What does 2018 hold in store for our industry? That’s a good question. The 2017 campaign ended with a flurry of M&A activity and, if you perused our December Elite Dealer issue, you would know that many dealers enjoyed outstanding growth in both MPS and managed IT, while some also reported strong performances in hardware sales.
The top dealers are cognizant of the diminishing volume of print and have supplemented their bottom line with the aforementioned offerings. They are hell-bent on harvesting share from their dealer and manufacturer direct neighbors.
To find out more, we’ve surveyed a sampling of Elite Dealers to see what 2018 holds in store for their businesses. Feel free to drop us a note if you would like to be included in a future piece on 2018 goals and outlook. We can share your impressions on the New Year without getting into the granular details on how you plan on making 2018 the best year yet.
Erik Crane,
Copy Products
Erik Crane, president
Copy Products Inc.
Springfield, MO
What is your primary goal for 2018?
Crane: Our primary goal is to grow our MPS and MNS revenue to 10 percent and 5 percent of total revenue, respectively, while also growing hardware revenue by 10 percent. This is part of our larger growth plan over three and five years.
How do you plan to accomplish this goal?
Crane: We have given each mainline salesperson an MNS/MPS/Solutions quota for the year in order to be eligible for our annual Elite Club trip. We are providing bonuses to our management team with gates based on MNS/MPS/Solutions. We are actively training our entire company on how to communicate our wide variety of offerings during every interaction with our clients. This includes admin, support and service. We also plan to add MNS/MPS/Solutions-only sales staff in strategic territories. Strategic partnerships with providers have also been key to introducing MNS to our markets.
What obstacles or variables could impact your plans?
Crane: If we do not get buy-in from our “seasoned” sales staff, it could affect the attitude of all staff, not just sales staff. Management must stay focused on our goals and strategic plan in order to drive this new agenda. Ownership motivation must remain at the highest level or else motivation from all others will diminish over time. The only thing that can limit our performance is ourselves.
What is your company’s overall outlook for 2018?
Crane: The outlook for CPI in 2018 is very bright. We are extremely excited to move forward with our plans and achieve our goals. It is also a wonderful time to be in the office technology industry. There are many new product offerings to take to your existing clients and to use to win new clients. If you want to stay as an independent dealer, there is unprecedented room for growth in many areas. If you want to buy or sell a company, now is the time as the roll-ups continue to occur. Good luck to you all and make 2018 your best year ever!
Troy Olson,
Les Olson Company
Troy Olson, president
Les Olson Co.
Salt Lake City
What is your primary goal for 2018?
Olson: We’re looking for continued growth throughout our entire company. We’ve got a couple of branches in particular that have great potential. We see a huge opportunity in Las Vegas market for growth. Our managed IT services is another area where we are primed to expand our business.
How do you plan to accomplish this goal?
Olson: We’re looking for good salespeople and we’re going to add head count in several areas. Within our IT business, we’ve hired 20-25 technical people in the past 18 months. We built out our own network operations center and help desk. We do use Continuum, but there are certain aspects where it’s better if we use our own, local employees. We’re looking for hardware sales reps and managed IT sales reps.
What obstacles or variables could impact your plans?
Olson: The only thing I can think of is if something happens to the economy. Other than that, we don’t see anything that’s going to slow us down this year. The market’s tremendous right now and the economy is really strong. Utah’s been one of the strongest economies in the nation. It’s an incredibly high tech state, in the top three overall.
What is your company’s overall outlook for 2018?
Olson: 2018 offers high growth potential. We really have a tremendous year in store and it’s already in high gear. We’re working on some big opportunities. I think the overall opportunity is as great as or greater than it’s ever been for salespeople and technical people to come in and make money in this industry, especially on the IT side of the business.
Brian McShane,
McShane’s
Brian McShane, president and CEO
McShane’s
Munster, IN
What is your primary goal for 2018?
McShane: To expand on a recent merger and take advantage of being the largest independent in our market area. We will also redeploy a new website for the combined companies.
How do you plan to accomplish this goal?
McShane: We’ll accomplish this through careful account strategies and analysis. Moving to HubSpot for CRM and inbound marketing is another key for our dealership.
What obstacles or variables could impact your plans?
McShane: It seems like there’s not enough time available to implement our programs in the fastest way possible.
What is your company’s overall outlook for 2018?
McShane: I’d say it is very positive. We have a great dedicated and talented team that has been developed over the past 30-plus years. Success is their mantra.
