"Okay, but how does this help me sell more copiers today?"
We know Ricoh as the copier company, but their recent move into robotics support might surprise some of us who’ve been in the office tech game for years.
When you think of Ricoh, you picture copiers or multifunction printers – the bread and butter of many dealerships. But as the business landscape changes, so does Ricoh. Their latest venture? Supporting Agility Robotics’ humanoid robot, Digit. It’s a sign that Ricoh isn’t just sticking to the traditional office technology space but is pushing into new, cutting-edge areas.
What a week? More like, “What? A year?”, no, “What? The Fear of Covid Was TWO YEARS Ago?” Time flies.
It is true what ‘they’ say, “as the days in front of you reduce in number, time seems to slide by faster and faster.” Well, with the way things are today, time is sliding faster FOR EVERYONE.
When folks ask, “How ya been, Greg?” I answer like everyone else does, “Great. It is a great time to be here” which is for the most part, true.
But to the very few, which now includes you, may answer is, “The last 24 months have been the worst in my life – and nobody I love died.
So, I have that to look forward to.”
I take fewer things for granted, my circle has contracted, I “recluse” more and battle the urge to become that bitter dude at the end of the bar – “Get off my lawn.”
The Opening Act: You Think You Killed It, But Did You?
So, you've just wrapped up your latest sales pitch. You're feeling like a rockstar, right? You think you've nailed every slide, every pause for dramatic effect, every handshake. But let's get real for a second. What do you think they're saying about you after you've left the building—or clicked that "Leave Meeting" button? Trust me, it's not always applause and roses.
"Where Sales Pitches Meet Touchdowns: Your Field Guide to Winning at Business and on the Turf!"
As an avid reader of DOTC, and not my mother (hi Mom), you know I occasionally use Football as a metaphor - for MPS, Selling.
Of course, there is more to life than Selling MPS(when you find it, let me know) and it seems that football, American football(I can't believe I need to make that distinction) is and always has been, a metaphor for this American Life.
So it is with salespeople. Pushy, over-talkative, uncaring, fake. Stereotypical. Yes, some of that is deserved, but not for all of us.
Fake? What's with those industry pundits who last year provided copier sales training suggesting MPS was a fad?
When AI and Salespeople Join Forces: Unstoppable Sales Machines
Greg's Words
To all my copier, IT, managed print services, and IT services brothers and sisters - The way your prospects purchase is changing right now.
Your world is going to change; for better or worse, it is going to RADICALLY alter everything you do. You have a choice, today, that will determine if it is better or worse.
I've seen transformation before - from typewriters to PCs, from receptionists to voice mail to email to IM to the internet. I can see patterns only because I've lived through them. I remember a time before 911, the Great Recession, the Fear of Covid, and the mass acceptance of AI.
This is the big one. But there is a significant difference.
This time, instead of change occurring over a decade, like the PC boom; rather than the half-decade-long journey from 'interwebs' to the internet, unlike the four-year turn from no social to everything social, and contrary to a 24-month move from cubicle to the second bedroom, this transformation is measured in hours and days.
Since the introduction of ChatGPT in November of 2022, hundreds of new apps have been developed to work with OpenAI. Venture capital is pouring into new, AI firms in Silicon Valley, Microsoft threw in 11 billion dollars of its own, and Alphabet issued a "Red Alert" drawing battle lines in the metaphoric sand.
I implore you to use AI in your everyday functions. Today, you can generate a customized thank you email, a 2-page proposal, a needs assessment survey, and a findings document in less time than it takes to get the copier warmed up.
And they won't be templates. The documents will contain whatever numbers, findings, and recommendations you discover and generate. From your notes to finished, personalized and specific documents in minutes.
There's so much more, but you've got to get in and wrestle with AI on your terms. The technology is malleable, like clay, waiting for you to create.
Executive Summary:
AI is transforming sales by automating repetitive tasks, streamlining processes, and increasing efficiency.
Sales professionals are adapting to the new AI-driven landscape, focusing on relationship-building and strategic thinking.
Despite concerns about job loss, many experts believe AI will complement human skills rather than replace them.
