November 2022 Office Technology

Service and

FEATURE ARTICLES

A4s

Three

Brent Hoskins

Technology Magazine

DEALERS HELPING DEALERS

Managing Stale DCAs How do dealers keep their devices reporting?

Compiled by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

embracing both A3 and A4

Are

are you fo cused on placing as many A3s as possible? What do

brief profiles of three BTA member

on their A4

Colors Retreat

BTA Southeast hosts

in Asheville, N.C.

Elizabeth Marvel

Technology Magazine

The 2022 Fall Colors Retreat was held Oct. 13-14 in Asheville, North Caro lina. The event featured two keynote addresses, two ad ditional educational sessions, exhibitor round-table dis cussions, networking time, a private tour of the Biltmore Estate and dinner at the Biltmore’s Lioncrest Veranda.

Brian Suerth

Technology Assurance Group (TAG)

pandemic-driven challenges

inflation

labor

This article includes a question sub mitted by a dealer member as part of BTA’s Dealers Helping Dealers resource, and several of the an swers received. These answers and many others can be found in the members-only section of the BTA website at www.bta.org/DealersHelpingDealers.

COURTS & CAPITOLS

Employee Loyalty

Protecting the investment in your team members

Robert C. Goldberg BTA General Counsel

How does a dealer protect the in vestment made in his employees? It remains advis able to address confidentiality, nonsolicitation and noncompetition in your employee manual. Noncom pete agreements should be considered in jurisdic tions where they have not been legislatively banned.

PRINCIPAL ISSUES

Sharp’s Opportunity OEM hosts 2022 Dealer Roadshow Series by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

resulted in poor customer experiences

the board. When you do have an outstanding experience today, it is more impactful and memorable than ever. It is time to seize this

Q&A: Tami Beach

HP channel executive addresses dealer questions

Compiled by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

On Oct. 20, Office Technology maga zine interviewed Tami Beach, head of MPS channel sales for HP Inc. The questions she ad dressed were requested from and submitted by BTA member dealers selling HP products. Questions were edited for length, clarity, etc.

Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America will soon wrap up its October and November dealer meetings, with “Opportuni ty” as the theme, as part of its Sharp 2022 Dealer Roadshow Series. The attendees include dealership principals, sales personnel and service managers.

DEPARTMENTS

Technology Association

Our Thanks to BTA’s Key Pillars of Support

You will see that David Polimeni’s President’s Message in this issue of Office Tech nology recognizes the Business Technology As sociation’s (BTA’s) longest-term dealer mem bers. Collectively, they are at the foundation of the association’s core member group. However, there are oth er members who are very important to BTA. Their memberships demonstrate a commit ment to the association and, in turn, unpar alleled support of the dealer channel.

Following David’s lead, I would like to take the opportunity to recognize many of the companies in the association’s other member groups — vendor members, con sultant/trainer members and publishing associate members. Looking back to BTA’s recent district-hosted educational and net working events — the Sept. 14-15 Capture the Magic event in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the Oct. 13-14 Fall Colors Retreat in Ashe ville, North Carolina — I can assure you that many of these members helped make the two events possible. Our dealer mem bers are the foundation of BTA. Our other members are the key pillars of support for the association. Following are the most long-term current members among the three non-dealer-member groups, listed by decades in the order they joined the asso ciation (oldest to newest).

1960s: Toshiba America Business Solu tions Inc.

1970s: KYOCERA Document Solutions, Industry Analysts Inc. and Xerox Corp.

1980s: Keypoint Intelligence, U.S. Bank Office Equipment Finance Services and Nu world Business Systems

1990s: Copier Careers and Cargill Con sulting Group Inc.

2000s: GreatAmerica Financial Services Corp., in2communications, Lexmark In ternational Inc., Midwest Copier Exchange LLC, Sharp Electronics Corp., DLL, Docu Ware Corp., ENX Magazine, Polek & Polek Inc., ECI Software Solutions, Distribution Management, TonerCycle/InkCycle, Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A. Inc., Im age Star, Miracle Service, Kingston Train ing Group Inc., EDA, Strategic Business Associates, NEXERA, a BEI Services Com pany, CEO Juice and Outlaw Group Inc.

2010s: NewWave Technologies Inc., Hy tec Dealer Services Inc., SalesChain LLC, Mars International Inc., M-Files Inc., Katun Corp., NA Trading and Technology, BPO Me dia, White Cup Solutions, CIT Bank, SalesScoreKeeper, International Imaging Tech nology Council, Troy Harrison & Associ ates, Print4Pay, ConnectWise, TD SYNNEX Corp., CET USA, Wells Fargo Equipment Fi nance, ACDI, Ricoh Americas Corp., Epson America Inc., The Sailor Group Inc./Agent Dealer, Brother International, Laserfiche, Tigerpaw Software, IBPI, Actionable Intel ligence, RISO Inc., FP Mailing Solutions, Crexendo Inc., Technology Assurance Group, ITD Print Solutions, Datablaze, Ninestar Image Tech Ltd., In Time Tec, OPEX Corp., ecoprintQ, WatchGuard Technolo gies and Performance Now

2020s: Cranel Inc., ELATEC Inc., MPS Monitor srl, Chassi, Predictive InSight, Dealer Site Builder, Modern Sales Training, Sepialine Inc., Intermedia, PFU America Inc. (Fujitsu), Hyland, Kodak Alaris, XQ In novation, Quench USA Inc., EveryonePrint A/S, PriApps LLC, iTS: Info Technology Supply Ltd., Equipment Brokers Unlimit ed, Info-Source, Stramaglio Consulting, DOQSOFT Inc., Amplified Solutions, MPS Cloudware, eGoldFax, Evo Security and Prism Software 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

Bob Goldberg, General Counsel Business Technology Association

Brian Suerth, Technology Assurance Group www.tagnational.com

Business Technology Association 12411 Wornall Road

Kansas City, MO 64145 (816) 941-3100 www.bta.org

Member Services: (800) 505-2821

BTA Legal Hotline: (312) 648-2300

Valerie Briseno Marketing Director valerie@bta.org

Brian Smith Membership Sales Representative brian@bta.org

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

FLASHBACK

The association’s magazine cover 45 years ago this month — the NOMDA Spokesman, November 1977.

Keep

I’d Like to Thank Our Long-Term Members

Throughalmost 100 years and major worldwide events — including the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean, Vietnam and Persian Gulf Wars, 9/11, the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic — our association has endured. Even with today’s economic uncertainty and changes in the industry, Business Technology Asso ciation (BTA) members are growing, find ing new revenue streams and succeeding.

