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10 Years in the Cloud

August 2020

This Week in the Copier Industry 5 Years Ago

When talking with your client(s) do you have that come to Jesus moment with them?  That would be the talk track about what makes your company (dealership) unique and different in your market?  If not maybe it's time to add it.

Enjoy these awesome threads from 5 years ago this week and check out the one about Great Sales People and how some great peeps at another dealership helped me out.

Konica Minolta Significantly Reduces CO2 emissions in Fiscal Year 2014

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product development. Based on its EcoVision 2050, whose main target is to reduce Konica Minolta's CO 2 emissions over the product lifecycle by 80% 1 until 2050, the report shows that the company has done further progress in achieving this target. Konica Minolta reported 54% of sales in Green Products in total throughout the fiscal year 2014 2 across all business areas. This represents sales of 547.1 billion Yen 3 (4.2 billion Euros 4 ). The significance of Green Products increased in
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Community of Canon Solutions America Customers Receives Overwhelming Response to First Conference

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City, brings together print professionals from around the globe to network, gain knowledge, discuss common challenges, and share production inkjet best practices. "It's exciting to witness this powerful community coming together," said Francis A. McMahon, Sr. Vice President, Marketing and Sales Operations, Canon Solutions America Production Print Solutions. "We're committed to supporting them in any way we can to ensure Canon Solutions America production print customers are well positioned to
Blog Post

Great Sales People Solve Business Problems

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caught a 15 minute cat nap, then good as new. I finally arrived at the clients office around 2PM. My client was ecstatic! Matter of fact when I walked in both black devices and the one color device was going full bore. As I turned the corner, I saw the customers one lone KonicaMinolta device and it was BROKE, saying Call Service! That made my day!! In the end, it was the customer who stated to me, "great sales people solve business problems". I thought that was awesome and I was happy that he
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Ricoh Launches eBinder, Powered by Global Graphics Technology

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software platforms on which our partners create solutions for digital printing, digital document and PDF applications. Customers include HP, Corel, Quark, Kodak and Agfa . The roots of the company go back to 1986 and to the iconic university town of Cambridge, and, today the majority of the RD team is still based near here. There are also offices near Boston, Massachusetts and in Tokyo About Ricoh Ricoh is a global technology company specializing in office imaging equipment, production print solutions
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Need Help fpr Xerox and Toshba Dealer Pricing

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I'm working on a special project and would be willing to trade a Two Year Premium VIP Lifetime memberships for Xerox and Toshiba dealer pricing. Can anyone help us out? Art
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New Version of imageRUNNER ADVANCE Desktop Joins Canon’s Award-Winning Portfolio of Enterprise Solutions

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to convert documents to PDF before attaching to an email. The Quick Printing Tool (QPT), a desktop widget, provides time-saving drag ’n drop to expediently and directly print files, access and change print settings, fax, convert files to PDF including detail settings to Optical Character Recognition and set passwords for opening, editing and printing restrictions. Availability imageRUNNER ADVANCE Desktop V4.0 is available from authorized Canon Dealers. Both prospective and current customers can
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Progressive Impressions Installs One of the First Océ VarioPrint i300 Presses in U.S.

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, digital marketing, mobile, sales collateral, promotion products and more. As a part of Taylor Corp., they continue to make industry-leading investments to keep their customers out in front of the marketplace. Building on a long-standing relationship that began with OcÉ North America more than 10 years ago, pii and Canon Solutions America continue to partner with each other to push the realm of printing technologies and innovations. Pii has long been viewed by its clients as being at the
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Sharp Said to Consider Forming LCD Venture Rather Than Sale

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Sharp Corp. is leaning toward spinning off its liquid-crystal display business into a joint venture with a third party, rather than selling the unit outright, people familiar with the matter said. Innovation Network Corp. of Japan and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. are the two leading candidates Sharp is considering for partnership, according to the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. The Osaka-based supplier to Apple Inc. and the potential partners haven’t
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Neonode Signs Multi-Year License Agreement With Leading Japanese Printer OEM

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disclosed. For more information, please contact: Sales Printer Solutions: Bengt Edlund, E-mail: bengt.edlund@neonode.com www.neonode.com/applications/p...and-office-equipment Investor Relations: David Brunton, E-mail: david.brunton@neonode.com About Neonode Neonode Inc. NEON, -1.37% develops and licenses the next generation of MultiSensing® touch technologies, allowing companies to differentiate themselves by making high performing touch and proximity sensing solutions at a competitive cost
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Sources say Sharp to form LCD venture, not sell unit

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Sharp Corp is leaning toward spinning off its LCD business into a joint venture with a third party, rather than selling the unit outright, people familiar with the matter said. Innovation Network Corp of Japan and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) are the two leading candidates Sharp is considering for partnership, according to the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. The Osaka-based supplier to Apple Inc and the potential partners have not entered any talks
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Ricoh Releases Improved Theta S 360 Degree Spherical Camera

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. Read all about the Ricoh Theta S Spherical digital camera here: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/...pherical_digital.htm Quotes from Ricoh Imaging and Google Maps Wataru Ohtani, Ricoh’s Corporate Associate Vice President and General Manager of the New Business and Platform Development Center, said: “Ricoh pioneered the spherical camera market and thereby revolutionized how people view the world. This new model offers even higher image quality than before to
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HP Confirms Support for CAD Printing with New Wide-Format Models

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stationary, with a moving sensor/cleaning head (as explained in the figure below). During printing, the only thing moving is the paper. HP PageWide XL printers include a stationary 40” (101.6-cm) printbar (1) that spans the whole printing width. The entire page is printed in one pass (2), enabling very high printing speeds. The printbar is built from eight identical HP 841 PageWide XL Printhead modules (3). Print quality and consistency are monitored by a closed-loop system contained in the
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Epson Wins Prestigious BLI Industry Awards with RIPS Business Printer and Ink Technology

