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10 Years in the Cloud

May 2017

A Few Reasons Why Horse Racing and Selling Go Hand in Hand

Begrudgingly, I was off to Monmouth Park (thoroughbred horse race track) about mid day last Saturday.  My wife was adamant about my attendance since it was an in-law family event. Arrggh!

2017-05-31_22-12-19Now, I don't mind going to Monmouth Park.  While in my very early teens, my Father invited me to go with him to the track.  The first item my Father purchased was a race program, and in that race program was so much information that I had never seen before.  So many abbreviations, no columns and a language that I didn't know.  Furlong, blinkers, place, show, exacta, trifecta, the list went on and on.  However, I was a fan of making money at an early age and picking horses seemed to be an easy task, right?

After many trips to the track and listening very closely to my Father,  I was able to disseminate the data from the race program.  Looking at the length of the last races, what time the horses ran, where they finished in the last x amount of races, the jockeys wins/losses and their race times almost made me a handicapper (lol).  Alas, I was never able to place a bet, only circle the horse that I thought would win, place and show.

At or around the age of nineteen I found myself back at Monmouth Park one evening.  I was leaning against one of the building poles, my head buried in the race program and trying to remember what my Father had taught me many years ago.  I can't remember if I won or lost that night, however I do remember that one thing that happened.  With my head buried in the program, I heard a female voice, I glanced away from my program to see a woman in front of me and she stated, "this is a very good place for you". I glanced back at my program, then looked back up and that woman was gone. Whoa!  I thought that was strange.

So, what does any of this have to do with selling? 

Well, a lot of it does.

1) The desire to make money, it's my opinion if you don't have the desire to make the extra bucks, then sales is not the place for you.

2) Learn their language is what I had to do in order to understand the data in the race programs.  Understanding that language educated me with horse racing.  Learning their language holds true when working with clients from different vertical markets.  Architects, Engineers, Law, Health all have their own unique glossary of words and terms.

3) Listening, probably the most important thing I did with my Father at the track. I was an excellent listener.  Same goes for selling, if you're not listening to the client, then you're not going to hear those pain points nor their needs. Plain and simple, let the client do most of the talking.

4) Repeating the process, by going to the track many times I was able to become more knowledgeable about horse racing. 

Years ago, I picked a vertical market that I wanted to know more about.  That vertical market was the AEC (Architect, Engineer, Construction), Market.  I consistently made only cold calls for that market. After a period of time, and with some listening, researching and learning their language, I was and still am the guru of wide format devices for the AEC market.

Back to the races, just about twelve years ago I visited Monmouth Park for the first time since I was nineteen or so. You bet big you win big, no $2.00 bets for me, however there are no $100 bets either. 

My fellow sales buddy and I arrived about 20 minutes or so before the first race. I had my race program, however not enough time to try and remember the language I once knew.  I focused on the second race,  picked three horses and made a $20 straight trifecta bet and $10 each on win, place and show.  I hit and I hit pretty big to the tune of $3,700.  I then left the race track, no more betting from me.

One or two years later, I was back at the track with the same person.  We arrived somewhat late, and only had a short time to look at the second race. By the time I picked my straight trifecta, I didn't have enough time to get additional cash. I had Ten dollars in my pocket and placed a ten dollar straight trifecta bet.  Well, I won again.  Not as large as the last one, however it was a cool $1,800 or so.  I then left the track again.

Making a long story short, I missed two straight trifecta bets by one place each. I blame my losses on my distractions from the family event. I believe if I was not distracted I would have won on both accounts.

But, isn't that what sales is all about, you need to have confidence that you can win every time out. Of course if you don't you don't get down, you just go out and make your self better!

-= Good Selling=

This Week in the Copier Industry 10 Years Ago (First Week of June 2007)

Fotor080920328Hope everyone here in the US had a great Memorial Day weekend.  Tomorrow starts the month of June for me.  Hard to believe almost half of the year is almost in the books.  Enjoy these threads from ten years ago this week.
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RICOH INTRODUCES PRINT & COPY VENDING

is committed to creating new “document-centric” customer value that will revolutionize how individuals and businesses use digital and paper-based information. DSS offers a complete package of products, services and support programs to our all our channels, comprising of direct and indirect operations under the Ricoh, Savin and Lanier brands. Ricoh Americas Corporation, founded in 1962, is headquartered in West Caldwell, N.J., and is a subsidiary of Ricoh Company Ltd., the 71-year old leading
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New bizhub To Speed MFP Switch To Color

New bizhub To Speed MFP Switch To Color Konica Minolta Launches True Black and White Replacement MFP with Next-Generation bizhub C451. Next-Generation bizhub Series Speeds Market Shift to Color and Articulates Benefits of a Networked MFP Solution. RAMSEY, N, June 4, 2007 – Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta), a leading provider of imaging and networking technologies, today announced the launch of the bizhub C451. The second in a series of next-generation bizhub
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Sharp MXM-350 quote

Sharp MXM-350 quote, see attached file this document has been archived please email me if you need it (Premium Members Only)
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Ricoh 1170L

I set up 3 of these yesterday and one of them is printing some stuff at the footer of each copy, received fax and confirmation report. It is very light and small font and reads like " PI:21 PAB100PV:2 ADC:99 BIV: 20 PNUMB:5 TC: 1436000/ 9181300"The TC...
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Need Some pricing on fusers for Sharp Faxes

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Sharp FO-4400 Sharp FO-5700 Sharp FO-2970M Thanks, -=Boston Mike=-
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Re: Sales Tips

Don't Be Outdated Many customers and prospects always want to feel they are purchasing services from someone "in the know." The smart marketer always keeps up with the latest information in their prospects' industries. Make sure your prospects know that you know. Make it a point to call or email them when you come across information that can cause changes in their industries. This extra effort can be time-consuming on your part, but can lead to more sales in the long run. Time-saving tactics.
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Re: Important All RFG Dealer Sales Reps & Owners!

John Anderson from Gainsville, Fl has volunteered to draft a letter and be part of a two or three person committee. This will be a ltter that represents sales people that are working for dealers. Can anyone else step up and work with John to develop a professional letter with John that will explain our concerns with pricing.
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Re: Leads in Washington

potential opportunity to provide... services to support increased business development activities tools and services for product development activities PARTNERS Lucent Technologies Tellabs PEOPLE David Curry President and Chief Executive Officer Matthew Frey Chief Operations Officer Chad Whalen Senior Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing Michael Nielsen, Ph.D. Executive Vice President of Product Management and Engineering Kevin Daines Chief Technology Officer Scott McMillan Senior Vice
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Re: Updated Ricoh Xreference

Subscriber, Updated XREF CE file(s) are available. If you experience difficulty saving attachment(s), you can download files at http://tscweb.net/xref/xref_DL.htm Or visit the site where you subscribed.
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Re: Leads in Texas

and services to support its technical infrastructure The company plans to double its network capacity in several U.S. markets. PARTNERS none stated PEOPLE Mark F. Spagnolo President and Chief Executive Officer John McLeod Chief Operating Officer Joseph Sikora Executive Vice President of Sales Jeff Severs Vice President of Business Development OFFICE(S) airBand Communications Inc. 14800 Landmark Blvd. Suite 500 Dallas, TX 75254 Toll Free: 866-247-2263 Phone: 469-791-0000 Fax
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Re: Konica Minolta Quote Soup 2 Nuts!

I recently ran in to KMBS selling a 420 with finisher for $4900. I was a thousand dollars higher and the customer bought from me. I preached service and the fact that KMBS, as a manufacturer does not provide good service or training if any at all. I cite examples of people who have bought from them and a year later have never gotten any training or instruction and are down for a week to two weeks at a time. KMBS in essence does not care about the down the street customer.
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PDF Direct Print

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Anyone have any experience with Ricoh's PDF Direct Print? If so how do you like it and does it print pdf's faster?
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Israeli Printing Technology Could

Israeli Printing Technology Could Deliver 1,000 Pages A Minute '...revolutionary printing technique called Jetrix, which enables simultaneous high- speed printing of an entire page of text.' By Stuart Winer - June 03, 2007 - from http://www.Israel21c.org Imagine a bookstore that prints your purchases while you settle the bill or a personalized newspaper that contains only the news you want to read. Such expedient printing may soon become a reality using a new Israeli technology that will enable
-=Good Selling=-

Kobe Bryant Had Phil Jackson - Sales Reps Who's Your Hall Of Fame Coach?

"I think the most rewarding part of the job, and I think most coaches would say it, is practice. If you have it, a very good practice in which you have 12 guys participate, and they can really get something out of it, lose themselves in practice."
Phil Jackson

What a fantastic quote from the Zen Master which epitomizes the importance around practice and why sales reps need practice - We're Talking 'bout Practice... Yes, Sales Reps Need Stinking Practice!

Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan had Phil Jackson. Tom Brady has Bill Belichick. What's the common denominator?

BEHIND EVERY GREAT ATHLETE IS A GREAT COACH

Behind every great team you’ll find great coaches. With every great coach you’ll almost always find their life was influenced by one or more impactful coaches or mentors. Can we make the same comparison inside sales teams? Who are the mentors to sales managers? Who impacted them?

Their success comes from their commitment to consistently practice certain disciplines less successful coaches aren’t willing to practice. The same holds true for elite athletes. Can the same be said for the sales community? Is there a great coach behind every successful sales professional?

 

GREAT COACHES GET THEIR ATHLETES TO BELIEVE IN THEMSELVES

Phil Jackson and Bill Belichick inspire their players to do more than they think they can. They stretch their limits, beliefs and challenge them along the way. Phil Jackson built up Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. Bill Belichick has built up Tom Brady's self- esteem rather than undermine it. These coaches don't praise mediocre effort. What they do effectively is practice catching elite athletes doing things right. They don't get caught up playing head games leaving these athletes questioning their abilities.

Can any of this apply to the sales world?

There may be a fine line between a good coach and a great coach but they can make a world of difference to professional athletes. Can the same be said in the sales world?

Hall of fame coaches -

  • Are effective communicators
  • Are compassionate
  • Have a passion for the game
  • Get to know their players
  • Are true leaders

Hall of fame coaches give their athletes direction and motivation helping them to reach their goals. They have a game plan, they are organized and always find a way to encourage the entire team to believe and work together. These coaches lead with an enthusiastic demeanor, excelling and growing the team by personal example.

All of this got me thinking...

Why do sales managers have difficulties doing what hall of fame coaches are paid to do? What makes a sales manager AND how they go about doing their job any different than a hall of fame coach?

My answer to you all is quite simple - most sales managers manage as opposed to coaching and leading.

THE CHALLENGE

Previously I asked the question, Can You Imagine A Professional Athlete Operating With A Sales Reps Mindset?

Can you image a hall of fame coach operating with a sales managers mindset? Is there a difference in mindset between a manager and a coach? What makes a great sales manager versus a sales leader or coach? I am not here to bash on sales manager's as they play an important role, however; I am here to challenge the status quo in how they grow, nurture and enhance the lives of their sales team.

“Management is transactional, while Leadership is Transformational.” 
Brian Tracy

I encourage more sales managers to take on leadership roles within your sales team. Open up your mindset to lead and support your people in a way in which will ultimately allow them to achieve, be productive, and experience growth.