Founded in 1926, BTA’s mission has been to help its member dealerships improve through the association’s various offerings. I think our success is evident when you look at how long so many dealerships have been members of the association and continue to be active today. I would like to recognize and thank our longest-term current dealer mem bers, listed by decades and in the order they joined the association (oldest to newest):

1930s: Anderson Business Technology, Pasadena, CA (joined in 1930); and Capital Business Machines, Little Rock, AR

1940s: Wagner Office Machines, Burr Ridge, IL; Howard D. Happy Co., Mayfield, KY; and Standley Systems, Chickasha, OK

1950s: Waltz Business Solutions, Crest view Hills, KY; Richardson Business Solu tions, Grand Rapids, MI; ABM Automation, Edmond, OK; Bishop Business, Omaha, NE; Eakes Office Solutions, Grand Island, NE; Edwards Business Systems/Virginia Busi ness Systems, Wyomissing, PA; SBM, Ster ling, IL; Central Office Service & Supply Inc., Clay Center, KS; and Hagan Business Machines Inc., Erie, PA

1960s: Visual Edge IT, Grand Blanc, MI; MOEbiz, Monroe, LA; Southeastern Busi ness Machines Co., Huntsville, AL; MMIT Business Solutions Group, Urbandale, IA;

Loy’s Office Supplies, LaGrange, GA; PLUS Inc., Greenville, SC; and Hoosier Business Machines, Jasper, IN

1970s: Dustin Office Machines, Gaines ville, TX; WJS Enterprises Inc., New Orleans, LA; Buckmaster Office Solutions, Sacramen to, CA; Forbes Office Solutions Inc., Newton, IA; Boring Business Systems, Lakeland, FL; EDC Business Solutions, Richmond Hill, NY; Adams Remco Inc., South Bend, IN; Advance Business Systems, Cockeysville, MD; CopyPro Inc., Greenville, NC; Duplicator Sales & Ser vice, Louisville, KY; Allen Business Machines, Fort Wayne, IN; Fraser Advanced Informa tion Systems, West Reading, PA; COECO Of fice Systems, Rocky Mount, NC; American Office Machines Inc., Metairie, LA; Memphis Communications Corp., Memphis, TN; Bay Copy, Rockland, MA; Gobin’s Inc., Pueblo, CO; Tri-State Business Systems Inc., Superior, WI; H.L. Dempsey Co. Inc., West Springfield, MA; SumnerOne, St. Louis, MO; SaraMana Business Products Inc., Sarasota, FL; Tri-City Business Machines, Kingsport, TN; Carolina Business Equipment Inc., Columbia, SC; Elec tronic Business Machines Inc., Lexington, KY; Miller Services, Charlotte, NC; California Business Machines, Fresno, CA; James Imag ing Systems Inc., Brookfield, WI; Office Copy ing Equipment Ltd., Milwaukee, WI; Merri mack Valley Business Machines Inc., North Chelmsford, MA; Stone’s Office Equipment Co. Inc., Richmond, VA; Specialty Business Solutions Inc., New York, NY; King Office Ser vice Inc., Mansfield, OH; Lockwood Moore Inc., Reno, NV; Commonwealth Digital Office Solutions, Sterling, VA; Koch Office Group, Des Moines, IA; Stratix Systems, Wyomiss ing, PA; EGP Document Solutions, Duluth, GA; Standard Office Systems of Atlanta Inc., Duluth, GA; New England Copy Specialists Inc., Woburn, MA; and Ohio Business Sys tems Inc., Worthington, OH n

— David Polimeni

2022-2023 Board of Directors

President

David Polimeni

RITE Technology Sarasota, Florida dpolimeni@ritefl.com

President-Elect

Don Risser

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

Vice President

Adam Gregory

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

Immediate Past President

Tim Renegar

Kelly Office Solutions

Winston-Salem, North Carolina trenegar@kellyofficesolutions.com

BTA East

Mike Ardry

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

Mike Boyle

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

BTA Mid-America

Brantly Fowler

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

Greg Quirk

JQ Office Equipment Omaha, Nebraska gquirk@jqoffice.com

BTA Southeast Debra Dennis

CopyPro Inc. Greenville, North Carolina ddennis@copypro.net

Jim Buck

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

BTA West Dan Bombard

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

Mike McGuirk

ProCopy Office Solutions Inc. Mesa, Arizona

mmcguirk@procopyoffice.com

Ex-Officio/General Counsel

Robert C. Goldberg

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

Embracing A4s

Three dealers illuminate the opportunities

by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

Thinkabout your office technology deal ership prior to the supply-chain crisis. Think about your dealership following the crisis. Are you embracing both A3 and A4 opportunities? Or are you focused on placing as many A3s as possible? What do your cus tomers need?

Following are brief profiles of three BTA member dealerships focusing on their A4 suc cesses. Perhaps they will inspire you to take another look at the A4 opportunities in your market. Are you leaving money on the table?

Electronic Business Machines

In the 1990s, Electronic Business Machines (EBM), based in Lexington, Kentucky, was known nationally as a source of board repair for printers, although it sold and serviced printers locally. Ultimately, the decision was made to seek a new opportunity to expand the dealership’s local offerings. However, “a lot of the A3 lines were spoken for in our area already,” says Mike Hicks, president of EBM. “So, it was A4s that gave us that new opportunity, especially with Lexmark, since we are almost next door to them.”

A4 MFPs (and printers) were a game changer at EBM. “We wanted to differentiate ourselves from everybody else down the street; A4 allowed us to do that,” Hicks says. “We could offer a quality box for a third of the price. That really took off from 2007 to 2009 when people were being laid off and un employment was high. People were looking to save money any way they could in their print environments.”

At its peak, around 70% of EBM’s unit placements were A4, Hicks says, noting, however, that today the percentage is around 60%, due, in part, to new successes with A3 MFP place ments. EBM also sells Xerox and Epson products. He notes that around 65% of all A4 devices placed by EBM are monochrome.

Hicks says that A4 devices are the best fit for company lo cations producing no more than 6 million to 7 million pag es annually. Even though the cost per copy (CPC) on A4 is “slightly higher,” for companies producing pages within that

6-to-7-million range, unless an A3 is needed, he says, going only with A4 devices “still wins most accounts over A3 because of the higher price for the A3.”

While the CPC is slightly higher for A4s as compared to A3s, “the delta between the two has narrowed over time,” Hicks says, noting that this is helped by the service burden rate of the A4 Lexmark models sold by EBM, which is lower than that of A3s. “In the old days, you might have been 1.2 cents for mono on an A4 and .08 cents for mono on A3. Today, I’m probably at .009 for A4 and .007 for A3; so, only two mils. And I’m talking OEM toner; compatible toner on the A4 makes that number even closer.”

Hicks says EBM finds success with A4 placements in a va riety of verticals, primarily in companies with fewer than 200 employees. It began with the legal sector, which was “big for us” early on. “I don’t know if this is the case nation wide, but in Kentucky, attorneys had to scan all of their doc uments, convert them to PDFs and send them to the court system before appearing in court,” he says. He notes that while the lack of scans from revenues is a “topic for another day,” those A4 placements “helped us find traction in legal.”

In addition, due to the small footprint of A4s, they are particularly well received in the health-care and banking industries, Hicks says. “We have one regional bank here with 150 A4 machines in 32 locations,” he says. “They have two A3s; they really only need one.”

A4 devices, serviced by EBM, are especially welcome by IT personnel within the targeted verticals and otherwise, Hicks says. “Back about 15 years ago, purchasing depart ments bought A3s and the IT departments bought printers, which were kind of dumped on them,” he says. “The printers weren’t a capital expense because you could buy them for $800. However, today, with cybersecurity and all the other issues IT personnel have to deal with, they don’t want to handle printers. So, it’s easy for us to say, ‘Let us take this off your hands. We can save you money.’”

Hicks advises his fellow dealers to take a closer look at

WELCOME TO THE INTELLIGENT CONNECTED WORKPLACE

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

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

ramping up their emphasis on A4 placements if they are not doing so already. “You don’t want to leave money on the table, and you don’t want to leave the door open for a competitor to ask the question that you may not be asking today,” he says. “The profit could be there for you because, again, our number shows that the ser vicing cost of an A4 is less than that of an A3.”

