The Death of The Copier SalesPerson

2008

Some feel the current model is broken. Now what?

Over at Ken's, a new contributor penned an article regarding the current state of copier salespeople.

Are Your Solutions Sales Stalled? We’ve Been Expecting You. - it is a good read.

I am going to borrow Max's definition of Solution Sales -

"so· lu· tion /

[suh-loo-shuh n]

–noun

Anything you sell other than just copiers. My copier proposal was half the price and I still got crushed! They said that even though we have been their copier vendor for the last 10 years, going forward it was in their best interest to give their business to a more knowledgeable company that can provide more than just copy machines but actual solutions to their business objectives.

—Related forms

so·lu·tion·al,

—Synonyms key, resolution."

I like "Anything you sell other than just copiers..." - my adjustment would be anything you sell in addition to the copier.

Semantics is all.

And then there is my article, Selling and U of M Football where I am waxing on in a veiled manner about dealing with the competition. 

 And the comment left by DocuNagurski struck me between the eyes.

So much so, that I feel the need to paraphrase it - so here it is -

"Great analogous approach to selling...comparing sales to a pounding grind for 3 yards forward in off-center fashion. Wow, those were the days in the copier biz...hmmmm...."

I can remember like it was yesterday: Makin calls, movin biz forward...methodically, but successfully. Down the field, we would go, not deviating much from our game plan of pounding our message until the customer gave in...wow, I miss those days!...

...much like the gridiron, we are tasked with the long solution-selling that demands great execution but requires the kind of hail-mary that even Doug Flutie would envy. 

Yes, once was a day in Ann Arbor lore that you could return a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown (i.e. Seth Smith), and even though you were the new kid that never really complied with the ethical or managerial standards set forth by Sarbanes or Oxley, people would talk about your moves long after your poor revenue numbers garnered you a promotion to a coveted training gig...hmmm!

... you could refer to your future clients and wax poetically about how many product placements you had just on that street alone. I mean, not only do you have the most wins in your territory...but you have the highest winning percentage...history as well, and I'm not even going to tell you about my penetration rate...

Nope, today it's the 2-minute offense that requires the relationship sale, it's the off-campus mistake that only the service manager can fix, it's the overtime victory that nobody remembers because the CPC was so aggressive that we don't even want to take a meter reading from you.

Yep, those were the days of 3 yards and a cloud of dust...the days of solid and expected revenue from a well-executed plan...oh, thanks for the memories...you put it all in perspective for me.

This being said, I still think Red Grange would have been a great copier rep!"

***

Now, his post may be dripping with sarcasm, it may not - and that is the beauty.

In my post, I was talking about working against competitors, not clients. His take on my article was different - and I think it comes down to perspective.

In the copier industry, and in most "commodity" based selling, the customer IS the competition. - let that sink in...

That is to say, ALL vendors in the industry are trying to jam products into the End Zone and get the poor schmo of a customer to "sign on the line which is dotted!" So it is quite natural for somebody from that slant to see my ideas as "anti-client" - after all, that is their world and all is seen through their prism of perspective.

But, it is not singularly the world of the copier rep - it's our world in MPS as well.

Customers and future clients see things in this sense as well - it does not matter that they may have you pegged wrong, a customer is always on the defensive, on a "goal-line stand". The art in relationship building is to regain trust.

How do we do this?

That is the question.

If you liked this, try these:

The Death of The Copier Dealer

A Return to Selling

Managed Print Services - Everybody Sells

The Single Most Important Tool In Managed Print Services

Should HP Purchase IKON's PS Division? - Delicious!!

Click to email me.

HP Channel Execs: We'll Fund Small Solution Providers Too

Wow, I guess whining doesn't happen exclusively in the printer channel...

Looks like HP is opening the "wallet" for some HP partners as it has at CDW.

From an article at CRN - "Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) channel executives said Monday that they are willing to fund SMB initiatives for small solution providers, including co-funding employee salaries, in an effort to capture more market share..."

This announced after a little ruckus occurred following HP's announcement to work with CDW.

But as Adrian Jones, HP's vice president and general manager, Americas Solution Partners Organization said, "...give us your ideas. Give us your proposals about how we can work together to co-fund and co-invest in that [SMB] segment and we will gladly listen and gladly work with you. ... we've invested in large partners. We've invested in small partners. And we are going to continue to invest in the SMB market. If we've got partners that feel that they can help us reach the SMB space, please give us a call."

***

I know this to be true. I know partners who work with HP in this capacity.

Is HP Doing What IKON Does?

HP Broadens Portfolio of Imaging and Printing Solutions for Enterprise Customers


HP today announced five new printing solutions – ranging from check printing security to document capture – to address the security and manageability needs of its enterprise customers.