Here lies the challenge for most sales teams - great sales reps often times get promoted to sales managers. The challenge is most promoted sales managers are familiar with the transactional side of the business as this is what their sales mindset is accustomed to achieving. This is polar opposite of leading others in order to achieve results.

This is why I feel there is such misalignment inside sales departments. Sales managers who lack leadership qualities fall into the habit of managing off of to-do lists, activity reports and a "what will you close mindset?"

A SALES MANAGER OR SALES LEADER

Is there any correlation between hall of fame coaches and sales managers? More often than not, sales managers operate with a "boss" type mindset as opposed to a coaching mindset. Phil Jackson and Bill Belichick are leaders and exceptional coaches as they enhance the lives of the athletes around them thus achieving outstanding results.

  • Coaches and leaders spend more time listening and asking questions. Sales managers spend more time speaking and giving directions.
  • Coaches and leaders invest serious amount of time observing. Sales managers make quick assumptions and are quick to point fingers.
  • Coaches and leaders are support outlets in assisting to develop growth plans. Sales managers give the plan and tell their people to follow it.

DO HALL OF FAME SALES MANAGERS EXIST?

Just as professional athletes need great coaches so do sales reps. Sales managers must adopt a coaching mindset. Therefore, I encourage executive management to develop hall of fame sales managers.

Phil Jackson had Jerry Reinsdorf and Dr. Jerry Buss. Bill Belichick has Robert Kraft. How many in executive management encourage, support and coach their sales managers to become hall of fame sales leaders?

"My personal coaching philosophy, my mentality, has always been to make things as difficult as possible for players in practice, however bad we can make them, I make them"
Bill Belichick

Hall of fame sales managers can exist. With the support of executive management, they can build a growth oriented sales department by:

  • Building and enhancing the relationships with their sales reps
  • Providing and personally assessing their sales reps strength and weaknesses
  • Challenging their sales reps thinking and assumptions around personal growth
  • Supporting and encouraging open communication
  • Driving results through written action plans and daily practice

MINDSET WILL LEAD THE WAY

Become a master of a changing mindset. The biggest and most challenging task of a sales manager is to prepare the sales team for a constantly changing marketplace. Hall of fame sales managers:

  • Earn their sales team trust
  • Provide positive feedback
  • Build enthusiasm amongst the team
  • Get involved with their team
  • Grow and develop their entire team
  • Lead people to constantly be improving, never accepting mediocrity

HALL OF FAME SALES LEADERS

Leaders who lead are true mentors and role models, building business results through relationships and integrity with every member of their team.

Hall of fame sales leaders lead by example, demonstrating their values through their actions. They build relationships by mentoring and providing guidance, creating cohesive sales teams by earning the loyalty of each team member.

Hall of fame sales leaders who lead by example are competent and drive business results for the organization while building strong relationships with their sales team, customers and vendors.

I understand where you all are coming from. I have walked a day in a life of your shoes and still do on a daily basis.

I am fully committed to helping your sales team integrate social aspects and modern strategies into your current sales process to grow net-new business. I want you to get results. This is why I am passionate about doing this the right way.

In 2016, Larry was recognized by ENX Magazine, “The Difference Maker” as someone who is making a difference inside the copier channel. Larry is passionate about helping sales reps succeed in creating their online brand image

Page Coverages Something of a Lost Conversation?

Back in the Eighties one of the first lessons I learned was that of "page coverage" and how to explain it to the end user.  Back in the day there wasn't a single copier dealer that included toner in their maintenance agreements. 

Clients had to buy toner, imagine that!   However, with the buying of the toner came the questions about the yield of the toner bottle or cartridge.

We would field calls like, "You told me that the toner cartridge would last 10,000 pages, and I'm only getting 3,000 pages, you need to come pick this piece of crap up or fix it".  Yup, in the early days I had no clue what page coverage meant and when someone asked, "how long will the toner last".  I went to my spec check guide (anyone remember Hanson's Guidelines?) and relay  the yields of the toner bottles/cartridges. 

I had no clue that page coverage played such an important part with toner yield and cost per page. Neither did I know that one to two page print jobs will use more ink and toner than multi page print jobs.

After getting a few brow beatings, I made sure that when I stated the yield of the toner cartridge that I also added, "based on 5% coverage of the page".  That statement led to another series of questions like, "what the heck does 5% coverage of the page mean?". I then explained that if you were to condense all of the black toner on the page to a small square, then that square could not cover anymore than 5% of the white area of the page. 

Most clients then stated, "well, that's not much at all, we put three to four times that on the document", and I would state, "you see, that's the reason why you are not getting the yield out of your toners.  Your ten percent of coverage means that you'll only get 5,000 pages of yield from that toner bottle.  It was a learning curve for all of us.

One of the files that I keep in my dropbox account (also have a hard copy with me at all times), is page coverage document.  This document shows samples of 5%, 7.5%, 10%, 20%, 25% and 50% coverage for black and color documents. 

Our prospects are doing much of their research with out us when it comes to find the right MPF device that will meet their needs for volume, speeds and features. 

In recent appointments, I've had a number of prospects that finally figured out their little A4 printer (color & black) was robbing them blind with the cost of those toner cartridges and consumables. 

Validation

Most SMB accounts can't or won't dig up the invoices for the cartridges for that $400 printer.  They make statements such as, "this is our third drum in four months and the cost of each drum is $130.00".  Statements like that sounds like music to our ears, right?   But, it those statements that can actually bugger up the sales process, because they don't have a validation of their costs. 

One such color printer from a sales call the other day was a Brother color laser printer. Once the prospect showed me the printer, I then checked the model number, obtained a meter read from the config page and then asked the client how long have they had the device for.  With that data, I can quickly determine the volume of that device.  Simple stuff, right?

My next move is to that come to Jesus meeting with them about page coverages.  I would then break out the sample book and have them tell me which documents best describe your out put on a daily basis.  Once they have picked the document I then explain how page coverage works with the manufacturers.  In most cases black documents are more like 15% and color seems to average about 25%. 

The reason I go through this process is for the validation, I need them to agree and buy in that they are using more toner on their documents.  Thus the yields of the cartridges will drop and their costs will increase.  These clients have un controllable expenses with these devices.  I want to makes these expenses controlled and fixed with new devices.

Once I have the validation or buy-in, I can then use my GAP TCO and produce a report that shows them their costs for that device or many of their devices. 

The point that I want to make, is that with SMB accounts it can be harder to get to that validation process for costs (especially with single A4 devices).  Having a document that shows the prospect page coverage samples can help you validate their existing costs without slowing down the sales cycle because you are waiting on invoices that may or may not be found.

You can go here and download the same sample book that I use.

-=Good Selling=-

Who Would be a Viable Buyer for Toshiba Tec?

2017-05-22_22-02-28Seems that every new day brings a new set of issues for Toshiba Corporation, which is not to be confused with Toshiba Tec.

You might ask what does Toshiba Tec offer besides copiers?  After a short visit to their site I was surprised to see so much diversification of products.  Software, POS (Point of Sale) Systems, Printers (thermal, mobile and more), Self Checkout Kiosk, Displays, and Digital Signage.

So, who could benefit?

Almost two years ago, we posted up a survey for "Who Would be a Viable Buyer for Toshiba Tec?".  Seems anything with Toshiba nowadays seems to be a hot topic. In recent months we've had a flurry of activity with the voting.

Kyocera was the top vote getter with 23.9%, surprisingly "other" was second with 23.2%.  Rounding out the top five was Samsung, KonicaMinolta & Ricoh.

As I thought more about these players, I came to the conclusion that why would any of these companies buy Toshiba Tec.  They all have their own brands of copiers, Samsung sold the Imaging Division to HP. Oh! Wait a moment, would HP not be a viable buyer?  HP & Toshiba Tec do have many similarities in the products that they offer.  As far as copiers goes, HP could have that BTA dealer network they've wanted.  But, the word around town is that many of the Samsung dealers want to get out of Dodge and don't want to parlay with HP.  It's interesting to day the least.

Dark Horse

One dark horse that only accumulated 1.4% is Muratec America.  If you're not familiar with Muratec America they are owned by Murata Manufacturing in Japan.  Murata Manufacturing has a market cap of 30.7 billion dollars.  Toshiba Tec's market cap is 1.5 billion dollars.  Seems to me that if someone was going to buy Toshiba Tec, that Murata Manufacturing makes a lot of sense. 

However, in order for any of this to happen, Toshiba Corporate would have to be willing to part with their 52% share of Toshiba Tec stock.  There's been no talk of that, no reports of that and lastly no rumors either.

Times Are Tough

But, times are tough for Toshiba Corporation.  Many articles from the web have Toshiba Corp bleeding cash.  From someone who reads almost every article regarding Toshiba it seems like they are hedging their financial freedom on the sale of their valuable semiconductor unit.  An article from tonight states that the second round of bidding is under way for the semiconductor unit.  Bids are as high as $20 billion US.  What I could do with $20 Billion US!

The thought of $20 biilion US could cure a lot of the illness that Toshiba Corporation has developed in the last two years. But, there are issues here also.  Western Digital recently  filed for arbitration because they believe they have the authority to negotiate a sell-off (could tie it up in the courts).  Another sticking point is that the Japanese Government does not want to lose another Tec company to a foreign firm (Foxconn bought Sharp).

Thus, there seems to be no quick fix for Toshiba Corporation.  Toshiba Tec on the other hand is doing quite well.  Just not sure how much more of a beating can the brand take.

Wow, I started out just wanting to keep everyone updated on our voting by Print 4Pay Hotel members.  Enough of my thoughts, take a trip here and see how the voting is panning out.  You may even want to cast your own vote also.

-=Good Selling=-

This Week in the Copier Industry 10 Years Ago (Fourth Week of May 2007)

Fotor080920328What were you doing in 2007? Below are the all of the threads for the last week of May in 2007.  Enjoy!

Is Ricoh Corp Unfair to Ricoh/Savin/Lanier/Gestetner Dealers?

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Re: Is this True??? Xerox buys Global??

, supplies and support they require." Global had other existing relationships with copier and printer companies before it was acquired by Xerox, including Sharp Electronics and Konica Minolta. Sharp will continue to sell Global products through at least April of 2008, as per its contractual agreement with Global. Konica Minolta executives could not be immediately reached.
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Konica Minolta Quote Soup 2 Nuts!

Look at these prices!!! $7,355 for a BIZ HUB 420, plus rebate check for $900, plus ship back old copier!!!!!! Basically selling the box for $6,100!! Plus there are four other quotes for Konica Minolta here Shame on them, I got the new with two new Sammys 6345N's!
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Important All RFG Dealer Sales Reps & Owners!

Ricoh Business Solutions is on an aggressive plan to get all business, NO MATTER WHAT THE COST! I have qoutes from RBS where they are selling machines below our cost and are affecting our bottom line. One quote showed a single machine placement at 10% above DMAP 6 and another @ 12% above DMAP 6! This can not continue! If you are not affected by RBS distibution right now, you may be in the future! The time to act is NOW! We are prepared to send certifed letters to Ricoh to the top of the food
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Ricoh Americas Corp Poll!!!!!

