October 2023 Office Technology

CONTENTS

FEATURE ARTICLES

10

Passing the Torch

Dealers provide insight into managing the transition

by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

Many family-owned office technology dealerships have two, if not three, generations from the family working in the business. Ultimately, the time comes for one generation to pass the torch to the next. Are you facing that transition?

16

2023 BTA National Conference

BTA East & BTA Mid-America host event Aug. 30-31

by Elizabeth Marvel Office Technology Magazine

The 2023 BTA National Conference, was held Aug. 30-31 in Boston, Massachusetts. The event featured a keynote address, a featured speaker session, a vendor panel, a dealer panel, two additional educational sessions, five breakout sessions, networking time and a dinner cruise.

18

Rowing in Sync

Seven ways to get your team aligned

by Dale Stein Technology Assurance Group

As an advisor to hundreds of businesses and someone who has sold an eight-figure business, I’ve noticed there’s one similarity among all the “winners” I’ve met in life. But I didn’t glean this insight from the hundreds of CEOs I’ve advised. Instead, it came from a gondola captain.

COURTS

& CAPITOLS

25 Slave Labor & the Supply Chain Vendor panel sheds light on Ninestar embargo

by Robert C. Goldberg BTA General Counsel

If you were not able to attend the 2023 BTA National Conference Aug. 30-31 in Boston, Massachusetts, you missed one of the most comprehensive and informative meetings in memory. I was fortunate to moderate a panel of dignitaries who discussed how slave labor may disrupt the supply chain.

DEALERS HELPING DEALERS

27

Time For Another Location?

Dealers share advice for when & how to expand

Compiled by Brent Hoskins

Office Technology Magazine

This article includes two related questions submitted by a dealer member as part of BTA’s Dealers Helping Dealers resource and many of the answers received. These answers and many others can be found in the members-only section of the BTA website.

PRINCIPAL ISSUES

28

‘LEAD Beyond’

Toshiba hosts dealer, end-user meeting Sept. 12-14

by Brent Hoskins Office Technology Magazine

With around 800 attendees — essentially equal numbers of dealers, end users, and Toshiba support staff and Toshiba Business Solutions (TBS) direct sales personnel — on Sept. 12-14 Toshiba America Business Solutions (TABS) hosted “LEAD Beyond.”

29

Thriving in Today’s Market

Three ways to do more than just survive

by Caty Di Maggio Brother International

Due to hybrid work, market uncertainty and rapid AI transformation, the traditional office environment as we know it remains unclear. This article includes three ways for office technology dealerships to not only survive — but thrive — in today’s complex business web.

26

Open a New Branch or Buy a Dealership?

Each month in Office Technology’s Dealers Helping Dealers feature (see page 27) we publish a question asked by a BTA member dealer and the responses to that question from fellow member dealers. This month there were two related questions: “When is a good time to open a second location? Is it better to look into buying a smaller dealership?”

Dave Aulisio, vice president of business development at Automated Business Solutions in Warwick, Rhode Island, provided substantive advice that wouldn’t fit on page 27, so I’ve included it here. Perhaps this — and additional guidance from your peers — will be helpful as you consider a second location.

Aulisio: There are certainly pros and cons to each. When opening any additional location organically, you can focus on implementing your own policies and procedures with existing personnel. You can also control and fully vet who you wish to bring on board. These folks can potentially add value right away and be good fits culturally. Realistic expectations must be placed on any business unit in a new, second location.

The challenge comes with balancing revenue generation with the time you are allowing your organization to generate a sustainable business within a specific area. With no business or machine-in-field population in the area, opening a business organically in a new location takes time.

Are you opening up in a saturated market and how will that impact your ability to compete? Can you get good enough staff members to execute your goals in a reasonable amount of time? How much money will need to be invested in a new facility, staff and the overall logistics needed to run a thriving business unit? I have seen companies open second

locations with sales staff members only, others that are service depots only, and even some that are telemarketing centers. I have seen some open second locations that open up second regions with no dedicated offices, and all sales staff members working remotely.

A second location should meet the objectives of the dealer and what he (or she) needs at the time. With the transition of many workforces, you need to consider whether a task can be done remotely or if it must be done within a dedicated office. This is a decision that is not a “one size fits all” in regard to where the job gets done, but should be considered when opening a second location.

If an organization has revenue and growth targets it wishes to hit in a certain period of time, the quickest way is likely via a smart acquisition. Although revenue and marketshare growth can be attained relatively swiftly, you also need to consider the longterm impact on current personnel and the overall image of your business. If an acquisition takes place, does that lead to a staff restructuring? How will the policies and procedures of the purchased company “mesh” with the buying company? Can the buying company handle the workload of the business it acquires? Will that lead to more of a workload for the purchasing company that might be challenging to effectively handle?

As more office technology dealers seek to diversify, acquisition is likely the best way for short- and long-term growth, but it can come with risks. If the acquired company is absorbed into the new company, how will the personnel of the acquired company be able to adjust to a new culture and different ways of conducting business?

These are all things to consider. There is no perfect strategy and you should do what is best for your dealership after careful evaluation of all alternatives. 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 Caty Di Maggio, Brother International www.brother-usa.com

Bob Goldberg, General Counsel Business Technology Association

Dale Stein, Technology Assurance Group www.tagnational.com

Business Technology Association 12411 Wornall Road

Kansas City, MO 64145

(816) 941-3100 www.bta.org

Member Services: (800) 505-2821

BTA Legal Hotline: (312) 648-2300

Valerie Briseno Marketing Director valerie@bta.org

Brian Smith

Membership Sales Representative brian@bta.org

Photo Credits: Adobe Stock. Cover created by Bruce Quade, Brand X Studio. ©2023 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.

FLASHBACK

The association’s magazine cover 53 years ago this month — the NOMDA Spokesman, October 1970.

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

BTA 101: Using Your BTA Member Benefits

The Business Technology Association (BTA) offers its members a wide array of benefits that are included with their membership dues. Are you taking advantage of your member benefits? If not, I encourage you to do so by checking out www.bta.org/MemberBenefits to see the full list of everything you receive as a member. Using just a few of these offerings will more than pay for your membership dues.

If you prefer a guided approach, the association hosts a monthly BTA 101 Zoom call that will help you get acquainted with BTA, its benefits and website. During these calls, BTA Marketing Director Valerie Briseno will walk you through the BTA website and share some highlights of membership. If you haven’t yet attended a BTA 101 call, I highly recommend it. You can find a link to register for the next call at www.bta.org/BTA101.

Below are details on a few of our more popular benefits, along with links to visit for more information. I hope you will find these offerings beneficial for your business.

n BTA Legal Services (www.bta.org/ Legal) — BTA General Counsel Bob Goldberg provides members with no-fee advice and guidance on a diverse range of topics. Through the BTA Legal Hotline, he can evaluate legal needs, provide advice and guidance, review and analyze reseller contracts, and serve as a third party to help resolve business disputes. Among other offerings, Goldberg provides members with sample legal documents, which can be downloaded and customized to fit your dealership and its needs.

n BTA Member Directory — The members-only section of the BTA website provides you with a directory of all BTA members.

