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ProFinance thinker full pg
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Do you crunch the numbers,
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he BTA ProFinance course will teach you how to set the strategy, track critical performance measures and manage your assets according to a proven business model designed to improve the profitability of your company.
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Instructors John Hanson and John Hey of Strategic Business Associates take a holistic approach to the redirection of your business — from sales rep compensation and projecting service revenues to inventory management and an action plan for implementation — with the short-term goal of achieving a minimum of 14% operating income. You can achieve these results by monitoring 24 key benchmarks and making strategic shifts as discussed in the program.
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ProFinance is designed for owners and executive-level staff who make the critical business decisions that impact your company’s success. Some OEMs reimburse for ProFinance tuition through advertising co-op or professional development funds. Check with your OEM.
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CONTENTS Volume 14 No. 4
FEATURE ARTICLES 10
2007 Software Buyer’s Guide A look at some of the many possibilities
COURTS & CAPITOLS Estate Planning Take time to organize these important documents
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By Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine
By Robert C. Goldberg BTA General Counsel
In the heyday of the analog copier, software sales were not even a consideration for most office technology dealers. Today, however, software-based solutions that integrate with MFPs are prevalent. Is your dealership still selling hardware like it did 15-20 years ago, focusing on speeds, feeds and price? Or, has your dealership embraced the strategy of addressing your clients’ document-related pain points through the effective use of software and hardware?
It is important to have estate-planning documents. Without a written will, the state where you reside will determine how your assets are distributed.
PRINCIPAL ISSUES Turning Talk Into Action James Imaging Systems prepares for the future
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By Dustin Phillips
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by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine
With the goal of providing educational opportunities to its dealers while sharing its views on the changing market, Muratec America Inc. hosted “Integrate,” its 2007 National Dealer Conference, Sept. 12-14, at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. The event, featuring a Technology Expo, General Session and nine education sessions, drew approximately 300 people, including representatives of 207 of Muratec’s 325 active authorized dealerships.
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There is a bright future in the office technology industry for independent dealers who invest in their dealerships and take the steps to position themselves for future opportunities.
Muratec Hosts ‘Integrate’ National dealer conference held Sept. 12-14
Successful Trade Shows Use PR to ‘grease the skids’ for promotion & sales
SELLING SOLUTIONS Unique Value Propositions It helps to segment customers by buying motivation
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by Tom Kramer Strategy Mapping Selling
In the competitive and complex world of selling office technology, our fundamental mission is to win, retain and grow.
The ‘Ride-Along’ Process Managing sales representatives in the field
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by Howard Meltzer Sales Tiger Inc.
by Jim Kahrs PPMC Inc.
So you have signed up for a booth at an upcoming trade show. Your last trade show did not yield much of a return and you hope this one will be better. The show promoters tell you that there will be plenty of great prospects in attendance, but what can you do to ensure excellent results? And what, by the way, constitutes excellent results? Having a successful trade show starts with understanding what you are looking to accomplish and having a strong plan. 4 | www.of ficetechnologymag.com | October 2007
“Instead of giving them a fish to eat, teach them how to fish.” This old adage perfectly describes the essence of sales management.
DEPARTMENTS 6
Executive Director’s Page
8
BTA President’s Message
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Advertiser Index
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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S PAGE
The Steps I’d Take If I’d Only ‘Dabbled’ t has been my privilege the past few years to attend most of the national dealer meetings of the MFP manufacturers that sell through the BTA Channel. Like those of you who attend these meetings, I see the various software products that are now featured, most of them offered by independent software vendors. Are you selling some of the software you were introduced to at a national dealer meeting or some other industry event, such as an ITEX Show? Or, do you remain focused, nearly exclusively, on hardware sales? While an increasing number of dealerships are actively selling software-based solutions, such as document management, forms printing or variable data printing, my suspicion is that many dealers are holding back. Either they simply dabble in software sales or they continue to sell as they did in the analog days, prior to the arrival of the digital MFP and the subsequent onslaught of software within the channel. Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t believe any of the hardware manufacturers set quotas based on software sales. It would make sense then that d e a l e r s f e e l c o m p e l l e d t o l e a d w it h pushing hardware. The thought among dealers and sales reps may be: “Introducing software into the equation will only slow down the hardware sales process.” I do understand th e reality of thi s industry. At its foundation, this is a hardware sales business. I’ve seen the assembly lines in the factories of the manufacturers. They are mass producing hardware, not software. However, I am increasingly hearing
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how software solutions can have the effect of driving hardware sales and locking in customers, while helping the dealership capture more clicks and make more money. With this thought in mind, here are the steps I would take today if I owned a dealership and had only “dabbled” in software or had not sold software at all: I would visit the Web sites of dealerships across the country to see what software they are selling. I would then call a few of them to ask about their successes and failures. I would review the list of vendors included in the 2007 Software Buyer’s Guide in this issue of Office Technology, visit some of their Web sites and follow up with calls to select vendors. My goal would be to investigate products that seem to be a good fit for my dealership and its customer base. I would attend the ITEX Show in February of next year to further investigate some of the industry’s software offerings. In any conversations with software vendors, I would ask for details on how they are going to support me in the sale of their product. I would also ask for references from satisfied customers and strive to learn everything I could about the company itself, in terms of its size, the credentials of its management, its software developers, etc. I would initially establish a relationship with only one or two software vendors, since it is best to become an expert with one or two software products, than to be seen as a neophyte with a whole slew of them. I would have BTA General Counsel Bob Goldberg review any agreement the software vendor I select asked me to sign, to ensure it is fair and equitable. What steps are you taking? — 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 Jim Kahrs, Prosperity Plus Management Consulting Inc. www.prosperityplus.com Tom Kramer, Strategy Mapping Selling www.strategymappingselling.com www.smsap.com Howard Meltzer, Sales Tiger Inc. www.salestiger.com Dustin Phillips ®
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 Accounting Clerk mary@bta.org ©2007 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 ®
Would You Consider Giving Back to BTA? ince the Business Technology Association was established as the National Typewriter Dealers Association in 1926, it has been governed by its dealer members. Specifically, the association has always operated under the guidance and direction of its elected national officer team and board of directors. Through the years, there have been many leaders. George S. Walker was the first president of the association. I have the privilege of serving as the 73rd national president. Our next president will be Ronelle Ingram. (In case you are doing the math and wondering, “How could BTA be in its 81st year with service by only 73 presidents?” The answer: Some presidents served more than one year.) While all national BTA officers and board members have shared the common bond of the office technology industry, they have shared another key characteristic — all have been volunteers. Like me, most will tell you that they volunteered to give back to the association that had given them so much. Volunteers have not come forward only at the national level. In past years, BTA had a number of active locals, each with elected officers volunteering their time. Likewise, many have served as officers on the district level as well. And, finally, there have been scores of committee members, task force members and education program instructors through the years who volunteered to help their fellow dealers. There is no official record of all who have served, but, certainly, there have been hundreds of dealer members who have given of their time.
