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CONTENTS Volume 21 • No. 11

FEATURE ARTICLES 10

The Vertical Approach Providing your dealership a competitive edge

P R I N C I PA L I S S U E S Paying Sales Engineers An alternative plan for your consideration

25

by Luis Gonzalez SalesScoreKeeper.com

by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

In some cases, high-tech sales transactions are turned over to an expert in that type of sale. In other cases, the sales engineer (SE) assists the sales professional (SP) in completing the sale. In this article, we will discuss one option for compensating the SE who assists the SP.

Have you noticed what the MFP manufacturers are doing in response to the commoditization of hardware in today’s software-solution-laden industry? They are ramping up their focus on verticals. The clear directive to dealers: “Think vertical.”

16

Power 2 Perform Kyocera hosts dealer conference April 7-9

by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

SERVICE CONNECTIONS A Team Sport Building a world-class service organization

27

by Jeff Silver Image Source

Under the theme “Power 2 Perform,” KYOCERA Document Solutions America Inc. executives emphasized a philosophy of partnership, growth and open communication with dealers during the company’s FY16 Business & Technology Conference, held April 7-9 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

18

The Power of LinkedIn How it has revolutionized my sales results

by Larry Levine Dealer Marketing

As technology continues to change, the sales process and tools we use have seen changes too. In my opinion, LinkedIn has impacted the sales profession like no other piece of technology or software. It has evolved into a networking and relationship management site for sales professionals.

The company with the best team will always meet (and likely exceed) its goals. The question is: How do you build that team? The process of creating a great team is not a direct route and there is not one way to accomplish this goal. However, several guiding practices certainly hold true.

SELLING SOLUTIONS Employee Evaluations Here is a simple process for any salesperson

29

by Troy Harrison SalesForce Solutions

One of the things that surprises a lot of my clients is my insistence on doing formal annual written evaluations of salespeople. Annual evaluations are a great tool for improvement; unfortunately, too many of the evaluations used do not cover the areas on which salespeople should be evaluated.

COURTS & CAPITOLS 22

Overtime Compensation How to properly classify field service engineers

by Robert C. Goldberg BTA General Counsel

This column has often addressed the issue of overtime compensation, as it seems to be a recurring issue. A recent case in Minneapolis, Minnesota, may help with the proper classification of field service engineers. The field service engineer in the litigation worked for a dealership.

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

24

• BTA Highlights

6

Executive Director’s Page

8

BTA President’s Message

30

Advertiser Index

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S PAGE

Do You Have Plans to Sell 3D Printers?

I

hope you had the opportunity to read the cover story in the April issue of Office Technology, “The Next Dimension: Are 3D printers a good fit for the BTA Channel?”

The comments shared by the dealers I interviewed for the article were quite interesting. While some dealers have found varying degrees of success with 3D printers, many others would likely answer the question posed in the article title this way: “The jury is still out.”

In the April article, I cited the results of a survey I emailed to a number of BTA Channel dealers; 100 dealers responded (I received two additional responses since the article appeared). I have found in conducting such surveys that it is always beneficial to ask a final question that gives the respondent a means to share some general comments on the topic at hand.

Below are some of the comments received from dealers in response to this question: “Are there any general comments you would like to share about 3D printers?”

Space did not allow me to include these in the April issue, but I think you will find them of interest. n “I think, like anything else, with more information about this product, dealers will begin to figure out how to make it fit.” n “I want to be sure there is a good application for 3D before I invest the people resources to sell the product.” n “My initial research into 3D printers showed lower-than-expected margins on service and supplies.” n “I think 3D printing is here and definitely going to be a big part of our industry.” n “I believe that the niche is too small to make this a viable business. No manufacturer has a good business plan on how a dealer

can make money with these products.” n “We are waiting to see where the BTA dealer fits in the model. Is it supplies only or is there service? Which manufacturer do we pick and support?” n “I have been looking at them for years, but I am still not 100 percent sure we can find a ready market in our area for them.” n “3D might not work for every dealer now, but sooner or later it will be a competitive advantage or disadvantage for you.” n “I attended the Ricoh dealer show last week, and they discussed 3D printers in a Q&A session. They don’t have any plans to introduce 3D printers to their dealers until they determine if there is a way for their dealers to make money selling the products; still a lot of research going on to determine if it fits into our tool bag.” n “I believe the use of the word ‘printers’ is a misnomer, since this is really not about printing, but manufacturing and producing something other than paper for visual consumption. That said, there is no question that additive manufacturing will be a game changer and is causing me to do a great deal of research to understand how we can add this to our dealership.” n “Is the market for the product big enough to support the amount of sales a dealership may have? n “It appears to be a significant investment with very little market demand for it right now. However, we are monitoring to see if it will be worthwhile in the future.” n “So far, our conversations with customers have not revealed many opportunities for 3D printing aside from us perhaps outsourcing for clients’ projects. With so many other important things going on in the business, I don’t feel this is viable enough for us to distract attention from our other efforts.” n — Brent Hoskins

Executive Director/BTA Editor/Office Technology Brent Hoskins brent@bta.org (816) 303-4040 Associate Editor Elizabeth Marvel elizabeth@bta.org (816) 303-4060 Contributing Writers Robert C. Goldberg, General Counsel Business Technology Association Luiz Gonzalez, SalesScoreKeeper.com www.salesscorekeeper.com Troy Harrison, SalesForce Solutions www.troyharrison.com Larry Levine, Dealer Marketing www.dealermarketing.net Jeff Silver, Image Source www.imagesourceusa.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 Photo Credits: Bigstockphoto. Cover created by Bruce Quade, Brand X Studio. ©2015 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 2014-2015 Board of Directors

Are You Paying Your Employees Properly?

E

very three years, the Business Technology Association (BTA) releases its Compensation Report as part of the BTA Benchmarking Series. This report examines the results of a survey of office technology dealers about their compensation plans. Compiled by Survey Advantage, BTA’s 2015 Compensation Report is based on responses from 140 dealers. Free to BTA members, the report provides detailed salary information on a wide variety of positions, from the executive level to administration. Results are available by dealership size and geographic area, and represent median figures, the midpoint between the highest and lowest values reported. Using the median provides a more realistic view of each category by eliminating uncharacteristically high or low numbers.

