january 2009 office technology

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NATIONAL CONVENTION AND EXPO

Register at www.itexshow.com now!March 18-19, 2009 • North Hall 4 • Las Vegas Convention Center

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Measuring MPS Success

Using page share to

assess market potentialBy Darrell AmyDealer Marketing SystemsWhat is success in managed print services (MPS)?What is the scope of the opportunity? In preparationfor a recent presentation, I began to think about thesequestions strategically. In this article, I will present theresults of my findings.

2009’s Greatest Opportunities

Readers share expectations

& advice for the new yearby Brent HoskinsOffice Technology MagazineIn 2009, what do you believe will bethe greatest areas of opportunityfor dealers in the office technology industry? What doyou believe will be the best strategies for success inpursuing those opportunities? Recently, BTA’s Office

Technology magazine asked these questions of its read-ers via an e-mail survey. Among the many responsesreceived, the opportunities cited as the greatest for thenew year are varied.

4 | w w w . o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | J a n u a r y 2 0 0 9

CONTENTS

The A4 MFP

Will it become

a little giant?by Brent HoskinsOffice Technology MagazineToday, end-users in thegeneral office, accustomedto the attributes of anMFP, are often being askeda simple question: “Howoften do you print or copya document on 11 x 17-inch paper?” Frequently, theanswer is either “rarely” or “never.” Increasingly, ledger-less A4 MFPs are finding their way into the workplace.Have you aligned yourself with a vendor that will allowyou to take advantage of this opportunity?

Volume 15 � No. 7

17

10

20

F E A T U R E A R T I C L E S

InfoTrends’ ODS Conference

Group Director Reardon

shares industry megatrendsBy Brent HoskinsOffice Technology MagazineWith the primary goal of offering adetailed look at the current oppor-tunities in the office technology industry, marketresearch firm InfoTrends hosted its annual OfficeDocument Strategy Conference Nov. 12-13, 2008, inMahwah, N.J. The event drew approximately 100attendees representing hardware manufacturers, ISVsand dealerships. Group Director Jon Reardon openedthe conference with a “State of the Industry” address.

22 New Year’s Resolutions

Improving your business

& life in 2009by Robert C. GoldbergBTA General CounselDear New Year: It is me again,making several New Year’s resolu-tions on behalf of our members. I wrote you last year toask for consideration in the new year for the good busi-ness people I work with.

P R I N C I P A L I S S U E S

Trainer or Consultant?

Make the correct choice

& achieve successby Tom CallinanStrategy DevelopmentIt certainly makes sense to workwith trainers and consultants, butwhat is the difference? How do you determine whichdirection is best? I will start to answer these questionsby defining these two categories of professionals.

28

D E P A R T M E N T S

6

8

30

Executive Director’s Page

BTA President’s Message

Advertiser Index

Business Technology Association� Education Calendar

� Membership Application

� BTA Highlights

23

C O U R T S & C A P I T O L S

26

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Executive Director/BTAEditor/Office Technology

Brent [email protected]

(816) 303-4040

Associate EditorElizabeth Marvel

[email protected](816) 303-4060

Contributing WritersDarrell Amy, Dealer Marketing Systems

www.dealermarketingsystems.com

Tom Callinan, Strategy Developmentwww.strategydevelopment.org

Robert C. Goldberg, General Counsel Business Technology Association

Business Technology Association12411 Wornall Road

Kansas City, MO 64145(816) 941-3100

www.bta.org

Member Services: (800) 505-2821BTA Legal Hotline: (800) 869-6688

Valerie BrisenoMembership & Marketing Manager

[email protected]

Mary HopkinsDatabase Administrator

[email protected]

Teresa LeerarBookkeeper

[email protected]

Brian SmithMembership Sales Representative

[email protected]

©2009 by the Business Technology Association. All RightsReserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced by anymeans without the written permission of the publisher. Everyeffort is made to ensure the accuracy of published material.However, the publisher assumes no liability for errors in articlesnor are opinions expressed necessarily those of the publisher.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S PAGE

With the arrival

of 2009 and

considering

the current state of the

U.S. economy, it seemed

to me that this was a

good time to once again

do what BTA has done

for 82-plus years — facilitate dealers helping

dealers. Specifically, I reached out to Office

Technology readers seeking their views on

the greatest opportunities in the new year.

The hope, of course, is that each response

will serve as a source of guidance or confir-

mation for other dealers. In an e-mail survey,

I asked the following questions: “In 2009,

what do you believe will be the greatest

areas of opportunity for dealers in the office

technology industry? What do you believe

will be the best strategies for success in pur-

suing those opportunities?”

Following is a sampling of the responses:

� “A solid print management program

tied to network support and document

solutions to lock up the customer base. Use

of technology such as PrintFleet.” — Terry

Stock, Service Manager, Discovery Office

Systems, Santa Rosa, Calif.

� “The greatest opportunity in my opin-

ion is securing all of our customer’s print

volume uti lizing a print management

strategy. This gives you ultimate control of

the account.” — Keith Skiffington, Vice Presi-

dent of Operations, Office Interiors, Dieppe,

New Brunswick, Canada

� “ We will continue to trade up our

existing black-and-white clients to color. We

will continue to provide our print manage-

ment. We have always put service before

sales and that has resulted in more sales

over the long term. We have been in business

since 1941 and we continue to grow al-

though we are small by channel standards.”

— Melissa Buscher, General Manager, Busi-

ness Techs Inc., Twin Falls, Idaho

� “As we look toward 2009, we see print

management as the greatest area of opportu-

nity. We have had great success in the few

months we have ventured into this area and

look for even greater success in 2009. We see

the benefits of the ‘foot in the door’ made

easier using print management/solution

selling. We have experienced excellent recep-

tion from IT directors once we explain our

strategies in relieving them of the burden of

ordering supplies and worrying with printer

repairs. We can only see greater things

coming our way using this approach in 2009.”

— Ronnie Warren, Vice President of Technical

Services, Copiers Plus Inc., Fayetteville, N.C.

� “Helping customers recognize and

implement cost-saving solutions in the areas

of document output and management.

Budgets are tight. We can help reduce cost

and improve efficiency. Take advantage of the

changing distribution landscape by placing

an emphasis on the local, dependable, reli-

able dealer.” — Richard Maxwell, President

and CEO, OfficeWare Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio

� “Expense control/expense cutting pro-

grams. Asking clients to spend is difficult,

but talking to them about cutting expenses

gets their attention.” — Tom Minuti, General

Manager, Copy Products Digital Office Solu-

tions, Upper Darby, Pa.

� “The opportunities and challenges left

by Danka, IKON and Global.” — Chris Ras-

mussen, Controller, Applied Copier Concepts,

Greensboro, N.C.

Interested in reading responses from more

Office Technology readers? See page 17. �

— Brent Hoskins

What OpportunitiesAre You Targeting?


®

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BTA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Over the past 25

years I have been

the instructor for

the FIX: Cost Management

for Service Workshop. I just

returned from Las Vegas,

having taught 18 eager

attendees. Our class in-

cluded owners, a sales rep, a controller, an OEM

district service manager, working field techs and

service managers. With more than 300 years of

office equipment knowledge in the meeting

room, there was a great deal of idea sharing.

In addition to the regular material covered

in the FIX course, we have time scheduled to

talk about any issues the class wants to

discuss. The specific topic of how to allocate,

and actually pay for, the start-up cost of sup-

plies was brought up. Having a cross section

of employee types represented, there was a

lively discussion with a variety of opinions.

Using a Segment 3 or 4-enabled color

machine as a point of reference, the average

wholesale cost of the first set of supplies is

in the $1,000 range. This cost immediately

doubles to $2,000 if an extra set of supplies

is delivered with the equipment that is sold

under a CPC (all inclusive service and sup-

plies) agreement.

Our discussion included:

� Sales not wanting to pay for the supplies

that should be covered under the CPC.

� Service does not think it is fair to be

assessed the initial cost of supplies that will

take months of clicks to re-coop.

� The attending controller explained the

complexity of allocating cost to multiple cost

centers including: sales, leasing, service and

supply departments. Additionally, the $2,000

up-front supply cost invariably also had to

carry the cost of debt repayment.