Kelly Office Solutions

At Kelly Office Solutions, based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, A4 is an important part of the dealership’s prod uct focus, but it is not necessarily a primary focus in and of itself. “We don’t encourage it, nor do we discourage it,” says Tim Renegar, president and CEO. “If it’s a good fit for the customer, we sell them an A4.”

Increasingly, it is a good fit. “I looked back over the last six months; 26% of our unit placements were A4s,” Renegar says. “The majority of those were Brother models, which are smaller-range MFPs.” The dealership also sells Ricoh, Koni ca Minolta and Epson products.

The 26% represents a growing percentage — part of the overall growth of the dealership, Renegar says. “When we compare our 2018 revenues to today’s numbers, we are now up about 15% over our pre-pandemic level,” he says, noting that he compares current numbers to fiscal year 2018-19, which ended June 30. “We’re very fortunate. Our A3 model placements are up and we’re still selling a lot of them, but our A4 placements are clearly becoming a big percentage of our total sales.”

Many of those A4s have gone into net-new accounts and “many others were part of our right-sizing of existing ac counts,” Renegar says, adding that the majority of A4 place ments by Kelly are color MFPs, with single-function printers comprising most of the monochrome A4 placements. “Not everyone needs 11-by-17, but they do need a small footprint in a lot of cases. I don’t have a problem with selling A4. They have a little higher CPC, but the margins are still the same and if they’re running volume, that’s really what we’re after as a dealership — those clicks.”

Renegar shares a recent example of a deal that garnered a significant number of A4 placements. “We had a 700-machine takedown that we would not have gotten if we didn’t offer Brother A4s,” he says, expressing gratitude for the availabil ity of Brother’s products, given that A4s have largely been un available from other manufacturers during the supply-chain

crisis. “We did install Ricoh A3 products in the account — 120 of the 700 machines. But a lot of Brother A4s were installed, as well as a few sin gle-function printers. Previ ously, the account had a ton of A3s. We just changed the whole table and were able to get the deal.”

There will likely be a boost in the number of A4 place ments at Kelly in the months ahead, Renegar says. “Right now, there are situations where we’re selling A3, but an A4 would have made better sense,” he says, noting that the sixmonth delay in getting A4s led to the A3 placements. “Cus tomers are going ahead and making the decision to accept A3s that are similar to what they had in place. Since their leases have ended, their existing models are getting older and they’re ready to make a move. But as soon as the supply chain starts to settle down and the larger manufacturers go back to producing A4 products and getting them to us, A4 will be an even larger percentage of our placements.”

As noted, Kelly’s focus is selling the right product to fit customer needs. “When we do an assessment at any busi ness we are looking at: ‘What’s your workload? What do you run? What do you need? Do you need ledger-size output?’” Renegar explains. “We want to make sure that we have ex plored all of the workflow so that we are placing the right products to handle that workflow.”

Renegar acknowledges that while Kelly’s A3 versus A4 prod uct mix will continue to evolve over time, the goal will remain the same. “Everybody’s talking about where A4 is headed and that A3 is steadily drifting back a bit, but clicks will still be there,” he says. “That’s what we’re after. I don’t care whether it’s A3 or A4 — either way we’re going after those clicks.”

PLUS Inc.

When you are the second generation in a 64-year-old of fice technology dealership, you know plenty about the tran sition from one technology to the next. “We migrated into typewriters in the 1960s and 1970s, computers in the 1980s, and copiers in the late 1980s,” says David Carson, president of PLUS Inc., based in Greenville, South Carolina. Fast for ward to today. “IT and A4 — both are goldmines. There is so much opportunity out there, it’s ridiculous.”

While he says PLUS is “going heavy into IT” and “the recur ring revenue on IT is growing by leaps and bounds,” Carson is equally bullish on A4. “Six or seven years ago at a BTA event, a presenter said that 80% of all pages printed in the United States

“You don’t want to leave money on the table, and you don’t want to leave the door open for a competitor to ask the question that you may not be asking today. The profit could be there for you ... ”

— Mike Hicks Electronic Business Machines

are done on printers and pro duction print,” he says. “On the printer side, that’s almost always going to be A4 devices. Those printers use a lot of sup plies and run a lot of paper. Why would you walk away from that? By the way, we sell a lot of production printers from Ricoh and Konica Mi nolta, too.”

Emphasizing that “a lot of people are scaling down to smaller systems,” Carson cites two recent migrations to A4 printers and MFPs. Mi gration one: “We just had a bank that had 15 A3 devices. They built a brand-new headquarters and switched to six A3s; all of the others got downsized to A4s.” Migration two: “We recently took over a manufacturer’s direct account — an accounting firm. They had one printer and three big A3s. We replaced them with three A4s.”

Carson also shares a near A4-only example. “We have a medical firm customer with 20 doctors that has almost all A4s now,” he says. “They don’t have a contract with us, but they spend about $2,000 a month on supplies. They pay as they go for labor. We charge $180 an hour, plus a $40 trip charge. They’re two miles down the street.

It’s good money.”

No contract? That’s right. Many of PLUS’s customers “don’t want to be on a click charge, they want to buy their toner and pay for their ser vice,” Carson says. “I was just looking at a report yesterday.

We have one customer that bought about $1,500 worth of toner in one day for all of its small $200 printers; it probably has 50 of them. They have 25 to 30 A3 devices. They don’t have any anything under contract. They pay us as they go for

“Right

placements.”

— Tim Renegar Kelly Office Solutions

everything. We have a lot of those accounts now, especially on the A4 side.”

Noting that PLUS is “definitely selling more A4 every year,” Carson says the ratio of the dealership’s A4 MFP and singlefunction printer placements is about 50:50. What is the ratio of A4 versus A3 devices placed by PLUS? “I don’t have a ratio that I can share; it would just be a guess,” he says. “However, I can go into my warehouse and see about 75 to 100 brand-new A4s ready to go out the door, because we sell so many of them. Our reps are out beating the streets. However, for the last 12 months, our problem has been more about managing growth than about looking for new orders. We’ve been very blessed.”

How can PLUS confidently know that the no-contract customer will buy supplies from the dealership? “We sell 99% of our A4 offerings through two vendors — Konica Mi nolta and Ricoh,” he says. “Very few people have good access to Konica Minolta and Ricoh products on the internet; these companies don’t really market that way — they do, but they don’t. Plus, you can’t just walk into a Staples and buy Konica Minolta or Ricoh toner, because they don’t have them on their shelves. Our customers almost always buy their sup plies and service from us.”

Carson emphasizes the primary reason for PLUS’s heavy focus on A4. “You have got to go where the industry is head ed,” he says. “A4 is where most prints are going to go as peo ple print less and less.”

Many dealers “have a tendency to try and control where the market goes, but the world doesn’t work that way; in stead, you should move to where the people are going,” Car son says. “Dealers who are only trying to hang on to clicks and the A3 business, in my opinion, are go ing be like the typewriter dealers. Eventually, they are going to go away.” n Brent Hoskins, executive director of the Business Technology Association, is editor of Office Technology magazine. He can be reached at brent@bta.org or (816) 303-4040.

“ ... I can go into my warehouse and see about 75 to 100 brand-new A4s ready to go out the door, because we sell so many of them. Our reps are out beating the streets ... We’ve been very blessed.“

— David Carson PLUS Inc.

Fall Colors Retreat

BTA Southeast hosts event in Asheville, N.C.

