Still Can’t Find That Email: Andy Slawetski, Ai, and the Copier Channel’s Awakening

Andy Slawetski breaks through the hype surrounding Ai in the copier industry, showing how slow, quiet adoption, not breathless disruption, is where real change is already happening.

By Celeste Dame

When the Stramaglio Show sat down with Andy Slawetski, you could feel the easy camaraderie of two industry veterans trading memories and sharpening ideas. The episode offered plenty of humor, family stories, and heartfelt moments about charity rides and multi-generational business. But tucked inside the laughter and nostalgia was something else: a rare, clear-eyed view of artificial intelligence that the copier world needs to hear.

Andy Slawetski is not a hype man. He is a witness. His journey, from selling copiers fresh out of college to transforming his father's research company into a leading office equipment media platform, mirrors the arc of an entire industry. Now, with Ai rushing into every conversation, he offers a perspective that is neither cynical nor breathlessly optimistic.

“We’re scratching the surface,” he said about Ai. “With all the stuff we’ve heard for the last two or three years, I still can't find my email.”

The Hidden Giant: Why Print Still Pays the Bills at Canon

 

Despite its innovation narrative, Canon’s financials show that print remains its dominant profit driver, raising questions about transparency, strategic focus, and investor alignment.

Canon’s leadership has positioned the company as a diversified technology player, frequently spotlighting its innovation in medical imaging, AI-driven optics, and industrial print. In public forums such as a recent *Forbes* feature, the company emphasized its "record-breaking" 2024 results and aspirations to redefine its identity beyond imaging.

Yet the numbers tell a different story.

Konica’s Forecast Miss Sparks Wider Reckoning for Copier Industry

Ray Stasieczko’s analysis of Konica Minolta’s losses highlights a growing credibility gap between marketing promises and field realities.

By Celeste Dame

Special to The Wall Street Journal

In an industry historically driven by hardware specs and service contracts, a growing sense of disillusionment is spreading among front-line sales professionals. Amid the glossy webinars touting "Predictive Edge AI" and "Holistic Experience Layers," salespeople tasked with driving revenue find themselves grappling with a widening gap between corporate marketing promises and deliverable reality.

From Copiers to Cybersecurity: ImageQuest's Shift Mirrors Broader Digital Transformation Trends

Written by Grayson Patrick Trent

Nashville-based ImageQuest, once a conventional copier dealership, made a sharp pivot to managed IT services in the early 2010s, a move that positioned it ahead of an industry undergoing rapid collapse. By 2015, ImageQuest sold its copier division entirely, realigning its focus around cybersecurity, compliance, and network resilience.

Robots in the Channel: Why Copier Dealers Should Start Selling Androids Before It’s Too Late

 

By Greg Walters

It started like any other Friday livestream. Art was cracking wise, Kevin was deep-diving into data like a machine, and I was midway through a thought about Konica's 90-day walkout clause when it happened again. One of us mentioned a humanoid robot twitching on a meat hook. Another brought up water-powered muscle fibers. Suddenly, we were off.

Copier Salespeople Already Know How to Prompt. They Just Don’t Know It Yet.

By Greg Walters

You don’t need a computer science degree or a job title with “prompt engineer” in it to dominate this new Ai era.

If you’ve ever done a real needs assessment, framed a lease conversation, or positioned an A3 when the prospect thought they needed an A4, you already know how to prompt. You just haven’t called it that yet.

This article is for copier reps, sales pros, and anyone who's ever sold in the trenches and is now staring at ChatGPT wondering how to make it useful.

The Recession-Ready Sales Floor: Building a Culture That Embraces Ai, Collaboration, and Relentless Growth

By Celeste Dame

Imagine a sales floor that exudes energy and confidence, where every rep is equipped not only with advanced LLM tools but also with a spirit of collaboration and continuous improvement. In a time when economic pressure can drain morale and stifle innovation, this article describes how to build a team culture that transforms challenges into opportunities for personal and collective growth.