ChatGPT: Putting the 'Artificial' in 'Artificially Intelligent Salespeople
Greg' Words
I cannot stress enough how important AI, and specifically today, how important it is that you as a salesperson needs to get to know AI tools and start using each one that becomes available. When used correctly, you will discover benefits beyond comprehension. The one caution I have is to notice when your peers get to the same level as you in AI experience. When they do, shift and pivot in another direction.
Today, we can use ChatGPT to compose emails based on our input, put together proposals with the data we supply, and research everything from a specific company, niche, industry, or economic region. What had once taken us weeks, can be done in hours, the hourly task now finishes in seconds. That is the reality today, who knows what is over the horizon.
We've put together a work that discusses the existing state of ChatGPT in the world of sales for you to digest.
From the articles, Salesforce not ready to unleash generative AI on its customers, Salesforce hits the hyper-space button on AI with Einstein GPT, Salesforce to add ChatGPT to Slack as part of OpenAI partnership, Salesforce’s Einstein GPT soldiers up in the AI arms race, Salesforce Announces Einstein GPT, the World’s First Generative AI for CRM
Executive Summary:
Salesforce's new Einstein GPT AI tool aims to reduce the amount of time required to sell and provide more personalized content for customers.
AI is changing the sales landscape by liberating buyers from pushy salespeople and allowing them to make informed decisions.
The integration of AI in sales will revolutionize the industry and lead to more efficient and satisfying experiences for both buyers and sellers.
My Impressions: CRM platforms such as Salesforce are being eliminated; So too, are selling professionals.
#Microsoft, #Meta, #Alphabet, #Salesforce, and more are gazing into the Last Event Horizon and they are scared.
Think about it: Artificial Intelligence manipulates data through processes applying algorithms, presenting information based on the processes and calculations. (An overly simplistic description)
Everything we do in sales is a process.
Everything we do in purchasing is a process.
AI optimizes our processes by comparing them to every other similar process that has ever happened in history.
We have slipped the event horizon. Quicking a secular metamorphosis of the sales industry by leveraging data and analytics to provide customers with personalized recommendations and insights, while also optimizing providers' workflows and processes. This eliminates the non-productive and emotionally influential forces in the selling process, replacing the need for traditional salespeople with a direct communication channel between the prospect's AI system and the provider's AI system. (See Ecosystem)
AI is not just a tool or software solution anymore; it's eating all other forms of software and solutions.
From copiers to 7th-generation jet fighters, whatever requirement, including variables from pricing to retirement, the right solution is presented through this streamlined and efficient process.
In this new landscape, the role of salespeople will be eliminated because 'my AI talks with your AI' and good things happen.
I'm not sure my colleagues or contemporaries understand the gravity of what has happened and what is happening right now - not in three, 10, or 20 years from now. This very second.
AI eliminates spreadsheets, SEO, Websites, A/R clerks, CFOs, and middlemen - and dealers are middlemen.
In the last TWO WEEKS, I have noticed the number of ChatGPT connectors growing from a dozen to HUNDREDS.
San Fransisco, that poop-on-the-sidewalk nirvana is even reporting an increase in VC events, growth in the number of residents, and more bootstrap companies - all in AI.
Seriously - whatever you thought you knew about AI in the copier industry forget. That's not AI, that was rote, spreadsheet mechanics.
And forget about worrying over OEMs, their new machines, huge ink buckets, or the annual numbers - they don't get it either.
Pay attention to the first OEM to tell you they've engaged AI to handle customer service calls. DIRECTLY WITH THE CUSTOMER.
AI eliminates spreadsheets, SEO, Websites, A/R clerks, CFOs, and middlemen - and dealers are middlemen.
If you think your future does not include AI, you are wrong.
What should you do?
Learn ChatGPT. Get a team together and figure out what it is, and how it can be used to increase sales, reduce costs and grow profits - for you, your clients, and your prospects.
In this document, we will discuss a proposed MPS S1 Engagement and its benefits. This engagement aims to improve the current printing infrastructure and bring cost savings to the organization.
Today we’ll examine the second area of sales genres, the midsized companies, and opportunities.
See Part 1 of this series for an explanation and disclaimer about profiles.
