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The Achilles’ HeelKeep this social media trait in mindby Troy Harrison SalesForce SolutionsSocial media has one big Achilles’ heel that no one is talking about: Your target must know about you before anything you do with social media has an effect. One of the big positives for the user is that social media is an opt-in mechanism. If you are a salesperson, this is a big problem.

Past, Present & FutureFrom hardware to data-centric marketsby Bob Sostilio Sostilio & Associates International Inc.In the past, desktop copying was an economic way of duplicating data in an analog format instead of printing. When capturing data on paper went digi-tal, users no longer favored “copying,” but opted for desktop scan and print. Now, desktop printing is being demoted in favor of mobile data.

Volume 19 • No. 11

F e a t u r e a r t i c l e s

10Large-Format ImagingIs it time for youto get acquainted?by Brent HoskinsOffice Technology MagazineYou may be walking by some large-format opportunities in your customer locations. Perhaps it is time to take a closer look. You may find that this niche product is not quite as niche as you as-sumed, is easier to sell than anticipated and provides the type of aftermarket revenues you are seeking.

16

D e pa r t m e n t s

23Business Technology Association• BTA Education Calendar• BTA Highlights

Executive Director’s Page

BTA President’s Message

Advertiser Index

6

8

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ConTenTs

20embrace RMsThe benefits of remote management softwareby Mike LamotheOffice Document Consulting Inc.In past articles, I have talked about remote manage-ment software (RMS); I am just not sure that I have said enough, so I want to dive a bit deeper. I do not want you going into this blind; RMS can be very frustrating. But I am here to tell you that if I was still involved with a dealership, I would not be without the software.

Resolution 360Kyocera hosts FY14 Pan-American Dealer Meetingby Brent HoskinsOffice Technology MagazineFocused, in part, on announcing a new training initia-tive, previewing new products and renewing the com-mitment to its dealer channel on the occasion of its 40th year in the Americas, KYOCERA Document So-lutions America hosted its FY14 Pan-American Dealer Meeting April 8-10 in Grapevine, Texas.

p r i n c i pa l i s s u e s

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s e l l i n g s o l u t i o n s

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22Being DeposedIf you are subpoenaed, know what to expectby Robert C. GoldbergBTA General CounselRecently, a BTA member contacted me; he had received a subpoena for a deposition and wanted to know what to do. In our litigious society, you may be subpoenaed for a deposition at some point. By understanding the procedure, you will be more comfortable and able to concentrate on your responses.

c o u r t s & c a p i t o l s

27Trials & TribulationsAdopting the positive power of adversityby Arnie ValenzuelaFIMA 4 Consulting Group LLCWhen life deals you a blow that knocks you down and discourages you from getting up, you need to do something different. As trials and tribulations increase, we are all left with a fundamental choice: Do we choose to face the trouble alone, with the help of others or with a power greater than ourselves?

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6 | 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 | M a y 2 0 1 3

ExEcutivE DirEctor’s PagE

Executive Director/BTA Editor/Office Technology

Brent Hoskinsbrent@bta.org

(816) 303-4040

Associate EditorElizabeth Marvel

elizabeth@bta.org(816) 303-4060

Contributing Writers Robert C. Goldberg, General Counsel

Business Technology Association

Troy Harrison, SalesForce Solutionswww.salesforcesolutions.net

Mike Lamothe, Office Document Consulting Inc. www.officedocumentconsulting.com

Bob Sostilio, Sostilio & Associates International Inc.bsostilio@embarqmail.com

Arnie Valenzuela, FIMA 4 Consulting Group LLCarniev@comcast.net

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

valerie@bta.org

Mary HopkinsDatabase Administrator

mary@bta.org

Teresa LeerarBookkeeper

teresa@bta.org

Brian SmithMembership Sales Representative

brian@bta.org

Photo Credits: A.J. James, iStockphoto, Photodisc, Stockbyte. Cover created by Bruce Quade, Brand X Studio. ©2013 by the Business Technology Association. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the publisher. Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of published material. How-ever, the publisher assumes no liability for errors in articles nor are opinions expressed necessarily those of the publisher.

Are You PursuingManaged Services?

Increasingly, dealers are seeing managed services as a promis-

ing business opportunity. Companies providing the resources for dealers to pursue the opportunity also see promise — in the office technology dealer’s ability to ultimately lead, if not own, the market. Today, three BTA member remote monitoring and IT management provid-ers are actively working with dealers —Continuum, Collabrance (a subsidiary of GreatAmerica Financial Services) and N-able Technologies Inc.

During the April 17-18 ITEX National Conference and Expo in Las Vegas, I attend-ed the educational session “Catapult Your Profits With Unified Managed IT and Cloud Services.” The session was led by Michael George, CEO of Continuum, a SaaS managed services platform provider, and Mitch Mor-gan, a partner in Growth Achievement Part-ners (GAP), a consultancy focused on help-ing dealers in the areas of strategic sales and operations within both the traditional and emerging markets. As I listened to Michael and Mitch present, their comments further solidified my thinking that more dealers ought to consider adding managed services. Clearly, it is the next logical step for those who want to become the one-stop shop for their customers, protecting their base from competitors. And, fortunately, it is not nearly as difficult as it may initially seem. By partnering with a third-party managed services company, dealers will find that the requisite tools are readily available to them.

At ITEX, Continuum and GAP an-nounced a strategic alliance that has re-sulted in the release of the Managed Ser-vices Business Model, specifically designed for office technology dealerships. The model

provides a blueprint for a seamless transi-tion into managed services. As I write this, I hold in my hands a copy of the 16-page mod-el, which was distributed in the ITEX educa-tional session. I was surprised that Michael and Mitch would simply hand this resource to dealers with no strings attached. I have since come to better understand their in-terest in helping the dealer community find success in managed services, leading them to freely share the model. The model is available to you as well. Just visit www.bta.org/MS. On that page, you will find two links where you can download your copy.

In conjunction with the release of the model, GAP has significantly revised the content of the BTA Managed Services Work-shop, which it presents for the association. The workshop addresses all aspects of the new model, covering such topics as: rev-enue and profitability targets; contracts and account expansion; the sales cycle and pipeline metrics; dealership personnel head count; compensation programs; and opera-tional metrics. In addition, participants will be trained on a sales process that has been successful for managed services — a three-phase process that provides clarity to the important components in closing managed services opportunities.

The next BTA Managed Services Work-shop will take place on June 19 at the Dou-bleTree by Hilton - Magnificent Mile in Chi-cago, following BTA Mid-America’s June 17-18 Cruise to Success educational and networking event. Workshop registrants can attend Cruise to Success at no charge. Register at www.bta.org/MS. For more in-formation on Cruise to Success, visit www.bta.org/BTAMidAmericaEvent.