With all of the dealers and salespeopl who are unhappy about the "Equal Playing Field" that was echoed @ Ricoh Vision, along with stories of RBS selling and bidding below dealer costs in single machine placement along with large bids. My thoughts is that someone is subsidizing RBS, whether it is Ricoh Americas, Ricoh Japan or Ricoh Dealers (The profit that we make may allow RBS to stay afloat) Cast Your Vote Here!
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Death of Ricoh Business Solutions!

RICOH DIRECT! So, are all RBS the same as this one, who consistently goes in at cost pricing? I think not, most are highly trained, skillful and can sell a solution and make profit for the corporation! Most corporations need to make a profit in order to stay in business. As you can tell I am upset over a veteran sales person who works for Ricoh to drop their drawers in order to get a deal. A deal in which I am in the incumbent and also where I spent hours on a cost analysis for the customer. Do, I
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Xerox To Attack $117 Billion Market

, filter, produce and store data found in paper or electronic documents. The market for e-discovery services is expected to grow 40 percent per year and be valued at $2.5 billion by 2009 in the United States alone. The recent acquisition of Global Imaging Systems, Inc., an office technology dealer that is a market leader in the U.S. SMB market, increases Xerox’s distribution to this market by 50 percent and adds 1,400 sales people serving about 200,000 new customers. Including its partner Fuji Xerox
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Kyocera Mita America Printers Awarded

derived solely from the sales of its reports. For subscription information, call 800-24702185 or visit www.BetterBuys.com . ABOUT KYOCERA MITA AMERICA Kyocera Mita America, Inc. (www.kyoceramita.com/us), headquartered in Fairfield, N.J., is a leading provider of network-ready digital MFPs/printers, laser printers, color MFPs/printers, digital laser facsimiles, and multifunctional and wide format imaging solutions. Kyocera Mita America earned ISO 14001:2004 certification for its environmental
Member

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Ricoh Introduction of Print Director New Assessmen

Ricoh is pleased to announce the availability of several new Enterprise level price packs for all three Print Director modules – Analysis & Reduction, Recovery and Suite. Large major account customers can now purchase these software packages at a reduced per seat price in 5,000, 10,000 or 20,000 seat pack quantities. All enterprise software packs include software and 5 years of support (hotline, email, bug fixes, updates, etc.) bundled with each product id. Print Director enables customers to
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Ricoh New Print Security and Cost Recovery

Ricoh is proud to announce the availability of its Print and Copy Control v3 (PCC) solution for Aficio MFP’s. PCC is a powerful software application that runs on the MFP hard drive allowing authenticated user access and tracking of copy/print jobs via the MFP’s LCD. Users need to enter a valid PIN number, network login or ID card to gain access to MFP copy functions. Once a copy/print job is completed, all transaction data integrates back into the Equitrac Office or Equitrac Express Accounting
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what is your base salary for sales rep

looking for feedback, what are average base salaries and then commission rate paid on top of that, how many points does dealership get ontop of cost of goods.thanks all
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Re: Copy Limiting

Correct. The SmartAccounting module of Ricoh print director will allow for limiting account codes. Too bad Canon has this feature standard!!
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Re: Marketing

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the CAN-SPAM laws very carefully and there is quite a bit of work to be done. We did not feel the ROI was there. I have a background in journalism and take care of our inhouse graphic design for our materials. The only thing I outsource is our web site. I don't spend time on measuring results matrixes - my results are happy, confident sales reps who actively want to use the materials because they save them time and make their presentations pop (in other words, I can help them meet their sales
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Re: Important All RFG Dealer Sales Reps & Owners!

I know understand that this sales process comes from top Lanier people that have taken prominant positions within RBS. The bottom line is to drive new business, even if it means selling th box at or below cost. They are counting on recieving the click revenue to drive profits. A good friend of mine in Texas, "Old Glory" made the suggestion that we let them take their sale at cost and then take the cpp business from them, how long can they last if give them a better rate on service? So, not a
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Re: Death of Ricoh Business Solutions!

The fight against Ricoh Direct Channel, I urge all of you to post your stories about poor service, poor customer support and poor experiences, on this new web site. Together we may be able to complie a Un-Reference site that will help dealers maintain our margins and sales. here is the link http://ricohdirectchannel.blogspot.com/
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Re: New P4P Web Site Launch April 1st 2007!

After many months, we are just about ready to launch, within a few days ost a date and time for turn on, we may have a few glitches so please bear with us. Basically, we developed a new portal that will link the blogs, link all of the other manufacturers message boards and give a more professional appearance. One of my ideas for the future is to remove all of the documents from this site and post them on documentmall, Ricoh users will have rights to ricoh documents, Canon for Canon, Kyo for Kyo
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Re: New P4P Web Site Launch April 1st 2007!

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quote: Originally posted by Art Post: One of my ideas ... is ... post them on documentmall, Ricoh users will have rights to ricoh documents, Canon for Canon, Kyo for Kyo, etc. I'm hoping you don't restrict access to documents based on who you represent as a dealer. I think it's handy to have access to all the manufacturers' documents in one location, and since most are public knowledge any way, what's the harm? I'd rather come here and get competitive info quickly than spend the time to go out
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Re: MP 6500 System

wow, I don't understand how the RBS guys can deal with the padded rates! By the way did you cast your vote ofr the new Ricoh Poll? Just curious. Art
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Re: Important All RFG Dealer Sales Reps & Owners!

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If you aren't getting significant commissions on "stolen" maintenance agreements, negotiate for better...it is in your company's best interest. If you are getting 10% on the agreements you sell with equipment, I would "sell" your management on the idea of paying 25% of the first year on agreements "stolen" from the competition. If they say they can't afford it, then how about 10% each year for 3 years and build for yourself a revenue stream of income. Dealer's and sales reps must come up with
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Re: Important All RFG Dealer Sales Reps & Owners!

I think that Global made a pretty strong statement to Ricoh about how they felt regarding their practices and it sounds like it didn't have much effect.
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Re: Death of Ricoh Business Solutions!

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Art, Unless the comp plan has changed since Lanier became Ricoh...they are paid on revenue and not GP. Thats how the Lanier comp plan was.
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Re: AF3228/MPC2500 ISIS driver

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Ricoh only provides ISIS drivers for their scanners.
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Re: Ricoh Americas Corp Poll!!!!!

Would like to hear from everyone on this, this is the type of poll that can help when ourletters are delivered to Ricoh.
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Re: Ricoh Americas Corporation "Unfair to Dealers"?

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I'm a Major Acct Exec at RBS and I don't sell that low on 100 machine placements. This could probably get me fired but we all know who is running RBS now and profit was never a part of their plan! I'd lay money down that the rep's manager was not with RBS before April 1st! Don't blame the rep, they still make money on next to no profit deals now and if it comes from a zero based account (no Ricoh placements), they make even more! This is what is wrong in the whole industry today. Comp plans
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Re: @ Remote update!

Is anyone charging customer for embedded at remote? Our dealership is wanting to ding sales or charge customer 4$ a month for it???
Topic

AF3228/MPC2500 ISIS driver

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Does anybody know if there is a ISIS driver for the newer Ricoh MFP's? I need some sort of color remowal for an OCR application
Topic

Need a 3rd roll feed for a 470W

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I am trying to sell a used 470W to a prospect but they need the 3rd roll feed and it does not appear that any are available from Ricoh. Does anyone have a new one that is left in inventory by chance?
-=Good Selling=-

We're Talking 'bout Practice... Yes, Sales Reps Need Stinking Practice!

"I know I'm supposed to be there, I know I'm supposed to lead by example. I know that. And I'm not shoving it aside like it don't mean anything. I know it's important. I do. I honestly do. But we're talking about practice, man. What are we talking about? Practice? We're talking about practice, man!"
Alan Iverson

What a fantastic quote which segues wonderfully from... Can You Imagine A Professional Athlete Operating With A Sales Reps Mindset?

The roadmap to success for an elite athlete is based on hard work, personal ownership and how it is applied. They understand they must apply themselves in all aspects of their training. They take ownership, holding themselves accountable to the process.

A growth mindset is such a critical component to the success of an elite athlete and a sales professional.

I asked the question...

What separates an average athlete from an average sales rep? Millions of dollars and their mindset.

I am here to tell you there is one more separation point between elite athletes and an average sales rep - PRACTICE!

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit." 
Will Durant

One of the best ways you can transform your ordinary day as a sales rep into an extraordinary one is to master the art of being a sales professional. Transform your thinking from sales rep to sales professional. Think of your sales profession as a work of art and handle it with care. 

Immerse yourself in your work, become fully engaged. Transform your mind to one of growth. As this happens, you improve your ability to grow. As you grow yourself you grow your career as a sales professional. The opposite is to disconnect just doing your time, settling for complacency. Doing your time turns sales professionals into average sales reps.

PRACTICE IS THE DIFFERENTIATOR

A basketball game isn’t won on the court. The game is won in the days, weeks, months and off-season work leading up to the 48 minutes of actual playing time.

The game is won with preparation. The team watches film, memorizes plays, hits the gym and eats properly. Preparation and practice are the keys!

The lie you tell yourself, "But, I practice on the job."

Just ask the all-time greats. Kobe Bryant saw Los Angeles at 4:00 A.M. Michael Jordan was the first person on the court and the last one off. Magic Johnson was the true definition of a work horse. It was his work ethic, growth mindset along with his commitment to practice which made him one of the best basketball players of all time.

So, why do sales reps struggle so much with practice?

If you want to be the best you can be in sales, you have to become a better sales professional away from the phone, away from your email, away from your desk and disconnected from social. In sales, you don't have an off-season to condition the mind or body. You don't have 3 months off to prepare for the season long grind.

CONSISTENT PRACTICE

Consistency is what separates elite athletes from good athletes. The ability of these elite athletes to go out there, day in and day out, week in and week out, month in and month out for years is incredible. Can the same be said for top sales professionals versus average sales reps?

What makes elite athletes and top sales professionals so consistent? I believe it is consistent preparation in every aspect of what they do including physical conditioning, practice efforts, technique, tactics, mental aspects, nutrition, sleep, and on-going learning.

Consistently great performances comes from consistency in practice efforts. The best way to build this consistency is to have clearly defined goals and structure for every practice session.

Unfortunately, this is where I see the disconnect between elite athletes and sales professionals. Elite athletes have great coaches. Can the same be said for sales people? How many sales reps can say their managers make great coaches?

If you aren't willing to help yourself and practice then how can you help your clients do better in their business?

SALES REPS MUST HAVE A GROWTH MINDSET WHEN IT COMES TO PRACTICE

SALES REPS MUST PRACTICE LEAVING THEIR EGOS AT THE DOOR

The buyer as well as some clients portray sales reps as egomaniacs with “do whatever it takes to close the deal” mentality. There is always some truth to stereotypes. In some sales situations one's ego may hurt more than help them.

“When you are about the other person more than you care about hitting your quota, when you make that shift, you go into the jedi-ness of becoming a salesperson.” 
Gary Vaynerchuk

Just let go of you big fat ego! Believe me as it is not always about you. The prospect is not saying no to you. There are saying, "You haven't given me enough reason to say yes."