We’ll talk about the midlevel prospects through three dimensions: the approach, the tools, and the expectations.
"Although end users at this level show interest in how your solution works, the pretty colors available, what buttons to push, etc. the real powers that be are looking at solving business problems. They will unconsciously place you in one of two camps: A simple salesperson selling simple tools or a person who has experienced and solved different problems for other companies."
It’s an age-old argument. “Without Sales, the lights don’t come on,” says the selling professional. “Without Service, you don’t get a paycheck,” says the seasoned service technician. Who is correct?
I’d like to share ideas about something I haven’t heard anyone address: the relationship between sales reps and your service department — more specifically, how to work with people who service your customers almost every day.
Back in 2007, MpS was new, on the edge, and a bit contrarian. The year was 2007, copiers were flying off
the shelf, and everybody signed a 60-month lease with an accompanying service agreement. A4 was a dirty word.
MpS didn’t flourish it sputtered and more often failed. Stories
of fallen MPS practices outnumbered the successful.
I, myself, declared
MpS dead in 2011 because the discipline became adulterated into the lowest
price possible. The race to the bottom was inevitable.
Today, I look upon the contemporary MpS ecosystem and see customers
calling dealers looking to sign MpS contracts, more MpS press coverage,
INCREASED membership in your MPSA,
ridicule, and criticism from industry "pundits" and “shills” it’s
beginning to feel like the ‘good old days.
Sorta. My optimism is cautionary.
Leasing is math under contract. The dealer buys a device from distribution or manufacturer. The leasing company pays the dealer his cost, all upfront.
The leasing company bills the ultimate customer periodically until the cost of the machine to the dealer and profit is covered.
Benefits to each player:
Lease company - profit
Dealer - profit all upfront
Customer - monthly payment instead of a large, one-time outlay
Example:
A customer wishes to 'own' a large piece of equipment. The purchase price is $20,000.00. Instead of paying 20k all at once, the customer would like to pay over time.
The dealer would like to sell the customer equipment, installation, and software needed for the device to function. The dealer cannot offer pay overtime to the customer directly.
The leasing company approves the client and the sale moves forward.
I’ve been saying for almost 12 months that virtual selling and remote work is the wave of the future. I’ve also predicted that few people will go back to the office to work — which as you know will greatly affect your ability to sell copiers.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, I’m prepared to say that I was wrong with my prediction on how few people will come back to the office because some major corporations have announced a back-to–the-office policy. Companies like Bank of America, Wells Fargo and T. Rowe Price are announcing policies, and predictably, so are large commercial property firms. Any company with an interest in commercial real estate, office space and financing encourages everyone to come back to the cubicle.
This is counter to what happened over the last 12 months. Revenues for companies that operated during the pandemic went through the roof. Productivity for work-from-home employees increased by double digits. Employees were happier, reconnected with their family, ate fewer cold dinners, and never missed a soccer game.
However, this didn’t bode well for people who make a living renting office space, running parking lots, or selling copiers.
People will be coming back to the office, but does this mean they will be buying more copiers?
"We have to start doing what was said we were doing but never did."
We're all talking about the "new" ways to sell.
Covid19 is forcing galactic shifts in the way we do business; from the back-office to the sales trenches. What I find striking is the more we talk about what needs to be done in a post Covid19 sales engagement, the more we find the basic selling skills apply more than ever.
Here are a few of the concepts and skills presented over the decades regarding sales and selling:
Build Trust
Attract Like-Minded Prospects
Consult
Be the Trusted advisor
Increase Your Business Acumen
The books, lectures, and classes of the past decades all told us to be more a consultant and experts in our industry. Lately, in the last decade, salespeople have been told to become thought leaders, create content, find a 'good match', and help the prospect in their purchasing journey.
We've been saying it for decades. These are basic skills. Now is the time to ACTUALLY do what we have been saying we do. Engage the basics, and get to the root of the art of selling. Once we do this, virtual selling will return to 'Selling'.
The game is changing, but it always has been. The way businesses align purchasing is shifting, but it always has been. New marketing platforms are emerging but always have been. Sales are evolving but always have been.
There is talk of a selling rebellion, but there always has been.