You can search the directory for local BTA member dealers for networking, or you can search all members for the brands they carry, the products they offer, etc. For more information, log in to the Info Hub at www. bta.org/member-login and click “Member Directory” in the left-hand column.

n BTA Events (www.bta.org/BTAEvents)

Each year, the districts of the Business Technology Association host educational and networking events that provide opportunities for dealers to interact with one another and with exhibitors, and to gather new ideas and strategies for their businesses.

n Educational Workshops & Webinars (www.bta.org/Education) — BTA offers members a variety of discounted educational programs in both live and online formats, as well as informative free webinars. From sales to finance to service, there’s some form of education for nearly everyone at your dealership. As a member, don’t forget that you receive $400 in discounts with a one-year membership and $950 in discounts with a two-year membership that can be used toward BTA’s educational workshops and events.

n BTA Scholarship Program (www. bta.org/Scholarships) — Each year BTA awards a number of scholarships to qualifying full-time employees and children of employees of BTA member dealerships. Since the 1984-85 school year, BTA has presented 1,561 scholarships to deserving students, totaling $1.7785 million. Applications must be postmarked by May 1 each year.

n Discount Programs (www.bta.org/ DiscountPrograms) — BTA offers members a variety of discount programs that help them save money in their dealerships. These range from car rental discounts, to gas and electricity volume purchasing agreements, to shipping and freight discounts, to managed website services and more. n

— Don Risser

2023-2024 Board of Directors

President

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

President-Elect

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

Vice President Debra Dennis CopyPro Inc. Greenville, North Carolina ddennis@copypro.net

Immediate Past President David Polimeni RITE Technology Sarasota, Florida dpolimeni@ritefl.com

BTA East Mike Boyle BASE Technologies Inc. Bethel, Connecticut mboyle@baseinc.com

Joe Dellaposta Doing Better Business Hagerstown, Maryland jvd@doingbetterbusiness.com

BTA Mid-America

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

Greg Quirk JQ Office Equipment Omaha, Nebraska gquirk@jqoffice.com

BTA Southeast Jim Buck Carolina Business Equipment Inc. Columbia, South Carolina jimb@cbesc.com

Mike Hicks Electronic Business Machines Inc. Lexington, Kentucky mhicks@ebmky.com

BTA West Mike McGuirk ProCopy Office Solutions Inc. Mesa, Arizona mmcguirk@procopyoffice.com

Kevin Marshall Copy Link Inc. Chula Vista, California kevin@copylink.net

Ex-Officio/General Counsel

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

Passing the Torch

Dealers provide insight into managing the transition

by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

Many family-owned office technology dealerships have two, if not three, generations from the family working in the business. Ultimately, the time comes for one generation to pass the torch to the next. Are you facing that transition?

Below are profiles of three dealerships focused on managing the transition of leadership to the next generation. The insight they provide may help you as you contemplate the same transition in your dealership.

Applied Innovation

At the age of 19, John Lowery took a job at a family-owned office technology dealership in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He stayed eight-and-a-half years, selling copiers. It wasn’t enough. His dream was to be a business owner himself.

That opportunity came as a result of his next job, when another local dealership wanted to start a Ricoh division. Lowery helped the dealership secure the manufacturer as a vendor partner. A year and a half later, he asked the owners if they would be willing to sell him their Ricoh division. “I thought, ‘They’re never going to do it,’” he says. “‘Why would you put a competitor in business?’” His dream was about to become reality. They said “yes.” With $500 in the bank, $5,000 borrowed from his father and a $50,000 line of credit secured using the equity in his home, he started his own business. The year was 1987.

That small Ricoh division is now Applied Innovation, a $156-million dealership with 527 employees in 17 locations across four states. Today, Applied also carries Canon, HP and Kyocera products, and has a wide range of other offerings, from IT services to medical waste disposal. Lowery served 36-plus years as the dealership’s president. On Oct. 1, his son, Casey Lowery, assumed the presidency. John now serves as CEO.

Work on the “perpetuation” of Applied began 10 years ago, John says. “Along the way, there have been certain things we wanted Casey to learn about the business,” he says. “Plus, our focus has been on transitioning to a team, not a person.”

With that goal in mind, a leadership team has been in place for a number of years; Casey has been a member for the past six years. “It has been very important to make sure we have a strong leadership team,” he says. “My dad is stepping down as president, but I’m not necessarily taking over. It’s more that I am taking over as the leader of our leadership team.”

Casey has had plenty of opportunities to learn about the business. He first worked in sales for Ricoh direct for a couple of years before joining Applied in 2006. He has served as a sales rep, sales manager, director of sales and as COO, with sales, service and administration reporting to him. “He’s done all of the work that he needs to do,” John says. “He’s ready for the driver’s seat.”

In recent years, John has been preparing Applied’s employees for Casey’s ascension to the presidency. “We have gotten him more involved in company meetings and in other ways to put him in front of our employees, to make that connection,” he says. “Those are the things I love to do, but I’ve slowly given that up, because that’s a way for him to show his leadership capacity.”

Casey plans to continue with the various means by which John has connected with Applied employees. “I feel like the foundation has been laid,” he says. “I need to continue the traditions, such as, for example, our ‘Breakfast With the President’ and all-company meetings — the things our employees expect. That allows a transition that is not a huge event, but just feels like business as usual.”

With Casey’s transition to the presidency, John emphasizes the importance of continuity in the strict adherence to the company’s values, recommending other dealers do the same. The “biggest part of the transition” is to ensure the “set of values that you’ve instilled inside of the organization is not going to change; that it will live in perpetuation through the next generation,” John says. “That is critically important. Never forget where you came from and always be able to talk about those values. Proactive leaders overmanage values. Passive leaders undermanage values.”

Casey likewise offers advice regarding leadership transition. “Don’t wait to have the conversation,” he says, noting how, years ago, John started reviewing Applied’s financials, strategy and business model with him. “It’s easy to put that off, but then you are a couple of years down the road and you’re like, ‘I should have been doing that the past couple of years.’ So, plan such conversations monthly or quarterly. Put them on your calendar.”

In addition, Casey advises the second generation to ask a lot of questions, as he did. “It was not to question my dad’s decisions, but to understand why he made the decisions that he did,” he says. “So, ‘What was your mindset? What were the factors that came to mind?’ A good example is if my dad saw something in the financials and said, ‘Oh, we need to look at that.’ My question was: ‘What in your gut made you think that you need to look at that?’”

John offers some final advice for dealers looking to transition leadership. “Here in western Michigan, there are a lot of family businesses,” he says. “There is an organization called the Family Business Alliance. That has led, for example, to the opportunity for us to hear from the owners of White Castle Systems and Gordon Food Services. Look for one of these organizations in your area and become a part of it. For us, it has been super helpful.”

Capital Office Products

On April 1, 1997, Bill MacDonald’s dealership, Capital Office Products Inc., based in Columbia, South Carolina, opened for business. Twenty-five years later, on April 1, 2022, he retired. Today, his daughter, Ashley Whisonant, serves as managing owner of Capital, a $3.5-million Canonauthorized dealership with approximately 15 employees.

Bill began his career as a technician at a Charlotte, North Carolina, dealership. He was later promoted to service manager at a branch location and, ultimately, to regional service manager for most of South Carolina and parts of Georgia. After IKON purchased the dealership, he decided it was time for a change, working at another dealership for two years while waiting for his non-compete to expire, before establishing Capital.

Fast forward 15 years. Ashley had taught fourth grade for seven years and was looking for a change. “I came in on the administration side, slowly working my way through the different positions,” she says of her 10 years at Capital.

“I started as an admin, later became office manager, started doing sales with major accounts, served as the administration manager and then as CFO.”