SALES REPS MUST PRACTICE BECOMING BETTER LISTENERS

Seek to understand goes a long way as a sales professional. Don't just listen to be polite and build rapport. Listen with intent to understand and gain vital information to help your clients and prospects. Sales reps must be genuinely interested in helping their clients.

  • Listen for clues and look out for problems affecting their business
  • How could you fix these problems?
  • What potential implications could this have to them?

SALES REPS MUST BECOME BETTER AT PROSPECTING

Point blank, “How can some people call themselves a ‘Sales Professional’ but do little or no prospecting?" This one blows my mind!

Let’s get this one straight, prospecting is a challenge. Most salespeople aren’t very good at it. Why? Because they haven’t cultivated the right habits and fail to practice.

"Sales reps have hypnotized themselves into believing what they aren't doing doesn't work"

There is a pundit feud going on as to the best vehicles to leverage business development. I find this quite humorous as most sales reps lack the fundamental skills necessary around practice to make any of it work.

Ask any sales rep the hardest part of their job and most will utter the word, PROSPECTING. If one fails to practice at the single most important aspect of their job then how can one achieve a consistent level of success?

Successful sales reps continually practice the art of prospecting as they keep their sales funnel full. They divide their time between selling, prospecting and taking care of their clients. Top sales reps who crush their quotas are fully dedicated to prospecting and have modernized their prospecting approaches to align with the modern buyer. The primary differentiator of today’s successful sales reps is their ability to prospect.

SALES REPS DO NEED TO PRACTICE

Elite athletes as well as sales professional who achieve extraordinary results put in a lot more hours of practice than the average. While their performances, outcomes and what they do are remarkable, there is no mystery at all about how this was developed. They practiced beyond the average ordinary individual.

If you want to reach the next level in your sales career, it’s imperative you spend more time preparing and more time practicing. It’s foolish to say it is all about working smarter, not harder. If you really want to win in sales, you have to work harder and smarter.

Don't be an Alan Iverson!

 

I understand where you all are coming from. I have walked a day in a life of your shoes and still do on a daily basis.

I am fully committed to helping your sales team integrate social aspects and modern strategies into your current sales process to grow net-new business. I want you to get results. This is why I am passionate about doing this the right way.

In 2016, Larry was recognized by ENX Magazine, “The Difference Maker” as someone who is making a difference inside the copier channel. Larry is passionate about helping sales reps succeed in creating their online brand image

You can find more blog posts inside the Social Sales Academy website.

I appreciate getting the opportunity to share my LinkedIn stories. Integrating the use of LinkedIn was my “game-changer” in the highly competitive copier world. With great pride I transform, coach and inspire B2B Office Technology Sales Professionals to grow net new business by helping them tell their story and communicate on LinkedIn. My commitment is to help office technology dealers thrive in a changing marketplace. You can follow me on LinkedInTwitter, as well as at the Social Sales Academy

Selling Copiers in the Seventies with Jack Carrol

Before we start, I thought it would be good to give everyone a little back ground about my relationship with Jack Carrol. 

Jack was one of the principal dealer owners at Century Office Products.  Jack hired me in the summer of 1998 for a sales position in NJ.  One year prior, I had sold my stake in my dealership to my two partners. 

In essence, Jack was my first sales manager.  Over the years I learned so much more about selling, building relationships and was hitting six figure compensation consistently while at Century . In 2009, Century was sold to Stratix.  I have a great respect for what Jack accomplished and valued his leadership.

Here we go:

Art:  What year did you start in the industry and what was your first position?

Jack:  I start in the copier industry in 1971. I worked for SCM Corp, a fortune 100 company. I was hired as a Sales Rep. My responsibilities encompassed sales of equipment and selling supplies to the present account base. At the time, Xerox was the only company selling plain paper copiers. SCM sold treated paper units just like everyone else. SCM manufacture red their units in Skokie, Ill., can you imagine built in the US.

Art:    What company aka manufacturer or dealer did you work for during the seventies? If you worked for a dealer please tell us what brands you sold?

Jack:  I worked For SCM direct branch in Hillside, NJ. One of three NJ branches. SCM had 75 direct branches at this time. This office also had the regional dealer manager there, the Marchant calculator office and the SCM typewriter division housed here. Because I was a newbie I didn’t realize that SCM also had dealers, until I lost a couple of deals to Superior in Edison. Within a couple of years SCM started to relabel Minolta’s and others. SCM was one of the only treated paper companies to use sheet fed paper. Most of the others all use rolls of paper, so it cut it to size. The market than was dictated by Xerox. It was a rental market. So SCM rented their products, only the small units were sold outright. There was no leasing yet. Our process was in the paper. So, the rental was buying paper each month. Dealers couldn’t do this program, which was lucky for us.

Art:  What was the percentage of copier sales people that made it past two years?

Jack:   SCM didn’t hire very often. The few that they hire lasted 2 years or more.

Art:   What did you like the most about your job in the seventies?

Jack:  A year after I was hire I became a selling sales supervisor. I was transfer to the Princeton branch for this job. I supervised 3 sales people. About 2.5 years later SCM merged the three branches into one in Hillside, NJ which was central. We covered from Bergen to Ocean counties. I was now the Sales Manager and had about 14 sales people. So, most of the 70’s I was managing and going on sales calls just about every day. We also had major account people. We were ranked #2 in the country until they sold out to 3M in 1978. I really enjoyed this job of working with salesmen and being involved in sales every day.

 Art:   What did you dislike the most about your job in the seventies?

Jack:   During the seventies SCM started to relabel much of our line. In     1975 we started selling our 1st plain paper unit. We relabeled the VanDyk 4000, a Whippany, NJ manufacturer. It was 67 cpm and used a roll of plain paper. Some rolls were 11x1500 ft. (heavy). It was like the highly successful IBM I & II, but did up to 40 different sizes. Our next unit was the SCM 1200 roll fed plain paper with a sheet bypass made by KIP. Now we were in the middle of the Japanese invasion and dealers were moving into the marketplace at a fast pace. This was now developing into the price wars because people were now buying and leasing companies were now entering the business. Savin also now had the 1st plain paper liquid unit. Kodak was now in the market with all high-end units…75 cpm +. The other companies were still selling treated paper but now it was with powered toner. The result was the copier wars were on and we were moving up market with a 67 cpm unit. Only the strong would be highly successful

Art:  What was the compensation plan like, was there a salary, what is just commissions or was there a mix of salary and commissions?

Jack:  When I first got into the industry there was no salary. There was a $75 expense check and a $500 per month draw. Selling supplies was supposed to take care of your draw…. sometimes. Based upon the rental plan of either 12, 24 or 36 months and the monthly volume was how you got compensated.

Later, when purchasing/leasing came on we got a direct 7.5% commission plus supplies. Around 1975 sales rep’s salary was $750 per month, senior reps were $1,000. Managers were getting about $25,000 a year. We now also had monthly and quarterly bonus’. President’s Club was an honor from the day I got there and never missed one.

Art:   How did you go about finding new business, and what was your favorite of those methods and why?

Jack:  Every Monday was our phone day to set up appointments. Each rep had in a locked in territory. With your territory, you got boxes of prospect index cards. Your job was to keep this info updated. After any appointments, you were responsible to visit your account base and to cold call. Demos were very big. What fun it was to demo these liquid units. Some guys removed their front car seats and threw the small fold up cart into the trunk. You would load the liquid toner in a place where you hope they didn’t see you. When finished you would remove the liquid from the tank in a toilet bowl (mess). Leave the copy in the tray as long as possible so it would dry better. Many closes were as simple as putting the agreement on the decision makers desk and shutting up. Around 1975 you had to have a station wagon. One of my demo programs was convincing one of my accounts in a 10, 20+ story building to let us use his machine for demos. We compensated him and it worked out well, sometimes 10 demos in a day. It was also a referral at the same time.

Art:  What was your favorite brand and model to sell and why?

Jack:  In the 70’s I sold primarily SCM. The 1st 4 years it was probably the double sheet fed console the 211, 30 cpm & very reliable.

Art:  What type of car did you use for your demonstrations and how many demonstrations would you perform in a week demonstration. 

Jack:  I believe much of this was previous stated. In addition to the station wagon and the large building demos, we used a monthly demo day. Each rep had to bring in to the office at least one demo in the am & the pm. We served a nice lunch. This started about 1975 because of our new 67 cpm plain paper copier. This program was successful. Our weekly demo goal back then was 8-10 demos per week. So, doing demo’s in accounts and having the demo day each month greatly aided the sales rep’s quotas.

Art:  Can you tell us one funny story about selling copiers in the seventies?  

Jack:  Not funny but……….Duplifax started when Jerry Banfi traded his wife for a copier dealership. Steak & Beans contest. NY vs. NJ. Every phase of the meal was different kind of beans. The customers in the restaurant loved it. This was when I came up with the demo’s in customer’s offices in multi floor large buildings to get 10 demos in a day.  

The SCM/Kip PPC always jammed under the drum and started to smoke. It smelled like toast. One of their divisions was Proctor Silex who made toasters. Some guys gave away toasters with the copiers. Lucky, they got the employee price. In the early 70’s I knew a guy who substituted plain paper copies and removed the liquid paper copies on the demo.

Art:  What is the biggest problem you seeing facing the industry today.

Jack:  Even though I’ve been out of the industry for several years I keep touch with dealer owners……like Larry Weiss, Andrew Ritchel, and several others.

With Ricoh’s recent changes it somewhat enhances the dealer’s opportunities. Mergers continue, manufacturers constantly keep putting out the software to keep them and the lion share of placements appear to go to the big guys. The small/ regular dealer can’t compete with decent size prospects. So, it will continue so only the strong survive. Obviously, technology is playing a major role every day. So therefore, the industry will continue to thin out.

Art:  Jack, thanx so much for your time on this, I'm sure many of our readers will enjoy this.

Jack: glad you enjoyed it, it was fun to go back in time

-=Good Selling=-

The Power of Tigerpaw One Software — with James Foxall "Part Two"

2017-05-15_22-40-43

I sat down with James Foxall to find out how Tigerpaw is leaping into the office equipment space with a fully vetted product

It’s unusual to find a 30-year-old company that still has the passion and entrepreneurial spirit of a startup, but that’s exactly what I found when I interviewed James Foxall, CEO of Tigerpaw.

Last week, I posted up Part One, below is the second part of our interview. 

Art

I apologize for being such a novice in your space, but is Continuum a competitor? Could you explain your relationship?

James

Continuum is not a competitor of ours; they are one of our partners. Continuum produces a great RMM software (Remote Management and Monitoring). Their software allows you to monitor your clients’ network, get detailed performance stats on their systems, and install any necessary patch or software updates.

Through our partnership, Continuum has created a great platform that will monitor alerts and even automatically fix many of them. When there’s an alert that can’t be immediately addressed by Continuum, it will create a ticket inside of Tigerpaw One through its workflow integration. The Continuum integration makes a fluid link between your monitoring software and your service software. It works in the background and, as you work a problem, our software will push that information back over to Continuum for detailed documentation down to the individual device level.