The first section of the report shows results according to dealership size in five categories of dealership revenue: less than $1 million; $1 million to $3 million; $3 million to $5 million; $5 million to $10 million; and more than $10 million. For each size of dealership, the report shows the number of employees in each position; the minimum, maximum and average base salaries for each position; and the minimum, maximum and average commission/overtime/bonus/ other compensation for each position.

As an example, let’s look at the results for a major account executive in a $5 million to $10 million dealership. The minimum base salary for this position is $45,000, the maximum is $75,000 and the average is $50,000.

The minimum commission/overtime/bonus/other compensation for the position is $11,250, the maximum is $50,000 and the average is $36,000.

The second section of the Compensation Report shows results according to geographic regions — East, Midwest, Southeast and West. As the cost of living varies in each of these regions, so does the compensation. An example of this can be seen in the major account executive salaries of the Midwest versus the Southeast. In the Midwest, a major account executive has an average base salary of $49,000, while in the Southeast, he (or she) would have an average base salary of $58,500.

The report covers a wide range of employee positions in a dealership. Among them: account executive, account representative, accounting manager, AP manager, branch sales manager, chief financial officer, chief operating officer, controller, director of marketing, general manager, IT sales representative, major account executive, managed IT sales representative, managed print services representative, office/ clerical personnel, office manager, production engineer, production print representative, sales rep (I, II and III), sales trainer, senior technician, service director, service manager, solutions engineer, solutions sales representative, vice president of marketing, vice president of operations, warehouse manager, warehouse personnel and wide format sales representative.

The report also shows results for the benefits dealerships offer. For example: flex time, telecommuting, medical/dental/vision insurance plans, retirement plans, vacation/personal time and more.

I encourage you to download the 2015 Compensation Report today to see how your compensation plans measure up.

Download the report at www.bta.org/ BenchmarkingReports. BTA members will need their username and password to access the report. n — Ron Hulett

President Ron Hulett U.S. Business Systems Inc. 3221 Southview Drive Elkhart, IN 46514 ron.hulett@usbus.com President-Elect Dave Quint Advanced Systems Inc. 2945 Airport Blvd.

P.O. Box 57 Waterloo, IA 50704 dquint@asiowa.com Vice President Rob Richardson Allied Document Solutions & Services Inc. 200 Church St. Swedesboro, NJ 08085 robr@ads-s.com BTA East Mike Boyle BASE Technologies Inc. 23 Francis Clarke Circle, Ste. 1B Bethel, CT 06801 mboyle@baseinc.com BTA Mid-America Dan Castaneda International Copy Machine Center 1515 Lee Trevino, Ste. EE El Paso, TX 79936 dan@icmc-elp.com BTA Southeast Gerry Purvis Purvis Business Machines Inc. 4505 Highway 39 N. Meridian, MS 39301 gerry.purvis@gopurvis.com BTA West Mike Ehlers Yost Business Systems 685 E. Anderson Idaho Falls, ID 83401 mike@yostonline.com Immediate Past President Todd J. Fitzsimons Automated Business Solutions DBA Network Imaging 277 Captain Lewis Drive Southington, CT 06489 tjfitzsimons@ni-ct.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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The Vertical Approach Providing your dealership a competitive edge by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

E

ven though dominant vertical markets have been around since the beginning of the office technology industry, some detractors may still say: “Yes, but in reality there is a relatively small number of these industries within a given community.” That may be true, but if you mentally stack, by industry, all businesses in each of these dominant industries atop one another, what do you get? Some very tall “stacks” of vertical sales opportunities.

Interestingly enough, however, for decades the nearly exclusive selling strategy for copiers — traditional “down-the-street” selling — was horizontal in nature. Sales reps simply focused on the significant differences between the quality and functionality of each copier brand, and essentially associated the number of potential sales opportunities with the number of streets in their territories.

Of course, things changed. Imaging devices ultimately became very similar in quality and functionality; selling speeds and feeds fell by the wayside. Along the way, however, with the transition from analog to digital, a golden door was opened.

Through that door came an ever-broadening range of software solutions, allowing today’s MFPs to play a key role in facilitating improved document and information workflows.

Have you noticed what the MFP manufacturers are doing in response to the commoditization of hardware in today’s software-solution-laden industry? They are ramping up their focus on verticals. Think about the way products and software solutions are displayed in the technology fairs at the manufacturers’ national dealer meetings. Think about the vertical emphasis end users now see on the manufacturers’ websites. The clear directive to dealers: “Think vertical.”

Among the leading verticals targeted by the office technology industry are such markets as education, financial, legal, government, health care and retail. The markets are generally characterized as document intensive; some, of course,

are subject to regulations that require compliance to federal laws (such as HIPAA for health care), in terms of the protection of certain documents and information. All exist in virtually every market. Actually, most are being pursued by dealership sales reps daily — though perhaps not strategically. Are your sales reps actively leveraging past successes in a given vertical market to pursue other businesses in the same vertical? Do you have employees with expertise that allows your dealership to target specific vertical markets?

Manufacturers confirm that their focus on the vertical markets noted above — and others — is, in fact, ramping up. “Every manufacturer is searching for ways to differentiate as technology has advanced,” says Dennis Amorosano, vice president and general manager of the Business Imaging Solutions Group at Canon U.S.A. Inc. “I think it has become very clear, in particular with respect to our hardware and to even some extent our software, that it is getting more and more difficult to differentiate in the marketplace. So, differentiation is one reason the manufacturing community has moved in this [vertical-market] direction.”

Other manufacturers acknowledge the growing focus on the vertical-market direction as well. Says Mike Garofola, senior marketing manager at OKI Data Americas Inc. (OKI): “Absolutely, there has been an increased focus on selling into specific vertical markets in recent years.” Says Peter Hendrick, vice president of corporate marketing and the business services division at KYOCERA Document Solutions America Inc.: “I think there has clearly been an increased focus in the past three or four years.” Says Erica Calise, director of government and corporate marketing at Sharp Electronics Corp.: “I think it has become more of a talking point, especially as technology has changed.”

