What’s the difference? It depends on who you ask.
In recent months there have been a number of blog postings focused on the subject of TCO (total cost of ownership) for MPS opportunities. In most cases the author’s belief is focusing on TCO, and not on CPP, is the best way to distinguish yourself from your competition. Most articles will compared the components of both CPP and TCO, and some will suggest that CPP programs only focus on supplies, parts and service and TCO focuses on all the true costs of managing the fleet: Items like paper, IT support, network cost, etc.
The articles/post/presentations usually conclude with, those who focus on TCO are looking at the whole picture and are perceived more favorably as business consultants/advisors, differentiating them from the competition, therefore ultimately winning more lucrative MPS opportunities.
In theory I would agree that the broader your viewpoint, i.e. assessment and review, the more positive you should be perceived by the prospects you are focused on ,and in doing so, you might increase your chances for signing more MPS agreements. The problem I have with most of the postings is that the basis of comparison is very short-sighted when it comes to what is included in a CPP and too broad when you focus on their definition of TCO.
If you are looking at a transactional CPP (device basis), it will most likely include only supplies, service and parts, and the comparison would be accurate. But, if you take this basis and compare it to costs related to managing a fleet of devices, it is not an accurate assessment. You are comparing apples to oranges.
For those who are familiar with the Strategy Development’s MPS model, as clients or through our workshops, you know that the focus of the assessment in an MPS opportunity is identifying and quantifying all expenses directly attributed to the managing of the fleet of devices that you will assume when the prospect moves forward with your proposal. It is fleet based, it captures toner usage, service expense, parts, acquisition costs, maintenance, inventory carrying costs, obsolescence, and IT support. It focuses on capturing all expenses related to the services you will assume when the contract is signed.
In turn you convert the sum of these expenses to a CPP, so your prospect has a clear understanding as to the cost of producing a document in their organization. In fact you are capturing the TCO (minus paper). You do not focus on expenses that are not impacted through the implementation of this outsource agreement. For example, paper and network costs are two expenses that are consistently mentioned as costs that should be included in the TCO. I disagree with this belief.
The reason paper is not included is pretty straight forward. It is difficult to monitor or control, it is a commodity that adds very little, if any, value to the agreement, and it is not going away. In fact more of it may disappear before it ever gets into the printing device, making pilferage a real challenge to control, so why would you want to include it?
Including the costs of the network might not be as straight forward as paper. Even though printers drain network resources (Information Week says that 55% of network traffic is attributed to printers) the reasons you should not include it in your analysis are 1) you are not assuming the responsibility for the network, 2) the infrastructure and cost are not going away at the time a MPS program is implemented, 3) attempting to capture something that is not going away and you are not assuming responsibility for, will add significant time to your sales cycle and possibly decrease your chances of getting the deal. Yes, it might distinguish you from the competition but will this distinction secure the opportunity and will the prospect provide their costs for this knowing that you are not taking over this responsibility? I think not.
In summary, if you follow the Strategy Development model and identify and propose your opportunity on a fleet based, blended CPP you are in fact providing your prospect with an analysis of all the services and expenses you are assuming (i.e. costs directly associated with managing the fleet of printers). What more do you need? This is a TCO for the services you will provide. Why would you see a need to take it further?
Monday, September 27, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Strategy Development Launches Strategic Selling Course
Web-Based or Onsite Training for Beginning and Intermediate Sales Professionals
Strategy Development is launching a strategic selling course designed for beginning and intermediate sales professionals. This course is available as an eight-week webinar series, with the first term starting Monday, October 25, 2010, or as an on-site, two-day workshop.
The most successful sales professionals possess solid skills in every aspect of the sales process. Undoubtedly, each individual on your sales team has strengths in certain areas. Formal education in a repeatable sales process will take them to new levels. This strategic selling training will reduce turnover and facilitate an increase in sales, including not only traditional hardware, but color, software and services.
The program is a comprehensive workshop in sales fundamentals that will develop and improve abilities for new account penetration, as well as selling more products and services into current accounts. Attendees will learn time and territory management; business acumen and decision maker motivations; prospecting; questioning and listening skills; initial sales call and presentation skills, proposal writing fundamentals, proficiency in negotiation, account planning and customer retention; as well as about maintaining the relationship.
Click here for a brief overview video of the class.
David Ramos, a sales operations consultant with Strategy Development, developed the curriculum and will lead the educational experience. David has over 15 years of experience in sales, sales management, and sales training development in the imaging industry. David was a top producing business development manager in both the U.S. and Mexico whose experience spans selling leading edge technologies, strategic marketing, and key account management.
In a pilot class, Rob Sloan, Vice President of Sales at OASYS, Inc. said, “My sales team and I came away feeling that the time was well spent. Some of the areas we found most beneficial were prospecting techniques, managed print services, presentation skills, and color opportunities and applications in today’s marketplace. The content was relevant to our industry today and provided information that my reps could use in the field right away. We look forward to your next visit.”
Kelly McDonald of Advanced Office Systems had this to say, “It was very, very, very beneficial. One of my main reluctances to pipeline management and territory management was lack of education. I entered all of my potential prospects/leads and it is great to see how much potential revenue I have coming in over the next year. I hope I can attend more of your workshops soon! I think Advanced Office Systems will now become Advanced AWESOME Systems.”
Strategy Development also offers a three-month training & coaching experience for your sales team. The program begins with individual and team assessments and goal setting. It incorporates instructor led training, coaching, self-study, and application assignments that address the unique strengths and challenges of the team.
Online and on-site each has its’ advantages. Reps can learn in one-hour weekly intervals that require no travel or time out of the field. Alternatively, experience the interactivity of breakout groups, exercises, and role-plays along with the top-notch presentations in a two-day on-site class. Custom classes can also be designed for your specific needs based upon subject matter and duration.
For more information, or to register please reach out to David at ramos@strategydevelopment.org.
Strategy Development is launching a strategic selling course designed for beginning and intermediate sales professionals. This course is available as an eight-week webinar series, with the first term starting Monday, October 25, 2010, or as an on-site, two-day workshop.
The most successful sales professionals possess solid skills in every aspect of the sales process. Undoubtedly, each individual on your sales team has strengths in certain areas. Formal education in a repeatable sales process will take them to new levels. This strategic selling training will reduce turnover and facilitate an increase in sales, including not only traditional hardware, but color, software and services.
The program is a comprehensive workshop in sales fundamentals that will develop and improve abilities for new account penetration, as well as selling more products and services into current accounts. Attendees will learn time and territory management; business acumen and decision maker motivations; prospecting; questioning and listening skills; initial sales call and presentation skills, proposal writing fundamentals, proficiency in negotiation, account planning and customer retention; as well as about maintaining the relationship.
Click here for a brief overview video of the class.
David Ramos, a sales operations consultant with Strategy Development, developed the curriculum and will lead the educational experience. David has over 15 years of experience in sales, sales management, and sales training development in the imaging industry. David was a top producing business development manager in both the U.S. and Mexico whose experience spans selling leading edge technologies, strategic marketing, and key account management.
In a pilot class, Rob Sloan, Vice President of Sales at OASYS, Inc. said, “My sales team and I came away feeling that the time was well spent. Some of the areas we found most beneficial were prospecting techniques, managed print services, presentation skills, and color opportunities and applications in today’s marketplace. The content was relevant to our industry today and provided information that my reps could use in the field right away. We look forward to your next visit.”