And, I should mention, our software can also do automated billing for all of those devices that you manage with Continuum.

Continuum is a great partner. That kind of seamless integration between an RMM product like Continuum and a professional service automation (PSA) suite like Tigerpaw One creates a great one-two punch combo for our customers.

Art

Is your platform built on SAP?

James

No. We’ve built our entire application from the ground up. This allows us to pass incredible value on to our customers, since our company doesn’t have to live by the additional fees a SAP platform has. We also find things like that a bit limiting because you have to build on their engine.

It’s hard to think outside of the box when you’re confined to someone else’s box. So we have built our own platform and we work every day to expand and improve our tools, our software, and our core product.

Tigerpaw One is 100 percent our code.

Art

Could you talk a bit about your entrance into the office equipment space? That’s a big move for any company with 30 years of experience.

James

Even though we are new to the office equipment space, we are not new in general. We’ve been doing this for 32 years. We have a long track record of success. We’ve got 40,000 users on our product. That’s a lot of company owners, CEOs, and industry leaders who trust Tigerpaw to improve their businesses every day.

We have a fully vetted and proven process: our customers are given a clear path and plan to implement Tigerpaw One to have a dramatic and measurable impact on their business. We’re not some fly-by-night software startup. And we do not enter a new market vertical without in-depth research and competitive analysis. We know we can help companies automate their businesses in the office equipment space, and we’re excited for these businesses to see the full range of services and features Tigerpaw One has to offer.

In the IT space there are a whole bunch of want-to-be-PSAs, but there are only three truly successful companies. And we’re happy to be one of the top three. We’ve spent years and years in a very competitive space against very sharp competition. Because of this we have constant improvement, iteration and innovation baked into the core of who we are as a company and what our software does.

The feature set, the automation, and the full range of business tools Tigerpaw One has — it’s kind of revolutionary because it hasn’t been seen in the office equipment space.

There’s a tremendous advantage and peace of mind that comes when you are trusting your business growth to a product that was honed in the forges of competition.

Art

What makes Tigerpaw One unique and different?

James

Especially for the office equipment space, it’s incredibly valuable that we have a product that can do everything a current product does on the market and so much more. We can help businesses move into a converged space for managed services.

In the office equipment space some of the products are pretty weak with managing the service side. We are exceptional at that. Tigerpaw is absolutely tops for ticketing.

In the IT space we have an inventory package that can’t be touched. Our inventory package is the best you’re going to find short of a million dollar ERP system.

At the end of the day, it’s the completeness of our solution. Our software is a cohesive suite of tools that work together flawlessly across your entire business. Whether it’s marketing, sales, lead generation, ticketing, quoting, inventory, or servicing after the sale — Tigerpaw does all of this.

You can do marketing out of Tigerpaw One and we will track your open-rate, click-rate, and analytics. You can turn those click-throughs into opportunities and track sales funnels inside the product. You can grow your pipeline and create beautiful proposals to send your client.

Our mobile solution allows you to manage service orders, track time, work with inventory on a vehicle, capture signatures, take photos of the job– all in real-time.

And recently we’ve built an incredible integration with Print Audit that gives you the ability to generate and email invoices and process the payment on them 100 percent touch-free, with no human interaction at all. We’re also working with FM Audit and Print Fleet to add even more tools and functionality.

It’s the totality of all of that combined that makes us unique. No one offers this level of comprehensive tools that work cohesively across all layers of your business, backed by our experience, workflow engine, unified security model, and comprehensive training and education resources. 

That’s what makes us special.

Art

How long have you been doing this?

James

I’m second generation at Tigerpaw. I’ve been running the company since 2010. My father started it in 1984 and I’ve been around pretty much since the beginning. I have been in every role in the company: from sales to development, to organizing trade shows and conferences, to creating graphics and marketing material, all the way down to stuffing packages and working in our mailroom.

Art

Where is Tigerpaw located?

James

Bellevue, Nebraska, just outside of Omaha.

Art

How many people does Tigerpaw employ?

James

We have about fifty people on staff and we’re growing. We have several new open positions right now.

Art

At your last Tigerpaw Conference I read that you and West McDonald got together to collaborate about SBB. What was that about?

James

We were excited to have West at our event. He is a great leader in the community and a great partner.

Last October (2016) we hosted our annual Tigerpaw Conference, which was a four-day event full of networking, training, learning, and a great collection of speakers for attendees.

West is the VP of Business Development for Print Audit, and he was good enough to come all the way down from Canada to present.

West has been at the forefront of the Seat Based Billing (SBB) concept in managed print services. Essentially SBB moves businesses to an unlimited, flat billing model for print instead of print counts and other metered billing measures. Of course we support metered billing, but we also support SBB right out of the box – we’ve been supporting that for years in the MSP/IT space. It’s another aspect of how we can help companies be more efficient with their processes today, but also take them forward with functionality that don’t currently have.

Art

This has been great, James. Thank you for taking the time to chat with us. Is there anything else you’d like to add? Anything Tigerpaw has in development you can talk about?

James

We may be a 32-year-old company, but we’re just getting started. I’m fortunate to have a passionate, talented, and dedicated team that is focused on providing the best experience and business solutions for our customers. I can say with all honestly that we truly care about helping our customers grow their businesses.

I’m extremely proud of the fact that we’ve been doing this since 1984. That kind of longevity doesn’t happen by accident. You know, I think it’s because we listen to our customers and because of the relationships we’ve built with our customers. We’ve got individual business owners all the way to our largest client that runs over 600 concurrent users every day on Tigerpaw. We’ve got clients that have been brought on board today to literally 25-year-old clients that have stayed with us. And to me that’s really cool.

And we’re doubling down on our commitment to our customers. Just last month we launched our Tigerpaw Satisfaction Guarantee. We know the challenges that come from selecting a software as comprehensive as Tigerpaw One, so we’re working to make that decision easier.

Now, new customers get a 90-Day Guarantee that Tigerpaw One will improve their business. Customers will be given all the tools they need to be successful, and we will be with them every step of the way. We’re confident they will come out the other side with a stronger, more efficient, and better-running company. But if they’re not satisfied after all that, we will refund their money.

I’m also very excited about some new projects we have in the works. I encourage your readers to check back and visit our website. We’ve been working behind-the-scenes on some exciting new projects, and we’re planning on making some big announcements soon.

Art

James, thank you for the time today.

Note from Art:

If you happen to see Tigerpaw at an event, please find the time to pay them a visit.  If you happen to see James at an event, make sure to introduce your self as I found him to be very engaged and very exciting about what they do.

About Tigerpaw

Tigerpaw Software, Inc. is a leading developer of end-to-end business automation and service management software. Its flagship product, the award-winning Tigerpaw One, empowers thousands of businesses to manage and automate marketing, sales, service and inventory functions. The company was founded in 1984 and quickly established itself as a premier solutions specialist for small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs). Tigerpaw remains firmly on the cutting edge of business software development with an ever-expanding base of more than 40,000 users in 29 countries worldwide. Despite its growth, Tigerpaw remains a family-owned business that specializes in helping a wide range of clients better run their business with a complete, 360 degree view of their operations.

Tigerpaw One is sold by subscription for one low monthly fee per user.

For more information, visit the Tigerpaw website at tigerpawsoftware.com, email sales@tigerpawsoftware.com, or call their toll-free number at 800.704.9009.

You can connect with Tigerpaw on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

The Art of the Copier Deal - How Leasing Incorrectly Makes Changing Difficult.

When looking at copier leasing, it is interesting to see how some companies have very little choice on renewing their copiers with their current lease company.  We recently were chatting with a potential client in New York City who have 15 copiers.  They are frustrated with their current supplier and would love to get out of their lease.  It is going to be tricky for them though.  About everything is set up so that change is hard, even though their service is bad and the communication is terrible from their current vendor.  They called us to help them with their copier lease situation because they found us through our copier leasing site.  

We began this process about 6 weeks ago.  The first step was to gather information on the current leases.  Took the copier company about 2 weeks to get anything back to them at all.  What we found, when they got their information was they had a pretty substantial mess on their hands.  The buyout amount was roughly $85,000.  Their current lease pricing was about $3300 per month.  We worked out what the copiers we would sell would cost, and it was only $1950 for similar units.  But, to get rid of the current copier, $85,000 had to get wrapped into the new lease.  Since they only wanted to be on a 4 year lease at most (currently have a 3 year lease), it adds about $1878 to the $1900, thus making it about $400 more expensive and making that expense last for 4 years, when some of their copiers expire this year.
We thought about this issue, and looked at the stream of payments.  That was about $48,000.  Storage and shipping of copiers was about $12,000.  So it was certainly an improvement, about $30,000 better.  This would be $1,325 per month, making the monthly slightly cheaper than the current copiers. Of course, nothing is this simple.  If they did this, and any of the copiers had base supplies and service plans, it could easily go back to the $90,000 type number.  
The client could wait and do some of these now, wait a year batch some more, etc...  that would be great, but that leaves the sites that are not getting service in bad shape.  So that is also less than ideal. 
They could refresh the equipment with the current supplier, hoping that new machines would break less, but eventually they would be right back where they are today.
We thought their ideal choice would be to use 4 of their current copiers (the ones that are the most expensive to return) in their sites that are short term.  Get 10 copiers, leave 5.  This is a way to get the liability down as much as possible and not have a supplies and service contract to worry about.  We found if we could focus on the 5 biggest losers, the costs could go down $1,000 per month, and the ones left over would be at their less important sites and a small backup printer could go there.  This gets the lease returns closer to $18,000 ($350 a month hit), but reduces the current costs a ton.  We are waiting to see if there are any more crazy supplies and services plans we haven't been told about yet.
Really, in situations like this, you need a rep who understands copier leasing and how the industry works to help you negotiate the deal as much as possible and make the damage to you as minimal as possible.  We love to come up with solutions that can be wins, even if they are not ideal copier lease agreements.  
If you have a copier leasing
 
situation, please get in touch with us or a local dealer you trust.  We would love to help you out!
 
What should this customer have done?
 
In getting the copiers, there are some things this client could have done to not be in this situation or at least not as challenging of a version.
1.  Have all the leases end at the same time so that it isn't 1 lease every 2 months for the next 3 years.  Had they had them all on one, even if they had a year left, they could have bought 15 small backup units, waited a year out, and then bought new copiers from someone else with no penalties.
2.  The copier lease return can often be negotiated with the dealer or the bank, it may not be as set in stone as you think.  It is always worth thinking creatively to avoid excess charges.  For example, if this client could convince the bank to just do remaining stream of payments rather than FMV, will save about $40,000.
3.  Make sure to work with a dealer you can trust and treats you well.
4.  Get a couple of quotes from different dealers.  Ask about service times and if there are penalties for not meeting the agreed upon service times.
5.  Check firmware and drivers, sometimes the copiers will be breaking too often because software is out of date.
No one likes being in a bad lease.  Feel free to call if you have copier lease questions.
-=Good Selling=-

This Week in the Copier Industry 10 Years Ago (Third Week of May 2007)

From the amount of threads there was some awesome activity.  While reading through one of the threads, I noticed the Samsung SCX 6345N.  For me, this was the start of the A4 multifunctional era.  I believe cost for the 45ppm device was somewhere around $1,900 with MSRP about $4,000.  Not much room for margin, however I can remember acquiring many net new accounts with the Sammy because there was no need for 11x17.  Funny, it's ten years later and many manufacturers still refuse to give us full featured A4 devices that can staple, three hole punch and multi-folding.