Calise notes that the “technology change” is the result of the rise of software solutions. “You have the entrance of

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specialized solutions and [thirdneeds of specific vertical party] partners adapting the markets. “Dealers need “Dealers need to evolve MFP to work more for the needs to evolve their businesstheir businesses to be able of a specific customer,” she says. es to be able to support to support the needs of “In the case of Sharp, through our the needs of these verthese vertical markets, OSA [Open Systems Architectical markets, whether whether they bring people ture] program, we have partners they bring people in in who have the expertise developing specific applications who have the expertise that would help a specific vertical or they train their curor they train their current with whatever its challenges may rent employees and sales employees and sales reps.” be. So, the discussion has shifted reps,” he says. “Moving

— Mike Garofola to be more customized to what away from the old-fashOKI Data Americas Inc. the particular vertical needs.” ioned, down-the-street Such customized, verticalapproach has been one of market solutions, Amorosano reiterates, are providing the the tactics that has allowed dealers to bring their businesses much-needed infusion of differentiation in an otherwise to a new level, making them more viable to their customers.” commoditized industry. “We have always had the vision Having the right, correctly trained personnel is one of the that customers, over time, would take the core MFP tech- key characteristics of the dealership that is best positioned nology and integrate it into their core workflows and core for success in pursuing vertical-market opportunities, Fenbusiness applications,” he says. “I think we are finding that ton says. “I would say there is definitely a technical element this is now happening more and more today. Manufacturers and a willingness to invest in a few people who really underare targeting verticals as a way to differentiate while pro- stand software solutions and servers,” he says. “You can train viding some really unique workflow capabilities to custom- your sales force, but if you don’t have a technical organization ers within those verticals.” in place to support the salespeople, this will go nowhere. So, Are office technology dealers on board? That is, are they you have to have a couple of people who really understand the embracing a focus on pursuing vertical-market opportuni- software solutions associated with a specific vertical. Once ties to the same degree as the MFP manufacturers? While you have those people in place, then you can send your sales Garofola notes that “a majority of our dealers embrace a team members out to ask the right questions. They can refer strategy to sell to key vertical markets,” Keith Fenton, prod- back to your technical team on ‘how to do the next steps.’” uct planning manager for MFPs at OKI, says some dealers Should the dealership have dedicated reps on the sales still struggle with “how to do that and how to implement,” team focused on specific verticals? “That’s going to depend on and initially lean on the manufacturer for guidance. “A lot the structure of the dealership,” Wolowitz says. “If yours is a of times, OKI works with dealers who really don’t know how larger dealership with a significant number of sales reps, then to get there,” he says. “In the end, the best way for them to having a dedicated health-care rep, for example, would work. get into solution selling is to have a knowledge of their cus- But if yours is a smaller dealership, it may just be a ‘chamtomer, asking those questions that focus on ‘What else are pion’ who everybody in the office knows is the person to go you looking for besides the box?’ It seems to be the one thing to for assistance, but he or she also has a sales territory. The that some [dealers and sales reps] are most afraid to do.” rep doesn’t go after health care exclusively, but has a slew of Perhaps the first step to addressing any apprehension is known successes and references in the health-care market.” for dealers to recognize the necessity for change in today’s Realistically, Amorosano acknowledges, it is a tall order to market. “They have to be nimble; they have to be flexible and expect dealerships to have dedicated vertical-market sales willing to change,” says Danielle Wolowitz, senior direc- reps. “Most dealerships have horizontally focused persontor of the corporate marketing group at Kyocera, citing the nel; very few have dedicated personnel to go into a vertical,” characteristics of dealers best poised for vertical-market op- he says. “The only exception might be legal. That vertical, for portunities. “Dealers who want to grow their businesses and whatever reason, has been a good one for the industry. So, you have a different approach to the market — really differenti- do tend to find dedicated legal personnel within the channel.” ating themselves — know they have to be willing to change.”

Ideally, Amorosano adds, more dealerships would have Likewise noting that dealers need to be “nimble and flex- dedicated vertical-market sales reps. “Frankly speaking, if ible” in today’s market, Garofola says there is actually an we had our druthers, we would like to see dedicated vertiexpectation that today’s dealer, as the customer’s long-time cal personnel,” he says. “We believe that manufacturer-to“trusted advisor,” has the solutions that will address the channel-to-customer alignment makes good business sense.

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They will probably find they It would be much more efare already actively selling fective than trying to take a “They [dealers] will probably into verticals, though they vertical approach through find they are already don’t think of it that way. By a horizontally structured actively selling into verticals, leveraging their past sucsales organization.” though they don’t think of cesses, they will see that Whether or not your it that way. By leveraging there is other ‘low-hanging dealership has a dedicated their past successes, they fruit’ to pursue.” or champion vertical-marwill see that there is other Those dealers who are ket sales rep, manufacturnot currently pursuing verers are there to help address ‘low-hanging fruit’ to pursue.” tical markets are “missing any shortcomings. They have

— Peter Hendrick out on huge opportunities,” a growing array of training KYOCERA Document Solutions America Inc. Garofola says. “There is a ton programs, marketing colof revenue and market polateral and sales support programs specifically tailored to help dealers achieve suc- tential for those dealerships that have transformed into sales organizations catered to cess with vertical markets.

“Dealers should absolutely work with their manufactur- specific customers in specific verticals.” n Brent Hoskins, executive director of the ers to expand their skill sets and knowledge, not only from a Business Technology Association, is editor training perspective, but from a workflow, application and of Office Technology magazine. He can be support perspective as well,” Hendrick says. “They should reached at brent@bta.org or (816) 303-4040. also take a look at their current wins and known successes.

