October 2015 Office Technology

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Be careful when someone tells you that it’s time to take the next step.

Especially when that next step involves changing out your accounting system.

All of that information and data, all of the experience your administration and accounting teams have, gone in an instant on the hope for something better.

Miracle Service dealership management software integrates with 20 standard accounting software packages like QuickBooks® and Sage® because we know they work. Still, as your business grows and programs such as managed print services and auto toner fulfillment become more common, your accounting system could use a little extra help. That’s why Miracle Service takes a modular approach to dealership management software, leveraging your existing accounting system while adding: • Cost per image integration with PrintFleet, FM Audit, and other remote monitoring software • Parts and supplies inventory management • Service technician scheduling • Contract billing • Web based customer portal for service tracking • Mobile device access

Over 5,000 users in 45 countries use Miracle Service to streamline their field service operations and manage their dealerships.

Talk to us before

you take the next step.

Keep what works.

Add new modules as your business needs them. It’s that simple.

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1-866-463-9368 info@miracleservice.com www.MiracleService.com

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CONTENTS Volume 22 • No. 4

FEATURE ARTICLES 10

2015 Software Buyer’s Guide What are your dealership’s marquee offerings?

P R I N C I PA L I S S U E S Canon EXPO 2015 Event held Sept. 10-11 in New York City

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by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

Compiled by Elizabeth Marvel Office Technology Magazine

Canon U.S.A. Inc. hosted its Canon EXPO 2015 Sept. 10-11 at the Javits Center in New York City. The event offered attendees the opportunity to see and experience Canon’s imaging technology, as well as get a glimpse into future products, solutions and services.

Do you want to streamline and improve business processes for your customers’ businesses as well as your own? Each year, Office Technology invites software vendors to submit overviews of their products to help dealers sort through the available options.

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Catering to Millennials Understanding the changing landscape

Great Expectations Samsung hosts National Dealer Summit Sept. 15-17

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by Chip Miceli Des Plaines Office Equipment

by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

Inasmuch as our industry has kept up with the changing times, we cannot rest on our present technological laurels. Increasingly, our customer base is evolving away from the baby boomer generation toward the millennials, an age group that is used to and expects instant information.

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Dealership Transformation Best practices for driving operational excellence

by Jennie Fisher GreatAmerica Financial Services Corp.

Emphasizing the scope of the company’s size and technological expertise in relation to the goal of claiming greater market share through the dealer channel, Samsung Electronics America Inc. hosted its annual National Dealer Summit Sept. 15-17 in Miami Beach, Florida.

SELLING SOLUTIONS Activity Management Use it to develop target numbers & solve problems

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“Transformation” has become the buzzword for the channel. What are dealers doing to stay ahead of the trends and improve the operational and back-end portions of their businesses? What process improvements have they utilized to drive productivity and increase service excellence?

by Troy Harrison Troy Harrison & Associates

A good activity management program is within the reach of any company — whether you have one salesperson or 1,000. Activity management is the process of quantifying sales inputs and using those numbers to reliably predict outputs to better manage your salespeople.

COURTS & CAPITOLS 25

The Job Interview Appropriate questions to ask & topics to avoid

by Robert C. Goldberg BTA General Counsel

As an employer, you must carefully inquire about an applicant to determine if he (or she) has the qualifications, personality and ambition to join your team. At the same time, you must be careful not to ask any improper questions that may lead to a claim of discrimination.

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

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• BTA Highlights

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Executive Director’s Page

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BTA President’s Message

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Advertiser Index

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S PAGE

Plan to Attend BTA’s Upcoming Webinars

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n Sept. 21, BTA hosted its 93rd webinar in our monthly Building My Business webinar series.

In case you are doing the math, our first webinar took place in January 2008. Each webinar has been designed with you in mind. We seek presenters whose expertise can help you improve the management of your dealership, take full advantage of market opportunities and, ultimately, improve your bottom line. To date, we have had more than 4,000 logins; that represents a far greater number of attendees, given that, in many cases, several people listen in at a single location.

Have you attended any BTA webinars in the past? If so, thank you for taking part in this member benefit. If not, I encourage you to do so. Remember, they are free and only open to BTA members. You can register via the email notifications you receive from BTA or via our website at www.bta.org/ BuildingMyBusiness. Following are details on our next three webinars. n Oct. 15: “Five New Strategies for Driving Net-New Business” will be presented

by Kate Kingston, founder and president of Kingston Training Group, and Larry Levine, director of the Dealer Marketing Social Sales Academy. This webinar is for those dealers who are: tired of just flipping their MIFs; frustrated that they cannot seem to get into target accounts; wanting net-new business; and ready to try something different.

Attendees will learn how to combine phone prospecting with LinkedIn to get appointments, set sales reps up for success and maximize close rates. Kate and Larry will share: how to identify the most profitable prospects in your territory; ways to mine LinkedIn connections for the real

decision makers; strategies to get decision makers to accept your LinkedIn connection request; how to look like a professional online; the top five things that scare decision makers away; three new ways to do your homework to make a compelling case to the prospect; how to convert LinkedIn connections to in-person conversations; and more. n Nov. 4: “Are You Relevant Today?” will be presented by Mike Lecak, president of Collaborative Consultant Group. Do your business practices align with your fieldlevel message? Is that message relevant to today’s ever-changing decision maker? In this webinar, Mike will help you identify what messages capture the attention of today’s decision makers. He will also help you craft a relevant sales message. n Dec. 16: “How to Effectively Use Yelp & Twitter” will be presented by Andy Slawetsky, president of Industry Analysts Inc. Who uses Yelp and Twitter and how do they work? In this webinar, Andy will explain why dealers should use these social media tools to improve their business success. He will cover the basics of both platforms and show you how to set up and maintain your Yelp and Twitter accounts.

You can read the presenter bios for each of these upcoming webinars on the BTA website. While on the site, you will see that there is a link to past Building My Business webinars. From there, you can download PDFs of the PowerPoint presentations from the webinars and you can also watch videos of many of them. Again, these webinars are offered as a members-only benefit; you will need your username and password to register and access the archives.

Take further advantage of your BTA membership and attend our Building My Business webinar series. 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 Jennie Fisher, GreatAmerica Financial Services Corp. www.greatamerica.com Robert C. Goldberg, General Counsel Business Technology Association Troy Harrison, Troy Harrison & Associates www.troyharrison.com Chip Miceli, Des Plaines Office Equipment www.dpoe.com

Business Technology Association 12411 Wornall Road Kansas City, MO 64145 (816) 941-3100 www.bta.org Member Services: (800) 505-2821 BTA Legal Hotline: (800) 869-6688 Valerie Briseno Membership Marketing Manager valerie@bta.org Mary Hopkins Database Administrator mary@bta.org Teresa Leerar Bookkeeper teresa@bta.org Brian Smith Membership Sales Representative brian@bta.org Photo Credits: Bigstockphoto. Cover created by Bruce Quade, Brand X Studio. ©2015 by the Business Technology Association. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the publisher. Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of published material. However, the publisher assumes no liability for errors in articles nor are opinions expressed necessarily those of the publisher.

