MERIDIAN IMAGING SOLUTIONS
Alexandria, VA
President/Owners: Matt Williams/Terri Sullivan
Year founded: 1995
Number of employees: 107
Primary hardware vendors: Ricoh, Konica Minolta, RISO, HP, Lexmark
Primary solutions and services offerings: Nuance (Equitrac & eCopy), NSi (AutoStore), Westbrook Technologies (Fortis) products, MPS, Managed Services, Document Management
Approximate/Average yearly revenues: $25-$30 million
Biggest sale/win of the past year: A federal agency totaling almost $900,000.
When you’re an employee owned dealership as Meridian is every employee has a vested interest in the success as a group. And this is one successful dealership.
The leading growth area for Meridian the past three years has been managed services thanks to its focus on small and mid-size clients. Meridian’s COMPLETE Managed Services Program has doubled every year since 2010 and the company is expecting high double-digit growth for the next three years as well. Another fast growing area of business is Meridian’s education vertical market, which has grown by 79 percent in the past three years with major contract awards for St. Mary’s County Public Schools and Virginia Beach Public Schools.
Those customers and others choose Meridian because of its turnkey technology management, local support, and engaged employees. Customers also appreciate Meridian’s proactive approach to service, which can prevent and/or remediate a variety of issues before they have a chance to impact the customer’s productivity.
We also commend Meridian’s marketing department, which has launched a sophisticated social networking and inbound lead-generation program. This includes constant content development, including case studies, white papers, ebooks, blogs, and videos. Also noteworthy is the Meridian Means Service award program, an innovative internal marketing program, which recognizes individual non-sales employees for going above and beyond to ensure that its customers have the best experience possible. The Meridian Means Service award encourages employees to be proactive and responsive to all customers, at all times.
One of this year’s biggest accomplishments was being awarded a multi-year contract by the Fairfax County Government to supply MFPs, software applications, and related services. Fairfax County Government served as the lead agency in a recent U.S. Communities solicitation for these products and services on a national scope. After carefully evaluating competitive proposals from other dealers and manufacturers, Fairfax County presented Meridian with a local award. This award gives participating public sector entities such as state agencies, local governments, school districts, and regional universities exclusive access to Meridian’s comprehensive catalog of business technologies across multiple product lines. By negotiating additional cost reductions from its manufacturer partners, Meridian is able to extend the savings to these entities and significantly expand the depth and breadth of quality products generally available through similar contracts.
“Without having to manage competitive solicitations of their own, local participants now have an additional purchasing vehicle to access and implement cost-savings strategies and state-of-the-art office solutions faster,” says Juliana McKee, Meridian’s vice president of Government, Education and Major Accounts. “We know how costly and time-consuming it is for procurement officials to manage the bid process. The heavy lifting has been done, the suppliers have been vetted, and the pencils have been sharpened. It was really hard work, but that’s why we are so excited about this award.”
Being an ESOP is not only the foundation of Meridian, but a strategy to ensure growth and profitability as each of its employees share in the success of the organization. With its sights set on the future, the dealership continues to implement new strategies to ensure long-term growth and stability. One of the newest strategies includes the grand opening of its Meridian-branded data center/co-location facility located in Ashburn, VA – the globe’s busiest telecommunications hub – designed to result in a pivotal development for managed services and the company.
“This data center has a ‘Wow’ factor – with a look that parallels our own fresh work environment,’ notes Trina Edwards, project manager. “It’s secure to the point of entrances being controlled with strictly managed access levels, man-trap entry and iris scans.”
The facility has even been recognized for its sustainability efforts with an EPA ENERGY CERTIFIED Gold Star and LEED Gold certifications. Bandwidth is scalable and up time is at a unbeatable 100 percent. As a result of these efforts, Meridian is now confidently equipped to handle exponentially more managed services business. “With amenities that are unrivaled, we can be as proud hosting our prospects and clients for tours at the data center as we are in our own headquarters,” states Edwards. “Our data center services will generate recurring streams of revenue versus transactional business. This is significant because we previously had to outsource these functions. Removing this layer, we will have direct access to our clients, capture lost margins, and ultimately strengthen our client relationships.”
It’s refreshing to see a dealership make all the necessary moves to remain relevant in a changing industry. And that’s one of the many reasons we celebrate Meridian Imaging Solutions as a 2013 Elite Dealer.