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Power 2 Perform Kyocera hosts dealer conference April 7-9 by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

U

nder the theme “Power 2 Perform,” KYOCERA Document Solutions America Inc. (KDA) executives emphasized a philosophy of partnership, growth and open communication with dealers during the company’s FY16 Business & Technology Conference, held April 7-9 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The meeting drew more than 1,000 attendees from the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe and Japan, including representatives of 600-plus Kyocera and Copystar dealerships.

At the conference, Kyocera unveiled a full line of new ECOSYS and TASKalfa A4 MFPs, offering a set of features previously associated exclusively with Kyocera’s A3 MFPs. The company also showcased enhancements to its current A3 hardware technology, along with new business applications and an updated set of device management and monitoring capabilities known as Kyocera Fleet Services (KFS).

Among other advancements, KFS will allow for the remote monitoring of Kyocera devices on a network.

Ed Bialecki, senior vice president of sales at KDA, welcomed attendees during the conference’s opening general session. “In thinking about what I would say to you this year, I kept coming back to the importance of partnership, symbolized by our meeting theme, ‘Power 2 Perform,’” he said. “For years, Kyocera has worked to strengthen our partnership with our independent dealers. Our goal has been to distinguish Kyocera as a dealer-centric organization. And, I believe, we have made good on that goal.”

Bialecki cited a key reason Kyocera has achieved its goal of being a dealer-centric organization — the introduction two years ago of the company’s “Total Document Solutions” approach, whereby it has created the “ideal combination” of hardware, software and services, and designed the “best solutions” for dealers to meet their customers’ needs. “You embraced it; in fact, you ran with it,” he said. “Since that time, we have worked with you to strengthen your ability to go to market with an approach that we can confidently say has differentiated you in the market.”

In his general session presentation, Takashi Kuki, president of KDA parent company Kyocera Document Solutions,

Top photo: Attendees gather in the conference’s Technology Fair to see Kyocera’s latest products. Bottom photos, left to right: Ed Bialecki, Takashi Kuki and Norihiko Ina. likewise expressed the company’s commitment to the dealer channel and its success. “To ensure continuous growth in your business, Kyocera Document Solutions has been actively investing in R&D and production facilities, even during the time of economic stagnation since 2008,” he said. “I believe that our aggressive investment is why we have exceeded the industry’s average growth for so many years. In this fiscal year, we will renew all of our A3 MFP models and strengthen our lineup of A4 MFPs, for a total of 26 new models this year. I am confident that this will contribute to your revenue and profit increase in the Americas market.”

Kuki also emphasized that Kyocera has been aggressively investing in software, such as a new application that enables dealers to provide remote maintenance and fleet

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achieved this success without you, and management, allowing them to reinforce “Since this software without your continuing commitment,” their service businesses. “Since this softhe said. “I thank you for your support ware can be run in a cloud environment, can be run in a and dedication to KDA.” you can easily implement it without havcloud environment, Ina took the opportunity to emphaing to make the initial investment, such you can easily size the significance of the conference’s as the expense of building a server,” he implement it without “Power 2 Perform” theme, noting that said, noting that the company will also having to make the “two-way communication is critical be developing software applications that for our mutual success.” KDA’s dealer will further support the dealer’s existing initial investment ... “ advisory council meetings focus on the business and will invest in new areas, needs of the KDA dealer community, he such as enterprise content management and business process outsourcing. “I believe that such con- said. “These discussions go on throughout the year — at our tinued investment will surely contribute to the growth of national meetings and at regional events throughout the United States where council members hear directly from your business.”

Norihiko Ina, KDA president, also shared details of the you,” he said. “The outcome of these conversations, together company’s growth during the general session, thanking with your feedback, benefits all channel partners across the dealers for their contributions. He announced that the com- Americas. In fact, much of what you will see and hear at this pany, now in the Americas for 42 years, saw a 7.6-percent year’s conference is a direct result of your input.” n Brent Hoskins, executive director of the Business Technology year-over-year increase in U.S. revenues in FY15. “This is the Association, is editor of Office Technology magazine. fourth year in a row that we have achieved record-breakHe can be reached at brent@bta.org or (816) 303-4040. ing performance [in the Americas], and we could not have

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The Power of LinkedIn How it has revolutionized my sales results by: Larry Levine, Dealer Marketing

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n my 27 years in the office technology industry, there have been numerous changes — from thermal-paper faxing to plain-paper faxing, from analog to digital and, lastly, the birth of the Internet, just to name a few. These technology changes have played an integral part in how the industry has evolved.

As technology continues to change, the sales process and tools we use have seen massive changes too. In my opinion, LinkedIn has impacted the sales profession like no other piece of technology or software.

LinkedIn was founded in 2003 as a business social networking site for people who were into professional development and were looking for a new way of doing business.

LinkedIn has evolved from a site where sales professionals could post their résumés online, to a networking and relationship management site.

I was introduced to LinkedIn in 2009. Without any hesitation I registered and logged in to start building my profile.

The light bulb in my head immediately brightened. I said to myself, “What an incredible concept. This site allows me to build out and share my story without it costing me anything.”

I spent countless hours dissecting every aspect of LinkedIn. I was determined to figure out how to leverage the platform to be a benefit. From that point forward, my sales career took a huge leap forward. I soon found out LinkedIn was a great way to showcase and promote myself. I could share what I was all about and how I could help my clients.

In essence, I was building my personal brand.

I love the personal relationship-building aspect of sales.

Based on building these personal business relationships, I uncovered the secret power behind LinkedIn. I was rapidly connecting with key influencers and decision makers — the same people who were ignoring my voicemail and email messages. I still used the phone and sent out emails, but my calls and emails took on a whole new meaning. These were warm calls based on relationships I was building with my LinkedIn connections. LinkedIn became my new best business friend.

Fast forward to late 2013. After more than 25 years on the

dealer side, I made a business decision to move to the direct side. I took a position with a well-known OEM in Los Angeles. This was a net-new sales position within the corporate major account team. The fact that I had a zero account base did not bother me; I knew LinkedIn was my best business friend.