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Buyers Laboratory Recognises WorkForce Pro Multifunction Printers with Picks for Mid- to High- Volume Printing and Replaceable Ink Pack System (RIPS) with Outstanding Achievement in Innovation Buyers Laboratory (BLI), the world’sleading independent evaluator ofdocument imaging hardware and software, hasrecognised Epson’s achievements for itsbusiness printingsolutions. TheWorkForce®Pro WF-R8590received the Summer 2015Pick award and Epson’sReplaceable Ink PackSystem (RIPS) technology earned an
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New Stratasys Compact Dental 3D Printer Combines Versatility, Affordability and Quality for Smaller Dental Labs

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September 01, 2015 12:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time MINNEAPOLIS REHOVOT, Israel--( BUSINESS WIRE )-- Stratasys, Ltd . (Nasdaq:SSYS), a global leader of 3D printing and additive manufacturing solutions, introduces the Objet30 Dental Prime, a high quality, low cost 3D printer designed to allow smaller dental labs to produce a wide range of models and appliances in-house. While compact in size, the Objet30 Dental Prime is big in versatility, beginning with a choice of 3D print modes: High Quality
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printer recommendaton

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I’m looking for a laser printer that meets these criteria: Can stack at least 50 envelopes at a time and print them reliably with minimal creasing has a hard drive that can serve as a virtual mailbox for print jobs that can then be released either by walk up or through URL Ricoh's current product can handle the virtual mailbox requirement but falls way short on the envelopes. I am thinking HP might have something for me but I'm looking for any recommendations. Thanks for any input!
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How do you print from your phone

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Interested in feedback what everyone is using. We sell Ricoh products and use the following: App from appstore for Iphone or android. Lantronix xprint server - good solution but not free google chrome cloud print. I'm interested in seeing what everyone's experiences have been with these solutions and any others you are using. Thanks!
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Re: Great Sales People Solve Business Problems

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Art Dan at Copiers Plus here. What Contact Record Mgmt. Does your dealership use?
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Looking for UK Canon Dealer

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Hello P4P, I am looking to partner with a dealer in the UK. I am here in California and my customer has a UK office and wants Canon equipment and service. Contact me at monte.jensen@kbadocusys.com Thanks
Blog Post Premium

The Best & Only Way to Prospect Using Linkedin!

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that you want to gain traction with in your territory. Access the Premium Membership (you can get the first month free), it’s roughly $2 a day, but well worth it. It separates you from the other sales people that do not have a premium account. Search those ten or more companies on Linkedin to see if they have a corporate page. If they do, on the right side of the page there is a follow button, click to follow that company. Thus, when you have followed the company, everything that they post will
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Coloring Outside the Lines: How Child’s Play Changed Crayola

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Coloring Outside the Lines: How Child’s Play Changed Crayola Posted on September 3, 2015 by Print Audit As positive as I try to be, I find myself getting a wee bit more cynical and a touch more cranky every year. Once bitten and twice shy I suppose. Every once in awhile, however, I see a company or a person doing something really cool and I find myself believing, once again, that surprisingly simple things can make a huge difference. Recently my wife shared with me a project she is working on
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Re: How do you print from your phone

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^^ Deanw- funny you should post this-I'm trying to upsell the Free Ricoh print/scan app to acustomer who wants to replace their 4001 with a 4503. Explaining how employees and guests can connect to their wifi network andcan download the freeRicoh print scan app for iPhone and Android. I have used it with myiphone on the 2003 in our officeand it is not very user friendly. I was told it is a little more user friendly for Android but have yet to use it on an android device. Also told that the app
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Re: How do you print from your phone

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It would be a lot easier if Ricoh would introduce a Print Enabler for Android. Pretty much every other manufacturer has a Print Enabler, it makes printing basically the same as printing from PC minus finishing features. I really like the Smart Device Print App because of the ability to do Locked Print, Finishing, User Codes and the like.
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Re: Canon imageRUNNER ADVANCE 500i

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any?
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Re: Great Sales People Solve Business Problems

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They do...
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Re: Great Sales People Solve Business Problems

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Now that's service!
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eFileCabinet Announces Compatibility with Apple Mac Platform

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September 01, 2015 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time LEHI, Utah--( BUSINESS WIRE )-- eFileCabinet, Inc. , the leading hosted electronic document management (EDM) solutions provider for small to medium businesses, today announced that SecureDrawer and eFileCabinet Online will be compatible with the Apple Mac platform effective November 2015. “Mac support was a major strategic goal and fills a gap that our customers were requesting” Apple continues to experience strong sales growth even as PC sales
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Re: printer recommendaton

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dean I posted this video awhile back about the SP430/431DN, it does a great job on envelopes, I was able to configure all four paper draws to run envelopes, did not have to use by-pass. In fact customer bought it, just to run black envelopes! Hope this helps. https://www.p4photel.com/clip/...coh-spc431dn-printer
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ECi Releases Version 8.7 of e-automate® Software

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Latest version of service technology software offers enhanced business management features and much more Fort Worth, Texas—Tuesday, September 1, 2015 ECi Software Solutions ( www.ECiSolutions.com ) today announced the release of version 8.7 of its e-automate® software for businesses that sell and service technology. More than 1,500 companies trust e-automate to manage their daily business processes like accounting, contracts, inventory, purchasing, sales, service and more, helping them save
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Gartner Lists Archive Systems in "Hype Cycle Human Capital Management Software, 2015" for Second Consecutive Year

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up the Hype Cycle. According to Gartner Research Director, Ron Hanscome , “digitization of HR documents can result in productivity savings of 15% or greater due to the time saved searching for information versus manually responding to information requests or compliance audits, and the delivery of secured access to data to HR staff to support HR processes.” Ron goes on to state, “full compliance with complex document retention and storage requirements also has the potential for substantial
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Document management systems market to grow 14.28 percent CAGR to 2019 illuminated by new report

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Software, ASITE, DocSTAR, Ecrion Software, FileHold, HP, Hyland Software, inFORM Decisions, LogicalDOC, Nextide, Oracle, Scrypt, SmartFile, SpringCM, Synergis, Trace Applications, Xerox. The report also presents the vendor landscape and a corresponding detailed analysis of the four leading vendors in the market. In addition, it discusses the major drivers that influence the growth of the market. It also outlines the challenges faced by vendors and the market at large, as well as the key trends
Blog Post

Labor Day 2015

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To all Print4Pay Hotel Members, Have a great and safe Labor Day Weekend!!!
-=Good Selling=-

COVID19 Remote Working Day One Hundred and Eighteen of Selling

COVID19 Remote Working Day One Hundred and Eighteen of Selling Copiers

From earlier in the AM I knew today was going to be one of those tough days. 