Kelly McDonald of Advanced Office Systems had this to say, “It was very, very, very beneficial. One of my main reluctances to pipeline management and territory management was lack of education. I entered all of my potential prospects/leads and it is great to see how much potential revenue I have coming in over the next year. I hope I can attend more of your workshops soon! I think Advanced Office Systems will now become Advanced AWESOME Systems.”
Strategy Development also offers a three-month training & coaching experience for your sales team. The program begins with individual and team assessments and goal setting. It incorporates instructor led training, coaching, self-study, and application assignments that address the unique strengths and challenges of the team.
Online and on-site each has its’ advantages. Reps can learn in one-hour weekly intervals that require no travel or time out of the field. Alternatively, experience the interactivity of breakout groups, exercises, and role-plays along with the top-notch presentations in a two-day on-site class. Custom classes can also be designed for your specific needs based upon subject matter and duration.
For more information, or to register please reach out to David at ramos@strategydevelopment.org.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Scarcity of Empties Causes Big Problems For Remanufacturers
By Charles Brewer
For the remanufacturing industry, a reliable supply of high-quality, empty cartridges is essential. Simply put: without a good source of empties, there can be no “remanufacturing.” For a variety of reasons, however, the supply of empties is drying up. The situation is serious and has already resulted in spot shortages and price increases. And it’s bound to only get worse.
All the complicated physics and chemistry involved in electrophotographic printing make remanufacturing toner cartridges technically challenging. Precision toners must be matched and qualified with various components like imaging drums and fusing units to get a reconditioned cartridge to work properly. If the toners and components don’t work flawlessly every time, it will be glaringly apparent in the output--especially if it’s a color job.
While the stuff that goes into a refurb cartridge is critical to its performance, the most precious raw material is the empty cartridge itself. The best empties are OEM cartridges that are used once, properly repackaged when depleted, and then returned for remanufacturing. Because these so-called “virgin empties”--or “virgin cores”-- have never been remanufactured, they retain the characteristics of a brand new cartridge. After remanufacturing, cores begin to deteriorate and parts no longer line up like they did originally so remanufacturers always try to use virgin cores. If not, there can be problems. The risk of toner leakage increases, for example, and the tolerances are less precise making it more difficult for components to perform properly.
Recent gains in market share by the remanufacturing industry has played a big part in the draining of the empties pool. The recession sent customers looking for less expensive consumables, and many turned to remans as an alternative to expensive OEM products. Sales of new OEM cartridges plunged, which reduced the number of empties entering the pool. Demand for remans was further fueled by ill-timed price increases by virtually all OEMs in late 2007 and early 2008. Then, various OEMs encountered logistical problems that led to OEM cartridge shortages, which further limited the number of new empties entering the supply of cores. The net result was that demand for remanufactured cartridges exploded just as the availability of empties dropped because OEMs were having an assortment of difficulties selling new cartridges.
Beyond the growing popularity of remanufactured cartridges, there are other factors at play limiting empties availability. For years, empties brokers kept remanufacturers supplied with virgin cores but that business has been encroached upon. Since the middle of the decade, OEMs and large remanufactures have successfully established their own large-scale collection programs and increasingly they’ve marginalized brokers. Supplies vendors--OEM and non-OEM alike--have have been able to woo the brokers‘ suppliers especially those in the channels. They’ve done a pretty good job “closing the loop” on spent cartridges, and while they are still far from 100%, the number of exhausted inkjet and toner cartridges being reclaimed by individual OEMs and remanufacturers is growing. Millions of cores that were once available to the remanufacturing industry at large through brokers are now being captured and retained for the exclusive use of only a few large companies.
OEMs have always put a lot of time and energy into collecting empty cores to keep them out of the hands of their archrivals, the remanufacturers. Every empty they collect is potentially one fewer remanufactured cartridge an OEM has to sell against. Because of the terms of their contracts, copier OEMs always had an advantage and could leverage their dealer channels and service technicians to get back empties. Because printers are sold outright, however, it wasn’t as easy for printer OEMs to get their empties back. For years, HP had collection rates of less than 50%, although I’m sure that has changed. HP has grown increasingly active in collections. It has partnered with Staples, for example, to collect empties at the office superstore’s retail outlets. The OEM also has opened separate inkjet and toner cartridge facilities to process millions of empties so the plastics can be recycled.
Thanks to its Prebate program, Lexmark has been perhaps the printer OEM most successful at getting its empties back. The firm has achieved return rates in excess of 80%. Through the program, which is now known as “Use and Return,” if a customer agrees to return the empty at the time of purchase, Lexmark provides a discounted price on certain replacement cartridges. Using a “shrink wrap” agreement commonly featured on software packaging, opening the box and using the cartridge creates a binding legal contract guaranteeing Lexmark gets its empty back.
Not only are the end users legally bound to return their Prebate cartridges, for years Lexmark contended that the deal extended its rights as a patent holder. The company claimed the Prebate contract under U.S. Patent law meant remanufacturing Prebate cartridges violated Lexmark’s intellectual property. Although remanufacturers scrupled with Lexmark’s interpretation of patent law, most were unwilling to risk a lawsuit so Lexmark retained the majority of the cartridge market for machines using Prebate replacement cartridges. Then, after years of legal wrangling, a U.S. federal district court determined in 2008 that the Prebate contract did not extend Lexmark’s patent rights, although the court indicated that the agreement satisfied the requirements of a binding contract. The firm says its Use and Return program is very popular with customers and they continue to honor the contract and return their empties.
As I mentioned earlier, large remanufacturers are also collecting empties by the millions. Take, for example, Clover Technologies. According to Golden Gate Capital, a private-equity group that purchased the remanufacturer in April, Clover has annual revenue in excess of $450 million. It is the largest remanufacturer in North America, perhaps in the world. Clover is a supplier of private-label products to wholesalers, distributors, and retailers and is believed to be a key vendor to office superstores including Staples and Office Depot. The relationships with the various channels provide Clover with the opportunity to collect a lot of empties. The company says it collects over 60 million spent cartridges each year and claims to be the industry’s “largest collector and remanufacturer of empty cartridges.”
In addition to collection programs run by OEM and non-OEM supplies vendors, U.S. patent law is also restricting the supply of cores in this country for remanufacturing. Under what is referred to as the “repair doctrine,” a cartridge can be repaired--or remanufactured--without violating any patents. This concept was worked out in the U.S. courts in the 1990s and it’s what keeps the remanufacturing industry out of legal troubles. Over the past eight years or so, however, the courts have added a wrinkle to the doctrine. They’ve ruled that the patent holder rights are only exhausted if the first sale of a product occurs within the U.S. If instead a cartridge is first sold outside of the country and is later remanufactured and sold in the U.S., the remanufacturer and its distributors have then violated any patents originally covering the cartridge. Strange but true!
Because case law has significantly changed the concept of patent right exhaustion after the first sale, the supply of empties that can be remanufactured and sold in the U.S. has been dramatically reduced. The change means that no empties can be imported and remanufactured for sale in the U.S. OEMs are vigilantly monitoring third-party supplies vendors to make sure none of them refill empties first purchased overseas and resell them in the U.S. Epson has already successfully sued a number of remanufacturers and their distributors for doing just that with empty Epson ink cartridges that were sold abroad. In August, Lexmark filed suit against 24 companies for selling or remanufacturing toner cartridges first sold outside of the country and imported for sale in the U.S.