During my first 90 days, I built my relationship funnel. I strongly believe in order to have a healthy sales funnel, you have to engage and commit to building up your relationship funnel. From my relationship funnel, I started to convert these relationships into net-new meetings. These net-new meetings took on an entirely different meaning, as I already had developed the personal connections on LinkedIn. This is where it gets crazy. Are you sitting down? I leveraged these LinkedIn relationships to bring in more than $600,000 of net-new business in conjunction with $1.25 million in sales revenue in calendar year 2014. I directly attribute 50 percent of my sales revenue to how I leveraged LinkedIn. LinkedIn became the core of my prospecting strategy and success.

LinkedIn allows us to not only share our professional accolades, but also learn about new opportunities, companies and the people we want to be connected with. LinkedIn provides the sales professional a tool to create his (or her) own website to promote his personal brand and story.

The Changing Buying Process Over the past 10 to 12 years, we have seen a dramatic transformation in the buyer’s journey. More dramatic changes have occurred in recent years. Buyers are in control of when and how they access information during the sales process. According to Sales Benchmark Index, today, the buyer is 69 percent of the way through his journey before he contacts a salesperson.

If the executive buyer is 69 percent of the way through his journey before he contacts a salesperson, then as sales professionals, we must place and position ourselves in the world in which the executive buyer is now living. Adapting to social selling platforms such as LinkedIn allows sales professionals

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to gain the attention of the new buyer in this is your story. A great read is Simon a competitive market. Social selling is Sinek’s “Start with Why: How Great Your LinkedIn page is the method by which salespeople identify Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Acyour professional profile prospects, nurture them, share relevant tion.” You can use the summary section to the business world ... information and generate a sales pipeline. of this book to develop your “why.” That You are creating your Again, I like to refer to this pipeline as is, why would someone do business personal brand via the relationship funnel. Forrester reports with you? Additionally, what does he that 100 percent of B2B decision-makers get when he engages with you? What what you promote are on social media for business purposes. makes you who you are? This is your within LinkedIn ...

Traditional prospecting methods of personal storytelling time. Draw your cold-calling, email and telephone have visitor in by sharing what he can expect become highly ineffective. In fact, according to the Harvard by engaging with you, along with your unique promise of Business Review, 90 percent of decision makers never an- value. Folks, this is the game-changer section. In his book, swer a cold call. These methods have become turn-offs for Sinek states: “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why potential buyers and executives. Today, executives are most you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe.” likely to engage with salespeople who understand their role, How are you generating awareness and attracting execucompany and industry. tives to your LinkedIn profile?

Effective use of LinkedIn allows a salesperson to build his According to recent studies by Salesforce.com, 73 percent professional image, tell his story and generate awareness in of salespeople who use social selling outperformed their the highly competitive sales environment. In many cases, peers. Likewise, there is 66 percent greater quota attainLinkedIn is still being used as a résumé showcase or a self- ment for sales reps using social selling. promotion site to tout sales accolades. Why is this? In my With a completely optimized LinkedIn profile you are opinion, it all starts with getting out of our comfort zones to now ready to nurture, grow and build those relationships. learn new methods of engaging with business professionals. Here are seven steps to incorporate to generate awareness: Change is difficult — especially for adults. As the executive (1) Develop relevant content and ideas to share. buyer is changing, so should we as salespeople.

(2) Share this content with your social network to help start conversations.

Creating Sales Mastery (3) Look at who has been reviewing your profile.

LinkedIn provides the foundation to create sales mas(4) Convert these people to first-level connections. tery. With that in mind, here are three questions to consider (5) Review your content engagement section for comwhen reviewing your current LinkedIn profile: Does my cur- ments on your posts. rent profile establish trust? Does it build credibility? Does it (6) Mine your network by reviewing your second-level eliminate risk? connections.

Your LinkedIn page is your professional profile to the busi(7) Block out time to make this a daily habit. ness world. Are you seen as a subject-matter expert? How are LinkedIn is about building relationships. Be authenyou positioning yourself as a thought leader? You are creating tic, add value, listen, build trust and be yourself. Today, your personal brand via what you promote within LinkedIn, salespeople must position themselves to be viewed as gowhich has become the largest use of a database in the world. to resources for thought leadership and industry news. By How are you promoting your professional image with your incorporating LinkedIn, I firmly believe you will have less LinkedIn profile? It all starts with your professional headline. competition for the executive buyer’s attention, you will creThis is not a position or your job title. Along with your name, ate a positive personal brand image and you will position your professional headline travels with you everywhere you yourself as a subject-matter expert. Most importantly, you go on LinkedIn. In every comment, every published post and will consistently keep the sales funnel full of prospects. n every group discussion, your headline follows you. You have Larry Levine is the social sales strategist for Dealer Marketing. seconds to bring someone in who, in turn, will spend time He coaches MFP sales professionals by helping canvassing your LinkedIn page. With 120 precious words, them tell their stories on LinkedIn and provides you have to promote value, create your call to action and marketing services to help independent compel the visitor to continue reading your profile. office technology dealerships thrive in a How are you storytelling with your LinkedIn profile? changing marketplace. Levine can be After drawing executives in with your headline, pay close reached at llevine@dealermarketing.net. attention to the summary section. In 2,000 words or less, Visit www.dealermarketing.net.

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COURTS & CAPITOLS

Overtime Compensation How to properly classify field service engineers by: Robert C. Goldberg, general counsel for the Business Technology Association

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his column has often addressed the issue of overtime compensation, as it seems to be a recurring issue. A recent case in Minneapolis, Minnesota, federal district court may help with the proper classification of field service engineers. The field service engineer in the litigation worked for an office technology dealership.

The employer had classified the technician as an exempt employee — one not eligible for overtime compensation. The technician worked out of his home and traveled to end-user sites as assigned. Some weeks the individual worked less than 40 hours and in other weeks he would work more than 40 hours. He was paid the same salary regardless of the number of hours worked. The employer designated the individual as exempt based on a combination of exemptions — administrative and computer worker.