Kathy and I attended our grand daughters baptism on Saturday we then hosted a small get together at our house.  Sunday was more of the main event with more family members and friends to make a great celebration.  Kathy and I finally arrived home about 9PM last night.  It was a very long day but was one of those days that you never want to miss.  There are two things in life the trump all others, family and health.

It's no secret that I'm back in one of those slumps.  Nothing really on the horizon for this week except for the $13K opportunity that eluded me last week. I was able to deposit a $6.7K order with an existing client.  However when you need to get to $50K this month, the small order doesn't help with keeping my sanity.  I'm thinking if I can find a way to get to $20K by the end of this week I've got a shot.

Between addressing a couple of inbound calls and emails I was able to knock down about 53 calls, 15 emails, and three inmails.  Which accounted for zero opportunities and one appointment. Not a good day, but not a bad day either because I was able to out a dent in my calls for this week.  Tomorrow will have the same effort since I'm a zero for appointments.  Hoping that tomorrow will be better than today and I'm determined to be better tomorrow than I was today.

It's not easy and I commend those that can roll through 200-400 calls a week.  You are my hero's!  With almost no appointments for the week that's a number that I need to duplicate this week. I logged about 5 calls after 5PM just hoping I might catch someone.  

Today I updated my opportunity list for the next 90 days.  There are 26 companies that have a chance of closing.  Out of the 26 thirteen are net new opportunities. The potential revenue for net new is $173K, I'll put pen to paper in the AM and count the rest.

I mentioned last week that my $30K existing opportunity came out of the weeds last week. It took me three days to finally get a meeting with that person.  The $30K opp has now dwindled to a weak $10K opportunity because I was told that they are selling some of their operations and will not upgrade those facilities.  As much as I hate losing $20K I was happy there is still a $10K opportunity.  

Sometimes the crap just never ends, you're humming along it seems like everything you touch closes and when you're slumping ever opportunity has an issue.  It makes me want to open the window and scream "I'm not going to take it anymore!"  

Labor weekend is upon us here in the US.  Monday is the holiday and many clients will get out of Dodge early on Friday. Friday is the day to not slack off and put in work for the full day. Phone calls may not be the best bet of the day, emailing Friday afternoon may reap benefits for the next week.

-=Good Selling=-

One more item, our Governor re-opened in door dining for 9/4 with a 25% capacity.  It wan't because of the science and data but more about 200 dining establishments that banded together and offered an ultimatum to the Governor.  It was give us a date by 9/8 or we're all opening.

Last week gyms were allowed to open with the same capacity and peeps need to wear a mask while working out.  Can you imagine that? 

Managed Print Services, A Window of Opportunity, Sealed by The Old Normal

Managed Print Services, A Window of Opportunity, Sealed by The Old Normal

"Appeasing comfort over the pain of improvement is a real threat to all advancements."

The Document Imaging Channel's Old Normal is threatening its attempts to reinvent its MPS programs along with its entire deliverable. Yes, it is bad enough that some are waiting for the New Normal to show up. But I fear it's the Old Normal which presents a worse threat to the industry's reinvention.

The document imaging channel's Old Normal continues hijacking the channel's good intentions with its silence for change, its grip of complacency, its appeasement towards the status quo, and its fear of uncertainties. 

Managed Print Services was always an enterprise deliverable. Somehow, the experts keep in their attempts to convince an entire industry that all the channel's customers would one day be in MPS contracts. Hopefully, the evolutionary event of this pandemic will cause common sense to prevail. It's time to end the need to complicate what should be simple. Let's call MPS - Making Print Simple

"It is in fear of uncertainty where you find a lack of understanding."  

The Old Normal is attempting to repaint over the open window to the most significant opportunity to align its MPS mindset with today's marketplace realities. An evolutionary event has broken loose the sealed window freeing it from decades of complacency paint.  

Behind this closed window, are all the outdated marketing slogans, all the expert's claims of the massive future that MPS would deliver, all the unprofitable MPS agreements never audited, and the data from DCA tools being dismissed or ignored.

Outside this sealed up window, other providers are selling the channel's customers hundreds of millions in printer, supplies, and services. Because outside this window, there were no contracts needed. Outside this window, the imaging channel's customers are welcomed by those without the restraints of an our way or the highway approach. 

The MPS programs built for an enterprise customer were never going to be accepted by the SMB space. For over a decade, these attempts to secure contractual agreements on all print devices as failed miserably. Even as we all hear, the document imaging channel has the greatest salespeople in the world. 

All the industry's actors can look into the DCA tools and see 5-7 devices uncontracted to every device contracted, and nearly all of these devices are bought, supplied, and even serviced by those outside the channel. This unintended consequence of insisting on only contractual business has cost the document imaging channel hundreds of millions of dollars.  

So, let the channel's actors who are ready to embrace the future declare this. It's time to relieve the Old Normal of its duties selling market fantasies and seek alternatives based on market realities. Creating a New Normal didn't need a pandemic to cause a quest for continuous relevance. Because New Normals have always been part of innovative organizations. As my friend Ed McLaughlin says, "Change is constant, and it has been creating New Normals way before the pandemic."

The Document Imaging Channel needs to modify its deliverable now. Today's alternative opportunities to sell printers, supplies, and services are plentiful, and yet many still refuse to accept even the plausibilities that these alternatives opportunities are real. Hell, you don't even hear them talking about different approaches to engage end-users for printers, their supplies, and needed services. 

Today, if you read about MPS, you have to check the article's date because most articles written could have been written in 2010. Sometimes I wonder if these articles are copied and pasted from the previous decade.  

The Old Normal still has some insisting every device must be monitored and managed; we still have The Old Normal refusing to allow e-commerce platforms. We still have The Old Normal refusing to help the channel position themselves for success, because they lack knowledge or refuse to listen to data. It's time to Create The New Normal.