John Kuchta
SOLUTION ONE
Lincoln, NE
President/Owner: John Kuchta
Year founded: 1937
Number of employees: 42
Primary hardware vendors: Konica Minolta, Canon, Lexmark, Muratec
Primary solutions and services offerings: Managed IT and Software Services, Nuance, Open Text
Approximate/Average yearly revenues: $5-$10 million
Biggest sale/win of the past year: A community hospital; This installation of over 70 machines into a new facility required a precision time line with extended front line support from Solution One’s Professional Service group and Service technicians.
It’s been a year of growth in MPS and printer sales, particularly A4 MFPs and printers for Solution One. It’s also been another year of technology improvements and training—two things that Solution One aggressively invests in.
“Technology is fast paced and it is imperative to have tools, knowledge, and flexibility to support this for both the customer and the internal business,” says John Kuchta, president.
Customer satisfaction is always a good method to measure how Elite a dealer is and when Solution One talks about satisfied customers, they’re talking about customers who understand that this dealership appreciates their opinions and their willingness to make improvements when necessary.
“We believe you can only improve what you can track,” says Kuchta. “Solution One has quantitative data about performance from the service call to billing resolutions. Another differentiator is we survey our customers and resource nationwide surveys to constantly be connected to changing business needs.”
We’re impressed too by the way that Solution One markets its solutions and services. The documentation that customers and prospects receive succinctly outlines the dealership’s offerings and its approach, providing customers with a way to better understand new concepts and approaches to improving their businesses.
Also impressive are Solution One’s technology sessions for Managed Network Services and Document Managing with topics ranging from cloud-based solutions, to IT relationships, to security and disaster recovery.
We like Solution One’s Business Plan, a plan that’s resulted in increased revenue and market share in Managed Network and Professional Services as well as Managed Print. A great plan is one thing, a plan that delivers results is another.
And we admire the way management encourages employees to take an active role to find new or improved processes. Valuing the input of employees is a hallmark of an Elite Dealer.
As Solution One prepares for another year expect it to expand in high-growth technology areas by offering IT resources along with hardware. This strategy is one that many other dealers are employing, some well, some not so well. Based on its track record, we’re betting that this strategy will make a difference in the dealership’s future growth.
MERITECH, INC.
Cleveland, OH
President/Owner: Dennis Bednar
Year founded: 1978
Number of employees: 100
Primary hardware vendors: Kyocera, Konica Minolta, Muratec, HP, Dell, Barracuda, Psigen, Sentry File, iDatix, Sagemcom, PaperCut, Panasonic
Primary solutions and services offerings: Managed Network Services, Managed Print Services, Document Management, Web Design, Business Consulting
Approximate/Average yearly revenues: $20 million
Biggest sale/win of the past year: A local and well-known hospital in the Cleveland market, totaling over $5 million in sales. This included hardware, software, managed print services, fax server, and application work.
This 2013 Elite Dealer is a forward thinking company that embraces and drives change in order to promote growth and learning internally and externally. One wouldn’t expect less from a dealership that values its employees while providing opportunities for growth, advancement, and leadership.
Customers seem to like the way Meritech approaches a sale. It takes a consultative sales approach and leverages its managed service offerings, ensuring strong, long-term partnerships. Customers also view Meritech as a one-source office solution provider, whether it’s hardware, IT solutions, software solutions, Web design, or any office solution to enhance a customer’s workplace. This is a dealership that seems to do it all.
“We provide customized solutions tailored to fit our partner’s needs and we back everything with our M Guarantee providing the best service in the industry,” states President Dennis Bednar.
We’re especially impressed by the growth Meritech has enjoyed with Managed Network Services—400 percent year over year growth!
“We believe the future of our business is built around IT consulting and IT services,” states Bednar. “We are taking major steps to stay ahead of the technology curve.”
And ahead of the curve it is, particularly on the services side of the business. Meritech has branded all of its managed service offerings (M Doc, M Print, M Network, M Support), marketing it all as M Services.
“We customize a universal sales process called the Meritech Experience that provides a step by step approach to building customized solutions tailored to fit our partners’ needs,” adds Bednar. “We’re considered our community’s elite managed services provider.”