Is it time for you to move forward with managed services? If so, I encourage you to register today for the June 19 workshop. n

— Brent Hoskins

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BTA PresidenT’s messAge2012-2013 Board of Directors

PresidentTerry Chapman

Business Electronics Corp.219 Oxmoor Circle, P.O. Box 531066

Birmingham, AL 35253tchapman@businesselectronics.com

President-ElectTodd J. Fitzsimons

Network Imaging LLC122 Spring St., Ste. B3Southington, CT 06489 tjfitzsimons@ni-ct.com

Vice PresidentRon Hulett

U.S. Business Systems Inc.3221 Southview Drive

Elkhart, IN 46514ron.hulett@usbus.com

BTA East Rob Richardson

Allied Document Solutions & Services Inc.200 Church St.

Swedesboro, NJ 08085robr@ads-s.com

BTA Mid-AmericaDave Quint

Advanced Systems Inc.2945 Airport Blvd., P.O. Box 57

Waterloo, IA 50704dquint@asiowa.com

BTA Southeast Debra DennisCopyPro Inc.

3103 Landmark St.Greenville, NC 27834ddennis@copypro.net

BTA WestMike Ehlers

Yost Business Systems685 E. Anderson

Idaho Falls, ID 83401mike@yostonline.com

Ex-Officio/ImmediatePast President

Tom OuelletteBudget Document Technology

251 Goddard Road, P.O. Box 2322Lewiston, ME 04240

touellette@bdtme.com

Ex-Officio/General CounselRobert C. Goldberg

Schoenberg Finkel Newman & Rosenberg LLC222 S. Riverside Plaza, Ste. 2100

Chicago, IL 60606robert.goldberg@sfnr.com

Join BTA in Chicagofor Cruise to Success

Spring has officially arrived, and with the change of sea-

sons comes a desire to “clean out” old, unpro-ductive business prac-tices and bring in new, revitalizing ones. With that in mind, I would like to invite you to BTA’s second district event of the year, Cruise to Success, to be hosted by BTA Mid-America. The event will be held June 17-18 at the DoubleTree by Hilton - Magnificent Mile in Chicago. This annual educational and networking event will pro-vide dealers with new ideas and strategies to improve their businesses.

The event begins at 1 p.m. on Monday, June 17, with one-on-one dealer/vendor meetings. Each meeting will be 15 minutes in length, giving dealers time to sit down with exhibiting vendors to discuss their of-ferings in detail. Dealerships can earn $30 for each 15-minute meeting they attend, up to $210 per dealership. These meetings have been established to allow quality time with the vendors of your choice and to help defray travel costs. A limited number of meetings are available, so register today. Visit www.bta.org/15MinMeetings for ad-ditional information.

Following the 15-minute meetings, Cruise to Success will kick off with a key-note address, “The Disappearing Channel,” presented by Doug Albregts, president of Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America. Albregts will explore the new industry landscape, which has seen dra-matic reduction and consolidation over the past decade, and he will discuss what manufacturers and dealers can do to help protect their collective business in this rapidly changing environment.

Following the keynote, a welcoming

reception will be held from 5:30 until 7 p.m., giving attendees time to network with peers and visit with 30-plus exhibiting sponsors.

The agenda will resume on Tuesday, June 18, with breakfast from 7 to 8 a.m., followed by opening comments and a dealer panel moderated by David Ramos of Katun Corp. The panel, “Turning Business Disruption Into a Welcome Opportunity,” will include discussion among four BTA member dealer panelists: John Kuchta, president, Solution-One, Lincoln, Neb.; Chip Miceli, president, Des Plaines Office Equipment, Elk Grove Village, Ill.; Brian Snow, president, Ad-vanced Business Systems, Tallahassee, Fla.; and Greg Walker, president, East Texas Copy Systems Inc., Tyler, Texas.

After the panel, Larry Coco, president, Coco Training & Consulting Inc., will pre-sent his educational session, “Growing the Business by Building a Strong Team Envi-ronment.” His session will be followed by lunch and the final educational sessions: “Cruise to Success or Drown in Legalities,” with Bob Goldberg, BTA general counsel; “What is Wrong With All This Talk of Trans-formation,” with Ed McLaughlin, chair-man, Valderus LLC; and “The Great Mobile Workforce Debate,” with Terrie Campbell, vice president of strategic marketing, Ricoh Americas Corp. The event will wrap up with a scenic dinner cruise on Lake Michigan aboard the Spirit of Chicago.

A post-event educational workshop will also be held in conjunction with Cruise to Success. The BTA Managed Services Work-shop (www.bta.org/MS) is scheduled for June 19. Attendees of the workshop receive free registration to Cruise to Success.

Ready to revitalize your business? Join us at Cruise to Success. BTA member dealers receive two-for-one registration. Register at www.bta.org/BTAMidAmericaEvent. n

— Terry Chapman

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Large-Format ImagingIs it time for you to get acquainted?

by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

While it takes a few extra steps, you may be walking by some large-format opportunities in your cus-

tomer locations. Perhaps it is time to take a closer look. Whether you call it large for-mat or wide format, you may find that this niche product is not quite as niche as you as-sumed, is easier to sell than anticipated and provides the type of aftermarket revenues you are seeking. Is it time for you to get better acquainted with one of the front-office MFP’s back-office cousins?

It is a growing market. When you include all of the various large-format technologies in use, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of the prod-uct category is about 2.5 percent, says Tim Greene, director of the Wide Format Printing Consulting Service at market research firm InfoTrends, noting that just over 58,000 units were placed in the U.S. market last year. “In 2012, in North America,” he says, “it was a $17.2 billion industry.”

There are two product categories in the market. The lead-ing category, technical large-format, primarily targets AEC (architectural, engineering, construction) companies and those using CAD (computer-aided design) programs. The category accounts for about two-thirds of all large-format U.S. unit placements and is growing at a CAGR of 1.6 percent, Greene says. The second category, graphics large-format, targeting advertising agencies, retail businesses, school dis-tricts, etc., may account for fewer unit placements, he says, but it is growing at a CAGR of 3.7 percent.

Five years ago, says John Kerling, vice president of sales at United Business Systems in Buffalo, N.Y., his dealership was where yours may be today. “Quite honestly, we got the idea of pursuing wide format after reading some articles about the growth that was projected for the product category,” he says. “So, we made one of our sales reps a dedicated rep for wide format. It has worked out well for us.”

Today, Kerling says, his dealership has nearly 200 KIP large-format and 75 Canon large-format products in the

field. A key driver of success, he says, is the increasing trend among those requiring large-format output to bring the capability in-house, rather than outsourcing. “They are definitely bringing it in-house,” he says, not-ing that approximately 75 to 80 percent of the dealership’s large-format business is new placements, rather than upgrades. “The con-venience of being able to make a print or two whenever you want makes a huge difference.”

Large-format products are easier to sell than traditional MFPs and can ultimately lead to additional product placements for the dealership, Kerling says. “It is certainly a

much easier call; the buyer is much more receptive,” he says. “And, yes, once we are in the door, without a doubt, we have seen additional MFP sales, document management sales, etc.”