The scarcity of empty cores has had an adverse impact on the remanufacturing industry. Supply and demand has driven core prices into the stratosphere. Depending on the SKU, some cores can cost 300 X what they cost several years ago--if you can get the core at all. Sensing growing desperation, some unscrupulous firms with injection-molding capabilities are offering “new plastic,” which are empty clone cores that trample on OEM IP and are direct knock-offs of the original cartridge.
It remains to be seen how the dire empties situation be resolved. For sure, it will force empties-starved firm to outsource production. So more small remanufacturers in the U.S. will change business models and become distributors, a trend that has been ongoing for years. In addition, big players will need to invest in their own programs and cozy up to firms in the channels that have access to empties. I would expect that more large remanufacturers will gobble up brokers, another trend that has been ongoing. And you can bet there will be more lawsuits--and plenty of them. Beyond those givens, it’s interesting to speculate. Could empties become so valuable that OEMs allow some cores to flow to a select few that are willing to pay a premium? Will the cost differential between legitimately remanufactured cartridges and OEM supplies close? If so, what happens to the remanufacturers’ value proposition? Or will the price of all consumables continue to rise? Only time will tell!
Charles Brewer is the President of Actionable Intelligence, a market research firm based outside of Boston, MA that follows the digital imaging hardware and consumables industry. Brewer previously served as Managing Editor for Lyra Research, a company which collaborates with imaging industry decision-makers worldwide, enabling clients to strengthen their market position and achieve profitable growth, where he wrote and managed a monthly newsletter.
For the remanufacturing industry, a reliable supply of high-quality, empty cartridges is essential. Simply put: without a good source of empties, there can be no “remanufacturing.” For a variety of reasons, however, the supply of empties is drying up. The situation is serious and has already resulted in spot shortages and price increases. And it’s bound to only get worse.
All the complicated physics and chemistry involved in electrophotographic printing make remanufacturing toner cartridges technically challenging. Precision toners must be matched and qualified with various components like imaging drums and fusing units to get a reconditioned cartridge to work properly. If the toners and components don’t work flawlessly every time, it will be glaringly apparent in the output--especially if it’s a color job.
While the stuff that goes into a refurb cartridge is critical to its performance, the most precious raw material is the empty cartridge itself. The best empties are OEM cartridges that are used once, properly repackaged when depleted, and then returned for remanufacturing. Because these so-called “virgin empties”--or “virgin cores”-- have never been remanufactured, they retain the characteristics of a brand new cartridge. After remanufacturing, cores begin to deteriorate and parts no longer line up like they did originally so remanufacturers always try to use virgin cores. If not, there can be problems. The risk of toner leakage increases, for example, and the tolerances are less precise making it more difficult for components to perform properly.
Recent gains in market share by the remanufacturing industry has played a big part in the draining of the empties pool. The recession sent customers looking for less expensive consumables, and many turned to remans as an alternative to expensive OEM products. Sales of new OEM cartridges plunged, which reduced the number of empties entering the pool. Demand for remans was further fueled by ill-timed price increases by virtually all OEMs in late 2007 and early 2008. Then, various OEMs encountered logistical problems that led to OEM cartridge shortages, which further limited the number of new empties entering the supply of cores. The net result was that demand for remanufactured cartridges exploded just as the availability of empties dropped because OEMs were having an assortment of difficulties selling new cartridges.
Beyond the growing popularity of remanufactured cartridges, there are other factors at play limiting empties availability. For years, empties brokers kept remanufacturers supplied with virgin cores but that business has been encroached upon. Since the middle of the decade, OEMs and large remanufactures have successfully established their own large-scale collection programs and increasingly they’ve marginalized brokers. Supplies vendors--OEM and non-OEM alike--have have been able to woo the brokers‘ suppliers especially those in the channels. They’ve done a pretty good job “closing the loop” on spent cartridges, and while they are still far from 100%, the number of exhausted inkjet and toner cartridges being reclaimed by individual OEMs and remanufacturers is growing. Millions of cores that were once available to the remanufacturing industry at large through brokers are now being captured and retained for the exclusive use of only a few large companies.
OEMs have always put a lot of time and energy into collecting empty cores to keep them out of the hands of their archrivals, the remanufacturers. Every empty they collect is potentially one fewer remanufactured cartridge an OEM has to sell against. Because of the terms of their contracts, copier OEMs always had an advantage and could leverage their dealer channels and service technicians to get back empties. Because printers are sold outright, however, it wasn’t as easy for printer OEMs to get their empties back. For years, HP had collection rates of less than 50%, although I’m sure that has changed. HP has grown increasingly active in collections. It has partnered with Staples, for example, to collect empties at the office superstore’s retail outlets. The OEM also has opened separate inkjet and toner cartridge facilities to process millions of empties so the plastics can be recycled.
Thanks to its Prebate program, Lexmark has been perhaps the printer OEM most successful at getting its empties back. The firm has achieved return rates in excess of 80%. Through the program, which is now known as “Use and Return,” if a customer agrees to return the empty at the time of purchase, Lexmark provides a discounted price on certain replacement cartridges. Using a “shrink wrap” agreement commonly featured on software packaging, opening the box and using the cartridge creates a binding legal contract guaranteeing Lexmark gets its empty back.
Not only are the end users legally bound to return their Prebate cartridges, for years Lexmark contended that the deal extended its rights as a patent holder. The company claimed the Prebate contract under U.S. Patent law meant remanufacturing Prebate cartridges violated Lexmark’s intellectual property. Although remanufacturers scrupled with Lexmark’s interpretation of patent law, most were unwilling to risk a lawsuit so Lexmark retained the majority of the cartridge market for machines using Prebate replacement cartridges. Then, after years of legal wrangling, a U.S. federal district court determined in 2008 that the Prebate contract did not extend Lexmark’s patent rights, although the court indicated that the agreement satisfied the requirements of a binding contract. The firm says its Use and Return program is very popular with customers and they continue to honor the contract and return their empties.
As I mentioned earlier, large remanufacturers are also collecting empties by the millions. Take, for example, Clover Technologies. According to Golden Gate Capital, a private-equity group that purchased the remanufacturer in April, Clover has annual revenue in excess of $450 million. It is the largest remanufacturer in North America, perhaps in the world. Clover is a supplier of private-label products to wholesalers, distributors, and retailers and is believed to be a key vendor to office superstores including Staples and Office Depot. The relationships with the various channels provide Clover with the opportunity to collect a lot of empties. The company says it collects over 60 million spent cartridges each year and claims to be the industry’s “largest collector and remanufacturer of empty cartridges.”
In addition to collection programs run by OEM and non-OEM supplies vendors, U.S. patent law is also restricting the supply of cores in this country for remanufacturing. Under what is referred to as the “repair doctrine,” a cartridge can be repaired--or remanufactured--without violating any patents. This concept was worked out in the U.S. courts in the 1990s and it’s what keeps the remanufacturing industry out of legal troubles. Over the past eight years or so, however, the courts have added a wrinkle to the doctrine. They’ve ruled that the patent holder rights are only exhausted if the first sale of a product occurs within the U.S. If instead a cartridge is first sold outside of the country and is later remanufactured and sold in the U.S., the remanufacturer and its distributors have then violated any patents originally covering the cartridge. Strange but true!