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BTA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE 2015-2016 Board of Directors

BTA Finance Report Ready for Download

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re you curious how your financials compare to those of other dealerships? If so, I urge you to download the 2015 BTA Finance Report. Released every two years, the report is now available for download on the BTA website.

This report, as well as the 2012 BTA Service Report (the 2015 report is currently being compiled) and 2015 BTA Compensation Report, are available to BTA members free of charge. Visit www.bta.org/Benchmarking Reports to download your copy of each of these reports.

The 2015 BTA Finance Report compares key income statements and balance sheet indicators of dealerships to the benchmarks recommended by John Hey and Todd Johnson of Strategic Business Associates and taught in BTA’s ProFinance 2.0 workshop. Employee productivity, profitability, expense and asset management performance benchmarks are provided and compared to the recommended benchmarks. Each of these categories is further divided into specific ratios. For example, the employee productivity benchmarks are broken down into four ratios: sales per employee; equipment sales as a percentage of FTE (full-time equivalent) sales employees; sales as a percentage of FTE administrative employees; and service sales per service employee.

Benchmarking results are provided by size of business (annual revenue) and geographic region (states are listed for each region). The report also includes several years of data (2005, 2008, 2010, 2013 and 2015), which will allow you to compare this year’s results to previous years.

This year’s BTA Finance Report was

prepared for BTA by Survey Advantage and was based on data provided to BTA in mid2015 through a survey of current and former dealer members. The 2015 report compiles the results of 140 completed surveys.

Below is a sampling of the type of data you will find in the report. The data is reported in median figures — the midpoint between the lowest and highest values reported. Using median figures provides a more realistic view of each category. n Median annual equipment sales per sales employee increased from $224,154 in 2013 to $229,686 in 2015. n Copier/MFPs claim 83 percent of sales for East dealers, 71 percent for Mid-America dealers, 88 percent for Southeast dealers and 85 percent for West dealers. n The annual sales per employee for the East dealer is $131,552. n Supply gross profit for the Southeast dealer is 39 percent. n Twenty-three percent of employees in dealerships with $5 million to $10 million in annual revenues are in sales. n Service gross profit in dealerships with less than $1 million in annual revenues is 36 percent.

If you are ready to see how your dealership stacks up to the competition, download the 2015 BTA Finance Report today.

If you find your dealership is not meeting the recommended benchmarks, consider attending BTA’s ProFinance 2.0 workshop.

Offered three times annually, the workshop’s hands-on training will provide you with practical ideas that can be put into action immediately. You will learn proven sales and service plans, effective management bonus programs and critical organizational strategies. Visit www.bta.org/ ProFinance to learn more and get your dealership on track. n — Dave Quint

President Dave Quint Advanced Systems Inc. 2945 Airport Blvd.

P.O. Box 57 Waterloo, IA 50704 dquint@asiowa.com President-Elect Rob Richardson Allied Document Solutions & Services Inc. 200 Church St. Swedesboro, NJ 08085 robr@ads-s.com Vice President Dan Castaneda International Copy Machine Center 1515 Lee Trevino, Ste. EE El Paso, TX 79936 dan@icmc-elp.com BTA East Greg Gondek ACT Group 20 Commerce Drive Cromwell, CT 06416 greg@advancedcopy.com BTA Mid-America Bob Evans DigiTec Office Solutions Inc. 12560 Reed Road, Ste. 200 Sugar Land, TX 77478 bobevans@digiteconline.com BTA Southeast John Eckstrom Carolina Business Equipment Inc. 5123 Bush River Road Columbia, SC 29212 johne@cbesc.com BTA West Cathy Dimon Northern Business Systems 3526 International Fairbanks, AK 99701 cdimon@acsalaska.net Immediate Past President Ron Hulett U.S. Business Systems Inc. 3221 Southview Drive Elkhart, IN 46514 ron.hulett@usbus.com Ex-Officio/General Counsel Robert C. Goldberg Schoenberg Finkel Newman & Rosenberg LLC 222 S. Riverside Plaza, Ste. 2100 Chicago, IL 60606 robert.goldberg@sfnr.com

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“We’re always thinking about the next step — so should our leasing company.”

W E L L s Fa r g o EQUIPMENT FINaNCE Some offerings from our Office Automation team include: Total Image solutions Program Prospect Prescreen Tool Managed services Billing Marketing assistance spreadsheet Invoicing

To ensure the success of your business, you need to constantly think one step ahead. The team at Wells Fargo Equipment Finance understands that and wants to help you prepare for changes in your industry, the economy, and your customers’ needs. We work with dealers like you to determine the products and services that will keep your business moving forward and ready for what’s coming next.

Let’s have a conversation about how we can help you stay competitive.

Call us today at 1-800-223-1420.

© 2015 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. All rights reserved. All transactions are subject to credit approval. Some restrictions may apply. Wells Fargo Equipment Finance is the trade name for certain equipment leasing and finance businesses of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., and its subsidiaries. WCS-1239615

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2015 Software Buyer’s Guide What are your dealership’s marquee offerings?

Compiled by: Elizabeth Marvel, Office Technology Magazine

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o you want to streamline and improve business processes for your customers’ businesses as well as your own? Are you looking for another way to further build the profitability of your dealership? If so, you may want to consider the use of software that can be used in your customers’ businesses — or in your dealership itself.

Each year, Office Technology magazine invites a number of software vendors to submit brief overviews of their products to help dealers sort through the wide variety of software that is available today. Each company was given the opportunity to submit a short description of its offerings and select or submit the best software category for the company. Most of the software products listed are intended for the end-users’ use, but many can also be used to improve your dealership’s processes. Read on to find the software that could make up your dealership’s marquee offerings.

Business Intelligence BEI Services www.beiservices.com BEI Services provides dealerships with trusted benchmark data to measure, monitor and manage performance related to parts, supplies and labor expenses, technician decision efficiency and overall service operations. BEI’s new all-inclusive solution includes world stats benchmarking, dashboards, actionable reporting, detailed device drilldown, technician coaching and goal setting, and much more. BEI will make a knowledgeable impact on your business strategy and profits.

NXB www.nxbmobile.com NXB is a comprehensive management platform for your mobile workforce. NXB automates the dispatch of delivery and service calls while tracking mobile workers in real time. Integration with your ERP system automates workflows, drives efficiencies and allows for richer analytics and management tools. Combined with its offline ability, NXB

allows workers continued access to in-field information, regardless of data signal.

Business Process Improvement Nuance Document Imaging www.nuance.com Nuance Document Imaging provides the software solutions and expertise required by professionals and organizations to gain optimal control of their document and information processes. The company’s expansive portfolio enables strict compliance with information security policies and regulations organizations face, reducing risk and assuring employees they have complete control over their documents and information.

SalesChain www.saleschain.com SalesChain is the ultimate business automation tool for companies that use e-automate. SalesChain software provides bi-directional integration with e-automate like no other, delivering real productivity across your business.

Today, dealers all across North America trust SalesChain to operate their business processes, including proposal and order pricing, sales and contract document generation, sales commissions, delivery workflow automation and more, saving time, money and serious manpower.

