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10 Years in the Cloud

December 2022

Attention Sales World... Are You Willing To Double-Down On These Three Basics To Climb To New Heights in 2023?

"Everything in life goes back to the basics"
Krone Gracie

Are you disciplined enough to do the things necessary for you to climb to new sales heights in 2023?

Reflect upon the following question...

Could you enhance your sales results and become even more successful, if with radical consistency you mastered the basics?

In referring to the basics, it's about the importance of allowing yourself the grace too reset.

In every discipline there is a starting position. And in sales there is a starting position.

Getting back to the basics serves as your starting point and quite possibly your reset point.

The Urban Dictionary defines, Getting Back to the Basics as,

"If you talk about getting back to basics, you are suggesting that people have become too concerned with complicated details or new theories, and that they should concentrate on simple, important ideas or activities."

Let that one sink in for a moment.

To quote the legendary Jim Rohn,

“Success is neither the magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying the basic fundamentals.”

DO NOT IGNORE THE FUNDAMENTALS

“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”
-Bruce Lee

Basic skills are ultimately the foundation for most disciplines. The same applies to the sales world.

Without mastery of the basics, how could you hope to do anything which requires greater attention, energy and effort?

When you turn your back to the basics, you've turned your back on yourself.

Check out this quote courtesy of Idowu Koyenikan,

"Opportunity does not waste time with those who are unprepared."

How prepared are you for what 2023 has in store for you?

How prepared are you for what your clients may have in store for you in 2023?

How prepared are you to grow your sales in 2023?

Getting back to the basics, it's about embracing the fundamentals.

Here’s a quick story about getting back to the basics. In 1960 the Green Bay Packers lost the National Football League championship to the Philadelphia Eagles.

On the first day of training camp, the following season after their championship loss, coach Vince Lombardi, as author David Maraniss shares in the New York Times Bestseller, "When Pride Still Mattered : A Life Of Vince Lombardi", "Vince Lombardi began a tradition of starting from scratch, assuming that the players were blank slates who carried over no knowledge from the year before. He began with the most elementary statement of all. ‘Gentleman,’ he said, holding a pigskin in his right hand ‘this is a football’.”

To continue, Vince Lombardi, then uttered these famous words, "Football comes down to only two things: Blocking on offense and tackling on defense.", and those were the basics his teams spent 80% of their time on in practice.

What soon followed was the methodical compliance to those fundamentals. The Green Bay Packers learned to block and tackle. They studied the entire playbook, no exceptions and no excuses. All this culminated in 1961, as Green Bay defeated the New York Giants 37-0 to win the National Football League championship.

How many of you spend 80% of your time practicing the basics?

STOP THE EXCUSES!

“Champions are brilliant at the basics.”
John Wooden

Unfortunately, the sales world is full of impatient and short-sighted people. Way too many of you love chasing shortcuts, automation magic and excuses; before mastering the fundamentals.

Legendary coaches as mentioned, Vince Lombardi and John Wooden, coached, preached and held their teams accountable to the basics. What say you?

John Wooden had a trio of rules,

"Don't whine, don't complain, and don't make excuses. Do your best. And when things go wrong: don't whine or complain or look for blame, just keep moving forward."

The greatest skill you can master is simple... just do the work. And it is for this reason, most of you don't need more time, tips, or tactical strategies. You just need to do the real work and master the basics.

Are you willing to double-down on the fundamentals and the basics that will ultimately lead you to sales success?

Here is some stone-cold truth, most of you in sales will avoid the fundamentals just like the plague because you don't have the guts to become great at them.

This requires you to check your ego at the door, set aside your fear, turn a deaf ear to what is being said inside the sales bullpen, and for that matter, stop listening to all the social guru noise.

Amazing things start to happen when you eliminate the unnecessary crapola and excuses.

"The secret to renewal and true confidence is simple: Get back to the basics."
Tim Sanders

Stop the magical mystery sales tour in 2023. Stop letting your ego and excuse making get in the way of what must be done.

I know how hard it is for you to say,

“I’m focusing on the basics, but guess what, I haven't made much progress on them yet.”

How many of you will commit to doing the basics in 2023?

SUCCEED WITH THE BASICS

Your success in 2023 depends on how well you commit to mastering the basics. Are you willing to make the basics nonnegotiable?

I want all of you to stop for just a moment, look into the mirror, and recite... I will make the basics nonnegotiable in 2023.

Regardless of the sales language of your company, the company culture, the products, or the industry; mastering the basics becomes the key to your sales success.

Hold yourself radically accountable to the basics.

Success is more than circumstance or coincidence. Success does not just happen. It begins with the basics.

If you struggle to do the little things right, you will struggle to do the big things right

Basics, it is the universal language of businesspeople and language many in sales must comprehend.

Basics provide the foundation for all sales success.

Together, let's all think about this for a moment...

We are asked to give “basic ideas,” “basic info,” or “explain it to me like I’m in elementary school.” We break down things into basic, bite-size chunks, so wouldn't it make sense to train ourselves in the same manner?

Why do we overly complicate sales?

I believe applying the basics in 2023, will allow ordinary salespeople to achieve extraordinary results. It paves the way for sales reps to become sales professionals.

Believe in the basics, execute the basics, and succeed with the basics.

At this point, you might be asking yourself, "What are these three basics?"

Follow along with me as I reacquaint you with these three basics for 2023.

BASIC NUMBER ONE - READING

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, you more places you will go.”
Dr. Seuss

Reading is one of the most important habits you could possess. Reading plays a pivotal role in one's life.

Think about the impact this has your ability to learn more things, think in a different manner and to enhance your knowledge. It expands your mind with facts and informational pieces.

  • Reading is essential
  • Reading strengthens your brain
  • Reading improves your vocabulary

Therefore, imagine what you can learn through reading.

As you read, your mind becomes engaged. What you read can influence your conversations.

Think about how this can help you drive better business conversations with your clients and advance new opportunities.

I'm a simple math kind of person...

Let's say you read 30 pages of a book every day during the week, now follow along with me... This equates to...

150 pages per week (take the weekend off) - Imagine each book is 200 pages

This is three books per month and by the end of the year this is an astonishing 36 books!

Leaders are Readers, Readers are Leaders

How well are you leading your clients and future clients into business betterment?

Feeding your brain will kick start conversations. Let's take this one step farther... Start reading the books that the people you want to communicate with read. How do you find this out? You simply ask!

An educated mind brings ideas to the forefront and thus gets invited to the business table, isn't this what you want?

Sales reps sell products. Sales professionals deliver ideas. Ideas come from reading.

Imagine the conversations you could start with your clients... Imagine the knowledge you could impart on them... Imagine how they would view you. Imagine the additional opportunities you could uncover?

A mirror moment for you...

  • Are you driving engaging conversations with your clients?
  • Are you reading to learn? Or reading to brag?
  • Are you sharing what you're reading?
Reading provides sales professionals the fuel they need to engage in competent conversations

Give your clients a gift in 2023. Give them your knowledge and insights based upon the books you read.

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Click on the image to register for the Authentic Selling Challenge

BASIC NUMBER 2 - WRITING

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.”
Stephen King

Why is writing essential? It’s the fuel that drives communication. Writing is the framework of communication. Clear communication combined with good writing facilitates how we connect with others.

How well you communicate becomes critical to your sales success. How well you write about catapults your success.

A few years ago, Josh Bernoff, author of "Writing Without Bull****" published this article on the internet, "Bad Writing Costs Businesses Billions" -

"I emphasize the importance of writing by quantifying the annual cost of poor writing to U.S. businesses at $396 billion—and that could be an understatement of the effects of poor writing skills."

Josh Bernoff further reinforces the importance of writing,

"People use jargon to impress other people—but for each person you impress, many others are just confused. Clear, plain language communicates better, is easier to consume, and is more likely to get its point across to more people.

Writing opens conversations. Writing further attracts your clients and really attracts your future clients.

Here's an idea to fuel conversations...

Gather the top questions you're asked, or you hear from your clients during your meetings and answer them in short format social posts or create short articles.

Lastly, think about all the notes you take during conversations... Turn these into short bite-size stories as you enter them into your CRM.

Potential opportunities could open as those doing research online could end up engaging with your content.

There is power in reading, when combined with writing, this becomes a 1-2 growth catalyst

Lastly, no one can write your sales story, so write it yourself. Rise above the noise. Rise above mediocrity. Rise above all those unwilling to do the work.