Rich Reamer, director of marketing for large-format products at Canon U.S.A. Inc., says his company works to help make the selling process easy for sales reps through its training programs. “We do a lot of sales training, show-ing reps that, ‘OK, you may not be very technical, but let me show you how you can print a professional-looking poster in a matter of minutes,’” he explains. “For traditional post-ers, we have plug-ins to make the printing process very easy, especially from Microsoft Office applications. The reps who have sold one know how easy it was to sell; they are the ones who tend to sell more and more.”

Among the latest trends in the large-format market is the transition from printer-only devices to MFP large format, now providing the scanning capabilities many end users de-sire. Canon, for example, has added a 40-inch wide scanner, 22-inch touch-screen monitor, PC and MFP stand to five of its 5-color pigment/dye technical imagePROGRAF models (of-fered in addition to eight, 8- and 12-color, pigment ink graph-ics large-format printers, along with 10, 5-color pigment/dye technical printers) creating its new MFP M40 solutions. Since the first model was introduced, Reamer says, the introduc-tion of new enhancements has been steady. “We have made

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updates over the years to im-prove the overall speed, give users more editing capabili-ties and a more intuitive user interface,” he says. “This past year, we embedded a cloud solution so that you can scan to the cloud or retrieve docu-ments from the cloud.”

The MFP models have been well received by deal-ers, Reamer says. One of the main reasons is they pro-vide greater revenue,” he ex-plains. “When selling just a single-function printer version, that is about a $4,000 sale. However, when you create a com-plete solution, it is something they are selling for $8,500. It has become a very popular product. Our dealer channel likes that higher revenue opportunity. It has really dominated a lot of the calls and training on the dealer side.”

Ricoh Americas Corp., currently focused solely on techni-cal devices within the product category (with plans for the launch of graphics models in the future), offers large-format MFPs as well, including one 4-color, pigment ink and five monochrome laser models. In addition, the company offers three large-format laser printer models. Bryan Batelli, wide-format product manager, says the scanning capability of the MFPs has been particularly well received. “There are a host of places you can go that are just doing electronic con-version,” he says, citing a recent example of a hospital now using Ricoh large-format MFPs. “They had years and years worth of plans in huge boxes that needed to be scanned.”

While hospitals, along with mainstays like construction companies and architectural firms, are the prospects for technical large-format devices, graphics models, as noted, have proven to be well received in such environments as advertising agencies, retail businesses and school districts. “We just saw the placement by one Canon dealer of 15 units in a school district,” Reamer says. “It is a new trend to move these types of products into schools for posters in class-rooms and hallways, for things like ‘No Bully Zone,’ ‘Student of the Month’ or to promote an upcoming play.”

As one considers those industries heavily reliant on large format, visions of a lucrative aftermarket business begin to emerge. Says Reamer: “The revenue and profitability is defi-nitely there to be made in the aftermarket. The benefit to dealerships is the money they are going to make afterward on the ink and media.” However, for some, suggests Kerling, the results may be mixed. “We are doing good with the pa-per; that’s been an increase for us,” he says. “But there is not a lot of margin in the ink; that’s a tough one.”

Regarding the paper af-termarket in particular, Batelli provides a sense of the size of the opportunity with the Ricoh large-format product line. “The width is 36 inches and you can print continuously up to 49 feet,” he says, referencing the use of rolls of paper, rather than sheets. What type of end user would require 49-foot output? “Companies drill-ing oil wells would be an ex-

ample,” Batelli says. “They need to log what they hit when drilling and they try to do everything to scale. So, for them, the paper output tends to get that long.”

As Kerling notes, having a dedicated sales rep for large format may be most ideal. “Our success definitely comes from having someone dedicated to the product,” he says. “Our rep goes into the customer location and absolutely blows them away with his expertise. We are not just a ‘me-too’ company with this product. Having a dedicated rep, we win the lion’s share of the business because of our dedica-tion and knowledge of the product.”

While some dealerships do have dedicated reps in place, many are finding success in the product category with gen-eral-line reps selling large format or having a champion fo-cused heavily, but not exclusively, on the product category. Says Batelli: “You used to see dedicated reps more so when the economy was better and more dealerships could afford to have someone focused specifically on wide format.” Says Reamer: “In the dealer channel, you don’t see that many dealers who have reps dedicated to large format.”

Today, where no dedicated rep is in place, the general-line rep pursues the placement of large-format devices in one of at least two ways. “A smart rep will strategically use it to get his or her foot in the door at a company; it’s another talk track,” Reamer says. “Other times, it is more of an add-on option. So, the rep who is selling a color imageRUNNER or imagePRESS may ask, ‘By the way, what are you doing for large format?’”

Reamer adds that offering large format can also help a dealership protect its base. “I mentioned getting your foot in the door, but another reason to sell the product is to keep competitors out of your customer locations,” he says. “A competitor may be selling Epson or HP large format. That lets somebody else in the door to meet your customers’ needs. So, the more you can do to keep them out, the better.”

Even with the appeal of keeping competitors out of the customer location, some reps may initially be hesitant to

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“Our success definitely comes from having someone dedicated to the product. Our rep goes into the customer location and absolutely blows them away with his expertise.”

— John KerlingUnited Business Systems

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pursue selling large-format products, Reamer acknowl-edges. “It is just a matter of getting reps more com-fortable with selling large format,” he says, again em-phasizing the reason for the sales training Canon pro-vides. “At first, when people think about large format, I think they are intimidated.” Batelli offers a similar per-spective: “They are more comfortable selling what they’ve been selling for years. They have been making money doing it. It’s what they know.”

Yet, Batelli says, he is always pleased to see dealerships take the step to pursue the product category. “Dealers have always been a really good channel for wide format, more so than direct,” he says (InfoTrends’ Greene says less than 10 percent of large-format printers are sold direct). “Dealers

are more focused because, obviously, it is their busi-ness and they are trying to grow their businesses as successfully as possible.”

Whether dealers pursue large format or not, product demand will endure, Greene says, pointing in particular to graphics models. “Mar-keters are being asked to do more with less,” he says, citing the promotion of mer-chandise as an example.

“Wide-format graphics have proven to be a cost-effective way to deliver a marketing message. That is not going away.” n

Brent Hoskins, executive director of the Business Technology Association, is editor

of Office Technology magazine. He can be reached at brent@bta.org.

“Marketers are being asked to do more with less. Wide-format graphics have proven to be a cost-effective way to deliver amarketing message. That is not going away.”

— Tim GreeneInfoTrends

Cover Story May 13.indd 3 5/1/13 3:48 PM

Upsize Your Business While Maintaining Downsized CostsOne of the hottest topics in the office technology environment today is how resellers, VARS and MSPs can capitalize on the rapidly growing managed IT services market opportunity — estimated at $118 billion in IT spend among small to medium-sized businesses.

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Resolution 360Kyocera hosts FY14 Pan-American Dealer Meeting

by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

Focused, in part, on announcing a new training initia-tive, previewing new products and renewing the com-mitment to its dealer channel on the occasion of its

40th year in the Americas, KYOCERA Document Solutions America (KDA) hosted its FY14 Pan-American Dealer Meeting April 8-10 at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas. The meeting drew more than 1,000 at-tendees, including both Kyocera and Copystar dealers.