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Looking back, all of us in the BTA Channel owe our gratitude to these volunteer leaders. Collectively, they have ensured the long, rich history of BTA. But, more importantly, they have worked in different ways to help countless dealers improve and grow their businesses. Many of us can attribute the success of our businesses to the guidance, information, support and advocacy that would not have been possible had it not been for BTA’s many volunteers. Looking forward, BTA needs your assistance. Currently, we are looking to identify additional men and women who are ready to give back to the association. Are you among them? Have you put to use something you learned in a BTA education program? Have you received free, yet valuabl e, l egal adv i ce from BTA’s gen eral counsel, Bob Goldberg? Have you learned something in this magazine that has helped to guide you? Have any of your children or your employees’ children ever received a BTA scholarship? While my list of questions could go on, I’ll ask just one more: Would you consider giving back to BTA? If so, let us hear from you. You can contact me at shannon@bta.org. Or, if you like, you can contact BTA Executive Director Brent Hoskins. He can b e reach ed at brent@bta.org or (816) 303-4040. I should note that BTA i s currently seeking volunteer leadership in the BTA East District, among individuals whose dealerships are located from Ohio, east to Washington, D.C., and north to Maine. How much time is required? What are the duties of district officers? Contact me or Brent and we can provide the details. We look forward to hearing from you. — Shannon Oliver
2007-2008 Board of Directors President Shannon Oliver 25 Wheaton Circle Greensboro, NC 27406 shannon@bta.org President-Elect Ronelle Ingram Steven Enterprises Inc. 17952 Sky Park Circle Ste. E Irvine, CA 92614 ronellei@msn.com Vice President Bill James WJS Enterprises Inc. 3315 Ridgelake Drive P.O. Box 6620 Metairie, LA 70009 bjames@wjsenterprises.com BTA East Thomas Chin Accolade Technologies LLC 31 Mamaroneck Ave. Ste. 508 White Plains, NY 10601 tchin@accotech.com BTA Mid-America Mike Blake Corporate Business Systems LLC 2018 S. Stoughton Road Madison, WI 53716 mblake@corpbussystems.com BTA Southeast Jerry Jackson All South Copiers (ASC) 1325 Cobb International Blvd. Ste. A Kennesaw, GA 30152 jerry@ascopiers.com BTA West Rock Janecek Burtronics Business Systems Inc. 216 S. Arrowhead Ave. P.O. Box 1170 San Bernardino, CA 92408 rjanecek@burtronics.com Ex-Officio/General Counsel Robert C. Goldberg Schoenberg Finkle Newman & Rosenberg Ltd. 222 S. Riverside Plaza Ste. 2100 Chicago, IL 60606 robert.goldberg@sfnr.com
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2007 Software Buyer’s Guide A look at some of the many possibilities by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine
n th e h e yd ay of th e analog copier, software sales were not even a consideration for most office technology dealers. Today, however, software-based solutions that integrate with MFPs are prevalent. Is your dealership still selling hardware like it did 15-20 years ago, focusing on speeds, feeds and price? Or, has your dealership embraced the strategy of addressing your clients’ document-related pain points through the effective use of software and hardware? Randy Dazo, a director at market research firm InfoTrends, says there is a compelling reason for dealers to embrace document solution sales. “Other disruptive technologies and printer-based products are driving traditional laser-based MFP prices down, making it more and more difficult for equipment vendors and dealers to achieve a profit,” he says. “Therefore, solutions and professional services have become the Holy Grail of the office equipment market, as they can be a huge differentiator in a hardware sale.” Dazo notes that a software solution can help a customer solve a problem or facilitate a task, improve a business process and increase productivity, and create new business opportunities that can improve a company’s bottom line. “These attributes make solutions much more difficult to replace than a non-descript piece of hardware,” he says. “And this is something that customers are willing to pay for.” In fact, InfoTrends forecasts that customers will be willing to pay $2.1 billion in document solutions in the U.S. market by 2011, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27 percent. The growth incorporates all revenue categories, including software licenses, professional/support
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services, software maintenance and installation services. Software maintenance will experience the m o st g r o w th , a t a C A GR of 4 5 percent between now and 2011, InfoTrends forecasts. Meanwhile, professional ser vices are forecasted to see a 35 percent CAGR during the same timeframe. Are you in search of the right independent software vendor (ISV) partner or partners for your dealership? To provide a concise resource for its readers who are seeking ISV partners, Office Technology magazine invited a number of software vendors to provide brief overviews of their products. While most are vendors that offer software for resale, the ISV overviews, which begin on page 14, also include companies offering software for use within the dealership. The list is by no means all-inclusive, but it does provide a look at some of the many possibilities. As an introduction to the 2007 Software Buyer’s Guide, three vendors are profiled in greater detail. Certainly, all of the software vendors in the guide — not just the three companies profiled — have value propositions that dealers may want to consider. DocuWare Corp. For dealers seeking a solution to help clients index, store and retrieve their electronic documents in a secure manner, DocuWare Corp. (www.docuware.com) may be the right company. The company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of DocuWare AG, Germering, Germany, offers DocuWare 5.1, an integrated document management solution now sold by approximately 130 dealers in the United States and 400 dealers worldwide. Currently, the company has approximately
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that the document solution 6,000 installations in more “Without exaggeration, would only work with Canthan 50 countries. less than 10 to 15 on MFPs. Today, however, The benefits of the solupercent of the market eCopy has partnered with a tions are simple yet far growing number of manureaching. They include: one has been penetrated. facturers beyond Canon. document pool for all of a I’m not aware of any ShareScan can now also be business’ documents; inforother industry where used with MFPs from Hewmation availability around you can make that kind lett-Packard, Konica Minthe clock, even from remote of statement.” olta, the Ricoh family group of fices; a simple search — Gregory Schloemer (Lanier, Savin and Ricoh), capability and fast retrieval; DocuWare Corp. Sharp and Toshiba. integration with any workBill Brikiatis, director of flow; and an optimum level media and analysts relations for eCopy, explains the docuof security. The DocuWare product is scalable and is designed for companies with between 20 and 500 employees. ment-related need that eCopy’s ShareScan addresses. “Orga“We have a great document management product, along nizations can really no longer wait for their documents to be with add-on modules for things like automatic indexing, on paper,” he says. “The Internet has basically changed C O LD applications and enhanc ed w orkf low,” say s everything. You receive an e-mail message in seconds. You DocuWare Corp. President Gregory Schloemer. “But what read information on a Web site instantaneously. Likewise, really separates us is our go-to-market strategy. We are waiting for a paper document to be couriered, overnighted totally partner-oriented [DocuWare refers to its dealers as or sent through inter-office mail or even by fax is now conpartners] and we can help our partners be successful selling sidered to be way too slow. That’s the driving need dealers are facing.” solutions in a very short period of time.” That driving need led to the development of ShareScan. DocuWare’s focus on its partners is ref lected in its training, support and guidance, says Schloemer. For eCopy promotes that the software “enables users of a example, the company provides written profiles to dealer- departmental or enterprise network to share the digital ships that define the role of each person, such as the sales copier’s ability to turn paper documents into digital files, rep and the solutions specialist, in the DocuWare sales which can then be distributed down the hall or around the process. The company also offers its partners online and world over the corporate network or Internet.” Using classroom training courses. In fact, completion of the ShareScan at the MFP (copier), the scan options include sending the document to e-mail, the user’s desktop, a coursework is required to be certified to sell DocuWare. Schloemer also emphasizes DocuWare’s on-site sales network fax or to a back-end enterprise application. Having the MFP serve as the on-ramp to a back-end support. “We have regional managers across the country who work directly with dealership salespeople,” he explains. application should be particularly appealing to dealers, “So, it’s not like we say, ‘Okay, here’s the software, you’ve says Brikiatis. “Oftentimes, these back-end applications are been through the training, good luck.’ We work with our in the six-figure range when it comes to cost and have a huge impact on the business,” he says. “eCopy allows the partners day in and day out.” Those dealers only now considering a document manage- dealership to hard-wire its MFP into one of these systems. ment solution should recognize the scope of the opportu- This is a way for dealers to differentiate their offerings and nity, says Schloemer. “Without exaggeration, less than 10 to lock themselves into the account by providing tremendous 15 percent of the market has been penetrated,” he says. “I’m value for the customer.” In the case of both Canon and Ricoh, ShareScan can be an not aware of any other industry where you can make that embedded solution. For the other MFPs, a second piece of kind of statement.” hardware is currently required — eCopy’s ScanStation, which attaches to the MFP and includes an integrated, freeeCopy There was a day when eCopy’s (www.ecopy.com) Share- standing touch screen, keyboard and PC. For Canon and Scan product was only of interest to Canon dealers — given Ricoh MFPs, the customer can select either embedded or 12 | w w w . o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | O c t o b e r 2 0 0 7
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ScanStation. In addition, “We automate the collec“eCopy allows the eCopy and members of its tion of print asset data ,” dealership to hard-wire developer program offer a says Rich Piper, president of series of “connectors,” which FMAudit, describing the its MFP into these one of enable documents to be focus of the company. “And, these systems. This is a way scanned and distributed we package our core techfor dealers to differentiate into selected document nology providing dealers their offerings and lock management systems and c h o i c e s o n h o w b e st t o themselves into the account other enterprise applicaengage their customers.” by providing tremendous value ...” tions. Currently, there are One of the choices is the — Bill Brikiatis approximately 170 connecinitial product launched by eCopy tors either available or in the FMAudit, its Viewer USB process of being developed, Rapid Print Assessment key. including 18 developed and offered by eCopy. The product is intended as a highly portable means of gathering customer device information. By inserting the key into FMAudit a customer network PC, the dealer can gather information In recent years, FMAudit (www.fmaudit.com) has become on networked and locally connected printers and MFPs. The relatively well-known within the dealer community, given its data is used in many ways — to produce reports, export in presence as an exhibitor at various trade shows and dealer .xls and .csv formats, import into third-party applications meetings, public relations efforts, etc. And, like eCopy, it has and/or for contract billing. aligned itself with a growing number of MFP and printer Since the launch of its assessment key, FMAudit has introvendors as partners and customers, including Canon, Dell, HP, duced two additional products — its workstation-based OnSite Imagistics, Konica Minolta, Kyocera, Océ, Pitney Bowes, Ricoh product and its Internet-based WebAudit. Specifically, the prodgroup (Lanier, Savin and Ricoh), Sharp, Toshiba and Xerox. ucts provide the dealership the ability to easily and automatically
2007 Software Buyer’s Guide
management, order entry, inventory, a complete accounting module and a fully integrated e-commerce package. BritNet can also manage sales of supplies and furniture. Britannia’s goal is to help small dealers leverage technology to grow their businesses.