Somewhere along the way, the two began talking about the idea of transitioning management of the dealership and providing Ashley part ownership. As it turns out, the primary catalyst for the timing of Bill’s retirement was the COVID-19 pandemic. “COVID happened and we had a pause,” he says. “We had less work and looked at that as the opportunity for the transition. I knew that when we came out of COVID, the ‘copy world’ was going to be different.”

— Casey Lowery Applied Innovation

Bill also knew his daughter would be better suited to guide the company post-COVID. “I saw the writing on the wall,” he says. “Ashley’s vision was based on different ideas; she looked at things through a different lens. My lens was tried and true, but older.”

Ashley’s vision was diversification. “I saw a need to increase our offerings to do more in the IT space based on the needs of our customers,” she says. “We went back and forth on this for a long time; that was not something he felt comfortable with, but he knew it had to be done. So, he helped me figure out how we could acquire a local IT company. A lot of smaller dealerships have not been able to keep going, because they aren’t diversifying. The acquisition gave us another source of revenue to help us to continue growing.”

Bill’s retirement did not happen overnight. “Once you make the plan to transition from one generation to the next, you can’t go from one figurehead to a totally different figurehead over a weekend,” Ashley says. “It can’t be: Bill is here on Friday and all of a sudden he retires and Ashley is now the boss starting Monday. That would not have worked well with our staff or our customers.”

So, the decision was to taper down Bill’s hours in the office over time. “Dad was at work five days a week, obviously, for his entire life,” Ashley says. “Then, we went to four days a week for a couple of months. He then got down to three days a week. In his final days at the company, he would be gone for two weeks at a time. When he returned, he’d check in with me asking, ‘What are some things that happened while I was gone? How did you handle them? Let’s talk about them.’ It was on-the-job training for me.”

Ultimately, Bill took “tapering down” to the highest level. “My wife and I moved two-and-a-half hours away,” he says. “That way, everybody realized that I wasn’t in charge. In the

“It’s easy to put that off [the conversation about leadership transition], but then you are a couple of years down the road and you’re like, ‘I should have been doing that the past couple of years.’”

beginning, some of the employees did reach out to me. I told them: ‘You’re talking to the wrong person. I don’t work there anymore. You need to talk to Ashley.’”

During the transition, prior to his departure, Bill worked to ensure that the accounts he managed were accepting of the change in leadership. “Dad started taking me with him to all of his accounts; people really liked that,” Ashley says. “I met all of his accounts and started working with them. He would copy me on emails to the accounts, so we were all connected.”

Bill says the introduction of Ashley to the major accounts has been particularly fruitful. “She has taken some of those customers to different levels, selling them more services,” he says. “When she talks to a major-account customer, she’s not coming from a sales-rep perspective, which always comes across better. Our major accounts have flourished.”

What advice do they have for other dealers transitioning leadership from one generation to the next? Says Bill: “Prior to the transition, make sure the infrastructure — all of the processes in the way you do business — is in place. It should be solid.” Says Ashley: “Keep your dealership staff members in the know as much as possible. Don’t keep your transition plan a secret. It makes everybody feel more comfortable.”

Kraft Business Systems

In December of this year, Kraft Business Systems, headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, will celebrate its 33rd anniversary. Jeff Cousins founded the company after working for another dealership for seven years. Now at about $15 million in annual revenues, Kraft has approximately 55 employees, two additional locations in metro Detroit and Traverse City, Michigan, and is an authorized dealership for Lexmark, Konica Minolta and Xerox. For the past 15 years, Kraft has also offered managed IT services.

Like the children of many office technology dealership owners, Jeff’s son, Brandon Cousins, had an early start in the dealership. “I have had a role in some capacity since cleaning bathrooms when I was a kid,” Brandon says. “When I turned about 15, I started doing deliveries with the service techs, and by the time I was about 17, after school I was in a truck, finishing the day doing deliveries for our service manager.”

After graduating from college, Brandon became a fulltime employee at Kraft. “That was 18 years ago, so I’ve been here for a long time,” he says. He started in service dispatch

and was later promoted to service manager and then vice president of service. “I had the opportunity to essentially grow up working alongside some of the guys in the service department.”

For the past two years, Brandon has served as vice president of operations. This fall, he assumed the presidency at Kraft. Jeff now serves as CEO and founder. “As the CEO and founder, my role today is to provide our team with a clear vision, articulate the compelling ‘why’ behind our chosen direction, and highlight the valuable benefits awaiting each team member. Alongside this, I continue to explore acquisition opportunities and forge high-level vendor partnerships, ensuring our collective journey remains both visionary and rewarding.”

The ascension of Brandon to the presidency and the continued concentration on the growth of the company were not always the expected outcome. “When I first opened Kraft, I wasn’t looking for a big expansion,” Jeff says. “The goal was to be home as much as I could, coach, and get my kids educated, through college and married. Then, my wife Patty and I would prepare for retirement.”

However, when Kraft joined the PRO Dealer Group, a BTA peer group, the plans changed. “We started to realize that we could build Kraft up, pushing hard for the next 10 years,” Jeff says. “Then, like everyone else, we would sell the dealership.”

It was Brandon’s vision for his own future that resulted in yet another change in plans. “Brandon came to me and said, ‘Dad, I want to buy the company, but I want to bring somebody in with me who has the background and understanding of the sales and marketing side,’” Jeff says. That “somebody” is Pat Morrissey, a longtime employee of Kraft and vice president of sales and marketing. “So, two years ago, we came up with a 10-year plan and it really makes sense. It became the next step in the evolution of Kraft.”

Today, Brandon and Pat each own 12.5% of Kraft and, over the next eight years, will together own 49%. “Candidly, this is a way to keep it in the family,” Jeff says. “In a way, Pat is treated like one of the family. He is a great guy. I couldn’t be more proud to have him as a partner.”

Increasingly, Jeff is finding that he can be away from Kraft during his multiyear transition to full retirement. “It’s all right with the new leadership for me to not be here every day as we proceed with this transition toward my retirement in the next eight years. The adjustment allows me to focus on other strategic aspects of our journey.”

“Keep your dealership staff members in the know as much as possible. Don’t keep your transition plan a secret. It makes everybody feel more comfortable.“

— Ashley Whisonant Capital Office Products

The decision to keep Kraft in the family was well received by employees, Jeff says. He shares feedback from several employees who joined Kraft from other dealerships where there was no plan for the future that was unveiled to employees. “The message I got from them was, ‘This is a big deal. There’s a plan and we have a place to work for the next 10 to 15 years,’” he says. “Otherwise, they were going to be thinking, ‘Oh man, I hope Jeff doesn’t sell Kraft in the next five years.’”

Brandon welcomes his dad’s continued involvement in the coming years. “When we said, ‘We want to buy Kraft,’ at no point did we want him to go anywhere,” he says. “We saw the next 10 years as an opportunity for his mentorship from his 30-plus years of experience. We want his know-how.”

