It is no secret that color sales are driving the office equipment market and that the related service and supplies business is a bonanza for the industry and the channel.  This was confirmed again last week in an impromptu discussion with a Canadian dealer about growing services Read More

This week we speak with Susie Woodhull, president of Woodhull LLC in Springboro, OH about what’s hot and what’s not in her market. Woodhull LLC is a single-line Ricoh dealer. What’s hot? Woodhull: Managed IT services is hot for us right now; we’re getting ready to kick off the Read More

What’s the hottest thing in the imaging and office technology industries right now? Could it be IT services, managed network services? It could be depending on whom you’re speaking with. Not everybody is buying it though. This week I spoke with Tom Callinan of Strategy Read More

This week we touch base with Tarek Hafiz, President of CBE in Irvine, California about what’s hot and what’s not in his market. CBE sells Sharp, Ricoh, and Canon products. What’s hot? Hafiz: We’re seeing a lot more activity with software solutions, MPS, and color MFPs. What’s Read More

This will be somewhat of a cut and paste from a previous blog I did labeled “The Hottest Little MFP from Texas”. A few weeks ago I attended the BTA East Grand Slam event in White Plains, N.Y. I recommend dealers and sales people find a way to get to these events in Read More

One of the hottest trends sweeping the office technology industry is IT services, which also encompasses managed networked services (MNS). To be fair, they’re related although they are not necessarily the same thing. Either way, not everybody sees these two related opportunities Read More

This is the department where I present compelling comments that were made to me off the record. It’s a great way to share what’s going on in people’s minds when they can speak freely and not have to worry about me naming names. With so many folks in the industry and outside Read More

I assembled this week’s newsletter and Web postings on Monday, Oct. 30, in a race against the clock and Hurricane Sandy. If you’re reading this now that means I was successful although my Internet and phone has not been as reliable as I would like. I didn’t lose power though Read More

Following are the big and small news stories for the month of November. BEI Services and Preton Host Webinar Dec. 12 BEI Services will be hosting a free Webinar December 12th, 2012 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern/12:00 p.m. Pacific in conjunction with Preton to educate BEI Services’ Read More

Sometimes you need to shake things up and that’s exactly what Sharp beginning Oct. 1 when they rolled out Promotional Plus Pricing to their dealer channel. Originally referenced at their dealer meeting in July, what this does is take all of the discounts that were provided to Read More

This is the column where I present compelling comments that were made to me off the record. It’s a great way to share what’s going on in people’s minds when they can speak freely and don’t have to concern themselves about me naming names. This comment comes from a solutions Read More

And now the end is near. Actually it’s more than near, it’s here as I present the final 12 2012 Elite Dealers, including the Elite Dealer of the Year. First a word about that and how that’s determined; I decided to do that for the first time last year after reading a number of Read More

This week we touch base with Jason Habbal, vice president/sales manager with Vision Office Systems in Charlotte, NC about what’s hot and what’s not in his market. Vision sells Savin, Canon, HP, Samsung, and Kyocera products. What’s Hot? Habbal:  Segment 4 color MFP’s are what has Read More

FRASER ais West Reading, PA www.fraser-ais.com Year Founded: 1971 Approximate Yearly Revenues: $25+ million Most Significant Accomplishment of the Past 12 Months: Fraser sold, booked, and executed more than $4-million in equipment and services in the month of December of 2011. Read More

This week we ask Carmen Pitarra, president of 4 the Office, formerly Northeast Print Supplies & Equipment, in Pittstown, PA, what products, solutions, and services are currently hot in his market and what’s not? What’s hot? Pitarra: Print management. It’s been great for us Read More