American Printware Inc. www.apwi.com APWI has been servicing the network and high-volume print market for more than a decade, offering a broad range of software products and custom engineered solutions that manage a broad array of printing needs. Its recent products effectively manage print networks, lowering end-user cost, increasing employee productivity and increasing dealer revenues. It provides free technical support to its authorized dealer partners.
Captaris Inc. www.captaris.com Captaris provides software products that automate business processes, manage documents electronically and provide efficient information delivery. Its products (Captaris RightFax, Captaris Workflow, Captaris Alchemy and Castelle FaxPress) are distributed via a global network of technology partners and are installed in all Fortune 100 companies and many Global 2000 companies.
Britannia Inc. www.britanniainc.com Britannia offers complete business software to help startups and small dealers manage operations and improve profitability. The company’s hosted software provides service 14 | w w w . o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | O c t o b e r 2 0 0 7
ClearStory www.clearstorysystems.com ClearStory Systems provides high-performance content management solutions for digital media communications. Its software manages the enterprise digital media supply chain — from creation and collaboration to lifecycle management and
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collect meter readings from example,” he says. “Without “Market research indicates customer MFPs and printers, human intervention, OnSite less than 10 percent of the as well as monitor toner levels captures the data and autocompanies in the United and receive and generate matically submits it into the responses to service alerts. FMAudit Central repository, States that could use this Piper notes that having typically hosted at the dealer type of assessment various options for gathering location. Central is configtechnology actually use data from MFPs and printers ured to intelligently coordiit ... We are still just allows the dealership to overnate with their ERP. As a scratching the surface of this opportunity.” come any customer objecresult, the right meter is — Rich Piper tions that may exist. He mapped with the right serial FMAudit role-plays the customer number at the right time. string of responses to the Immediately, an invoice is technology offered by FMAudit that would lead, for example, generated and sent to the customer, even on the same day.” to the selection of the WebAudit product: “‘You are not plug- Piper summarizes: “Accurate, timely and automated billing subging anything into my USB port and you are not loading any- stantially impacts the dealer’s profitability through reducing thing onto my network or workstation. But, yes, we use the credit and re-bills, DSO and costly reconciliation practices.” Internet all the time, so that’s no problem. Let’s use WebAudit.’” As is the case with many software solutions available to Whichever the customer’s preference, Piper says the various the BTA channel, Piper says the market served by FMAudit capabilities that FMAudit’s products offer will greatly improve lies largely untapped. “Market research indicates less than the efficiency and accuracy of traditional processes. Of partic- 10 percent of the companies in the United States that could ular note is the bidirectional synchronization to ERPs, such as use this type of assessment technology actually use it; even OMD’s Vision and Digital Gateway’s e-automate. Piper illus- less when it comes to automated metering,” he says. “We are trates the capability. “Let’s use OnSite as the collection vehicle still just scratching the surface of this opportunity.”
delivery — to give companies a competitive advantage, marketing agility, cost avoidance and maximum efficiency. ColumbiaSoft www.documentlocator.com ColumbiaSoft is a leading provider of enterprise document management solutions deeply integrated with Microsoft Windows and Office applications. Users can capture, manage and share electronic and paper documents, e-mail and faxes to improve efficiency and collaboration, and reduce risk by meeting higher standards of compliance and business continuity. Compass Sales Solutions www.compasscontact.net Compass Sales Solutions is a sales-force automation and fleet management software developer. Its clients are dealerships looking to launch fleet management programs. The company’s solutions include sales-automation software and training. DDMS www.ddms.com DDMS provides complete business software for managing
equipm ent sales and ser vice, automating machin e sales/leasing, contract billing and renewals, service department management, purchasing, accounting and more. Dealers can also manage additional lines of business, such as office products or contract furniture, with the same comprehensive, integrated system. Digital Gateway www.digitalgateway.com Digital Gateway provides total business management software solutions for imaging and business equipment dealers. Its flagship product, e-automate, helps dealers better manage common business processes like accounting, sales, service, inventory and more. While robust and sophisticated, the system has an eye toward being intuitively easy to learn, understand and use. docSTAR www.docstar.com Powered by Microsoft SharePoint, docSTAR-Eclipse is a comprehensive Internet solution that captures, manages and preserves documents. Designed with enterprise w w w . o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | O c t o b e r 2 0 0 7 | 15
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customers in mind, docSTAR-Eclipse is a great fit for small offices. It is an ASP document management offering that is easy to learn and faster to sell.
system, application or device, enhance them and automatically route them to printers, fax, e-mail and archive systems all around the user’s office and/or the world.
DocuLex www.doculex-usa.com DocuLex provides instant document access. With the software creator’s PC-based Archive Studio, dealers can provide clientele both paper and electronic document capture capability with image processing, content indexing and custom foldering functions fully automated for ease of use via Goby Capture (suitable for use with any document scanning device). DocuLex’s WebSearch provides access to server-stored documents from any Internet-accessible location with the operational simplicity of a search engine.
Falcon Technology Solutions www.efalcontech.com Falcon Technology offers the Soaring suite of SQL serverbased sales and business management software designed specifically for the office equipment industry. With more than 6,000 users, Soaring Sales is a leading sales force automation program in the copier industry. Soaring Business Management is a new, innovative program encompassing accounting, dispatch and field service, inventory management, contract management and online tools.
ECI2 www.eci2.com ECI2 is one of the largest providers of technology solutions for equipment dealers and service companies. ECI2 software is used to manage dealership operations and improve profitability. Through its Britannia, DDMS, La Crosse and OMD subsidiaries, ECI2 offers fully integrated management software and service automation solutions for dealerships of every size and business model. EFI www.efi.com EFI, a world leader in customer-focused digital printing innovation, offers integrated solutions that deliver increased performance, cost savings and productivity — including Fiery servers; MicroPress and Fiery Central for production printing; proofing, Colorproof XF and Fiery XF; Web-to-print Digital StoreFront; corporate, DocSend/SendMe and embedded Fiery servers; and PrintSmith for print management.