Let's replace a program built to propagate fantasies so those listening would be appeased in false comfort, and now let's welcome what makes us nervous or demands a needed change to align with relevance. The pain of improvement is the tuition paid for improvement.

Obviously, if an end-users will engage in a contractual agreement as MPS intended - do it. But the industry must also do what buyers demand. Without opening minds and changing ways, dealers will continue losing more customers to new, better experiences. 

Experiences as e-commerce, no contract, no DCA tools, no salespeople, and no leases. Even the accepting of charge cards for equipment, services, or supplies. Yes, others are currently providing all these things. The question for the document imaging channel is simple. Will others also sell your customers A4 MFPs as the world replaces the millions of complicated oversold A3s agreements?  

Another decade of hoping things can stay as the past or stay equal to only what is known, because the industry's actors refuse to learn more will not align an industry to an ever-changing marketplace. 

Don't allow The Old Normal to continue destroying opportunities to eliminate product-centric approaches. Please don't allow The Old Normal to continue costing you and other dealers millions in lost revenue to other reseller channels. Because The Old Normal refused to learn, explain, or discuss anything which eliminates their comfort in the status quo. 

The new MPS must be customer-centric and replace all its product-centric goals with goals aligning with their customers 

The opportunities in front of the imaging channel are also in front of competitive channels. The document imaging channel must remember that technology reseller groups are all fighting for constant relevance. This fact is what is causing a reseller convergence and if the document imaging channel stays complacent to its Old Normal. The channel's actor's challenges and losses will be immense.  

The Old Normal has held back many good intentions with its power of fear. Those too afraid to voice their opinions, to challenge the status quo, to rock the boat, to stand up and say, "stop the madness." Remember, The Old Normal is insecure of their place in a future they refuse to imagine.

Regardless of industry, all business leaders must be willing to forge through the fields of complacency with all the vigor they can muster. "For, It is with-in the fields of complacency, where innovators hut and kills the status quo." 

There is no time for the weakness of insecurity to grip you in fear, there is no time to wait for a new normal to show up, and there is no time to converse with appeasers hoping to keep in you in a place based on what they knew because they refused to learn more. 

So, climb through and take advantage of this open window and reimagine what could be based on what should be, and never allow anyone to seal your window to the future with the paint of complacency.

In closing; There's no dealer or manufacturer's direct operation who does not know how to facilitate a Managed Print Services Agreement. So, stop wasting time relearning 2010 programs and open your minds to a New MPS. 

Remember, I am not saying stop doing MPS, I am saying stop losing customers because your MPS program does not welcome them. 

Oh, it might also be time to re-evaluate your current Appeasers' benefits if they are holding you back because we all know this. 

"Status Quo Is The Killer Of All That Will Be Invented."

Ray Stasieczko 

CEO/Founder TEASRA,The Innovation Channel and Host of The End of The Day With Ray! https://www.endofthedaywithray.com/

Sales Professionals Seek Feedback From Their Clients, Are You?

"Average players want to be left alone. Good players want to be coached. Great players want to be told the truth."
Doc Rivers

A true sales professional understands the importance that client feedback provides in how they run their business.

They proactively listen to the voice of their clients.

If you want to stay ahead of competition you should never stop listening to client feedback whether it is positive or negative, prompted or unprompted.

If you fail to continually discover what your clients actually think about you and how you've been helping them, then you will never be able to give them the best client experience they deserve.

It's their opinions about the experience they have with you that is helpful to use to adjust your support to fit their needs more accurately.

Sales professionals seek the truth from their clients. Sales reps struggle to ask their clients for the truth.

CRAVE FEEDBACK

To truly serve your clients is to listen to them. Intently listen to their voices through consistent and constant feedback. Treat your clients like royalty, providing everything to match their wants and needs all the time.

  • How do you know if what you're doing is working?
  • How do you know if your clients are happy with their experiences?
  • What do they like and dislike?
  • How are you keeping up with what's going on inside their company?

Client feedback is the breakfast of sales champions. The single best thing you can do is to go to your clients and ask for feedback.

"Forget Wheaties, Cheerios or Oatmeal, Selling From the Heart Champions eat feedback for breakfast."

I'm a huge fan of Deb Calvert and her book, "Stop Selling and Start Leading", from her book...

"When you give your buyers feedback, you are giving them a gift. In turn, they'll understand what works and what doesn't work in your interactions. When you seek and respond to feedback from your buyers, you differentiate yourself, set an example, and make it easier for them to hear your suggestions."

I encourage you to seek honest, candid and sometime uncomfortable feedback from your clients. A sales professional knows this makes them better. In order to get great feedback, one must become vulnerable. Shall I say, surrender.

BE COURAGEOUS AND ASK

How can you take your "sales game" to the next level? It's simple, feedback will set you free!

It's the feedback you get from a cross section of your clients that will provide the avenues to grow the relationships.

Courage must become your best friend. A professional with courage can ask those tough personal questions and welcome the answers to improve their performance.

If you can listen with humility and capture the opportunity to improve yourself, the truth from your clients becomes a gift.

Sales professionals lead with courage

Here is a quick tip to start you on your way. Place your clients into three buckets:

  • You love them and they love you
  • Challenging
  • Middle of the road clients, ones you just don't hear much from

The best place to start gathering feedback is from those clients who have been placed in the "middle of the road" bucket.

Here is the deal. You may not see them on a consistent basis, and you may tell yourself, "all is well" but in actuality they may become vulnerable to a hostile competitive takeover.

It's these "middle of the road" clients which I bet is 75% of your clients that need the love, the attention and the enhanced client experience.

FEEDBACK REESTABLISHES THE RELATIONSHIP

The opportunities for growth with these "middle of the road" clients is huge.

I'm confident you've established a relationship, but the question becomes, "How credible is the relationship?"

Courageously dig in and ask...

  • What can I do differently?
  • What can I do to improve or enhance my service to you?
  • What can I do to help you do better business?

I'm asking you to rock the boat on this one because a comfortable mindset with these clients is a terrible thing to waste.

