Tagged With "Day Seventy Four of Sales"
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Re: Questions about Xerox's MPS Offerings to SMB Customers
Hey Art, I have not heard of the XPS program. But Xerox has alot of flavors of MPS, thats for sure. So far it looks like Xerox has a well developed direct-to-enterprise MPS program through Xerox Global Services (XGS). This has been around for a while, but they recently "announced" it as Enterprise Print Services (EPS). Four components: - Office support - Remote worker/device support - Production and mailroom support - External doc procurement (outsourcing) Its pretty all-encompassing. Thats...
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Re: Scan in One City, Print in Another
The mind boggles! So the customer has the software applications that you reference and you are trying to find them a 'cheap' 'solution'......? Why? They have spent tens of thousands of dollars on those applications..all of which enhance their productivity as a law firm. You have a comprehensive solution to leverage (i.e. make work better!) each of their committed software applications and you think it might be 'expensive'? Come on, you have done more than most competitors simply by the fact...
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Re: Panasonic Canada discontinues A3 Copier Distribution March 2011
Panasonic Takes Aim at Fast-Growing A4 Class MFP Market Company to emphasize growing A4 MFP format in response to customer demands SECAUCUS, NJ (February 4, 2010) — Panasonic System Networks Company of America today announced plans to substantially increase its footprint in the burgeoning market for A4 multi-function products. The A4 market has undergone rapid growth and is emerging as the de facto standard in the marketplace. As a consequence the A3 market has been fading and will no longer...
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Re: Matt Espe named CEO of Ricoh Americas Corp
Not only that if you look back on posts from the P4P Hotel, Ikon was buying back stock 6-8 months prior to the sale, insider trading at it's best!
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Re: Ricoh Ikon Letter
Old Glory, you are way off-base regarding profitability to Ricoh on an $8,000 sale through the dealer or through their direct channel. When Ricoh sells to the dealer, the dealer is responsible for all ofthe end-marketing expenses related to the brick-and-mortar + sales rep expenses. When Ricoh (or other mfrs) run their own branches, there is a tremendous amount of overhead associated with that operation. Hence, this is one reason why Ricoh's dealer division, while smaller, was the only part...
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Re: Sammy 6545 vs 6345
The four units we have the job accounting feature working is the Samsung 6545. I know before now the 6345 did not have the capability but not sure if Samsung has added it to the 6345.
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Re: WFISD copier deal breaks down
I've been able to work a few large bids and find it hard to believe that there was a "rogue" sales person. When numbers get this large they need to be checked more than four or five times to make sure you have understood all of the programs. More buyers need to follow the age old rule “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is"
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Re: School board committee recommends copier contract
"Automated Business had the second-lowest bid, ahead of Ikon’s four-year bid of $1,415,333 and Ricoh’s bid of $1,719,000." As I live and breath, there truly is a "pack of idiots" running Ricoh. Now, I've seen it all
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Re: New Samsung 11 x 17" Colour MFPs due Oct 01 USA
I don't think you're going out on a limb, talk is they want to challenge the likes of Ricoh, Canon, Global and KM for dealers as a sole source line and not a secondary line. Was in Office Max today and saw four new products from Sammy on the low end, what out HP, Brother an Epson!
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Re: When was the last time you did a demo in your demo room?
When you say you take a copier to a customer for a demo... Is it a Conditonal Sale? I will do this but only on the terms of if the MFP works as described you agree to buy/ lease that same unit without any further demos. I have seen too many potential customers do the Vendor merry go round with six copier vendors to get free copiers for several months. I have seen too many RFQs where a customer has to get three quotes and you are unexpected lowest bid. They ask you in for demo but never...
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Re: When was the last time you did a demo in your demo room?
Re: When was the last time you did a demo in your demo room?
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Re: Possibly moving to Ricoh....
Ricoh has tremendous market share Top four and not in this order KonicaMinolta, Ricoh , Xerox and Canon Ricoh puts much more into R & D for MFP's can others add to this?
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Re: Top 9 Blunders that B2B Sales Reps Make
Blunder #2: They ask obvious questions. What they do: They ask lots of questions that could have easily have been answered by searching the Internet. Why they do it: They figure they can wing it, usually because they’re over-confident in their ability to make the sale. What happens: They end up wasting valuable one-on-one time with a busy customer who has other things to do that provide a free education. Your Action Plan: To avoid this blunder, always research the customer thoroughly before...
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Re: Top 9 Blunders that B2B Sales Reps Make
Blunder #7: They avoid closing the deal. What they do: They spend so much effort into building the opportunity that they never quite get to the business of closing it. Why they do it: They’ve invested in the opportunity that they’re afraid that the answer will be “NO”, which will mean that all that effort was a waste of time and that the prospect doesn’t really “like” the sales rep. What happens: The opportunity dies on the vine or goes to the competition. Your Action Plan: To avoid this...