Because case law has significantly changed the concept of patent right exhaustion after the first sale, the supply of empties that can be remanufactured and sold in the U.S. has been dramatically reduced. The change means that no empties can be imported and remanufactured for sale in the U.S. OEMs are vigilantly monitoring third-party supplies vendors to make sure none of them refill empties first purchased overseas and resell them in the U.S. Epson has already successfully sued a number of remanufacturers and their distributors for doing just that with empty Epson ink cartridges that were sold abroad. In August, Lexmark filed suit against 24 companies for selling or remanufacturing toner cartridges first sold outside of the country and imported for sale in the U.S.
The scarcity of empty cores has had an adverse impact on the remanufacturing industry. Supply and demand has driven core prices into the stratosphere. Depending on the SKU, some cores can cost 300 X what they cost several years ago--if you can get the core at all. Sensing growing desperation, some unscrupulous firms with injection-molding capabilities are offering “new plastic,” which are empty clone cores that trample on OEM IP and are direct knock-offs of the original cartridge.
It remains to be seen how the dire empties situation be resolved. For sure, it will force empties-starved firm to outsource production. So more small remanufacturers in the U.S. will change business models and become distributors, a trend that has been ongoing for years. In addition, big players will need to invest in their own programs and cozy up to firms in the channels that have access to empties. I would expect that more large remanufacturers will gobble up brokers, another trend that has been ongoing. And you can bet there will be more lawsuits--and plenty of them. Beyond those givens, it’s interesting to speculate. Could empties become so valuable that OEMs allow some cores to flow to a select few that are willing to pay a premium? Will the cost differential between legitimately remanufactured cartridges and OEM supplies close? If so, what happens to the remanufacturers’ value proposition? Or will the price of all consumables continue to rise? Only time will tell!
Charles Brewer is the President of Actionable Intelligence, a market research firm based outside of Boston, MA that follows the digital imaging hardware and consumables industry. Brewer previously served as Managing Editor for Lyra Research, a company which collaborates with imaging industry decision-makers worldwide, enabling clients to strengthen their market position and achieve profitable growth, where he wrote and managed a monthly newsletter.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
David Factor, Former OKI Channel Manager, Named Director of Business Development
We are pleased to announce that David Factor has joined the firm as Director of Business Development. In this role, David will lead the growth efforts at Strategy Development.
Factor has an extensive background in the imaging industry having spent 18 years at Oki Data Americas, most recently as National Sales Director. In this role, Factor developed business plans and strategies to enter the MFP business in 2004 and provided executive sales leadership for development of OKI’s managed print services strategy. Factor held numerous positions of increasing responsibility at OKI including district sales manager and national sales manager of the fax division prior to his role as national sales director.
“David Factor is well respected in the BTA and VAR channels having a long history of helping the dealer/reseller channel grow,” said Tom Callinan, managing principal of Strategy Development. “David knows the channel, understands how to help dealers/resellers grow revenue and profitability, and will be a significant asset in helping Strategy Development reach the many companies that have reached out to us for our consulting and training expertise. I am excited to have David join the firm as Director of Business Development.”
“I am thrilled to be joining the strongest team of consultants in the imaging business,” commented David Factor. “Having been exposed to the Strategy Development team members in the past, I know there is no better group at growing top and bottom line business results and their position as the industry leading MPS consultancy, the most notable growth strategy in years, is exciting. I also look forward to seeing many of my old dealer friends from the OKI days.”
David can be contacted at (908) 336-8147or factor@strategydevelopment.org.
Factor has an extensive background in the imaging industry having spent 18 years at Oki Data Americas, most recently as National Sales Director. In this role, Factor developed business plans and strategies to enter the MFP business in 2004 and provided executive sales leadership for development of OKI’s managed print services strategy. Factor held numerous positions of increasing responsibility at OKI including district sales manager and national sales manager of the fax division prior to his role as national sales director.
“David Factor is well respected in the BTA and VAR channels having a long history of helping the dealer/reseller channel grow,” said Tom Callinan, managing principal of Strategy Development. “David knows the channel, understands how to help dealers/resellers grow revenue and profitability, and will be a significant asset in helping Strategy Development reach the many companies that have reached out to us for our consulting and training expertise. I am excited to have David join the firm as Director of Business Development.”
“I am thrilled to be joining the strongest team of consultants in the imaging business,” commented David Factor. “Having been exposed to the Strategy Development team members in the past, I know there is no better group at growing top and bottom line business results and their position as the industry leading MPS consultancy, the most notable growth strategy in years, is exciting. I also look forward to seeing many of my old dealer friends from the OKI days.”
David can be contacted at (908) 336-8147or factor@strategydevelopment.org.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
BTA MPS Sales and BTA Sales Management Training Classes Scheduled for October in New Orleans
Strategy Development is conducting the award winning BTA Managed Print Services (MPS) Sales Workshop on October 11-12, followed by the BTA Sales Management Workshop on October 13-14, in New Orleans, LA at the JW Marriott.
BTA MPS Sales workshop teaches sales leaders (dealership principals, sales managers, vice presidents of sales, and print specialists) a systematic and proven methodology to establish and maintain a profitable MPS program. Uncover new revenue streams, significantly increase the quantity of captured prints, lock in customers, enable differentiation from competitors, and, ultimately, sell more hardware. Tom Callinan and Ed Carroll, will lead this course. Topics covered in the workshop include: understanding the print space (the opportunity, IT's involvement, the sales approach and target markets); getting the appointment; presenting a value proposition; how to conduct an assessment; developing a strategy and tactics; how to build a print management proposal that sells; pricing a print management contract; how to expand the opportunity after the sale; and preparing for quarterly business reviews.
Become your customer’s "single source" for optimizing printed pages and the hardware used to produce them. Your customer enjoys eliminating the need to deal with multiple vendors and invoices, leveraging the benefits of a holistic view of their entire document output fleet, saving time and money, while improving efficiencies.
Jerry Ehrhardt of TLC Office Systems recently attended this class and said, “This is a good training class with educational substance. The instructors were very informative and knowledgeable. It has provided me a process I can implement with ease.”
Rich Fryman of ABS Business Products commented, “Tom and Ed didn’t waste time on worthless information. They were able to recognize that some information was good to have however did not need to go over it, which saved time to cover and stay on the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the class.”
BTA Sales Management Workshop, led by Ed Carroll, is two full days of how to improve sales effectiveness, reduce turnover and drive market share gains. Regardless of if, you are a new sales manager or have been managing for decades, this course provides a framework, process and tools to develop and refine your approach. The combination of a classroom setting for the theory and interactive breakout sessions to learn how to implement these tactics is a proven recipe for success.
Learn how to build effective sales teams, on boarding and training, designing individual development plans, territory design and management, account planning and penetration, quality field time, effective forecasting, as well as MPS and equipment pipeline growth.
Ron Rasberry of Advanced Office Systems said, "There are very few industry-specific workshops available today that focus on sales management. Perhaps this is because there are very few trainers and consultants around who have weathered the storm of change that our industry continually goes through. The Strategy Development team 'gets it.' They know what the 21st-century model dealership, sales manager, and strategic industry directions look like. More importantly, they are able to deliver this knowledge along with specific measurable performance standards that I believe every independent dealership can implement and expect to see improved business results."
Melanie Boyes of Blue Technologies commented, “I know I will double my productivity, activity and pipeline growth within eighteen months, if not sooner.”
Tom and Ed have not been taught the material; they developed it, and lived it firsthand. When not in the classroom, they are consulting for clients, so the content is always in proper alignment with current and impending trends.