Re: C2525 Scan to email HELP????

dns server address for my smtp.att.yahoo.com(email server)
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Re: C2525 Scan to email HELP????

It resolves the name just fine. I can do a connection test from the smtp entry screen and it connects just fine. If I change any of the other variables, it fails instantly and logs why eg. invalid username/password. As it is now, it trys for like 5 minutes then just fails. And yes I did try it by IP address just for the heck of it and no different.
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Re: RPCS Driver Question

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I do all but the saddle stitching when I produce some of our company's inhouse marketing pieces. My files also are 12 pages in Word and 12 pages in Excel (12 pages in one workbook), and my pages are all letter size also. Use the "magazine" icon in the RPCS graphical driver; it looks like a sheaf of papers folded with the pages numbered. (Some models have two "magazine" icons; check how the icon depicts how the sheets are folded.) Also be sure to pick 11x17 as the output size. ("Magazine" is...
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Re: RPCS Driver Question

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Where does one get these training scripts from?
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Re: RPCS Driver Question

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It's on Ricoh's launch CD for the MP C2500-C3000 series. I looked but didn't see it on Aficio League.
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Re: RPCS Driver Question

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In addition, here is a great little file that I actually use while doing a demo of how this operation works. It depicts the setup process at the workstation using both the RPCS and PCL driver interfaces. It is only four pages, but does a great job of showing the customer what happens with a four page file (folded out put, not stapled due to the number of pages). I normally will leave these behind with the end users so they'll have a reference point on hand.
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Re: Copy Limiting

John: With the Open Architecture, I'm sure this infomation can be written for the device. I would contact Ron Kieler @ Ricoh in west Caldwell in reference to this.
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Re: C2525 Scan to email HELP????

You could try to clear the scanner, printer, and ncs under 5801. You might have to put the printer ip, gateway, subnet, dns,and email settings back in,so write down the numbers, and reset up the scanner defaults. I just found another today and this worked for me sounded very similar. In my case I could not even scan to a folder using the cross over cable.
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Re: C2525 Scan to email HELP????

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I’d like nothing more than to see your problem solved and prove me wrong but, go back to entry #10. I’ve tried this with a 5510NF and ATT/Yahoo it didn’t work!
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Re: Ricoh Agenda "What Happened"?

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quote: Originally posted by merlin: It is good, except it takes them 4-5 weeks to move over the money once you report a sale. The Kyocera payouts are ridiculously low, and take forever to be credited to your account. No payouts for less than 30 ppm units! Go Savin!!
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Re: Copy Limiting

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Im 99% sure this already is in the architecture. I remember having done this at a real estate account of mine. I was able to limit the number of copies produced per account code. Check in the admin tools.
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Re: C5560 Maintenance Pricing

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A good place to start would be to breakdown the cost fact sheet. I'm sending you a PM with more detail....
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Re: BEST BUY promo from the Staff @ The Hotel

Aprils 2007 Best Buy Winner is IT Dude!!! Please send me your infomation and I'll get the Best Buy Card out to you right away!
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Re: Copy Limiting

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If there is a way to do this on a Ricoh, it's nothing I've ever heard of. I'll go 75% sure this cannot be done on a Ricoh. (but will be happy to be proved wrong)
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Re: C2525 Scan to email HELP????

Resolved! WOOOHOOOO Just thought I'd post the final solution. A tech on Smarka told me that the 2-wire router will not allow smtp traffic from the Savin machine pass. We had an extra SBC Yahoo modem here and and extra router. I took them up there and switched them out for the 2-wire modem/router and everything worked fine. Thanks for all of your help and hopefully this will help if it comes up for any of you down the road.
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Re: C2525 Scan to email HELP????

Good news! Thanks for posting the solution.
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Re: Copy Limiting

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I think you will need Ricoh Print Directer Software (AKA Print Audit 5) or similar to limit the number of printing/copying per user. Been wrong before.
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Re: C5560 Maintenance Pricing

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Thanks so much for you help!!
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Re: Around The World with Ricoh

The Ricoh Arena will be a venue for some of the UK’s most high profile sports and entertainment events. It is the new home of Coventry City football club and will be attracting big names of the calibre of Kylie Minogue, U2 and David Bowie. The £113 million multi-purpose development expands over 72 acres and is less than two hours’ drive time for 75% of the mainland UK population. The 32,000 seat arena will feature 6,000sq metre exhibition and events hall holding 8000 people, a 1,000 seater...
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Re: Canon 1023iF vs Ricoh MP161spf

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Art, where do you get these documents? I will email you my 500 words.
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Re: Canon 1023iF vs Ricoh MP161spf

I get these from Ricoh USA corp.
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Re: Ricoh Rumor!! New Strategy?

I just figured the retail cpc with drum, toner (mono), 100K PM Kit and 200K PM Kit. Retail cpc is .0117116, not sure what the wholesale cost is, however how much would you add on a per copy basis for on-site service if the user was doing 3,000 pages a month in volume. I thought about .005 per page. Thoughts?
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Re: Ricoh Rumor!! New Strategy?

Our dealership just purchased one of these SCX6345N's. I have been successful in setting up the printing, NetScan and scan-to-folder. But the scan-to-email is making me pull my hair out. And to make it worse, the smasung hotline isn't much help either. Just wondering if anyone tried this and got it working yet? Thanks for any help
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Re: Sales Tips

One-of-A-Kind Marketing Many folks buy because of a "fear of loss". Can you market your product as a "one-of-a-kind" for a "limited time only?" Show them what they stand to gain as well as what they will lose if they don't order now. One auto salesperson we know always shows the purchaser a model that is a "second choice" in case the "preferred model" gets sold before the customer makes a decision. This can really speed up the sales process.
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Re: Ricoh Rumor!! New Strategy?

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We have run into this as the Xerox WC4150 but so far I haven't been able to see service & supply pricing from Xerox - does anyone know how they are pricing their service & supplies on this unit?
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Re: Sales Tips

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quote: Originally posted by Art Post: One-of-A-Kind Marketing Many folks buy because of a "fear of loss". Can you market your product as a "one-of-a-kind" for a "limited time only?" Show them what they stand to gain as well as what they will lose if they don't order now. One auto salesperson we know always shows the purchaser a model that is a "second choice" in case the "preferred model" gets sold before the customer makes a decision. This can really speed up the sales process. Yes the...
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Re: Magazine article from IKON Exec. saying they weren't interested in small accounts.

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i have it and can send it to you monday.
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Re: Magazine article from IKON Exec. saying they weren't interested in small accounts.

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Would you mind posting it here?...I'd love to hang on to a copy of that! Thanks, Brian
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Re: Ricoh Rumor!! New Strategy?

I read today that Smasung is ready to release a 55ppm MFP in the next three months!
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Re: Magazine article from IKON Exec. saying they weren't interested in small accounts.

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Drew, I am in a competetive deal with IKON and have an appointment this afternoon.....is there any way you can get the letter to me? Thanks, -=Mike=-
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RPCS Driver Question

I have received a 12 page document that was created in MS word. Each page is letter size. here's my question. Can I turn this document into an 11x17 booklet and saddle stitched with the RPCS driver, when I select the booklet mode?I would test this at...
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Ricoh Introduction of the New EFI Digital StoreFront 3.0

Ricoh is pleased to announce the release of the new EFI Digital StoreFront 3.0 Customer Hosted and DSF Express Solutions. Digital StoreFront 3.0 simplifies print ordering by providing a custom e-commerce platform specifically designed for easing the...
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MP W2400 / MP W3600 New from Ricoh!

Key Technology Highlights of MP W2400 / MP W3600 ¨ Touch Screen Control Panel Display ¨ Document Server ¨ Multiple Security Levels o Authentication o Encryption o Data Overwrite Security System o Security Settings Using WIM Key Features & Benefits – Digital Copier ¨ Digital Copier Productivity ¨ Image Quality ¨ Ease of Use ¨ Editing Capabilities ¨ Stamping Capabilities ¨ Embedded Options: o Printing § GL2/TIFF Filer & PS, HDI PRCS Drivers...
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Copy Limiting

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At a prebid meeting, the purchasing manager requested that he would like to see the ability on equipment that is bid to set a copy limit on account codes for the end users. I know Canon (IKON is the incumbant here)can do this but does Ricoh have any...
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Need Gestetner 735, Ricoh 3035 code B264 controller

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I am in desperate need of a controller baord for the B264 model. If anyone has a controller board part number B213-5101 or even a damaged machine with a good contorller board please let me know as I am in need of one. Please e-mail me at...
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Ricoh Once Again Ranked First in U.S. Copier Market

Ricoh Once Again Ranked First in U.S. Copier Market Achieves Number One Ranking in Both Black & White and Color Copier Placements WEST CALDWELL, N.J., May 16 /PRNewswire/ -- In the annual Gartner U.S. copier market report for 2006, Ricoh Americas Corporation -- consisting of Ricoh, Savin and Lanier brands -- has been ranked number one in both black & white and color overall copier placements in the United States. Ricoh had 23.1 percent of the market share for black & white copiers and...
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Copier motors will signal before they fail

Copier motors will signal before they failThe office machinery giant Xerox is planning to build a technology into its future copiers and other products that will monitor their motors and other electromechanical components for signs of imminent...
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C5560 Maintenance Pricing

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Hi everyone! We are looking at selling a C5560in the near future and I would like to know what an average charge for maintenance agreement is. we include parts, labor, drums, developer, toner; everything except paper and staples. I am having the...
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Samsung SCX-6345n

Our dealership just purchased one of these SCX6345N's. I have been successful in setting up the printing, NetScan and scan-to-folder. But the scan-to-email is making me pull my hair out. And to make it worse, the Samsung hotline isn't much help...
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RICOH AMERICAS CORPORATION INTRODUCES THE

PRESS RELEASEFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASERicoh Web Site: www.ricoh-usa.comCONTACT: Russell Marchetta Laura Bower Ricoh Americas Corporation Peppercom (973) 882-2075 (212) 931-6127 russell.marchetta@ricoh-usa.com lbower@peppercom.comRICOH AMERICAS CORPORATION...
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Ricoh is Ichiban!!!!

See attached pdf
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Panasonic's New DP-80 Series

consist of the 35PPM DP8035, the 45ppm DP-8045, and the 60ppm DP 8060. All three models feature automatic handling of documents ranging in size from invoices to full ledger pages, out of the box network and Internet fax connectivity, and a suite of...
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Kyo FS-C8100DN Color Printer

32/32 PPM Color/Monochrome Workgroup Printer with Standard Network Interface and Duplex. Standard Dual 500 Sheet Paper Drawers and 100 Sheet MPT. Standard 256MB RAM. Optional 40GB HDD. Optional Finishing and Paper Handling. Optional Data Security...
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Take a Look at This Copier Quote!