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Re: Top 9 Blunders that B2B Sales Reps Make
What they do: They give in to last minute demands from the prospect, usually for extra discounts, “or else the deal is off.” Why they do it: They’re deathly afraid of losing the deal at the end of the sale cycle, so they crumple when the prospect pushes. What happens: The customer rightfully concludes that 1) the rep didn’t offer the best deal from the start and 2) the rep lacks a backbone. The customer thus no longer trusts the rep and will constantly push for more and more and more and...
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Re: New A4 Color Models from Ricoh?
Interestingly enough, the firmware is available for all four models.
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Re: Drum Yields
A short discussion about copier vs printer yields. The document is a bit old but the main points are still valid.
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Re: Quake in Japan
(Updates with Honda, Nissan closures beginning in fifth paragraph. See {EXT2 } for reports on the quake.) March 11 (Bloomberg) -- Companies including Sony Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. halted output at plants after an 8.9- magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Japan, damaging production facilities and causing power outages. Sony halted and evacuated six factories in northeastern Japan, said Yasuhiro Okada, a spokesman at the Tokyo-based company. He said the company was assessing the...
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Re: How will the earth quake in Japan affect...
Most of the copiers we sell are assembled in Europe, but the parts come from China, Japan etc. So if the quake is going to have an impact on our sale then it probably won’t happen until (maybe) this summer... MP C toner is produced in Japan and bottled in US (according to the package) That could be an issue if the toner factories are affected
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Re: Canon Suspends Operations at Eight Factories in North Japan
Canon, Nikon suspend operations at certain facilities in Japan Monday, March 14, 2011 | by Rob Galbraith Canon has suspended operations at eight of its facilities in Japan, all in areas affected by last week's earthquake and resulting tsunami, and is reporting 15 injuries at its factory in Utsunomiya. In statements released yesterday and today, the company indicates that damage was most significant at its EF lens production plant in Utsunomiya as well as in Fukushima, where inkjet printers...
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Re: Should you ever sell something for nothing?
I agree with you. Unfortunately many sales reps don't have the long term approach to realize that they are developing a territory almost like their own business. A sale is not just valued by the commission you make, it is also a seed you are planting. or as my first sales manager always told me, "copiers have babies"
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Re: Sales Manager Advice
Take it from me. I've got a "selling manager" and he's a good sales person and a good manager, however I'm a firm beleiver that you can't do two things at once and excel with both of them. I'm the only tenured rep on my team. I still have many questions after being in the business for 31 years, such as policy, pricing, ordering, and many others and most of my needs and wants are more complex than the "newbies", thus I find myself taking a back seat waiting for information or direction longer...
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Re: Ask Art "Email from MFP Solutions Blog Reader"
I love it! Truth be told, if he makes his offices more efficient for everyone, he will attract more agents, buyers, and sellers and will pay for his copiers many times over and over.
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Re: PPDM from Ricoh, Questions
I don't know what Ricoh's opinion would be on this (don't really care) but we accumulate licenses and then distribute them strategically. I sold a single license last week for $350 and charged an additional $150 for client PC install and limited training. Since we have no cost, my company counts it all as GP. I quoted a C300 and said we would include a PPDM license for free if they bought two C300's. I am able to provide a value-add at no cost to me. C300 doesn't come with PPDM but it can if...
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Re: JOINT STATEMENT BY SHARP ELECTRONICS CORPORATION AND EDWARD MCLAUGHLIN
I dunno, I can see much room for Sharp anymore. Growth areas are Print Production, very low end and MPS. Right now I don't see them as a player in any of these markets. They don't have wide format, duplicators (not that these have been big sellers lately), scanners. I was just on the sharp web site and what do they have three models of laser printers, maybe four tops! The claim to fame is A4 right now and the slick GUI. The industry is changing once again, thus we could see additional...
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Re: Ricoh Launches New Aficio MFPs With App2Me Solution
I have been playing with app2me recently and can see some advanatages like when a mobile worker goes office to office they won't have to install drivers to print. If they have app2me installed and we have app2me enabled they will be able to print easily. I'm interested to see if anyone has taken this to market and how it has been recieved. Also at this time we include initial connectivity with the sale of our MFP products. I could see customers also wanted app2me manager installed on all...
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Re: Ricoh Launches New Aficio MFPs With App2Me Solution
Without limits? If you sold a 171 and the customer had 50 workstations, you would install the print driver (and then the fax driver) on every one of them? My suggestion is to incorporate a reasonable limit to the installs. The customer needs to learn how to install the driver anyway since I doubt you would come back out in six months to install a driver on their new PC. Five workstations per device seems to work well. That's enough to make sure everything is working and train the customer...