BASIC NUMBER 3 - ATTRACTION

"The mind attracts the thing it dwells upon."
Napoleon Hill

My dear friend, Mark Hunter (The Sales Hunter) in his bestselling book, "A Mind For Sales" shares his beliefs that our, "Reputation arrives before we do".

Let's stop for a moment and think together... Where does trust and credibility sit inside the sales world today? People, it is anemically low. Your reputation and how you carry yourself with congruency, both online and face to face becomes a magnet, a true attractor.

Many of you might be wondering... Is attraction a basic? In the world we live in today, attraction absolutely becomes a modern day basic for all those in sales.

Inside a digitally driven, highly connected and socially networked business world...

How well are you leveraging attraction and influence to assist you in kick starting business conversations?

What are you doing to attract people into conversations with you?

You must leverage content as conversation bait to help facilitate business conversations.

How well you reel in conversations will determine what happens to your sales funnel.

All this content comes from the ideas you get through reading, then sharing the ideas through writing.

What can you do with the law of attraction? How does this fit into your prospecting approach? Position yourself and leverage the power of social to kick start conversations.

Gandhi once said,

"A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks he becomes."

As you connect and engage with your audience; share with them what you're reading, educate them through your writing and guide them in the right direction. And this would be you!

Point them to your LinkedIn profile. This is where you can promote your story, how you have helped your clients and what somebody can expect when they engage with you.

The transition to fruitful conversations blossoms.

Are you willing to do the work?

THE BASICS AREN'T SEXY!

Swallowing your pride, dedicating the time and having the discipline to get the basics right is invaluable.

Practicing the basics, it is easier said than done. Quite often, the basics are, well basic.

Chasing shiny bullets, short cuts and get rich sales schemes on LinkedIn with the least amount of work, doesn't pan out in the long run.

Reframe your attention in 2023, get back to the basics.

I will leave all of you with this quote from Garrison Wynn,

"Most of us forget the basics and wonder why the specifics don't work"

My challenge to all of you... will you be willing to refocus your effort? There's work to do and it starts with sales 101.

No alt text provided for this image

Would you like to increase your sales success and fulfillment?

This was my goal when recording all-new materials for the new Selling from the Heart Masterclass, to increasing your sales success and fulfillment in your business.

If you enjoyed the Selling from the Heart book, you’re going to love this masterclass! It takes the tools given to the next level.

Have yet to read Selling from the Heart? No worries, you will receive an audio version as a part of the Masterclass. As an option you can get a free signed copy of Selling from the Heart (just pay for shipping and handling).

You can get your copy here - https://www.sellingfromtheheart.net/book

Together, we will go on a journey where we’ll dive into how to apply the ideas in the book to help you achieve even greater sales success.

With each of the 10 sessions, you’ll receive questions that will help you increase your sales in a way that also makes selling more enjoyable and fulfilling.

This masterclass is configured with you in mind where you can complete the course in chunks from any mobile device, iPad or computer, based on your availability.

You’ll also discover fun bonus materials throughout the course.

ACCESS THE MASTERCLASS HERE.

Today's Hacked!

Hacked!

12/28/2022

Data of 400M Twitter users offered for sale on hacking forum - SiliconANGLE.....Data of 400M Twitter users offered for sale on hacking forum. by Duncan Riley. SHARE. A hacker is offering data from some 400 million Twitter ...

North Korean hacking outfit impersonating venture capital firms | SC Media.....A financially-motivated hacking group tied to North Korea has been impersonating venture capital firms in Japan, the United States and other ...

Okta and LastPass Hacked As the US Continues to Lead the World In Data Breaches....Okta and LastPass Hacked As the US Continues to Lead the World In Data Breaches · The hackers also took customer data that included names, emails, ...

Why is it not possible to report hacked social media accounts? - Hacker News....More than a few times in the past, I've seen accounts of friends hacked, usually facebook and instagram. In one recent case, it's obviously a ..

66% of Americans Got Hacked While Playing Video Games According to This Report....86% of them are at risk of hacking, and 76% have already become victims of phishing scams that have resulted in them losing access to their gaming ...

Hacker claims to be selling Twitter data of 400 million users - Bleeping Computer....The alleged data dump is being sold by a threat actor named 'Ryushi' on the Breached hacking forum, a site commonly used to sell user data stolen ...

-=Stay Safe=-

Today's Hacked!

HACKED!

12/27/2022

Piers Morgan's Twitter hacked with offensive posts about Queen Elizabeth - New York Post....The unidentified hacker blasted out rapid-fire tweets to Piers Morgan's 8.3 million followers, including one that said "f--k the queen."

BTC.com hacked, around US$3 mln assets stolen - Yahoo Finance.....Blockchain browser and mining pool BTC.com said on Monday that it got hacked earlier this month, and lost around US$2.3 million of its own assets ...

Severe LastPass breach, Inglis resigns post, Xfinity accounts hacked - CISO Series....LastPass admits to severe data breach, Chris Inglis to resign as national cyber director, Xfinity accounts hacked in 2FA bypass attacks.

66% of Americans Got Hacked While Playing Video Games According to This Report....86% of them are at risk of hacking, and 76% have already become victims of phishing scams that have resulted in them losing access to their gaming ...

North Korea Hacked 892 South Korean Foreign Policy Experts - PCMag.....The hacking attempts this year marked the first time South Korea detected North Korean hackers using ransomware, police said. Thirteen shopping mall ...

-=Stay Safe=-

Reflecting on 2022

As 2022 draws down.  I hope all of my friends and vendors had a prosperous year.

All of 2020, 2021 and 2022 presented significant challenges for me  and our office technology industry.  Years ago I would I would have labeled us a the copier industry, but with all of the changes I believe office technology better suits us as a whole.

Heart Aches Still Persist

One of my largest challenges for me and maybe our industry was the ability to meet net new objectives in 2022.  In fact I failed for the first time in many years for hitting my annual net new number.  The supply chain ramifications and not being able to get A4s put me at a disadvantage because I did not plan correctly for 2022 (that will not happen again).

I should have seen the writing on the wall and increased my activity with A3, however I also understand that our entire (competitors) industry was also focused on winning A3 business as well.  I believe our challenge will continue to exist well into 2023 for A4 MFPs.

The Competition Softens

If you follow the press releases many traditional copier companies have been purchased by those MEGA dealers again in 2022 (this will continue in 2023).  It's my belief when those companies are purchased they are no longer a competitor of mine.  There's a few reasons for my belief and that's because many employees will leave the MEGAs due to the cultural shift and many employees will be terminated to increase profits for their investors.  Thus there is and will be a talent shift away from the MEGAs and to companies like Stratix Systems that I work for.

Those those of us that are left can continue to write our tickets for success.

Work from Home in 2022

While there is still much hype for remote work and hybrid work.  I see many companies are feeling the pain from people burning out because the culture of work from home does not lend it self to the TEAM.  While there are many people that lavish in the remote and hybrid work, there are just as many or more that can't adjust.  I've heard from many companies that work from home is not a great option for many companies because they can't teach their new and younger employees on craft of their industries.  People still need to be with people in a TEAM environment for companies to succeed.

Office Print in 2022

Yes, print volumes are down and they will continue to erode as time passes.  There is no holy grail that will stop progress to the  paperless office one day. However for those of that still sell print there are still opportunities to make a great living with selling MFPs for many years to come.  The MFP opportunities exist with finding companies that have manual processes in place with paper (there are still many of those). MFPs offer companies many ways to reduce costs and increase productivity with those manual processes.  We just need to find them.

How to Win in 2023

The last couple of days I've thought a lot about how to make a difference in 2023.  I'm in a unique place in my career since I'll be 66 in February and I've taken the position that I'll continue in my current role for another year as long as I stay healthy.  I've got experience on my side!

I will put prospecting for content opportunities on the top of my agenda for both net new accounts and existing clients. Content can be a mixed bag of offering for business intelligence, serverless printing, AI and RPA (robotic process intelligence). It will not be easy,  but in order to win I also need to increase my knowledge for 2023.  Of course I will never give out prospecting for MFPs, because I believe the MFP prospecting will lead to the content opportunities.

The best way to win again is to never, ever stop prospecting.

-=Good Selling=-

In A Connected World, Are You Having Connecting Conversations? Think About It!

"As the world becomes a more digital place, we cannot forget about the human connection."
Adam Neumann

Are you holding real conversations, leading to real connections?