Capture/Forms Recognition Artsyl Technologies www.artsyltech.com Artsyl Technologies develops innovative document capture and workflow processing technology to help companies reduce costs, improve data accuracy, speed workflows and strengthen compliance around complex business processes.

For more than 10 years, Artsyl has been helping global companies tackle challenging workflows such as accounts payable invoice processing with products like InvoiceAction, which helps companies reduce their invoice processing costs by as much as 80 percent.

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Cloud Solutions DirectCloud Webtop www.mydirectcloud.com DirectCloud Webtop is a cloud-based virtual server and desktop solution that provides users with access to their data, applications and communications anywhere, anytime and on any device. Webtop is replacing traditional premise server networks with a managed service that enables customers to reduce IT costs, operate efficiently and increase productivity.

DirectCloud’s partner program is geared toward technology companies looking to grow their managed services practices.

Solgeniakhela www.solgeniakhela.com Solgeniakhela is a global cloud technology provider specializing in software-as-a-service (SaaS), platform-as-a-service (PaaS) and infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) solutions. Its solutions are used by more than 3,500 organizations (including multiple Fortune 100 companies) for business productivity, cloud management, cloud monetization and flexible infrastructure needs. With a history that goes back more than 25 years, a direct presence in Canada, Italy, the United States and Mexico, and a global reseller network, Solgeniakhela is positioned as a leading provider of high-demand cloud computing needs for enterprise and public organizations.

Cost Recovery nQueue www.nqueue.com nQueue provides cost recovery and document scanning and routing solutions to the legal market and others. Its clients include 35 percent of the largest 250 law firms in the United States and five of the top 10 globally. nQueue’s software offerings, branded iA for Information Accountability, unlock the value from information to help firms run their businesses more profitably.

Dealership Management CEO Juice http://hub.ceojuice.com/bta CEO Juice is a company that works only with copier/MFP dealers running e-automate. Are you confident that all your contracts are set up and billing correctly? Are you comfortable that none of your customers are selling your toner on eBay? Are you happy that your reps are on top of all leaseend deals? Are your customers paying their invoices on time? If not, CEO Juice can help.

Compass Sales Solutions www.compasscontact.net With more than 8,000 users in four countries, Compass Sales Solutions has been a leading sales force automation provider for the office technology industry since 2001. Compass Sherpa provides a comprehensive suite that automates all aspects of the sales process, allowing sales professionals to utilize one tool to manage the entire process, including:

prospect/client data, proposal generation, MPS analysis, ERP integration and mobile access.

ECi e-automate http://servicetechnology.ecisolutions.com ECi e-automate is a leading provider of business software developed specifically for companies that sell and service technology. Today, more than 1,500 dealerships utilize eautomate to manage business processes like accounting, contracts, inventory, purchasing, sales, service and more.

By integrating these functions, you can automate hundreds of daily tasks, saving you time, money and manpower.

Miracle Service www.miracleservice.com Miracle Service offers complete dealership management software. Features include: technician scheduling; meter management (collection, contracts and billing); inventory; accounting integration (QuickBooks and more); sales CRM; a customer self-service portal; a mobile field technician console (iPhone, Blackberry, iPad, Android and Windows Mobile); and much more. Miracle Service has helped thousands of dealers in more than 45 countries optimize their field services and gain a competitive edge.

Document Capture & Imaging Drivve www.drivve.com Drivve provides a range of embedded solutions for MFPs and printers. Its unique portfolio covers secure device authentication; scanning and image capture; print management and cost recovery; mobile printing; and document management and workflow. Drivve sells its software exclusively through MFP and printer OEMs and independent dealers. Drivve also provides comprehensive support and training to help dealers sell solutions and increase their bottom lines.

Document Management ABBYY www.abbyy.com ABBYY is a leading global provider of technologies and solutions that help businesses to action information. The company sets the standard in content capture and innovative, language-based technologies that integrate across the information life cycle. Users rely on ABBYY solutions to optimize business processes, mitigate risk, accelerate decision making and drive revenue.

MaxxVault www.maxxvault.com MaxxVault document management software provides efficiency improvements, regulatory compliance, reduced costs and customer satisfaction. It is an open system that uses the latest technology to provide security, dependability

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Everything your MPS program needs.

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and interoperability with existing systems. MaxxVault is a Red Herring 2011 Top 100 North American award winner, a Red Herring 2012 Top 100 Global award winner, a CRN 2011 Top 20 Cloud Vendor and a BLI five-star solution. The company was also picked as a top Microsoft solution provider by CIO Review and was named one of North America’s top 2014 software vendors by Locator Magazine.

Distributor SYNNEX Corp. www.synnex.com SYNNEX is a value-added technology solutions distributor with software solutions from AVG’s Managed Workplace, Google, Microsoft, N-Able’s N-Central and Symantec, to name a few. Services include NOC and help-desk services.

SYNNEX can help you start your managed services practice or expand your current offering. It offers a “pay-as-you-go” model to grow with you as your business expands.

Enterprise Content Management docSTAR www.docstar.com More than 8,000 organizations trust docSTAR to provide intuitive, easy-to-use enterprise content management and automated AP processing and workflow solutions. Available either as a software purchase deployed on-premise or as a hosted service in the cloud, docSTAR eclipse provides secure document control, improved retention and increased efficiency — anywhere, anytime, on any device. docSTAR’s reseller partners receive extensive margins and access to free sales and technical training.

DocuWare www.docuware.com A global leader, DocuWare (established in 1988) offers completely Web-based document management software that is available in 16 languages. DocuWare has more than 125,000 users in approximately 14,000 installations. Onpremise or in the cloud, DocuWare is highly secure, scalable, flexible to integrate and uses future-proof technologies. It is BLI five-star rated and ISO certified. DocuWare successfully assists office technology dealers in being profitable with solution sales, supporting them every step of the way with a proven business plan, ongoing education, field sales support, marketing tools and more.

Laserfiche www.laserfiche.com Based in Long Beach, California, Laserfiche uses its Run Smarter® philosophy to create simple and elegant enterprise content management (ECM) solutions. Since 1987, more than 35,000 organizations worldwide — including federal, state and local government agencies and Fortune 1000 companies — have used Laserfiche® software to streamline documents, records and business process management

(e.g., accounts payable, case management, third-party and contract management, records management). www.square-9.com Square 9® Softworks For document-intensive companies challenging the definition of business efficiency, Square 9 develops awardwinning solutions for process automation that increase productivity across all business applications. Delivering the unique tools that streamline process performance, Square 9 provides a broad product offering including cloud-enabled and on-premise solutions in business automation, mobile content management, document workflow and Web forms management. Square 9 delivers backing on software and support, comprehensive training and an extensive marketing program to assist its dedicated dealer channel.

Enterprise Resource Planning MWA Intelligence Inc. www.mwaintel.com MWA Intelligence (MWAi), a SAP Gold Partner and leader in enterprise relationship management (ERP), serves the imaging industry by providing the dealer community with the first true and verticalized ERP. FORZA, built on the SAP Business One platform, is a complete, integrated business management solution that provides transparency and instant visibility into operations. The FORZA solution helps dealerships to better unify, manage and control their entire business across financials, sales, customers and operations.