— Jeff Cousins Kraft Business Systems

Despite the awareness that he would have received more money for the dealership from a third party, Jeff is very pleased that Brandon approached him about buying the dealership. “The real value for me lies in the ability to see this company continue for the next generation,” he says. “I can’t put a price on that blessing. I may never be able to say, ‘I sold my company and got top dollar.’ However, selfishly, this is what I wanted. I am blessed to have one of my kids want to stay in the business.” n

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

“I may never be able to say, ‘I sold my company and got top dollar.’ However, selfishly, this is what I wanted. I am blessed to have one of my kids want to stay in the business. “

2023 BTA National Conference

BTA East & BTA Mid-America host event Aug. 30-31

by: Elizabeth Marvel, Office Technology Magazine

The 2023 BTA National Conference, co-hosted by BTA East and BTA Mid-America, was held Aug. 3031 at the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts. The event featured a keynote address, a featured speaker session, a vendor panel, a dealer panel, two additional educational sessions, five breakout sessions, time to network with peers and exhibiting sponsors, and a dinner cruise aboard the Spirit of Boston.

The keynote, “Miracle on Ice: Insight Into Leadership & Teamwork,” was presented by Mike Eruzione, captain of the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” U.S. Olympic hockey team. SEAC John Wayne Troxell, retired U.S. Army senior noncommissioned officer, presented the featured speaker session, “How to Transform Your Business.” The additional educational sessions: “Purpose & Culture,” by John Lowery and Casey Lowery of Applied Innovation; and “The Impact of Megatrends on Your Dealership & Customers,” by Tami Beach, HP Inc.

The vendor panel, “Will Slave Labor Disrupt the Supply Chain?” was moderated by BTA General Counsel Bob Goldberg, and the dealer panel, “Making Strides: Inspiring Stories of Diversification,” was moderated by Mike Boyle, BASE Technologies Inc. The breakout sessions: “The New Office Battleground: Building a Successful Business for the Future of Office Print,” by Robert Palmer, IDC; “Prospecting to Win” and “LinkedIn to Win Team Road Map,” by Rick Lambert, selltowin and In2communications; the unified communications (UC) dealer panel, “Bridging the Gap: How Dealers are Empowering Businesses Through Unified Communications,” moderated by Jim D’Emidio, independent consultant; and the UC vendor panel, “UC Market Dynamics: How Vendors are Empowering Dealers Through Unified Communications,” also moderated by D’Emidio.

The BTA event schedule for 2024 will be announced soon. Keep an eye on www.bta. org/BTAEvents for more information as it becomes available. n

Elizabeth Marvel is associate editor of Office Technology magazine. She can be reached at elizabeth@bta.org or (816) 303-4060.

Clockwise from top: The 2023 BTA National Conference featured a keynote address, a featured speaker session, a vendor panel, a dealer panel, two additional educational sessions, five breakout sessions and plenty of networking time; 2023-24 BTA East Vice President Tim Seeley Jr. serves as an event emcee; 2023-24 BTA President Don Risser (right) presents the 2023 BTA Volunteer of the Year Award to 2020-22 BTA President Tim Renegar; BTA General Counsel Bob Goldberg (far left) moderates the vendor panel with panelists (left to right) Tricia Judge, International Imaging Technology Council, Mike Marusic, Sharp, Sam Errigo, Konica Minolta, Óscar Sánchez, Kyocera, and Charles Brewer, Actionable Intelligence; and Eruzione presents the keynote.

his breakout

UC vendor

Diversify for Success

Diversification is a huge topic of conversation among office technology dealers today. During the national conference, Mike Boyle, president, BASE Technologies Inc., Bethel, Connecticut, moderated the dealer panel, “Making Strides: Inspiring Stories of Diversification.” During the panel, three dealers shared how their dealerships have been diversifying to capture more business. The panelists: Philip Houser, president and CEO, Document Solutions Inc. (DSI), Albuquerque, New Mexico; Chip Miceli, president, Pulse Technology, Schaumburg, Illinois; and Tim Renegar, president and co-owner, Kelly Office Solutions, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The panel began with the dealers talking about the diversification choices they made to get their businesses where they are today.

Houser: “As we grew out what DSI is today, we looked at other ways that we could continue to grow the company. The first diversification step we took was adding IT ... Our first client was 1,500 PCs; it was a pretty small way to get into the IT business and it really allowed us to build out the infrastructure of our IT department ... Our IT division also spawned interactive panels, video walls and voice-over-IP telephone systems.” Houser also noted that DSI provides security for customers with cameras and access control.

Lam-

right): Anne Valaitis, Keypoint Intelligence, David Looft, Zultys, Jon Brinton, Crexendo, Cody Walton, Konica Minolta, and (not pictured) Eric Tuttle, Intermedia; the UC dealer panelists (left to right): Danielle Wolowitz, Shore Business Solutions, Farmingdale, New Jersey, Mike Ardry, Automated Business Solutions, Warwick, Rhode Island, and Brantly Fowler, Zeno Office Solutions Inc., Midland, Texas; the dealer panelists (left to right): Philip Houser, Document Solutions Inc., Albuquerque, New Mexico, Chip Miceli, Pulse Technology, Schaumburg, Illinois, and Tim Renegar, Kelly Office Solutions, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Left photos, top to bottom: Beach presents her educational session on the second day of the national conference; John Partenio (center left) and Philip Crean (center right) of Aztec Inc., Middletown, Connecticut, visit with Terry Kirwin (left) and Peter Kubat (right) of Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America during a break between sessions; and (left to right) Shilpa Shankar and Greg O’Briant of ACDI visit with DJ Hastings of Hogland Office Equipment, Lubbock, Texas, during a break.

Renegar: “We actually started [diversifying] with our water division ... The second piece was our managed IT ... We made the decision six or seven years ago to get into IT and we took a year vetting that process to see if we were going to buy, build or partner ... We partnered with Collabrance at the time and still work with them on a lot of things ... Then we diversified even further ... There are other things that you can do inside of water: there’s ice, which brings on coffee, which brings on PureAir. Within IT, you end up in phones, you end up in security, you end up in a variety of different things.”

Miceli: “When it comes to technology, I think there’s so much stuff out there that you need to be involved in and make money at. We’ve been in IT forever ... And now we’re in management services and that brings a whole onslaught of products: cybersecurity, all kinds of things you can sell ... Our biggest growth has been in A/V.” What advice did the panelists have for other dealers looking to diversify their businesses?

Houser: “I would definitely say whatever you choose to diversify in, have the infrastructure to support that initiative. I think diversification long term is paramount to the continued growth of your organization, but it is vital to build out the infrastructure to support that.”

Renegar: “First and foremost, don’t take off on a big diversification strategy if your core business isn’t solid; it’s an investment at the beginning ... The new piece is going to struggle at first and it’s easy to get discouraged if it doesn’t take off ... You’ve got to find people who are successful at it to talk to. That’s really key. They’ll tell you how to do it, where they’ve made mistakes and how to be successful more quickly.”

Miceli: “The core secret to any of this stuff is if you don’t have the infrastructure inside, you have to partner with someone to do that. We just put a scoreboard into a baseball stadium and we partnered with [a variety of people to do it] ... Once we got them all together, we managed the project like a contractor. So we brought everybody together. We made a lot of money by just being a managing partner ... Before you venture off into something, do your research. Is it a core product that’s going to make you money? Is it going to have recurring revenue? Can you handle it?” n

— Elizabeth Marvel

Clockwise from top left: John Lowery; Casey Lowery; Troxell;

bert presents

session; the

panelists (left to

Rowing in Sync

Seven ways to get your team aligned

by: Dale Stein, Technology Assurance Group (TAG)

As an advisor to hundreds of businesses and someone who has sold an eightfigure business, I’ve noticed there’s one similarity among all the “winners” I’ve met in life. This applies to founders, managers, salespeople, employees and even organizations that “win.” But here’s the odd thing: I didn’t glean this insight from the hundreds of CEOs I’ve advised. Instead, it came from a simple man who took my wife and I on a gondola boat ride one day.

