short-term process and selling, development of selling it requires commitment from sales reps and upper manageand marketing tools, organizational ment, including dealership principals. right-sizing, and assessment consulting You will need to align yourself with an organization that and design. Lamothe can be reached at can provide the training and tools that can support this new odcconsulting@live.com or way of consultative selling. I am also here to tell you that there are a number of dealership principals who have stayed ahead (647) 389-5048.

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