In the opening General Session, members of the manage-ment team unveiled Kyocera’s focus on a 360-degree ap-proach to a total document solutions company, new docu-ment imaging devices, advanced business applications and marketing programs. Under the theme Resolution 360, Kyocera management shared initiatives designed to help the company’s independent dealers better compete and strategically expand their businesses, leveraging Kyocera’s document imaging technology, business applications and customized services.

“Our theme this year is Resolution 360,” said Nori Ina, president and CEO of KDA. “What does it mean? It means uniqueness; making your customers more successful, while making you more valuable to your customers. It means delivering unique ways to help your customers be more productive and cost effective. This will set your dealership apart from your competition.”

Ina suggested that dealers think of Kyocera as a large hos-pital. “Your customers are the people who need assistance,” he explained. “Our hardware is the medical equipment. The ap-plications and customization capabilities available through our HyPAS platform — they are the medicines that can tar-get your customers’ specific pain points. The most powerful combinations of medicines lead to the quickest pain relief. So, when combining our hardware and solutions, you can resolve a customer’s pain more effectively. Then there’s the doctor. The professional. The person who understands how to combine all of these components. In other words — you.”

Having knowledge and understanding are critical for any “doctor,” Ina said. “For this reason, beginning this year, our sales and pre-sales training will include comprehensive

education about Kyocera hardware, software and services,” he said. “Plus, [it will] provide insight into how these prod-ucts and services fit together to resolve customer document imaging and workflow needs.”

Peter Hendrick, vice president of marketing at KDA, an-nounced the company’s new training initiative, the Kyocera and Copystar Total Document Solutions Provider Program. “The program centerpiece is a new series of online training courses and instructor-led classroom training that will take your staff through a simple, comprehensive process,” he

16 | 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 | M a y 2 0 1 3

Clockwise from top: Attendees learn more about Kyocera’s lat-est products and applications in the Technology Fair; Danielle Wolowitz, director of product marketing, KYOCERA Docu-ment Solutions America (KDA); Peter Hendrick, KDA vice president of marketing; Nori Ina, KDA president and CEO.

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explained. “And, for the first time ever, this training is not only for the sales side of your business, it is also for the pre-sales side of your business. Equipped with tac-tical pre-sales skills, your team will be able to propose stronger, more strategic offerings to your customers and provide more flexibility to close profitable deals.”

During the meeting, in addition to offering several Kyocera-focused edu-cational seminars, KDA announced 18 products to be launched over the course of the company’s current fiscal year. The new lineup includes 14 A3 MFPs ranging from 25 to 70 pages per minute (ppm) color, and from 30 to 80 ppm black and white; as well as four multi-functional printers, with the flagship model at 62 ppm.

“These products incorporate the real-life voice of the cus-tomer in order to provide your customers with the products and features they need to get their jobs done,” said Dan-ielle Wolowitz, director of product marketing at KDA. “Key new features include tab printing, the addition of OCR for

searchable PDF, wireless options, and a fresh look and feel to the TSi Home Screen of our devices. In addition, the ability to print from your Apple iPhone or iPad with AirPrint has been added to the ECOSYS FS-4300DN series.”

KDA also introduced several new business applications during the meet-ing. Powered by Kyocera’s HyPAS tech-nology, the newest releases are: Kyocera HomePOINT, which allows security-

conscious customers to scan to and print from network di-rectories; Kyocera Enterprise Cloud Portal, which will serve as a customizable high-speed on-ramp to the cloud; and Ky-ocera QR Service Assistant, which helps technicians quickly gather device information while performing on-site main-tenance, including meter counts and toner levels, or access the Kyocera Command Center. n

Brent Hoskins, executive director of the Business Technology Association, is editor of Office Technology magazine.

He can be reached at brent@bta.org.

“Equipped with tactical pre-sales skills, your team will be able to propose ... more strategic offerings to your customers and provide more flexibility ... “

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Embrace RMSThe benefits of remote management software

by: Mike Lamothe, Office Document Consulting Inc.

In some of my past articles, I have talked about remote management software (RMS); I am just not sure I have said enough. For

that reason, I want to dive a bit deeper. When talking to dealers today, I often ask

them, “If you could increase your base meter clicks by 25 percent, what would that do for your business?” From my own experience, be-tween 30 to 50 percent of a dealer’s base cus-tomers’ meter clicks are either unmanaged or with a competitor. Set managed print servic-es (MPS) aside for a minute; RMS will be the foundation of your business moving forward, because it exposes the untapped opportunities in your backyard.

As for MPS, the software will provide visibil-ity to your customer’s complete print environ-ment, reporting the device data necessary to deliver print management. You can begin pro-viding services that are a benefit to both you and your customer — automated meter col-lection, just-in-time (JIT) toner management, proactive service notification and much more.

But wait a minute. It is not that simple. You will encounter many frustrations along the way: devices that do not report; the data collection agent (DCA) dropping off the network for no apparent reason; and local connected prints that report one day, but not the next. I do not want you going into this blind; RMS can be very frustrating. But I am here to tell you that if I was still involved with a dealership, I would not be without the software.

More often than not, those dealers who acquire remote management software to support specific customers find that RFP wins are more common. Do yourself a favor and in-stall it throughout your base. The following is what I would recommend for RMS in your dealership.

ERP ConnectivityRemote management software can directly connect with

most enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. This connectivity will help to automate meter collection, popu-lating your ERP software and adjusting for single, double, mono and color meter clicks. I know some ERP software al-ready connects directly into RMS, but it is not automated; you require the customer to enter the meters.

For the record, meter collection and billing can take a sig-nificant amount of internal resources to complete. Direct RMS connectivity eliminates any manual involvement for you or the customer, allowing redeployment of those resources.

Customer InstallationRMS software requires a DCA to be installed in your cus-

tomer’s environment in order to provide the necessary con-nectivity and visibility of all print-related devices. Although the DCA should be installed on a server, in some cases the only way to get a customer’s commitment is installation on

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Lamothe May 13.indd 1 5/1/13 10:04 AM

I know of sales reps today who will not engage a customer unless the company installs RMS first; I highly recommend you consider the same.

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 | M a y 2 0 1 3 | 21

one of its network computers. Do not overcomplicate the function-

ality of RMS software. In other words, keep it simple and allow your customer to evolve with the capabilities of the soft-ware. You might put it like this: “Remote management software will offer a num-ber of services to your organization as the management of your print environ-ment evolves. But to start, we are look-ing at automating your meter collection. This will provide accurate, timely billing, eliminating the need to estimate meters in the future.” (See the graphic on page 20.)

Keep one thing in mind when you have the discussion with your customer about the software. The DCA reads the management information base (MIB) in every print-related device; MIB configurations differ from one manufacturer to another, so getting the required information can be an issue. In addition, if the device is unable to report because it is too old, overselling the capabilities up front will cause problems for you in the future. Let your customer know that your software will capture most devices and, depending on the MIB configuration found in the device, will allow for ad-ditional services to be introduced down the road.