Hyland Software Inc. www.onbase.com Hyland Software Inc. is the developer of the OnBase enterprise content management (ECM) software suite. OnBase helps organizations create greater value from the content driving their business processes. With OnBase, organizations can streamline operations and improve business outcomes while lowering costs and minimizing risk. InfoDynamics www.infod.com Intact by InfoDynamics is a feature-rich, connected document solution software. Leveraging your MFP, Intact includes cover page/barcode scanning, role-based security, document auditing, folder monitoring and a full-text/keyword search. Intact also stores both scanned and electronic documents.
Equitrac www.equitrac.com Equitrac Office 4 is a solution for print and copy management that enables effective networked control of an office’s entire printer and copier fleet. Providing real-time device monitoring, black-and-white and color print quota management and automated reporting for accurate and detailed analysis of device usage, Equitrac Office is compatible with every major office equipment manufacturer.
Kofax www.kofax.com Kofax is a global leader of intelligent capture and exchange solutions. Its leading-edge capture and exchange technologies and solutions enable business process automation by managing the transformation and exchange of business-critical information (residing in various formats such as paper, fax, electronic documents, e-mail, SMS) among people, applications and devices. Kofax products are widely used in finance, government, insurance, healthcare and a broad range of companies and agencies that must capture critical business information from paper and electronic documents and forms.
FabSoft www.fabsoft.com Reform Enterprise by FabSoft streamlines business workflow by automating document management, enhancement and distribution. It can capture forms from any operating
Laserfiche www.laserfiche.com Founded in 1987, Laserfiche develops scalable electronic digital document management solutions that enable a wide range of organizations, including healthcare, finance and
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government, to operate more efficiently. Supported by a network of more than 1,000 certified VARs, Laserfiche solutions can be found in more than 23,000 offices worldwide. Laserfiche products are known for being both broadly applicable and easy to acquire, easy to use, easy to implement and easy to integrate with other applications. As the world continues to go digital, Laserfiche will strategically seek to comply with the market mandates for convergency, which is key to implementing intelligent solutions. LibertyIMS www.libertyims.com LibertyIMS developed LibertyNET Office software specifically for multifunction peripheral document management implementations by independent office technology dealers. The office product can seamlessly scale up to larger LibertyNET Enterprise systems. Hosted (or ASP) LibertyNET is also available. LMS www.lacrossesoftware.com La Crosse Management Systems (LMS) is a provider of automation software for copier dealerships. La Crosse Nextgen is the flagship product, which uses the latest in software technology from Computer Associates and Microsoft. SQL-based Nextgen allows dealers to easily incorporate all of today’s desktop technologies to streamline their business processes.
services that center around managing companies’ employees, systems and physical assets. MWA Intelligence offers dealers and end-users greater operational efficiencies, reduced expenses, additional revenue capture and improved customer satisfaction. Solutions include: Intelligent Service Management, Intelligent Workforce and Intelligent Device Management. NewspaperDirect www.newspaperdirect.com NewspaperDirect is a world leader in multi-channel newspaper and magazine content distribution and monetization. With more than 500 publications and 1,400 print stations in 80 countries, NewspaperDirect’s software and extensive distribution network help publishers increase audited circulation, access new revenue streams and better serve their in- and out-of-market readers. Notable Solutions Inc. www.nsius.com Notable Solutions Inc. (NSi) is a leading provider of
Meadows Publishing Solutions www.meadowsps.com The DesignMerge Professional Bundle is a suite software module for Adobe InDesign and QuarkXPress that provides sophisticated variable data printing and data publishing features. The software works within the application for ease of use, and is compatible with most popular VDP output formats. Used by professionals worldwide, it simplifies marketing personalization for both the novice and expert. Miracle Service www.miracleservice.com Miracle Service software interfaces with accounting packages such as QuickBooks and Peachtree. Its strength in meter billing and service dispatch provides a value-priced system that offers full business reporting and intelligence. The Web and wireless portals offer advanced functions and features for customers and staff. MWA Intelligence Inc. www.mwaintel.com MWA Intelligence Inc. delivers enterprise-class and leading-edge M2M (machine-to-machine) solutions and w w w . o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | O c t o b e r 2 0 0 7 | 17
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distributed content capture workf low and business automation solutions. NSi’s flagship product, AutoStore, enables users to automate their business processes by capturing paper and electronic documents from a variety of sources, processing them into usable information and storing that information into business applications and databases for fast, easy retrieval and distribution. AutoStore offers the flexibility to capture and process documents, along with security features that ensure information accuracy and accountability while increasing staff productivity. NSi’s workflow products are adopted by such companies as Canon, HP, Kodak, Kyocera, Ricoh, Sharp, Xerox and others, and used by numerous industries. NSi’s products enable organizations to reduce costs, increase security, address compliance and add value to their businesses. nQueue www.nqueue.com nQueue provides software-based solutions to help professional services firms manage and account for their digital transactions. nQueue offers a complete line of expense recovery and production workflow systems designed to track, manage, report and charge back costs associated with office equipment and other administrative services. Objectif Lune www.objectiflune.com Objectif Lune develops and commercializes solutions for transactional and promotional variable-content documentprinting with the added benefit of advanced automated workflow for output to local and remote printers, e-mail, fax and archive. The company’s solutions portfolio includes PlanetPress Suite, PrintShop Mail and PrintShop Web. OMD Corp. www.omdcorp.com OMD Vision software integrates more than 1,500 business processes to help manage dealership growth and meet profit objectives. OMD Corp.’s wide range of customers includes companies that provide sales and service of office equipment and supplies, mailing equipment and point of sales systems. Open Text www.opentext.com Open Text is one of the world’s largest independent providers of enterprise content management software. The company’s solutions manage information for all types of business, compliance and industry requirements in the world’s largest companies, government agencies and professional service firms. Open Text supports approximately 46,000 customers in 114 countries and 12 languages. 18 | w w w . o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | O c t o b e r 2 0 0 7
Print Audit www.printaudit.com Print Audit develops print tracking software and hardware solutions that enable organizations to analyze, reduce and recover their printing and photocopying costs. Print Audit is a print management company that designs all of its products to help office equipment dealers sell more hardware and increase their post-sales revenue. PrintFleet Inc. www.printfleet.com PrintFleet Inc. is one of the world’s leading developers of print management software solutions, training and support programs for dealers in the BTA and imaging channels. Managing more than two billion pages monthly, across 200,000 imaging devices, PrintFleet offers data collection, data integrity and back-end support within its family of print management software. PrintMIB www.printmib.com PrintMIB offers automated meter and supply data collection software. At set intervals (monthly, bi-weekly, weekly daily or hourly), QuickMIB scans all print devices on an enduser’s network and automatically sends a report to as many as four designated e-mail addresses or stream to an SQL database. QuickMIB’s model-specific scanning engine discovers: manufacturer, model, serial number, IP address, type of print device, page counts, supply 1, 2, 3 and 4 data, console messages and alerts, missing print devices, newly found print devices and MAC addresses. Prism Software www.prism-software.com Prism Software offers four key applications that help printer dealers sell solutions, professional services and printer hardware and clicks: DocSystem, a rules-based distributed print and departmental workflow application; DocRecord, a scalable document management system designed for both local and Web document retrieval; DocForm, a variable data solution for promotional and transactional printing and digital document creation; and DocTransform, designed to fix, modify and adapt troublesome legacy and enterprise print and data streams so that they will work with newer MFPs and printers. Questys Solutions www.questyssolutions.com With Questys Solutions’ document management software, companies from all industries can easily integrate paper documents, electronic files, e-mails and business records into a secure and searchable database. Designed to
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improve efficiencies across all operational areas, the Questys Solutions software platform helps businesses cut costs and exceed profit and performance objectives. Ribstone Systems www.ribstoneusa.com Ribstone Systems has developed the next generation of document imaging and processing software. The Ribstone suite of products allows its clients to perform the full range of document imaging and processing tasks quickly and accurately. Ribstone Systems software fits seamlessly with the existing photocopy production workflow. Litigation scanning, image processing and printing can now be performed by one operator, from one workstation, in a few simple steps. Rochester Software Associates www.rocsoft.com Since 1986, Rochester Software Associates has enhanced the print workf low of thousands of enterprises. RSA delivers on the promise of convergence and an automated Print Center through electronic and hardcopy job submission (WebCRD, QDirect.SCAN), legacy datastream transform (M.I.S. Print, IPDSPrint, RDOPrint), enterprise output management (QDirect), plus legal solutions (BatesPrint, CDPrint).
research, writing and publishing. Millions of users depend on EndNote, ProCite and Reference Manager on the desktop and EndNote Web on the Internet to collect and organize their references and create bibliographies instantly. RefViz helps users search for and analyze references visually. ZyLAB www.zylab.com ZyLAB helps users secure their data, enhance efficiency and operate according to compliance initiatives. ZyLAB’s ZyIMAGE Information Access Platform offers a comprehensive document archiving, searching, retrieving, organizing and sharing solution for professionals in the legal, security, corporate governance, local, state and federal government, and financial fields. Brent Hoskins, executive director of the Business Techology Association, is editor of Office Technology magazine. He can be reached at brent@bta.org.