Together, MWAi and SAP will provide office technology and imaging channel businesses the ability to make smart IT decisions, improve future performance and achieve longterm success.

Managed Print Technology ECi FMAudit http://fmaudit.ecisolutions.com FMAudit’s all-inclusive software program offers everything your MPS business needs, right at your fingertips.

Device data, user data, mobile mapping, TCO analysis and more are provided in this one, seamless package. Meter collection, supply fulfilment, competitive alerts and service alerts are automated through FMAudit’s unique bi-directional sync with your ERP system, making this exclusive technology much faster and more efficient.

Network Managed Services AVG Business www.avg.com/us-en/managedworkplace AVG Business Managed Workplace® 9.2 is a comprehensive remote monitoring and management (RMM) platform with integrated premium remote control that enables fast, simplified deployment, and control and security of clients’ IT infrastructures. Remote control is included at no additional

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STRUGGLING TO MANAGE LOCAL DEVICES? WHO REALLY HAS A SOLUTION FOR THOSE EXECUTIVE OFFICES ANYWAY?

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cost from one platform. Features also include integrated backup and disaster recovery, AVG Business Mac OS X® Device Manager and AntiVirus enhancements.

ePortal, webAdmin, Service and Meter Viewers, and a fully customizable TCO Estimator. Print Tracker integrates with most ERP accounting software.

Continuum Managed IT Services www.continuum.net/OE Continuum enables office equipment dealers to capitalize on the $200 billion-plus IT services opportunity by leveraging the company’s award-winning IT monitoring software integrated with NOC/help-desk resources built around an industry-first IT Services Business Model (www.continuum. net/businessmodel) that forecasts 60-percent margins. This model is designed to guide dealers to maximize profitability and operational efficiencies in managed IT services by focusing on achieving key metrics and benchmarks.

PrintFleet www.printfleet.com PrintFleet provides timely, reliable data that creates actionable information enabling automation of processes within the imaging industry. PrintFleet’s print management solutions offer unparalleled data collection, analysis and program support. Available in multiple languages, PrintFleet solutions empower the people it serves to solve business challenges and foster growth.

Network Monitoring Paessler AG www.paessler.com/prtg PRTG Network Monitor is the all-inclusive unified monitoring solution by Paessler. It offers a comprehensive set of monitoring features, an easy-to-use interface and a state-ofthe-art monitoring engine that is suitable for networks of any size. PRTG ensures the availability of network components, and measures traffic and usage. PRTG includes all functionalities in each license with no add-ons or hidden costs.

Print Management OptiPrint www.optiprint.com Diversified Computer Supplies Inc. (DCS) has offered the OptiPrint MPS solution to its partners since 2008. OptiPrint consists of remote monitoring software and an integrated proposal generator software tool. This comprehensive MPS solution has provided DCS partners a cost-effective means to exploit MPS opportunities in the market today while capitalizing on the exceptional software tools at their disposal.

Print Audit www.printaudit.com Print Audit Premier is a subscription plan that gives office equipment dealers virtually unlimited access to all of Print Audit’s products for one low monthly fee. In addition to powerful remote meter reading and device management tools, Premier provides dealers with a full suite of print management products to help their clients analyze, control and recover their printing costs.

Print Tracker www.printtracker.net Print Tracker is a low-impact, highly secure print management solution that gathers information from networked and locally connected imaging devices. Print Tracker is easily deployed and often configured in less than three minutes to send meters and alerts. Management tools include Admin,

Process Automation Objectif Lune www.objectiflune.com Objectif Lune creates software for data communication and business process automation. From design and distribution to management and re-engineering of transactional communications, all parts are covered. Best suited for commercial and corporate output, and IT and system integration markets, Objectif Lune’s portfolio consists of four main product lines: PrintShop Mail Connect, PlanetPress Connect, Capture-on-the-Go and PReS. Sales & Marketing Automation Evolved Office www.evolvedoffice.com Evolved Office is a full-service marketing platform that provides office equipment dealers with turnkey and customizable marketing solutions that include: newsletters, videos, email templates, postcards, brochures and complete marketing campaigns — all custom branded with your logo and company information. The software is easy to use and allows you to quickly edit templates, send them to clients via email and track the results. Each month, Evolved Office delivers new campaigns with industry-specific content and professionally designed graphics for you to use. Evolved Office also offers managed social media services for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.

Sales Management Falcon Technology Solutions www.efalcontech.com Falcon markets Soaring, server-based sales management software specifically designed for the office equipment industry. Soaring integrates with industry software such as OMD, e-automate and others, as well as business software such as Outlook, Word and Excel. Soaring’s newest version has a robust MPS analysis/proposal section and a new mobile version designed specifically for tablets/mobile devices. n Elizabeth Marvel is associate editor of Office Technology magazine. She can be reached at elizabeth@bta.org or (816) 303-4060.

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Catering to Millennials Understanding the changing landscape by: Chip Miceli, Des Plaines Office Equipment

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t hardly seems possible that only a decade or so ago there were many in our industry who had not embraced the concept of managed print services (MPS).

However, here we are, fast approaching 2016 — and not looking back to the days when ours was referred to as the “printer and copier business.”

The good news is that the MPS market is continuing its forward momentum. Customers want and need to mitigate the escalating costs that running a business — large or small — requires. To tackle overhead, greater efficiencies are necessary, thereby driving the MPS market even further. The tracking software that is at the very core of print management allows for evaluation of cost-per-page analysis.

The old adage that “timing is everything” comes to mind when examining how our industry’s shift to print management has coalesced with the “greening” of commerce. While “going green” has become part of the universal vernacular, to some industries — in particular, document management — “green” represents much more than the buzzword equivalent of “ecological”; it essentially embodies our present and defines our future. As such, archiving has become a significant aspect of document solutions.

Inasmuch as our industry has kept up with the changing times, we cannot rest on our present technological laurels. Increasingly, our customer base is evolving away from the baby boomer generation toward the millennials, an age group that is used to and expects instant information through email, text messages and social media.

Therefore, having the proper platforms — such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook — is mandatory for being competitive in today’s marketplace. We must be open to new ways of communicating to attract and retain employees and to relate to the needs of younger customers.

For those who may be shrugging their shoulders and maybe even rolling their eyes at the notion of catering to the millennial generation, consider this: Those born between the years 1977 and 1998 in this country are 75 million

strong. Their influence on marketing and the workforce is irrefutable.

Increasingly, the course of consumerism is being determined by millennials, but lacking a direct link to what this prevalent generation wants and expects can leave some businesses in the proverbial dust. Today, it takes more than a few wellplaced print ads and networking sessions to drum up new business. Social media is here to stay and there is no denying its efficacy as a marketing tool. Those in our industry who refrain from having a presence on social media outlets are doing themselves a disservice.