� The owners felt they would have to

finance the cost of the supplies that often

took months or years to re-coop. In most

cases, the selling/leasing of a piece of equip-

ment did not create $2,000 of up-front profit.

� Someone should be in charge of training

the in-house employee(s) who takes orders

for CPC supplies. This clerk must understand

the many nuances of sending “free” supplies.

� Someone in a supervisory position

should be the gatekeeper of what is the

appropriate amount of supplies that should

be sent under a CPC agreement.

� Each supply order should require a

current meter reading on the equipment

that will be using the requested supplies.

� When using a print management

program covering dozens of machines,

supply usage and ordering usually reverts

back to the dealer.

� One service manager trains his field

service techs to actively monitor the amount

of supplies in a customer’s office. A supervisor

can then make the decision to have some of

the supplies retrieved by the tech or suspend

the sending of more supplies until an appro-

priate amount of clicks are paid for.

� Having black and color minimum base

charges is essential.

� One owner said his company had more

than $100,000 of unpaid CPC supply inven-

tory in the field.

As with many of the discussions in the

FIX seminar, there are no easy answers. Our

goal is to teach each FIX attendee how to

calculate the cost of each segment of his or

her business. Once the labor, supplies, over-

head and needed profit margins are deter-

mined, an individualized educated decision

can be made by each dealer. �

— Ronelle Ingram

FIX Provides OpenDialogue on Service

®

2008-2009 Board of Directors

PresidentRonelle Ingram

Steven Enterprises Inc.17952 Sky Park Circle

Ste. EIrvine, CA 92614

[email protected]

President-ElectBill James

WJS Enterprises Inc.3315 Ridgelake DriveMetairie, LA 70002

[email protected]

Vice PresidentRock Janecek

Burtronics Business Systems Inc.216 S. Arrowhead Ave.

P.O. Box 1170San Bernardino, CA [email protected]

BTA EastTom Ouellette

Budget Document Technology251 Goddard Road

P.O. Box 2322Lewiston, ME 04240

[email protected]

BTA Mid-AmericaMike Blake

Corporate Business Systems LLC6300 Monona DriveMadison, WI 53716

[email protected]

BTA SoutheastBob Smith

Copiers Plus Inc.408 Chicago Drive

Fayetteville, NC [email protected]

BTA WestGreg Valen

Hawaii Business Equipment Inc.Toshiba Business Solutions - Hawaii

590-A Paiea St.Honolulu, HI 96819

[email protected]

Ex-Officio/General CounselRobert C. Goldberg

Schoenberg Finkel Newman & Rosenberg LLC222 S. Riverside Plaza

Ste. 2100Chicago, IL 60606

[email protected]


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by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

The A4 MFPWill it become a little giant?

Today, end-users in the general

of f ice , accustom ed to th e

attributes of an MFP, are often

being asked a simple question: “How

often do you print or copy a document

on 11 x 17-inch paper?” Frequently the

answer is either “rarely” or “never.”

The result? Increasingly, ledger-less A4

MFPs are finding their way into the

workplace. Have you aligned yourself

with a vendor that will allow you to

take advantage of this opportunity?

It is an opportunity worth investi-

gating. After all, according to market

research firm IDC, in 2007 there were

1.58 million color and monochrome

A4 laser MFP shipments in the U.S. market (at press time,

IDC’s 2008 shipment estimates were being finalized). Keith

Kmetz, program vice president for IDC’s Hardcopy Solutions

and Services, says a comparison of the data and research for

the A3 market (MFPs capable of producing 11 x 17-inch

copies/prints) versus the A4 market reveals some important

findings: A4 color MFPs show the highest growth opportu-

nity ; A4 monochrome (both MFPs and printers) is the

biggest unit placement opportunity; A3 printers are a niche

market; and A3 MFPs are a legacy market, but facing A4

MFP competition. “Many businesses are currently in a state

of imbalance when it comes to their A3 usage and their A3

machines,” he says. “And many don’t know it.”

While end-users may not be specifically thinking about

the imbalance, manufacturers are giving it plenty of thought.

It appears that Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) may have been the

first to do so. Tom Codd, director of enterprise segment mar-

keting for HP, describes the 45-page-per-minute (ppm)

LaserJet 4345 A4 MFP, introduced about four years ago, as

the product that “disrupted” the market. “We took a step

back and said, ‘We’re going to design a

product from the ground up for the

way people actually use multifunction

devices,’ ” he says. “ Through our

research, we immediately found that

people do not print a lot of A3 (11 x 17-

inch documents) in the workplace. It is

typically less than 5 percent. I’ve heard

numbers as low as 3 percent of the

pages in the U.S. are 11 x 17.”

Upon identifying the meager de-

mand for 11 x 17-inch documents, HP

officials began to think about the cost

difference between an A3 and an A4

device, says Codd. “For the A3, you have

to have a wider fuser, wider chassis,

wider paper trays and wider paper path,” he says. “Just by

adding the capability for 11 x 17, you add a tremendous

amount of cost to the device.”

HP found significant success with the 4345. “We went

from basically 0 percent market share in Segment 4 to tying

for number one in that segment within 18 months,” says

Codd. “We’ve now seen devices from our competitors that

have taken the same approach, not only from the more tra-

ditional printer vendors, but also from the copier vendors.

When you start losing market share like some of these

vendors were with HP’s rollout of the 4345, it can get

people’s attention.”

Officials at Muratec America Inc. were among them. “At

the ITEX Show four years ago, we were introduced to the HP

LaserJet 4345,” says the company’s president, Jim D’Emidio.

“When we saw that, all of a sudden the paradigm shifted,

leading us to look at these devices a little differently. HP

went out and very quickly gained market share in Segment 4

with these A4 devices, not by replacing copiers, but by

replacing printers. That’s where we saw the need. We saw

Cover Story Jan 09:Cover Story Jan 09 1/6/09 11:25 AM

One program. One company. Countless opportunities.

Founded from an IBM heritage and based in Lexington, Kentucky, Lexmark is one of the few global companies to own, develop and market its own print technologies and solutions.

That’s why we’ve been able to develop the Lexmark Business Solutions Dealer (BSD) Program, a resource that provides offi ce equipment dealers with the tools for success. Every member gains access to exclusive pricing, programs and incentives necessary to aggressively compete and win. And, each participant receives unparalleled sales, service and business development support from a dedicated Lexmark team.

It’s just another way Lexmark is there to support your business with solutions that fi t your needs.

Visit us at ITEX on March 18 and 19 at Booth #113, or call us at 877.999.4360.

Lexmark and Lexmark with diamond design are trademarks of Lexmark International, Inc. registered in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. © 2007 Lexmark International, Inc. 740 New Circle Rd., Lexington, KY 40550.

“Lexmark has uniquely broadened our product line to allow us to be everything to our clients, including document management. The Lexmark team provides us support and hands-on implementation to ensure a successful partnership.”

June Crawford, President Copygraphix, Inc. Tuscon, AZ

56598_officetech_bta_ad.indd 1 1/5/09 4:50:10 PM

Lexmark ad Jan 09:Layout 1 1/5/09 4:10 PM Page 1

that there were a lot of end-

users w ho n eeded addi-

tional scanning or copying

capabilities, but didn’t want

to go to a traditional A3

copier in the mail room.”

Today, in addition to

various A3 MFPs, Muratec

has “eight or nine A4 MFPs,

depending on the configura-

tion,” says D’Emidio. “ We

don’t b elie ve that th e se

products are going to signif-

icantly take away from the traditional A3 workhorses that

are in most companies. Instead, we believe that the dealer

who walks by 50 printers to get to the copier should take a

more holistic approach with the customer, asking things

like: ‘Where are the pain points for the organization?’ and

‘Are there places where scanning, business color or other

MFP capabilities in an A4 are needed in the organization?’

The dealership then sells its A3 machine, but may place

three to five A4 MFPs as well.”

Phil Boatman, national sales manager for Lexmark Inter-

national Inc., offers a similar perspective. “We view our A4

MFPs as the perfect replacement for any of the aging work-

group single-function devices out there,” he says, noting that

Lexmark has three A4 models that are unique to the dealer

channel. “Our A4 MFPs fill out most dealers’ product lines

and give them an additional growth opportunity that they

didn’t have before.”