Stop and think about the question, now think about your clients and future clients... What types of conversations are you having?

To quote Chalmers Brothers,

“Our results are absolutely connected to our conversations.”

With trust and credibility in sales being low already, think about the depth of your conversations.

We live in a world of conversation. Therefore, how you communicate and engage with your clients will shape the outcomes, the relationships and your sales results.

Here lies my question... Why are real conversations, rare, challenging and almost non-existent inside the sales world?

A real conversation is between people who are present in the moment, clearly focused and carry themselves with intentionality.

Are you present in the moment with your conversations?

Are you having sales conversations or connecting conversations? As connecting conversations generate more sales conversations.

In playing off the word, generate, I came across the term, Generative Conversations.

Generative conversations are conversations generating new value or meaning. They involve a direct, honest exchange of sharing which fosters taking action.

They involve an authentic exchange of sharing and inquiry, leading to the emergence of new knowledge or understanding that could not have been created individually.

Generative conversations are based on the principles of dialogue. The word “dialogue” derives from the root “meaning through words.”

This root suggests a flow of meaning between participants. Are you having meaningful conversations with your clients?

With generative conversations, ideas and thoughts are openly shared, expanded on, and brought to the forefront with greater meaning. The result is that each person (think of your clients) wins by walking away with a deeper understanding and shared solution.

There are 5 crucial elements to a generative conversation. I would like you to take a step back and ask yourself, do these 5 elements exist in my client conversations?

  • Empathy
  • Non-avoidance, hit things head-on
  • Space to process, give them time to digest
  • Direct and fair communication
  • Trust

Could real generative conversations become the key to unlocking deeper client relationships and long term sustainable? I believe so.

Learning to have real, and clear conversations is an ongoing quest, but well worth effort.

WHAT IS A REAL CONNECTING CONVERSATION?

A real conversation serves a purpose. It is the beginning of friendship, the opening or deepening of a relationship. It’s simply connection. It’s sharing stories, ideas, information and opinions.

Relationships begin with an “hello”, learning the art of conversation allows you to foster meaningful connections, strong partnerships and client communities.

Conversations bridge connection and strengthen relationships.

Why do real conversations matter?

  • A real conversation is the lifeblood of relationships
  • A real conversation allows for you to articulate meaning
  • A real conversation inspires and influences
  • A real conversation is where we learn
  • A real conversation is the source for discovering new things
Sales professionals engage and connect because they truly care and are committed to building relationships through the art of conversation.

Conversations for connection require you to intentionally listen by being fully present, summarizing what you're hearing, and then further asking questions about what has been said.

I believe when salespeople are engaged in meaningful connected conversation, they are more likely to speak the truth openly. And isn't this what you want?

Theodore Zeldin is an Oxford scholar, and he went on to say,

"Real conversations catch fire. The kind of conversation I like is one in which you are prepared to emerge a slightly different person.”

Are your conversations catching fire with your clients?

What are your clients learning from you because of your conversations?

How do your clients feel after having conversations with you?

Lastly, what are you learning about your clients?

You see, a learning conversation leads to connection. It's a conversation in which everyone strives to make sense of an issue, actively works to understand the meaning the other person is trying to convey, and where they are each prepared to change their views, if need be.

Are these the type of conversations you are having with your clients? It is these types of conversations that will rapidly move the sales needle.

In a connected world, are you having connecting conversations?

I love what Brené Brown says,

"Connection is why we're here; it is what gives purpose and meaning to our lives."

What would happen if you engaged in curious conversation without any judgement whatsoever?

What would happen if allowed the conversation to flow as opposed to steering it with sales centric, disconnecting conversations?

Moving forward, set expectations for yourself and practice the following:

I will not interrupt. I will encourage. I will pay attention. I will listen, deeply and daringly. I will be present.
No alt text provided for this image
Click on the image to register for the 2023 Authentic Selling Challenge

GENUINE CONVERSATIONS LEAD TO REAL CONNECTIONS

"Let the conversation flow at its own pace. Don't try to rush it or control it. You need to let go and be part of the conversation."
Max Weiss

Why is having a genuine conversation a lost sales art? Furthermore, is having a business focused conversation even more of a lost sales art?

So easy to connect yet so difficulty to truly connect. Connecting requires intentionality. Connection requires caring. Connection requires you giving a rip!

Conversations are the strongest sales tool you have to effectively build credible relationships, connections and collaboration.

Curious to know... When was the last time you had a conversation with a client, or a future client and you heard this...

Wow, this was one of the best conversations I’ve ever had!

To connect with meaning, sales professionals facilitate conversations by making someone feel comfortable. They lean in and encourage conversation through curiosity and intentional listening.

Sales professionals understand that a real conversation means they are delivering more than a message, it means they are inviting the other person into the conversation with them. They are providing them the key in which they unlock the door to natural flowing conversation.

Healthy business conversations happen when your clients feel safe enough to discuss the “undiscussables”. This can only happen when you make them feel comfortable enough with you that in turn, they become comfortable sharing uncomfortable business issues or challenges. I call these "business secrets".

You never know when one conversation will lead to exponential sales growth.

Conversations build relationships, and relationships drive businesses.

People do not care about your canned pitches, pattern interruptions and all about you messaging.

Stop pitching, puking and pushing conversational crapola and start opening a human connection and conversation.

Sales professionals understand that engaging questions lead to engaging conversation, leading to connection, which leads to relationship building.

AUTHENTIC CONVERSATIONS DRIVE CONNECTION

“Authenticity starts in the heart.”
Brian D’Angelo

Genuine, heartfelt and real conversations accelerate connection.

Trust and authenticity go hand in hand, as authentic communicating builds trust. Humans are good at sensing authenticity and inauthenticity. Same can be said for your clients. Their B.S. meters are acutely tuned into self-serving sales crapola.

An authentic attitude and approach mean contributing openly and trustingly.

Authenticity is a lifestyle and not a communication light switch

Without trust, your client interactions become guarded, shallow, and lifeless.

When it comes to having authentic, meaningful conversations with your clients, remember to stay true to who you are and be open to the truth of who others are without judgement.

A quote from Arthur Dunn from 1919,

"If the truth won't sell it then don't sell it"

Authentic conversation will set you free.

JUST BE REAL

Conversations are the most powerful tool you have at your disposal to foster relationships.

In a connected world, how do you have connected conversations?

Quite simple... You listen with intent. Listen with your heart. Listen to learn. This has a direct impact on your conversations.

Are your conversations filled with business substance or just plain old sales jargon?

I encourage you to rise-up and stand tall in how you connect with your clients to encourage healthy and meaningful conversations. This can only happen by truly giving a rip and inviting your clients into conversations, not pushing them away with all your interruptions.

I will leave you with this...

It is so easy to connect but imagine for a moment connecting with real conversations to the mind of your client's, thinking together for business betterment, and then where all this exponential sales growth will take you?

No alt text provided for this image

Would you like to increase your sales success and fulfillment?

This was my goal when recording all-new materials for the new Selling from the Heart Masterclass, to increasing your sales success and fulfillment in your business.

If you enjoyed the Selling from the Heart book, you’re going to love this masterclass! It takes the tools given to the next level.

Have yet to read Selling from the Heart? No worries, you will receive an audio version as a part of the Masterclass. As an option you can get a free signed copy of Selling from the Heart (just pay for shipping and handling).

You can get your copy here - https://www.sellingfromtheheart.net/book

Together, we will go on a journey where we’ll dive into how to apply the ideas in the book to help you achieve even greater sales success.

With each of the 10 sessions, you’ll receive questions that will help you increase your sales in a way that also makes selling more enjoyable and fulfilling.

This masterclass is configured with you in mind where you can complete the course in chunks from any mobile device, iPad or computer, based on your availability.

You’ll also discover fun bonus materials throughout the course.

ACCESS THE MASTERCLASS HERE.

Todays Hacked!

Hacked!

12/22/2022

North Korea has hacked $1.2 billion in crypto and other assets for its economy - NPR....Experts and officials say North Korea has turned to crypto hacking and other illicit cyber activities as a source of badly needed foreign currency ...

Comcast Xfinity accounts hacked in widespread 2FA bypass attacks - Bleeping Computer....Comcast Xfinity customers report their accounts being hacked in widespread attacks that bypass two-factor authentication.