Taking a deeper look at this. 354.75 brings back $18,380.08 based on a 60 month rate of .0193. We must then dedcut the buy out of $4,754.10 and the cost to return, lets give the cost to return $300, so we have a total of $5054.10. Deducting this from...
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Ricoh Americas Corporation "Unfair to Dealers"?

I'm not one to whine and cry about missed sales, competition and saturated distribution. However, when I run across a quote from Ricoh Business Solutions that is simply outrageous it really gets my hair up.rest of article is on my blog Arts Blog
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Need wireless card!

I need a wireless card ASAP for a Ricoh 2510SPF, can anyone help me??
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Magazine article from IKON Exec. saying they weren't interested in small accounts.

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I am trying to find the magazine article that quoted an IKON Exec as saying that if you were a small business that you were better off buying from a local dealer. Can anyone out there help me get my hands on it?I did a search here but didn't find it.
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The New c2000SPF?

Page did not translate well and all Ihave is this image, does anyone else have any other information about this product?
-=Good Selling=-

Can You Imagine A Professional Athlete Operating With A Sales Reps Mindset?

Once asked about why he was so successful on the basketball court, Kobe Bryant looked at the reporter and said: “Have you seen Los Angeles at 4am? “I see it often because that’s when I start training.”

It can sometimes be difficult to find differences in top athletes which are noticeable. Their level of physical imbalance is minimal. What is it separating the good from the great? What separates Kobe Bryant from good athletes?

At the IMG Sports Academy, they share their insight on what differentiates average athletes from the excellent ones. Top athletes have a growth mindset. These athletes believe their talents can be developed through consistent training, evaluation and practice. Conversely, athletes with a fixed mindset tend to believe their talent is the key determinant of success thus their ability is fixed. These athletes end up not realizing their full potential. Sound like sales reps?

Is there a possible similarity between top sales professionals and the average ones? Sales reps consistently talk about their work ethic as most enjoy puffing the chest BUT are they really committed to it? Do they really walk the walk and talk the talk when it comes to putting in the hard work and long hours it takes to separate the top sales professionals from the average?

Top athletes understand the process of developing their talents will have obstacles along the way. They embrace the challenge of getting better every day. They understand failure is just another challenge, a roadblock to overcome. 

Top athletes encourage feedback from their coaches, using it to focus on areas of improvement. Less successful athletes tend to dismiss, ignoring feedback and focus on the person providing it, rather than using it as an opportunity to reflect and grow. Sound like sales reps?

What separates an average athlete from an average sales rep? Millions of dollars and their mindset

Average athletes see the success of others as a threat, top athletes find inspiration and motivation. They learn from the success of others by modeling their behavior and habits. Top athletes do not fear competition, they embrace it. They use it as motivation to push themselves to the next level and maximize their potential.

The roadmap to success for an elite athlete is based on hard work, personal ownership and how it is applied. They understand they must apply themselves in all aspects of their training. They take ownership, holding themselves accountable to the process.

So, this had me thinking...

Why do sales reps have difficulties doing what elite athletes are paid to do? What makes a sales professional AND how they go about doing their job any different than an elite athlete?

My answer to you all is quite simple - MINDSET!

MINDSET - WILL DO VERSUS CAN DO

At the highest levels of sports competition, physical ability between athletes is relatively equal. The difference in performance comes down to what is happening inside the athlete’s mind. Can the same be said for a sales professional?

“To think of me as a person that’s overachieved, that would mean a lot to me. That means I put a lot of work in and squeezed every ounce of juice out of this orange that I could.”
Kobe Bryant

Baseball great Yogi Berra once said “Baseball is ninety percent mental and the other half is physical.”

What does the “mental game” actually mean? Can this translate to one sales rep versus another sales rep? What does a top sales professional do differently from a sub-par sales rep when it comes to the mental side of the equation?

WHY DO SALES REPS INSIST ON GETTING PAID TOP DOLLAR BUT LACK A TOP ATHLETE MINDSET?

Top athletes, the elite of the elite do things just a little differently than the average athlete. Does the same apply to sales reps?

Think for a moment... How can a professional athlete, an elitist sitting at the top of their game operate at peak performance with the mindset of most sales reps?

TOP ATHLETES GET REAL

Can the same be said for sales reps? Elite athletes set goals and invest the mental and physical energy towards achieving their goals. They equip themselves with an arsenal of effort, patience, and persistence as they know their journey is difficult. They are realistically optimistic. Can the same be said for sales reps?

TOP ATHLETES BELIEVE IN BEING THE BEST

Can the same be said for sales reps? Top athletes know, no matter what, there is always room from improvement. Sometimes this may involve learning a different technique, strategy, or having a different coach. It also may involve learning a new skill altogether. How does this apply to sales reps?

TOP ATHLETES BUILD UPON SUCCESS WITH CONSISTENCY

Can the same be said for sales reps? Their success is built upon small sustainable changes. When those become second nature, they add in new challenges. Whatever their goal is they track their progress towards it by keeping training logs. Can the same be said for sales reps?

TOP ATHLETES HANG OUT WITH TOP ATHLETES

Can the same be said for sales reps? Top athletes surround themselves with positive energy and other top athletes. Find those people and groups who support your goals. Eradicate as much negativity from your life as you possibly can. You are who you hang out with!

TOP ATHLETES HAVE GRIT

Can the same be said for sales reps? Fear of failure is crippling. There will always be naysayers and Debbie-doubters. Top athletes commit to long-term goals and hold firm in the face of challenges and difficulties. They simply possess and utilize consistent skill sets which elicit positive results. Elite athletes believe in themselves and their ability to constantly improve. They set realistic goals, they surround themselves with the right people, and they stay the course through tough times. Does this hold true with sales reps?

All this being said, why do seasoned, tenured sales reps believe they don't have to do the things necessary that top athletes do in order to stay at the top of their game?

WHAT TIME DO YOU WAKE UP?

 

Imagine for a moment, how long would any professional sports athlete last on their team with the attitude and mindset of most sales reps? Not long at all, as they would be released from their team immediately. Some can say athletes are over-paid prima donna's, however; the one thing they possess that most sales reps don't - a growth mindset.

I encourage the self-centered and the "all about me" sales reps out there to kick the complacent mindset. Do you think a complacent mindset lands an elite athlete a new contract?

Sports athletes don’t come out of rookie training camp saying, “I’m shooting for average – average skills, average income and average performance.

When you started out as a sales rep you didn't set out with the goal of hanging on, doing enough to just “get by”, or riding it by figuring out how to survive until I can inherit another sales reps accounts. Well, at least not in the beginning, correct?

You learned that mindset. You learned that behavior. You learned to settle.

I am positive the mind can be convinced of almost anything if you tell it the same story over and over again. So here lies the question to all of you in sales...

Are you really happy with average results or have you just convinced yourself that’s the case?

I understand where you all are coming from. I have walked a day in a life of your shoes and still do on a daily basis.

I am fully committed to helping your sales team integrate social aspects and modern strategies into your current sales process to grow net-new business. I want you to get results. This is why I am passionate about doing this the right way.

In 2016, Larry was recognized by ENX Magazine, “The Difference Maker” as someone who is making a difference inside the copier channel. Larry is passionate about helping sales reps succeed in creating their online brand image

You can find more blog posts inside the Social Sales Academy website.

I appreciate getting the opportunity to share my LinkedIn stories. Integrating the use of LinkedIn was my “game-changer” in the highly competitive copier world. With great pride I transform, coach and inspire B2B Office Technology Sales Professionals to grow net new business by helping them tell their story and communicate on LinkedIn. My commitment is to help office technology dealers thrive in a changing marketplace. You can follow me on LinkedInTwitter, as well as at the Social Sales Academy

 

 

DocuWare Ensures Success for Title Insurance Company

docuWare

Insuring Correct Information

Arkansas-based title company, Community Title & Escrow, uses DocuWare to manage and store their vast database of property records. The solution allowed them to grow their business to 3 additional counties by giving employees shared access to one database of information. By reducing their turnaround time to under 48 hours, the company gained a huge competitive advantage. Secure document management also streamlined regulation compliance and the completion of audits.



Founded in 1886, Community Title & Escrow (CTE) provides title insurance for properties located in Clay, Greene, Craighead and Poinsette counties, in Northeast Arkansas. The company maintains its own archive of every land transaction in the area since the early 1800s when records were first kept. Document types include: maps, deeds, lawsuit notices, judgements, liens and more.

Requirements

When Van Winton took over the family title business in the mid-90s, researching ownership of a piece of property was a manual process. Documents were geographically indexed in “tract books” that directed employees to numbered boxes or binders to access the physical documents which make up the chain-of-title. As CTE grew and acquired other title companies, manually maintaining all these records became very difficult.

Solution

At a state convention, Winton saw a demo of document management software and knew this was what he needed to modernize his company. CTE chose to implement DocuWare because of its security, ease-of-use and flexibility and the fact that it had been in use for more than decade. In addition, DocuWare’s scalability features have been able to keep pace with CTE’s continued growth during this time.

Today, CTE’s database has grown to contain over 40 million images. They index 1,500 multi-page documents, or about 5,000 pages, a day with 20 different index fields. Staff members digitally highlight information on the document to tag it as an index field, speeding the process and eliminating manual re-entry errors.

Local county courthouses maintain the legal record of property transfers by storing the information only alphabetically by the buyer or grantee name. CTE’s documents are not only indexed alphabetically but also by the actual legal description and various other information contained in the recorded instruments providing them with complete and easy to follow chain-of-title for each property.

“We have a digital copy of every document on file in each court house. Our database is easy to search. Our documents are scanned and indexed by property description and the parties’ names,” said Van Winton, President and Owner of Community Title & Escrow.

Benefits

With DocuWare, CTE can research a property’s history and create the title insurance document in less than 48 hours, versus 4-7 days for other companies that do not maintain their own records.

“Having our own database or title plant is the key to our success. Without our own database, we would have two choices: lease access to a title plant which could cost upwards of $20,000 a month, or rely on the county courthouse records and increase our property research time frame and the possibility of errors going undetected. With DocuWare in place, we have a low operating cost and are able to provide our clients with a quick turn-around. Both of these factors give us a huge competitive advantage,” said Winton.

As the company expanded into new counties and acquired other title companies and their documents, they were able to scan or import those new documents into DocuWare. CTE stores information in one trusted system, regardless of source. Even the very oldest records from the 1800s have been scanned and are managed with DocuWare. Because these records are infrequently accessed, they were not indexed, but using DocuWare’s fulltext search feature CTE can find what they are looking for every time.

“If we were still manually indexing information in tract books, we would not be able to keep up with the volume of information we receive. With DocuWare in place, we’ve expanded our business and reassigned two-thirds of Title department employees to other departments. DocuWare has improved our efficiency and allows us to effortlessly keep up with volume of documents we receive from the courthouses to add to our database,” exclaimed Winton.

The company’s 20 employees from across 4 branch offices all have access to the information in DocuWare, allowing CTE to balance workloads among employees in different offices.