One of the biggest challenges Meritech has faced is sustainable growth over the past five years.
“As our managed service offerings have grown, it was important to our dealership that we employed and empowered the right talent that aligned with Meritech’s mission, vision, and core values,” explains Bednar.
In order to overcome these challenges, Meritech’s management team evaluated the dealership’s current processes and identified areas of improvement and came up with an enhanced re-design of the complete interview process, on-boarding, and training program. The improvements included a uniform evaluation process, a step-by-step playbook, along with the tools and resources.
“One of the biggest accomplishments is that we were able to create a branded culture, while having our employees truly engage in our mission, vision, and core values,” adds Bednar.
That approach is just one more reason why we celebrate Meritech’s selection as a 2013 Elite Dealer.
Ken Copeland (left) and Scott Wiggins(right) of ASI.
ASI BUSINESS SOLUTIONS
Dallas, TX
President/Owner: Ken Copeland
Year founded: 1989
Number of employees: 57
Primary hardware vendors: Lanier/Ricoh, Lexmark, HP, FP Mailing Solutions, MBM
Primary solutions and services offerings: Document Management, Content Management, Document Archival/Retrieval, Document Security, Revision Control, Workflow Applications, Managed Network Solutions
Approximate/Average yearly revenues: $13-$15 million
Biggest sale/win of the past year: Success in cross-selling has been ASI’s biggest win in the past year. Having customers use ASI to fulfill the gamut of their office technology needs from MFPs, to Managed Print Services, to Managed Network Services, to Document Management Solutions, to Mailing Solutions, all of these solutions are a testimony to the value it can bring within each of its customers’ environments.
It’s been a good year for ASI Business Solutions with growth in Managed Print Services and Managed Network Services. Indeed, transitioning the organization into a managed services provider model was a significant accomplishment for the entire company.
“While this is an ongoing investment in resources, technology and people, we feel it is the best way to ensure we remain a competitive, healthy organization and bring ongoing value to our customers,” says Ken Copeland, president.
Customers recognize that value while also appreciating ASI as a one-stop office technology provider. The big differentiator, however, is ASI’s culture.
“At ASI, we have embraced the 212° SERVICE philosophy that promotes 10 Rules for Creating a Service Culture,” explains Copeland. “From 212° Service we learn that, life is like a game of tennis. The player who serves well seldom loses. The same can be said for any business on the planet. However, in business, when we talk about creating a service culture, most focus on customer service, but 212° Service defines a service culture a little differently. In addition to serving our customers, it is also about serving each other. In fact, we learn it’s impossible to have one without the other.”
This is a dealership that does a superior job of marketing. We love ASI’s invitation-only open house that it hosts at its facility. The dealership provides food, beverages, and hands out door prizes such as iPads and gift cards for fine dining at area restaurants.
“We work hard to orchestrate an atmosphere encouraging interaction between non-customers and customers,” says Copeland. “There is nothing like a good customer testimonial!”
Additionally, this event allows ASI to showcase its facility and provide insight into the latest technology offerings in a nonthreatening fashion. Most importantly, the event allows it to say thank you to its customers for their business.
Also notable is the ASI Testimonial Wall, which is prominently displayed in the ASI facility and is now an important component of the ASI tour. The ASI Testimonial Wall reinforces to prospects via third party (current ASI customers) proof that ASI delivers on its promises.
New this year is a Network Operations Center (NOC), which underscores the company’s commitment to managed network services. The ASI NOC was implemented to oversee complex networking environments that require little to no downtime. ASI engineers are responsible for monitoring one or many networks for certain conditions that may require special attention to avoid degraded service. In addition to monitoring internal and external networks of related infrastructure, ASI can proactively troubleshoot networks to get a head-start on disruptive events.
We appreciate the way ASI gives back to the community, a sure sign of an Elite Dealer. For example, ASI employees donate their time and money to provide for children in foster homes who are in need of basic items such as shoes and coats.
This is also a dealer that is an active participant in the industry, participating in industry leading dealer groups, aligning itself with industry leading manufacturers while evolving its offerings to proactively satisfy the needs of its customers. ASI has also shown a willingness to invest in its people and cultivate a 212 service culture which brings value to its employees and its customers, ensuring long-term growth and profitability, and for 2013, recognition once again as one of the industry’s Elite Dealers.