Technically erudite and, in general, highly confident millennials are the first age group to grow up online. Socially, the millennial tendency is team oriented; they work well in groups, are proficient at multitasking and generally expect structure in the workplace. At the risk of painting a broad generic stroke on an entire generation, it is safe to say that position and title are more important to millennials than to those in prior age brackets. And the chance of retaining someone in the 20 to 35 age range for a decade or more is pretty slim. Millennials lean toward roughly three-year stints, something owners who identify as baby boomers need to be aware of when hiring. Flexibility, engaging work and reliable mentorship are most important to millennials as a whole. If they cannot find it in one place, they can and will move on to an environment that will provide the type of culture necessary for them to succeed.

As business owners, we are innately aware that adaptability and changing with the times are two elements for success when it comes to attracting both customers and skilled employees, but that does not necessarily translate into “walking the walk” instead of merely “talking the talk.” We need to genuinely listen to what millennials want and the best way to do that is through social media. We also must communicate with these prospective customers on a personal level, allowing them the opportunity to speak about what they want from a managed print services provider.

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The defining element to becoming a Consistent messaging, creative marMillennials ... focus on leading MPS provider today is the abilketing and trustworthiness capture the ity to demonstrate innovation, in terms attention and commerce of the millenresults, not the amount of both customers and the workforce. nial generation. The advent of advertising of time required to get Those of us in the document solutions outlets such as YouTube and Flickr have the job done. They want industry must stay on par with emergcreated conduits to quickly share and disa life/work balance and ing technologies, regularly revisit best tribute marketing messages. That is not will explore other options practices and constantly strive to ento say that more traditional media, such hance our service and ease costs. That as direct mail, no longer holds a place in if you cannot provide it. said, while reliability and good pricing a marketing campaign; it can be effective, will always be part of the “good providprovided it contains a social facet.

Likewise, when it comes to hiring, it is time to get used to er” equation, the implementation of new technologies that a few things. Millennials prefer flexibility over a strict 8 a.m. provide customers — no matter what their age — with the to 5 p.m. schedule. They focus on results, not the amount all-important competitive advantage is what will ultimately of time required to get the job done. They want a life/work set the “good” apart from the “outstanding.” n Chip Miceli is president of Des Plaines balance and will explore other options if you cannot provide Office Equipment, with three locations in it. They want to be involved and have their input heard — the Chicago area. The dealership is and with good reason. They represent the consumer democelebrating its 60th anniversary this year. graphic we spend our marketing dollars trying to attract. By Miceli can be reached at chip@dpoe.com. listening to your millennial-generation employees, you are Visit www.dpoe.com. listening to your millennial-generation customers.

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Dealership Transformation Best practices for driving operational excellence by: Jennie Fisher, GreatAmerica Financial Services Corp.

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he push to optimize business processes prompted by the need to improve productivity and operational efficiency is evident across all business segments and vertical industries.

“Transformation” has become the buzzword for the imaging channel, with the focus shifting from print and print-related services to issues such as workflow, security and information management. Selling process improvement and workflow automation is top of mind for many dealers, but do we practice what we preach?

To be successful, your dealership needs to align service delivery with the needs of your customers, organization and employees. But keeping pace with rapidly evolving customer needs has never proven more difficult. Meanwhile, changes in the overall makeup and structure of the workforce are occurring just as quickly. What are dealers doing to stay ahead of these trends and improve the operational and back-end portions of their businesses? What process improvements have dealers utilized to drive productivity and increase service excellence within their own organizations?

To address these questions, we set out to identify a few success stories — dealerships that have taken significant steps to improve and optimize business operations. Of course, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to developing a successful operations framework and there are numerous areas to consider: technology deployment, system integration, hiring and management practices, and business processes, just to name a few. Nevertheless, by reviewing successful case studies, it is possible to identify best practices that could be leveraged across a variety of operating environments.

Optimize Workforce Resources Work smarter, not harder. It is an often-used cliché statement that nonetheless remains quite appropriate for today’s

business climate. Most organizations find themselves in the challenging position of needing to accomplish more with fewer assets — and office technology dealers are no exception.

Faced with a need to compensate for a loss of manpower, the natural tendency is to look for tools and software to automate certain processes. That strategy, however, is not without its own inherent risks. “You can have workforce casualties when you automate,” explains Kevin Heitritter, president of Innovative Document Solutions (IDS), Murrieta, California. While IDS has looked to optimize and automate workflow — especially in areas where manual intervention was less of a requirement — it also put systems in place to help educate employees and reallocate resources.

Indeed, Heitritter notes that IDS did not have to make any layoffs during the economic recession, despite what he describes as significant revenue loss. “We hired for a cultural fit rather than a skill set and we completely changed our approach to training,” he says. “We knew the economic downturn would take time and, so, we used that transition time to take advantage of a longer learning curve, which

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training for certain operations to proallowed us to make changes without An effective approach vide a more successful customer engagescaring off employees.” ment. An effective approach is not to try IDS has since refined its hiring and is not to try and specialize and specialize in all areas of the business training practices to ensure that emin all areas of the at once, but to focus instead on key tarployees are trained across multiple sysbusiness at once, but get areas that have the greatest impact tems to help reduce administrative silos. to focus instead on key on improving service delivery.

Much of IDS’s workflow is built target areas that have Applied Imaging, headquartered in around ECi e-automate. To properly Grand Rapids, Michigan, is a perfect educate employees, IDS created an opthe greatest impact ... example of how targeted optimization erational manual with step-by-step prostrategies can yield significant results. cedures to map out methodologies for individual processes across all e-automate administrative Over the past couple of years, the company has revamped systems, including billing, sales booking and lease agree- several practice areas in support of a renewed focus on cusments. “The big issue for us is cross-training,” Heitritter says. tomer service. “We have always offered great service, but we The deeper level of training is facilitated by the commitment wanted to set new benchmarks,” says Janet Langerak, vice to a longer learning curve, which helps IDS deliver a consis- president of operations at Applied Imaging. “We’ve made tent customer experience and a high degree of redundancy. quite a few changes within our company as a result.”

The first step in this effort was to identify the target area for focused improvement. The company formed a group Identify Target Areas for Improvement Interestingly, while cross-training works well in some called TEAM UP (UP stands for “Unity and Problem Solvenvironments, other dealers are moving toward specialized ing”), which is comprised entirely of managers and is tasked

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with identifying major concerns and apbe difficult to consolidate certain proFuture success will fall plying unique approaches to problem cesses, which is where integration besolving. As its first order of business, tween operational systems can prove to those dealers who TEAM UP determined that Applied Imto be very important. have the capability to aging needed to take customer service Based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, drive real-time access to to the next level in order to differentiate Xcel Office Solutions is working closely data while maximizing from competitors and drive better cuswith our team at GreatAmerica to auprocess efficiencies tomer outcomes. tomate and simplify its financial enTEAM UP approached the challenge gine, from meter collection to billing. across all areas ... by interviewing three different compaThe GreatAmerica ECM application nies, each with exemplary customer serties directly into e-automate to grab vice credentials, to identify best practices and help form a meter reads and automatically invoice the customer. foundation for excellence. It also hired Centric Strategies, a “The accuracy of billing has improved tremendously,” local consulting firm that specializes in helping firms maxi- says Michael Reid, CEO at Xcel. “It lets us stay on top of mize customer service potential, in part by establishing a the transactions and provide better communication with customer-centric culture. Along with an internal review our clients because we are not reacting 30 days later — we process, every Applied Imaging employee went through a see it right away.” This type of integration has allowed Xcel series of workshops to uncover problem areas in the cus- to shift resources previously dedicated to administrative tomer service cycle. tasks to focus on other key areas of its business.