The2022 Fall Colors Retreat, hosted by BTA South east, was held Oct. 13-14 at the Renaissance Ashe ville Downtown Hotel in Asheville, North Carolina. The event featured two keynote addresses, two additional educational sessions, exhibitor round-table discussions, plenty of networking time, a private tour of the Biltmore Estate and dinner at the Biltmore’s Lioncrest Veranda.

The first keynote, “The Death of the People Business,” was presented by Derek Shebby of Modern Sales Training. He spoke about the changes the COVID-19 pandemic has had on sales teams and explored how to reignite the sales processes that have been proven to work. Shebby also shared some more recent methods that can supercharge performance in the future.

The second keynote, “Personal Branding to Win,” was presented by Rick Lambert of selltowin and In2communi cations. He shared steps dealers can take to elevate their personal brands to create more awareness, boost consid eration rates and generate more leads.

The additional educational sessions: “Current State of the Industry & Insight Into 2023,” by Mike Marusic of Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America; and “Eight Numbers to Help Deliver Managed IT Success for Dealers,” by Chris Ryne of Growth Achievement Partners.

The exhibiting sponsors were: ACDI, Brother (break fast sponsor), Cranel, Crexendo, ECI, eGoldFax, FP, GreatAmerica, Hytec, IBPI, Intermedia (lunch sponsor), Kodak Alaris, Konica Minolta, Kyocera, LEAF, Macquarie, Mid west Copier Exchange, NA Trading and Technology, SalesChain, Sharp (keynote sponsor), Technology Assurance Group (breaks sponsor), TROY, WatchGuard, Wells Fargo, Xerox, Y Soft and Zultys.

BTA’s 2023 events are currently being scheduled. Visit www.bta.org/BTAEvents for more information on next year’s events as it becomes available. n Elizabeth Marvel is associate editor of Office Technology magazine. She can be reached at elizabeth@bta.org or (816) 303-4060.

Top: The Fall Colors Retreat featured two keynote addresses, two additional educational sessions, networking time, roundtable discussions with exhibitors, a private tour of the Bilt more Estate and dinner at the Biltmore’s Lioncrest Veranda.

Bottom photos, left to right: 2022-23 BTA Southeast President Jim Buck; 2022-23 BTA Southeast President-Elect Mike Hicks; and 2022-23 BTA Southeast Vice President Blake Renegar serve as the event’s emcees.

by: Elizabeth Marvel, Office Technology Magazine

Above left: Shebby presents the first keynote, “The Death of the People Business.” Above right: Lambert presents the second keynote, “Personal Branding to Win.”

Above, clockwise from top left: Marusic presents his educational session; Ryne presents his session; and attendees network with peers and exhibitors during a break.

Managed IT Success

Chris Ryne of Growth Achievement Partners presented “Eight Numbers to Help Deliver Managed IT Success for Dealers,” at the Fall Colors Retreat. During the session, he shared the follow ing eight “non-financial” data points that will help dealers who are considering getting into, or are already in, managed IT services.

(1) 100% — The percentage of dealers who have told Ryne they wish they would have been more disciplined in adher ing to their target markets/ideal client profiles (ICPs) and tech stacks from the start. “The sweet spot [for the target market] is generally 15 to 75 [employees], but it does not have to be exactly yours,” Ryne said, following up with a warning about straying too far from your ICP. “ ... It’s hard to serve multiple markets with different expectations as you’re getting started, so pick your target market ... stay disciplined to it.”

Above, clockwise from top: (left to right) John Alexander and Pat Meija of DaVinci iSolutions, Kansas City, Missouri, visit with Mark Watthuber of ECI Software Solutions during a break; attendees tour the Biltmore Estate; dinner is held at the Biltmore’s Lioncrest Veranda; and Mark Grice of IBPI (left) visits with Anthony Lioce of The Lioce Group, Huntsville, Alabama, during the round-table discussions.

(

2) 50+ — The head start in years that the copier/MFP service side has on the IT service side. “We’re ultimately going to get — if not as good, but better — in delivering IT services than copier services, just by the nature of the service,” Ryne said.

“And the office equipment reps need to have that same level of confidence and service delivery understanding as they do with the traditional business, so ensure they know just how well you are doing in delivering IT services too.”

(3) ½ = < ½ (or X = (X-Y)) — A managed IT resource that is shared with the copier business (Y) will always yield less (X) than expected on the managed services side. “I know this is not fiscally easy, but the message here is dedicate resources ahead of revenue or you may never get the revenue,” Ryne said. “ ... If you’re going to do this, you have to make an investment.“

(4) Greater than or equal to 1 — The number of dedicated vCIOs or SMEs you will need to get started. “This is the most im portant hire in the organization and it’s likely going to come from outside of the organization,” Ryne said.

(5) 70% and 3 — The percentage of initial contracts that will be sold to non-copier customers and the three reasons why: low copier rep confidence; wrong level of contact; and only 10% to 20% of current copier accounts will fit within your ICP. “You don’t need a huge portion of your current client base to become managed services clients to build a really, really nice business here,” Ryne said.

(6) 300 — The size for an appropriate list of ICP prospects that represents a “territory.” It should contain 20 to 40 pros pects within at least one vertical market you focus on. “Find prospects that have outsourced IT relationships that are similar to what you sell and then nurture them,” Ryne advised.

(7) 16:2.4 — The ratio of initial monthly appointments with decision makers within target market prospects to new wins per month, over time. “Most [dealers] want to build their proforma on two to three deals a month, and most have the resources to be able to properly onboard two to three deals per month,” Ryne said. “Get 16 [appointments] and they should yield 2.4 [wins] over time.”

(8) Greater than 12 and less than 60 — For managed ser vices sales, your first contact with a prospect may have been more than 12 months ago, but when an event occurs or the contract nears its end, the active sales cycle is typically less than 60 days. “It’s comparable to the office equipment space,” Ryne said. “ ... Play the long game. Find the right accounts ... and nurture them ... That’s why I think nurturing is more important than sales at this point.” n

— Elizabeth Marvel

This is Your Opportunity

Capitalize on an exceptional customer experience

by: Brian Suerth, Technology Assurance Group (TAG)

COVID-19

pandemic-driven challenges like inflation and labor shortages have resulted in poor customer experiences across the board. Everywhere you turn — res taurants, grocery stores, auto-body shops and even your vendors — the norm of quality ser vice and experience is not what it used to be. When you do have an outstanding experience today, it is more impactful and memorable than ever. It is time to seize this opportunity.

I am going to begin with a personal expe rience I had at a shoeshine stand in the Den ver, Colorado, airport. As I approached the stand, I made eye contact with the woman working there. She lit up immediately. We started talking and she made me feel wel come; it felt like we were old college friends catching up. I habitually get a shoeshine when I travel, but unlike most shoeshiners who typically work in silence, Linda kept asking me questions about my business, where I lived and even my kids.

After rolling up my pant leg (which is the norm for a shoe shine), she tucked a little plastic sheet into the front and back of my shoe. I asked why she did it and she answered, “It protects your socks from being stained by the leather pol ish.” I nodded quietly and thought to myself, “Oh, that would explain all of those mysterious little black marks that keep showing up!”

Things got really interesting when she pulled out what looked to be a blowtorch. She ignited it and fired it off a couple of times. As my eyes bulged, she pointed it at my feet.

“Now I’ve got to know,” I said. “What is THAT thing for?!”