There's chatter about the new selling, the new way businesses are buying, and how the sales professionals of today had better change their ways. We've got to multiply our efforts tenfold, continue to cold call and embrace social media.
Today, "Kings", "Cowboys" and "Warriors" populate our little niche and we've got professionals "saving the industry one copier at a time". Worthy, noble, and authentic efforts - I'm all for self-branding and rebellion. I question the focus of our current emotional revolt.
Words mean things -
Revolt: refuse to acknowledge someone or something as having authority
Revolution: a forcible overthrow of a government or social order, in favor of a new system
So yes, we as a profession, are in the mood for revolt and revolution. It's understood the selling representatives are the Rebels but who are we 'rebelling' against? Who are the bad guys?
Are we taking on the old-school mentality? Assaulting old techniques is one thing, but these are outdated tools, not the root of evil.
Maybe we're rebelling against our prospects and customers - not the brightest idea.
Conducting a revolution against other sales people is self-destructive and most likely a strategy our nemesis relies upon. From the outside, it must look like we're a bunch of self-loathing, never good enough yahoo's running around spewing "transformation, this" and "the new way of that...".
To summarize:
Revolting against prospects and clients is not the way.
We are not our greatest enemy, we will not self-destruct.
The "Evil Empire" is not the past.
Again, who is the enemy?
I know who. If you're a sales trainer, you're not going to like it. If you're a sales manager, you're not going to like it. If you're selling anything through a tiered channel, you are not going to like it. Heck, I don't even like it.
The target of our revolution are those who inflict quotas, false ideals and untrustworthy sales techniques: OEMs, Mega dealers, and vendors of the day are the enemy.
I have moved from certainty to doubt, from devotion to rebellion.
- Phil Donahue
I am the last one to call for unionization - unions kill - but an organized resistance is the only alternative. I'm talking about a guild of selling professionals - similar to the Screen Actor's Guild.
So who is in a position to organize contemporary selling professionals? I have no idea but a great start would be for sales people to think differently:
start selling for yourself
form your own brand
invest in yourself
CAUTION: Rebellions require blood. The cost of freedom is never free and all revolutions, have casualties. Who, in this cause, will give all? Who will create change through sacrifice?
Will any of the new sales trainers step up to form The Guild or continue taking money from the establishment?
Will mega-dealers change the way reps are paid or continue to support an archaic standard?
Will OEMs get rid of their tiered approach?
And who in their right mind would join such a movement, let alone LEAD against these most formidable foes?
I don't have the answer to that question. I can say finding a leader within the Empire(OEM,Trainers, MegaDealers) is at best dubious. Perhaps an older, wiser Rebel will make their way center stage.
Caution: As a metaphor, in the movie Rogue One, can you recall how many of the small rebel team survived?
I’ve said it many times, “ the path to MpS nirvana is littered with the skeleton frames of burnt out MpS Managers, Directors and Sales People”.
No sour grapes -
I’m sure there are dozens of good reasons for termination and every separation has at least two stories. In the past decade I've been a Practice Manager, advisor and support specialist. I’ve thrived, struggled and witnessed good people churned under the seven step, "xerographic process".
And that’s exactly what I mean - the copier niche can destroy vision, creativity, and dumb down every business solution into 30 day segments. Managed print Services is the latest victim, with managed IT services right behind.
Some of our industry leaders are no more than box movers - they confuse ‘applications’ with business solutions and project hubris as wisdom. Take a trip through the LinkedIN community and notice how many times we compliment each other or brag about the latest sale, certification, trip or baseball team we're associated.
It is one big, circle-jerk.
These are observations not complaints. We all get what we deserve and this industry deserves its decent into obscurity.
But not just yet.
I've seen this before, from above and below and can list cautionary red-flags for the folks still selling MpS.