The Blind Gondolier Who Saw the Meaning of Life

I’ll never forget the sunny day I joined a San Diego, California, charity sailing event. As my wife and I boarded the boat, our cheerful, sunglasses-wearing captain greeted us and distributed coats in case the weather got chilly. We took our seats in the gondola and marveled as he expertly navigated us out of the marina and into the open waters of the San Diego Bay. As our gondolier weaved between passing jet skiers in the busy harbor, I noticed the waves lapping up against the side of the boat and was impressed by how well he avoided all of the other vessels and buoys.

After a few minutes, I struck up a conversation with him and asked how long he had been doing this kind of work. As he stood on the stern, he said he had been doing this kind of work for so long he could do it without looking.

To my utter shock, it turned out that wasn’t just an expression. We were stunned to discover that he had tragically lost his sight and was blind. Yet, despite this hardship, he radiated joy, a passion for life and a clear mastery of his craft.

Eventually my wife asked how he managed to stay so positive when he had every right to be bitter about the circumstances of his life. He replied, “You know ... I tried life the other way around and that way didn’t work out so well. So, I chose to live like this.”

Even though no one would have faulted him for blaming his circumstances, I was in awe of his strength to make the conscious choice to focus on happiness rather than sink into misery. His story was so touching because it proves

that it’s never about what happens to us in life, but how we respond to the challenges we’re presented. It shows that no matter the situation, you can always choose happiness — which is the ultimate success.

Not only was this inspirational at the time, but it clarified something I’ve tried to describe to the business owners I’ve spoken to for decades: No one goes through life unscathed, and while we all have our own unique crosses to bear, we can always choose success.

While I’ll be the first to say that you must know your KPIs like the back of your hand and that if you’re clueless about your metrics, there’s a minuscule chance you’ll ever reach great success, I’ve also learned how important core traits like these are to forge successful people and successful companies. Just like how “soft skills” have seen a resurgence in importance, I refer to these traits as “soft KPIs” that have a tremendous capacity to shape your organization.

Seven Questions to Get Your Team Aligned

Most organizations will succeed up to a certain level, but to propel themselves into the higher echelon of success they’re really after, here are the seven “soft KPIs” you can use to assess whether or not your company culture is breeding “gondoliers” or victims.

These principles apply equally to every founder, C-level executive, manager, employee or entire organization I’ve worked with and will literally dictate your company’s future potential. If you’re building organizations, you’re also in the business of building the people who comprise those organizations, too. I want to share the blueprint that forges successful individuals, teams and, eventually, companies.

(1) Is everyone constantly learning new things? While the concept of a “fixed mindset” versus a “growth mindset” has exploded in popularity among executive management teams, the principle that underpins it is one we teach, preach and embody.

Your team must be full of lifelong learners. These people are

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passionate, vibrant and infectious to be around. They also have tons of great ideas because they’re exposing themselves to new, disparate fields and bringing the best back to the company.

You might not know if your team is full of lifelong learners or those who are dogmatically set in their ways. Just like how stagnant water breeds disease, stagnant minds also stifle organizational creativity. Conversely, as long as water remains in motion, it remains pure — just like the minds of your team members.

In order to foster innovation, you must encourage curiosity. The clearest evidence of your company’s ability to foster innovation is whether or not your team members feel like they have permission to make mistakes. Do your team members feel free to try out new ideas, or are they terrified that any time they make mistakes they’re going to get the inspiration scolded out of them? While good organizations can optimize to certain levels of success, if your team members are scared to make mistakes, you’ll never be able to innovate like the bold companies that define industries and achieve record-breaking profits.

(2) Do your team members visualize? In 1960, Dr. Maxwell Maltz conducted an experiment with college basketball players. One group physically practiced free throws for 20 days while the second group spent the same amount of time just visualizing themselves making free throws. Players were then tested without being allowed to practice and the visualization group improved by 23% compared to only 14% for the physical practice group.

These findings suggest that visualizing a skill can improve performance more than physical practice. Mental visualization activates neural patterns that are similar to the actual execution of the skill.

In business, there are tons of skills that can be practiced. The first place you need to instill a winning mindset is in the imagination of your employees. To foster this, we instruct all of our clients to help their team members develop “Life Business Plans” that clarify all of their financial, health, career and relationship goals so they can clearly visualize themselves succeeding in ways that are most authentic to them.

This is the actual first step behind painting a compelling vision of the future for your company: Assisting your team members in clarifying their own exciting personal visions for their futures. It is then that your employees view company goals as means to achieve their personal goals.

(3) Do your team members know “the platinum rule” of communication? We all know “the golden rule,” which reminds us to “treat others as we want to be treated.” However,

in communication, it’s far more effective, influential and rapport-building to learn how to communicate in a style that others prefer over our natural style. Essentially, “the platinum rule,” is to “treat others as they want to be treated.” We utilize the DiSC personality assessment to teach the four communication styles and to make sure our companies excel by using clear communication. Here’s a quick recap of the four styles, but if you want to do a deeper dive, we wrote about this in more detail in the April 2023 Office Technology article, “Company Culture”:

n D — Dominant and direct: Focused on results, problem solving and the bottom line.

n I — Inspiring and interactive: Focused on interacting with people, having fun and/or creating excitement.

n S — Supportive and steady: Focused on preserving relationships, peace and harmony.

n C — Cautious and correct: Focused on facts, rules and correctness.

(4) Do your team members view change as an opportunity or a threat? Most people are grossly dissatisfied with the status quo. However, they remain stuck because they can’t stand the idea of trying something unfamiliar, even when that new idea is highly beneficial for them. But successful people, teams and leaders know that inherent in every single uncomfortable disruption lies a golden opportunity. Some examples:

n MP3s disrupted CD sales, but created a music streaming industry.

n Laptops disrupted desktops, but birthed remote work.

n Smartphones disrupted flip phones, but created apps.

n Amazon disrupted brick-and-mortar storefronts, but opened up e-commerce.

Change brings opportunity, which is why it’s so important to foster an appetite for calculated risks.

(5) Do your team members write down their goals? Do they share them? Goal-setting paired with visualization is extremely powerful because it helps us align our actions and shape our priorities. A goal that is just a thought remains a thought. However, once it’s written down, it starts to become real. It can be broken down into action steps. It ensures focus. It creates personal accountability. And, most importantly, it allows for collaborative contribution. People want to help others, but until they know their goals, it’s difficult for them to do so.

I’ve taught goal-setting in group environments for years and I can’t tell you how many times someone would share that he (or she) had a personal goal to run a marathon, for example. Then, oddly, someone else in the group would reveal that he used to run marathons or that his brother just

... If your team members are scared to make mistakes, you’ll never be able to innovate like the bold companies that define industries ...

completed one and he would flood the goal-setter with resources, training programs, expertise, gear, etc., so the goalsetter could accelerate his progress. So even though it’s rare to find an organization that doesn’t write down goals these days, I recommend you ensure your team members are sharing their goals with each other on a regular basis.

However, it’s not just up to them to contribute to one another. As the leader, it’s your job to lead by example. Do you have any employees who are saving up to buy houses? Who in your network do you know who could help them out with learning how to invest more intelligently? Are your employees looking to get connected to “high-profile” mentors who can accelerate their careers — in addition to them working with you? Which friends of yours have you introduced them to?