She promised she was not going to turn my oxfords into crème brûléee and explained how the heat would open up the leather so the polish could penetrate more deeply into my shoes. This would make her shoeshine last much longer than any other shoeshine I’d had before.

I thought back to the dozens of shoeshines I’d had, but all

I could think in that moment was, “Why haven’t any other shoeshiners used the blowtorch?! I want the blowtorch!”

When she finished up, I asked, “So, what do I owe you?”

“Pay whatever you feel this was worth to you,” she replied.

I was so delighted by the entire experience that I paid her three times more than I have paid anyone else.

As I boarded my flight, I opened my laptop to edit my pre sentation on what differentiates truly exceptional compa nies from mediocre ones and realized that Linda delivered a better customer experience process than 90% of the small to mid-sized businesses across this country. She stood out because she delivered a memorable experience.

Is a Shoeshiner’s Customer Experience Better Than Your Company’s?

As business owners, it is natural to assume that our cus tomers love us — especially if we have managed to successful ly keep our doors open for many years. And even though most business owners assume they deliver a superior customer

experience, let’s check that against your own interactions.

Out of the last five companies you have purchased something from, how many delivered a truly exceptional customer experience — one that you shared with others and made you want to go back? Two of them? One of them? None?

While we may, in fact, be doing many things right to grow our businesses, what separates the truly exceptional compa nies from the mediocre is the experience they deliver. With the right customer experience, everything can change.

What would happen if you could comfortably charge three times more than your current prices for all of your products/services and still have clients raving about their experience with you? How might that alter the trajectory of your business? How might that affect your life?

According to PwC, 73% of customers agree that the cus tomer experience helps to drive their buying decisions and 86% of buyers are willing to pay more for a great customer experience. This is huge, especially when poor experience is the post-pandemic norm.

Your Company is Being Compared to the Big Guys, Not Your Local Competitors

Amazon has taught customers that it is reasonable to click a button and, within a few hours, have the exact prod ucts they ordered arrive at their doorsteps. Apple has taught customers that it is normal to expect all of the world’s in formation to be instantly accessible in the palms of their hands. Costco has taught customers that literally every thing should be cheap if they are willing to buy it in bulk.

If you want to make an impression that leads to brand loyalty, word of mouth and free publicity that extends be yond the normal response, you have to “wow” customers at a level that goes beyond what your competitors are willing to do. Linda wowed me with her genuine interest in our con versation, protecting my clothes from polish and heating up my shoes with a blowtorch.

It is easy to dismiss “wow” moments like these, but did you know that you can utilize tools that analyze your pros pects’ networks to already understand their vulnerabili ties before you even meet with them? Imagine if you sat down with a customer for the first time and started your conversation with, “By the way, yesterday afternoon as we were preparing for our meeting, we researched your net work and identified employee names, email addresses and passwords that have already been compromised by hack ers. Would you like to know which employees have com promised company passwords they are still using?” How

might that “wow” change the trajectory of their customer experience?

Six Steps to Revitalizing Your Customer Experience & Dominating Your Competitors

Evaluating your existing customer experience, understanding its impact on those you serve and making little tweaks will lead to enhanced loyalty, greater opportunities to cross-sell/upsell, and place your company on a different pedestal than your com petitors. Here is what I recommend to get started:

n Step 1 — Take your own customer journey. Pretend you are the customer and experience the touchpoints (calls, emails, quotes, website, interactions with your sales and technicians, etc.) that your new or existing customers re ceive. If you want to mix it up, ask a fellow business owner to take your customer journey. There is a reason big companies still use “secret shoppers.” They work.

n Step 2 — Ask your customers to describe their ex periences with you. When was the last time you asked your customers about their experiences with your business? Ask questions like, “What do you like about doing business with us? What don’t you like? How was your experience with [in sert name here] or [insert specific product they are using]?” No matter what they say, just listen. Do not defend yourself by interrupting. We want to excavate their perception, not reinforce ours.

n Step 3 — Define every point of contact with your customer and what you want the outcome to be. Gather insights from your team members to design a total custom er experience. Each point of contact should have a purpose or it should be eliminated.

By the way, a point of contact can be a human or nonhuman interaction. A small change could be having all of your employees thank your customers for their business. Simply saying “thank you” shows respect for your custom ers’ money and their time. Is anyone in your company doing this consistently? Isn’t it a nice feeling when the owner of a restaurant calls you by your first name and thanks you for dining at his (or her) establishment?

n Step 4 — Get back to basics. Define how you want ev eryone to do the basics (answering the phone, responding to emails, etc.). Reinforce the brand you stand for. Reinforce the experience you want your people to deliver and reward them for doing it. Live up to your promises with SLAs and be intentional with your brand image (on apparel, vehicles, etc.). Also, occasionally record and listen to calls by techs, sales team members and accounting team members.

n Step 5 — Take your own customer journey (again).

While we may ... be doing many things right to grow our businesses, what separates the truly exceptional companies from the mediocre is the experience they deliver.

After you have made the necessary chang es to define your customer experience, take your own customer journey again.

n Step 6 — Deliver consistent cus tomer experiences. Human beings like consistency. We like predictability. That is why you go to your favorite restau rant. Why do you think Starbucks is so successful? It is because you receive the same experience whether you are in New York City or San Diego. Doing the little things all of the time has a huge impact — like fixing a prob lem in your customer’s network and updating him along the way, rather than keeping him in the dark (which many IT companies do, by the way).

Nothing Changes Until It Is a Priority

There are countless ways to revitalize your customer ex perience. (Hint: Your employees and your customers already have plenty of ideas; just ask them.) Make it a priority and reap the rewards. I hope this article has helped you see how ripe of

an opportunity you have in the most excit ing industry of all — office technology. n

Brian Suerth is president of Technology Assurance Group (TAG), an organization of managed technology services providers (MTSPs). Collectively, TAG’s members do $800 million per year in IT, cybersecurity, telecommunications, video surveillance/ access control, and copier/MFPs and managed print. They are located in 148 cities across the United States and Canada, and are presently serving more than 780,000 SMBs. He is responsible for directing TAG’s executive team in its pursuit of ever-improving advice, support and counseling in the technology arena and the expansion of TAG’s membership and strategic partnerships. In addition, Suerth is a partner at TAG’s MTSP, i-NETT.

He can be reached at brian@tagnational.com. Visit ww.tagnational.com.

Deliver consistent customer experiences. Human beings like consistency. We like predictability ... Doing the little things all of the time has a huge impact ...

Q&A: Tami Beach

HP channel executive addresses dealer questions

Compiled by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

OnOct. 20, Office Technology mag azine interviewed Tami Beach, head of MPS channel sales for HP Inc. The questions she addressed were re quested from and submitted by BTA mem ber dealers selling HP products.

Beach is responsible for spearheading the development of HP’s Power Services Chan nel and delivering growth in HP’s office printing category. Previously, she served in several other roles at HP, including senior director of software solutions and strategic alliances; senior director of HP Personal Systems Lifecycle Services; and director of the print services category and office soft ware solutions. She joined HP in 1997.

The following are some of the questions (edited for length, clarity, etc.) dealers submitted to Office Technology and Beach’s responses.

Dealer: What can you share about product availability for HP hardware, parts and supplies, given the supply-chain challenges? What can dealers expect in the months ahead?