Troy, Captaris, Standard Register, SafeCom, Kofax, OmTool and ReadSoft are a few of the existing HP partners.


With all this - perhaps HP CAN compete with IKON. The next move could be HP picking up some Ricohs MP9000's or iMageRunner 7105s' to fill the gaps in the product line, eh?

HP Funds New CDW Effort To Target SMB Accounts

Looks like HP is still trying to get a "big Channel" - Yet, is it in printing...

According to a memo "leaked" or obtained by Everything Channel, HP is co-funding "...110 new HP-only CDW sales people selling HP products into accounts with 499 or fewer employees..."

The list will be created by comparing D&B's customer list against existing HP Direct, HP channel partners and CDW customers resulting in more than "500,000 net new customers for CDW to target..."

According to a memo from CDW Executive Vice President Jim Shanks the alliance is set move forward next month and running full-out by year's end.

"We are taking our HP partnership to the next level with a new CDW-HP Alliance team. CDW plans to add 110 salespeople who will specialize in selling HP servers, storage, notebooks, desktops, printing and imaging."- Jim Shanks, Executive Vice President, CDW.

**

I don't know how or even if this will influence the Managed Print Service(IPG) side.

It looks interesting - HP has been denied a larger channel(IKON, Global, and Danka) so they may "partner" up with a big Box-Mover in Distribution - Squeezing the smaller printing VAR.

I imagine that the better VAR's would not see this as a real threat - HP can fund and train "500" sales reps, it won't make a difference.

How can you sell Value (the "V" in "VAR") on your butt, over the phone?

Things are changing.

What next? An across the board, 5% price increase in supplies?

Selling and U of M Football

107,501 people - Human Thunder

Managed Print Services and The Corporate Culture

2008

"No Way are you taking MY LaserJet...no way"

Change - "They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself." - Andy Worhol

Over the past few weeks I have visited many differentbusinesses looking at all sorts of different copier fleets and business situations.

Some common threads with all of the studies are:

1. The requirements of the users are far under the capacity of the machines they are using.

2. Facilities and I.T. are working together, opposed to shifting to one unique department.

3. Corporate culture: End User response is very favorable to "new" ideas and specifically, new equipment - yet they still attached to their "personal" output devices.

Point one is a no-brainer; except for true, high volume applications, general business departments, are using "more machine then needed".

Point two is a more of a revelation. I expect most print/MFP fleet decisions to be made uniquely by the I.T. department. In some cases this is true. But I have been surprised to see Both Facilities(or purchasing) and I.T. working together on the Pre-Implementation. This is not a bad thing.

This has been quite refreshing, and at the same time, very dynamic. When I see this, it tells me that the client has thought through the basic issues surrounding print management and somehow recognizes the importance of have both influences at the table.

Point three is an "oldie but a goody" - if end users have a printer in their office or cube, they do not want to see it go away. This is a challenging aspect for employers and is dealt with in a variety of ways, depending on the culture of the company.

Just a little information from the field, HMHO...

You might like these:

Managed Print Services - Everybody Sells

I.T. and Facilities and Your Copier

The Second Most Important Tool in Managed Print Services

What risks do I have if I mention my employer on my blog?

2008 -

I posed this question on my LinkedIn... What risks do I have if I mention my employer on my blog? I blog within the industry I work. In my profile, I mention my employer and in some posts, I mention what it is that I do for my company. Is there a Taboo that shouldn't be mentioned? And if I submit a post on another blog and in my signature I mention my employer, do I need the employer to review first? 

The responses have been excellent. 

"Greg, If you are worried about the risks, you are most probably not a risk taker. Simply don't." - Pieter Dorsman ----- 

 "Greg, I struggled with this concept for some time and sought counsel from some of my friends. I came to similar conclusions as everyone else here. 

 

1) I have a disclaimer on my site. 

2) I do not name names of internal associates, share financial information or anything that would be considered "sacred". 

3) I notified my company's President regarding the site as both notice for consent as well as exposure to new media options. 

4) I am very proud of my company and have purposefully aligned myself with this company due to their cultural outlook being very similar to my own. 

These lead to very productive information, I feel, being present in my posts from:

1) real-world experience, and 

2) true passion and belief. Like Corey said, if you don't have anything positive to say - don't say it if you are skeptical. I like what Nick said also. -Ken Stewart ----- 

"I would say that if you have nothing good to say, don't say it. They can't come after you if you say something on your personal time and personal web property if you don't mention their name or even allude to them. 

They'll never say anything about your efforts if you are positive about them. I think that if your employer requires a review of all that you do then you are working for the wrong employer. Let me ask this... if you are in front of a customer talking, do you first consult with your boss about what you are saying to them?" -Corey Smith -----