Russians hacked JFK airport's taxi dispatch system for profit - Bleeping Computer....Hacking the dispatch system. According to the unsealed indictment published by the U.S. Department of Justice yesterday, two men, Daniel Abayev and ...

Okta revealed that its private GitHub repositories were hacked this month - Security Affairs....American identity and access management giant Okta revealed that that its private GitHub repositories were hacked this month.

British newspaper The Guardian says it's been hit by ransomware - TechCrunch.....The New York Post also confirmed that it was hacked in October. However, the company later claimed that a rogue employee was to blame for the ...

A Ukrainian Steals $25,000 In Bitcoin From Russian Dark Web Drug Market And Gives It ... ....Solaris drug market's master wallet has been hacked and its funds diverted to a Ukrainian humanitarian charity.

TikTok apologizes after its employees hacked accounts of two reporters | Daily Mail Online.....Financial Times reporter Cristina Criddle and former Buzzfeed writer Emily Baker-White - who now works for Forbes - had their TikTok accounts hacked ..

The Guardian newspaper hacked in suspected ransomware attack - SiliconANGLE.....The Guardian newspaper hacked in suspected ransomware attack. by Duncan Riley. SHARE. Guardian News & Media Ltd., the publisher of the U.K. ...

-=Stay Safe=-

Ready for 2023? 7 Tech Trends You Should Know About

Written by Anna Frank

Technology is evolving at a quicker pace than ever before. Economic factors like high inflation, supply chain issues and the shortage of skilled workers put enormous pressure on businesses today. The tough economic climate caused companies to re-evaluate their financial strategy and look for ways to preserve profit margins while developing the ability to respond quickly to changing economic conditions. As a result, business leaders became more open to adopting new technologies which has accelerated the rate of change.

As 2022 comes to a close, it’s time to find out which technologies are gaining the most traction and identify the trends that are most likely to affect your company. Ready? Let's see what’s going to keep us on our toes over the next 12 months.

1. Sustainable technology

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The negative effects of climate change are being felt across the globe. As a result of a growing sense of urgency to address it, investors, employees and customers prefer to work with companies that prioritize sustainability. Organizations approach this from different angles that range from lowering their carbon footprint and building new efficiencies into their products to using more renewable energy and creating less resource-intensive global supply chains.  

SDGs and ESG are acronyms that frequently come up in conversations about how companies should respond to the climate crisis. 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were set by the United Nations in 2015, and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) is a rating system companies use to measure their environmental impact, social responsibility, and company leadership’s effectiveness in promoting engagement in guiding these initiatives. In 2023, ESG processes will become a more essential part of business strategy.  

According to Gartner, CIOs and IT directors will not be exempt from being asked to meet ESG goals related to the sustainability of IT infrastructure and services. Analysts there suggest that IT departments start by focusing on energy efficiency, reducing e-waste, implementing paperless transactions and building green data centers. They can begin their evaluation of IT sustainability using parameters like cloud utilization, power management and the number of devices per employee.

2. Innovative platform engineering

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Modern software architectures are continuing to grow in complexity, and end users are often asked to operate these services with a nonexpert-level knowledge. As a response to this growing friction, platform engineering has emerged to link the service and the end user by delivering a curated set of reusable self-service tools, capabilities, and processes, optimizing the developer experience and accelerating digital application delivery. Gartner predicts that by 2026, 80% of software engineering organizations will establish platform teams with 75% of those including developer self-service portals.

An Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) is an example of this trend in action. It’s a hosted automation platform that enables a company’s developers and other IT staff to integrate cloud applications without time-consuming special programming. An iPaaS provider hosts application servers and infrastructure data and provides integration tools as well as middleware that helps developers build, test, deploy and manage cloud software. Most iPaaS offerings also speed up the development of integration flows across a business by using prebuilt connectors and standard business rules to define interactions. An iPaaS simplifies integration activities making it easy to connect applications and data deployed both in the cloud or in a local data center.  

3. Artificial intelligence meets Enterprise Content Management 

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AI takes enterprise ECM a step further when it comes to document processing, managing unstructured data, content management, improved search and collaboration. The biggest advantage is that AI-powered ECM is able to understand data and context on a deeper level. In this way, it can establish relationships between the context of documents that make the information easier to retrieve when it is required.

Intelligent, automated document analysis has already reached a high level of maturity. Starting with voice input or voice control, through chatbots and translation services, to the intelligent interpretation of document content, the tools are primarily geared toward supporting and automating communication.

These technologies will become even more significant in the future and generate noticeable added value, especially in the area of process automation. In addition, there will be numerous applications in the future in which AI can make or suggest appropriate "decisions" for the user based on the content of a document. This can speed up processes, help users eliminate subjective considerations and make more data-driven decisions. 

4. The Cloud becomes the corporate IT standard

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At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, suddenly a large proportion of employees were working from home. Many companies didn’t have the right tools in place to support them. Then the advantages of moving to the cloud became clearer and even executives who were initially skeptical realized that cloud software was actually secure, compliant and reliable.  

Today, working remotely, at least part of the time, is what employees in this tight labor market want and expect. Due to this, using cloud technology is not optional anymore – it's a necessity and the new standard. Companies are moving towards an “anywhere, anytime operations” model that allows employees to work from anywhere in the world.  

More organizations will use industry-specific cloud platforms to drive agility, speed to innovation and accelerated time to value. This includes incorporating cloud software, platform and infrastructure services traditionally purchased a la carte into pre-integrated yet flexible solutions that meet the needs of specific industry verticals.

5. Strengthening your digital immune system

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As CIOs increasingly take on revenue-generating responsibilities, antiquated development and testing approaches are no longer sufficient for delivering business-critical solutions that provide a superior user experience. A digital immune system combines various software engineering strategies (observability, automation, extreme testing) to enhance the customer experience by protecting users from operational and security risks. Gartner predicts companies that invest in building a digital immune system increase end-user satisfaction thanks to greater uptime and a strong UX.

For example, Privacy by Design (PbD) supports a healthy digital immune system because it ensures privacy protection for employees and customers by integrating considerations of privacy issues from the very beginning of the development of products, services, business practices, and physical infrastructures. It can be contrasted to an alternative process where privacy implications are not considered until just before launch. PbD is one of the guiding principles of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and is discussed specifically in its ‘data protection by design and default’ requirements.

6. Data democratization

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The average person makes as many as 2,000 decisions per hour in their personal or professional lives. Most of these decisions are made based on gut instinct; in business, however, decisions need to be fact-based because they have far-reaching consequences. Since a lot of companies are embracing data analytics as a key business driver anyway, it is no big surprise that the concept of data democratization is trending. It aims to empower all members of a company – regardless of technical expertise or ownership – to interact comfortably with data and to discuss it confidently which leads to better business decisions.

Often, data is still owned by IT which is why other teams must go through this department to get necessary data – a time-consuming and cumbersome process. If information is distributed across all working teams and employees with diverse expertise can access data easily and quickly this enables companies to discover new business insights and gain a competitive advantage.  

To make data democratization possible, companies need to set up strong governance to ensure the data is carefully managed. Therefore, every employee should be properly trained on how to use the data to drive initiatives and processes.

7. Information extraction and robotic automation

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Methods of automatic information extraction and document classification have been around for more than a decade. While automatically sorting large numbers of documents by type or subject was technically possible, the underlying technologies often had to be implemented internally to work for the specific use cases. With the development push of natural language processing technologies in the late 2010s, these capabilities are finally making their way into the mainstream, and more and more companies are making use of them. After all, even though AI-based software may still need a few years to become a common element of everyday office life, it is already doing its magic undercover.

DocuWare Intelligent Indexing for example is a digital document-processing system designed to electronically capture and identify the most valuable information on any document and convert it into highly structured, usable data. The machine learning technology remembers each document as well as indexing corrections to increase the speed, accuracy and reliability of the tool. In this way, Intelligent Indexing helps companies eliminate tedious and manual data entry and frees employees to refocus on more important projects.  

How DocuWare stays ahead of the curve

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Docuware continually monitors and incorporates technology advancements into our solution to make sure it’s always state-of-the-art. For example, DocuWare recently introduced iPaaS connectors as part of its portfolio. DocuWare has developed its own connector for cloud integrations on Make and others have been created by webMethods and elastic.io. These companies are all major providers of iPaaS platforms, and the connectors are available to all Docuware Cloud customers.  