Solimar Systems Inc. www.solimarsystems.com Solimar Systems Inc. is a developer of enterprise output management, data stream transformation and electronic document delivery technologies. The company’s solutions streamline the document delivery process and reduce the costs and inefficiencies commonly associated with traditional distribution methods. StructuredWeb www.structuredweb.com StructuredWeb’s mission is “To empower small- and mid-sized businesses with the best in affordable and easyto-use eBusiness services that integrate their sales and marketing processes.” StructuredWeb’s managed solution integrates a ready-made suite of Web-based applications that includes CRM/SFA database, Web site management, vendor catalogs, e-mail marketing, portals, interactive forms and online customer service functionality so that dealerships may use the power of the Internet as a valuable business tool. Thomson Scientific www.thomson.com Thomson Scientific develops solutions that advance w w w . o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | O c t o b e r 2 0 0 7 | 19
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Muratec Hosts ‘Integrate’ National dealer conference held Sept. 12-14 by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine
ith the goal of providing educational opportunities to its dealers while sharing its views on the changing market, Muratec America Inc. hosted “Integrate,” its 2007 National Dealer Conference, Sept. 12-14, at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. The event drew approximately 300 people, including representatives of 207 of Muratec’s 325 active authorized dealers. On the morning following the conference’s Welcome Reception & Technology Expo, Jim D’Emidio, vice president of sales and marketing, welcomed attendees during the opening General Session by explaining the theme of the meeting — Integrate. “What does integrate mean?” he asked. “The true definition of integrate means to coordinate, to form, to blend or unite.” It is a definition that also serves to describe Muratec, he said, given the company’s ability to “unite” with its dealers. D’Emidio shared a PowerPoint slide that provided a “definition” of “Mur a tec.” The “definition” included the dictionary definition of “integrate,” but also reflected the long-time strategy and image of the company. Among the entries: “To not compete with the dealers for their customers (no direct sales or purchase of dealers)” and “To stay in one channel of distribution (independent office equipment).” While he began by emphasizing Muratec’s commitment to the dealer channel, D’Emidio spent most of his presentation commenting on the changing nature of the market Muratec serves. In particular, he noted the strides of Hewlett-Packard. He referenced numbers reported by Lyra, the market research firm. “They say that in 2004, HP had less than a 1 percent market share in Segment 4,” he explained. “In one year, in a mature black-and-white market, they increased that to 11.5 percent. Today, they say HP is close to a 20 percent market share in Segment 4.” HP’s advancements in a f lat market have occurred because HP has “made the pie bigger,” said D’Emidio. “They are not going out and replacing MFP copiers. They are
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Above: Muratec America Inc. Vice President of Sales and Marketing Jim D’Emidio (standing, far right) speaks during one of the conference’s nine education sessions. Right: D’Emidio addresses attendees during the conference’s opening General Session. replacing their printers and bringing in MFPs. Why should we be concerned? Well, Lyra expects that by 2010, HP will have an 8 percent market share in Segment 2, an 18 percent market share in Segment 3 and a 14 percent market share in Segment 4. Almost all of the street prices on these products will be under $4,000 — what we call A4 letter/legal products. “What is HP’s strategy?” D’Emidio continued. “Have they finally figured out how to sell copiers? Well, they are replacing printers with a new class of MFPs. You may not have lost a placement yet, but you might in the future.” As a result of HP’s strides in the A4 product category, competitors have followed suit, said D’Emidio, citing new products from Lexmark and Xerox. “Is this the competition
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you are going to see in the future?” he noting, however, that dealers will need to “You are not going to asked. “You have to develop your own sell beyond the box. “You are not going to A4 MFP strategy. You could do it like beat HP just on printing. But you can beat beat HP just on printing. you did with printers, just walk away ... them when you introduce scanning, But you can beat them Or, you could convince them to stay because scanning provides the need to when you introduce with an A3 black-and-white MFP.” support something, whether it’s docuscanning ... scanning To help dealers develop their A4 ment management, document workflow provides the need to strategy, D’Emidio announced Muratec’s or even a print management scenario.” support something ...” launch of a new 45-page-per-minute As noted, the conference also fea(ppm) MFP, to be called the MF-4550 tured a Technology Expo, highlighting Professional Edition, available to Muratec dealers through a the company’s product line and the products and services of partnership with the product’s manufacturer, Samsung. “We other exhibiting partner companies. In addition, there were want you to go out and sell this to your customers as a CPC nine education sessions, ranging from “Xerox Acquires model,” he said. “This is a strategic product ... It will allow Global — The Consequences and Opportunities for the you to compete with HP, Xerox and Lexmark with your own Independent Dealer” to “Remote Data Collection — Adding protected 45-ppm machine.” Value While Keeping an Eye on Your Competition.” The addition of the MFX-4550 to the manufacturer’s existing Brent Hoskins, executive director of the Segment 1 and 2 MFP products provides Muratec dealers “with Business Technology Association, is editor of Office the strongest A4 product line on the market,” said D’Emidio, Technology magazine. He can be reached at brent@bta.org.
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Successful Trade Shows Use PR to ‘grease the skids’ for promotion & sales by: Jim Kahrs, Prosperity Plus Management Consulting Inc.
o you have signed up for a booth at an upcoming trade show. Your last trade show did not yield much of a return and you hope this one will be better. The show promoters tell you that there will be plenty of great prospects in attendance, but what can you do to ensure excellent results? And what, by the way, constitutes excellent results? Having a successful trade show starts w ith und erstandin g w hat y ou are looking to accomplish and having a strong plan. By definition, a trade show is a public relations (PR) event — not a sales or promotional event — and must be run under the principles of PR. So let us look at what PR is. PR is defined nicely in the Hubbard Management System, which states that it is done “to make the company, its actions or products known, accepted and understood.” One way to determine if you are accomplishing this is to ask yourself what a prospect who just left your booth is thinking. Does he (or she) really know what your company does and why you are better than your competition? Or did he walk away thinking he has just met a sales rep that only wants to sell him whatever he can? Focusing solely on selling the prospect something without doing the prerequisite PR steps causes the latter. If done properly, PR greases the skids for promotion and sales. When you have reached a prospect with effective PR during a trade show, he is much easier to promote and sell to when he is ready, whether that is next week or next year. Trying to turn every trade show attendee into a prospect right on the show floor leads to most of them being totally turned off to your company. So, how do you handle this?