Boatman says some dealers view Lexmark’s A4 MFPs as

more than single-function printer replacements. “We have a

few dealers who believe we have brought out some ‘copier

killers,’” he says, citing, in particular, two models that offer

integrated finishing within the footprint of the device. So,

there are no add-on or external finishers.

“One of the models we recently brought out is a 55 ppm

black-and-white A4 MFP,” he continues. “It offers all of the

functionality of a traditional Segment 4, just minus the 11 x

17 capability. But, it is packaged in a very compact footprint.

It has a retail price point of about $3,799; a comparable tra-

ditional A3 MFP is usually more than double that.”

With some Lexmark dealers viewing the company’s A4

MFPs as copier killers and HP quickly achieving a Segment 4

leadership position with its A4 devices, it may be no wonder,

as HP’s Codd suggests, that traditional copier vendors are

reacting. “It is clearly a competitive response,” says Lou

Slawetsky, CEO of Industry

Analysts Inc. “If HP, possibly

Lexmark, and others had

not gone in this direction,

do I think Sharp and others

would have gone this way?

The answer is ‘no.’ I fully

believe that this is a com-

petitive response.”

Primarily, Slawetsky is

referring to the launch of

th e n ew S har p Frontier

Series A4 MFPs. The first

models in the new line began shipping in November. Mike

Marusic, vice president of marketing for Sharp Imaging and

Information Company of America, acknowledges the com-

petitive pressures referred to by Slawetsky, but says market

demand was a motivator for Sharp as well. It began, he says,

when focus group studies about four years ago revealed the

notable lack of demand for 11 x 17 document copying or

printing. Then, as Sharp worked on the development of the

Frontier Series, companies like HP and Lexmark began to

gain market share with the launch of A4 devices. “As we

moved from market demand toward launch, the competi-

tive pressure became critical,” he says. “So, it became pretty

clear to us, as we moved closer to launching a product, that

what was going to be an aggressive, proactive strategy

became a defensive strategy.”

Regardless of the scope of reasons for the launch of the

Frontier Series, Sharp officials see the new line as a signifi-

cant opportunity for dealers. “The dealer has an opportunity

to expand his or her business by a full third or half just by

placing these A4s, by going out and saying, ‘Everywhere that

I have a copier right now, I should go back to that customer

and see how many printers they have and then consolidate

those,’” he says. “Dealers need to be proactive with A4 and

say, ‘This is a huge opportunity.’ This side of the market is

two to three times the size of the A3 market.”

Despite the size of the opportunity, says Marusic, some

Sharp dealers were not initially enthusiastic when plans for

the A4 MFPs were first announced. “At our [2008] dealer

meeting, it was a very, very mixed reaction,” he says. “We had

dealers who are already into managed print services who

were ecstatic over the product line because they saw the

opportunity of driving everything under one Sharp umbrella.

There was also a very large segment of our dealer community

that said, ‘What is Sharp thinking in selling A4 products


“The dealer has anopportunity to expand hisor her business by a fullthird or half just by placing these A4s ...Dealers need to be proactive with A4 and say,‘This is a huge opportunity.’”

Mike Marusic, Sharp Imaging andInformation Company of America

Cover Story Jan 09:Cover Story Jan 09 1/6/09 11:25 AM Page 11

Your reps are focused. Their sights are set on replacing the high-volume A3 MFP at the end of the hall. While it’s important to focus on the high-profi t opportunities that A3 MFP’s represent, it’s critical to capture the profi t opportunities your reps are missing when making the mad dash down the hall.

With A4 (letter/legal only) solutions from Muratec you can create innovative document imaging solutions for individual workgroups, enabling you to capture all document traffi c within an account. This creates an additional revenue stream for your dealership without taking any focus away from traditional A3 placement opportunities.

Muratec has been producing innovative A4 MFP solutions for over 20 years. Our MFP’s provide reliable and cost-effective printing, copying, scanning and faxing. We even integrate with several leading document management providers to enable seamless, decentralized scanning and indexing into their software*.

And with the addition of the MFX-C4000 Professional Edition and MFX-C2500 Professional Edition, Muratec’s fi rst color MFP solutions, your customers can conveniently enhance their business-critical documents with color.

Start profi ting from A4 MFP solutions today. Please call 469.429.3481 or visit www.muratec.com.

MFX-C4000

MFX-C2500

Stay Focused on A3 Add Profi t with A4

New ProfitOpportunity




* ScanTag is available on select Muratec MFP’s and has been integrated with DocuWare, iDatix, SmartSearch and Sentryfi le. Please contact Muratec for updated integration information.

TraditionalFocus

Muratec ad Nov 08:Layout 1 10/22/08 3:33 PM Page 1

when A3 is our business?’

We got that message very

loud and clear.”

In response, Sharp hosted

a series of sessions through-

out the summer to educate

dealers about the A4 busi-

ness model, says Marusic.

“Coming out of that, they

had an entirely dif ferent

viewpoint,” he says. “ The

majority of our dealers are

now well on board.”

Among the positive attributes of the A4 line cited by

Marusic, shared by Sharp in the dealer education sessions:

By installing more MFPs — both A3 and A4 — in one loca-

tion, the cost of service drops, since the cost is spread over

more machines; while the Frontier Series MX models offer

dealer-replaceable consumables, the DX models offer user-

replaceable consumables, so that dealers have the option of

only addressing break/fix repairs, increasing the profitability

of maintenance contracts; and, while the A4 hardware cost

is less than a comparable A3, the supplies and service

revenue for the A4 MFP could remain the same as if the MFP

was A3.

Marusic recommends that as dealers first begin to sell A4

MFPs, they should start with existing customers and, as

suggested, focus on replacing single-function printers. “For

example, say you’ve placed 15 units in a business and

they’re all A3,” he says, noting that a company with 15 A3s

likely has about 150 A4 single-function printers from a

variety of sources. “You can go back in and say, ‘You really

only need about 40 to 50 printers. I can take about 100 of

your printers and put in 25 of these A4 MFPs. That will give

you added functionality, but they will be close enough to

your users that they won’t mind sharing a resource. And, by

the way, I ’m going to take out two of the A3 machines

because you won’t need them anymore.’

“It sounds like you’ve lost two A3 machines,” he continues.

“But, your net gain is a significant revenue increase because

of the A4 MFPs that you’ve installed and you’ve kept the cus-

tomer whole so that someone else doesn’t come in and

replace you completely.”

HP’s Codd says his company recommends a three-step

approach to selling and implementing A4 MFPs. The first

step, he says, is to optimize the customer’s infrastructure by

striving to get their printing assets under control. “In a lot of

organizations, they don’t

have any idea how many

personal printers that have

either been purchased by IT

or bought by an employee

who went across the street

to Office Depot,” he says.

“So, the first step is to come

in and help the customer

get their arms around the

printing infrastructure.”

The next step, says Codd,

is to help the customer man-

age the print environment, once the customer’s infrastruc-

ture has been optimized and the new recommended printer

fleet, which includes A4 MFPs, has been installed. Such

tools as WebJet Admin and the HP Universal Print Driver

facilitate print management. “We have had customers —

large accounts — with printers from 10 different vendors

and 300 different models, each one with its own driver,” he

says. “So, with an optimized infrastructure with HP devices

and the Universal Print Driver, huge amounts of support

costs are eliminated.”

Finally, recommends Codd, software-based solutions can

be recommended and instal led that provide for the

improvement of the customer’s business processes and

information workflow. By providing the customer such a

solution, they will have a “higher level of service than the

competitor down the street,” he says. “So, they can generate

more revenue because they are more efficient and can turn

things around more quickly.”

Codd emphasizes that A4 MFPs are ideal in most organi-

zations striving to optimize their printing infrastructure.

“What we are seeing, especially in large organizations, is

that you just can’t afford to have a printer on everybody’s

desk,” he says. “It is just too expensive since, typically, the

lower the speed and the lower the price point, the higher the

supplies cost. If everybody has printers, it becomes a very

expensive proposition. So, there is a huge potential cost

savings when you optimize the print infrastructure.”

For the dealership that has implemented a managed print

services strategy and is striving to optimize the customer’s

printing infrastructure, A4 MFPs are often a necessity, says

Slawetsky. “It is almost impossible to sell an 11 x 17 MFP into

an A4 environment [of single-function printers] that has

never used 11 x 17,” he says. “So, if you are going to consoli-

date printer assets into an MFP-based system — either


“... They don’t have anyidea how many personal printers that have eitherbeen purchased by IT or ...by an employee ... So, thefirst step is to come in andhelp the customer get theirarms around the printing infrastructure.”