Our company develops innovative solutions that are an easy on-ramp to the cloud. Our preconfigured solutions for invoice processing, employee management, smart document control and e-signatures are out-of-the-box integrations that can be up and running in a few days. Even though business processes run differently in every organization, they share key requirements and decision points. The preconfigured solutions turn these common denominators into efficient digital workflows that are quick and easy to implement.  

Sustainability is also an integral part of DocuWare’s corporate DNA. It’s in perfect alignment with what we do — partnering with businesses to implement paperless processes that cut down on emissions and deforestation while driving cost-savings and efficiencies. DocuWare President Michael Berger set the stage for how DocuWare plans to proceed when he stated that “SDGs are very important and climate protection is an area where we as a company can assume social responsibility.”  

We don’t know what new business challenges 2023 will bring, but we’re sure that the DocuWare solution will be future-ready so that our customers will be well-prepared to succeed.

Joan Honig also contributed to this article

Learn more about document management.

Why IT Should Love Managed Print Services

Why IT Should Love Managed Print Services

The IT department seems to have a reputation for being curt, frustrated, and cranky. But that attitude is hardly surprising when you consider the majority of their interactions with other departments revolve around fixing complex technology-based problems. And if it isn’t a tech issue, it’s attempting to arrange times to install drivers or software to help keep the company’s network and information secure. Business printing is just one more of the many tasks IT oversees that can cause additional headaches.

Printers Eat Time

While most offices need printers, these machines are often set and forgotten until there is a problem. That’s when the help desk calls start rolling in. Ink and toner replacement, paper jams, and network communication issues are just a few of the wide range of everyday reasons employees call IT or submit help desk tickets. Around half (50%) of help desk calls are printer-related, according to a Gartner study.

Why do people call help desk the most

Some of these problems are quickly resolved. But it is not only simple issues that generate printer-related calls to IT. For example, regular driver and security updates can block computers from sending documents or even recognizing available office printers when out of date. In addition, tracking when driver updates occur and arranging installation around regular work hours means additional planning and IT hours.

The same can be said of spooler crashes or other problems that require added maintenance. There is often a significant amount of time spent determining the magnitude of the malfunction before a printer technician can be called. Then there is the time and effort needed to manage visiting techs and ensure machines are back in working order before they leave.

All of these calls, tickets, and maintenance evaluations add up. Think about it. If there are one hundred help desk calls or tickets created in a day, an average of fifty would be printer-related. Assuming those printer issues each takes ten minutes to resolve, that is just over eight hours. That’s one employee’s entire day dedicated to dealing with the printer.

Printer Security

That set it and forget it attitude has another problem that plagues the IT department – security. Printing devices, whether network or local, have several general vulnerabilities. Even consumer-level printers have built-in hard drives which temporarily store the previously printed and queued documents. Should the printer be hacked, any confidential or proprietary information previously printed could be accessed.

But retrieving printed documents is only one potential problem should a machine be hacked. There is a risk of compromised devices providing backdoor access to any connected computers and, consequently, into the company’s computer network. Printer breaches account for eleven percent of all security incidents.

To reduce this risk, network printers should run on a secure VPN. IT must also work to ensure both printers are locked down, security is up to date across all machines, and IPP ports are closed. Adding additional document encryption and password protection levels is also recommended to reduce internal and external accessibility of past and future document printing.

Remote Work Accelerates Problems

Recent studies of post-pandemic business decisions show (83%) of global businesses intend to have over one quarter of their employees working remotely. US businesses, recognizing some of the difficulties at-home and hybrid workers faced during the pandemic, are also far more likely to provide printers for their remote employees. As of July 2020, forty-eight percent of US businesses had already provided dedicated printers to individual employees, and thirty-four percent had plans to do so.

IT has managed to adjust to the additional time and security measures required to maintain an onslaught of new office spaces. However, throwing more print devices on top of that already large workload is daunting for the department. More printers mean more potential maintenance issues, more helpdesk tickets, and practically doubling the work required to regularly update and monitor network-connected technology for security updates and attacks.

MPS Can Help

Rather than overload IT with new layers of work, organizations that acknowledge the importance of print within their business are regularly turning to Managed Print Services (MPS). In this changing landscape, MPS are working with their business partners to provide standard in-office solutions and A3 and A4 network printers for the growing remote workspace.

In addition to providing secure network print equipment, these companies also offer comprehensive service, monitoring, and security. They absorb print-related help desk questions, driver updates, ink, toner, paper supplies provision, and printer maintenance across their partners’ entire print fleet. This dedication to security, monitoring, and service is why over three-quarters (76%) of global organizations considered print security leaders partner with an MPS provider.

So, a larger print landscape could easily lead to additional headaches for IT. But there is a way to avoid the excessive help desk calls, maintenance headaches, and security worries surrounding the print environment – thanks to the availability of reliable MPS.

If you’re not convinced yet that businesses need MPS, CLICK HERE to learn 6 reasons why Your Business Needs Managed Print Services.

Todays Hacked!

Hacked

12/20/2022

Nelson, McCarty Hacked Ring Cameras, Swatted Residents: Feds -.....The 20-year-old and 21-year-old streamed the police response that ensued and taunted the cops via the hacked cameras, according to the Department ...

Hacked Ring Cams Used to Record Swatting Victims - Krebs on Security.....Two U.S. men have been charged with hacking into the Ring home security cameras of a dozen random people and then “swatting” them — falsely ...

Two New York men arrested for conspiring with Russians to hack JFK taxi system - ........“I know that the Pentagon is being hacked… so can't we hack the taxi industry[?]” Abayev allegedly texted one of the hackers in November 2019,

Server containing Keppel Telecommunications and Transportation employees' personal data hacked......The files on the hacked server contained personal data of employees and former workers, among other information.

Projects would rather get hacked than pay bounties, Web3 developer claims - ....Projects would rather get hacked than pay bounties, Web3 developer claims. After reporting and helping patch a smart contract vulnerability, ...

DraftKings betting site hacked: Over 67,000 accounts exposed - ....In such cases, hackers tried to steal personal and financial info from multiple accounts which were later sold on hacking forums or the dark web.

How to become a penetration tester: Part 2 – 'Mr hacking' John Jackson on the virtue of .......Marine Corps engineer-turned offensive security expert offers careers advice and his best and worst experiences

-=Stay Safe=-

Today's Hacked!

Hacked!

12/19/2022

Iran hacked Israeli cameras a year ago; defense officials knew, didn't act....Iranian group controlled dozens of CCTV cameras for lengthy period, uploaded videos of weapons factory and Jerusalem terror bombing, according to ...

A North Carolina high school intercom system was allegedly hacked by a person making ......An individual hacked into a North Carolina high school's intercom system Thursday and allegedly made ...

TerraCVita Now Offers Technical Support For Hacked LUNC Delegations.....TerraCVita proposes to help hacked delegators recover funds. Terra Classic development group and network validator TerraCVita has launched ...

These ethical hacking courses will take you from beginner to advanced for only $25.....As of Dec. 19, you can save on the Complete Cyber Security Ethical Hacking Certification Bundle at the Mashable Shop.

How Iran is accessing the social media accounts of protesters to incriminate them, experts say - CNN......Negin thinks Iranian agents hacked into her Telegram account on July 12, ... The Iranian government may have used similar hacking tactics to ...

FBI pressured Twitter, sent trove of docs hours before Post broke Hunter laptop story....on censoring The Post's exposé weeks earlier at a “tabletop exercise” on hacked materials that was organized and attended by media elites.

-=Stay Safe=-

Selling Copiers " Six Ways to Maximize GP"

This blog is from 15 years ago, I changed up a few items with some of today's offerings for us. Enjoy!

Selling Copiers "How to Maximize GP"

Thought about this the other day in car, made myself pull over and jotted down a few notes for everyone. I've complied a laundry list of points that I have adhered to in order to maximize Gross Profit.

Over the years I've also concentrated on moving boxes no matter what the cost. I will address this in a blog later this month.

Maximize GP

1.   Stay away from Clients who are just looking to replace a box. If you are aware there are multiple players quoting, be prepared to get a low GP and not get the deal. These Clients are buying on price, it will take an extra special effort to get the deal and also get a decent GP. Do you have the time or the fortitude to hang in there? Why not set your sites on sales that will pay the bills.