For example, TEAM UP determined that customers beThe need for improved system integration has reached come frustrated with the need to explain service issues mul- an inflection point in the office technology industry. Some tiple times during a single incoming phone call. Applied Im- dealers have implemented entirely new ERP systems, such aging put procedures in place to ensure that incoming calls as MWAi’s FORZA, that allow for tighter integration beare answered on the first ring and that service calls are nev- tween front- and back-office processes while providing a dier blindly transferred. Instead, the individual answering the rect path for pursuing adjacent business opportunities such call must be capable of understanding and explaining the as wide format, managed services or 3D printing. Others, issue to an internal expert in order to make a warm transfer however, are looking to integrate separate business systems so the customer is not required to explain the issue again. to streamline operations.

These programs, along with many others, have yielded Whatever the approach, dealerships are striving to designificant improvements in customer service, although it liver a standardized technology stack to create reliable and has not come easily. To begin with, Applied Imaging has repeatable business processes. The emphasis is not only on completely revised its hiring and training practices. “We streamlining operations to improve productivity, but also hire the right people and we train them properly,” Langerak cultivating access to data. As an industry, we are collecting says. “We conducted a workshop with every single service mountains of data that could be mined to make smarter busitechnician, working on issues such as appearance, the cus- ness decisions and drive better business outcomes. tomer approach, what you say — even coming down to what Future success will fall to those dealers who have the cayou might leave behind with the customer.” pability to drive real-time access to data while maximizing Applied Imaging has established its own program for process efficiencies across all areas of business operations. tracking customer service performance, measuring against System integration is key to enabling both. “I think dealers established benchmarks for callback times, first response understand the notion of using technology to help automate times and other variables. Customers receive a survey re- processes in areas that require less manual intervention,” questing feedback immediately following each service call. Heitritter says. “Today, there is a much greater opportunity This allows the dealer to monitor ongoing progress and to connect with the ERP and that is only helping us get betidentify potential areas for improvement. ter at what we do.” n Jennie Fisher is senior vice president Integrate Technology & Systems and general manager of the Technology and system integration is perhaps the most Office Equipment Group at identifiable method for driving process efficiencies. The GreatAmerica Financial Services Corp. need to diversify has forced dealers to revamp or augShe can be reached at ment current business systems in an effort to streamline jfisher@greatamerica.com. operations and support new lines of business. It can also Visit www.greatamerica.com.

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9/30/15 2:24 PM

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

Dealer Members Complete Business Systems, Boise, ID Document Solutions, Morgantown, WV Expert Laser Services, Southbridge, MA Service Associate Member Institute for Global Innovation, Irvine, CA Vendor Associate Member Panatum International Ltd., Chino, CA For full contact information of these new members, visit www.bta.org.

Member Rewards Program As a member of BTA, you can gain access to thousands of discounts and special offers on all sorts of popular products and services through BTA’s Member Rewards Program.

Come explore offerings from companies like Amazon.com, Best Buy, Chili’s, Firestone, Red Lobster, Target and many others. A few examples of the Member Rewards Program offerings: • 15 percent off monthly services from Sprint and 10 percent off from T-Mobile.

• Up to 35 percent off movie tickets at AMC Theaters, Regal Entertainment and more.

• Discounts on general admission pricing at more than 150 national attractions, including Walt Disney World, Six Flags and Sea World.

To join the Member Rewards Program at a discounted rate, log in and click on the “Member Rewards” link from the “My Profile” menu.

Visit www.bta.org/MemberRewards for more information.

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

For the benefit of its dealer members, each month BTA features two of its Vendor or Service Associate members in this space.

BTA Vendor Associate member ReBox International is a provider of pre-owned copier/ MFPs to both the domestic and international marketplaces. All of t he machines that come through the ReBox facility are tested by factory-trained technicians and put through a 24-point inspection process. ReBox will pick up a nd deliver pre-owned copier/MFPs anywhere in the United States and also help you source the specific model you are seeking. ReBox offers a 100-percent customer satisfaction guarantee. www.reboxinternational.com

BTA Service Associate member Institute for Global Innovation (I4GI) can enable your organization to achieve a high degree of accurate strategic and innovative decision-making by either working alongside your current executive/management staff and/or by being outsourced to accomplish your organization’s strategic goals and objectives. I4GI offers a wide range of customized solutions to accomplish your goals and objectives. With I4GI’s help, your company’s short-, intermediate- and long-term objectives will be achieved through precision planning and implementation. www.i4gi.com A full list of BTA Vendor and Service Associate members can be found online at www.bta.org.

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COURTS & CAPITOLS

The Job Interview Appropriate questions to ask & topics to avoid by: Robert C. Goldberg, general counsel for the Business Technology Association

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ealers face significant turnover in their sales forces and are always on the lookout for qualified salespeople. The Internet has provided employees with an easy means to test the employment marketplace, identify open positions and learn the very best interview techniques. As an employer, you must carefully inquire about an applicant to determine if he (or she) has the qualifications, personality and ambition to join your team. At the same time, you must be careful not to ask any improper questions that may lead to a claim of discrimination.

Technically, there are no illegal questions, however, if an applicant is denied a position and an improper inquiry was made, it is possible that a claim of discrimination can be made. Once a discrimination claim is alleged, the burden to disprove it shifts to the employer. It must be shown that the improper information obtained was not used to reach an employment decision.

It is for that reason that numerous areas must be avoided. If you do not have the information, it is not possible to prove a rejected applicant was discriminated against.

The best policy to follow when conducting a job interview is to make certain that all inquiries are based on bona fide occupational qualifications. Following the requirements of a job description is an excellent blueprint. If an applicant volunteers information that is not relevant to the position, such as his marital status or the number and ages of his children, quickly point out that such information is not relevant to the position and is unnecessary to mention. You may want to add that the applicant may be very proud of his spouse (or children), however, that information is unrelated to the position.

The following are areas to avoid during the hiring process either because they directly or indirectly reveal a protected status. Marital status is clearly not relevant, and so are a spouse’s name and his employment status. An applicant’s maiden name should not be sought, as it could indirectly suggest national origin, which is protected. Sex is always an area to avoid unless there is a bona fide occupational qualification (e.g., locker room attendant). Sexual orientation is also unrelated to any position. It is even wrong to inquire about who to call in the event of an emergency during the interview process.

Age, date of birth, year of graduation or any factor that could suggest an applicant’s age must also be avoided. Obviously,

one’s national origin is not a job requirement. One may not inquire as to whether an individual is a citizen or not, but an interviewer can establish that the person is legally permitted to work in the United States. There are mixed opinions among the states as to whether one may inquire if an applicant owns his own transportation. If the position requires an applicant to drive as part of his duties, it may be proper, although some states think this question discriminates against low-income individuals. Asking whether an applicant is on public assistance is also not permitted.