The AI Playbook for Copier Sales: from Cold Calls to Closing Deals

by Greg Walters  |  April 15, 2025

You’ve heard the buzz about artificial intelligence (AI) more times than you care to count. You’ve also repeatedly heard pundits scream about digital transformation, the death of the copier, and the ‘adapt or die’ mantra.

But this time, it’s true. This shift surpasses the transition from monochrome to color, the leap from analog to digital, the rise of managed print services, and even the expansion into managed IT. This time, everything, everywhere, all at once is changing.

The Paper Trail of Poison: What Receipts Are Leaving Behind

 

A fingertip away from the chemical quiet war.

Cole Jensen|Greg Report Ai 2026 Contributor

There’s a quiet toxin lurking in your pocket.

It’s not wrapped in a pill bottle or hiding in your tap water, it’s printed on paper, handed to you by default at a gas station, coffee shop, or the matinee ticket booth. You probably don’t give it a second thought. Most people don’t. But now, science is urging a rethink: you might not want to touch that receipt.

You’re not just selling copiers anymore

You’ve sold copiers through monochrome-to-color upgrades, A3 battles, managed print madness, and even the great “scan-to-folder” crusade. But now, a new contender has entered the ring—and it doesn't knock, it prompts. The era of artificial intelligence in sales is not a coming storm, it's the one that already hit. 

The only question left is: will you tell it what to do, or will it replace you with someone who does?

Title: Human First, Machine Second: Why Ai Can't Close the Deal for You

There’s a lot of noise right now about artificial intelligence rewriting the sales playbook. Some are already handing over the pen. But before we let a chatbot draft our closing arguments, maybe we should ask a different question: Are we replacing bad habits with good tech, or are we just digitizing the same tired mediocrity?

Konica Minolta’s New Dealer Agreement Raises Eyebrows and Alarms in Industry Circles

By Staff Writer | April 15, 2025

Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A. recently rolled out a new dealer agreement and hosted a press event to explain the changes, but the move is drawing more questions than applause from those in the know. In a tightly controlled virtual “presser” with select trade press and analysts, the company touted its fresh strategy aimed at bolstering dealer competitiveness. Critics, however, say the event had all the hallmarks of scripted PR and little room for transparency.

The Second Awakening in Copier Sales: From Oversold to Overdue

By Greg Walters

There’s something about disruption that doesn’t just shake the house, it rattles the foundation. COVID did it. Remote work did it. And now, tariffs are doing it again. They’re not just inflating costs. They’re forcing our clients to lift the veil, walk into the server room, and ask, “What the hell are we paying for?”

We’ve been warning this was coming.

​Locking in the ‘Why’: Deep-Dive Tactics for Building an Ironclad Copier Selling, Value Proposition in Lean Times(like a recession)

#2

A Work by Celeste Dame

Picture a prospect sitting in a quiet office, not swayed by flashy features but seeking a true solution that restores stability and control. In lean times, every investment is scrutinized and every dollar counts. This article tells the story of how to peel away the superficial to reveal the core motivation behind your offering. It is about illuminating the gap between where a company stands today and where they long to be and then showing how your solution bridges that gap with precision and measurable results.

Stepping Into the Storm: How to Sell Copiers and Services in a Recession Using Ai-Fueled Strategies

#1

​A Work By Celeste Dame

Introduction

In a world of economic turbulence and tightening budgets, the need for effective, agile sales strategies has never been more important. This series of three articles, titled "Recession-Ready Sales: Harnessing LLMs to Thrive in Turbulence," is designed to equip sales representatives with both timeless sales fundamentals and modern Ai-powered techniques. You will learn how to navigate uncertain markets while leveraging Large Language Models (LLMs) as your dynamic partner in research, personalization, and negotiation.