Carmen Pitarra
4 THE OFFICE
Pittston, PA
President/Owner: Carmen Pitarra
Year founded: 2007
Number of employees: 5
Primary hardware vendors: Kyocera, HP, Sharp, Xerox
Primary solutions and services offerings: PaperCut, PrintFleet PrintSmart, SP Richards
Approximate/Average yearly revenues: $5 million
Biggest sale/win of the past year: It successfully fended off three very large dealers, including Ricoh to keep an existing, nationally known account.
As much as we admire and celebrate the accomplishments of larger dealers among our Elite Dealers, we get equally excited when we see a smaller dealer maintain a competitive edge against bigger and better-funded competitors. That’s what we’ve seen the past couple of years from Carmen Pitarra and his staff at 4 the Office.
The aforementioned big win of the year is a shining example of what 4 the Office has been able to achieve. “We were able to do this specifically due to the service on our current MPS Program in this account,” explains Pitarra. “The other vendors were unable to offer a similar program that the customer felt comfortable executing. Hence, they ordered seven new MFPs and renewed our print management program for another year and we kept the account.”
Customers like to do business with a local dealership, but there’s more to it than that in Pittstown. “We don’t just sell copiers, printers and office supplies, we sell solutions to help businesses run more efficient and reduce costs,” notes Pitarra. “The solutions we offer are from some of the most respected names in the industry and our vendors have a proven track record of supporting their dealers. The best thing about doing business with us is we deliver what we promise.”
Besides the hardware and the print management program, we also like the way 4 the Office generates supplies revenues from its online store. Here customers can select from more than 40,000 office supplies. It’s that diversity in its offerings that also helps 4 the Office stand out for us.
We’re impressed by how the dealership has seen a 50 percent increase in sales of HP wide-format printers and MPFs while its overall copier/MFP business is up nearly 40 percent.
When you’re small you need to be creative in the way you reach customers and 4 the Office has found that Website optimization is just the ticket. It remains the dealership’s lead source and was created in house, saving the organization tens of thousands of dollars, according to Pitarra.
The dealership has made big inroads by going to market with a vertical approach, targeting banking, education, and healthcare.
“Our most successful approach has been to provide a specific solution or better way, not just a price,” adds Pitarra. “We do this by spending time with each and every customer or prospect and truly learning their business or industry.”
Managing growth is an ongoing challenge, particularly for a dealership of this size. 4 the Office has been enjoying double-digit growth since its inception. Despite that growth, Pitarra has been careful not to over extend or over staff the dealership. “We have created a variety of programs such as financial incentives and cross training programs for all employees which have helped us provide excellent service to our customers while keeping staff counts down,” he reports.
Being able to effectively carry and sell a mix of product lines—Kyocera, Sharp, Xerox, HP—has been another challenge, but also an accomplishment. “Each vendor has unique benefits to certain customers or solutions and we have successfully capitalized on them,” states Pitarra. “It has also saved an account or two over the past year because we were successfully able to entirely change the game and the competition had no idea until it was over that we were awarded the business.”
We’re also impressed by the way that 4 the Office is aggressively pursuing both software and hardware solutions to separate itself from the average dealer by becoming a one source solutions provider who offers the most up to date products and solutions in its area. That may not be a novel approach for the average Elite Dealer, but it is for an Elite Dealer of 4 the Office’s size.
This may be an Elite Dealer that’s small in size, but one that certainly looks big to us in how they operate day to day.
Patrick Cunningham
CUNNINGHAM BUSINESS SYSTEMS, LLC
Alexandria, LA
President/Owner: Patrick Cunningham
Year founded: 1993
Number of employees: 9
Primary hardware vendors: Muratec, Konica Minolta, Kyocera, Hasler / Neopost, Memjet
Primary solutions and services offerings: IT support and supplies
Approximate/Average yearly revenues: Less than $5 million
For customers looking for a personal relationship with their copier dealer, they couldn’t find a better option than Cunningham Business Systems, a dealership that excels at keeping things personal. “Our staff goes the extra mile to find out exactly what our customer’s needs are, and we deliver what they want,” boasts Patrick Cunningham, president.