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There are some specific strategies that can be utilized to achieve the PR goal of trade shows. It starts with planning for your booth. Unfortunately, most trade show booths that I have seen feature random equipment and some manufacturer brochures. Those that have a professional trade show booth typically have company logos and pictures of more machines. Though these help tell part of your story, they do not cover the basics of PR. An effective booth should help you tell the story of who you are as a company and what you do well. I suggest having a display with pictures of your office and staff along with captions explaining what each one is. This will allow you to give a virtual tour of your facility and company capabilities. Because they typically only meet one sales rep and a
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start communicating with people. The technician or two, many customers and If you are going to have biggest mistake I see dealers make at prospects often have trouble visualizing trade shows is being passive on the and understanding the full scope of a equipment on display, trade show f loor. Often, dealer perdealership. They are often amazed make sure you have the sonnel stand idly by waiting for people when they see how many people you ability to demonstrate the to come into the booth. You need to get have on your staff. It is very common to equipment in action. Be your employees out of the booth and hear customers say something like, prepared to run jobs the meeting passers-by in the aisle with an “Wow, I didn’t realize you guys were so attendees will relate to ... upbeat greeting and an invitation into big.” The pictures should also show the booth. Another key principle outthings like your equipment and parts warehouse, shop area, administration areas and lots of lined in the Hubbard Management System states that people will respond to commands. Do not ask if they want smiling employees. In addition to the pictures, I suggest having customer ref- to see your display; simply direct them. It goes like this: “Hi! erence letters on display as they demonstrate what you do How are you today? Step over here and let me show you and how successful you are. When you are giving a prospect what we do.” You then lead them into the booth and begin a tour of your booth, you can show him references from your presentation. If you do this with a very positive and people and companies that he knows. If you have won any strong intention, people will simply follow along. When they awards, you want to make sure these are displayed or repre- leave the booth they should know who you are as a company, what you do and how well you do it. sented and explained as well. Of course, the reason we do PR is because it is a required If you are going to have equipment on display, make sure you have the ability to demonstrate the equipment in step on the way to sales. So, if you are going to participate in action. Be prepared to run jobs the attendees will relate to a trade show, you need to plan for future sales. This starts and understand. Many trade shows have industry-specific with making sure you have the ability to collect as many audiences making thi s much easier to accompli sh . names as possible. If the trade show provides ID scanners, Remember, pointing at a piece of motionless hardware does make sure to scan every badge you can. If they do not offer not make your company, its action or products known and an automated method for capturing names, you need to understood — it actually causes more confusion as the have a back-up plan. One very successful method for colprospect tries to understand what this thing is and exactly lecting names is to have a business card raffle. Raffle off an what it does. It would be better to not bring any equipment item that the attendees will be interested in and require a business card be turned in to qualify. This list of names will if you cannot show it in action. One other important aspect of your trade show booth is then be added to your database for future marketing and its connection to your ongoing marketing and promotional sales efforts. If you follow these simple steps, you will have a successful campaigns. We have many clients who do regular postcard mailings to promote their dealerships. One way to increase show. You will get some immediate prospects and will have your long-term exposure and future sales results is to begun the process of securing future business with others. display your ongoing promotional materials in the booth. You will have accomplished the goal of making your We have accomplished this by using a postcard image to company, its action and products known and understood. create a banner for display in the booth. A prospect who Dropping any of the above steps often leads to frustration tours your booth and sees this ad will be reminded of your and poor future results. So put these PR tools to work for company every time he receives a mail piece from you. This you and start to really enjoy trade shows. Jim Kahrs is the founder and president of Prosperity Plus can also work to bring people into the booth if the promoManagement Consulting Inc. PPMC tion strikes the right nerve, as people will come in for the works with office technology companies answers you promise in your promotion. in building revenue and profitability. Now that you have created the perfect trade show display, Kahrs can be reached at keep in mind that none of this matters at all if you do not get people to the booth and through your presentation. The jkahrs@prosperityplus.com or (631) 382-7762. Visit www.prosperityplus.com. only way to make anything known and understood is to www.of ficetechnologymag.com | October 2007 | 23
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COURTS & CAPITOLS
Estate Planning Take time to organize these important documents by: Robert C. Goldberg, General Counsel for the Business Technology Association
he importance of having an agreement setting forth the terms of your business relationship with your co-owners has been established. It is equally important to have estate-planning documents. Without a written will, the state where you reside will determine how your assets are distributed and that distribution may not follow your wishes. Add in the tax implications for not planning your estate and you are well on the road to justifying time to plan your affairs. The first factor to determine in estate planning is the size of your estate. Currently, federal estate tax laws exempt $2,000,000 in assets from your estate without taxation. This exemption is scheduled to increase to $3,500,000 in 2009. There is an unlimited exemption amount for one year — 2010, but then the exemption is set to be reduced to $1,000,000 in 2011. But there has been a congressional proposal to keep the exemption at $3,500,000. A well-structured estate plan requires certain essential elements: Revocable Living Trust — A revocable living trust is now a standard part of most estate plans. For a married couple with combined assets of less than the estate tax exemption amount, with most of their assets held in joint tenancy or with a payable-on-death provision (such as insurance or retirement plan benefits), a revocable living trust is still appropriate so that the surviving spouse has a trust in place in the event of incapacity and to avoid probate proceedings on his (or her) death. This also applies to a single person. For a married couple with combined assets that exceed the estate tax exemption amount, a living trust is generally structured so that upon the death of one spouse, assets equal to the exemption amount will be used to fund a trust (a “credit shelter trust”) that shelters the exempt amount from estate tax upon the death of the second spouse. This allows each spouse to protect the amount exempt from estate tax.
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Presently, a married couple can shelter a total of $4,000,000 ($2,000,000 each) from estate ta x, but w ith a p o ssi bl e $1,000,000 exemption in 2011, only $2,000,000 w oul d b e exempt from estate tax. Pour-Over Will — Every estate plan also requires a will that covers any assets that are held individually. This type of will is called a “pour-over” will, as it provides that any assets held in a person’s individual name at death are to be distributed to the trustee of the living trust, to be administered and distributed as provided in the trust document. For persons with minor children, the will is also used to designate who should be the court-appointed guardian for children under the age of 18. Power of Attorney for Financial Matters — The third basic element of any estate plan is a durable power of attorney for financial matters. This is used to appoint an agent to handle financial matters for the principal. This would include filing income tax returns or dealing with Medicare, social security or other retirement benefits. This power of attorney eliminates the need for a court-supervised guardianship proceeding if a person becomes unable to make his own decisions. The agent can also be granted the power to make gifts for tax planning purposes. Health Care Power of Attorney — The fourth basic prong of any estate plan is a durable health care power of attorney. This document is used to designate an agent to make health care decisions if a person becomes unable to make his own decisions and allows a person to provide advance guidance on the level of medical treatment that he desires. We are all very busy and have little time to devote to matters such as estate planning. However, for the sake of your family, take the time to organize your estate. Robert C. Goldberg is general counsel for the Business Technology Association. He can be reached at robert.goldberg@sfnr.com.