2.    Search for Clients who are NOT in the market! While cold calling in person, take a good look at how they do things. Ask the receptionist if they are scanning, LAN Faxing, printing to inkjets etc... Try to get an appointment to introduce yourself and when you're there and don't about replacing a piece of hardware. Do ask if they are experiencing document problems, such as lost documents, making too many copies, high maintenance bills, excess breakdown of hardware, how their document workflow is conducted. Selling like this enables you to find their pain and may help you introduce a solution that can be bundled with a new piece of hardware.

3.   Sell the Extras! As you are writing the order or as you are drawing up the lease ask again about any accessories that may benefit the customer. Finishing, Paper-trays, 3-Hole Punching, cloud scanning, scan worflows,  etc... the Client will be more apt to spend the extra money at this time to conclude the order.

4.   Lead With Solution Software! Look at what your manufacturer has to offer for embedded solutions along with third party solutions that your dealership has to offer. Lead with offerings for embedded print management, document management and LAN Fax solutions. Here you are setting yourself apart from the BOX seller (trust me, there are too many reps that still just sell boxes).

5.   Upgrade Your Account Base Early! Do not wait for them to call you or for the last 90 days of the lease. You've got to be in there at lease one year or more prior to the end of the lease. If you're not, then someone else is,

6.  Become an Expert in Secondary Systems! Specialize in Wide Format, Digital Duplicators, Envelope Presses, Standalone scanners if your company offers these hardware solutions. There is is less competition and less reps who are competent with the solutions that come with these system. Take the time to learn your Vertical Markets for AEC, Print4Pay, Schools and Religion Accounts. Once you become an expert, you will stand out among the crowd.

In order to be successful you have to be the best at what you are doing. Put your self in opportunities to succeed and make a move to break away from the pack. Our job can be very rewarding, however being an order taker and just relying on Clients who are in the market will be the kiss of death.

-=Good Selling=-

This Week in the Copier Industry 15 Years Ago

This Week in the Copier Industry 15 Years Ago

Last Week of December 2007

It's official we're down to the last 2 weeks of the year and in two weeks we'll start another weekly series for This Week in the Copier Industry 20 Years Ago. I'm looking forward to see the hot topics from when I just started this site and all of threads from our members.

ENJOY These awesome copier threads from 15 years ago!

Weekend Copiers Notes from 12/24/07

Art Post (Guest) ·
junk mail) makes up less than 2% of waste in landfills. q Buyers Labs, Inc. gave out more awards for outstanding performance: o Konica Minolta bizhub C451 o Konica Minolta bizhub C550 o Konica Minolta bizhub C650 o Sharp MX-450N o Sharp MX-700 o Sharp MX-950 o Sharp MX-1100 o Ricoh Aficio MP C3500 (aka Savin C3535, Lanier LD435C) o Xerox WorkCentre 7345 o Xerox DocuColor 242 o Xerox DocuColor 252 o Xerox DocuColor 260 q Toshiba announced that it can build a nuclear reactor and fit it in a closet
Topic

Selling Copiers " How to Maximize GP"

Art Post (Guest) ·
Saturday, December 29, 2007 Thought about this the other day in car, made myself pull over and jotted down a few notes for everyone. I've complied a laundry list of points that I have adhered to in order to maximize Gross Profit. Over the years I've also concentrated on moving boxes no matter what the cost. I will address this in a blog later this month. Link for rest of blog Selling Copiers " How to Maximize GP" "Maximize GP"
Topic

2007 'PICK OF THE YEAR' AWARDS FROM BUYERS LABORATORY INC.

Art Post (Guest) ·
the leading source for extensive databases of specifications and pricing on copiers, printers, fax machines and multifunctional products. The company's databases cover more than 6,000 products and have a long-standing reputation for being the industry's most trustworthy and complete. They are available to BLI subscribers online via the company's bliQ competitive information service. This encyclopedic resource also provides quick and easy access to BLI's First Look Reports, Field Test Reports
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Re: Building your own MFP!

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Ricoh Aficio MFPs does this. Media Link Board (file format converter) let you scan documents to document server and pick them up from client pc. Desk top binder pro lets you fax documents from doc server. You can scan documents via FTP to any IP adress in the network. If the MFP has PS3 insstalled the document will print (PDF direct print).
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Re: Leads in Bristish Columbia (Canada)

Art Post (Guest) ·
Zecotek Photonics Inc. (formerly Zecotek Medical Systems Inc.) TSX-V ZMS what it does It develops high-performance crystals, photo detectors, medical lasers, optical imaging and 3D display technologies for commercial applications in the medical diagnostics and high-tech industry. contact info Zecotek Photonics Inc. (formerly Zecotek Medical Systems Inc.) 6190 Agronomy Road Suite 408 Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z3 Canada Phone: 604-827-5212 Fax: 604-827-5214 http://www.zecotek.com people
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Re: Leads in Indiana

Art Post (Guest) ·
ExactTarget Inc. Nasdaq EXTG (proposed) number of employees: 268 what it does It provides on-demand email marketing software to organizations of all sizes. contact info ExactTarget Inc. 20 North Meridian Street Indianapolis, IN 46204 Phone: 317-423-3928 Fax: 317-396-1592 Toll-Free: 866-362-4538 http://www.exacttarget.com people Scott Dorsey Cofounder and Chief Executive Officer Peter McCormick Cofounder and Vice President of Partnerships Scott Bleczinski Vice President of Sales Traci Dolan
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Re: Postscript for 240W!!!!

Art Post (Guest) ·
Also heard today that Ricoh is out of stock on all 240W interface cards!!! This means that we can no longer add printing and scanning and makes all off lease 240w's that do not have the interface card less desirable.
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Re: New Ricoh SP C220 Color Pinter!

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Aficio SP C220/221/222 are Ricoh engines with 3rd party controller. The printers will also be available in a MF version. These printers are winners!
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Re: Leads in Georgia

Art Post (Guest) ·
uVuMobile Inc. what it does It provides a complete suite of media services that combine familiar brands with user-friendly personalization, interactivity and targeted advertising to deliver it to mobile devices and customers. contact info uVuMobile Inc. 2160 Satellite Boulevard Suite 130 Duluth, GA 30097 Phone: 678-417-2000 Fax: 770-279-3149 Toll-Free: 866-447-0212 http://www.uvumobile.com people William J. Loughman President, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer Tony

Re: Leads in North Carolina

Art Post (Guest) ·
Trinity Convergence Inc. number of employees: 100 what it does It designs, develops and licenses comprehensive VoIP software solutions that help equipment manufacturers accelerate time to market and streamline product development. people Ajit Pendse Chariman and Chief Executive Officer David T. Brown Cofounder and Chief Technology Officer Mark A. Felice Cofounder and Vice President of Sales and Business Development Brian J. Lees Cofounder and Vice President of Sales, EMEA and Asia Pacific
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Re: Plotbase Compatibility Charts

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they need 3.7.1 to make vista work - they can call Ricoh Tech support to get the PB 3.7.1 - not sure if downloadable 'cuz of file size
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Re: Savin 2400WD Windows Vista

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plotbase version 3.7.1 will support Vista AND AC 2008 - can get from Ricoh tech support.
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Re: IKON looks interesting to H-P for purchase

Art Post (Guest) ·
repurchase and announces a range of prices it is willing to pay for the stock. Shareholders then tender their shares at any price within the range and the company picks the lowest price that allows it to buy the number of shares it wants and pays that price to all stockholders. Ikon's range for its Dutch auction tender was $13 to $15. Ikon (NYSE:IKN) is the world's largest independent distributor of copiers. It also distributes related office equipment and provides document-management services.
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Re: Leads in New York

Art Post (Guest) ·
Remy Cointreau USA Inc. New York, NY -- It imports and distributes premium and ultra premium spirits and wines. Updated on: 12/21/2007 Mimeo.com Inc. New York, NY -- It provides Web-based, on-demand digital printing for customized business documents and marketing materials. Updated on: 12/20/2007 AQUA Equities New York, NY -- It provides an electronic trading platform focused on creating access to new pools of block liquidity for institutions, brokers, and hedge funds. Updated on: 12/19
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Re: Why are MFP manufacturers not GREEN!

