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yeah, I ran into this in New Jersey and lost the deal.....price was the main concern and I could not convince the customer that our service, and support was much better than GEI.

I think they buy 100 machines a year from Ricoh. I would target parts, supplies and over technical knowledge, hopefully you can win there.
Luckily I didn't go nuts on GP and the local Sharp dealer here is buying from GEI and reselling them, therefore I'm competitive on price.
My argument will be why buy the relabel for more money with hopes that the local staff is trained on it. i think it would be this dealers first WF sale.

Thanks for your help
I also had a big problem with this. When the 470w was out, I kept losing to used Xerox's and OCE digital systems. So the 240w came out and I thought I had it made. Wrong. My competition was selling their product AND 240w systems...often at a lesser costs than mine.

Being honest, I got pissed. However, I just accepted that new rules were now in play. Instead of blaming everyone else for this "unfair practice", I just developed a new strategy. It didn't work for every sale, but if you have some advantages, let the customer know this. Label them as popular misconceptions that many people have about wide format. Most customers really do not see a difference in system or companies because it hasn't been proven to them. And it is sad to say, but almost all of us sound the same to them.

If you do lose, check on those companies periodically. Chances are that they will be unhappy with the service and you can pick that up at a greater cost than normal. Then, when the machine comes up...you have a leg to stand on by being able to offer customer priced maintenance on something they have seen work.
GEI is a private label distributor for the Ricoh Wide Format. Ricoh is well aware and quite happy with GEI as their reps. For a little while from about Jan '06 thru around August '06 they were also the Master distributor for the KM-4850 series, all KM dealers had to buy their units thru them. When KM announced the intro of the KIP unit , GEI dropped KM. They, GEI, has been a private label distributor and innovator of Mita / KM wide format for well over 25 years. They specialized in the print/publication/graphic arts markets almost exclusively. They do alot of work with software and modifying Main Source Codes and Controller software. They even designed and built the first large format ,18 x 24, laser printer based on a Mita box and then a Canon box.They are located in Canton, OH and are a nationwide sales and service organization. Anybody in the advertising and newspaper industries knows of GEI.
Bottom line, The copier manufacturers are in the business of manufacturing copiers. Dealers are in the business of selling copiers. Mfgs panic anytime they see their inventory exceed certain levels and do all they can to continue manufacturing at consistant levels. When inventory exceeds preset levels, what do they do? they seek other methods of distribution to move equipment. Look at car manufacturing in the US, they will offer all kinds of incentives to their current dealers to move machines , including factory direct rebates, discounts and such, without opening another dealership,but were has it gotten them? Ford, GM are all losing money with their business models of meeting competition. The Japanese manufacturers rarely if ever offer significant rebates and other financial incentives to the dealer, they simple increase distribution channels and let others inventory their equipment. Of course this is a simplistic overview of the economics involved in our industry. BUT, never forget that a manufacturer is in the business of manufacturing and we are in the business of selling. Loyalty is based on "what have you done for me lately". Ok, I'm off my soapbox and asbestos shorts are on .

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