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PRINCIPAL ISSUES
Turning Talk Into Action James Imaging Systems prepares for the future by: Dustin Phillips
here is a very bright future in the office technology industry for independent dealers who invest in their dealerships and take the st eps n e cessar y to position themselves for future opportunities. This is common knowledge in the dealer community, but very few have “pulled the trigger” on any change issues. Sure, they talk about changing the name, developing and maintaining a consistent brand, updating the logo, moving into a more client-friendly environment and hiring an effective sal e s mana ger, but th ey get caught up in the day-to-day closing of deals or personnel issues and never get around to it. They talk about having facilitated annual management retreats, joining a local businessman’s group to have a modified Board of Directors or joining an industry group to exchange ideas with peers, but they never put any of these at the top of the list, so they never get around to it. There is one dealer who did get around to all those items and turned the talk into action: Tom Tegeder of James Imaging Systems, headquartered in Brookfield, Wis., a suburb of Milwaukee. But he did not try to tackle everything at once. Tegeder spent the good part of two years methodically putting the pieces together and executing initiatives that others have only verbalized. “Most entrepreneurs don’t have the patience to allow for gradual change,” says Tegeder. “They want instant gratification. One business lesson I learned a long time ago was ‘Don’t try to eat the whole elephant at once.’” The first item on Tegeder’s future checklist was a new facility. He ended up finding space that offered a better location and gave James Imaging Systems instant credibility. “When clients and prospects come to our facility, one of the first comments is ‘Your competition made you sound a lot
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smaller,’” says Tegeder. “We’re finding that our in-house demo activity has increased dramatically but the biggest benefit of all is our employees really enjoy coming to work.” Changing the name from James Office Equipment was Tegeder’s next activity and it was not just to alter the perception of the dealership in the market. Tegeder felt his employees needed better direction from the name they represented. w w w . o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | O c t o b e r 2 0 0 7 | 25
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Plus, our trucks are now moving bill“I didn’t want my employees thinking we boards. I’ve never bought into the philoswere just an office equipment reseller,” says “Our team is embracing ophy about competitors knowing your Tegeder. “We offer so much more and our the changes because accounts. The advertising value far outcapabilities as they relate to software and they see them as a weighs any negatives.” network support are expanding and our means to a better The Web site is the current item on clients are benefiting by getting more funcquality of life for both Tegeder’s plate. Being one of the final tionality out of the products they acquire them, and by extension, pieces of the puzzle does not reflect how from James.” our clients.” important this initiative is for the future of Knowing your own limitations is another James Imaging Systems. concept entrepreneurs struggle with. “Our Web site will bring everything together and be an integral Tegeder looked around for support and found plenty. As a 10-year member of the worldwide CEO organization Vistage ( formerly part of our marketing and client service experience,” says Tegeder. The Executive Committee [TEC]), he understands the value of “We’ll have special landing pages to make it easier to navigate having others provide their input into his business decisions and and clients will have the ability to view all the details of their accounts, place service calls, order supplies and much more.” bringing in experts to provide guidance in their specialties. Fulfilling his initiatives for change has earned Tegeder a Tegeder retained John Hey and John Hanson to facilitate his annual planning retreat, hired Orange Label Art + Advertising great deal of credibility with clients, vendors and especially his ( formerly Hunter Barth Advertising) to handle the branding employees. “When you deliver on what you say you’re going to and marketing elements, joined the Select Dealer Group (SDG) do, you get rewarded,” he says. “Our team is embracing the changes because they see them as a means to a better quality and attended the BTA-sponsored ProFinance course. “The ProFinance course was huge because it provided a of life for both them, and by extension, our clients. We’ve been model to follow and forced me to focus on the company/client able to keep the tremendous staff that got us to this point and relationship,” says Tegeder. “I tell my employees that I don’t have been able to attract a higher caliber employee as we continue to build our team.” pay them. Their paychecks are paid by our clients.” Tegeder is excited about the future and has already started Tegeder is also complimentary of SDG and the opportunity it reaping the benefits of an action-oriented two years. James provides to share views and provide assistance to one another. “It’s great because you have peers that relate to your Imaging Systems’ presence in the major account arena is industry but may have a unique perspective on something,” growing significantly and Tegeder sees a definite correlation. “Major accounts want to see stability and a consistency in says Tegeder. “The fact we can e-mail each other about certain doing business from their vendors and I know we’ve achieved issues makes business easier from an emotional and psychological perspective. And, of course, the opportunity to have that in their eyes because our existing accounts are referring benchmarks for our dealership lets us know where we’re per- us to others,” says Tegeder. “Plus, we’ve picked up a considerforming well and what’s lacking. It also reinforces the fact that able amount of business from IT people leaving one company, even though hardware is involved, we’re really measured by going to another and bringing us along. That’s a great feeling our people, their performance and how we service each and because it means we’re delivering on our brand.” With James Imaging Systems on a rock solid foundation and every client.” Understanding that James Imaging Systems exists to serve very well positioned for 2008 and beyond, the ongoing initiaclients was a message Tegeder wanted to communicate and tive is internal training and making sure that everyone conwhat he wanted his brand to represent. For this task, he tinues to deliver on the brand. “From sales to service to administration, we want the entire enlisted the services of Orange Label Art + Advertising to tap into their 30 years of helping office technology dealers. Since team to know we’re not selling copiers, but rather using then, James Imaging Systems has a new logo, new signage on copier-centric and printer-centric products along with various delivery trucks, a radio campaign, a new Web site in develop- software packages to create maximum productivity in our client’s environment,” says Tegeder. “It’s a lot of fun to see it ment and is about to kick off new sales collateral. “I wanted a firm that could not only execute the work, but working. But the great thing is the payoff has only just begun also understood my industry,” says Tegeder. “We’ve accom- for James Imaging Systems and our clients.” Dustin Phillips is a freelance writer plished a lot together and we’re very excited about our new based in Newport Beach, Calif. brochures that tell the current James Imaging Systems story. 26 | w w w . o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | O c t o b e r 2 0 0 7
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SELLING SOLUTIONS
Unique Value Propositions It helps to segment customers by buying motivation by: Tom Kramer, Strategy Mapping Selling
n the competitive and complex world of selling office technology, our fundamental mission is to win, retain and grow. Win new business, retain present installations and grow our revenues and profits. We should focus all our resources on working in collaboration with our customers to create value that will help them run their businesses better, increase their reliance on us and give us higher margins. Everything your marketing, sales, service, operations and administration teams are engaged in should be focused on this critical mission. In the profession of sales and sales management, this raises the following questions: Have you developed a unique and compelling value proposition for each of your customers? Are your account sales strategies properly aligned with your customer’s procurement strategies? Have your account representatives properly identified their customer’s preferred buying strategy? Creating a unique and compelling value proposition is not as easy as it may seem. The key here is not to pursue the things that will make you different but to create those capabilities that will make you distinctly differentiated. What is more, your uniqueness must be valued by your customers. One of the great myths of selling value is to think that the more value you can offer a customer, the better. Actually, value that works is unique and compelling, enhances your customers’ competitive position and ensures that they clearly understand your contribution. Are you selling the same way you did 10 years ago? Are your sales managers managing the same way they did years ago? Are they asking your sales reps to do what made them successful in the past? Well, office technology selling has changed dramatically because technology has evolved (remember the digital transition?) and customers have changed. Customers are far more sophisticated, they have more information available to
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them (in fact, it is just a few mouse clicks away) and their expectations of your sales organization are higher. Customers expect you to propose reliable, workable and cost-effective solutions to meet their business needs — solutions that will help them manage their businesses better. Asking your reps to work the way they did in the past is a recipe for failure. It puts your organization in the downward spiral of endlessly rehearsing the past — not creating the future. To develop a unique and compelling value proposition, top-performing sales organizations spend time finding out how their customers define value and what their customers are trying to accomplish, such as reducing costs, increasing productivity or increasing sales. Once identified, the sales representatives create differentiating value propositions that will help the customers achieve their goals. In the business of selling office technology, you should position yourself as the one who consistently creates competitive advantages for the client. We will address this in more detail later in this article. To ke e p thin gs simpl e, l et us segment our customers into three fundamental categories — transactional buyers, relationship buyers and organizational buyers. Each category is defined by different buying motivations and your sales strategy should be aligned with your customer’s preferred buying motivation to ensure that you are deploying your sales resources appropriately. Let us take a look at the characteristics of each of these three customer classes. First, we have transactional buyers. These customers buy the offer. Simply put, price is usually their primary motivator, although they also consider the product specs and delivery details. Second, we have relationship buyers. They live higher up on w w w . o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | O c t o b e r 2 0 0 7 | 27
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the hierarchical scale and, in addition to offering a lot of your resources — such as If you can show price and product fit, they value the other equipment trials or free workflow assessrelationship buyers how capabilities that surround the product offer ments — to these customers. such as good customer service, technical For the relationship buyer — the cusyou can increase their consulting and problem solving resources. tomer who values services beyond the sales ... or reduce their Last, we have organizational buyers who product — you should engage in efforts costs, then you will be are at the top of the buy-sell hierarchy. that create new value for the customer. To perceived as a valued These customers are looking for an organiaccomplish this, your sales representabusiness partner. zation-to-organization relationship. They tives must develop a comprehensive want deep business relationships at mulunderstanding of the customer’s organizatiple levels throughout the organization and look at their sup- tion, management structure, business direction, long- and pliers as strategic business partners. short-term goals, business issues and buying motivations. To maximize the investment in your sales resources, your What is more, it is imperative to show how your hardware and sales team should recognize these different buying motiva- software solutions will have a positive impact on the custions and create account strategies that match or align with tomer’s operating performance. the customer’s preferred buying pattern. If you can show relationship buyers how you can increase For the transaction buyer who treats your product as a com- their sales, employee productivity, bottom-line profit or reduce modity, your sales representatives need to adopt a strategy that their costs, then you will be perceived as a valued business offers the customer a competitively low price by stripping as partner. In short, by making your customers more successful, much cost out of the transaction as possible. You should not be you will become more successful. Finally, for the organizational buyer — the customer who is interested in an extremely high level of value creation — you must be willing to invest and deploy a very high level of your own management resources to assist your sales representatives in creating a significant and positive business impact on your customer’s business outcomes. It should be noted that not every customer will want this type of enterprise relationship and since it takes a large investment on the part of both parties, you should be very selective and choose those customers who will give you the most return on your investment. Approaching your customers with the right value proposition and aligning your sales strategies with your customers’ buying motivations will ensure that you are deploying your sales resources effectively and focusing on what is valuable and important to them. Following this strategy, you will be meeting the value demands and expectations of all your customers, selling smarter and developing customer relationships based on substance and value which, in the end, will translate into more profitable and sustainable business for you. Tom Kramer is affiliate partner for Strategy Mapping Selling. He has more than 30 years of sales, sales management and marketing experience with IBM, the Eastman Kodak Co. and Canon USA Inc. He can be reached at info@strategymappingselling.com. Visit www.strategymappingselling.com or www.smsap.com. 28 | w w w . o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | O c t o b e r 2 0 0 7
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SELLING SOLUTIONS
The ‘Ride-Along’ Process Managing sales representatives in the field by: Howard Meltzer, Sales Tiger Inc.