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Re: Q. How does your company handle networking charges?
Dealer network install for scan, print, fax upto four workstations included in the sale, sales person is charged back in the deal for it. After the sale, customer can buy block time for network services or be charged $150 per hour. Pretty much is a user goes to win7 and needs new drivers it's 100% billable or they can buy block time.
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Re: Japan Crisis
Fukushima Evacuees to Return to Exclusion Zone to Check Property Story tools print this storyorder a reprintsuggest a storydigg thissave to del.icio.usSept. 16 (Bloomberg) -- About 20,000 families from the exclusion zone around Japan's wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant will be allowed to return to their homes from Sept. 19 to collect belongings and check their properties. They will be permitted to return in their own cars for the first time, said Masato Kino, spokesman at the Emergency...
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Re: Would You Loan this company Money?
Currency in Millions of U.S. Dollars As of: Mar 31 2008 USD Mar 31 2009 USD Mar 31 2010 USD Mar 31 2011 USD 4-Year Trend NET INCOME 16.0 1.9 -21.6 -32.6 Depreciation & Amortization 6.3 6.5 4.7 9.0 DEPRECIATION & AMORTIZATION, TOTAL 6.3 6.5 4.7 9.0 (Gain) Loss from Sale of Asset -0.1 0.2 0.1 4.9 (Gain) Loss on Sale of Investment 0.9 0.1 0.0 -- (Income) Loss on Equity Investments -0.3 -0.2 -0.3 -- Change in Accounts Receivable 12.0 5.6 8.7 -6.1 Change in Inventories 0.3 -16.3 25.8 -4.0...
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Re: Would You Loan this company Money?
Matsu****a Part of their financial woes may be due to the fact that their name gets replaced with ****. You need to replace the **** with a four letter word for manure.
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Re: It's Official, RICOH US launch of SP5200 Black A4
Dealer cost is so high on this product I just don't see anybody buying it. Pretty disappointed. I just don't see many people out there in this economy that are going to spend three to four thousand dollars on what amounts to a tabletop sized mfp. Was really looking forward to this product but after seeing the pricing its a total let down. We should have one in our showroom by the end of this week.
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Re: New Ricoh 4410SPF "brainshark" review
What margin??? I think the spread between dealer cost and MSRP is about $400. For me to be comfortable giving the customer the level of support I give them on an MFP after the sale I would need to walk away with at least $350 in my commission check on the deal. That means I would need to charge at least $2,100 for the sale and installation of this product. That's why I don't pay much attention to small machines. Just can't make enough on them. I wind up giving more support after the sale on...
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Re: New Ricoh 4410SPF "brainshark" review
These require significantly less service/support than the Ricoh table-top machines. The opportunity to make money on these is by selling them to replace printers as part of an MPS engagement & making your money on the aftermarket. Also, if you're replacing an MP2000 machine, and the customer doesn't need 11 x 17, they would be thrilled with this machine, and you could make solid margin because of the price spread between the MP2000 and this unit. I'll be curious to see how the Ricoh...
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Re: Proximity Card Reader
Good job! If they are using MIFARE cards you should be good to go. Just make sure you get a sample to test. Remember just because it reads the card does not mean it will track for bill back purposes. That is where a software solution comes in. I forgot to ask what Canon model are you considering? Make sure it is an advance series. Do you have access to Canon ISG Central? They is an entire presentation on AAProx that you should definitely know the in's and out's BEFORE you meet with the GM.
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Re: PaperCut
I just sold my first PaperCut installation. While I haven't been involved in a physical installation yet, I've seen PaperCut's WebEx presentation several times and I've yet to see any real differences in PaperCut vs. Print Audit (other than price). I'm not saying they don't exist, just saying I was fairly impressed with the features touted in the presentation (and obviously, so was the client that purchased the software). JasonR's comments regarding PaperCut's inability to track...
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Re: PaperCut
You would be correct in the difference from the Papercut NG version vs. the MF version. We have sold about a dozen variations and it is a great product that makes a lot of sense. We have implemented it with MPS and MF solutions and it helps us keep the competition out. It's also great with swipe cards (HID/Kastle, etc...). Good luck.
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Re: OKI Data and Toshiba Tec Agree to Joint Development of Multifunction Printers
I cannot comment with authority but I suspect Toshiba has a larger global distribution and sales than Okidata. Toshiba has been looking for a way into the A4 market for years other than simply reselling HP and Lexmark product. Toshiba TEC just spent a $900M to buy IBM's Point of Sale division so another purchase is likely not in the works.