I tell dealers to send their customers a letter stating: “As a valued customer, we will be automating your meters to eliminate potential errors; keep from having to bother you at the end of the month for meters; and eliminate the need to estimate a meter read because you were unable to pro-vide it. This is a value-added service and will be provided at no additional cost.”

The Sales ProcessI know of sales reps today who will not engage a customer

unless the company installs RMS first; I highly recommend you consider the same. We have to get away from the box-for-box mentality. Do not blame your customers for this type of thinking; we have trained them very well. You will need to take the time to show a customer the benefits of looking at the entire environment first. Think about it: Most sales reps go in blind and let the customer lead them, which often ends up being a price-focused sale (everything gets in-put to a spreadsheet and the lowest price wins).

RMS software lets you take control of the opportunity, not to mention develop a better overall solution for the cus-tomer. I believe this software will be a lifeline for a new gen-eration of sales reps. Imagine interviewing potential hires and telling them you are paying a quarterly annuity for ev-ery transaction; it will change the sales team’s perception of the opportunity along with keeping team members more

focused on their customers’ needs in the long term, as opposed to every five years. I know there is a generation of sales reps in the dealer community who have seen their income decline over the last five years; this could also be a way of ending that decline.

Do not lose sight of the fact that cus-tomers want more from us. I was on a call last week with a sales rep (this was a competitive situation) and said to

the customer: “If I could give you a snapshot of your print environment, providing you a complete inventory of all print-related devices, their overall cost of operation (includ-ing which devices are overutilized and which are underuti-lized) and how many are near end of life, would that help you make a more informed decision moving forward?” It is a bit of a no-brainer.

There is one caveat though: You cannot go in bluffing your way through this situation. You need RMS to provide the customer’s data along with a more formal assessment pro-cess so that the customer sees the value. This will legitimize the entire engagement.

Internal Management Lastly, dedicate an individual in your organization to

manage all aspects of the software. That person will over-see the entire process — from installation to reporting to data for assessments to JIT toner, etc. Make sure the pro-cess is mapped out. Give that person the authority to ensure the organization follows that process. That means service is doing its part, and sales is performing assessments and presenting quarterly reports. I speak from experience with this. I have seen too many situations where installations of the DCA stop happening; when I bring it to the dealer prin-cipal’s attention, he (or she) has no idea. Imagine if you sold the customer on JIT toner and the device falls off the net-work. Trust me, you will alleviate a number of frustrations moving forward.

Remote management software will continue to evolve as customers’ demands increase. So, getting a firm under-standing of its capabilities and managing the processes in-ternally will ensure success for you in the future. n

Mike Lamothe is president of Office Document Consulting Inc. (ODC). ODC specializes

in MPS strategies, developing software tools and implementing MPS programs at

dealerships across North America. He can be reached at

ml@officedocumentconsulting.com. Visit www.officedocumentconsulting.com.

Lamothe May 13.indd 2 5/1/13 3:50 PM

Recently, a BTA member contacted me; he had received a subpoena for a deposition and wanted to know what

to do. He was not a party to the litigation, but what is known as a “third party” who may have knowledge regarding the dispute. The date of the deposition was during spring break and he had plans with his family. The deposition was scheduled in a city two hours from his home and business. He was also instructed to bring hundreds of pages of business records that would take hours to find and copy. This inquiry alerted me to the fact that other members may be or become subject to a subpoena and need guidance as well.

My first suggestion was that he might wish to engage a lo-cal attorney to represent him in the deposition. The member was concerned about the cost and did not want to incur the expense. Although the individual was not a party to the liti-gation, he would be testifying under oath and might not rec-ognize the implications of his testimony. Additionally, depo-sitions are subject to detailed rules of procedure that he was not familiar with. The subpoena itself may not be proper and without the legal knowledge to challenge it, he may proceed unnecessarily. Finally, it may be appropriate to have a “pro-tective order” entered prior to producing any records or pro-viding any testimony. One of the parties in this litigation is a competitor and, certainly, financial information, marketing strategies and other confidential information should not be shared with him.

Despite my cautions, the member decided to proceed with-out legal representation. I suggested that he first contact the attorney seeking the deposition and advise him that the date for the deposition was not possible. It was further suggested that the deposition should take place in his home city and he should not be required to travel a total of four hours for it. Depositions of third parties are always set for the convenience of the witness.

As to the documents requested, it should be stated that the time and scope were unreasonable and it would not be pos-sible to produce them as requested. Perhaps if the attorney limited the documents sought, it may be possible to have them for the deposition. It is always advisable to only produce cop-ies and have those copies numbered. That way there can be no dispute as to whether a document was provided or not.

The deposition itself will likely take place in a conference room. There will be attor-neys for the parties present. Each has the right to ask you questions. However, the at-torney who issued the subpoena will go first. There will be a court reporter taking down the testimony. My best advice is to ignore the court reporter and do not be concerned if he (or she) is getting every word. There may also be a videographer if the deposition is being videotaped.

Under both federal and state rules, there are limits on the length of a deposition. Ask the attorney how long he expects the deposition to take. You will get an evasive answer, but it should provide a range. You are entitled to a break at any time during the deposition. There is no dress code, but I suggest you dress professionally.

Do not worry about the substance of your testimony as long as it is truthful. You are under oath. Wait for the question to be finished prior to answering. Keep your answers short and direct. I always use the example that if I were asked if my name was Joe, the answer would be “no.” Most people would answer with their correct name. There may be an objection from an-other attorney to a question, but that does not excuse you from answering. The objection is for the transcript and will be raised before the judge at a later time. An answer may call for “privileged information,” but if you are not represented by counsel, it is unlikely you will raise the privilege.

Try to keep your composure. Do not fight with the attorney asking you questions. The deposition proceeds at your speed and you are in control by using the time you take to consider your answers and respond. There may be long silences, but that is not an invitation to speak. It is not your role to speak while the attorney considers his next question. If you do make an error, you will be provided with a transcript and the oppor-tunity to correct it. Make sure you request a copy of the depo-sition prior to signing it. Do not “waive signature” when asked.

In our litigious society, you may be subpoenaed for a deposition at some point. By understanding the procedure, you will be more comfortable and able to concentrate on your responses. n

Robert C. Goldberg is general counsel for the Business Technology Association.

He can be reached at robert.goldberg@sfnr.com.

Being DeposedIf you are subpoenaed, know what to expect

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

COURTS & CAPITOLS

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Goldberg May 13.indd 1 5/1/13 4:42 PM

June5-6 ProFinance 2.0 Denver, Colo.

Over the last 10 years, the principles of ProFinance have dramatically improved the performance of hundreds of dealerships. But with the introduction of color, connectivity, software and man-aged print services (MPS), the business has changed — and ProFinance has changed with it. ProFinance 2.0 incorporates these changes into the new industry model, including benchmarks for MPS. With more than 30 key benchmarks, this management tool will help you and your team achieve double-digit operating income. John Hanson and John Hey of Strategic Business Associates will share their knowledge from 25-plus years of experience in building one of the largest dealerships in North America and on advising many of the most successful companies in the industry. This hands-on training will provide practical ideas that can be put into action im-mediately. It will give your company the competitive edge that is so vital in today’s marketplace. Visit www.bta.org/ProFinance to register.