For more information on the course, instructors, or to register for class, please click here for BTA MPS Sales Workshop or click here for BTA Sales Management. As a special note, BTA members may use their $250 coupons if booked on or before Friday, Sept. 24, 2010.
BTA MPS Sales workshop teaches sales leaders (dealership principals, sales managers, vice presidents of sales, and print specialists) a systematic and proven methodology to establish and maintain a profitable MPS program. Uncover new revenue streams, significantly increase the quantity of captured prints, lock in customers, enable differentiation from competitors, and, ultimately, sell more hardware. Tom Callinan and Ed Carroll, will lead this course. Topics covered in the workshop include: understanding the print space (the opportunity, IT's involvement, the sales approach and target markets); getting the appointment; presenting a value proposition; how to conduct an assessment; developing a strategy and tactics; how to build a print management proposal that sells; pricing a print management contract; how to expand the opportunity after the sale; and preparing for quarterly business reviews.
Become your customer’s "single source" for optimizing printed pages and the hardware used to produce them. Your customer enjoys eliminating the need to deal with multiple vendors and invoices, leveraging the benefits of a holistic view of their entire document output fleet, saving time and money, while improving efficiencies.
Jerry Ehrhardt of TLC Office Systems recently attended this class and said, “This is a good training class with educational substance. The instructors were very informative and knowledgeable. It has provided me a process I can implement with ease.”
Rich Fryman of ABS Business Products commented, “Tom and Ed didn’t waste time on worthless information. They were able to recognize that some information was good to have however did not need to go over it, which saved time to cover and stay on the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the class.”
BTA Sales Management Workshop, led by Ed Carroll, is two full days of how to improve sales effectiveness, reduce turnover and drive market share gains. Regardless of if, you are a new sales manager or have been managing for decades, this course provides a framework, process and tools to develop and refine your approach. The combination of a classroom setting for the theory and interactive breakout sessions to learn how to implement these tactics is a proven recipe for success.
Learn how to build effective sales teams, on boarding and training, designing individual development plans, territory design and management, account planning and penetration, quality field time, effective forecasting, as well as MPS and equipment pipeline growth.
Ron Rasberry of Advanced Office Systems said, "There are very few industry-specific workshops available today that focus on sales management. Perhaps this is because there are very few trainers and consultants around who have weathered the storm of change that our industry continually goes through. The Strategy Development team 'gets it.' They know what the 21st-century model dealership, sales manager, and strategic industry directions look like. More importantly, they are able to deliver this knowledge along with specific measurable performance standards that I believe every independent dealership can implement and expect to see improved business results."
Melanie Boyes of Blue Technologies commented, “I know I will double my productivity, activity and pipeline growth within eighteen months, if not sooner.”
Tom and Ed have not been taught the material; they developed it, and lived it firsthand. When not in the classroom, they are consulting for clients, so the content is always in proper alignment with current and impending trends.
For more information on the course, instructors, or to register for class, please click here for BTA MPS Sales Workshop or click here for BTA Sales Management. As a special note, BTA members may use their $250 coupons if booked on or before Friday, Sept. 24, 2010.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Frank Gaspari Looks to Separate FlexPrint from the MPS Clutter
By Scott Cullen
Frank Gaspari, CEO of FlexPrint, a national provider of document management and managed print solutions, is a straight shooter. Ask him a question and he doesn’t mince words. If you’re a copier dealer, copier manufacturer, or an MPS provider with a thin skin, you might want to stop right here and find something else to do because if you continue reading, Gaspari may say something that will ruffle your feathers.
There’s no denying Gaspari’s a successful entrepreneur and FlexPrint has enjoyed 700 percent year-over-year growth since its founding in 2005. No wonder the company was recently ranked by Inc. magazine as the 423rd fastest growing company in the nation. Prior to FlexPrint, Gaspari founded Column Office Equipment in Chicago in the early ‘90s. That company also made it onto the Inc. 500 before being acquired by Global Imaging Systems in 1999. Next up for Gaspari was a print management company, Image Manufacturing, which was also acquired by Global Imaging Systems.
Although FlexPrint started as a managed print services company, it does so much more than that. Strategically that makes a lot of sense because Gaspari is not a fan of the term, ‘managed print services’. We’ll give him an opportunity to explain an opinion, which borders on heresy in the document management world, later. In addition to its home base in Phoenix, Arizona, FlexPrint has more than 100 employees, offices in Los Angeles and Chicago, and supports hundreds of customers in 45 markets across the country.
How’s business?
Gaspari: Awesome, we’re growing, man. Business through the first six months is up a little over 40 percent compared to last year.
Who are your customers?
Gaspari: We have more than 300 customers coast to coast in every vertical industry. We focus on best in class companies with 200 to 30,000 employees, a lot of devices, and multiple locations. We’re not interested in doing business with the doctor’s office next door or ABC company that has five copiers and 10 printers. That’s not our business model. We want to engage with people where we can make a measurable impact and that’s typically an organization with a lot of devices and multiple locations, and who need a consultant to help manage this piece of the business.
Why do customers like doing business with Flexprint?
Gaspari: They choose us for our value proposition and our people.
When you say, ‘value proposition,’ what do you mean by that?
Gaspari: It’s different for every client. We’re not a managed print services company. We’re not a copier company. We’re what the customer’s pain and need dictates. We do a good job of analyzing what’s going on within their organization, understanding their business, and understanding what they need. We don’t have a cookie-cutter type of business model. I think some clients are more in tune with cost savings, so we can help customers there. Some are looking for process improvement, so we can help there. Some are focused on green initiatives and we can help them there. Some are interested in eliminating unnecessary discretionary printing, and we can help them there. And some of our customers are interested in all those things.
Who are your competitors?
Gaspari: We have all sorts of competitors. To be honest with you, there’s a clutter of me-too companies. There’s a clutter of people that want to simply move devices and a clutter of people that want to get into the space. A lot of the people who are getting into the space are grossly uneducated and they’re just diving into it because they’re being told that’s what they have to do. There are the copier people who are figuring out how to get into this space and some big VARs getting into this space. We’re not perfect, but I think we’re a few steps ahead of the clutter. And I put most in the clutter. That’s who we deal with every day.
What did you learn from your experience as an office equipment dealer that was helpful when starting FlexPrint?
Gaspari: What I learned was no matter how you spin it, copiers are a commodity and everybody sells the relationship and the service, and it’s all about price. What I saw happening before starting FlexPrint was printers popping up all over the place, and that gave me an opportunity to present a managed print program. What I learned from those two things is that you truly have to do what you say you’re going to do. You have to take a consultative approach and that means you don’t have any distractions as it relates to equipment, manufacturer relationships, quotas, any of that “stuff” that’s going to drive you to a decision that isn’t customer focused.
You don’t like to use the term managed print. Is that because it’s a buzz word that everybody’s using or is it too limiting?
Gaspari: Both of those reasons. It puts us in the bucket with everybody else. When we started, we were a managed print services company, but we don’t want to be in that bucket now because we do so much more than everyone else.
What is the biggest challenge of doing what you do, especially since you’re doing so much more than managed print?
Gaspari: As managed print continues to grow and become a bigger and bigger industry, separating ourselves on the initial phone call and the initial meeting from the clutter. It’s very difficult to do over the phone. Five years ago when we started no one was talking about this and it was a lot easier to get a meeting. Today, everyone is talking about it, they’re doing this, this, and this, and they’re stealing from somebody’s Website and this is the value proposition and the customer is like, ‘I’ve heard ten of these pitches, I’m not interested.’