The solution also helps CTE meet regulations established by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a federal agency who ensures that all consumers have access to markets for consumer financial products and services that are fair, transparent, and competitive. One regulation requires a minimum 30 year search for each property. CTE prints a report in DocuWare about the search and adds this report to the property’s record. DocuWare also helps the company comply with other regional regulations and streamlines its yearly audit by AIM+, the company’s closing software.

Conclusion

In conclusion Winton said, “In the world of title insurance, you can’t be close, you have to be right! DocuWare is easy to use, very accurate and can handle a large volume of records. It is a core piece of our IT infrastructure.”

DocuWare Corporation | 4 Crotty Lane, Suite 200 | New Windsor, NY 12553      

(888) 565-5907 | www.docuware.com

A Customers’ Experience is what determines their Satisfaction.

The old days of vendor complacency based on relationships are over. Today customers put more value on their Experiences, not only from the things they buy but those they engage to buy them. In a fast moving digital world, our customers can determine what they want, or believe they need long before they engage with those who deliver it. Organizations must learn how to monetize their Customers’ Experience, and then put the structure in place to exceed in providing a better experience than that of their competitor. The competitor who relies on relationship selling. Too many organizations focus on the things they deliver and their perception of the derived benefits along with their long status quo relationships.  Successful companies make the deliverable about the Experience. Think of this. When a potential customer is deciding on one vendor over another, the process becomes commodity driven. However, when prospects are introduced to satisfying experiences they then shop for the better experience. Exceptional Experiences are never a commodity, and Exceptional Experiences always challenge the arrogance of those banking only on their relationships.   

Some organizations are confusing the importance of balancing the scales between their “Internal Customers Experience” and “External Customers Experience” this out of balance is weighing heavy against customer service, and customer experience. I recently read a comment on LinkedIn where the commenter suggested that customer experiences where over rated and organizations should focus more on employee experience. Well, most logical business professionals would immediately realize if unbalanced how stupid that thinking is. Without the customer, it matters nothing on how well everyone on the team gets along, or how happy they are in their unchallenging existence. These organizations who put their employee experience ahead of their customer's experience will be defeated. Their defeat will come from the competitors who understand a business exists for its External Customers; they understand rewards for internal customers are paid by the External Customers, and they understand the reward amount is determined by the Experience their External Customers receive. In 2017 your customer relationships will not win over your customers’ desired experience.  

“You can be the vendor with the greatest relationships and quickly lose to the new unknown competitor who delivers a better experience.” 

 So next time you evaluate your vendors, ask yourself these questions. Whose “Experience Satisfaction” is more valuable to you? Is it yours or the vendor you hired? Do you care more about the perks your vendor gives its employees or the service and support they give you? Does the vendor tell you how great they are, or do you tell them? Does the vendor ever help grow your business even if they may sacrifice from that growth? Does the self-proclaimed great vendor charge more based on the words of their greatness, or the actions from their greatness?

Keep in mind you may not be asking these questions of your vendors, but I wouldn’t bet on your customers not asking these questions of you.

Today I believe the vendor who hollers the loudest about their Great Relationships should be the vendor its customer's audit first. Today customers are looking for solutions to problems or are presented products or services that capture their imagination. Today customers want to benefit from an Experience, today’s customer will determine their relationship to be second to their experience. Organizations who sacrifice customer experience based on their defined relationship will soon perish. Customers do not search for companies who put their internal customers over their external customers. Customers do respect the balance of happiness between both internal and external customers, well as long as the scale tips just a little more toward them.

"A business is rewarded by its customers, the size of the reward is determined by the experience they receive."  

R.J. Stasieczko    

The power of Tigerpaw One Software — with James Foxall

Tigerpaw banner

I sat down with James Foxall to find out how Tigerpaw is leaping into the office equipment space with a fully vetted product

Well, there's one thing that James and I have in common, boy can we talk it up!  So much, that this will be a two part interview.

It’s unusual to find a 30-year-old company that still has the passion and entrepreneurial spirit of a startup, but that’s exactly what I found when I interviewed James Foxall, CEO of Tigerpaw.

I caught up with James in-between his busy days to find out what makes Tigerpaw so special, what benefits Tigerpaw One has for the office equipment space, how it helps businesses solve their pain points, and hopefully get a peek at a few secret projects they’re working on.

Art Post

James, thank you for taking the time out of your day to chat with us. I appreciate it and I’m sure our readers do, too.

James Foxall

You’re welcome, Art. Happy to talk with you.

Art Post

Let’s get right to it. Can you give us a quick overview of Tigerpaw One and what you guys have been up to?

James Foxall

Absolutely. Some quick background: Tigerpaw was founded in 1984, and today we have more than 40,000 customers in 29 countries worldwide. Our flagship product, Tigerpaw One, is an end-to-end business automation and service management software. Our software includes robust, multiple award-winning CRM, sales and marketing tools, invoicing, quoting, service, and inventory management functions.

In 2015 we changed our business model from selling perpetual concurrent-user licenses of individual software modules and add-ons, to an all-in-one, subscription based offering with one low monthly price per user. And that change has spurred a huge amount of renewed interest in our offering.

Art Post

That’s an impressive amount of functionality.

James Foxall

We’re very proud of Tigerpaw One and the value it brings to our customers!

It’s been a great tool to show new customers the power of our software, but we’ve also had a huge base of our longtime customers convert over to the new model as well. There’s no complex pricing matrix, you don’t need to keep track of what features you have or don’t have, and you don’t need to guess what your bill is going to be. With Tigerpaw One you get everything at one affordable monthly payment. And our customers love that.

Art Post

Tigerpaw is known as a software company, but I’ve heard you say that’s not necessarily your focus. Could you talk about that?

James Foxall

Of course. At Tigerpaw, we build and sell software; but that is not our mission and that is not our purpose. Our purpose is to help people run better businesses. The software and the training that goes along with it are the tools that allow us to get that done.

When we hear about companies juggling multiple spreadsheets to manage their sales pipeline, a different system to manage their invoicing, and yet another system to manage their quoting and proposals — when we hear about companies like that, we know we can help them.

Tigerpaw One does all of those things. You can do all of those things and much more in one tool. There is a better way than managing a dozen different systems that don’t even talk to each other. From a business perspective, that doesn’t make sense; but that’s where many people find themselves.

And often times companies, or CEOs, or department heads don’t even know there’s a better way out there. Or, they know there are other ways, but they may be nervous about jumping into adopting a new software package when they don’t know what their after-purchase support will be like.

It happens all the time. People are sold on a new product but then have no support after the sale.

We don’t want to become another piece of “shelfware.” There’s no value in us getting software into someone’s hands and then they don’t have the tools to use it properly.

We just don’t believe in doing business that way.

Art Post

So what does Tigerpaw do differently when a customer comes on board?

James Foxall

That’s a great question.

When a customer commits to Tigerpaw, we commit to them. And we continue to support them after the sale. We have detailed onboarding and training, we have a dedicated team that will work with you hand-in-hand for your implementation, we work with our customers to discover their business pain points and create a customized project plan to help them reach their goals. All Tigerpaw One customers get unlimited access to our Support Team and they can reach us by phone, through the web, or email.

And we recognize the importance of customized learning. We’ve created a top-notch training program in our Tigerpaw Academy that will help new and veteran users alike take their businesses to the next level.

Art Post

I took a visit to your website before our call and I was curious about Tigerpaw Academy. Can you tell us more about that?

James Foxall

Tigerpaw Academy is our customized education and training portal that is designed from the ground up to help our users become Tigerpaw experts. Our Training Team has put together a comprehensive education program that allows our customers to become experts at the features that matter to them.

We understand that not everyone needs to be an expert at everything, so we have courses with clear flow that build on each other for specific job roles. Are you in sales? We have a training course to help you maximize your funnel, track your pipeline, and close more leads. Are you in marketing? We have courses to teach you how to schedule activities and campaigns, optimize your email marketing, and drive more qualified leads into your sales team’s pipeline.

And we have those same deep levels of learning and training resources for accounts and contacts, billing, accounting and taxes, price book and inventory, service, our mobile app, and dozens more.

Even better, we have broken down our curriculum by profession and title. So you can find a match for what your job is and we have a series of courses designed just for you.

We recently added the ability for managers to assign courses to their team. Managers have the ability to be in control of their own success. You don’t have to wonder, “Did my people get trained? Do they know how to do this?” Now you can assign your team courses and watch their progress as they move through each module and unit of their training.

It’s really a holistic system to help companies better implement Tigerpaw One; and it teaches a lot of great business-building practices.

This is all on top of our training library, free templates, Community Forum, webinars, and live Ask the Expert sessions.

Art Post

While I was cruising through your website and stumbled across your Ask the Expert feature. Can you tell us more about what that is?

James Foxall

We are absolutely dedicated to the success of our clients. So we put a lot of resources out there to make them successful. Ask the Expert is one of those resources; it’s a very unique thing to Tigerpaw.

Every Monday through Friday we have one of our training experts give a live webinar session that any Tigerpaw One user can attend. And anybody in your company can attend that session and ask them any questions. There’s no feedback loop, no waiting for lengthy responses, no wondering if your email disappeared into the void like you get with some companies. You can attend these sessions and get real, direct, applicable answers to your questions about our products.

Sometimes these sessions are packed and you can learn from other peoples’ questions during Ask the Expert. And other times you’ll get lucky and you’ll be one of a handful in that session. That’s like getting personalized training from our experts. These are trainers that we typically charge a couple of hundred bucks an hour to get access to, and we make them available every day of the week at no additional cost.

Art Post

That’s a great service.

James Foxall

It’s really cool. We think it’s something unique. And it is especially helpful for businesses that are just getting up and running.

We also have an 800 Help Desk. Lately we have been averaging under three-minute hold times, which is just stellar in this day and age. When you call, we have human beings that will pick up the phone and answer your questions. You will be talking with one of our deeply trained support experts. Our people are here to help you solve your problems.

And when you really want to do a deep dive into a specific topic or feature of Tigerpaw One, we have all of our additional resources. The Academy, our live webinars, daily Ask the Expert sessions, and our Community Forum — those resources are there to really teach you instead of just answering a quick question.

We even have a calendar of events we maintain so you can plan what you want to attend and find a live learning session that fits perfectly into your schedule.

Note from Art:  I'll be posting up Part Two of this interview tomorrow.  Enjoy!

About Tigerpaw

Tigerpaw Software, Inc. is a leading developer of end-to-end business automation and service management software. Its flagship product, the award-winning Tigerpaw One, empowers thousands of businesses to manage and automate marketing, sales, service and inventory functions. The company was founded in 1984 and quickly established itself as a premier solutions specialist for small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs). Tigerpaw remains firmly on the cutting edge of business software development with an ever-expanding base of more than 40,000 users in 29 countries worldwide. Despite its growth, Tigerpaw remains a family-owned business that specializes in helping a wide range of clients better run their business with a complete, 360 degree view of their operations. 

Tigerpaw One is sold by subscription for one low monthly fee per user.

For more information, visit the Tigerpaw website at tigerpawsoftware.com, email sales@tigerpawsoftware.com, or call their toll-free number at 800.704.9009.

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