Religious beliefs are private and should not be asked about.

The law requires employers to accommodate for an individual who cannot work on Saturday or Sunday due to religious restrictions. Membership in non-professional, non-position-related associations cannot be explored. Social organizations do not relate to a position and exploring them could lead to the receipt of information that could be used to discriminate.

Any of these areas can be discussed eventually, but not until a job offer has been extended. Of course, any information you receive at that point should not be used to discriminate against an employee, but the receipt of such information is not improper and is far less risky. When interviewing, follow an outline such as a job description, know the areas to avoid and redirect the conversation if an applicant drifts into an improper area. n Robert C. Goldberg is general counsel for the Business Technology Association.

He can be reached at robert.goldberg@sfnr.com. www.offi cetechnol ogymag.co m | Oc tob e r 2015 | 25

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PRINCIPAL ISSUES

Canon Expo 2015 Event held Sept. 10-11 in New York City by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

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anon U.S.A. Inc. hosted its Canon EXPO 2015 Sept. 10-11 at the Javits Center in New York City. The event offered attendees the opportunity to see and experience the breadth of Canon’s imaging technology, as well as get a glimpse into future products, solutions and services intended to transform the way Canon customers live, work and share experiences. Approximately 10,000 people attended the EXPO. While the event largely targeted end users, representatives of approximately 120 of Canon’s authorized dealers were invited to attend a VIP event on Sept. 9 that provided a preview of the EXPO. Roger King, president and COO of EO Johnson, Wausau, Wisconsin, was among them. “I’m sure my impression of the Canon EXPO was similar to others — wow!” he said. “The security area was of particular interest, as our IT services division focuses on the Internet security side and protecting our financial customers’ data.”

Greg Walker, president of East Texas Copy Systems, Tyler, Texas, was also among the dealer attendees. Though he has attended two previous Canon EXPOs, he found EXPO 2015 to be “awesome and impressive,” and welcomed the opportunity to once again “see how diverse the company is” and how it is investing its R&D dollars. Walker had three of his service personnel attending with him; it was the first Canon EXPO for each of them. “They were blown away,” he said, referencing the scope of the event. “They couldn’t believe it.”

The VIP event included the opportunity to attend the keynote presentation by Fujio Mitarai, chairman and CEO of Canon Inc., who noted that the United States is Canon’s most important market. As one of the few advanced countries with a growing population, Mitarai noted that “America continues to shine with promise.”

In his presentation, Mitarai announced his global strategy and dream for the company, stating that Canon is building a “network of Canon companies” — an ecosystem of innovation to leverage local assets while managing globally. The company plans to focus on meaningful innovations in key markets, he said, with a new structure of three regional headquarters managing local R&D and manufacturing, as well as service and support capabilities customized to their markets.

In a media interview at the EXPO, Dennis Amorosano, vice president and general manager of the Business Imaging Solutions Group at Canon U.S.A. Inc., said he and other Canon executives had the opportunity to meet with dealer attendees as part of the VIP event. “We shared business results with them

Above: VIP event attendees evaluate the production print devices featured in the EXPO. Right: Canon officials open the EXPO in a ribbon-cutting ceremony. and talked about the challenges in some parts of our business, as well as the areas where we are doing extremely well,” he said, noting that Canon executives also emphasized one of the company’s key product categories to the dealers. “We are trying to invite more dealers to get engaged in the production business.”

About 120 of Canon’s approximately 400 authorized dealers are selling the company’s imagePRESS C800/C700 Series production devices, Amorosano said, noting that the rest represent an open opportunity. “Some will never make the transition to that product, but there are probably about 200 dealers in our network that have the wherewithal to support the sale and aftermarket activity related to that particular product,” he said. “Granted, they may have to make some investments that they haven’t made to date, but we think that number of dealers could be engaged and be successful.”

Why the emphasis on production print? “We recognize that there are very few areas in our traditional business that represent growth opportunity,” Amorosano said. “Production is clearly one of them. When dealers are not investing in this business I have to ask them the questions: ‘What is your long-term plan? Where are you going to drive growth?’ We think our channel partners need to make the investment in production.” 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.

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PRINCIPAL ISSUES

Great Expectations Samsung hosts National Dealer Summit Sept. 15-17 by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

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mphasizing the scope of the company’s size and technological expertise in relation to the goal of claiming greater market share through the dealer channel, Samsung Electronics America Inc. hosted its annual National Dealer Summit Sept. 15-17 in Miami Beach, Florida. The summit, which featured presentations from Samsung executives, interactive workshops and a product and solutions expo, drew 183 employees from approximately 150 of the company’s authorized dealerships.

The summit provided the opportunity for Samsung to demonstrate its new M4080FX desktop MFP and M4030ND desktop printers, as well as showcase its new MX7 Series MFPs, which combine Samsung’s printer portfolio with an Android tablet interface. In addition, the company showcased its next-generation Smart UX 2.0 platform, which features a mobile-friendly interface that will provide print device accessibility from Android smartphones and tablets as well as iOS devices starting in 2016. The Smart UX 2.0 will allow users to operate any Samsung printer or MFP directly from a mobile device, providing familiarity and a personalized interface while enabling users to create dynamic workflows.

In his general session presentation, Matt Smith, vice president of printing solutions for Samsung Business, emphasized the significance of having a Samsung Android tablet as the interface of the company’s printing devices, given the prevalence of mobile devices now in use. “Fifty-nine percent of all smartphones are Android based,” he said. “Our user interface is the same as what 59 percent of people are used to; it’s the same infrastructure. You can swipe it, you can touch it and you can type on it.”

Given the prevalence of mobile device usage — and the related growing demand for mobile printing — Smith challenged dealers to “think mobile.” “And when I say ‘think mobile,’ it is not about a product, it’s about a person,” he said.

“That person works in the office, at home, on the go, at a coffee shop — you name it … Everybody is getting mobile. Desktop use is dropping, laptop use is dropping, phones are increasing.

People are carrying more devices. You’re seeing people more and more comfortable outside of the office.”

Beyond emphasizing the advantages of utilizing an Android tablet as the Samsung MFP’s interface, Smith noted that the “biggest thing” in the past 12 months was the company’s strides in completing its product lineup. “We are getting you the right pieces of hardware; we have you caught up,” he said.

“We now go from the desktop to the high-end copier, [addressing] all of the needs of the enterprise.”

The summit’s products and solutions expo featured Samsung’s full line of MFPs and printers, as well as applications from the company and its ISV partners.

Smith restated a previously announced goal — that Samsung seeks to claim the number-five position in market share within three years and the number-three position within five years. “It’s going to take a little bit longer,” he acknowledged.

“We’re not talking about decades — [only] another year or two.

We’re going after this. We are going to be aggressive. We’re going to ask for your business. We’re going to show you why we deserve it. We’re going to earn it every single day.”