17-18 Cruise to Success - A BTA district event hosted by BTA Mid-America Chicago, Ill.BTA Mid-America will host its annual district event, open to BTA members and non-members from across the country, June 17-18, 2013, at the DoubleTree by Hilton - Magnificent Mile. The event will feature a keynote presentation by Doug Albregts, president of Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America, four additional educational sessions presented by industry leaders, and a dealer panel focused on turning business disruption into opportunity. In addition, there will be time to network with fellow dealers and visit with 30-plus exhibiting sponsors. To wrap up the event, attendees will enjoy a three-hour scenic skyline dinner cruise on Lake Michi-gan aboard the Spirit of Chicago. Visit www.bta.org/BTAMidAmericaEvent to register.

19 BTA Managed Services Workshop Chicago, Ill.The BTA Managed Services Workshop has been updated to include the Managed Services Business Model. This model is the first of its kind, specifically for BTA dealers, and has been developed by Growth Achievement Partners (GAP) and Continuum. GAP has been assisting dealers in making this important transition since 2009. Continuum is an experienced provider of managed services operations to dealers and currently manages more than 500,000 endpoints. The companies’ combined knowledge in the managed services space will allow dealers to walk away with a “time-tested” business model and key metrics to guide success in this important strategic area. Attendees to the June 19 workshop receive free registration to Cruise to Success. Visit www.bta.org/MS to register.

For more information, visit www.bta.org/Education or call (800) 843-5059.

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 | M a y 2 0 1 3 | 23

Calendar May 13.indd 1 5/1/13 10:58 AM

BTA HigHligHTs

BTA would like to welcome the following new members to the association:

Dealer MembersAdams Imaging Systems, Newburyport, MA Berwicks Office Technology, West End, Queensland, AustraliaBESCO, North Las Vegas, NV Central Business Equipment, Sherwood, AR Cline’s Business Equipment, Visalia, CA Co-Fax Office Systems, Carrollton, TX Kempenfelt Imaging Systems, Barrie, Ontario, CanadaNoordyk Business Equipment, Grand Rapids, MIQuality Business Solutions, Towson, MD Rogersville Office Supply Co., Rogersville, TN

service Associate MembersCBAC LLC, Manchester, CT Salesfish, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia

Vendor Associate MembersAutotask Corp., East Greenbush, NYMAPA Systems, Valmeyer, IL

For full contact information of thesenew members, visit www.bta.org.

BTA District Events Each year, BTA hosts five educational and networking events in its districts. The events are open to all dealers, but BTA members receive a discount as a benefit of membership. The next event, hosted by BTA Mid-America, will take place June 17-18, 2013, in Chicago, and it includes two-for-one member pricing. For more information on all of BTA’s upcoming district events, visit www.bta.org/DistrictEvents.

For information on BTA member benefits, visit www.bta.org/MemberBenefits.

For the benefit of its dealer members, each month BTA features two of its Vendor or Service Associate members in this space.

Since 1994, BTA Vendor Associate

Member Nexent Innovations Inc., creators of Miracle Service service management software, has provided business solutions for thousands of field service clients in more than 45 coun-tries. Miracle Service is modular, so you only pay for what you need. Standard features include technician scheduling, inventory man-agement, service contracts, sales manage-ment, preventative maintenance, management reporting, automated invoicing and document management. Optional features include mobile access, meter billing, accounting integration and more. Start with the features you need to-day and add new ones as your company grows.

www.miracleservice.com

BTA Service As-sociate Member CBAC LLC pro-vides an invoice

financing exchange to businesses in need of immediate capital. Financing companies com-pete against each other in an online auction system to provide your business with the best rates for its invoices. CBAC provides factor-ing options to a variety of industries including transportation, staffing, manufacturing, medi-cal, construction, government contracting and natural resources. Headquartered in Manches-ter, Conn., CBAC was founded in late 2011.

www.cbacfunding.com

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

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Highlights May 13.indd 1 5/1/13 11:01 AM

Past, Present & FutureFrom hardware to data-centric markets

by: Bob Sostilio, Sostilio & Associates International Inc.

In the past, desktop copying was an economic and conve-nient method of duplicating images or data in an analog format rather than printing, which required multiple steps

to produce a single page of output. But when capturing data on paper went digital, it created ameliorated alternatives and users no longer favored “copying,” but opted for desktop scan and print. Now, desktop printing is being demoted in favor of mobile data.

It Started with PrintingPrinting, credited to the Chinese in the ninth and 10th

centuries with the creation of moveable type, was later per-fected by the Koreans, who were able to produce bronze type. Now here we are, some 1,100 years later, still benefitting from printing to communicate our lessons, letters and literature as we record our history.

Printing is a robust industry that had more than $80 billion in annual revenues in 2012. The industry employs a half million workers. The copier industry, on the other hand, surfaced in the 1940s and grew to more than $38.5 billion in annual revenues in the wholesale trade in less than 65 years. By 2007, as it moved from being “paper-centric” to “connected,” the wholesale copi-er/MFP channel employed close to 180,000 workers.

However, the break/fix copier/MFP industry as we know it is approaching its sunsetting years, with knowledge workers mov-ing out of the connected environment and into the data-sharing environment. The installed base of analog models and related annuities has almost evaporated, replaced by predictable digi-tal monochrome and color models. However, their monthly page volumes have dramatically declined from prior years due to the rapid acceptance of cloud-based apps and storage. Our current research shows that sales of newer copier/MFP models and their installations are not as robust as in previous years, with some segments declining by as much as double-digit per-centiles while total page volume output does nothing to shore up the eroding annuities. Less than 80 years from the inception of the copier, users have found a more convenient way to cap-ture, duplicate, transmit, retrieve, read and store data than on paper — by using tablets with mobile data.

New Vendors, New OpportunitiesIn the 1970s, companies with camera technology were quick

to convert lens and ink technology into standalone desktop copiers. They competed against Xerox, IBM and Kodak —

companies that owned the copier market in the 1960s and 1970s with their fleets of rental units. The emergence of Ricoh, Canon, Minolta and Konica from Japan quickly captured the desktop copier market as they wholesaled their copiers through an in-dependent dealer channel. That channel evolved as typewriter dealers and senior sales reps from companies like Apeco, SCM and Xerox saw opportunities in becoming resellers and break/fix operations in the newly emerging copier market.

When the copier became more functional and reliable with the application of laser/digital technology, lens/mirror ana-log technology R&D stopped and all research focused on the image — colorizing it and making it portable via networks, both local and worldwide, and eventually making it mobile. The dealer entrepreneur maintained his (or her) competitive-ness by expanding his skills to keep pace. He grew his mar-ket by selling and supporting higher-speed units with larger page volumes, and by competing directly with manufacturers while taking on new skills involving connected device net-works, IT services and, now, managed services.