— Tom CoddHewlett-Packard Co.

Cover Story Jan 09:Cover Story Jan 09 1/6/09 5:04 PM Page 12

SHARING IDEAS. CREATING A VISION.

MeetingsSDG is not a travel club where business owners travel to Five Star resorts, using business as an excuse. SDG is a business group that is serious about helping independent dealers profi tably grow their business. There is a Host Dealer for each meeting who can facilitate any extracurricular activities should a member decide to tie in a vacation along with the business meeting.

MembershipPeer groups have a number of advantages and benefi ts. Having the opportunity to network with individuals that have similar issues and

business experiences can be rewarding and save a whole lot of time and energy. SDG members attend three two day business meetings

per year, but have the opportunity to share success stories, problems and opportunities year round. With the changing dynamics in the offi ce

technology industry, membership in SDG provides a huge advantage over your competition.

The Select Dealer Group (SDG) is linked to the Business Technology Association (BTA), so membership in BTA is required. Although SDG was

formed only a few years ago, the group already includes dealers from many parts of the USA and the size of the dealerships vary. Due to the

sharing of sensitive information and innovative ideas, membership is limited to one dealer per market. Members pay an annual fee and are

required to pay their own transportation, hotel and expenses related to each meeting. They also participate in the confi dential annual fi nancial

survey which allows members to benchmark their performance and determine areas of strength and opportunities for improvement.

"The Model"Select Dealers have proven their commitment to implementing a sustainable, profi table business model using the ProFinance Model for success. To further support this, SDG has enlisted the services of John Hey and John Hanson of Strategic Business Associates to facilitate the in person meetings and help:

- Implement the Profi nance Business Model

- Learn and share with other dealers who are implementing "The Model"

- Stay abreast of tips and changes in the Model, as the industry evolves

- Help your dealership become and stay profi table

EducationRunning a dealership requires a number of skills, so SDG exposes members to speakers that have a wide variety of expertise in the offi ce technology industry and relevant business areas such as marketing, human resources and sales management. Members also have the opportunity to share ideas and strategies that they have successfully implemented in their own markets.

Additional BTA Benefi ts As a BTA member, benefi ts include free legal advice, shipping and freight discounts, car rental programs, access to relevant industry data and much, much more.

VISIT US ONLINE! www.selectdealergroup.org

Visit us online! www.selectdealergroup.org

SDG ad Jan 09:Layout 1 12/10/08 1:12 PM Page 1

printer-heritage or copier-

heritage — and all of the

printers that you are trying

to consolidate are A4, you

almost always have to have

an A4 MFP to fill the gap.”

D eal ers w ho have not

already done so should take

a lo ok at th e various A4

MFP options available on

the market. After all, the A4

MFP may become a little

gi ant in th e of f ice t e ch-

nology industry. “The A4 transition is happening; that was

debatable a few years ago,” says Lexmark’s Boatman. “We

think that A4 MFPs will continue to put pressure on the tra-

ditional 11 x 17 devices out there. They give end-users more

choices, especially as they are now more cost conscious in

terms of what they place in their offices to accomplish their

daily tasks.”

The opportunity is signifi-

cant, says Boatman. “The

data that we have looked at

suggests that there is greater

than a million-unit place-

ment opportunity just in the

A4 black-and-white MFP

category,” he says. “It is truly

one of the fastest growing

segments for MFPs. It repre-

sents a whole new strategy

for the independent dealer

and a brand new revenue opportunity.” �Brent Hoskins, executive director of the

Business Technology Association,

is editor of Office Technology magazine.

He can be reached

at [email protected].


“The data that we havelooked at suggests thatthere is greater than amillion-unit placementopportunity just in the A4black-and-white MFP category. It is truly one ofthe fastest growing segments for MFPs.”

— Phil Boatman Lexmark International Inc.

Cover Story Jan 09:Cover Story Jan 09 1/6/09 11:25 AM Page 13

Compiled by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

2009’s Greatest OpportunitiesReaders share expectations & advice for the new year

In 2009, what do you believe will be the greatest

areas of opportunity for dealers in the office

technology industry? What do you believe

will be the best strategies for success in pur-

suing those opportunities?

Recently, BTA’s Office Technology magazine

asked these questions of its readers via an e-mail

survey. Among the many responses received, the

opportunities cited as the greatest for the new year

are varied. However, some common areas of focus emerge.

Perhaps the comments shared by your fellow dealers will

mirror your vision for 2009 — or provide new ideas.

On the following three pages are many of the responses.

Additional responses can be found on page 6 and on the BTA

Web site, www.bta.org. Click on “BTA Idea Exchange” in the

left column of the home page. You will need your member

login and password.

“The greatest opportunity for dealers in 2009 will be in the

field of print and document management. As an independent

dealer, you must stay abreast of the constantly changing tech-

nology by continuing to educate and train your employees.

With a weak economy, it is more important than ever to help

our clients save money by improving their workflows and

making their businesses more profitable.”

Jack Stargel, President

Stargel Office Solutions, Houston, Texas

“The greatest area of opportunity for office equipment

dealers today is to hire good salespeople. Now is the time to

strengthen your sales force. Take advantage of the deep cuts

made in other industries.”

Mike Upchurch, President

Business Machines Inc., Raleigh, N.C.

“Managed print services (MPS) provides the greatest

opportunity for dealers to both secure and grow

their business during these difficult economic

times. MPS matches the need of our clients to

reduce cost in a tight economy and we can help

them do that with an effective MPS solution.”

Richard Mark, Managing Director

R L Mark & Co. Ltd., Wildey, Barbados

“Areas of opportunity are in production, high-end

color and solution selling. We are encouraging our sales-

people to be patient and look for opportunities inside our

customer base to basically redefine who we are and what we

can do. We have created an IT department that specializes

in certain solution offerings and have appointed certain

reps to champion specific solutions. We try to take advan-

tage of the educational opportunities offered through BTA

and by the manufacturers and software providers. We also

keep a great line of communication going with our partner

vendors and our customers.”

Steven Cobb, President

Dean’s Office Machines Inc., Greensboro, N.C.

“The best opportunities will be in the areas of saving the

customer money by lowering their costs and increasing pro-

ductivity. Two key areas we are pursuing in addition to

copier hardware are EDM and print (printer) management.

Doing a thorough assessment and providing a cost per page

(cpp) for clients to help manage their output costs, as well as

establishing those costs that the client currently does not

know, gives you further stickiness with the customer. The

EDM approach to help customers get more productivity out

of al l working associates is an excellent non-copier

approach to existing clients.”

Donald Cole, Vice President

MT Business Technologies Inc., Avon Lake, Ohio

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New Year Survey Jan 09:New Year Survey Jan 09 1/6/09 8:04 AM Page 10

“I see managed print services to be

the gold we will be digging. The strategy

we use will be a well-trained IT business

unit that we will put in place in 2009.

Monochrome is on the decline, mid-

range color is peaking. I’m looking to

production color.”

Joseph Birk, President

Data Comm Inc., Jefferson City, Mo.

“We have started to focus more on commercial down-the-

street customers, since the OEMs have hit the large RFP

areas with bids that are too low to compete with. We will

now seek quality customers, instead of quantity customers.”

Rock Janecek, Service Manager

Burtronics Business Systems Inc., San Bernardino, Calif.

“Write all-inclusive maintenance contracts for in-place

network printers. You can help make your customers more

efficient without spending more money.”

Barry Wallingford, President

Atlantic Business Systems, Melbourne, Fla.

“Concentrate only on factors that a dealer has control over,

i.e. retention of valuable employees, negotiate strong, favor-

able program agreements with your manufacturer, look for

new customers in your area of expertise and compensate

your sales staff more for new installations. Cold call and

benchmark all employees on productivity. Emphasize to all

employees that you require them to acquire additional skills

beyond their current skills sets. I believe independent dealers

have a great opportunity to capitalize on the turmoil that

exists in our industry. In particular, dealers in secondary

markets must not allow manufacturers to take advantage of

them. Concentrate, focus and do not let fear paralyze you.”