Cunningham carries some solid product lines, all backed by a stellar service department. The dealership also offers a financing venue for its leasing customers as well. “We strive to target and maintain all areas from start to finish every aspect a customer goes through as long as they have their machine,” states Cunningham.
Business is going well and Cunningham has seen its networking segment grow by leaps and bounds as well as customers’ interest in scanning.
“Since our customers’ business needs and demands for scanning capabilities in the market have skyrocketed, our sales and service departments have been in tune to accommodate our customers in this area,” says Cunningham. “Our service department now can build servers to a customer’s specific needs. It can be specialized just for the functions they particularly want.”
He adds that Cunningham Business Systems is in the top percent of market share growth in this area.
The dealership does a nice job of marketing itself on its interactive Website, www.whosyourcopyman.com as well as on Facebook. Social media is all the rage and Cunningham reports that for first-time buyers and repeat customers, Facebook gives them a way to view the equipment ahead of time, then come in for a complete assessment and demonstration.
“We get down to personalizing the customer’s specific needs whether it is a business machine to do certain functions or building a computer server,” notes Cunningham.
We applaud Cunningham Business Systems for its commitment to education. Staff attends Webinars and classes to expand their knowledge. “I have employees that are eager to learn new technology and have great performing teamwork,” says Cunningham.
Cunningham Business Systems, LLC has staying power too and is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary. “I am happy to say we’ve been in business for that many years, especially the way the economy was so rocky for awhile,” acknowledges Cunningham “We have had such loyal employees and customers to make this possible.”
We also like the company’s work culture and the dealership has long held a good reputation throughout the community. “We are people that are like family from all walks of life striving for the same goal,” he says. “Our staff is a phenomenal team and is always there to lend a helping hand whether it is at work or on personal time. Our people make the difference in the dealership, and in turn Cunningham Business Systems is making our community stronger.”
Cunningham Business Systems may be a small dealer, but they’re a big presence in their community and a shining example of the traits common to an Elite Dealer no matter how big or how small.
W
ORD PROCESSING SERVICES, INC. (WPS)
www.doingbetterbusiness.com/www.wpssolutions.com
Hagerstown, MD
Owners: Marcella Dellaposta, CEO; Joseph Dellaposta, COO
Year founded: 1973
Number of employees: 89
Primary hardware vendors: Savin, Sharp, Samsung, Muratec
Primary solutions and services offerings: MNS, MPS, EDM, Business Process Optimization, VoIP
Approximate/Average yearly revenues: $11.4 million (without Pittsburgh acquisition)/$19 million with acquisition
Biggest sale/win of the past year: Upgrading a long-term client, a school district with 66 schools and an enrollment of more than 40,700 students, into a comprehensive MPS program. The multi-year contract has an expected overall revenue of approximately $5 million.
The “WOW factors” at WPS are that its Managed Network Services business has grown by more than 583 percent over the past 3 years and 180 percent over the past 12 months. Meanwhile its in-house rental program has doubled over the past three years and in the past 12 months, amounting to 154 percent growth. Overall revenue grew by 7 percent over the past 12 months, not counting the Pittsburgh, PA acquisition. Including that, WPS was able to grow top-line revenue by more than 170 percent over the past 12 months.
Customers have consistently done business with WPS because of its quality service and support, which have always been the foundation of the business. “In addition to our service, our customers enjoy the flexibility and willingness that we provide to meet their specific requirements,” states Joe Dellaposta, COO. “Nothing in our business is cookie-cutter, we constantly make changes and provide special services to our clients. We empower our employees (who have an average tenure of more than a decade) to make decisions in order to expedite customer issue resolution.”
In addition, ownership takes a hands-on approach with all areas of the business, internally and directly with customers. All of these factors, combined with the breadth of technological services/solutions that WPS provides allow it to build strong and deep relationships with its customers.
We commend WPS for its business process optimization. “We believe that applying expensive technology to a broken process only provides a customer with a more expensive broken process,” says Dellaposta. “By taking the time to really learn our customers, their people, and the way they are currently conducting business we are able to help them remove bottlenecks and unnecessary redundancies. Then we can apply technology to further enhance efficiencies and quality.”
That may not be a novel approach, but it makes a difference and is another reason why customers keep coming back.
Providing network services allows WPS to maintain more control of its client’s infrastructure and technology, which helps minimize downtime and improve customer satisfaction. That’s another step in the right direction for this Elite Dealer.