Think of the competition as they circle your clients just waiting for the right moment to reel them into their establishments of paradise.

The voice of your clients is priceless, never stop listening!

Deepen the relationship with feedback. Show you care! Show you mean it! Your clients are your most precious asset!

JUST INVEST THE TIME

Invest the time to enhance the experience. Investing in client feedback is a source of business growth. The opportunities for referrals become mind-blowing.

"Take care of your clients and they will take care of you"

Asking for feedback from your clients isn’t easy; but you risk more, both in terms of personal growth and professional prosperity, if you shy away from it.

Live up to the promises you made and what was expected of you when your clients decided to do business with you.

Your clients, they are the most important stakeholders. It is mission critical to listen to their feedback. However, collecting client feedback is the first step to ensuring an outstanding experience. It’s what you do with the feedback that truly matters.

Think about this for a moment...

If you have 10% of your client base that are raving fans, then my challenge is for you to set a goal. The goal is to double the number of raving fans you have by a certain date. Then once this happens double it again.

I encourage to you to develop a client feedback plan.

Watch what happens to your sales growth! I need not say anymore!

Constantly crave client feedback. It is the breakfast of sales champions.
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I understand, I get where you all are coming from. Every day, I walk in your shoes. I am fully committed to helping your sales team integrate social aspects and heartfelt strategies into your current sales process to grow new business. I want you to get results. This is why I am passionate about doing this the right way, the genuine way, the authentic way! It's about understanding value before visibility.

Selling From the Heart is making a difference! I poured my heart into every page of this book and I think you're going to love it. You can find it on Amazon in paperback, kindle and in audio. You can click on the book image below and this will take you to Amazon.

No alt text provided for this image

You can find more material inside Selling From The Heart.

In a world full of empty suits, I'm passionate about helping sales reps succeed by getting valuable before they get visible. I help sales teams understand the true value they bring to the market. 

I appreciate getting the opportunity to share my stories. Integrating the use of social and sharing my story on LinkedIn was my “game-changer” in the highly competitive office technology world. With great pride I transform, challenge, coach and inspire sales teams to grow new business by helping them share their story and how they communicate it out by integrating the use of social inside the sales process. You can follow me on LinkedInTwitterFacebook and on my podcast by clicking on Selling from the Heart.

 

What does Fuji Xerox's news mean to USA Xerox Dealers?

Hi All,

       I know that some of the Professionals who read and post to P4PHotel carry the Xerox line. Can I ask you (In all sincerity), what does this Fuji Xerox news mean to you or your Dealership? If you work for a Global Imaging branch what does this mean to Global? Thanks for your feedback.

Best Regards,

Vince McHugh

COVID19 Remote Working Day One Hundred and Sixteen of Selling

COVID19 Remote Working Day One Hundred and Sixteen of Selling

Yes,  I've been slowing down a bit on my blog posts lately.  When you're in a bit of a thunk who the heck wants to write about that!  

I've done my fair share of prospecting this week and I'm going to get nowhere near 400 calls.  I'll be happy if I get my hundred or so along with my hundred emails. 

I have one appointment scheduled for tomorrow and there is no closing opportunity.  I'm still hoping my opportunity ($13k) from last week can still come through by tomorrow.  I thought I would let the ball travel with them for a day or two.

Is it too early to start talking about Section 179? I don't think so because the earlier we speak about it the sooner some deals may get done.  In the past I would wait until October and have that chat with the client about the end of the fiscal year.  This year there will be no mention of the end of the fiscal year but the need to take advantage of those tax advantages while they are still in place.  Anyone getting my drift here?  Come November there may or may not be a new Marshall in town (D.C.)  With executive orders more normal than they once were a new President may elect to make sweeping changes at warp speed.  Business owners will need to pay attention if there is a change and will need to be pro-active.  Starting tomorrow one of the questions in emails and phone calls will be "have you thought about using section 179 yet for this fiscal year?"

I was talking with a leasing rep today about their book of business. I was curious how that person was doing moving into the end of the year.  I thought the answer would be doom and gloom, but I was surprised when that person told me it's still going to be a good year.  I asked "why so good?" and was told it was due to the falling out of a major player in the leasing business a few months ago.  It never ceases to amaze me that in such difficult times that there are still many businesses that are killing it!  Our job is to seek out those businesses and get the conversations going while the business it good.

I'm feeling a little more upbeat about September now since one of my $30K deals finally emerged from the weeds yesterday.  In the next few days we'll get back to business to see if we can make something happen.  This opportunity was not in my funnel for September.  In my previous blog I stated I needed an additional $80k in my funnel for this month.  The $30K is back in along with another $8k from an appointment that I had this afternoon.  Total is now $37K added and $43K to go for the funnel.  Make the funnel full and good things will happen.

It was Monday or Tuesday when I contacted a couple of my larger accounts.  What's large to me is probably small to others.  I was told on both calls that they will not have employees back to the office for the remainder of this year.  A conversation with another larger account told me end of first quarter for 2021.  I would suspect that this is the case with many larger companies and it's probably a great time to keep after the low hanging fruit (smaller clients) since they can change and adapt quicker than larger companies.

I also read and interesting article in the NYTimes today about emails.  That email went on to speak about "hope you are well" subject or in the body of the message.  Seems most are thinking "well, how the frak can I be well when there's a pandemic".  The article offered no alternatives but posted some other rants from those receivers and senders. I'm still going to use it because I really do care that you and your family are well.

I hope this email finds you well

That's about it for today and tonight, can't wait for tomorrow since we never know what tomorrow will bring us!

-=Good Selling=-

COVID19 Remote Working Day One Hundred and Thirteen of Selling

COVID19 "Remote Working" Day One Hundred and Thirteen of Selling Copiers

Today marked the last selling day of August for me.  I wanted to finish somewhere close to $100K but only managed to get to $82K.  There was one last client that had a shot on Friday for two orders. I was able to receive the smaller of the two orders.  Not what I was hoping for but I'm happy with the $82K. 

Closing early has a couple of bright spots for me as I see it.  For instance there's a little more urgency earlier in the month for that final push.  Then there's the calendar month that so many close by.  