Today, Going Forward2013 finds the independent (and direct distribution) chan-

nels of copier/MFPs and printers more support-oriented, providing service that includes: wiring; installing networks, wireless hubs, network components and devices; monitoring devices remotely; providing IT services and document man-agement; and storing customer data in the cloud. I believe the

PRINCIPAL ISSUES

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 | M a y 2 0 1 3 | 25

Sostilio May 13.indd 1 5/1/13 11:12 AM

break/fix role of the independent dealer, once paramount to a manufacturer’s suc-cess, is becoming less hardware-centric and more brand agnostic. A profitable copier/MFP dealer today does not just sell copier/MFPs, but has developed an under-standing of his clients’ business processes and is fixated on those accounts that cap-ture, move and store data. I believe the in-dependent dealer who maintains the clos-est contact with his customer base is able to have a sales engineer/consultant, an IT rep and a consultant/trainer on site at the same account with-out conflict. It is the local independent dealer who continues to exercise the most flexibility with market conditions and who is able to react more intelligently when user demands change.

That is not to say some disruptive technology is not lurking around the bend in an OEM’s lab, but as of now, many of to-day’s OEMs are focused on increased throughput speeds using less ink (in the case of inkjet), improved yields on parts and supplies, making fewer on-site service visits, looking at papers

that temporarily hold data and can be re-used, and applications that aid in captur-ing and securely viewing data anywhere in mobile environments.

Channel Consolidation

Again, our research shows that there are fewer “large” (annual sales greater than $30 million per year) independent wholesale dealerships of office equipment today than in the past; there has been a 65 percent decline in the number of office equipment

dealerships from the growth years of the late 1970s and early 1980s. We have seen consolidations and acquisitions reduce the total number of copier/MFP hardware OEMs from a high of 24 in the 1980s to 13 in 2013. Economic conditions have also shown contraction, with 13 million workers in paper-intense silos unemployed (a loss of 44 billion pages) and 400,000 fewer business establishments than in prior years.

Today’s data-centric independent dealer represents more than two vendors in each device category, be it printers, MFPs, routers, servers, etc. These dealers’ service technicians are certified for printing, document imaging and more than one type of corporate backbone, and they are now operating re-motely from their dealerships. OEMs are having to work with their dealers to become more effective on service calls by of-fering products that are more reliable, offer higher yields and can be repaired remotely 95 percent of the time while compet-ing directly for users’ service dollars. Dealers who have made the transition from hardware to data management have seen their bottom lines increase versus break/fix dealers who are still struggling with callback rate increases.

My BeliefI believe, just as typewriter dealers and OEM sales reps were

the pioneers in the hardware-centric dealer channel, that to-day’s pioneers are managed service providers, VARs who main-tain some outbound service capability, and copier/MFP dealers who have become service/business process experts and are able to offer their client bases IT services and support. Those dealer-ships that fail to follow the data stream and remain fixated on page speeds and output volumes will continue to experience declining revenues as fewer users leave their marks on paper. n

Bob Sostilio is president and CEO of Sostilio & Associates International, an Ocala, Fla.-based consulting

firm serving the office technology industry. He has more than 34 years of experience in the

industry, including service in senior management positions with leading manufacturers and

research organizations. Sostilio can be reached at bsostilio@embarqmail.com.

We have seen consolidations and acquisitions reduce the total number of copier/MFP hardware OEMs from a high of 24 in the 1980s to 13 in 2013.

26 | 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 | M a y 2 0 1 3

Sostilio May 13.indd 2 5/1/13 3:51 PM

Trials & TribulationsAdopting the positive power of adversity

by: Arnie Valenzuela, FIMA 4 Consulting Group LLC

If you want to learn about leadership in busi-ness, sports or political trends, do a search on Amazon.com and you will find many books

that can help you in your pursuit. If you want or need leadership guidance in the midst of facing some kind of adversity (the death of a child, spou-sal abandonment, unemployment, terminal dis-ease diagnosis, addiction, etc.), an Amazon search will deliver a smattering of titles that range from self-help to spiritualism, metaphorical fables and fictional stories.

My upcoming book on leadership (“Leader-Flip©, How Ordinary People are Transformed into Extraordinary Leaders Through Adversity,” expected publishing date in the first half of 2014) was created out of my own painful circumstanc-es. For 43 percent of the last five years, I was without a steady income or job. At one point, I had applied for more than 350 positions and still could not land a job — even those that were significantly below my ability or pay grade. My unemployment nearly wiped my family out financially. During those months, the idea for the book swirled in my head, but it was still just an idea. It was during this time that I became inspired by sev-eral people whom I had been introduced to who had become incredible leaders despite tragic situations that were much worse than mine.

There was Nate, who had held his three-year-old daughter in his arms as she died from a seizure. I will never forget the day I got an email from our friends asking for prayer; their three-year-old daughter had collapsed and died from heart failure. Then there was the call from a friend who informed me that his wife had left him for another man. Finally, there was the day my kids told me that their school principal had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer and had less than six months to live.

You might ask why an article like this one would appear in a trade magazine, especially when it starts out with what can be viewed as the doom and gloom of life. For me, it is simple. Most traditional leadership books are about leading organi-zations, teams or people to a predetermined objective like profit, championships or political wins. When life deals you a blow that knocks you down and discourages you from even at-tempting to get up, you need to do something different. This is why I started to write. Altruistically, I wanted to write about

those people who had inspired me. But in reality, I needed to write it as part of figuring out how to get through the next 18 months, which would in-clude 12 months of underemployment (35 percent below need) and six months of unemployment.

As trials and tribulations increase, we are all left with a fundamental choice: Do we choose to face the trouble with our own heart, soul, strength and mind, with the help of others or with a power greater than ourselves? I think I can be confident in saying that in our humanness, our default reaction is to face the trouble in the same way we have learned to manage a process, a team or an organization — alone. This can be a mistake because such leadership skills as those suggested by Forbes (“Top 10 Qualities That Make A Great

Leader,” Tanya Prive, contributor, Dec. 19, 2012; honesty, abil-ity to delegate, communication, sense of humor, confidence, commitment, positive attitude, creativity, intuition, ability to inspire) do not really line up with what is required to endure adversity as described earlier. If one approaches personal tragedy in the traditional sense, you will be forced to navigate a storm that you not only have never prepared for, but never thought you would face. This could lead to being paralyzed with fear, anger or self-pity.

Unplanned PurposeThe first principle I grasped came into view about five years

into an eight-year test of my endurance. My pain had purpose. At that time, I was employed and was enjoying a new level of financial success when I learned that a friend was unemployed for the second time that year. I offered to assist him, and what I found out was what I had learned over those five difficult years was like gold for someone like Ken, who had never faced unem-ployment during his 40-year career. As I assisted Ken in his job search, I discovered that the jobs I had over the previous five years had a purpose besides learning how to endure the strug-gle of job loss, financial struggle and the search for work. I dis-covered that each job provided me skills and experiences that were absolutely necessary for the next job and, without them, I could never have been successful in each job. This helped me view the struggle in a new way. I was dumbfounded by what had happened, because in each job role I had either met or ex-ceeded the job’s expectations. If adversity is viewed as part of

PRINCIPAL ISSUES

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Valenzuela May 13.indd 1 5/1/13 3:53 PM

development for the future and for the sake of others who have not endured what you have, then it can be viewed as a positive transaction. Adversity has a purpose.

