Red Flags: Patterns of Behavior Often a Sign of Trouble

A middle-aged job prospect, Dave Johnson, sat pensively in front of the human resources director for WYSIWYG Business Solutions of Camden, NJ, anxiously awaiting her next question. “Well, everything seems to be in order,” the director concluded. “But I just have one question
Read More

Lexmark Offers Cigars, but Doesn’t Blow Smoke During Final Stop on BSD Roadshow Tour

Make no bones about it. The team behind the Lexmark BSD Roadshow series are the kind of guys you’d want to kick back with, smoke a few cigars, enjoy a brandy or two and speculate on who the Bulls are going to take in the NBA draft. Perhaps as to prove a point, that’s exactly what
Read More

Konica Minolta’s Sam Errigo: Taking MWA Relationship to Next Level Good for Entire Industry

Last week’s acquisition of MWA Intelligence Inc. (MWA) may seem like a coup for Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A. Inc. (Konica Minolta) and its All Covered division, and that would be accurate. After supporting MWA and channel dealers for the past three-plus years in areas
Read More

HR Challenges: Keeping the Superstar Sales Reps Happy, Motivated and Engaged

It’s no secret that a dealer’s sales division is often the one area that frequently sees the highest turnover rates. To what extent the vice president of sales and/or the sales manager can effectively chart out the expectations for a rep, and provide the tools necessary to meet
Read More

Difference Maker Eric Smith a True Patriot for Small Businesses Everywhere

Given this week’s Fourth of July celebration, it seems only appropriate to pay homage to a Difference Maker who, in the face of long odds and potentially damning consequences, took a defiant stance that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court…and won. One of the
Read More

Dealers Need to Look Within to Foster Future Growth for ECM

Ideally, the path to growth within the dealer community is paved with promises of net-new business, but that need not be the cure-all solution. As with any ancillary offering that provides enhanced customer stickiness, your current book of business is the simplest solution to
Read More

Difference Maker Sarah Custer Adept at Making the Most of Time

In “Calmly We Walk Through This April’s Day,” the late poet Delmore Schwartz wrote, “Time is the school in which we learn, Time is the fire in which we burn.” It is a reminder of not only our mortality, but perhaps the importance of gleaning knowledge and perspective during our
Read More

New Leadership, Go-to-Market Strategy and a Collaborative Approach with Dealers Make for a Bold, New Ricoh World

That the past year has been challenging to Ricoh Company is an understatement. The Tokyo-based OEM registered a $1.6 billion loss for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2018, which was largely a factor of the goodwill impairment of its North American business. Well before the
Read More

Culture-Driven XMC Inc.’s Appetite for Acquisition Fuels Growth Plans

Establishing a corporate culture can be a tricky thing for any office technology dealership. Sure, there are base values that any company worth its salt will seek in its employee roster: Honesty, integrity, a sterling work ethic, the willingness to do whatever it takes to satisfy
Read More

OES-Solutions Takes Great Care in Finding New Partners, Employees

The driving force behind OES-Solutions was never to be just a repository for purchasing product. After all, there is an ample number of other distributors who fit that description. The true wheelhouse for the Westfield, IN-headquartered distributor is catering to SMB dealers with
Read More

21st-Century Hiring Practices May Ease Process, but Office Technology Dealers Still Tasked in Finding Ideal Candidates

In the 2000 film, “The Family Man,” Nicolas Cage’s character, Jack Campbell, finds himself in an alternate universe. In it, he tries (among other things) to win his way into a job with a Wall Street M&A firm, P.K. Lassiter. In “real” life, Campbell is the president of P.K.
Read More

Digging for Data: Capture Solutions Complement Dealer’s Enterprise Content Management Platform

To err is human, but there is no forgiveness for users whose repository of information is flawed. Content management explodes on the launching pad when content fidelity is compromised. Fortunately, there is a wealth of solutions that can ensure optimal confidence in the
Read More

Fujifilm Launches $1 Billion Lawsuit Against Xerox for Nixing Deal

It didn’t take long for the other shoe to drop. Fujifilm Holdings has taken Xerox to court, seeking more than $1 billion in damages for a breach of contract after the Norwalk, CT-based manufacturer announced it would no longer pursue the proposed merger between Xerox and Fuji
Read More

Marketing to the Masses: Is it Time to Rebrand?

OK, so we’ve just about hit the midway point of 2018, as incredible as it may seem. Time to focus on following through with those business plans and plow through the third quarter with a vengeance prior to the holiday season. And perhaps, just maybe, it might be time to revisit
Read More

Visual Edge Technology: Owners on the Same Page, Writing a New Chapter for Office Technology Dealerships

Brian Frank had a pretty good idea of what the future would look like for the office technology dealer universe, and the president of Graphic Enterprises Office Solutions wanted to play a big role in shaping that future for his company by following an M&A path to growth.
Read More