The court considered how the employee spent his time during his workday to determine if the exemptions applied. An administrative exemption requires that one perform “management or general business operations” work. In this instance, the employee’s primary duty was to provide technical support to end-users’ copiers and printers. The fact that the employee performed his duties “virtually unsupervised” did not mean that he exercised the requisite “discretion and independent judgment” required by the administrative exemption.

The court found that the exercise of discretion and independent judgment requires more than applying well-established techniques, procedures or specific standards described in manuals and other sources. Providing technical support to end users was not a “matter of significance” in the administrative sense. The administrative exemption did not apply.

The court next considered the employee’s duties in regard to the computer worker exemption. The computer worker exemption applies to computer systems analysts, computer programmers and software engineers who are paid at least $455 per week on a salary basis or paid on an hourly basis at a rate of no less than $27.63 an hour. Job titles do not determine exempt status, nor does the rate or method of payment (salary). The court found that the computer employee exemption does not apply to employees engaged in the manufacture or repair of computer hardware or related equipment. The individual was not a programmer or systems analyst and, thus, the exemption did not apply. The employer’s argument that the individual

performed a combination of administrative and computer duties failed as well.

The employer’s arguments met further resistance, as the employer failed to have a job description for the individual.

Although a job description is not dispositive in establishing exempt status, it does indicate the duties expected of the employee. In addition, the employer failed to keep time records for the individual, and the employee (working from his home) was not required to maintain time records. It is an error not to have all non-exempt employees maintain time records of each workday. The time records should indicate the beginning of the day, breaks, lunch and end of day. In this case, it was almost impossible for the employer to dispute the employee’s recollection of his hours worked.

Since the failure to pay overtime compensation can require the payment of back pay for years, as well as interest and penalties, it is essential to have all employees properly classified and paid. The best practice is to review the exempt and non-exempt categories as explained on the United States Department of Labor website. Next, develop job descriptions for every employee. Finally, if you have any questions, BTA members should contact the Legal Hotline at (800) 869-6688. n Robert C. Goldberg is general counsel for the Business Technology Association.

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

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

Dealer Members All Makes Office Equipment, Omaha, NE Carrel’s Office Machines, Redding, CA Copi Solutions, Orlando, FL Emerald Document Imaging, Farmingdale, NY Laser Logic, Lawrence, KS Owens Business Machines, Hattiesburg, MS Service Associate Members Gwentaa LLC, Covington, KY Vendor Associate Members Brother International, Bridgewater, NJ For full contact information of these new members, visit www.bta.org.

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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 Brother International markets a wide array of products, including printers, scanners, fax machines, all-in-one devices and more, that are designed and built with a single goal in mind: to exceed customer expectations. So, whether it is simply basic technology geared to the small/home office (SOHO) market or state-of-the-art products to satisfy the extensive demands of the SMB market, Brother is a trusted name that is universally recognized and respected for quality, performance and value. www.brother-usa.com

BTA Service Associate member in2communications Inc. is a full-service marketing and communications agency that helps businesses of all sizes develop and execute their marketing and communications strategies. The company’s services include: website design and redesign; inbound marketing strategy and implementation; SEO; social media; video production and editing; content creation; and sales training to help support a company’s online marketing activities. in2communications also offers fully managed inbound marketing services for businesses with limited in-house marketing resources and time. www.in2communications.com A full list of BTA Vendor and Service Associate members can be found online at www.bta.org.

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PRINCIPAL ISSUES

Paying Sales Engineers An alternative plan for your consideration by: Luis Gonzalez, SalesScoreKeeper.com

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oday’s high-tech sales require expertise that is normally not part of the traditional sales professional’s knowledge arsenal. In some cases, the transactions are turned over to an expert in that type of sale. In other cases, the sales engineer (SE) assists the sales professional (SP) in completing the sale. In this article, we will discuss one option for compensating the SE who assists the SP. In most cases, the SE is assigned to a group or team of SPs and he (or she) is tasked to assist them in assessments, proposals and presentations. In most traditional settings, the SE is paid commission based on the revenue or gross profit of a transaction. This is good method of paying the SE and he can see immediate rewards from single transactions. However, there is an alternative way to compensate an SE that you may want to consider.

Look at compensating the SE on the overall performance of the team he supports versus support of individual or single transactions. Your company started selling managed IT services or IT products, for example, to grow your overall business, not just to gain a transaction here or there. Compensating the SE on the team’s performance will encourage him to focus on assisting all the reps who ask for help and developing the reps who do not ask for help. It is very common for a sales team to only have a couple of team members adapt and start selling new products, like IT services, while others continue doing what they have always done; they do not embrace the additional opportunities.

Some of the items that the SE should work on with his sales team could be: n Training — The SE should constantly be providing the SPs small bits of information about solutions or services the company offers. Pricing information should also be discussed in these meetings so the SPs will know what to expect as far as additional sales revenue and gross profit that could impact additional commission dollars for them. n In-House Demos — Seeing is believing. Setting up monthly in-house demos for SPs to see the actual products and services working is a great way to show what is being offered. More importantly, it will help the SPs gain confidence in knowing that the SE is familiar with the products and services, will be an asset to the transaction and will not complicate the deal or embarrass the SPs. n Account Review/Strategy — The SE should always be reviewing the SPs’ accounts and looking for possible verticals

or business scenarios where the products or solutions they support can be sold. The SE should also be part of initial customer visits so he is able to discover possible sales opportunities that the SPs may not be able to see.

In most cases, good SEs are not always the best prospectors or SPs. Consequently, their time should be spent on providing ongoing support to team members to assist them in achieving sales objectives in their specific areas.

Compensation for the SE should be based on the overall achievement of sales of products and/or services sold by the team he supports. Once a quota or budget has been established for the SPs, the SE could be paid on a percentage of attainment of the goal.

As an example, if the team the SE supports is tasked with signing up five IT services contracts a month, the SE could be paid based on how many are actually contracted.

