This is the issue where we celebrate all that is special about the office imaging industry as we highlight the 2014 Elite Dealers. In so many ways what we’re celebrating is entrepreneurship. It’s one of the things I love about the office imaging industry.
We’re also excited to honor these dealers with this award, an award that’s been presented since 1988, in print once again after presenting them in digital format for the past four years.
This year’s honorees span the nation, from the East Coast to the West Coast, from major markets, to rural markets, reflecting the strength and diversity of the independent dealer channel.
We’re presenting this year’s honorees in a format that’s completely different than any format we’ve presented them in the past. In the past we’ve presented them alphabetically and randomly. This time, profiles are segmented by revenue. I’ve often been asked, “How can a $5 million dealership be Elite?”
Well, we’re not comparing apples to apples, or kiwis to kiwis. If it were only about revenue, then what would be the point? However, segmenting them by revenue doesn’t mean that they beat out others in that revenue segment. Instead the goal is to encourage more dealers of all sizes to submit entries in the future and to ease readers’ minds about why we’re profiling a $1 million dealership next to a $100-million dealership.
Indeed, smaller dealers have always been important to the office technology industry going back to the days of typewriters and fax machines. Some have grown into much larger entities. We prefer to look beyond the numbers. Although growth is often one of the criteria we consider, so is longevity, where sometimes just being able to thrive and survive in a volatile, ever-changing industry is equally impressive. We also consider criteria such as why customers like to do business with that dealership, the little things and the big things that dealerships do to satisfy their customers or market their dealership, as well as how they treat their employees and how they give back to their communities. Over the years I’ve said over and over again, it’s not any one trait that makes for an Elite Dealer, it’s a combination of traits.
If you missed our deadline this year to submit a nomination form, 2015 nomination forms will be posted on the ENX website, www.enxmag.com, starting in early May of 2015.
Turn to page 26 to read the profiles of this year’s honorees.
Additional Elite Dealer related content will be posted weekly in our newsletter and on the ENX/The Week in Imaging website throughout the months of December and January.
Thanks for reading.