Terry Newsom, President

Pacific Office Automation, Beaverton, Ore.

“We believe that we will heavily market to verticals that

are continuing to do well in this challenging economy —

health care, tax preparers, accountants, churches, etc. We

have new products that will do very nicely in these areas.”

Joey Bartlett, Owner

Tri-County Business Systems, Salinas, Calif.

“Service is where it matters. Sales may remain level. If

they decline, however, those dealerships that refocus their

efforts on their customer service will be

the strong that survive. As the manufac-

turers continue to buy up dealerships

and att empt to f igure out how to

manage the newly acquired mega distri-

bution channels, they will continue to

upset their customer base, leaving room

for the independent dealerships to

accelerate their growth and profitability.

Strategies to implement should start

with a ‘back to the basics’ of customer service, even bringing

in an outside trainer to revitalize every employee’s outlook.

Communication will also be a key factor in retaining

employees. As the economy seems to crumble, service com-

panies stand the best chance of coming out on top — don’t

miss out!”

Allen Grenz, President

OASYS Inc., Burlington, Wash.

“Stay on top of the latest technology. Train. Train. Train

your sales staff to show what. Train your service staff to

show how. Train your management staff to show the differ-

ence between our dealerships and the manufacturers’ sub-

sidiaries."

Frank Sluss, President

Business World, St. Croix, Virgin Islands

“Managed services. There is more reason for outsourcing

in a poor economy. As long as it makes economic sense. We

anticipate a significant growth in managed print services.

There is more competition, but that means there are more

vendors creating interest.”

Arthur Schwartz, President

Image Systems for Business, Somerset, N.J.

“Because more people are concerned about their

expenses, they’re willing to listen about ways to improve

processes and reduce expenses. This has created an opportu-

nity for us to do a complete output analysis within accounts

and implement plans that improve output technology, and

improve and reduce the management of related expenses.”

Michael Steinhoff, President

Rhyme Business Products, Portage, Wis.

“Managing the relationships with our existing clients in all

areas of the business to leverage our expertise and go-to-

market strategies in order to get closer to the customer and


“I believe independentdealers have a greatopportunity to capitalizeon the turmoil that exists in our industry ...Concentrate, focus and donot let fear paralyze you.”


capture additional revenue streams from

them. In a tough economy, we believe that

the customers who currently trust us will

look to us to help them further reduce

their operating costs while increasing

their level of service and support.”

Ron Hulett, Managing Director

U.S. Business Systems Inc., Elkhart, Ind.

“Pursuing print management-type

programs will be our best opportunity to grow the copier

part of our business. Without acquisition I think growing

the copier business will be very difficult. If you look at the

industry numbers and see what piece of imaging the copier

now represents, you see that we need to be in the print-

centric business. You need to partner with a manufacturer

that can provide A4-type products to effectively compete.”

Mark Watson, President

CDS Office Technologies, Springfield, Ill.

“The greatest area of opportunity is

definitely in the solutions arena. I look

for ward to helping our customers

archive their files and take a dive into

document management. The best

approach for document management is

taking it head on. Learn about your

product and the solutions that are avail-

able and be able to show customers how

you can make a difference in their office.”

Mariana Pacheco, Sales Manager

International Copy Machine Center, El Paso, Texas

“Selling printer products on a cost-per-page basis. In a

challenging economy, we have to continue to find new busi-

ness as we watch some of our long-term customers evaporate.

Why not attack the printer users with a different approach?”

William Wallace, President

Action Business Systems Inc., Baltimore, Md. �


“The greatest area ofopportunity is definitelyin the solutions arena ...The best approachfor document management is taking it head on.”


by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

InfoTrends’ ODS ConferenceGroup Director Reardon shares industry megatrends

With the primary goal of offering a detailed look at

the current opportunities in the office technology

industry, market research firm InfoTrends hosted

its annual Office Document Strategy Conference Nov. 12-13,

2008, in Mahwah, N.J. The event drew approximately 100

attendees representing hardware manufacturers, inde-

pendent software vendors (ISVs) and dealerships.

Among the 25-plus presenters and panelists was Jon

Reardon, group director at InfoTrends. Reardon opened the

conference with a “State of the Industry” address, focusing

primarily on what he describes as the megatrends within

the industry. Among the current and developing mega-

trends he cited:

� Vendor focus will shift from “hardware placed” to

“pages captured” — Revenue growth in today’s market is

hard to come by with prices falling in virtually every segment

of the industry, said Reardon, noting that margins are low or

even negative in some segments. “Vendors need to move

from a hardware focus to a page focus, a position that

InfoTrends has taken for quite some time,” he said. “Success

in this business depends greatly on finding the right applica-

tions to drive page volumes, particularly for color.”

� Increased penetration of A4-size MFPs up and down

market — “A4 MFPs continue to gain penetration in the

market, while A3 placements are declining,” said Reardon.

“We do see growth in A3 color hardware, but not enough to

compensate for the loss of A3 monochrome.” The challenge

for copier-heritage vendors will be determining how to

structure their channels to take advantage of the business,

he said, commenting that some are finding success in selling

A4 MFPs as part of a managed print services strategy. “A4

will continue to penetrate the market and have a major

impact on the traditional copier business.”

� Shift from monochrome to color — While the shift is

still a trend, the hyper-growth of the color market has now

tapered, said Reardon. “We are still forecasting growth for

color hardware, but at a much slower rate than in previous

years,” he said, adding that color penetration will occur at a

much more consistent rate in the speed segments between

20 and 40 pages per minute. Reardon explained that high

growth in entry-level segments resulted in a lot of color unit

placements, but little color volume. “Vendors need to focus

in those areas of the market where color is a requirement or

where color can add value at the right price point.”

� Managed print services (MPS) — InfoTrends recently

completed a research project on MPS, which reveals that

many U.S. businesses have an “intense interest” in engaging

in managed print services, said Reardon. Medium sized-

businesses offer the largest revenue opportunities because

they represent a market that is largely untapped, he said. “Of

the respondents to our survey, 54 percent of them in the


Above: Attendees

gather for one of

nearly 20 sessions

on the agenda at

InfoTrends’ Office

Document Strategy

Conference. Right:

Group Director

and conference co-

chair Jon Reardon.

InfoTrends Jan 09:InfoTrends Jan 09 1/6/09 12:20 PM Page 10

mid-market size [100 to 999 employees]

indicated that they were considering

MPS, but they have not engaged yet.” In

contrast, said Reardon, 21 percent of

respondents representing large busi-

nesses (more than 999 employees) and

only 15 percent of respondents repre-

senting small businesses (99 employees

or less) indicated that they were consid-

ering MPS. “Many businesses are fig-

uring out or struggling with ways to take the costs out of

their own businesses and MPS becomes a brilliant strategy.”

During his presentation, Reardon also listed the “threats”

and “opportunities” that exist in the industry, some specifi-

cally tied to the megatrends. Among the threats:

�Monochrome placements and revenues are falling.

� Products are faster and more complex, but prices are

lower.

� MFPs based on inexpensive A4 engines are challenging

more expensive copier/MFPs with A3

engines.

Among the opportunities:

� Color placements and revenue are

growing and wil l continue to do so

through 2012.

� Sales of solutions-enabled devices

help slow the decline in average selling

prices; they also protect the machines in

field (MIF) from competitors.

� The light production market continues to grow, pro-

viding an important source of pages.

Reardon concluded his remarks by sharing a quote from

legendary comedian Milton Berle, intending to emphasize

the need for all conference attendees to seek opportunities:

“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” �Brent Hoskins, executive director of the Business Technology

Association, is editor of Office Technology magazine.

He can be reached at [email protected].


“Many businessesare figuring out orstruggling with ways to take the costs outof their own businessesand MPS becomes a brilliant strategy.”

InfoTrends Jan 09:InfoTrends Jan 09 1/6/09 12:20 PM Page 11

Dear New Year : It is me again, making several

New Year ’s resolutions on b ehalf of our

members. I wrote you last year to ask for con-

sideration in the new year for the good business people

I work with. Regretfully, it was not a wonderful year and

the economy has fallen sharply. Although the pie may

be a bit smaller now, independent dealers are getting a

bigger piece of it as they quickly adjust to the new busi-

ness conditions. Things are difficult right now and I am

hoping you can help set things in the correct direction. I

know my requests are many, but if you could find a way

to give BTA’s member dealers just a couple of these

things, their futures would be even brighter.