Our biggest challenge is continuing to reinvent ourselves and bring measurable new value propositions to our customers to stay ahead of the clutter. Not just from a marketing perspective, but from a measurable, tangible results driven base to the customer. When you say, ‘What do we do for our customers?’ We do a lot of things. I would tell you that part of my job, which is completely different from what it was when I was with a copier company, is strategizing the space and looking at what else I can do to add more value to my customers. That’s a big deal because I have to stay ahead of the clutter. I have to bring them more value, measurable value, and that’s a challenge. One person I really depend onto assist me in this area is Tom Callinan of Strategy Development. Tom is a great resource for me and I seek his advice on many major decisions.
Tell me a little more about the environmental component you bring to the table?
Gaspari: The reality is it’s not a marketing line on a brochure or something we just talk about with no measurable deliverable for the customer. We’ve been talking about the green impact for the last three years. Number one is educating the customer about the amount of waste that goes into this part of their business as it relates to sustainability. Some customers don’t care. For some customers a green initiative is saving money. To educate them we have to show them how we can drive results. ‘If you’re interested in having a more sustainable, greener environment, this is what it means and here’s how we can deliver that for you.’ That continues to change and evolve as new technology comes to the table.
A lot has to do with paper reduction. Part of that value proposition, which is an oxymoron for a company that gets paid whenever you print, is eliminating print volume within our customers if they’re interested. Some don’t care about eliminating print, like a law firm because they’re billing back for everything. But some customers with a lot of discretionary printing are interested in a measurable program that eliminates printing year over year.
Where did the concept for going off in this all encompassing direction and starting Flexprint come from?
Gaspari: Before I started this I took a little time off to analyze my previous businesses and what I wanted to do. It came from two things; I looked at the market place and I knew that my biggest competition would be the status quo. I left Chicago to start this 2,000 miles away in Arizona—new people, new market, and there was no one else doing this—but I realized there was a huge opportunity for the right type of company.
Back then it was an aggressive company, forward thinking—one that would engage with a company like us. Part of it was, I saw the opportunity with my years of experience in this space and I knew it would be a lot harder from the perspective, it’s not a commodity, it’s not something you’re used to doing now, so you’re going to have to beat it home real hard, but as long as you have the right business model and value proposition, it could be done.
The other thing, aside from being a profitable business model, which as an entrepreneur you have to have, the other thing is the customer experience in this space is a great thing. Because of what we do and the relationship you have with them is not always bliss, but for the most part it’s a great relationship. It’s like selling a yacht; they love you versus selling a bunch of copiers or toner or whatever the hell you’re doing because you do a great service for them. In a company like us that prides ourselves in doing what we say we’re going to do, that was important to me. After 16 years of owning two companies, it wasn’t just about the money. I really wanted to do something that I enjoy doing every day.
How do you see your business growing over the next three to five years?
Gaspari: I recently hired a President and COO that freed up my time and now my focus is on really driving the business. It’s going to be difficult, but I believe with our real strong back end in 30-36 months from now we’ll be twice the size in revenue.
Beyond that any other thoughts on how Flexprint will change during the next 30-36 months?
Gaspari: We’ll definitely change. If we don’t, we’re not going to double our sales. We’ll add more components to our value proposition and probably get further away from managed print services, not that we won’t be associated with it. We’ve got to be because there are more people searching that [online], but our challenge is finding real measurable ways to add more value in the document output space within the client’s infrastructure. That will be the biggest change.
Scott Cullen has been covering the office equipment industry since 1986. Scott is Publisher/Editorial Director for Imaging Solutions Reseller; Editorial Director/Managing Editor for OfficeSOLUTIONS and OfficeDEALER; Editor for PC Solutions; and a contributing writer and Editor for Independent Dealer, OFDA, Mercer Business, ENX, BERTL’s iTchat, Repro Report.
Frank Gaspari, CEO of FlexPrint, a national provider of document management and managed print solutions, is a straight shooter. Ask him a question and he doesn’t mince words. If you’re a copier dealer, copier manufacturer, or an MPS provider with a thin skin, you might want to stop right here and find something else to do because if you continue reading, Gaspari may say something that will ruffle your feathers.
There’s no denying Gaspari’s a successful entrepreneur and FlexPrint has enjoyed 700 percent year-over-year growth since its founding in 2005. No wonder the company was recently ranked by Inc. magazine as the 423rd fastest growing company in the nation. Prior to FlexPrint, Gaspari founded Column Office Equipment in Chicago in the early ‘90s. That company also made it onto the Inc. 500 before being acquired by Global Imaging Systems in 1999. Next up for Gaspari was a print management company, Image Manufacturing, which was also acquired by Global Imaging Systems.
Although FlexPrint started as a managed print services company, it does so much more than that. Strategically that makes a lot of sense because Gaspari is not a fan of the term, ‘managed print services’. We’ll give him an opportunity to explain an opinion, which borders on heresy in the document management world, later. In addition to its home base in Phoenix, Arizona, FlexPrint has more than 100 employees, offices in Los Angeles and Chicago, and supports hundreds of customers in 45 markets across the country.
How’s business?
Gaspari: Awesome, we’re growing, man. Business through the first six months is up a little over 40 percent compared to last year.
Who are your customers?
Gaspari: We have more than 300 customers coast to coast in every vertical industry. We focus on best in class companies with 200 to 30,000 employees, a lot of devices, and multiple locations. We’re not interested in doing business with the doctor’s office next door or ABC company that has five copiers and 10 printers. That’s not our business model. We want to engage with people where we can make a measurable impact and that’s typically an organization with a lot of devices and multiple locations, and who need a consultant to help manage this piece of the business.
Why do customers like doing business with Flexprint?
Gaspari: They choose us for our value proposition and our people.
When you say, ‘value proposition,’ what do you mean by that?
Gaspari: It’s different for every client. We’re not a managed print services company. We’re not a copier company. We’re what the customer’s pain and need dictates. We do a good job of analyzing what’s going on within their organization, understanding their business, and understanding what they need. We don’t have a cookie-cutter type of business model. I think some clients are more in tune with cost savings, so we can help customers there. Some are looking for process improvement, so we can help there. Some are focused on green initiatives and we can help them there. Some are interested in eliminating unnecessary discretionary printing, and we can help them there. And some of our customers are interested in all those things.
Who are your competitors?
Gaspari: We have all sorts of competitors. To be honest with you, there’s a clutter of me-too companies. There’s a clutter of people that want to simply move devices and a clutter of people that want to get into the space. A lot of the people who are getting into the space are grossly uneducated and they’re just diving into it because they’re being told that’s what they have to do. There are the copier people who are figuring out how to get into this space and some big VARs getting into this space. We’re not perfect, but I think we’re a few steps ahead of the clutter. And I put most in the clutter. That’s who we deal with every day.
What did you learn from your experience as an office equipment dealer that was helpful when starting FlexPrint?
Gaspari: What I learned was no matter how you spin it, copiers are a commodity and everybody sells the relationship and the service, and it’s all about price. What I saw happening before starting FlexPrint was printers popping up all over the place, and that gave me an opportunity to present a managed print program. What I learned from those two things is that you truly have to do what you say you’re going to do. You have to take a consultative approach and that means you don’t have any distractions as it relates to equipment, manufacturer relationships, quotas, any of that “stuff” that’s going to drive you to a decision that isn’t customer focused.