The rest of this week is a mixed bag for me.  Tomorrow means heavy prospecting because I have nothing else to do. I'm pretty much caught up on proposals and my "to do" list.  The plan for tomorrow is to contact all on my opportunity list and then to dig into the CRM to see what I can develop.

I've been worried about September because I only have $66.4K that could close.  At this point in order to make my quarterly goal I need $46K.  This means that 70% of these opportunities will need to close by the 23rd of the month.  I'd be much happier if the $66.4K number was $150K and the reason for that is because of averages.  For me the average means that 66% of those opportunities will not close during the month.  You'll lose some, some will move the buying decision out further while others will fall of the face of the earth.  That 66% would be a bad number for me and means that I will only get about $22K of the $46K that is needed.

Another not so good sign is the Labor Day weekend that's right around the corner.  Figure on losing 1.5 working day thus our selling days is reduced to 20.5 days.  

The only way to win is to prospect. It's the phone calls, the emails, the in-mails or text messages that will add opportunities. Even when times are as bad as they are in New Jersey we need to remember that sales (selling) is a numbers game.  The more peeps you contact the greater your chances are for developing additional opportunities.  Thus the way I see it, is that I need to add $80K or so in opportunities for this month.  Yes, it's a tall task but I've never backed down from a challenge.  

There's something I want.  I want to have a better year than last year. I want to prove to my-self that I can do this even with a pandemic.  There's times, well it's almost every night before I fall asleep that I run through all of the opportunities, the revenues and the opportunities that may close.  In addition it's that time when I think about additional things I can do to help move an order to the finish line,  I just wish I could tape those thoughts because most are gone by the time I wake up.  

There are two goals for this month.  One is to hit my revenue number for the third quarter and the other is to garner an additional $80K in opportunities.  I'll be tracking both of these daily starting in the AM.  

I had one appointment today and that appointment was a good hour in travel time to get there.  As much as I don't like to waste that time anymore that time was much appreciated today because it gave me to time to think.  Most peeps will say when you're driving you're not working, however that's not the case because the entire time to and from the appointment is spent thinking about work.

By the time I got back to my home office and had some lunch it was about 2PM.  I spent the rest of the day prospecting with nothing gained.  But there is always tomorrow.

-=Good Selling=-

MSP & IT, MSSP Industry Notes for August 23rd, 2020

MSP & MSSP Industry Notes for August 23rd, 2020

MSP & MSSP Industry Notes

Sponsored by

Arcoa Group

ARCOA Group is here to help you successfully manage your IT Asset Disposition process. We help you recover value from retired electronic equipment through responsible methods of reuse and recycling.  We ensure proper handling of assets which may contain data, while being environment stewards for assets that have no reuse value and are headed for recycling. We’ve built a robust de-manufacturing process to offer additional options for asset value recovery by disassembling equipment for commodity grade materials, which can be diverted from landfills and be used to create new base materials.

Canon ransomware attack update

  • Bank Info Security magazine published article with update on recent event
    • According to Emsisoft Security, the Maze ransomware group has posted on its Dark Web website some of the data is claims it stole from Canon USA
    • Claims it posted only 5%, or 2.5GB of the data it now has possession of, and is
      threatening to post most of the data if Canon does not pay ransom
    • Canon disclosed on 8/6/20 that it was struck by the ransomware, and has now invested in cyber incident protocols, end point threat detection and response tools
    • The attack also took down many of Canon’s websites, some of which are still not operable according to article

 

Ricoh Canada Becomes RelativityOne Approved Data Migration Partner

  • Ricoh Canada Inc.is pleased to announce it has become a RelativityOne Approved Data Migration Partner
  • e-discovery platform is used by thousands of organizations around the world to manage large volumes of data and quickly identify key issues during litigation, internal investigations, and compliance projects
  • Relativity has over 180,000 users in 40+ countries from organizations including the U.S. Department of Justice, more than 70 Fortune 100 companies, and 198 of the Am Law 200

TPx Communications Ranked No. 2 Among World's Most Elite 501 Managed Service Providers ...

  • TPx Communicationsnamed as one of the world’s premier managed service providers, ranking No. 2 on the prestigious 2020 annual Channel Futures MSP 501 list
  • To develop the 13thannual MSP 501 list, Channel Futures invited MSPs from around the globe to complete an exhaustive survey and application
  • The 2020 MSP 501 list is based on data collected by Channel Futures and its sister site, Channel Partners. Data was collected online from March 1 through June 30, 2020

BriteCore and Xceedance Announce Strategic Partnership

  • Announced that Xceedance has joined BriteCore's growing partner ecosystem
  • BriteCore platform provides end-to-end support for P&C insurers, including core policy, billing and claims modules, agent and policyholder portals, and data and analytics capabilities
  • Xceedance (xceedance.com) is a global provider of strategic consulting and managed services, technology, data sciences, and blockchain solutions to insurance organizations

Ransomware Attack On Carnival Information Technology System

  • Reported on Technology Times
  • Carnival, which operates AIDA, Carnival and Princess cruises among others, in a regulatory filing said the attack included unauthorized access to personal data of guests and employees.

Aeris Named MSP of the Year by Informa Tech Automotive Group, Wins TU-Automotive Award ...

  • Named Mobility Services Provider (MSP) of the Year by Informa Tech Automotive Group and has won the TU-Automotive Awardfor its continued success deploying the Aeris Mobility Suite (AMS)
  • The MSP of the Year Award recognizes any MSP globally that has had a stellar year between January 1, 2019 and February 19, 2020, specifically relating to their development, deployment, integration or adoption of mobility products and/or services
  • AMS provides car companies with all of the software needed to build and monetize world-class connected vehicle programs

Fortinet and IBM Collaborate on SkillsBuild to Further Build Cybersecurity Skills

  • Forinet to partner with IBM to integrate Fortinet’s Network Security Expert training and certification curriculum with IBM’s SkillsBuild digital platform
  • An (ISC)2 poll found that 81% of respondents view security as an essential function as employees are working remotely due to COVID-19
    • Provide cybersecurity training that develops skills, reskills and upskills
    • Help untapped candidates launch their careers
    • Connect learners to employers
    • Offer further recognition of skills

CyberHero Kristi Rice Brings Cybersecurity Education to Rural Virginia

  • As a CyberHero, Kristi is part of SynED'sseries highlighting cybersecurity educators who quietly go above and beyond to enrich the educational experience for their students and empower the country's next generation of cyber professionals
  • Today, she focuses solely on cybersecurity education and advises the school's Cyber Knights team
  • Cyber Knightsprovides students interested in cybersecurity the technical resources needed to engage and advance their computer security knowledge and skills

62% of the MSP 501 Rely on Warranty Master for Productivity, Protection & Profitability, Up 12 ...