Help dealers manage their inventory and not give in

to those attractive month- and quarter-end deals

demanded by their reps. That fantastic incentive oppor-

tunity may not be worth the purchased equipment that

sits in the warehouse to qualify for the “free trip.” Give

dealers the courage to manage their salespeople and not

permit suppliers to offer incentives directly to them for

moving their equipment. Remember whose business it is.

Show dealers how to navigate the new realities of the

current financial markets. The “good old boy” network of

friendly local bankers who dealt on a handshake and a

promise are a thing of the past. Today’s banking relationships

are grounded in profitability and good asset management.

Banks and finance companies do not want to be the only ones

making investments — dealers will have to put in some capital

as well. Dealers will need more collateral and guarantees to

borrow less money.

Find leasing companies that truly understand the word

“partner.” Leasing companies that abandon dealers during

tough economic times should not be welcomed back when

conditions improve. Insist that dealers “get it in writing.” A

lease is a contract and the terms are enforceable. Make certain

that leases and master lease agreements reflect the actual

terms agreed upon and are clear and certain.

Help dealers understand their financial statements. Guide

them to peer groups so their results can be compared with

others. Send them to BTA workshops and meetings where they

can expand their knowledge and learn best practices.

Please give dealers a hand in reducing their expenses. Help

them see that there are not any sacred cows and that they may

have to cut costs to remain profitable. Show them how to re-

negotiate existing relationships for better terms and condi-

tions. It may be a good time to negotiate with the landlord for

a rent reduction.

Provide dealers with the skills to communicate openly and

honestly with their employees. Help them to actively listen and

share both successes and failures. An informed staff can be

part of the solution for continued growth and profitability.

Communicate clearly the importance of a full life. Business

is the means, not the end. Find a place for family and friends.

Volunteer to help others who face even greater challenges

from the troubled economy. Being overworked and stressed

out impairs the ability to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Take a

walk, go to the health club or simply relax with a good book.

2009 is the year for our members to improve their business

skills, become better leaders, to be more cre-

ative and to work smarter, not harder. �Robert C. Goldberg is general counsel

for the Business Technology Association.

He can be reached at

[email protected].

by: Robert C. Goldberg, General Counsel for the Business Technology Association

COURTS & CAPITOLS

New Year’s ResolutionsImproving your business & life in 2009


Goldberg Jan 09:Goldberg Jan 09 1/5/09 3:25 PM Page 26

EDUCATION CALENDAR

w w w . o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | J a n u a r y 2 0 0 9 | 2 3

February3-4 BTA ProSolutions Little Rock, AR

Software vendors teach you about their technology. However, your clients don’t care about tech-nology — they want their business problems solved. You need to understand your client’s businessproblems before you can provide solutions. Darrell Amy of Dealer Marketing Systems will teachattendees how to: get the attention of top-level decision makers, analyze business processes,secure buy-in with proof-of-concept demonstrations, understand how document technologiessolve business problems, sell consulting reports, overcome common objections and much more.

4-5 SDG Meeting Dallas, TX

11-12 BTA ProFinance Charlotte, NCProFinance instructors John Hanson and John Hey of Strategic Business Associates will teachyou the financial model that helped them make the decisions that grew DC Hey from a $5million to a $150 million IKON-acquired enterprise. In addition to helping you implement themodel in your company, they will help you understand the strategies required to become moreclient and employee focused — key strategies toward successfully growing your company,improving profitability and winning against the competition. ProFinance is designed for deal-ership owners and executive-level staff members who make the critical business decisions thatimpact their companies’ success.

19 “Transforming Your Dispatcher into a Resource Coordinator”Free to BTA members, the February “Building My Business” webinar, “Transforming Your Dis-patcher into a Resource Coordinator” will be presented by Jack Duncan of Jack Duncan Con-sulting. Dispatchers take service calls and hand them out to technicians. Resource coordinatorsstill respond to service calls from customers and hand them out to technicians, but they alsowatch the call boards for missed response times, move calls where necessary to lower traveltime and expense, alert management of potential customer issues, etc. In this webinar, Duncanwill address how to effectively transform your dispatcher into a resource coordinator.

March18-19 ITEX ‘09 Las Vegas, NV

BTA members receive a discounted $79 registration to ITEX ‘09. Use the BTA members-onlypromo code BTA9B when registering. BTA will also be hosting a reception in the BTA hospi-tality suite on the evening of March 18. Watch www.bta.org for more information.

For additional information or to register for courses or events, visit www.bta.org or call (800) 843-5059.

Calendar Jan 09:23OT0109 1/5/09 3:16 PM Page 25

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

PART IV – INVESTMENT Select one: � Payment Enclosed (Make check payable to Business Technology Association)

� MasterCard � Visa � American Express Annual BTA Dues: $

Card Number: Exp. Date: Card Holder’s Name:

I hereby apply for membership in Business Technology Association:

Signature: Date:

Return to: Business Technology Association, 12411 Wornall Road, Kansas City, MO 64145Phone: (800) 505-2821 � Fax: (816) 941-4838 � E- mail: [email protected] � Join online at www.bta.org

Membership dues must be submitted in U.S. funds. Dues paid to BTA do not qualify as a charitable tax deduction. Dues do qualify as a business expense.

Equipment/Products:� Audio/Video Presentation Equipment� Bar Coding Equipment� Binding Equipment/Supplies� Cash Registers/Point of Sale� Check Writing/Protection Equipment� Computers/Accessories/Supplies� Copiers (MFPs), B&W

Accessories/Parts/Supplies� Copiers (MFPs), Color

Accessories/Parts/Supplies� Duplicating Equipment/Parts/Supplies� Facsimile Equipment/Parts/Supplies� Filing Systems/Electronic Organizers� Furniture� Identification Systems/Labeling

Equipment

� Mailing/Shipping Equipment/Supplies� Networking Products/Services� OCR Scanners� Office Supplies� Paper Handling Equipment� Phone Answering Equipment� Power Protection� Printers, B&W

Accessories/Supplies� Printers, Color

Accessories/Supplies� Recycled/Remanufactured

Equipment/Supplies� Security Equipment/Systems� Shredders� Software Development/Sales/Support� Time Recording Equipment

� Typewriters/Accessories/Supplies� Other:

Services:� Circuit Board Repair� Consulting� Equipment Rental� Financing/Leasing� Insurance� Internet Solutions� Publishing� Service/Repair� Training/Education� Other:

PART III – MEMBERSHIP Categories and Classifications

PART II – PRODUCT INFORMATION Please indicate the products you sell or the services you provide (check all that apply):

PART I – COMPANY INFORMATIONCompany Name:Street Address: PO Box:City: State/Province: ZIP/Postal Code: Country:Phone: ( ) Fax: ( ) Web Address:

No. of locations (include parent): No. of employees (include owners):

Year business was established: Annual revenue: $Contact Names:Principal Contact: Title: E-mail Address:Sales Contact: Title: E-mail Address:Service Contact: Title: E-mail Address:

Heard about BTA from/Referred by (name & company):

Occasionally, BTA makes its member list available to companies who wish to present opportunities to our members.Can BTA include your e-mail address in the online BTA Membership Directory? � Yes � NoSuppliers and vendors to BTA members may communicate with member dealers, indicating membership in and support of the association. Suppliers and vendors are prohibited from indi-

cating or suggesting that BTA approves, supports, endorses or encourages its members to use the products or services being promoted or endorses the supplier or vendor of the product.


OEM Authorizations:

Retail Dealer Memberships:� $430 1-10 Locations (1 year)

� $795 1-10 Locations (2 years)

Vendor Associate Memberships

� $1,500 Annual Sales up to $5 million

� $2,000 Annual Sales $5-$10 million

� $2,500 Annual Sales over $10 million

Service Associate Memberships

� $500 Annual Sales up to $1 million

� $750 Annual Sales $1-$5 million

� $950 Annual Sales over $5 million

Dealers savewith two-yearmembership!

(Receive $400 in coupons.)

(Receive $950 in coupons.)