You don’t like to use the term managed print. Is that because it’s a buzz word that everybody’s using or is it too limiting?
Gaspari: Both of those reasons. It puts us in the bucket with everybody else. When we started, we were a managed print services company, but we don’t want to be in that bucket now because we do so much more than everyone else.
What is the biggest challenge of doing what you do, especially since you’re doing so much more than managed print?
Gaspari: As managed print continues to grow and become a bigger and bigger industry, separating ourselves on the initial phone call and the initial meeting from the clutter. It’s very difficult to do over the phone. Five years ago when we started no one was talking about this and it was a lot easier to get a meeting. Today, everyone is talking about it, they’re doing this, this, and this, and they’re stealing from somebody’s Website and this is the value proposition and the customer is like, ‘I’ve heard ten of these pitches, I’m not interested.’
Our biggest challenge is continuing to reinvent ourselves and bring measurable new value propositions to our customers to stay ahead of the clutter. Not just from a marketing perspective, but from a measurable, tangible results driven base to the customer. When you say, ‘What do we do for our customers?’ We do a lot of things. I would tell you that part of my job, which is completely different from what it was when I was with a copier company, is strategizing the space and looking at what else I can do to add more value to my customers. That’s a big deal because I have to stay ahead of the clutter. I have to bring them more value, measurable value, and that’s a challenge. One person I really depend onto assist me in this area is Tom Callinan of Strategy Development. Tom is a great resource for me and I seek his advice on many major decisions.
Tell me a little more about the environmental component you bring to the table?
Gaspari: The reality is it’s not a marketing line on a brochure or something we just talk about with no measurable deliverable for the customer. We’ve been talking about the green impact for the last three years. Number one is educating the customer about the amount of waste that goes into this part of their business as it relates to sustainability. Some customers don’t care. For some customers a green initiative is saving money. To educate them we have to show them how we can drive results. ‘If you’re interested in having a more sustainable, greener environment, this is what it means and here’s how we can deliver that for you.’ That continues to change and evolve as new technology comes to the table.
A lot has to do with paper reduction. Part of that value proposition, which is an oxymoron for a company that gets paid whenever you print, is eliminating print volume within our customers if they’re interested. Some don’t care about eliminating print, like a law firm because they’re billing back for everything. But some customers with a lot of discretionary printing are interested in a measurable program that eliminates printing year over year.
Where did the concept for going off in this all encompassing direction and starting Flexprint come from?
Gaspari: Before I started this I took a little time off to analyze my previous businesses and what I wanted to do. It came from two things; I looked at the market place and I knew that my biggest competition would be the status quo. I left Chicago to start this 2,000 miles away in Arizona—new people, new market, and there was no one else doing this—but I realized there was a huge opportunity for the right type of company.
Back then it was an aggressive company, forward thinking—one that would engage with a company like us. Part of it was, I saw the opportunity with my years of experience in this space and I knew it would be a lot harder from the perspective, it’s not a commodity, it’s not something you’re used to doing now, so you’re going to have to beat it home real hard, but as long as you have the right business model and value proposition, it could be done.
The other thing, aside from being a profitable business model, which as an entrepreneur you have to have, the other thing is the customer experience in this space is a great thing. Because of what we do and the relationship you have with them is not always bliss, but for the most part it’s a great relationship. It’s like selling a yacht; they love you versus selling a bunch of copiers or toner or whatever the hell you’re doing because you do a great service for them. In a company like us that prides ourselves in doing what we say we’re going to do, that was important to me. After 16 years of owning two companies, it wasn’t just about the money. I really wanted to do something that I enjoy doing every day.
How do you see your business growing over the next three to five years?
Gaspari: I recently hired a President and COO that freed up my time and now my focus is on really driving the business. It’s going to be difficult, but I believe with our real strong back end in 30-36 months from now we’ll be twice the size in revenue.
Beyond that any other thoughts on how Flexprint will change during the next 30-36 months?
Gaspari: We’ll definitely change. If we don’t, we’re not going to double our sales. We’ll add more components to our value proposition and probably get further away from managed print services, not that we won’t be associated with it. We’ve got to be because there are more people searching that [online], but our challenge is finding real measurable ways to add more value in the document output space within the client’s infrastructure. That will be the biggest change.
Scott Cullen has been covering the office equipment industry since 1986. Scott is Publisher/Editorial Director for Imaging Solutions Reseller; Editorial Director/Managing Editor for OfficeSOLUTIONS and OfficeDEALER; Editor for PC Solutions; and a contributing writer and Editor for Independent Dealer, OFDA, Mercer Business, ENX, BERTL’s iTchat, Repro Report.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
An SOS from AOS Raises the Performance of its Service Operation to the Next Level
By Scott Cullen
Ask any office equipment dealer what sets them apart from competitors or why customers like doing business with them and service will inevitably be one of the first things mentioned. Having an efficient service operation is critical to the success of every office technology dealership, including American Office Solutions (AOS) in Clarklake, Michigan.
Founded in 1969, AOS serves Lansing, Jackson, Adrian, and the surrounding areas and has a reputation for placing customers first. True, that’s something most dealerships claim to do too, but AOS consistently delivers on that promise.
“When AOS makes a commitment, whether it’s price of new equipment, service or a solution, we live up to that commitment,” says AOS President & CEO Ted McEldowney. “There are no surprises, no hidden costs, no fees. We do what we say we’re going to do for the price agreed upon.”
The company offers the obligatory selection of office technology with its primary vendors Sharp and HP. Understanding that an office technology dealership can’t survive on hardware alone, AOS also offers an array of services and is a HP certified printer servicing dealership.
As important as service is to AOS, and as good a job as AOS was doing, it was clear to McEldowney that it could do much better. They didn’t have written procedures for technicians to follow, nor did they have performance guidelines for technicians, both important for creating a top-notch service organization.
“The biggest obstacle was confirming the daily actions and job descriptions of our service staff from the delivery person to the service manager to make sure that the quality of service was at the highest standard possible,” explains McEldowney.
The writing was clearly on the wall that improvements were in order based on the data AOS was getting back from BEI Services, a provider of copier and service department benchmarking solutions.
“As we reviewed some of the reports from our ERP as well as NEXTGEN, Lacrosse, and MWAi, we found we didn’t know which reports were important to us and our goal of improving service for our clients as well as the profitability of our service operation,” recalls McEldowney.
Once these issues were confirmed in black and white, McEldowney realized he needed outside help to get his service operation back on track. He turned to Strategy Development who came in and showed AOS which measurable reports to use and assisted them in creating a total call procedure, which when followed correctly greatly improved the quality of service. In addition, Strategy Development helped define technician job responsibilities as well as implement a formal performance management process focusing on continuous improvement.
“They made it very easy by creating an action plan for us to follow,” adds McEldowney. "The plan includes all the reports and documentation to support that decision with a description of how all this information should flow together daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annually.”
Sharing information and progress with service techs was also instrumental in moving things in the right direction.
“We worked with dispatch and the service techs by showing them the reports we were getting from NEXTGEN and BEI so they were aware of how their time was being accounted for,” says McEldowney. “Once we showed our techs what reports we were going to use to measure their performance, the improvements began immediately and every tech is still moving their numbers in the right direction.”