  • Warranty Master reached a notable milestone with 309 Warranty Master Partners selected as part of the Channel Futures 2020 MSP 501 rankings
  • The Channel Futures MSP 501 is the world's most comprehensive ranking of managed service providers
  • 62% of the MSP 501 relying on the Warranty Master application for Asset Lifecycle Management

ITC Secure Expands Executive Team with Appointment of CRO to Fuel Next Stage of Growth

Nuspire Recognized As A Contender By Leading Industry Analyst Firm

  • Announced it has been recognized as a Contender in The Forrester WaveTM: Midsize Managed Security Services Providers, Q3 2020
  • The report recognized Nuspire for providing "standardized and compliance-focused reporting capabilities

Konica Minolta hit by second huge ransomware attack

  • Reported on IT Portal
  • Japan-based business technology giant Konica Minolta was hit by a new ransomware strain, which brought its services down for almost a week
  • On July 30, customers reported not being able to access the company’s product supply and support site, met instead with a “service temporarily unavailable” message

 

 

 

Cybersecurity Update

  • The Foundation Surgical Hospital of San Antonio, TX notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after it was inadvertently made accessible on a public website
  • The federal government is warning healthcare organizations of a new fraud attempt where facilities are receiving bogus postcards with info about a mandatory HIPAA compliance risk assessment
    o Postcards direct people to a fake website in attempt to steal info
  • Premier Health of Ohio notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after an email phishing attack
  • Imperial Valley College of California notified an unknown number of students that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack
  • Ashley County Medical Center of Crossett, Arkansas notified 772 patients that their PHI was exposed after a former employee accessed the info for malicious purposes
  • Piedmont Orthopedic Clinic/OrthoAtlanta of Georgia notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after ransomware attack
    - Allergy and Asthma Clinic of Fort Worth, TX notified 69,777 patients that their PHI was exposed after hacking incident
    Breitbart News is reporting that Antifa anti-police terrorists have hacked the following police departments to “Dox” their employees:
    o Los Angeles Police Department
    o LA County Sheriff’s Office
    o Maryland’s Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services
    o Minneapolis Police Department
    o Santa Monica Police
    o Long Beach Police
    o California Highway Patrol
  • HP published report on security issues in healthcare vertical with following facts:
    o 23% of breaches involved paper records
    o 18% of companies monitor printers/MFPs for threats
    o 82% of healthcare customers have dealt with cybersecurity attacks on IoT
    devices
    o 3 times more incidents in healthcare than other verticals in 2019
    o $17 billion was total cost of all healthcare breaches in 2019
    o 85% do NOT maintain audit logs of printers/MFPs

o 69% have no antimalware protection on printers/MFPs
o 55% of printers/MFPS lack security settings

o 86% do not have encryption for printers/MFPs

o 60% do not use passwords
o 50% have not printer/MFP security management

  • InMotionNow Software of Morrisville, North Carolina, notified several of its customers that it had inadvertently exposed private information after it was left in unsecure cloud storage site:
    o Brotherhood Mutual
    o Kent State University
    o Purdue University
    o Potawatomi Hotel & Casino of Milwaukee, WI
    o Zagg Consumer Electronics
    o Freedom Forum Institute
    o Myriad Genetics
    o Performance Health
  • Olympia House Rehab Clinic of Petaluma, CA notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after ransomware attack.
  • The Center for Fertility and Gynecology in Tarzana, CA notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after ransomware attack.
  • Researchers from GitHub and Micro Focus Fortify published report warning users of security vulnerabilities allowing hackers to achieve remote code execution:
    o Microsoft SharePoint
    o Altassian Confluence
    o Alfresco
    o dotCMS
  • Bleeping Computer magazine is warning of a new Russian ransomware gang known as “Avaddon” is now attacking organizations in the U.S. and other countries.
    o Also reporting that RedCurl is another new Russian hacking group targeting companies in the U.S.
  • Adit Inc., a medical software provider, headquartered in New York City, NY, notified an unknown number of firms that 3.1 million records were inadvertently exposed on a public website, and may have been stolen by malicious actors.
  • The FBI sent out an alert warning U.S. firms of an Iranian hacking group, named “Fox Kitten aka Parisite”, that it attacking high-end F5 computer networking devices
  • Char49 Security is reporting that the Find My Mobile feature of Samsung smartphones can be used by hackers to intercept communications
  • The SANS Cybersecurity Training Organization notified an unknown number of members that their info may have been exposed after email phishing attack.
  • Wall Street Journal reported that TikTok enabled its Android app to collect millions of users’ unique identifiers for at least 15 months. TikTok is controlled by Chinese government
  • The FBI and NSA published joint security alert containing details about a new strain of Linux malware that was developed by Russian hacking group, APT28, aka Fancy Bear or Sednit
    o named Drovorub, is being used to plant backdoors inside hacked networks
    o allows the attacker to perform many different functions, such as stealing files and remote controlling the victim's computer
  • Tyler C. King, age 31, of Dallas, Texas, was sentenced by Judge Tom McAvoy to 57 months in prison for hacking into of a New York-based technology company and stealing information to resell
  • Check Point Security reported that an exploit in Amazon’s Alexa voice platform can give attackers access to users’ personal information, speech histories, and Amazon accounts.
  • C1 Security published new report on healthcare data breaches:
    o The number of HHS breach reports from healthcare organizations is down 10.4% in the first half of 2020, compared to the second half of 2019
    o number of reported breached records is down nearly 83%.
    o total of 3.8 million individual records were breached through hacking and IT incidents
    o Rite Aid, headquartered in Camp Hill, PA, notified 9,200 patients that their PHI was exposed when some of its locations were looted by rioters in several cities in the U.S.
  • BioTel Heart, headquartered in Malvern, PA, notified 61,000 patients that their PHI was exposed after it was inadvertently left exposed online.
  • Northern Light Health of Brewer, Maine notified 657,000 people that their info was exposed after its Northern Light Health Foundation fundraising firm had its database exposed

 

 

 

 

Sales Professionals Know What They Are Prospecting for, Do You?