Here is an example: Payout Number of Contracts $0 2 or less $250 3 $500 4 $750 5 www.offi cetechnol ogyma g. c om | M a y 2015 | 25

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earn incentive pay while he helps the comThe number of contracts and the dolpany achieve its overall sales goals. n lars paid out could vary depending on When preparing a In 2011, Luis Gonzalez founded your company’s goals and how aggressive compensation plan for SalesScoreKeeper.com, a sales commission you want your comp plan(s) to be. The payany position ... the first automation processing Web application that out of commissions could also be based on goal is to align with the helps dealers increase efficiency and accuracy a dollar amount, such as a percentage of overall objectives of the during the process of sales commissions. net-new contracts signed up in a month.

In 1986, he founded Miami Office Systems The idea here is to compensate the SE on products or services that (MOS) in south Florida. MOS specialized an overall number or bonus structure, not are being compensated. in the office technology space for 25 years on individual transactions. as an independent dealership. It was When preparing a compensation plan acquired by Sharp Electronics Corp. in 2007. for any position in the company, the first goal is to align with From 2007 to 2011, Gonzalez was branch president the overall objectives of the products or services that are beand director of sales and marketing for ing compensated. Compensating the SE on the overall sales of Sharp Business Systems. He was most IT products and/or services will ensure that he has the right recently senior vice president for direction and will provide assistance in the overall success of Sharp’s Business Solutions Group. the program.

Gonzalez can be reached at There are many ways to compensate the SE; this is just one (954) 703-4095 or luis@salesscorekeeper.com. way. The most important item is to have a clear and simple Visit www.salesscorekeeper.com. compensation plan that is well documented and helps the SE

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SERVICE CONNECTIONS

A Team Sport Building a world-class service organization by: Jeff Silver, Image Source

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ndrew Carnegie said it best: “Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. [It is] the ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.”

The 2013 NBA finals (Miami versus San Antonio) exemplified this quote perfectly. The Miami Heat had a roster filled with more stars, a higher total payroll amount and the best player in the league (LeBron James). Despite these facts, Miami was defeated in only five games. The better team won and the superstars ended their season with disappointment.

While few service departments possess the same kind of glamour as a championship NBA team, Carnegie’s sentiment still holds true: The company with the best team will always meet (and likely exceed) its goals. The question is: How do you build that team?

The process of creating a great team is not a direct route and there is not one way to accomplish this goal. However, several guiding practices certainly hold true: Identify and correct problems; make adjustments to the established plan; and provide consistent feedback. These are three practices that will lead to the establishment of a world-class service team.

In my time building and managing teams, one of the most important questions I have found myself asking is: “Why are we doing it this way?” If the answer I receive is something along the lines of “We’ve always done it this way,” that is my first clue that greater investigation is necessary. It is extremely easy for any business to suffer from what I like to call the “settling-for-good-rather-than-the-best” syndrome. An established business can easily slip into this kind of pattern and leave in place practices or processes that seem to work, but lack real efficiency.

A business that regularly questions its established practices is one that will consistently be on the front line of innovation, as well as have best practices in place that actually work, rather than settling for status quo. This ability can be a difficult one to cultivate and one that requires management to question not only itself, but the established industry model.

A relevant service department example of this kind of thinking has to do with what metrics to chase. Recently, I have found that many dealers blindly chase metrics that do not result in greater efficiency. For example, the idea of techs performing a certain number of calls per day (five seems to

be the typical number), is the goal of many of the dealers with whom I have spoken. On the surface, this seems like a great way to track tech productivity and keep on top of response time for customers. However, this metric is incomplete in that efficiency does not lie in the number of calls performed, but the quality of each call performed. If a tech hits the metric and gets five calls done every day, but each one results in additional calls (call backs or hold for parts), both the customers and the company suffer. If techs perform fewer (and more complete) calls, efficiency increases and the net result on call volume is dramatically larger. The kind of questioning that leads to deviation from industry norms is the same kind of innovation that can easily lead a company from good to great.

When evaluating operations, a common pitfall occurs when established leaders are unwilling to change processes or systems they have created. This kind of hubris can hold back efficiency and only serves to glorify ideas whose time has passed or were inferior from the beginning. Any leader willing to question his (or her) own decisions or the established practices of his organization stands the greatest chance of www.offi cetechnol ogyma g. c om | M a y 2015 | 27

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identified, the team leader needs to consisbuilding the best team and organization. tently and frankly communicate feedback.

Staffing is a great example of this. Many A great leader will This practice will allow everyone to underleaders are unwilling to objectively evalbe willing to make stand what is expected and what it will take uate long-time employees. Just because adjustments to a to get there. someone has been doing something for team regardless of the I have found this philosophy to be the a long time does not necessarily mean he difficulty or short-term single most important facet of building is doing it well. The members of the team a great team. The means through which I determine its overall success. As the adinconveniences it have put this practice into place is simple: age states: “A chain is only as strong as its may cause.

Every month, I meet with service techs and weakest link.” That being said, there is no managers over breakfast to discuss their general rule of thumb here, but the guiding principle is simple: A great leader will be willing to make ad- performance from the previous month. This not only allows justments to a team regardless of the difficulty or short-term me to directly communicate what the expectations of the department and company are, but also helps to foster an open inconveniences it might cause.

The third practice noted above is the glue that holds the first line of dialogue, provide an opportunity to discuss action two together. If a leader is able to objectively identify areas plans for areas of deficiency, and celebrate successes and met of deficiency and has a willingness to make adjustments, an goals. I have observed that most employees find this activity ability to provide the team with consistent feedback will serve novel and truly appreciate being told frankly what is expectas the rudder to the ship, so to speak. After areas needing im- ed of them and how to get there. I see these coaching sessions provement (or areas where success should be celebrated) are as my opportunity to get everyone on the same page and to help develop and mentor employees.

No team can thrive without players who are on board and excited about the direction the team is headed. Many managers are overly cryptic or aloof with their employees. The only place this behavior leads is to a disorganized and disunited team. Employees who genuinely believe they are supported by management and clearly understand company goals and expectations stand a much greater chance of working hard to meet company goals and exceed expectations.