Member App 2008:Member App 2008 1/5/09 3:19 PM Page 25

BTA HIGHLIGHTS

The following new members joined BTA during themonth of November:

Dealer MembersAccel Imaging Systems, Ft. Worth, TXA-Copi, Augusta, MEAtlantic Business Systems, Melbourne, FLInternational Copy Machine Center Inc., El Paso, TXKnight Office Solutions, San Antonio, TXSands of the Keys, Islamorada, FLX-Tech Laser Printing Inc., Goleta, CA

Service Associate MemberGE Capital, Irvine, CA

Vendor Associate MemberMS SecureShred, Fremont, CA

For full contact information of these new members,visit www.bta.org and click on “BTA Hotline

Online” on the home page before March 1.

BTA Legal ServicesBTA Legal Services are some of the most

valuable benefits of BTA membership. If youhave called the BTA Legal Hotline, youalready know how BTA General Counsel BobGoldberg can help to ensure your vendors’contracts are fair and equitable, assist you incorrectly handling personnel matters or guideyou in appropriately pursuing any dispute witha vendor. There are also many different con-tracts and agreements that you can downloadfor personal use in your dealership from theBTA Web site. Are you in need of legal guid-ance? Call the BTA Legal Hotline today at(800) 869-6688 or visit www.bta.org and goto “BTA Legal Services” in the left menu of thehome page.

For the benefit of its dealer members, eachmonth, BTA profiles two of its Vendor or ServiceAssociate members in this space.

BTA Service Associatemem ber BEI Pros, aninnovative service prof-

itability consultant group, was created to providea unique service to the office equipment industry.Its company mission is to show dealers how toachieve operational and financial benchmarksand drive 52 percent-plus G.P. in service. BEIPros accomplishes this through its OnsiteConsulting Service, customized action plandevelopment and assistance with the executionto ensure the desired results of service profit andoperational benchmarks are achieved. ContactJerry Newberry at (813) 713-3592 or Jeff Kelly at(757) 435-3752 for more information.

www.beipros.com

BTA Serv iceAssociate mem-ber GreatAmerica

Leasing Corp. is a national lessor dedicated tohelping manufacturers, vendors and dealers bemore successful and keep their customers. Thecompany originates leasing transactions throughnumerous vendor and manufacturer relation-ships and provides financing in all 50 states andsome U.S. territories. Founded in 1990,GreatAmerica is headquartered in Cedar Rapids,Iowa, with offices in Colorado, Florida, Georgia,Missouri and Illinois. The company has a staff ofmore than 270 people.

www.greatamerica.com

A full list of BTA Vendor and Service Associate members can be found online at www.bta.org.

w w w . o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | J a n u a r y 2 0 0 9 | 2 5

Member Page 2008:Member Page 2008 1/5/09 3:23 PM

What is success in managed print services (MPS)? What

is the scope of the opportunity? As the marketing

partner in the MPS 2.0 program (www.mps20.com)

these questions keep haunting me. In preparation for a recent

presentation, I began to think about these questions strategically.

In this article, I will present the results of my findings.

The Old Way to Measure Success: UnitsFrom the hardware manufacturers’ perspective, success is

measured in machine placements. In my days as a DSM for a

manufacturer, we used to take the total number of copier units

projected to be sold in the United States and multiply it by the

Business Equipment Quota Index (BEQI) for the counties in

which a dealership was authorized. This was the unit poten-

tial of the market. This could further be divided by the per-

centage of copiers sold in each segment to get a realistic

expectation of placements by segment.

Next, we would take the dealer’s unit purchases and divide

them by the unit potential. This was the dealer’s market share.

Success was gauged based on the percentage of market share.

The challenge is that the majority of ongoing revenue and

profitability for a dealer comes from service and supply sales.

“Clicks” drive success. In the past, it was enough to assume

that if we placed a lot of big copiers, we would get a lot of

clicks. As we awaken to the number of pages that are actually

being printed on laser printers, we begin to realize that unit

placements may not be the main thing we should focus on. In

today’s environment, dealers are sobering to the reality that

measuring hardware market share may not be enough.

Instead, we need to focus on our success in getting pages.

What is the Scope of the MPS Opportunity?According to InfoTrends research, last year in the United

States there were 461 billion pages printed on office-grade

multifunction systems. There were 1.202 trillion pages printed

on laser printers. Therefore, there were 2.61 pages output on

printers for every page output on MFPs.

What is Your Page Opportunity? How many of the nearly 1.7 trillion pages were printed in

your market last year? A good place to build an estimate

might be the BEQI. This number shows the percentage of busi-

ness equipment one can expect to sell in each county, ZIP

code and MSA (metropolitan statistical area) of the total pro-

jected sales for the United States.

To calculate the page volumes in your market, simply take

the BEQI index for your county and multiply it by the number

of pages on printers and number of pages on copiers. For

example, the latest BEQI information I have showed Los

Angeles and Orange counties took 4.96 percent of the equip-

ment sold in the United States. Following this logic:

The New Way to Measure Success: Page Share Where the old way to measure success was units, the new

way is pages. How many pages does your dealership have

related to the potential of your market?

Let us follow the example above. Using rough numbers, if

there were 1.4 million office copier units placed in the United

States last year, the unit potential for the two counties would

be 69,440. If the dealer sold 6,900 units, they would have

enjoyed a 10 percent market share. Based on unit placements

of copiers, that dealer could say they had a good year in the

copier business.

However, that same market has a potential of 84 billion

pages per year. If that dealership is billing 2 billion pages per

year, they have 2.4 percent page share in the market.

Measuring success versus the total pages in the market will

likely be a sobering exercise. At the same time, it can be very

inspiring as our eyes continue to open up to the massive scope

of the MPS opportunity.

Implications So what are the implications? There are many. However,

here are a couple to begin with:

� Change how you measure success — We need to change

how we measure success in our industry. While hardware unit

placements will always be important to manufacturers, pages

Measuring MPS SuccessUsing page share to assess market potential

by: Darrell Amy, Dealer Marketing Systems

PRINCIPAL ISSUES


Amy Jan 09:Amy Jan 09 1/6/09 1:44 PM


are what are important to dealers. As such,

a dealership’s benchmark for measuring

success should be its percentage of the

total page count in its market.

For manufacturers, the good news is

this: When dealers focus on pages, hard-

ware will follow. I heard one managed

print provider recently say, “I have never

sold more hardware than when I stopped

selling hardware.”

� Get serious about managed print services — The

market potential is huge — 2.61 times the page volume of the

copier market.

The opportunity also comes with a limited time frame.

While people buy new copiers every three to five years, com-

panies only sign up for a managed print services agreement

“once.” It would be very hard to unseat a current MPS vendor

unless it was doing a horrible job.

It is critical that you align your dealership to succeed.

Unfortunately, I have only seen a handful of dealers knock it

out of the park in managed print services. The MPS opportu-

nity is huge. Independent dealers need a new way of meas-

uring success. The way to do this is based

on page share. �Darrell Amy is president of Dealer

Marketing Systems. Working in conjunction

with Digital Gateway, DocuAudit and Gary

Halperin, the group has launched an

initiative to help dealers succeed in

managed print services. The goal is to take

the best of what was working in the early

days of MPS and create a replicable model

for a dealer to succeed. Out of these discussions

emerged the concept of MPS 2.0, which is an initiative to

mainstream MPS in a dealer’s operation. The program

provides a suite of services to mentor dedicated MPS

sales reps, market the MPS business, measure

financial success with benchmarks and manage the business

with software on the backend to automate

the fulfillment and billing.

Learn more at www.mps20.com.

Amy can be reached at (214) 224-0050 ext. 100

or [email protected].

Visit www.dealermarketingsystems.com.

The MPS opportunityis huge. Independent dealers need a new way of measuring success. The wayto do this is basedon page share.

Amy Jan 09:Amy Jan 09 1/6/09 4:55 PM

It certainly makes sense to work with

trainers and consultants, but what is

the difference? How do you determine

which direction is best? I will start to

answer these questions by defining these

two categories of professionals.