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All Ricoh AIO kits are sent to customers with a prepaid (in Norway) post label. The customer return the used AIO kit, and ricoh send it to Ricoh Europe. For more information about Ricoh environment activeties, please go to www.ricoh.com Look up ECONOMICS, the banner ad on the top left. Also please read the Ricoh sustainability report. If you are interested in the environment it is great stuff.
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EIS Quatra "The Perfect Color Wide Format"

Art Post (Guest) ·
I just finished my first install on the EIS Quatra "M" series from Paradigm Imaging. This is an awesome unit! The ease of set-up and install is exceptional along with the configuration of scan, print and copy drivers! go here for rest of story http://mfpsolutions.blogspot.c...ormat-mfp-saves.html
Topic

MLB 2008 Opener in Yomiri, Japan !!!

Art Post (Guest) ·
over 23), a total of six games. (場所はいずれも東京ドーム) (Tokyo Dome are both places)  リコーのMLB開幕戦の協賛は、2004年の「ニューヨーク・ヤンキースvs.タンパベイ・デビルレイズ」に続いて2度目です。 Associated Ricoh's opening game of the MLB 2004, "New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Devil Rays" followed by a second. 今回はワールドチャンピオンとなったレッドソックスの松坂大輔選手、岡島秀樹選手の凱旋試合になります。 This is the World Champion Red Sox player Daisuke Matsuzaka, Hideki Okajima player game victory.  リコーは、お客様に感動していただけるような価値の提供により、グローバルブランドの確立と事業拡大を目指しています。 Ricoh is a move to help ensure that
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Advertising Links FREE!

Art Post (Guest) ·
Keeping the P4P Hotel FREE. It seems that I have built a monster and bandwidth is starting to take its toll. My intention is to always keep the P4P Hotel FREE, I do not ask for donations. In order to keep the P4P we need members to click on the advertising links at the top of the site and at least check out what our advertisers have to offer. As long as the hits keep coming along with potential sales, the P4P will stay FREE. As of right know we have some very good companies that support the P4P
Topic

In -Arkansas

Art Post (Guest) ·
Materials Jim Precht Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing Alford Drinkwater Senior Vice President of Administration Eric E. Barnes Chief Accounting Officer 12/20/2007 - $13.5 million in financing
Topic

wide format color scanner

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will be released soon as a stand alone private labeled unit. See attached article for info on scanning - new Ricoh scanner will be CCD technology. http://www10.mcadcafe.com/nbc/...amp;articleid=461582

-=Good Selling=-

This Week in the Copier Industry Ten Years Ago

This Week in the Copier Industry 10 Years Ago

Last Week of December 2012

We're down to the last week of the month (at least for me) for some of us, while others will end on the last day of this month. My month ends on the 23rd of each month.  At first I was annoyed when that model was implemented many years ago, however I've now grown to love it!  I now have two weeks to drive business because that's what our industry have driven for end of the month business.  In fact we've conditioned about prospects and clients for the last week of the month.

For me, those that close early can close more often!

Enjoy These great Copier Threads from 10 Years Ago This Week!

Interesting Apple/Mac thread for PS printing

Art Post (Guest) ·
Jan 14, 2010 8:37 AM I just purchased a ricoh copier printer c2050 and cannot get it to print from my computer. I went to ricoh download page and downloaded driver. But printer does not show on mac. Printer shows being commented to computer. What do I need to do? DUAL 1.42GHz POWER MAC, Mac OS X (10.5.8) I have this question too (1) Categories: Printing, faxing and scanning Tags: print_fax_scan_macosx_v10.5, mac_os_x_v.10.5 Level 7 (22,800 points) Re: Problem with Ricoh MP C2050 Printer Jan 14
Topic

Phoenix IT firm joins Konica Minolta group

Art Post (Guest) ·
The Republic | azcentral.com Mon Dec 24, 2012 11:08 AM A division of Konica Minolta Business Solutions USA Inc. has purchased a Phoenix-based information-technology firm for an undisclosed sum, the companies said Thursday. InterTech Computer Products, based in Phoenix, has about 50 employees and provides technology solutions to businesses in Western states including Arizona and Nevada. InterTech will become part of All Covered, a division of the Tokyo-based Konica Minolta’s U.S. business
Topic

Company Receives Numerous Awards in 2012 Including Recent “Innovative Product of the

Art Post (Guest) ·
company’s portfolio of awards received in 2012, Konica Minolta received recognition in the areas of environmental sustainability, product and solution innovation, and overall industry leadership. Receiving numerous awards for solution performance and reliability, Konica Minolta was recognized as a Leader in the "Magic Quadrant for MFPs and Printers, Worldwide" published by Gartner, Inc. and named a #1 Brand in the "MFP Office Copier" category for the fifth consecutive year by Brand Keys. Industry
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Re: Sharp has Serious Money Problems!

Art Post (Guest) ·
Sharp's plan to sell Nanjing plant to Hon Hai on hold: TOKYO/TAIPEI: Struggling Japanese TV maker Sharp's plan to sell its Nanjing plant in China to Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry has been frozen and may not materialise, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday. Sharp, which supplies screens to Apple for its latest iPhone, considers selling its Mexican plant to Hon Hai to be more important, and talks to sell the Nanjing plant, which assembles large-size liquid crystal display TVs
Topic

Since when did Ricoh MFP's 40/50ppm lose...

Art Post (Guest) ·
Since when did Ricoh MFP's 40/50ppm lose statement size paper tray support in the main trays? Arrgggh, they are killing me.
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15 Reasons not to buy a HP T2300 printer plotter scanner

Art Post (Guest) ·
On the surface, the HP T2300 eMFP seems like a slam dunk when considering a new printer, plotter, and scanner. But, wait! Look past the initial impression and you’ll discover that the T2300 has some significant flaws—ones that could be detrimental to the operation of your business. Here is a list of the top 15 things that are wrong with the T2300 eMFP. 1.Printing postscript files natively is only possible when the Postscript option is purchased. This is an added expense. 2.On the HP T2300, it
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Digidocflow alternatives

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I’m looking for an alternative scanning solution that could replace Digidocflow. I’m a Kyocera dealer and I’m quoting a customer who has digidocflow currently. From what I can tell, it looks like Digidocflow is a Ricoh only product made by Nuance. Kyocera has DMS link that is also made by Nuance but it can’t do all the things that DigiDocFlow can. The feature that the customer is looking for is when they scan a doc into a folder from the copier, the doc gets emailed to the attorney
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Print Production Pricing

Art Post (Guest) ·
Is there a general rule of thumb for Print Production pricing? How much of a dis**** from MSRP are you seeing in your market place for Segment 6 black units?
Reply

Re: Sharp has Serious Money Problems!

Art Post (Guest) ·
BrightWire, a business-to-business resource for portfolio managers, is reporting this morning that a report published by Tokyo's daily newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun is stating that Sharp has officially ended small to mid-sized IGZO LCD panel supply to Apple due to low profitability. At this time it's difficult to assess whether their public reasoning is factual or just a face saving measure due to Apple dumping the IGZO display due to production delays.
Reply

Re: Does canon have an off the shelf...

Art Post (Guest) ·
quote: Originally posted by Dr. PCL5: Art, Is the data coming from a Windows platform? mostly for scanned documents, what I;m thinking about is tickets that are printed and then signed for by the drivers, this would be for a landfill operation.
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Re: Digidocflow alternatives

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NSI Autostore is very similar to DigiDocFlow, & Kyocera is listed on their website as a supported manufacturer.
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Re: Erie businessman gets fed prison for copier fraud

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quote: Trabold said customers of Zurn's Erie Copy Products paid for leases on copy machines they never received, or which were broken, older or less expensive than they had been told. Really "less expensive than they had been told" so when I buy a car for $27,000 and someone else is selling it for $24,000 that's a crime? There has got to be more to this that. That happens 4,000,000 times a day.
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Re: Erie businessman gets fed prison for copier fraud

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quote: Originally posted by Yoda: quote: Trabold said customers of Zurn's Erie Copy Products paid for leases on copy machines they never received, or which were broken, older or less expensive than they had been told. Really "less expensive than they had been told" so when I buy a car for $27,000 and someone else is selling it for $24,000 that's a crime? There has got to be more to this that. That happens 4,000,000 times a day. Sounds like he was selling used machines but presenting them as
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Re: BTA event in Orlando "Winter Break"

Art Post (Guest) ·
BTA Southeast will be hosting its annual Winter Break district event, open to BTA members and non-members from across the country, on Feb. 8-9, 2013, at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, Fla. This event will be a great setting to learn from industry leaders, gather new ideas and network with your peers. The event will feature a keynote presentation by Martin Brodigan, chairman and CEO of Ricoh Americas Corp., five additional educational sessions presented by industry leaders providing insight
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Re: With a new year approaching....