“The foundational root of all success in sales is a fanatical focus on prospecting”
Jeb Blount

What is the purpose of prospecting? How would you define prospecting?

Prospect is from the Latin word prospectus which means a "view or outlook."

What is your outlook or view when it comes to prospecting?

Ask many in sales this question and you will hear a resounding, "to find deals." Or, they may say something such as, "to convince people to give them an appointment."

Unfortunately, many believe if they go on enough appointments and talk to enough people then everything will work out fine. Keep in mind, some sprinkle in some fairy dust on top of this logical thinking.

You might hear, "sales is a numbers game.” If you see enough people and make enough presentations, then you'll close enough deals.

Come on people, how old school! That archetype was from decades ago. What is concerning, most sales managers still believe, preach and teach this approach.

"Stop looking for needle in haystack. Stop looking for a deal to close in 30 days."

PLAY ALONG WITH ME

Let's all agree sales is a numbers game. If your goal is to speak with "X" number of people, to set "X" number of appointments, to close "X" number of deals, what happens to you when you fail to achieve the goal?

You feel like crap and you're miserable, as your quota breathing manager is lurking over your shoulder watching your every move. No matter how strong-willed you are you can only take so much.

Here's the question for all you, what should you do?

What are prospects? They're people, plain and simple.

SALES PROFESSIONALS CHANGE THEIR THINKING

I urge you to take prospecting action. Change your results by changing your thinking.

A sales professional views prospecting as an art. Their canvass is a human to human conversation.

I get it, sales are a numbers game, yeah, yeah, yeah... however; professionals shift numbers logic to...

  • How many new conversations am I opening up every week?
  • How many new relationships am I opening up every week?
  • How many new social connections am I adding to my network every week?

I encourage you to take ownership of your sales funnel. I realize it. I get you have a monthly quota and quarter ending bonuses. I lived in your shoes, but without an ever-flowing relationship funnel you will never have an ever-flowing sales funnel.

What is inside your relationship network?

What if prospecting was about more than finding a deal in the 30-day window? What if it included building relationships and driving conversations in order to create the foundation for a healthy sales funnel?

Relationship development leads to opportunity development which leads to sales development.

Sales professionals are obsessed with developing their relationship funnel.

HOW MANY PEOPLE DO YOU KNOW?

According to Gartner and their research into the B2B buying journey,

"The typical buying group for a complex B2B solution involves six to 10 decision makers‚ each armed with four or five pieces of information they’ve gathered independently and must deconflict with the group."

If you apply this statement to prospecting then the question for you becomes...

How many relationships are you opening to effectively manage a sales and relationship funnel?

Filling up a relationship funnel requires two-way communication and conversation. Building a healthy and credible relationship funnel means leading with insight, education and storytelling.

What are you doing to earn the right to have a conversation?

Are you prospecting for the now? Are you prospecting for the later?

SALES PROFESSIONALS MANAGE THE FUNNELS

A favorite saying of mine is, "Sales reps are consistently inconsistent." Prospecting is part of the sales profession. I don't care what others may think! Prospecting is a non-negotiable daily activity but why does it become a negotiable activity for many?

Sales professionals know what they are prospecting for while sales reps find excuses.

When it comes to prospecting, I encourage all of you to take a mental snapshot of the number 8. The curves of the number 8 correlate to relationships moving in, around and out of the funnel as they move in, around and out of the sales funnel.

How you develop, nurture and build a healthy relationship funnel will play a significant part in the strength of your sales funnel.

"You must be consistent with your prospecting efforts or accept inconsistent sales results as a way of life."

PROSPECTING IS A NONNEGOTIABLE ACTIVITY

We all know how important the correct amount of sleep and exercise has in maintaining your health, then why does prospecting seem to be one of those things many should do more of but struggle to do it?

I get it, you brush off prospecting because you all have a lot going on in your busy day. Come on sales peeps! How many hours in a given week do you screw off?

Sales professionals keep prospecting the main thing

Unfortunately, many in sales prioritize their to-do list based on urgency, thus prospecting never gets their full attention until it becomes an actual emergency.

If you wait until your pipeline looks like the Sahara Desert, then it's already too late. The truth is you should be prospecting (and you know it) when times are good, not when they become desperate.

“There is no easy button in sales. Prospecting is hard, emotionally draining work, and it is the price you have to pay to earn a high income.”
Jeb Blount
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I understand, I get where you all are coming from. Every day, I walk in your shoes. I am fully committed to helping your sales team integrate social aspects and heartfelt strategies into your current sales process to grow new business. I want you to get results. This is why I am passionate about doing this the right way, the genuine way, the authentic way! It's about understanding value before visibility.

Selling From the Heart is making a difference! I poured my heart into every page of this book and I think you're going to love it. You can find it on Amazon in paperback, kindle and in audio. You can click on the book image below and this will take you to Amazon.

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You can find more material inside Selling From The Heart.

In a world full of empty suits, I'm passionate about helping sales reps succeed by getting valuable before they get visible. I help sales teams understand the true value they bring to the market. 

I appreciate getting the opportunity to share my stories. Integrating the use of social and sharing my story on LinkedIn was my “game-changer” in the highly competitive office technology world. With great pride I transform, challenge, coach and inspire sales teams to grow new business by helping them share their story and how they communicate it out by integrating the use of social inside the sales process. You can follow me on LinkedInTwitterFacebook and on my podcast by clicking on Selling from the Heart.

 

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