For McEldowney the most helpful recommendation he received was to focus on the total call procedure. Part of that involved sending AOS’s service manager into the field to follow techs on random calls.
“Our service manager was in the office because our ownership thought that’s where he needed to be,” notes McEldowney. “We were wrong. With our service manager in the field two days a week, he gets an opportunity to hear directly from our clients what they really think about our service.”
That feedback isn’t always positive, but McEldowney says it is better knowing than not knowing.
“Now we can fix things,” he says.
Implementing these changes was a cultural change for techs and for the most part the reaction was positive.
“We have a great group of techs and all have recognized that there are going to be changes, and fortunately some of the immediate changes showed improvements right away, so it wasn’t hard to get them to buy into our improved service department plan.”
That’s not to say it wasn’t a challenge. The biggest was making techs aware of how valuable their time is.
“The culture change has gone really well because everyone has bought into the new culture, from our delivery person, to our facilities manager, to our field technicians, to dispatch, and most important, our service manager,” says McEldowney.
Updating the dealership’s other managers—sales and administration—on the progress of the service department has also helped so when good things happen, it’s recognized within the entire company, which makes the service team feel even better about the job they’re doing.
Customers found this new approach to service positive as well.
“This is funny because it’s rare that a client contacts us directly to tell us how well our service techs did repairing a copier/MFP,” says McEldowney. “Since implementing these new strategies, we’ve had more than 10 clients in the past six weeks take time out of their day to contact us via e-mail, phone, or at a business meeting and tell us about their experience with our service. To us that’s a great start.”
The expectation is that this will increase AOS’s level of support on every call, which will then translate into a longer business relationship.
With a whole new attitude and approach to service, AOS is well prepared for future success and truly set themselves apart from competitors from a service perspective.
“We now have more tools to measure performance, spot trends, and make good decisions based on what we see happening through our daily report activity,” states McEldowney. “We pride ourselves on these improvements and it’s our plan to make sure we use all the tools to the fullest. In addition, the timing for AOS was perfect because we were able to implement many of these service tasks, goals, procedures, and measures as we continue to improve our MPS strategy.”
Scott Cullen has been covering the office equipment industry since 1986. Scott is Publisher/Editorial Director for Imaging Solutions Reseller; Editorial Director/Managing Editor for OfficeSOLUTIONS and OfficeDEALER; Editor for PC Solutions; and a contributing writer and Editor for Independent Dealer, OFDA, Mercer Business, ENX, BERTL’s iTchat, Repro Report.
Ask any office equipment dealer what sets them apart from competitors or why customers like doing business with them and service will inevitably be one of the first things mentioned. Having an efficient service operation is critical to the success of every office technology dealership, including American Office Solutions (AOS) in Clarklake, Michigan.
Founded in 1969, AOS serves Lansing, Jackson, Adrian, and the surrounding areas and has a reputation for placing customers first. True, that’s something most dealerships claim to do too, but AOS consistently delivers on that promise.
“When AOS makes a commitment, whether it’s price of new equipment, service or a solution, we live up to that commitment,” says AOS President & CEO Ted McEldowney. “There are no surprises, no hidden costs, no fees. We do what we say we’re going to do for the price agreed upon.”
The company offers the obligatory selection of office technology with its primary vendors Sharp and HP. Understanding that an office technology dealership can’t survive on hardware alone, AOS also offers an array of services and is a HP certified printer servicing dealership.
As important as service is to AOS, and as good a job as AOS was doing, it was clear to McEldowney that it could do much better. They didn’t have written procedures for technicians to follow, nor did they have performance guidelines for technicians, both important for creating a top-notch service organization.
“The biggest obstacle was confirming the daily actions and job descriptions of our service staff from the delivery person to the service manager to make sure that the quality of service was at the highest standard possible,” explains McEldowney.
The writing was clearly on the wall that improvements were in order based on the data AOS was getting back from BEI Services, a provider of copier and service department benchmarking solutions.
“As we reviewed some of the reports from our ERP as well as NEXTGEN, Lacrosse, and MWAi, we found we didn’t know which reports were important to us and our goal of improving service for our clients as well as the profitability of our service operation,” recalls McEldowney.
Once these issues were confirmed in black and white, McEldowney realized he needed outside help to get his service operation back on track. He turned to Strategy Development who came in and showed AOS which measurable reports to use and assisted them in creating a total call procedure, which when followed correctly greatly improved the quality of service. In addition, Strategy Development helped define technician job responsibilities as well as implement a formal performance management process focusing on continuous improvement.
“They made it very easy by creating an action plan for us to follow,” adds McEldowney. "The plan includes all the reports and documentation to support that decision with a description of how all this information should flow together daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annually.”
Sharing information and progress with service techs was also instrumental in moving things in the right direction.
“We worked with dispatch and the service techs by showing them the reports we were getting from NEXTGEN and BEI so they were aware of how their time was being accounted for,” says McEldowney. “Once we showed our techs what reports we were going to use to measure their performance, the improvements began immediately and every tech is still moving their numbers in the right direction.”
For McEldowney the most helpful recommendation he received was to focus on the total call procedure. Part of that involved sending AOS’s service manager into the field to follow techs on random calls.
“Our service manager was in the office because our ownership thought that’s where he needed to be,” notes McEldowney. “We were wrong. With our service manager in the field two days a week, he gets an opportunity to hear directly from our clients what they really think about our service.”
That feedback isn’t always positive, but McEldowney says it is better knowing than not knowing.
“Now we can fix things,” he says.
Implementing these changes was a cultural change for techs and for the most part the reaction was positive.
“We have a great group of techs and all have recognized that there are going to be changes, and fortunately some of the immediate changes showed improvements right away, so it wasn’t hard to get them to buy into our improved service department plan.”
That’s not to say it wasn’t a challenge. The biggest was making techs aware of how valuable their time is.
“The culture change has gone really well because everyone has bought into the new culture, from our delivery person, to our facilities manager, to our field technicians, to dispatch, and most important, our service manager,” says McEldowney.
Updating the dealership’s other managers—sales and administration—on the progress of the service department has also helped so when good things happen, it’s recognized within the entire company, which makes the service team feel even better about the job they’re doing.
Customers found this new approach to service positive as well.
“This is funny because it’s rare that a client contacts us directly to tell us how well our service techs did repairing a copier/MFP,” says McEldowney. “Since implementing these new strategies, we’ve had more than 10 clients in the past six weeks take time out of their day to contact us via e-mail, phone, or at a business meeting and tell us about their experience with our service. To us that’s a great start.”
The expectation is that this will increase AOS’s level of support on every call, which will then translate into a longer business relationship.
With a whole new attitude and approach to service, AOS is well prepared for future success and truly set themselves apart from competitors from a service perspective.
“We now have more tools to measure performance, spot trends, and make good decisions based on what we see happening through our daily report activity,” states McEldowney. “We pride ourselves on these improvements and it’s our plan to make sure we use all the tools to the fullest. In addition, the timing for AOS was perfect because we were able to implement many of these service tasks, goals, procedures, and measures as we continue to improve our MPS strategy.”
Scott Cullen has been covering the office equipment industry since 1986. Scott is Publisher/Editorial Director for Imaging Solutions Reseller; Editorial Director/Managing Editor for OfficeSOLUTIONS and OfficeDEALER; Editor for PC Solutions; and a contributing writer and Editor for Independent Dealer, OFDA, Mercer Business, ENX, BERTL’s iTchat, Repro Report.
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