Here are some signs indicating you should give my friend Steve Spencer(MpS recruiter) a call:
lie
lack of vision
too many rules
change the rules
filter out all creativity
do not see beyond 30 day cycles
incentivize for equipment sales only
promote month/qtr/year end specials
narrow-minded C-Level management
put MpS under the service department
dependent on hardware/service revenue
refuse to integrate MpS and Managed IT services
bad, complicated or non-existent compensation plans
a corporate culture centered around past copier success
focus on leasing and linking equipment inside MpS deals
install a C-level executive with little or no experience beyond the box
enforce identical activity expectations for support specialists and down the street copier sales people
say "X is a major part of the business", yet majority of revenue is copier generated
utilize a foggy compensation plan & do not enforce gates on sales teams
Here's a big one: Does your leadership yell? Do your C-Level meetings include loud voices, hands slapping desks and belligerent attitudes?
“You’ve got to be tough out there”
“This industry isn’t for the thin skinned”
“If you can’t take this, you’ll never make it in sales”
I’m no snowflake. This type of behavior says leagues about the yeller and the enabling organization. At the very least this is unprofessional - would management slam desks or scream at prospects?
When people communicate in this manner, the organization is:
Insecure
Afraid
Negative
This is not normal behavior - Leave. Now. Call Steve.
Not every organization operates like this, I bet not many at all. But if you're in one, in any industry, consider your self-worth and get the hell out. It's a big world. No matter your current skill set or personal/professional goals, there are companies and positions out here for you.
It is the first week of the year and you're going to hear a lot about business plans, forecasts, funnel management, and quotas. Thousands of time-saving, productivity enhancing, sales coaching, articles flow through the digital rivers of the internet - nauseating in its volume.
I ask you, how are you, personally, forging ahead in the new year? Will you be part of another's plan or will you set the agenda?
My advice is simple - nod your head to whatever your manager says, tuck the dogma away, get alone and do the following five things:
1. Download and print the chart below
The chart was developed to illuminate intent between clients and vendors. It works on a personal basis as well.
2. Find your personal position on the chart
Trust yourself enough to be completely honest. There is NO WRONG position. Think about the past year; did you add value beyond delivery and price?
3. Find your employer's position
Step back and consider your organization's sales over the past 12 months. Did you see lots of devices delivered yet a handful of software implementations? Are your equipment quota's higher than services? Do you lead with the latest and greatest or solve real business problems? Do you often hear your manager say, "That price is not competitive, bury the profit in the service, bundle installation into the lease..."?
4. Where do your best client implementations fall on the chart?
Now consider your client base. Did you sell machines or provide answers? Were most of your deals price-driven? Did they begin and end with a purchasing agent?
5. Look at the gaps and imagine moving into a more desirable position in 2015. What will it take?
Although there is no wrong position, if for example, your prospect is looking for a 'Specialized' relationship and your company only provides 'Transactional' services, your relationship is not sustainable.
By the same token, if your personal position is in 'Specialized' but your employer falls comfortably in the 'Transactional' column, you may have some issues to work out.
If your clients are all in 'Transactional' yet you want to get to the 'Specialized' area, what can you do to elevate the conversation?
This is a simple beginning to personal success - we can get deep on both the provider and client-side of the spectrum. The devil is in how your customers perceive your offering relevant to how they think of themselves; do you two match?
I'd love to discuss with you how to best use this tool. It's been effective for providers and end-users alike.
For now, hang your chart in your cube, office, or dashboard. Embed it into your pre-call planning or (god forbid) your pitchbook - heck, make it your wallpaper.
But make sure to take a pic and email it to me. The most interesting one will get a Starbucks card on me.
Cheers!
Reach out to me: greg@grwalters.com and enjoy this sweet jam:
The move into managed services is well on its way and traditional copier reps are getting caught in the middle between selling boxes and selling services. Pundits and consultants lament "copier people cannot sell managed services" unless they attend a day of specialized sales training.
It is true, I've seen plenty of managed services or IT sales destroyed by copier sales reps - from Cali to N.C. I've written about a couple of instances.
The thing is, for all the challenges and failures, the rep is not to blame. We train them to always be closing, find pain and twist, to hunt, take-down, close, trap and "increase share of wallet" - armed with this mentality, its a miracle anybody sells anything, let alone a nuanced offering like managed services.
So, as a copier rep, what can you do to secure more managed services contracts/agreements? Should you heed your sales manager's advice and treat help desk like a fax board? Does your OEM offer any clues? How about a few days of off-site training followed up with a phone blitz?
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