With the ability to “go into an enterprise and win, from the $10,000 copier to the $200 print device on the desktop, I’m going after … the competition,” Smith said, promising that Samsung will “be aggressive” in its growth strategy. “We’re going to do things the competition is not going to like. But this is our destiny; this is our future. We’ve got to bring in enough share to be a bigger and bigger player. We’re going to go do that — change the world, win the traditional space.”

Eddie Castillo, director of printer marketing for Samsung Business, expressed the same level of expectation for the company as he spoke to industry editors and analysts in a private tour of the expo as the summit got underway. “When I came to Samsung, I heard many other manufacturers refer to Samsung as the ‘sleeping giant,’” he said. “I am here to tell you today that the giant has awoken. You will see through our products — through the innovation that we bring to the table — that we are bringing industry-first technologies.” 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. www.offi cetechnol ogymag.co m | Oc tob e r 2015 | 27

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SELLING SOLUTIONS

Activity Management Use it to develop target numbers & solve problems by: Troy Harrison, Troy Harrison & Associates

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oo many companies fail at creating a strong, high-performance sales force. The most common reason is that managers work from instinct and results rather than process and activity. It does not have to be that way. A good activity management program is within the reach of any company — whether you have one salesperson or 1,000 — and it can be your best friend in developing sales results.

Activity management is the process of quantifying sales inputs (the various activities that go into making a sale for your company) and using those numbers to reliably predict outputs (sales results) and better manage your salespeople. Nearly every sale can be broken down into several different activities, with your sales funnel narrowing as the activities are performed. By counting the different types of activities performed in a given time period and then measuring those activities against proven success-generating activity patterns, we can diagnose sales problems and arrest negative work patterns before they become critical. This means that we can alter the performance of our salespeople by working ahead with them, rather than simply commenting on and criticizing results.

Of all the skills a good sales manager has, the most valuable (and most rare) is the skill of altering performance by troubleshooting and coaching substandard performance. Closely related to this is the skill of coaching for improvement in an already strongly performing salesperson. Many managers, frustrated with the difficulty of coaching, prefer to simply fire and hire salespeople. Sometimes management-generated turnover is desirable but, often, turnover just leads to more turnover.

In generating sales results, you only have two variables to work with. They are: Quantity of activity (Is the salesperson meeting expectations for calls, presentations, proposals, etc.?

If not, why not?) and quality of activity (Is the time spent with customers spent in high-value ways with quality communication?). By understanding those two variables, you take the mystery out of coaching.

We will save coaching for quality of activity for another month. For now, let’s talk about quantity.

Developing Your Target Numbers First, it is essential that you have a good set of numbers to work with. These numbers should be based on the real-world

sales history of your company. They will provide a road map for a salesperson to achieve success.

The basic concept of sales activity management is this: Each salesperson has an expected amount of sales he (or she) needs to generate in a given time period. The average ratio of proposals to sales, from first appointments to proposals, from calls to appointments, etc., dictates the quantities of each activity needed. For instance, if a salesperson closes 50 percent of his proposals and is expected to sell four new customers per month (or close four deals per month), that salesperson will need to have at least eight proposals in the same month.

By understanding and managing your sales team’s efforts to your ratios, you can better ensure that your goals will be met.

First, let’s understand your key ratios (feel free to fill in below): n Proposals to sales: % n Appointments to proposals: % n Calls to appointments: % My own preference is to manage activity on a weekly basis rather than monthly or quarterly, because the further you spread out the management schedule, the less urgency there is to fulfill activity quotas. If you use a longer time frame, you will end up “cramming” the last week or two of the month, which is not helpful.

Let’s look at an example. Say you want one new customer per week. Your ratios might be: Proposals to sales: 50 percent; Appointments to proposals: 33 percent; Calls to appointments: 20 percent.

In this example, to reliably achieve one new customer sale each week, your salespeople would need to have two proposals per week (because only 50 percent close), six appointments per week (because only one in three appointments yield a proposal) and 30 calls per week (because one of five calls yields an appointment). With those numbers in place, you would have an activity road map. Do not skip this step.

Without some sort of activity road map using your company’s real-life numbers, you will never be able to reap the benefits of activity management.

Once you have your numbers, they should be shared with salespeople at the point of hire (I like to put expectations in the offer letter and have them sign that they received the letter) and reinforced constantly through sales meetings, oneon-one sessions and evaluations.

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made the President’s Club. Once you underLinking New Business stand these two variables and how to make If — as with many sales forces — your My advice is not to have them work for you, anything is possible. salespeople have to make calls on current less than 25 percent of One side issue is the size of the proscustomers as well as new customers, you the salesperson’s time pects or customers pursued; this method need to make some decisions. You need to spent on prospecting. is dependent on your salespeople pursuing decide how much of your reps’ time will be Any less and you will customers of what you have deemed the spent on current customers and how much appropriate size. If this is a problem, it is will be spent on prospecting. find that prospecting easy to correct through some list generaStart, as above, with the number of needgoes by the wayside. tion and retargeting. n ed new customers and work through proThis article has been excerpted from posals, appointments, etc. Then figure out Troy Harrison’s new book, “The Pocket Sales how much time is needed to accomplish Manager.” He is the author of “Sell Like You Mean It!” and a this. That is your percentage of time on new business. The respeaker, consultant and sales navigator. Harrison helps mainder is spent on current customers. Give it the sniff test companies build more profitable and productive — is the mix reasonable to get the desired results in a 40-hour sales forces with his cutting-edge sales training week? If not, adjust as necessary. My advice is not to have less and methodologies. For information on booking than 25 percent of the salesperson’s time spent on prospecting. speaking/training engagements, consulting or to Any less and you will find that prospecting goes by the wayside. sign up for his weekly e-zine, call (913) 645-3603 For current customers, I would recommend using “quality or email troy@troyharrison.com. appointments” per week as a metric. A “quality appointment” Visit www.troyharrison.com. is one where there is a substantive conversation with a decision maker that advances the company’s interests.

Troubleshooting The first step in troubleshooting sales performance is to look at the quantity of activity. If a salesperson just will not do the work, it does not matter how good he may or may not be in front of the customer; he will never see enough customers to make his goals. You should have a set of sales activity metrics for your salespeople, so begin the troubleshooting process by evaluating the salesperson’s actual activity versus the expected activity. If the salesperson is not meeting activity metrics, it is time to find out why. The two most common reasons are: n The salesperson is simply not doing the work. n The approach used by the salesperson is not meeting the expected ratios (for instance, the salesperson is making the appropriate number of phone calls, but is not getting the necessary appointments). In this case, quantity and quality become intermingled.

If there is a quantitative issue, begin troubleshooting at the highest point in the sales funnel (i.e., calls). Work downward as activity goals are met. If the salesperson is making enough calls, is he getting enough appointments? If not, that may mean he is not executing his calls well. If he is, move from appointments to proposals, proposals to sales, etc. At some point, you will find the problem and have something to work from. Sometimes, the answer is qualitative coaching; other times it is simply to have your salesperson work above your pattern. I once had a salesperson who was not capable of substantially improving the quality of his activity, but improved his quantity so much above basic expectations that he still www.offi cetechnol ogymag.co m | Oc tob e r 2015 | 29

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