Beach: Pandemic-driven macroeconomics created a va riety of supply-chain challenges across the IT industry and many other industries. What we have learned about the sup ply chain from the pandemic can be used to reduce potential points of failure starting with designing for supply-chain initiatives across sourcing, manufacturing and logistics. Electronic hardware companies like HP have taken actions such as: shifting from single-sourced components in our de signs to multisourced where feasible; long-term agreements in all logistics modes to optimize the mix; and robust BCP planning to enable rapid response to disruptions.

Building the world’s most resilient supply chain is our top priority. Today, with a better view of our supply chain, HP is driving greater flexibility and resilience while mak ing significant investments in this area, including new

operational capabilities for better E2E visibility. We have made a lot of progress in these areas and strive to do more, to gether with our partners.

Dealer: What steps is HP taking to make it easier for BTA Channel dealers to do business with the company?

Beach: We are always looking for ways to make it easier for our partners to do business with us. We are always listening and we are always working to make im provements. HP is a huge, global company. We have a broad product portfolio, and we have a vast and diverse channel glob ally. Add to that multiple different business models between transactional and managed, and routes to market that we are trying to manage. So, with that comes complexity. And while some things make zero sense to some, they make all the sense in the world to others. So, we are trying to balance the needs of that very vast and diverse channel. The more business that we generate in this particular channel, the louder our voices become. We are getting there. We are making great progress and we have a seat at the table and the voices are being heard.

We are now two years into Amplify, and the objective going forward is to stabilize and refine. So, stabilize the program that we have put out there in the marketplace and try not to make a lot of changes to that. That should make things easier for part ners. And refine what we are doing with some of the unique parts of the channel, and the pockets where we did not do so well because we tried to put out this mass platform — global consistency, channel consistency. Now is our opportunity to really look at independent parts of the channel and refine what we are doing with them to make working with us easier for that particular pocket of the channel. So, I think that we are through the bulk of the change and partners are starting to see the benefit of the new programs, and I think things are going to start to feel easier in general going forward.

Dealer: What can you share about HP+, given that it appears to be in competition with your dealer channel? (HP+ is a free upgrade available with many HP printers. It links an HP smart printer with smart ink and a smart app in a single, cloud-connected system. It allows users to print from any device, anywhere, anytime.)

Beach: Let me emphatically state that HP+ is not in competition with our dealer channel. This is an offer to our smallest of business and home-office customers. It encompasses a very small number of low-end devices that are typically acquired in retail or online, and the customers pay a slightly lower price for the hardware if they commit to using HP OEM [toner]. They can acquire that OEM toner through an HP subscription or via their standard purchasing processes from partners. So, part ners absolutely can participate if some of these devices find their way into environments that partners are managing. But this program is not sold on a CPP or as a service. And if it were, the pricing would not be anywhere near what our dealer channel could price out as a solution on a CPP basis. So, while these devices may make it into our partners’ cus tomers’ environments, there is no reason that our partners couldn’t add these devices to their blended rates, add them to their contracts, and supply the toner and service to them.

Dealers: The HP Amplify Partner Program has been challenging and concerning for many dealers. What is the intended benefit for HP and your dealers? Do you see this program continuing into the future and, if so, do you have any plans for creating an automated system for the dealers to grab the required data? In addition, what types of information will be sent back to dealers to help them increase their revenues? How soon will it be available? Dealers had understood that was one of the selling features for requesting the data from dealers. (Questions from several dealers combined.)

Beach: So, first, the answer is “yes,” this program will con tinue, and it will continue to evolve to best meet the needs of our channel. I should also add that HP is a channel-driven company. Our success relies heavily on the strength of our channel. Over the past year, we have estimated that partners have helped drive more than $6 billion in revenue growth for HP. So, it goes without saying that we are highly interested in making sure that this program works for all of our partners. It is also important to point out that it is a first-of-its-kind

program of this type in this industry. So, of course, that is going to require time to un derstand; patience will be needed through the change management process.

I would also add that the program is completely optional, so partners are free to participate or not, but those who do participate have access to an extraordi nary array of benefits. These benefits in clude things like exclusive access to our managed hardware and supplies port folio, financial incentives in terms of best-in-class, upfront pricing, back-end rebates and sales spiffs. We also have hightouch sales coverage and technical support for our power ser vices partners and, of course, sales tools, collateral training and market development funds that we provide to partners.

I also do not want to miss the fact that we have a war chest of resources for adopting and building a sustainability plan. Through our own efforts in driving sustainability initiatives, we have found that a real, tangible effort and planning here drives real economic return for a company. So, while some partners may or may not want to use those resources, there is real eco nomic value in having a sustainability plan and HP brings to the table a lot of resources to help our partners do that.

In terms of the data and reporting requirements, I think it is important to point out that the value of data and actionable insights from that data is very clear. We have research that tells us that data-driven organizations are growing much faster than non-data-driven organizations. I think the statis tic was greater than 30% annual growth. But the majority of businesses — I think the number is around 84% of businesses — do not have the data platform that they need to really har ness the potential. So that is what we are trying to put in place for our partners. What we are doing is combining the partner data with third-party data in this platform to make it easier for partners to understand a number of different things.

We gather more than 14 billion data points weekly to give access to these insights in three very specific ways for our part ners. One of those ways is descriptive insights. This is data that helps our partners understand their performance versus their peers across the industry, and see how they are stacking up in certain verticals, customer segments and different product categories. So that is what their sales growth looks like, what their product performance looks like, what their inventory looks like. That is all part of that body of descriptive insights.

The second body of insights is the predictive insights. And this is for partners who want future-looking information about their customers’ purchasing probabilities — where they are in those purchasing cycles — helping them to un cover opportunities for growth as they look to the future with their customers.

Our success relies heavily on the strength of our channel ... We are highly interested in making sure that this program works for all of our partners.

We also offer prescriptive insights, which is really taking the data and say ing, “Let’s provide recommendations for specific sales and marketing actions for an individual partner to initiate upgrade conversations and cross-sell conversa tions.” I think we have estimated that the platform has identified opportunities for upgrades and renewals of more than 30 million PCs and 100 million printers across almost 900,000 to a million cus tomer offices. So, it is pretty meaningful in terms of the real impact that partners are getting from the data.

Where we have work to do is getting consistent, accurate, quality data from partners so we can turn it into these busi ness insights, because “garbage in, garbage out.” So, if partners want to take advantage of those insights, we really do need that consistent and quality reporting from them. We are show ing partners great value with the insights we are returning.

One last thing regarding the automation of the data col lection: Yes, we are absolutely making investments to au tomate the data collection so that we have direct flows of information between partners and HP. That is rolling out at different times over the course of the year to different parts of the channel, but it will reach our partners and I do believe that is going to make this a much easier process.

Dealer: Why does HP require managed devices to be sold on a service contract?

Beach: A lot of partners do not understand this, but we have created and invested in what we call our managed portfolio. That managed portfolio is both hardware and sup plies; it is a system. It is meant and designed 100% for this channel and for managed environments; everything from the cost of the system to actual features and functionality on the devices, the management capabilities, the security, the serviceability — all of those things have been designed to make our partners who are invested in a managed space more competitive and more successful. So, given that we are making investments in that unique part of our portfolio, and we know our partners are making investments in busi ness models that deliver a service experience to customers, we want to protect that. So, we make that portfolio available exclusively to partners who are selling as a service. Again, it is designed to not only function in a managed environment, but is priced in a way that makes it easier for a partner to get it to a cost per page that makes sense to a customer. If customers do not want a service contract or partners do not want to sell on a service contract, they can most certainly buy and sell within our transactional product line, but that is open to the masses, so the competition and environment

is very, very different. We are just trying to protect the investments that our part ners are making in service-oriented ex periences for our customers.