(6) Are your team members passionate? Think of the most passionate, highly engaged high-performers on your team. Aside from their individual strengths, I guarantee they all share one thing in common: They have huge personal motivations for success. This isn’t because you’ve given them stricter quotas, KPIs, deadlines, etc. Their motivation comes from within. While metrics are valuable, the core trait that separates a successful person from an unsuccessful one is his level of passion. When someone is personally passionate about what he’s doing, there’s no way to stop him.

We summarize this when we teach our clients, “If the why is big enough, then the how doesn’t really matter.” If you want a high-performing team, everyone must be highly passionate. But for most organizations, that’s not the norm.

However, if that’s your company, I want to challenge you. Show me a disengaged, complacent or indifferent employee and I’ll show you a manager who has no idea what that person is passionate about. Passionate people don’t work to satisfy quotas or to get managers off their backs. They work because there’s a deeper, far more meaningful reason fueling them.

Here’s exactly how to tap into an employee’s purpose and to understand the core of what is driving him: For any goal he has, ask him this question: “Once you have X, what will having that do for you?”

Do it at least three times and I promise you, you’ll find his core passion. (Note: This only works if you’ve established trust previously.)

Here’s an example:

Manager: “So, what’s your biggest goal right now?”

Employee: “I really want to double my monthly sales goal.”

Manager: “And once you’ve doubled your sales goal, what will having that do for you?”

Employee: “I mean, the bonus check sure will be nice!”

Manager: “Once you have that bonus check, what will having it do for you?”

Employee: “Honestly, I’ll finally be able to take my wife on vacation. I’ve been saving up for a year already and she’s been waiting patiently for such a long time. She’s been dreaming about going to Florence, Italy, for years.”

Manager: “Once you get to take her on that vacation to Florence, what will having that do for you?”

Employee: “I’ll feel so proud of myself for having given her something she absolutely deserves. She’s an amazing woman and I guess it would make me feel like a good husband.”

And just like that, you’ve uncovered your employee’s core passion. That’s why he works hard. That’s why he hits quota. That’s why he perseveres. And if he doesn’t share anything meaningful with you, it’s typically because you haven’t created enough rapport with him yet.

Even though this employee might be passionate about being generous with his wife, other employees might be passionate about improving the lives of their families, establishing financial security, building investment portfolios, buying luxury cars, supporting charities, being role models for their kids, getting six-pack abs, etc.

Imagine how powerfully you could understand your employees if you took the time to ask them those three simple questions. Did you ever have a manager, mentor or investor who took the time to discover your passions? How would you feel if a manager had been that personally interested in you?

(7) Is your company giving more to its team members than it takes? With the millions of factors that contribute to the answer to this question, it’s obviously challenging to measure. But how many of us know a fellow business owner who regularly complains that “nobody wants to work anymore.”

This isn’t because “nobody wants to work.” It happens to him because his company — or even he — has earned a reputation of taking more from others than it — or he — gives.

This is no way to live, nor to run a growing company, but as leaders, it’s our job to make sure that we raise the tide so every boat rises along with it. The secret is to err on the side of generosity. It is to understand that sharing knowledge and mentoring compound growth.

Ultimately, this means that we recognize our company is a vehicle for others to achieve their own successes in life and it’s our job to give them the opportunities, resources and support they need to achieve the highest levels of success they can reach.

Not only does running your life this way breed tons of goodwill with your team, make your company more attractive to others and persuade people to want to be around

Show me a disengaged, complacent or indifferent employee and I’ll show you a manager who has no idea what that person is passionate about.

Financing that can’t be copied.

you, but it feels good to live life this way. When you give freely and live generously, life always finds a way of bringing the benefits back to you — tenfold.

But it all comes back to a decision. You can live defensively, micromanaging every interaction and building transactional relationships, or you can become a force for the greater good who gives more to others and knows how generously he’s contributed to the lives of so many people.

Cultivate These Seven Attributes Throughout Your Organization

Remember, success begets success. Surround yourself with passionate, growth-oriented talent. Enable your employees to visualize, focus, collaborate, adapt and give back.

It’s a choice to breed winners or losers. Which will you be? The blind boat captain chose to create his own tailwind rather than go adrift. Companies can make that same choice. Surround your crew with passionate, growth-

oriented talent. Navigate toward the vision of success you paint. The journey won’t always be smooth sailing, but the right culture breeds winners. n

Dale Stein is co-founder of Technology Assurance Group (TAG), an organization of managed technology service providers (MTSPs). Collectively, TAG’s members do $800 million per year in IT, cybersecurity, telecommunications and video surveillance. They are located in 148 cities across the United States and Canada, and are presently serving more than 780,000 SMBs. He is responsible for developing TAG’s strategic planning and guiding its business development. In addition, Stein is the managing partner for TAG’s MTSP, i-NETT, and also serves as its president. He also founded Westec Security Corp. and served as its CEO. Stein can be reached at dales@tagnational.com. Visit www.tagnational.com.

Surround yourself with passionate, growth-oriented talent. Enable your employees to visualize, focus, collaborate, adapt and give back.

Slave Labor & the Supply Chain

Vendor panel sheds light on Ninestar embargo

by: Robert C. Goldberg, BTA General Counsel

If you were not able to attend the 2023 BTA National Conference Aug. 30-31

in Boston, Massachusetts, you missed one of the most comprehensive and informative meetings in memory. Record attendance and remarkable speakers contributed to the event’s success. I was fortunate to moderate a panel of dignitaries who discussed how slave labor may disrupt the supply chain. My appreciation and gratitude goes to Charles Brewer, president, Actionable Intelligence; Sam Errigo, president and CEO, Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A. Inc.; Tricia Judge, executive director and general counsel, International Imaging Technology Council; Mike Marusic, president and CEO, Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America; and Óscar Sánchez, president and CEO, KYOCERA Document Solutions America Inc. Ninestar and Lexmark were invited to participate, but declined.

The office technology industry has uniformly condemned the use of “slave labor” in conjunction with the production of any equipment, parts or supplies. On June 9, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security’s Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force placed an embargo on imported products from Ninestar and eight related companies: Zhuhai Ninestar Information Technology, Zhuhai Pantum Electronics, Zhuhai Apex Microelectronics, Geehy Semiconductor, Zhuhai Pu-Tech Industrial, Zhuhai G&G Digital Technology, Zhuhai Seine Printing Technology and Zhuhai Ninestar Management. The embargo took effect on June 12, 2023. The announcement and implementation caught the entire industry by surprise.

Ninestar is alleged to have violated the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. The act prohibits, “All work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty for its nonperformance and for which the worker does not offer himself voluntarily.” It is believed there are close to 5 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs and Muslim minorities who work within this prohibition. Ninestar is the 22nd company for which an embargo has been placed. Previous products forbidden include: artificial flowers, bricks, Christmas decorations, coal, cotton, electronics, fireworks, footwear, garments, gloves, hair products, nails, polysilicon, textiles, thread, yarn, tomato products and toys. No company has ever been removed from the listed entities precluded from exporting products.

The Ninestar restrictions have a dramatic effect on the office

technology industry. It is estimated that Ninestar manufactures 80% of the chips in toner cartridges and is the fourth largest manufacturer of laser printers. Ninestar chips and parts can be found in the products of numerous OEMs. Ninestar also owns more than 60% of Lexmark and 100% of Static Control. The Ninestar restrictions echoed throughout the industry.