Trainers possess a skill set that needs

to be transferred to your employees; they

are teachers. A perfect example is a soft-

ware trainer. You hired a new order

processor and you want him (or her)

trained on your OMD platform. So you hire a trainer to accom-

plish this goal. Similarly, you are not using your SalesChain

CRM to full capability, so you want to train your entire sales

force on advanced capabilities. In the first situation, you only

have a single employee that requires training, so you may

decide to send him to a group class with employees from mul-

tiple companies. There are a lot of advantages to this

approach, including a sharing of information across compa-

nies and a lower expense. In the second situation, since all of

your sales reps need the training, it may be less expensive to

bring a trainer on-site. You lose the benefit of interacting with

other companies, but you only have one travel expense — the

trainer — and the investment per student will probably be

lower since there is a guaranteed attendance for the trainer

and no facility expenses.

Trainers do not necessarily need to have any specific experi-

ence, although I believe maintaining relevance in the field is

critical to quality. Think about your college professors. Many of

them completed their undergraduate work and then went on to

earn doctorate degrees, sometimes without ever stepping foot

in the professional world. They conducted extensive research

and will continue to conduct research in their respective fields.

If they teach in subject areas like science or business, they may

even work with companies in the commercial world — perhaps

as consultants. Your software trainer may also have a consulting

business where he travels to dealers to help them work through

issues with their software. This keeps the trainer relevant. I

would call this outsourcing your work rather than a consulting

engagement, but that is irrelevant to this discussion.

When it comes to sales training, you can teach any bright

person with strong communication skills

how to deliver a program. It is a plus if he

is also enthusiastic. The trainer does not

even need to have experience selling as

long as the program is strong. That is not

to say that every sales trainer is bright or

possesses strong communication skills;

you did have some sub-par professors,

correct? I even had a professor or two who

you could not help but like, but who pro-

vided ver y shallow substance on the

subject matter. I do not recommend hiring trainers without rel-

evant experience; I am simply stating it is possible. Regardless,

I recommend you look at the experience of the person who

developed the program the trainer is delivering. The person

who develops the sales training program is paramount.

Consulting is a more complex engagement. You are not

hiring a consultant to transfer knowledge, but more appropri-

ately, you are depending on the experience, education and

training of the consultant to help you identify inefficiencies in

a certain area of your business, make recommendations for

improvement and design the implementation and monitoring

plan of the recommendations. You may also engage a con-

sultant to help you launch a new initiative.

Business is not a simple linear equation. When you adjust

one area it impacts many others. Without the proper experi-

ence and education, it will be impossible for a consultant to be

effective. He can actually increase your problems rather than

help you achieve more success. What you pay a consultant

without the necessary experience could be the smallest

portion of your losses. So a consultant should have a strong

understanding of your business as well as deep experience in

what you are trying to accomplish. As the famous sales trainer

Tom Hopkins is known to say, “Don’t listen to anybody with

less experience than you.”

Consultants can usually train, but trainers cannot neces-

sarily consult. To cite an extreme example, I do not think many

large companies would hesitate to engage Jack Welch as a con-

sultant and it is safe to say that if Welch taught a business class

at your local university, it would be standing room only. Gov-

ernor Rendell of Pennsylvania actually teaches at the University

Trainer or Consultant?Make the correct choice & achieve success

by: Tom Callinan, Strategy Development

PRINCIPAL ISSUES


Callinan Jan 09:Callinan Jan 09 1/6/09 1:53 PM Page 26


of Pennsylvania and his class has the

longest waiting l i st of any class on

campus. On the other hand, that enthusi-

astic and articulate sales trainer may have

little to no relevant experience to help you

make deep business decisions.

We already referenced software training

and that is a simple decision. Let us say

you want to integrate your SalesChain

application with your OMD software and

tie them all into an electronic forms package and a business

intelligence package so you can set up workflow, a functional

dashboard and easily mine your company data. This is the

perfect situation to hire an IT consulting firm with demon-

strable experience in this area. Unless you have a true IT con-

sultant on staff that has experience with this type of project, it

is not the type to tackle alone or with a trainer that lacks the

business, finance and IT experience.

Suppose your equipment revenue is

not growing at your desired rate. Do you

hire a consultant or a trainer? Many com-

panies reflexively diagnose the situation

as poor selling skills and send their sales

employees to a sales training seminar.

They may repeat this approach for years

(and with various training companies) as

they work to find the training company

that works. My experience shows that

basic sales training is rarely the solution. There are many

inputs into sales rep success, not the least of which is a solid

sales manager. For decades, the sales manager has been iden-

tified as a key element of a salesperson’s success. After this

critical individual has been evaluated, your entire go-to-

market strategy needs to be analyzed. You could use a con-

sulting f irm with expertise in designing a repeatable

go-to-market strategy for your sales team. In your quest to

My experience showsthat basic sales training israrely the solution. Thereare many inputs intosales rep success, not theleast of which is a solidsales manager.

Having trouble findingmoney for your

child’s education?

BTA Can Help.Scholarships for use at colleges or

accredited vocational trade schools areavailable to the sons and daughters of

BTA retail dealership members and the sons and daughters of their

full-time employees.

Scholarship recipients are chosen by an impartial and

independent evaluator.

Completed applications must be receivedat BTA by May 1. To obtain a scholarship application form, contact Mary Hopkins

at [email protected], call (816) 303-4031 orwrite to: BTA Scholarship Foundation,

12411 Wornall RoadKansas City, MO 64145.

®


find the correct sales trainer, you can actu-

ally be damaging your credibility and your

sales force’s skills as they are taught con-

f licting approaches from trainers of

various quality levels. You are also wasting

a lot of money.

I will give one more example, as I am

sure you are gaining the information you

need to make the correct decision on what

type of firm or person you should engage.

Say you want to launch a professional services initiative. You

decide to send your sales manager to a sales training seminar

on document management. You have not analyzed your

employee skill set, thought about the correct metrics for a suc-

cessful program or how to handle the pre- and post-sales

activity. You do not even know what your product and services

portfolio should look like or the investment involved in getting

the program off the ground; you simply send your sales

manager to a sales training program for document manage-

ment. After he returns, you spend the next two years trying to

get a document management program off the ground, but it

struggles along with limited success.

What you lacked was the road map that could have been

provided by a consultant with experience in launching a pro-

fessional services initiative and who understood how that ini-

tiative would affect you financially and operationally. In both

of these situations — the sales growth and the professional

services launch — you actually gave up a significant amount

of revenue and profits by mistakenly using a sales trainer

rather than a consultant.

So, sales trainer or consultant? Next

time you need to make that decision, ask

yourself the following questions:

� Am I looking for transferable skills

(trainer), to outsource work ( highly

skilled worker) or a fix to a problem or

new initiative (consultant)?

� If I am hiring a sales trainer, does he

have relevant experience? Who developed

the program he is delivering?

� Do I need a consultant skilled in a single area or am I

better off hiring a firm with skills and experience across my

various business functions? (Rarely will one consultant have

skills across all functional areas. If he says he does, proceed

with caution.)

� What is the complete background of the person or firm I

am hiring? (Ask for a resume.) I am hiring him as a consultant,

so would I hire him to lead the area in which I am hiring him to

consult? If not, then do not hire him to consult.

When you make the correct decision, you will experience

success. �Tom Callinan is the founding principal of Strategy

Development, a management consulting and advanced sales

training firm. From 1998 to 2005, he was an executive with

IKON Office Solutions. Prior to IKON, he was

the founder and CEO of Copifax Inc.

He can be reached at

[email protected] or

(610) 527-3317.

Visit www.strategydevelopment.org.

In your quest to find thecorrect sales trainer, youcan actually be damaging your credibilityand your sales force’sskills as they are taughtconflicing approaches ...

ADVERTISER INDEX

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31 • BTA ProFinance

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29 • BTA Scholarships

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16 • Computhink

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5 • DocuWare

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2-3 • ITEX 2009

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11 • Lexmark

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9 • MSE

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13 • Muratec America Inc.

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21• NCM Associates Inc.

(800) 756-2620 / (800) 247-2176

19 • Polek & Polek

(800) 526-1360 / www.polek.com

15 • Select Dealer Group

www.selectdealergroup.org

7 • Toshiba

(949) 462-6165 / www.copiers.toshiba.com



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ProFinance thinker full pg:31OT0406 11/19/08 11:19 AM Page 1

PRSRT STDU.S. Postage PaidEaston, PA 18042

Permit #31 Office Technology MagazineBusiness Technology Association 12411 Wornall RoadKansas City, MO 64145(816) 941-3100www.officetechnologymag.comwww.bta.org

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