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Pahoda Image Products Pagepack Laser Printer Specialist SEO and Adwords is about 1/2 of our business.
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Re: Since when did Ricoh MFP's 40/50ppm lose...

Art Post (Guest) ·
see capture of paper tray specs from ricoh brcohure
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Re: Sharp has Serious Money Problems!

Art Post (Guest) ·
largest of its kind in Europe. Sharp management wants to concentrate on Japan and the booming Asian market, Kyodo said, adding that the Japanese company is also contemplating the sale of half of its stake in another European solar-panel factory co-owned with Enel. Sharp’s strategy calls for getting out of solar-cell and -panel manufacturing and distribution in Europe and the United States by March 31, the end of Japan’s 2013 fiscal year, Kyodo said. The sprawling Japanese firm plans to eliminate

Attention Sales World... Are You Having Connecting Conversations With Your Clients? Would You Even Know?

"A man's character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation."
Mark Twain

What adjectives are you using when engaging in conversation with your clients?

The words and messaging you use will either connect you to your clients or disconnect you from your clients. Think about it.

The language you are using right now with your clients is it clear, concise and full of familiar words?

To quote John C. Maxwell,

“Connecting is the ability to identify with people and relate to them in a way that increases your influence with them.”

Are you communicating or connecting with your clients?

Interesting statement to ponder, isn't it?

Connecting and communicating often are used interchangeably. It's fair to say those in sales can communicate, however; how many are successfully connecting and with meaning?

Communication occurs with your voice, hands, eyes, and body language. Your words may be heard loud and clear, but... Do your clients feel the emotions behind them?

Connecting with your clients goes beyond your words

To really connect with your clients, you must think beyond your words. You must communicate your feelings and attitudes.

Sales reps communicate to connect on a surface level, sales professionals communicate to connect below surface level. One moves the relational needle. Can you guess which one?

Critical things to consider fostering client connection:

Verbal connection - Your clients will respond to the words you use by the tone of your voice. The way you use your messaging will draw your clients in or push them away.

Emotional connection - How you act has the power to draw your clients in or alienate them. Your attitude speaks volumes! This shows more than your words could ever be heard by your clients.

Visual connection - Well before you speak, your clients have already formed a visual impression of you. It's about how you look, dress, and behave; couple this with your online presence... starting to get the picture?

Intellectual connection - Big fancy sales crapola jargon doesn't make you smarter. Often speaking in simple language and using more common words will build more trust, credibility and connection.

Are you communicating information succinctly, so people understand quickly, without having to decipher complicated sentences or vague sales jargon?

To my sales community... You owe it to the person you are communicating with to engage in conversation simply and clearly. Please remember, the primary goal of communication is to convey information.

Let's stop right here for a moment, and recite to yourself... If people understand more of what I'm saying, would they likely feel that I make sense?

To further drive this home, I will defer to the entrepreneur, Stephen Wang, who said,

“No matter what job you have in life, your success will be determined 5 percent by your academic credentials, 15 percent by your professional experiences and 80 percent by your communication skills.”

Plain, simple language removes barriers between your clients, your future clients and yourself. This will set you apart from all the other salespeople. This allows you to move from communication to connection. And isn't this what you want?

CLEAR COMMUNICATION ALLOWS CONNECTION

"Speak clearly, if you speak at all; carve every word before you let it fall."
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Was Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. onto something when it came to communication?

Back in the 1800's, he surrounded himself with the literary legends, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Together, they left a massive imprint within the literary world of the 19th century that flows right into the present.

Why am I bringing this into this message? Because of another one his quotes...

"Language is the blood of the soul into which thoughts run and out of which they grow."

Whether you're a tenured salesperson or just starting out your career, the language you use, how you communicate it and how well you engage in meaningful conversations are foundational skill sets you must master to catapult your sales career.

Salespeople, well over 200 years ago they were writing about it.

Connection leverages influence. Are you influencing your clients? If not, then who is?

Two commonly used phrases in sales, "People buy from people" and "People buy from people they know, like and trust." Many throw these phrases around, but how many are building their people and relational skills to bring these two phrases to life?

Therefore, if you want to elevate yourself to new sales heights, you must hone in on developing your conversational, people and relational skills.

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Click on the image to register for the 2023 Authentic Selling Challenge

STOP THE SALES JARGON AND CONNECT

Allow this quote to sink in for a moment,

"Jargon allows us to camouflage intellectual poverty with verbal extravagance."
David Pratt, Foreign Editor, Sunday Herald

What's concerning is how many salespeople use the same, overused sets of sales jargon to describe situations as a replacement for just speaking plain old normal language.

Way too many in sales rely on buzzwords to communicate concepts rather than explaining what they mean.

Do you think this makes you sound or look smart? I guarantee it only adds more confusion especially when your clients need clarity.

So, here's my question to you all... Are you using simple and straightforward language to connect with your clients?

Hiding behind catch phrases and buzzwords is not a cool way to lead your sales life.

COMPLICATED WORDS CREATES DISCONNECTION

Allow this quote to sink in...

“The definition of genius is taking the complex and making it simple.”
Albert Einstein

Attention salespeople... Stop hiding behind complex sales phrases, jargon and crapola!

Empty sales reps cover up their lack of understanding and experience with science, jargon, and overly complicated sales phrases, all because they think it sounds good.

Hello! All this does is confuse, alienate and distract you and your clients from business betterment.

You can't hide behind simplicity. Think about it.

Salespeople and yes, even sales leaders... Your clients deserve plain, simple and easy to understand language when communicating with them.

  • Simplicity gets your message across.
  • Simplicity is understandable.
  • Simplicity requires less time to explain.

In other words, using unclear and overly complicated cliche ridden sales jargon reflects upon you with unclarity and canned thinking.

SIMPLE CONVERSATION FOSTERS CONNECTION

Are you connecting or disconnecting when conversing with your clients?

How are you conveying to your clients how you can help?

The words and messaging you use are your tools, choose them carefully.

Your ideas and solutions can be complex and sophisticated, however; you must be able to communicate clearly and concisely to create ease of understanding.

In a conversation, the only thing you can control is yourself, your behavior, and how you carry yourself. Just imagine how your conversation will be if you are speaking effectively and listening consciously. You can leave a conversation energized, inspired and action oriented.

Remember this... Are you communicating with your clients to help them become better or to impress yourself with bug fancy words and catch phrases?

NO SUBSTITUTE FOR SIMPLE BUSINESS CONVERSATION

To quote Albert Einstein,

"If you can’t explain something simply, you don’t understand it well.”

Using plain and simple language is not a sign of sales weakness!

Industry jargon can become a habit. Unfortunately, many salespeople fail to realize they are using complex language.

Salespeople assume it sounds impressive to use big words and flowery sales language.

Salespeople believe that they are “dumbing it down” when they use plain words.

I ask all of you to...

  • Ditch your ego - An important part of embracing plain language is letting go of your desire to use impressive words.
  • Keep it simple - Use familiar and easy to understand words.

Think about simplicity as you watch the following video, courtesy of Siegel and Gale. They are a brand strategy and design company out of New York City. Its corporate tagline is “Simple is smart.” Each year, they release a study called a "The World's Simplest Brands".

Are you keeping things simple?

Sir Richard Branson said,

"Complexity is your enemy. Any fool can make something complicated. It is hard to make something simple."

Simplicity creates connection and simplicity creates loyalty!

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Would you like to increase your sales success and fulfillment?

This was my goal when recording all-new materials for the new Selling from the Heart Masterclass, to increasing your sales success and fulfillment in your business.

If you enjoyed the Selling from the Heart book, you’re going to love this masterclass! It takes the tools given to the next level.

Have yet to read Selling from the Heart? No worries, you will receive an audio version as a part of the Masterclass. As an option you can get a free signed copy of Selling from the Heart (just pay for shipping and handling).

You can get your copy here - https://www.sellingfromtheheart.net/book

Together, we will go on a journey where we’ll dive into how to apply the ideas in the book to help you achieve even greater sales success.

With each of the 10 sessions, you’ll receive questions that will help you increase your sales in a way that also makes selling more enjoyable and fulfilling.

This masterclass is configured with you in mind where you can complete the course in chunks from any mobile device, iPad or computer, based on your availability.

You’ll also discover fun bonus materials throughout the course.

ACCESS THE MASTERCLASS HERE.

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