Several OEMs and consumable suppliers rejected shipments of Ninestar products that were at sea when the embargo was announced. Industry participants uniformly have moved quickly to find alternative sources. Pantum printers, manufactured by Ninestar, compose the Lexmark GO Line and are privately labeled for others. Each of the vendor panel participants clearly stated that steps are being taken to find alternative sources but, in some cases, there is concern about a back-order situation for certain equipment, parts and supplies.

Ninestar has filed a challenge to the embargo in the United States Court of International Trade. The challenge does not address the use of forced labor, but is brought under the Administrative Procedure Act. Ninestar contends it was not afforded due process and, thus, the embargo should be lifted. Ninestar alleges that trade associations, including the Business Technology Association (BTA), “ ... Have cut off their relationships with Ninestar” as a result of the embargo. BTA has removed the Ninestar logo from its website and moved to revoke Ninestar’s membership for the failure to conduct itself in a manner that reflects favorably on the association and/or the industry.

During the panel, Judge pointed out that dealers face potential liability for the sale of embargoed products. Products received prior to June 12 should not be affected. BTA is working with suppliers to obtain assurances that any products, parts or supplies purchased by dealers are not in violation of the embargo. Suppliers are being asked to indemnify, defend and hold harmless any dealer for any claim based on their products. BTA is also working with the Department of Homeland Security to clarify numerous issues that have arisen due to its action. BTA will keep members informed of the latest developments in this critical matter. n

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

The “Will Slave Labor Disrupt the Supply Chain?” panelists at the 2023 BTA National Conference were (left to right): Judge, Marusic, Errigo, Sánchez and Brewer.

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

Dealer Members

Gray & Creech Inc; Greensboro, NC

Supreme Office Technology, North Haven, CT

Vendor Members

ExecuTech Lease Group, Vancouver, WA Imaging Solutions Direct, New Hyde Park, NY

For full contact information of these new members, visit www.bta.org.

Dealers Helping Dealers Resources

BTA offers three

Dealers Helping Dealers resources to facilitate opportunities for BTA member dealers to help their fellow dealers:

The Dealers Helping Dealers Repair Network is composed of BTA member dealers providing service for imaging devices placed in remote customer locations by fellow BTA dealers. With the Dealers Helping Dealers Q&A, BTA regularly solicits questions from BTA member dealership employees and asks dealer members to answer those questions to assist fellow dealers.

BTA has set up five Dealers Helping Dealers Discussion Groups — three for owners and senior management, one for sales managers and one for service managers — for the purpose of addressing strategies for optimizing sales, etc. The groups meet regularly via Zoom. For more information, visit www.bta.org/DealersHelpingDealers.

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 members.

ExecuTech Lease Group was founded more than 14 years ago, and is a leader in leasing and financial services. It provides a wide array of financial service tools for your dealership to leverage. ExecuTech’s fast response times, ease of documentation and user-friendly credit standards make it easy to take advantage of the benefits the company provides. Whether it is hardware, software, SaaS or maintenance, ExecuTech works with its partners to help make every deal smooth, fast and hassle free. Give your dealership’s bottom line a turbocharge with ExecuTech’s Revenue Acceleration Program.

www.elgleasing.com

ARCOA Group’s history began as Midwest Copier Exchange, buying and selling used copiers out of a garage in Beach Park, Illinois. Today it is a leader in the asset remarketing and electronics recycling industries with three locations, including ARCOA’s headquarters and 100,000-square-foot operations hub in Waukegan, Illinois. ARCOA provides secure, 100% data destruction. In addition, it focuses on the reuse of working devices whenever feasible and performs materials recovery for end-of-life electronics when reuse is not an option.

www.thinkarcoa.com

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

For more information, visit www.bta.org.

Time For Another Location?

Dealers share advice for when & how to expand

Compiled by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

Following are two related questions submitted by a dealer member as part of BTA’s Dealers Helping Dealers resource and many of the answers received. These answers and many others can be found in the members-only section of the BTA website. Visit www.bta.org/Dealers HelpingDealers. You will need your username and password to access this member resource.

When is a good time to open a second location? Is it better to look into buying a smaller dealership?

“We have been looking at acquisitions of small dealerships as a means of expanding into new markets. However, we have also looked into second locations in areas we had a footprint in and started by establishing remote teams, followed by dedicated sales to get to a point of having another office presence.”

Nicholas Hienton, vice president of service imageOne, Oak Park, Michigan

“When the MIF in that area justifies it. We have taken advantage of coworking spaces to help build an identity in the new area. Buying a business will help you grow more quickly.”

Mike Williams, president/owner iTech, Parkersburg, West Virginia

“If buying a dealership, we have found it to be most effective if their manufacturing partner(s) align with ours. ‘Flipping their base’ is a lot easier said than done. And taking on that manufacturing partner as a new line needs to be scrutinized carefully.”

John Hastings, executive vice president, Imaging Division

Loffler Companies Inc., St. Louis Park, Minnesota

“If you are spread (sales territory) more than 60 miles from your location you may want to think about opening a second location. Buying a smaller dealership is a good idea if it has a good customer base to work with.”

Duffie Sams, owner

Duffie’s Copier Consultants LLC, Forest City, North Carolina

“[A good time to open a second location is] when your processes are structured and sound, when your people and culture are strongly within your values, and when you have a strategic

game plan of expansion because you already feel confident with the market share of the existing market in which you operate.”

Brantly Fowler, co-president

Zeno Office Solutions Inc., Lubbock, Texas

“We opened a separate location organically and just recently purchased a company. Purchase if you can. There is a significant difference.”

Chris Stroud, vice president of sales

Accent Imaging, Raleigh, North Carolina

“Our experience is buying another dealership and MIF makes for success. [It is] too difficult to start from scratch with no MIF to support salespeople. Success takes far too long and the cost is too high. Sales rep turnover would be too great if you are not providing significant monetary guarantees, even if sales production is low.”

Richard Van Dyke, president

Advanced Office, Irvine, California

“I would recommend buying a smaller dealership. You will be able to run the admin through your main office, which should make it profitable right away.”

James George, president

Donnellon McCarthy Enterprises Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio

“It’s better to buy a second location.”

Jeffrey Foley, co-owner

Apollo Office Systems, Alvin, Texas

“With the current environment and clicks slowing down, the best way to speed up growth is not only through organic growth, but also looking into buying more clicks through acquisitions.”

Brice Renegar, Pure Technology director

Kelly Office Solutions, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

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

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

‘LEAD Beyond’

Toshiba hosts dealer, end-user meeting Sept. 12-14

by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

With around 800 attendees — essentially equal numbers of dealers, end users, and Toshiba support staff and Toshiba Business Solutions (TBS) direct sales personnel — on Sept. 12-14 Toshiba America Business Solutions (TABS) hosted “LEAD Beyond.” The meeting, held in Las Vegas, Nevada, provided, in part, an opportunity for the company to emphasize TABS’ commitment to print and encourage portfolio diversification.

In the opening general session, TABS President and CEO Larry White commented on the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on Toshiba. “I would be completely disingenuous if I didn’t tell you the last two years were tough,” he said. “COVID hit our industry hard and we were no exception, with TABS losing money in 2020 and 2021. The totality of those losses can be summed up in two words — supply chain.”

