When Ai in Copiers Starts to Smell Like Toner Hype

A field-level response to Ai whitewashing in copier sales: two new tools help reps cut through the hype and sell outcomes, not slogans.

I’ve been in this business long enough to recognize a pattern. Every few years, the industry dusts off old features, slaps on a new label, and calls it a revolution. Remember how Managed Print Services was supposed to change everything? It could have—but instead it was gutted by over-promises, vendor spin, and a race to the bottom on clicks and toner.

Now it’s happening again with Ai.

I recently read a marketing piece claiming Ai is “transforming” copiers and printers. The examples were familiar: predictive maintenance, scan-to-workflow routing, toner optimization, and centralized fleet reporting. Good features, but hardly new. They’ve been in the field for years, only now they’re being paraded around under the Ai banner.

Is Atlanta the Next Hotbed for Office Ready Robots™?

HotLanta

The copier hum has been Atlanta’s office soundtrack for decades. Dealers like EDGE Business Systems earned trust by keeping that hum alive, dispatching techs, swapping drums, fixing misfeeds. Reliable, repeatable work. But the market is shifting. Copier and printer demand is stabilizing rather than shrinking in many mature markets. Globally, the copier category is projected to grow at roughly 3.9 percent annually through 2031 to about 19.7 billion dollars, according to Transparency Market Research. Dealers are still looking for new revenue streams as page volumes shift and refresh cycles lengthen.

Office Ready Robots™ built by companies like Quasi are not factory arms or warehouse rigs. They are mobile machines tuned for offices, lobbies, hospitals, and campuses. These robots fit into the same service and leasing model that copier dealers already run. They roam with cameras and sensors, carry supplies, escort guests, and handle routine runs. Like copiers, they require parts, service, consumables, and updates, capabilities Atlanta dealers already provide.

New to Copier Sales: How to Sell in the Land of Technology Run Amok

In the years I’ve been writing on The Imaging Channel, we’ve seen the rise and fall of managed print services.  We’ve witnessed the assimilation of dozens, if not hundreds, of small dealers into megalithic, demigod resellers. The move into managed IT, water delivery, EV charging stations, and a brief flirtation with 3D printing.  We’ve tasted the thrill of victory and experienced the agony of defeat.

Here we are once again.

"From ‘New Selling’ to Now: 2008 Blueprint Reimagined for the 2025 Copier Market"

By Celeste Dame

Prolog

Back in February 2008, Greg wrote a piece called "The New SalesPerson - Acumen". 

When I first read it, I knew it was more than another sales article. It was a call to reset how selling should feel and function. Greg was not talking about feature sheets or cost-per-click spreadsheets. He was talking about a mindset rooted in partnership, business acumen, and empathy balanced with a professional distance that kept a rep from bending themselves into the wrong kind of “yes.”

I kept that article the way you keep a compass. 

When the Inbox Fails, the Door Still Opens for Copier Reps

In a sales world flooded with automation and Ai, knocking on a door is no throwback. It is the most direct way left to cut through the noise and get remembered.

Art Post nailed it. His blog, When Emails Bounce and Calls Go Cold — Knock on the Door, isn’t nostalgia for a lost era of selling. It is a blunt reminder for anyone who thinks the road to quota is paved entirely in clicks, Ai-generated sequences, and automated drip campaigns. The man laced up, walked into an electrical company cold, left with a real conversation, then strolled into a law office and uncovered a lease expiration that email would have never surfaced. Two walk-ins. Two live opportunities.

That’s not “back in my day.” That’s how you win right now.

Celeste "The Last Copier Sales Trainer You'll Ever Need"

You’ve Been Lied To

Sales “training” in our industry?

Mostly useless.

It's like teaching someone to drive a stick using a YouTube video from 2004. Sure, it technically shows you what to do. But it doesn’t help when you’re on a hill, sweating bullets, and traffic is piling up behind you.

Let’s talk about the lies you’ve been sold:

📢 The Copier Is Dead. Long Live the Android.

- By Celeste

Somewhere, an MFP sits idle. Dusty. Forgotten. Printed 14 pages last month, one of them a Costco coupon.

Meanwhile, a humanoid robot is onboarding new hires, delivering toner, and answering service questions in fluent Ai.

We’ve reached the crossover moment.