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Re: OKI Data and Toshiba Tec Agree to Joint Development of Multifunction Printers
Rumors have swirled for years on Toshiba's exit of the MFP industry. Inspite..... of their recent and aggressive dealer acquisitions. Neither entity is strong enough to stand on its on. Especially due to the consolidation the industry has already seen. Ricoh/Ikon, Canon/OCE, Konica/Minolta, etc. I agree that both have been low price leaders in the US market as well, and the marriage is a good one. This is the start of Toshiba's exit, and eventual sale to Oki Data. Oki Data just didnt have...
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Re: 0% Copier Financing
0% Interest financing is a popular financing tool across the board - you see it in the auto industry, furniture, IT (such as your apple example). It has never been a big seller in the Office Equipment industry business due to the business model that the dealers/manufacturers sell with. Many dealers are selling FMV leases (we like the upgrades)and not highlighting to the customer the actual cash purchase price of the equipment. 0% works best when a customer see's a purchase price (let's say...
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Re: New Premium thread posted.......
another new thread is up on the Premium forums, matter of fact it's a hot topic with over 140 page views and 34 replies in four days!
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Re: Japan's Sharp Corp plans to sell its copiers and air conditioners businesses
DAIWA HOUSE INDUSTRY CO., LTD. is a Japan-based construction company engaged in eight business segments. The Housing segment is involved in the contract work and sale of houses. The Leasing Housing segment develops, constructs and manages leasing houses, and provides agency services. The Condominium Building segment develops, sells and manages condominium buildings. The Housing Stock segment is engaged in the contract work of building reconstruction and the agency of real estate trading. The...
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Re: Japan's Sharp Corp plans to sell its copiers and air conditioners businesses
Somewhere near last.... However, I just picked up this press release from Rueters also: Sharp seeking over $1.2 bln for plant and other assets -Yomiuri * Sharp also in talks to sell some Tokyo offices -Yomiuri * Sharp will struggle to find buyer for solar business-source By Reiji Murai and Tim Kelly TOKYO, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Cash-strapped Sharp Corp is in talks to sell its key solar panel plant in Japan as part of an asset sale seeking more than $1.2 billion, local media said on Thursday,...
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Re: Japan's Sharp Corp plans to sell its copiers and air conditioners businesses
Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America Sharp Electronics Corporation One Sharp Plaza • Mahwah, New Jersey 07495-1163 • e-mail: SIICAmktg@sharpsec.com • www.sharp-pc.com EXECUTIVE BULLETIN August 16, 2012 Dear SIICA Dealers: As many of you have recently read, Sharp Corporation is in the process of revitalizing our operations in order to be more competitive. While this process takes time, we are moving aggressively to position ourselves for future growth. However, during this period,...
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Re: Japan's Sharp Corp plans to sell its copiers and air conditioners businesses
So, what can we take from this? 1. They are worried that current Sharp USA Dealers will jump ship and accelerate Sharp's demise home and abroad. 2. Sharp is not currently negotiating the sale of businesses, well usually when you hear of something this big you can bet your bottom dollar that indeed there is something going on. I'm sure Nikkei would not report or speculate and then state that "Sharp plans to sell......" For years on the forums, we've heard and found out that most of the...
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Re: I have a buyer in South America
Should also be VERY FAMILIAR with export rules and regulations, i.e. who is responsible for collection of duties, certifications, quality, insurance, etc and be clear if YOUR SUPPLIER permits sale for foreign resale. Cash is good thing but just the start.
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Re: SP431DN will it..
no I haven't, however I'd like to test just to make sure, I put a call into the product manager but never got a call back and seems my dealership is too cheap to buy an additional tray to test. I am going to sell a C431DN to print envelopes only, will have four paper trays and I figure I can load about 600 or so envelopes in all of the trays.
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Re: Use of LinkedIn as a sales tool
I'm now experimenting with my own personal blog, you'll see the links this week when reading one of my P4P Blogs. In it each blog I'll be using keywords an links that describes a recent sale (of course I'll be leaving out the customer name), but I will be addressing the vertical market, and the solution or the reason why I was picked as the vendor of choice. This is too also address the lack of leads that I get my Ricoh and from the ealership I work for. I have not have a real lead in my...
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Re: Protest in China
Just to provide some additional information.... Very little information in the US or on the news. Without naming names, yes, our manufacturers were impacted. This is just an article as an FYI that appeared in the The Irish Times - Thursday, September 20, 2012. China cleans up after Japan riots CLIFFORD COONAN, in Shanghai CHINA HAS said that Japan bears “complete responsibility” for any impact on trade over the dispute between Asia’s two powerhouses after tensions flared over a disputed...