TABS incurred increased supply chain costs of $37.5 million, “much of it related to flying product in from our factories in Asia to the United States,” White said. “We had two choices — incur the expense of flying product in or stay with the status quo and hope for the best. At TABS, hope is not a business strategy, so we chose the former and, despite the financial impact, it was the right decision to make, and we would do it again.” He later added: “For our fiscal year just ended in 2022, we were at 92% of our pre-COVID revenues.”

What is the future of print? White said he is often asked the question. “Some are negative about the future of print because analysts forecast anywhere from a 3% to 9% annual decline globally over the next few years,” he said. “We see things differently. Despite the rise of digital technology, print remains not only relevant, but also essential to business.”

Print remains a primary means of “effective communication and information sharing,” White continued. “Print has a physical presence that digital media just cannot replicate. It engages our senses. It creates lasting impressions. It’s tangible, tactile and interactive ... We see print as what it is, a $65-billion opportunity — a market where customers see product refreshes, upgrades or additions, and we want to be there every time to take share from our competitors.”

Given the uncertainties associated with print quantities, “portfolio diversification” has become particularly important,

White said. In recent years, “we have been diversifying our business in areas that add incremental revenue that require the least amount of startup costs,” he said. “These two general areas are our services and solutions business, as well as our thermal products business.”

Noting that the industry sits at a “critical juncture between physical and digital information,” White said “the seamless interchange of that information is where we can add groundbreaking value to clients.” He said TABS’ services and solutions business consists of two distinct units — MPaaS (managed print as a service) and TABS’ software solutions and digital signage services. He shared dealer success stories from each area.

Regarding MPaaS, White cited the example of Memphis Communications, based in Memphis, Tennessee. “In 2019, they partnered with our team to land a new account placing more than 300 new Toshiba A3 devices and supporting more than 1,100 printers under an MPaaS agreement,” he said, noting that the dealership, in four years, has managed more than 37 million in incremental pages. “This is a great example of a dealer turning one account win into a business strategy, and then executing on it.”

Regarding success with a software solution, White cited the example of Kelley Connect, based in Kent, Washington, helping a customer with its manual processes around documents and information flow. “The customer partnered with Kelley in 2020 to develop a solution to automate document workflow and management across all its departments,” he said. “We’ve supported the incredible Kelley team to execute an initial DocuWare order for more than $300,000 in wholesale revenue, and just this year they added an initial $120,000 of revenue and expanded opportunities with that customer ... This is a great example of Kelley looking for opportunities beyond the MFP sale.”

As noted, White cited TABS’ “thermal products business” as another key diversification strategy, a product category that is growing, in part, as the result of the e-commerce trend. “Without label and receipt printers and those ubiquitous bar codes that they print, e-commerce as we know it would grind to a halt,” he said. “Thermal products aren’t just for e-commerce, as you’ll find them in health care, printing wristbands, in pharmacies printing those little dosing instructions, at nurseries printing tags that you find on the plants, and in restaurants where you get a receipt ... Last year, we grew our label and receipt business by 68.7%.” 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.

Larry White

Thriving in Today’s Market

by: Caty Di Maggio, Brother International

Due to hybrid work, market uncertainty and rapid AI transformation, the traditional office environment as we know it remains unclear. Demand for print services needs to be stabilized as the working environment continues to iron itself out. That said, reimagining business is a real thing and, therefore, today’s channels are challenged with the ultimate question: Will today’s A-game be enough for customers? New value-added solutions that enhance customer value and long-term profitability should be a key focus to succeed in this evolving market.

With the persistent trend of labor shortages and supply chain disruptions coupled with the abundance of information available at our fingertips, channel partners must cut through the noise to be successful. Yes, a distributed workforce is our reality and has led us to wonder: What does it take to thrive — not survive — in this ever-changing market, and how can unanticipated industry challenges be successfully overcome?

Think of business as a spider’s web. If one piece of the web changes suddenly and the rest of it cannot adapt, the whole web will fall apart. Adaptability, readiness and flexibility are necessary to survive. As the web becomes more complex and pieces change, ask yourself: What will it take to make this web work? You are only as strong as your weakest link; thus, agility is the key to a successful, thriving business. Below are three ways for office technology dealerships to not only survive — but thrive — in today’s complex business web.

Readiness Is the Key to Success

When navigating channel consolidation, labor shortages and uncertain markets, the keys to success are adaptability and flexibility. Gone are the days of being device-centric. Customers are looking for digital workflows, systems and hardware. Dealers must be ready for curveballs that come their way and be prepared to transform their businesses quickly. Swap out (in some cases) outdated office equipment and refresh with devices that have smaller footprints, new security features and faster speeds. Today, we see an increase in decentralized office environments and distributed workforces. Those businesses that can adapt and provide customers with cloud-based solutions, mobile printing options and document management systems that keep them connected, efficient and productive are the ones that will flourish.

Act Locally, But Think Globally

Acting and upholding a solid presence in your state or local

community is essential for growing your business. However, it’s important not to get too comfortable in just one area without thinking about ways to improve or expand your business in the future. Manage your fleet, managed print services (MPS) offerings and contracts with local players, but start thinking about what will be needed tomorrow because you will have a stronger value proposition when responding from a broader perspective.

Don’t get me wrong, acting within local areas where you are most comfortable is critical. Still, the difference between a surviving versus a thriving business is one that demonstrates that growth mindset — especially where there is potential to improve or expand into other vertical areas.

For example, in both the health-care and government sectors, tools such as device security are of the utmost importance for practices and institutions to ensure confidential data is protected. A cloud-enabled document workflow is one example of a tool that allows employees to securely access, send and edit documents from any location. Employees can easily collaborate on documents and streamline workflows from phones, laptops, copier/MFPs or scanners. Utilizing the cloud allows documents to be securely stored and accessed by authorized personnel from any location. Encryption and multifactor authentication within the cloud ensure that confidential, sensitive information is always protected.

Three ways to do more than just survive

Fewer Words, More Color

The demand for color laser printing continues to grow. This is no surprise, given that the world has been so black and white for the past few years. But now we’re finally starting to see some color. Color creates impactful statements, breaking up the dull uniformity of black-and-white text for a more engaging and memorable reading experience for your customers. Gone are the days of people having the luxury of time or patience to read long-form black-and-white articles.

Imagine education is a target vertical for your business. In this case, color plays a significant role as it can serve as a visual aid and improve student engagement and retention more than black-and-white handouts. Color supports creativity and innovation, and offers a better learning experience.

As a channel, you have survived the highs and lows in the industry and are used to going the extra mile for customers and distributors to keep up with changing demands and expectations. As the markets stabilize, it is time to put the

pieces of the puzzle back together. There is no one solution or an easy fix, so stay agile, have a growth mindset and recognize the product features that meet the needs of today’s users. Don’t let your web fall apart. The printing industry is bright (and colorful), so what do you say? Are you ready to thrive? n

Caty Di Maggio has more than 25 years of experience in sales and marketing for the consumer and technology industries. As vice president of commercial sales at Brother, she oversees a group of more than 60 salespeople responsible for supporting distributors and channel partners, including VARs/SIs, DMRs and dealers. Di Maggio joined Brother in January 2018 as regional vice president of Latin America sales and marketing. She assumed her current position in April 2022. Di Maggio can be reached at caty.dimaggio@brother.com. Visit www.brother-usa.com.

There is no one solution or an easy fix, so stay agile, have a growth mindset and recognize the product features that meet the needs of today’s users.