Ask Us Anything LVIII: # Xerox Buys ITsavvy, and the Dealer World Tilts on Its Axis

What It Means for Independent Dealers, the Channel, and the Future of Selling

Xerox’s acquisition of ITsavvy gives independent dealers instant access to enterprise-grade managed IT services without the capital cost of building their own MSP infrastructure. It opens doors to new customers, changes competitive dynamics, and creates a new standard for what it means to sell “solutions”—but it also demands a mindset shift, new sales motion, and stronger alignment between print and IT services.

 “I’m rebranding the whole company,” Earl said, half serious, half grinning.  

The Machines Are Selling: Ai, the New Closer in the Room

By Robert G. Jordan

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The first time I saw a chatbot close a deal, it was unsettling. The prospect had asked a technical question, something obscure buried halfway down a product sheet. The rep froze. The bot didn’t. With a cheerless efficiency, it fetched the data, cross-referenced it against two knowledge bases, then returned with a plainspoken answer.

​The customer nodded. The sale moved forward. And just like that, one more slice of the sales job was carved away.

You're Already Late: Ai Has Changed Copier Sales Forever

 The copier sales rep who ignores Ai isn’t competing with their peers. They’re competing with extinction.

By Celeste Dame

It begins with a simple idea. The tools we use shape the way we work. But sometimes, a new tool doesn’t just shape, it shatters everything that came before. That’s what Shopify’s CEO, Tobi Lütke, is talking about in his memo. It isn’t just a call to use artificial intelligence as a tool. It’s a declaration that Ai is the new baseline. Not optional. Not experimental. It’s the new starting line. Either you're running with it, or you're watching from the sidelines.

Now, take that mindset and drop it into one of the most resilient and, let’s face it, change-resistant sales channels in the world: copier sales.

Don’t Hire an Ai Consultant. Really. I’m Still Serious.

Originally published July 10, 2024. Revisited, April 2025.

🚀☄️

We’re still here.

A year ago, I said: Don’t hire an Ai consultant.

Today, I say: Still don’t.

You don’t need an intermediary. You don’t need a guidebook. You need a question and a pulse. Maybe twenty bucks for the premium plan.

​

Since that first post, the world has shifted, sure. But not in the ways we were promised. Executives scrambled. Consultants rebranded. LinkedIn filled up with “prompt engineers” and “Ai strategists” selling complexity where simplicity lives.

The truth?  

Post & Walters Ask Us Anything LVII: From Scanners to Cyborgs, This One Had It All

A live session that started with Twain and ended with android repair strategies. 

Just another Friday with Post Walters.

By Cole Jensen

It began like many other Fridays, with Greg Walters opening the doors to the always-chaotic, never-scripted stage of Post Walters: Ask Us Anything. On this particular episode, the fifty-seventh in the series, what began as a discussion about document scanning evolved into a far-reaching, fast-moving conversation about everything from humanoid robot maintenance networks to the failure of Ai sales webinars to actually teach anyone anything.

"Scan is the new black.” — Art Post

New to Copier Sales: Shifting into New Vertical Markets

We’ve talked about vertical markets before so you probably know that verticalizing your sales attention provides a structured way to grow sales. The more familiar you are with an industry, the better you can speak its language. Understanding common challenges builds credibility, and before you know it, you’re the go-to expert in that space.

But sticking to one vertical isn’t always the best move. Expanding into new markets opens more opportunities, helps you stay ahead of competitors, and keeps your sales pipeline full. You won’t max out an entire industry on your own, but competition can push you to look elsewhere. Shifting into a new vertical might not be top of mind when you’re still getting a handle on machines, software, and leasing, but it’s a natural next step that builds on what you already know.

​The Robot Revolution and Your Copier Dealer

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How Office Technology Providers Could Own the Future of Humanoid Robotics

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By Cole Jensen

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It’s captivating to picture a near future where humanoid robots become as common in homes as microwaves and washing machines. Robots handling everyday chores like folding laundry, loading dishwashers, and even preparing simple meals is no longer just fantasy. Current technological advances suggest this could happen sooner than we think.