Unprepared PreparationThe second principle I learned was to

depend upon others instead of being inde-pendent. Although I was unprepared, there were others who faced similar situations and were either just ahead of me in the pro-cess or on the other side of the adversity. Once I learned not to be ashamed or embarrassed by my situa-tion, I realized that there was an abundance of experience avail-able to me — all I had to do was ask. At first, it was difficult to ask for help. But what was even more puzzling was that I could not understand why people were so willing to offer help. Now that I am on the other side, I understand why. When you have come up against struggles as mighty as these examples and make it to the other side, you almost cannot resist the oppor-tunity to help another person in his (or her) battle, especially

when you consider that, just like you, he was completely unprepared.

Learn to depend on the experience of others as the second step in the process and then accept that your journey will become a source of development that you could never get on the job or in career training. That is why others who have experienced adversity similar to yours want to help you. They have been there and can uniquely em-pathize and sympathize with your plight. The second principle to becoming what I

refer to as a LeaderFlip© leader is to realize that your trial pre-pares you by releasing you from self-dependency. It can deliver valuable skill sets to you and others to comfort, encourage and bring hope to those who come behind you. Adversity prepares you for the future and brings meaning to the past.

Unexpected PerseveranceAs I progressed through my adversity, a third principle

came into view — perseverance. Now, I know that seems obvious until you consider how perseverance is created and maintained in the heart of one who is enduring severe adver-sity. According to the dictionary, perseverance is the steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose or a state, espe-cially in spite of difficulties, obstacles or discouragement. The key word here is “purpose.” What I learned from my own ex-perience, and from my friends with terminal illnesses, is that when you know your purpose in life, you will fight for it with all your might.

When you connect purpose with challenge, you might amaze yourself with how creative you can be. For my friend Scott, it was a level of creativity in his diet that extended his life three years past his diagnosis. For my kids’ principal, it was creativity in diet, treatment and rest that allowed him to de-liver one last address to his graduating students at their com-mencement ceremony. For me, it was the need to create income to avoid insolvency that gave me the energy and creativity to start a consulting business that generated fees to augment savings, unemployment, lines of credit and food stamps over an eight-year period of time. Adversity ignites perseverance.

When you face adversity with the belief that there is a purpose for it and that it is part of the preparation for greater work, then you can persevere through it and come to the realization that there can be a “Positive Power to Adversity.” n

Arnie Valenzuela is the principal of FIMA 4 Consulting Group LLC. He is also an endpoint

security and systems management software executive at Dell Software Group.

Valenzuela can be reached at arniev@comcast.net.

Learn to depend on the experience of others as the second step in the process and then accept that your journey will become a source of development ...

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The Achilles’ HeelKeep this social media trait in mind

by: Troy Harrison, SalesForce Solutions

Many people do not know this, but the late country comedian Jerry Clower started out as a feed and fertilizer sales-

man. Some of his jokes and stories were from that time in his life. Here is one of my favorites:

Clower was once selling to a hog farmer and he asked the farmer what he fed his hogs. “Slop,” the farmer replied. Clower began extolling the virtues of the advanced hog food he sold and closed by saying, “With this food, your hogs could be grown and market-ready in half the time!” The old farmer looked at him and asked, “What’s time to a hog?”

This story illustrates how the same words can mean differ-ent things to different people — and few things exemplify this more than social media. “You’ve got to be on social media,” one person says. “Quit prospecting — social media is where it is at,” says another. However, what salespeople are concerned with is not social media, but prospecting and lead generation. To that extent, social media has one big Achilles’ heel that no one is talking about: Your target must know about you before anything you do with social media has an effect.

One of the big positives for the user is that social media is an opt-in mechanism. You might be Tweeting some great stuff, but if I am not following you, I will never see it.

If you are a salesperson, this is a big problem. Part of what we need to do in our new-business selling process is to reach out to people so they do know us.

“But wait,” you say, “people pass along what they see on so-cial media; that is how people build audiences.” This sounds great and it does happen — it is called “going viral.” But there is a problem: In the real world, very little business-oriented material gets a retweet or a Facebook recommendation.

One example of this is a prominent sales author who, in re-cent years, has been emphatic about the power of social media. At the start of 2011, he promised he would tell his readers how to monetize social media. At the start of 2012, he said he had hired a consultant to help him show people how to monetize social media. So far in 2013, the discussion has not advanced. However, he posted an example last year that speaks volumes.

The author gave an example of a pithy comment that he posted and said that “It was retweeted 18 times!” Sounds great, except that he has 30,000 followers. I do not even want to run the ratio involved. This man has been a bestselling au-thor for 20 years, which is how he got his 30,000 followers.

Now, it may sound like I am down on social media. I am not. What you are reading is a form of social media and publishing magazine articles has been very beneficial to me for eight years. That is why I keep writing them. But to succeed in selling, it is vital that we understand what social media can and cannot do.

Social media can be a great mechanism for rep- utation-building, relationship development and demonstration of expertise. Many buyers will use

it as a “check-you-out” mechanism to learn more about you — after they have encountered you in some other way (such as meeting at a networking event or through a prospecting call).

Social media cannot be a primary contact mechanism, because of the Achilles’ heel issue that I mentioned earlier. (There is at least one exception to this rule. Salespeople in business-to-consumer [B2C] businesses should probably in-vest more time in social media for two reasons: First, cold-call prospecting is virtually nonexistent in B2C. Second, what does get forwarded and retweeted tends to be information on personal purchases, entertainment, etc. Real estate salespeo-ple, in particular, have had a lot of success with social media.)

I should also qualify something I stated above. At this time, social media technology that will get past the opt-in provi-sions of the genre and allow social media to be a primary sales contact mechanism does not exist. However, that technology may exist someday (and I am sure people are working on it).

While speaking at a recent trade show in Dallas, I did a little test. I was speaking to a group of about 150 people about pros-pecting. I asked all the business owners in the room to raise their hands. About 50 did. I then asked the business owners to keep their hands up if they watched their Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn feeds to find new vendors. Every hand went down.

Since you are business-to-business salespeople, that should tell you something. Use social media for what it can do. Do not ask it to do what it cannot. n

Troy Harrison is the author of “Sell Like You Mean It!” and is president of SalesForce Solutions, a sales training, consulting and recruiting firm. For information on

booking speaking/training engagements, consulting or to sign up for his weekly e-zine, call (913) 645-3603. Harrison can also be reached at

troyharrison@salesforcesolutions.net. Visit www.salesforcesolutions.net.

selling solutions

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Harrison May 13.indd 1 5/1/13 11:23 AM

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