This past year WPS completed the largest acquisition in company history. “After many months analysis and negotiations we acquired the assets of Van Dyk Business Systems in Pittsburgh, PA,” reports Dellaposta. “This acquisition allowed us to grow our existing service area into eight new counties throughout Western Pennsylvania with an existing base of more than 3,000 units. In addition we were able to retain 30 staff members, mostly in sales and service, with an average tenure of more than 12 years in the industry.”
We appreciate the culture at WPS, which is something its owners find particularly important. “We believe that to be a successful company you have to have the right culture,” states Dellaposta. “In order to create this culture we developed core principles that we actively share and reinforce throughout our organization on a daily basis.”
Everyone in the organization knows these principles and they all hold each other accountable to them. These include solutions driven, trustworthy, professional, exciting, fiscal responsibility, and community/environmental responsibility.
The future looks bright for this 2013 Elite Dealer. It recently executed a strategic plan, designed by a professional service company, that provides executive education, coaching, and technology services.
“We started with determining a large, long-term, 10-year goal that our entire senior management team agreed upon,” explains Dellaposta. “In order to work towards that goal, we then determined where we needed to be in three years, one year, quarterly, monthly, and even daily so that we could manage to those goals. Then we implemented Key Performance Indicators that we monitor and manage. Some of these are reviewed as often as daily, while others can be monthly, quarterly, and even annually.”
Preparing for the future also includes involvement at industry events and in industry organizations such as Select Dealer Group through BTA, where WPS shares best practices and discusses industry trends, issues, and concerns with its peers.
With its solid leadership, dedicated employees, vibrant work culture, and well-conceived strategies for competing now and into the future, we celebrate WPS’s selection as a 2013 Elite Dealer.
Dave Hogge
RTD OFFICE PRODUCTS, INC.
Quincy, IL
President/Owner: Dave Hogge
Year founded: 1979
Number of employees: 7
Primary hardware vendors: Toshiba, Kyocera, Muratec
Primary solutions and services offerings: MPS
Approximate/Average yearly revenues: $1.6 million
Biggest sale/win of the past year: Expanded a large MPS account for an additional 400 units over the next 12 months.
If we only acknowledged the biggest dealers in the industry as Elite, we’d be missing out on some small, but worthy independent dealers across the country that are also making an impact in their markets. RTD Office products is one of those dealers.
The past year has been an excellent one for RTD with equipment sales up 53 percent over the previous year along with a 25 percent increase in MPS.
We think it’s commendable that owner Dave Hogge personally oversees every sale and installation. That’s what we call hands on ownership and a personal touch. He also provides 24/7 personal service for all of RTD’s accounts.
“I’ve been told time and time again that this is what separates RTD from the competition,” states Hogge. “We will do whatever a customer requires of us and in a timely manner. RTD means ‘Ready To Deliver’ and we provide that every day.”
No wonder the dealership has major customers with offices across the tri-state area. Plus it adds value by handling all its managed print services engagements in house, enabling RTD to react instantly to every situation that presents itself.
This is a classic example of a small company that functions like a big one. With competition coming from all angles, including manufacturer direct branches, RTD puts in writing everything that customers can expect from the dealership while Hogge personally guarantees that what was agreed to is done. That’s why he says the best program RTD offers is honesty. “Nothing replaces that,” maintains Hogge.
He must be doing something right when it comes to employee retention as well. RTD may only have seven employees, but Hogge’s five service techs have a combined 132 years of experience and they go above and beyond everyday for the customers.
A family atmosphere is what makes RTD a great place to work. “We laugh and cry together as a family,” states Hogge. “We have flexible schedules because family at home comes first.”
How many entrepreneurs take that attitude with their employees? Not many. If someone’s child is in a play or has a game and the employee wants to go see them, that’s okay with Hogge because those employees will make up that time at a later date.
RTD is a good corporate citizen too and donates used machines to local schools and non-profits with no strings attached. When Quincy was threatened with flooding from the Mississippi, RTD employees helped sandbag customers businesses to keep them from flooding.
RTD continues to prove time and time again that the little things and big things that it does every day along with a dedicated and caring owner that make this Quincy, Illinois-based dealership one of The Week in Imaging’s 2013 Elite Dealers.