Dealer: How is HP combatting compatible toners in the open market versus its OEM toner?

Beach: We are investing a lot in tech nology to make that experience better for customers. Compatible toners do present an inherent security risk, because they do have re programmable microcontroller chips on them. This would be like finding a USB drive on a busy street and plugging it into your laptop to see what is on the drive. We have Bug Bounty research that proves that a non-HP cartridge can be reprogrammed with malware and introduced to the printer and gain access and control of the data going to and from the device. From a technology perspective and a quality per spective, we are making huge investments to make sure that our system is the most secure, is the most reliable and is the best print in the market. Customers will ultimately make a choice, but those are tangible reasons that they should not choose a compatible.

Dealer: Why did HP discontinue PageWide?

Beach: It was a business decision. Business decisions like that are never easy. It was necessary to evaluate that busi ness in context of our other businesses, both print and nonprint, to ensure that we are prioritizing and putting our re sources in the best places possible to drive the most return for our customers, for our partners and for HP. So, again, PageWide did not make the cut in that type of process. The technology is still a very valuable part of our toolkit, but as a business, we had to discontinue that to make sure that our resources were going to the right places.

HP’s strategy is to invest in innovation that serves the evolving needs of the office print market, drive the hybrid work environment of the future and lead the industry as one of the world’s most sustainable companies. With this in mind, HP has made the decision to focus our attention and future investments on our LaserJet portfolio of A4 and A3 hardware and to discontinue sales of PageWide A3 and A4 office print portfolio products.

HP is making this decision based on advances in the over all performance, improved quality and reduced total cost of ownership in our HP LaserJet portfolio. HP’s LaserJet portfo lio delivers world-class security, seamless productivity and manageability while maintaining our commitment to sus tainability. The portfolio is designed to support organiza tions with distributed workforces that are seeking services

We are just trying to protect the investments that our partners are making in service-oriented experiences for our customers.

and solutions to securely manage their digital transformation needs. When HP introduced PageWide technology in 2012, it was to address a need for a lower-costper-page, sustainable printer for small office environments. However, over the course of the last decade, HP innova tions have driven significant improve ment in LaserJet technology from a price, quality, size, service and energy consumption standpoint.

Dealer: How is HP providing authorized dealers inbound lead traffic?

Beach: Over the years, we have done multiple different things to try and drive the best, most valuable lead pro grams for our partners. There are [several] reasons why those have not been successful in the past, to have kind of a macro-level lead generation program. But what we do now with our qualified Amplify partners is we provide market development funds so they can drive local lead generation

campaigns and we can support them with funding.

Dealer: What programs does HP have available for the majority of its HP authorized dealers to help them optimize their levels of success selling HP imaging devices?

Beach: Amplify is our global part ner program. There are different levels and tiers that partners can participate in depending on their size, their breadth of product, their breadth of product line and what they are selling; their volume of sales. So, we have a number of different oppor tunities for them within the Amplify structure to partici pate with us, regardless of the size of business that they are doing with us. That gives them access to a variety of different benefits. n

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

But what we do now ... is we provide market development funds so they can drive local lead generation campaigns and we can support them with funding.

Managing Stale DCAs

How do dealers keep their devices reporting?

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

Over time, due to network-related issues, DCAs [data collection agents] go stale. We currently have a lot of technician labor analyzing and repairing DCAs. We also have some upset customers because they have not received toner since their devices dropped off DCAs. Do you have a best practice you can recommend to keep customer devices reporting so they receive auto-toner and their meter counts are collected automatically?

“We sell the DCA as a backup system to human inspection. We do monthly estimates and then use MICAS [Sharp’s service application for device management] as a backup. We manage the accounts that fall off monthly.”

Tony Sanchez, managing partner C3 Tech, Santa Ana, California

“We recently moved over to MPS Monitor and early signs are showing fewer DCA issues. We will be in a better position to fully judge in three months.”

Derek Johannson, executive chairman Carlyle Printers Service & Supplies Ltd. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

“Kyocera Fleet Services (KFS) is a useful product for meter collection if you are a Kyocera dealer. If not, we use FMAudit as well. We also use KFS for auto-toner replenishment, but have had issues sending too much toner out.”

Colin Bailey, general manager

D.L. Gallivan Office Solutions, Portage, Michigan

“I am in the process of coming up with best practices for this. We are using @Remote for all Ricoh devices and looking at Printanista for the rest, with Printanista being FMAudit, Print Audit and PrintFleet all rolled into one product by ECI.

“I have been made aware of a company that makes small devices that attach to the back of equipment with the DCA installed (www. alwaysreportingdata.com). We will likely roll these out to customers who will allow us to place them on their networks. If they will not allow it, we are considering charging a fee for meter collection and using a combination of our delivery driver and technicians to collect meter readings manually.”

Michael J. Kenny, president & CEO

U.S. Copy Inc., Kenner, Louisiana

“We receive all the meter counts each month set up through our system, but they have to call in for toners still. There is no automatic renewal of toners.”

Van Seretis, managing partner

Premium Digital Office Solutions, Parsippany, New Jersey

“Inkjet flat rate is one idea. The other is to stop taking the client off the hook of responsibility and quoting MPS all the time. Just have them order [from you] online and still do some reporting for them.”

Tim Stanley, founder/owner TDSiT, Lowell, Arkansas

“We’re working on utilizing tools built into most ma chines to accomplish this more efficiently without relying on third-party tools.”

Joshua Warren, remote services manager

Appalachia Business Communications of Kingsport Johnson City, Tennessee

“We use a vendor-supplied DCA and get a report when a ma chine goes offline.”

Todd Deluca, president Boston Business Technology, Plymouth, Massachusetts

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

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

Compiled by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

Employee Loyalty

Protecting the investment in your team members

by: Robert C. Goldberg, BTA General Counsel

When dealers are not checking their receiving docks for long-delayed shipments, attention often turns to their employees. Courts, legislatures and the COVID-19 pandemic have drastically altered the employment relationship. The great resignation, career polygamy (i.e., over employment) and quiet quitting have all entered the discus sion. Remote work has proven to be doable in many situations and workers enjoy staying at home. Requiring employees to re turn to the office is often met with resistance and resignation.

Employee manuals often contain confidentiality, nonsolici tation and noncompete provisions. Further enforcing these re quirements are specific noncompete agreements. Historically, a noncompete was evaluated based on the scope of the restriction and the amount of time it was imposed. Typically, restricting former employees from competing in the employer’s geographic area for two years or less was upheld. BTA provides templates for confidentiality, nonsolicitation and noncompete agreements.

Regular calls to the BTA Legal Hotline inquire about the enforceability of noncompete agreements. Noncompetes for employees have been legislatively banned in California for years and this concept has expanded to other states and cit ies. Going to court to enforce a noncompete is costly and does not guarantee victory. Dealers have been encouraged to reach out to a new employer, advise of the noncompete and reach an understanding of permitted activities. This often results in the former employee agreeing not to call on any of his (or her) for mer customers.

Today’s question is: “How does a dealer protect the invest ment made in his employees?” It remains advisable to address confidentiality, nonsolicitation and noncompetition in your em ployee manual. Noncompete agreements should be considered in jurisdictions where they have not been legislatively banned.