nstead of giving them a fish to eat, teach them how to fish.” This old adage perfectly describes the essence of sales management, particularly when working with sales representatives in the field. Here is an example of what I mean: After three weeks on the job as a rookie dealer sales rep, my manager told me to set up four qualified prospect appointments for both of us to call on the following Tuesday. I set up the appointments and off we went. The first, second and third calls went reasonably well and he gave me a wealth of pre- and post-call input that really helped. After the third call critique, he asked me to brief him before the fourth call. It was then that I had to tell him that I had not been able to get a fourth appointment. Without another word, he got out of the car and walked away, called a cab and went back to the office. I cold-called the rest of the day and then returned to the office. I asked him why he had left me and his answer was very concise: “You committed to four calls and failed. You let me down and owe me $45 for the cab ride. Do it again and you are fired.” Obviously, it did not happen again but I still vividly remember the incident more than 20 years later. He taught me how to fish, and I have not gone hungry since. Every dealer has a sales management structure. No matter how large or small, someone is responsible for training and managing the sales team. That function is literally the core of the business. Whether senior manager or owner, someone has to inspect the sales team. All too often, we find that the process of working directly with the sales force in a professional, scheduled, hands-on manner is neglected. And when it occurs, everyone loses — the sales force is cheated in the process of learning how to fish, the responsible manager loses sales performance and the owner is not receiving the productivity he is entitled to expect. We have found that far too many sales managers consider “field rides” a hit-or-miss area of their job responsibility, yet they are one of the most effective ways to both identify individual problems within the sales force and quickly develop solutions that will move them forward in their careers. Both the problem and the solution are very simple to address and require only one decision: manager commitment. First, a few things not to do when setting up a “ride” program:
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Do not find out who has an appointment or two and tell them you are going to ride with them that day. Do not jump from one appointment to another without a clear understanding of the purpose and objective of the next call (ie. pre-call planning). Do not take over the meeting and sell the deal for the rep. Do not give them a fish! Do not fail to coach and counsel what happened after each and every call. To make the ride-along process work, the first and most important step is to make a decision; a decision to accept responsibility to develop and stick with a simple and effective “ride” program with each rep. Having made that decision and committed to it, set up and execute this simple program: Create a monthly calendar devoted to the program. Plug in the name of each rep you will be working with for a full day on a specific date four to six weeks in advance. w w w . o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | O c t o b e r 2 0 0 7 | 29
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Notify each rep that you expect him (or her) to set up four appointments for that date. Ideally, he should schedule one appointment each for an introduction meeting, a proposal presentation, an in-house demo and a closing call. The mix is not critical, but there should be some variety. Take the time to help the rep understand each prospect; then develop a strategy and an objective before each call. Use the time between calls to critique, coach and counsel with the rep. At the end of the day, complete an evaluation critique and rate the rep’s performance in each important area of the selling process. It helps to have a checklist that lists all of the elements needed to properly evaluate and a rating scale for each element. The checklist will serve as a tool to identify problems and recommend techniques to improve his performance. Simple and effective, this process works and is well worth the time. If a manager works four days a week in the field, calling on four prospects per day, it can affect 64 situations per month. The critical element goes right back to the beginning — manager commitment. Once ingrained, you might even find that you enjoy the process. Howard Meltzer is managing partner of Sales Tiger Inc., a company that provides goal-oriented sales management consultation and on-site sales training to office equipment dealers nationally. He has more than 20 years of successful sales management experience. He can be reached at sales@salestiger.com.
ADVERTISER INDEX 19 • Ames Supply Company
31 • Business Products Council Association
17 • Innowave
(800) 323-3856 / (630) 964-2440 / www.amessupply.com
(800) 897-0250 / www.businessproductscouncil.org
(800) 723-3426 / www.innowave.com
28 • BEI Services
9 • Digital Gateway
21 • Niche Equipment
(307) 587-8446 / www.beiservices.com
(866) 342-8392 / www.digitalgateway.com
(877) 446-4243 / www.roto-shredders.com
13 • BTA FIX
7 • DocuWare
5, 11 • Print Audit
(800) 843-5059 / www.bta.org
(888) 565-5907 / www.docuware.com
(877) 412-8348 / www.printaudit.com
2 • BTA ProFinance
3 • FMAudit
(800) 843-5059 / www.bta.org
(573) 632-2461 / www.fmaudit.com
30 • Business Equipment Quota Index
32 • GreatAmerica Leasing Corp.
(800) 843-5059 / www.bta.org
(800) 234-8787 / www.greatamerica.com
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Piecing Ideas Together.
The BPCA was founded in 1963 with the vision of forming a best practices organization that unites leaders of independently-owned office equipment dealers. The concept is quite simple - bring the leaders of these companies together so that they can share ideas, learn from each other, and take their businesses to the next level. Our members will attest that it’s well worth the investment by making each of them better leaders and bringing more value to their dealerships. Feel like there’s something missing from your organization? Let BPCA bring together all the pieces of the puzzle.
“Better Dealers Through Learning and Idea Exchange.”
If you’d like more information about our organization and how to join, please send us an email or give us a call. Phone: 800.897.0250 Email: info@businessproductscouncil.org Website: www.businessproductscouncil.org Membership Director BPCA c/o BTA 12411 Wornall Road Kansas City, MO 64145
Great America June 07
5/14/07
10:04 AM
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Which Way?
One Way.
“GreatAmerica always works closely with us to meet our business needs. They create custom programs that exceed a traditional leasing relationship. We also use the GreatAmerica FleetViewÂŽ product which provides many beneďŹ ts to the sales and administration side of our business.â€?
Steve Jacobs Infomax OfďŹ ce Systems, Inc Des Moines, IA
)&-1*/( :06 (&5 5)&3& (3&"5".&3*$" [Now offering FleetViewÂŽ, the perfect solution for remote meter and device monitoring.]
800.234.8787 | www.greatamerica.com
Office Technology Magazine Business Technology Association 12411 Wornall Road Kansas City, MO 64145 (816) 941-3100 www.officetechnologymag.com www.bta.org
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