Any company’s success is only as great as the success of its individual employees. No organization can attain extraordinary results with a less-than-extraordinary team. The success of the team (and, ultimately, the organization) lies in leadership’s ability to develop individual employees. If members of management are in the practice of regularly identifying deficiencies, have a willingness to make adjustments and can provide consistent feedback, they will be well on their way to building a world-class team and, subsequently, a world-class organization. n Jeff Silver is vice president of customer service for Image Source in San Bernardino, California.

Prior to Image Source, Silver was the vice president of service for Nauticon Imaging Systems in Gaithersburg, Maryland. He has more than 15 years of management experience, and over that time, he has helped small- to medium-sized businesses identify opportunities for improvement and develop strategies to increase customer satisfaction and company performance. Silver can be reached at jsilver@imagesourceusa.com.

Visit www.imagesourceusa.com.

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SELLING SOLUTIONS

Employee Evaluations Here is a simple process for any salesperson by: Troy Harrison, SalesForce Solutions

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ne of the things that surprises a lot of my clients is my insistence on doing formal annual written evaluations of salespeople. “But, they know how they are doing,” I am told. Nonsense. Annual evaluations are a great tool for improvement; unfortunately, too many of the evaluations used do not really cover the important areas on which salespeople should be evaluated.

Worse, they can be too complicated.

Here is a simple evaluation with four criteria that can be used for any salesperson working for any company in any industry: (1) The Numbers — Obviously, the most important measure of achievement is results. Compare your salesperson’s performance to your goals and give him (or her) a one-to-five rating using the following criteria: n A one if he has never gotten close enough to quota to see it. n A two if he is usually under quota, but every now and then he has a breakout month and makes quota. n A three if he is usually at or close to quota. n A four if he is usually well over quota, but still misses every now and then. n If you cannot remember the last time your salesperson missed quota and he is usually 20 percent or more over, give him a five.

Now, multiply this result by two.

(2) The Funnel — You should have targets for each salesperson’s sales funnel activities (e.g., appointments, proposals, etc.)

Maintaining a full funnel is vital. The first criterion is about past results; this one is about future performance. Rate the salesperson from one to five again, using the following criteria: n A one if he is consistently 20 percent or more below your sales funnel activity targets. n A two if he is usually below target, but sometimes makes it. n A three if he almost always hits target. n A four if he always meets and sometimes exceeds targets. n A five if he is always over by 20 percent or more.

(3) Customer Relationships — In this criterion, we will evaluate the quality of the salesperson’s customer interactions and relationships, as this is a predictor of his future ability to make his numbers. For the purpose of this exercise, focus on those customers that generate the top 80 percent of business.

We will rate relationships in terms of the salesperson’s ability to retain this business in the face of adversity, as well as customers’

willingness to evangelize for the salesperson and your company, again on a one-tofive scale. n A one if 50 percent or more of the salesperson’s top customers are one service failure away from leaving. n A two if 20 to 49 percent of his customer base is one screw-up away from leaving. n A three if 0 to 20 percent of his base is one mistake away from leaving. n A four if he can ride out a screw-up with all of his customers. n A five if he can withstand failure with all of his customers and at least 25 percent of them are willing to refer him or serve as testimonials.

(4) Internal Relationships — Some people do not believe that it is important for salespeople to be good internal citizens of their companies. Nonsense. If a salesperson is a negative influence inside your company, he is costing the company money in lost productivity from those who are negatively affected by his poor attitude. On the other hand, being well liked and respected can pay career dividends in many different ways. Rate the salesperson from one to five again, using the following criteria: n A one if a conference room or office clears within two minutes of his entry (because no one can stand him). n A two if he is usually afraid to ask co-workers or support personnel for favors because they are not willing to grant them. n A three if he has at least three “go-to” people he can get favors and help from, and has people he avoids because they cannot do the same. n A four if he is nearly universally respected and has at least three “go-to” people. n A five if everyone is his “go-to” person (or even better, he is everyone else’s).

By now, you should have a feel for the criteria: One is awful; two is bad; three is average; four is good; and five is superstar-level. We double-weighted sales results because, frankly, that is the most important criterion. But it is not the only one.

For any criterion that you ranked your salesperson a one or two, he has work to do. Seek help from co-workers and customers, and offer it yourself to develop the salesperson.

Total your result from each criterion and use this scale: n From 25 to 30 points: He is either a superstar or on the edge of superstardom. n From 20 to 24 points: He is good, a cut above average and www.offi cetechnol ogymag. c om | M a y 2015 | 29

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positives, as well as areas for improvement. is unlikely to have job worries anytime soon.

The Salesperson’s Comments — Aln From 13 to 19 points: He is average; Write a summary low the salesperson to write down his own very, very average. paragraph about comments, if he would like to do so. n From seven to 12 points: He is below your salesperson’s Sign It — Both you and the salesperaverage to the point that you are constantperformance and son should sign the evaluation. Give him a ly worried about him. how he fits into your copy, keep a copy for your own file and you n From one to six points: Unless he is are done. brand new with no experience, he needs sales force, now See, wasn’t that simple? A quality pereither an overnight change of behavior or and in the future. formance evaluation is a vital part of your a new career. sales management processes and it should Professional Development Goals — not be neglected. Do reviews at least annuAny good evaluation should identify areas where the salesperson can improve and build his skills until ally, if not semiannually. n Troy Harrison is the author of “Sell Like You Mean It!” his next evaluation. Again, any ones or twos are easy targets and a speaker, consultant and sales navigator. He helps for this. Besides those obvious deficiencies, look at areas where companies build more profitable and productive sales forces the salesperson can make a substantial leap in performance. with his cutting-edge sales training and Your goal as a manager should be to improve someone at least methodologies. For information on booking two points; in other words, do not shoot for taking a one to a speaking/training engagements, consulting or two — shoot for a one to a three or a two to a four. Identify at to sign up for his weekly e-zine, call least three skills that can be improved.

(913) 645-3603 or email Overall Summation — Write a summary paragraph about your salesperson’s performance and how he fits into troy@troyharrison.com.

Visit www.troyharrison.com. your sales force, now and in the future. Make sure to include

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