There is an additional protection that has been available for years but is often overlooked: an employee education expense note. Training employees is a costly endeavor. Time devoted to training must be compensated, there is a corresponding loss of revenue, and travel, lodging and meals are often required. Dealers investing in employee training expect to — and should — receive a return on that investment.

An employee education expense note is a valuable tool im plemented prior to training an individual. Initially, an educa tion expense note should be presented to the person prior to his engagement in a training course. The mere presentation of the note can reveal a great deal. An employee who is reluctant

or refuses to sign the note indicates a lack of devotion to the organization. Perhaps he is engaged in a quiet quit?

The employee education expense note is a legal agreement whereby the individual receiving the training is advised of the cost of the program for the business. Costs include compensa tion, lost revenue, travel, lodging and meals. The note provides that the employee will pay for the training — not in dollars, but in continued employment.

For example, if the total cost of training is $4,800, the note could be paid off in 12 months of employment, reducing the amount $400 each month. If the employee does not remain employed for 12 months, he would be monetarily obligated to pay the remaining balance. The balance should only be sought if the individual leaves voluntarily or is terminated for cause. If there is a reduction in the workforce due to economic condi tions, the balance should be forgiven.

While an employee education expense note will not prohibit competition, it does ensure that a dealer will receive the value of the education and training provided. An employee educa tion expense note does not preclude the use of confidential ity, nonsolicitation and noncompete agreements and, as such, they should be considered as well.

Documents do not create a positive work en vironment. A strong culture, team cooperation and mentoring will. Concentrate on those and the documents become less important. n

Robert C. Goldberg is general counsel for the Business Technology Association. He can be reached at robert.goldberg@sfbbg.com.

BTA would like to welcome the following new member to the association: Dealer Member

Major Business Machines, Greenville, SC

For full contact information of this new member, visit www.bta.org.

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

Talent Assessment Service

Precision Hiring & Development is a talent assessment service for sales, service, man agement and administrative staff members to help office technology dealers take the guess work, cost and pain out of employee selection and retention.

The key to successful talent acquisition and retention is discovering each individual’s unique combination of attitudes, values, be haviors and motivators, and using that infor mation to help them achieve their goals.

Whether you are interviewing new appli cants, coaching and counseling existing em ployees, or building successful teams, let Preci sion Hiring & Development help you with a complimentary Talent Insights Assessment. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

BTA members receive a 15% discount and a 100% money-back guarantee.

For more information, visit www.bta.org/FeaturedBenefit.

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

White Cup’s industry experience empowers office technology dealers to gain easier access to intelligent information that helps drive growth, increase profitability, differentiate their businesses and engage their employees. The company’s CRM and business intelligence (BI) software make managing the quoting, ordering and sales process easier for office technology businesses. White Cup’s software captures data across critical business systems, reveals industry-specific analysis and provides the tools needed to take action for revenue improvement.

https://whitecupsolutions.com

Copier Careers is the office technology industry’s most experienced recruiting part ner. Founded in 1985, it helps its clients grow and evolve their businesses through proactive, strategic recruiting. Copier Careers’ Adaptive Retainer Recruiting model allows the company to present its clients with qualified candidates on an ongoing basis, enabling them to make strategic and opportunistic hires that support their long-term business goals. Copier Careers currently works with more than 400 office technology employers and more than 60% of those businesses have been clients for more than 13 years.

www.copiercareers.com

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

Sharp’s Opportunity

OEM hosts 2022 Dealer Roadshow Series

by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

SharpImaging and Information Company of America will soon wrap up its October and Novem ber dealer meetings, with “Opportuni ty” as the theme, as part of its Sharp 2022 Dealer Roadshow Series. The schedule includes meetings held in: At lanta, Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; Hous ton, Texas; Anaheim, California; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The at tendees include dealership principals, sales personnel and service managers.

The meetings’ agenda includes pre sentations by Sharp executives, dealer panels and presentations by Dynabook, a subsidiary of Sharp, and Sharp NEC Display Solutions, a Sharp and NEC joint venture. Through the two compa nies, Sharp makes laptops and displays available for resale through its dealers. The agenda also includes several break outs, such as “MFP Hands-On Training” and “Service Roundtable Discussion.”

John Sheehan, Sharp’s senior vice president of channel sales, opened the Chicago meeting, attend ed by Office Technology magazine, by recalling the successes of 2019. “We finished our roadshows, we finished our dealer meeting, we had a nice dealer trip,” he said. “Then the pandemic hit and everything changed. But I have a good story to tell. We changed as a company.”

Once Sharp made sure its employees were doing well, “we went to our dealers,” Sheehan said. “We said, ‘If our dealers can’t move forward, if our dealers are going to struggle, can’t survive or can’t pay their people, how are we going to handle that?’ That really changed the culture of our company.”

Sharp “put every effort into making sure that you had ev erything you needed to get through the pandemic,” Sheehan told the dealer attendees. “You saw webinars, the Summer of Sharp, trainings, and [Sharp] paying people for taking train ings and for getting on the phone talking to us — talking about opportunities. So, it really changed Sharp as a company. Hopefully, you saw the effort we made for the dealer commu nity. Fast forward to now ... You’re going to see everything that has paid off over that time to where we are in a good position.”

In his presentation, Mike Marusic, Sharp’s president and CEO, quickly emphasized that Sharp is in a good position — not only with its dealers, but as a company. “We have had a great two or three years; Sharp has done well as a corpora tion,” he said. “Our document business has done great and I’ve also seen the interest in Sharp Corp. in the overall ‘business of the office.’”

Marusic provided an overview of Sharp’s strengths and successes, noting, in part, that the company “is already a di versified company.” That reality helped Sharp endure the chal lenges of the pandemic, he said. “We were so diversified that segments of our business that struggled a little bit — like the office [technology business] — were subsidized by groups that were doing really well. We had other groups that took off, like home appliances; a lot of consumer electronics did very well ... we actually maintained very good profit, [although] we did have a bottom-line profit dip at the end of fiscal year 2019.”

Marusic also explained to attendees how Sharp was able to assist dealers during the worst of the supply-chain crisis, pointing in particular to chip availability. In December 2020, “I told our direct branches that they were not allowed to sell any fax boards; they were not allowed to sign off on any quotes that had a fax board,” he said, noting that Sharp foresaw the looming chip shortage, including the chips used in the fax boards (instead, the boards were made available to dealers). “I said, ‘We’ve got to redesign our boards.’ That took a couple of months. ‘If I don’t have my branches sell [the fax boards] for four or five months ... the dealers will never know.’ You never knew we didn’t have fax boards. We didn’t make fax boards for four months, but you never knew.”

In addition, Marusic took the opportunity to encourage attendees to take a closer look at selling Dynabook laptops and NEC displays. “As print buy-in slowly declines, you’re get ting more and more revenue out of your customer with other technologies; that is really the opportunity I want you to walk away with,” he said, then referencing the two foam puzzle pieces each attendee received from Sharp at the meeting, with the word “Opportunity” printed on one and “Sharp” printed on the other. “You can’t finish a puzzle until you have all of the pieces ... the [MFP] hardware, laptops, printers and collabora tion displays.” n

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

Mike Marusic

John Sheehan

Postage

Fulton, MO 65251

Grow your business with confidence and ease

a competitive market, your company needs more than great ideas. You need time-tested insights, scalable solutions and

the future with an