90% of CFOs Just Declared War on Paper. Are You Still Selling It?

When finance leaders say paper is done, the only thing worse than ignoring them is selling like they never said it.

by Celeste Dame 🚀🧠

You’ve heard “paperless” before. Every few years someone waves that flag, and then the toner trucks keep rolling. But this time’s different. The warning didn’t come from a print analyst or a software vendor trying to move licenses. 

It came from CFO.com. 

That’s right, the people who write the checks are the ones sounding the alarm. And if you sell copiers for a living, you just got handed the clearest external signal we’ve ever seen: they’re done with paper, and they’re not looking back.

In the shifting sands of B2B selling, there’s a headline out of left field that should hit like a toner-scented brick: CFO.com, not some vendor whitepaper or industry cheerleader rag, just dropped a stat that ought to make every copier dealer sit up straight. "An overwhelming 90% of SMB leaders believe their businesses will transition fully to paperless operations within five years." And here's what makes this different than the dozens of "paperless office" predictions that fizzled out, this one isn’t coming from inside the copier industry echo chamber. 

This is coming from the finance seat, where bills get paid, systems get scrutinized, and decisions stick. of B2B selling, there’s a headline out of left field that should hit like a toner-scented brick: CFO.com, not some vendor whitepaper or industry cheerleader rag, just dropped a stat that ought to make every copier dealer sit up straight. "An overwhelming 90% of SMB leaders believe their businesses will transition fully to paperless operations within five years." 

And here's what makes this different than the dozens of "paperless office" predictions that fizzled out, this one isn’t coming from inside the copier industry echo chamber. This is coming from the finance seat, where bills get paid, systems get scrutinized, and decisions stick.

Because you make your living selling copiers, managing print, or installing document workflows, this isn’t some trend to monitor. It’s the blast wave already ripping through your territory.

This isn’t a routine upgrade or a strategic pivot. It’s a full systems failure of the old sales playbook. And the reps who’ve been paying attention, the ones who ask better questions than they pitch, are already moving. They're not dragging demo gear through the door anymore—they're walking in with ideas. Practical fixes. Real-world relief. Not imaginary value cooked up in a marketing deck, but the kind that makes a CFO sit back and breathe easier.

Let’s not sugarcoat it. If your opening line is still about print cost savings, you're already behind. Finance leaders aren’t asking for fewer pages, they’re asking for no paper. They want visibility, speed, audit-readiness, and systems that don’t make them chase invoices like they’re in a bureaucratic obstacle course. The CFO.com report lays it bare:

• 89% of SMBs say document digitization is essential for operational flow.

• 77% already use AI tools to smooth out their finance back office.

• 85% see digitization as the key to cleaner, quicker audits.

That last one should stick. Because if your offering doesn’t remove red tape and make audits less miserable, then you’re pitching into a headwind.

Now let’s talk about what this means for those of us raised in the church of copier clicks and color yields. It means the game’s changed. You can’t lead with speeds and feeds. You need to lead with clarity, with insight, with a roadmap for how your client gets from chaos to calm. You don’t sell a machine, you sell the relief that comes when that machine does something smart, like route an invoice to the right person without needing a sticky note.

Your new pitch? Automation. Streamlined compliance. Document control. AI tools that don’t just watch but act. Not because it’s cool, but because the CFO is tired of digging through email threads and paper folders for the one document that proves their budget wasn’t torched.

Here’s a gut check: if your sales team can’t explain metadata in plain English or walk through a digital workflow without tripping over jargon, they’re not selling, they’re babysitting a relic.

Prospecting has to evolve too. This isn’t about hitting the phones and hoping anymore. It’s about showing up already valuable. Bring something to the table on the first call. AI can help, sure, it can give you clean data and tell you who’s ready to buy, but it can’t replace guts, timing, or knowing what question to ask when the prospect says, "We’ve already got a solution."

And let’s not skip the emotional gear shift. A lot of reps are still dragging around quotas written for a print-first world. You’ve got to let that go. The client doesn’t want a machine. They want a solution. A fix. An escape hatch from broken processes. Give them that, and you’re in.

Sales veterans like Jeb Blount have been preaching this for years. Fanatical Prospecting wasn’t about pounding the phones for sport, it was about showing up ready, with empathy, with intention. No amount of automation can fake that. You don’t AI your way into trust. You show up and earn it.

This isn’t gradual. This isn’t gentle. This is a hard turn. Your customer isn’t printing less because of environmental guilt. They’re printing less because they’ve already found a smarter way to do the work. They didn’t float a memo. They just moved. If you’re still selling the way you did pre-pandemic, you’re not on the sidelines, you’re in the rearview mirror.

So what do you do? Rebuild the offer. Center it on digitization, automation, resilience. Make it audit-friendly and stress-proof. If your pitch doesn’t talk about workflow and integration, start over. If your team thinks a DCA is the whole story, teach them that it’s barely the table of contents.

Paper isn’t dead. But it’s shrinking like a snowman in July. CFOs aren’t waiting. They’re acting. If you want to stay in this game, stop romanticizing the past and start building the new backbone of modern business.

- by Celeste Dame 🚀🧠
Sales Provocateur-in-Residence, The Greg Report
To be the Last Sales Training Class, Seminar, Book or Coach You'll Ever Need

Postscript: Action Plan for Copier Reps Who Want to Stay in the Game

• Stop leading with machines. Start leading with process fixes and digital outcomes.

• Map your current clients’ finance workflows. If you don't know what they scan, sign, store, or approve, you don't know how to help.

• Build one-page solution offers around digitization. Focus on audit-readiness, invoice automation, and compliance.

• Master the basics of metadata and routing. If you can’t explain it without sounding like a brochure, you’re not ready.

• Use AI to prep every call. Surface trigger events, research buying committee roles, and personalize your opener.

• Practice describing your value without saying the word "printer". If you can’t, you haven’t evolved yet.

• Shift your mindset from lease cycles to lifecycle wins. Your value is measured in reduced chaos, not pages printed.

• Train with intent. Use real-world use cases, not old battle cards. Practice consultative conversation, not demo dumps.

• Stay curious. Ask every CFO what’s broken in their process, and don’t flinch at the answer.

Print might still be in the room, but it’s not the main event anymore. Sell the stage, not the curtain.