The last time Epson gathered with its dealer partners, the venue was Loews Santa Monica, set against the backdrop of the Pacific Ocean in March. Within days of completing the inaugural Ink Boldly business inkjet conference, COVID-19 flipped the switch, and the script, on the balance of 2020.
Undaunted, Epson welcomed more than 700 guest attendees to its follow-up Ink Boldly virtual conference on Nov. 5, emboldened by the success and launch of its PrecisionCore-infused second-generation WorkForce Enterprise line, dye-sublimation printers, newly-bolstered scanner line and increased demand for all of its products—with emphasis on A4 and work-from-home solutions.
And even during a challenging business environment, Epson was able to celebrate the sale of its 50 millionth EcoTank printer. It just goes to show that when you employ a pitchman like Shaquille O’Neal, enjoying slam-dunk sales results is virtually expected. Don’t be fooled; Shaq is for show, but the technology is what has spurred the dough.
“Every printer uses a permanent Epson piezo printhead,” noted President and CEO Keith Kratzberg in his opening remarks. “That’s why we’re so bullish about our print strategy, because no other manufacturer has the scale of production and the breadth of technology around inkjet printing like Epson. Our printers are selling for home use, industrial applications and commercial applications. As a result, we’re not slowing down our investments in office printing around our heat-free PrecsionCore technology.”
After the initial dropoff in sales during April due to the pandemic, Kratzberg noted the work-from-home movement drove “tremendous demand” for Epson’s A4 printers, helping offset the loss in traditional office printing. It all comes back to the technology under the hood, and the Epson executives frequently touted the benefits of PrecisionCore heat-free technology—lower maintenance and a lower total cost of ownership (TCO), high performance and low energy consumption.
The 2020 campaign also saw the company take the wrapping off its new Epson America corporate headquarters in Los Alamitos, California. All 700 employees moved into the new digs this past spring, and the company looks forward to holding demonstrations and customer visits in the near future.
Calling an Audible
Following a brief welcome message from Seiko Epson CEO Yasunori Ogawa, the presentation was turned over to Mark Mathews, vice president, North America commercial sales and marketing. Mathews pointed out that Epson enjoyed pre-pandemic, record-shattering sales in the first quarter of the calendar year. After COVID struck, Mathews noted Epson’s business inkjet team pivoted quickly to redefine its marketing strategy, directing its resources toward selling A4 products for the home working and learning paradigms.
“Our desktop business exploded overnight, and we went from selling dozens of printers to customers at a time to literally selling hundreds and thousands at a time,” Mathews remarked, pointing toward a major win with the Georgia Cyber Academy (read the case study here) and lucrative public sector deals that netted 13,000 placements in one state alone.
Mathews added that Epson anticipates the desktop business will see a permanent boost even beyond the pandemic. To that end, and to continue proliferating the value proposition of PrecisionCore, its heat-free technology, and the entirety of the product line, Epson embarked on its Impact Training webinar series back in April. There have been more than 60 webinars held, with training classes attended by thousands of partners. Plus, Epson’s field marketing team has worked closely with dealer partners to help them engage with end-user clients via social media and Zoom meetings, with tips on how to present in a remote fashion. With three demonstration rooms in the new headquarters set to come online this month, Epson can showcase business inkjet, wide format and industrial products.
Given the changes brought on by the pandemic, Mathews notes Epson is moving toward a more decentralized print environment that speaks to home and remote applications. To that end, Epson has developed programs to enable dealer success, including the Epson National Service Network, an out-of-territory service program. This cadre of Epson-authorized dealers can provide technical service to dealers for end-users that fall outside a partner’s normal service area, leveraged through the Epson Remote Service Platform. Phase one has been launched, with an update pending.
A second initiative is virtual hands-on service training. This compendium to self-guided training enables granular instruction at the dealer tech’s office (or home), providing savings of time and money while allowing techs to stay in the field without the need to visit Epson. Additionally, Mathews stressed that partner feedback has resulted in Platinum Dealers having the ability to purchase directly from Epson.
Spiffy Sales
Mathews finished with a brief overview of the Epson Sales Ambassador program that provides financial incentives to dealer reps on top of the regular sales spiffs—as much as $1,675. “With about 50 more shopping days until Christmas, who couldn’t use a little more jingle in their pocket?” he added.
Joe Contreras, commercial marketing executive, Office Solutions, rounded out the executive presentations with a “why Epson?” overview that cuts to the heart of the value proposition. “As more prints are taking place remotely, you want to capture revenue regardless of whether it’s taking place in the office, home or elsewhere,” he said.
The second generation of WorkForce Enterprise models, which now numbers 25, spans from desktop A4s on up to A3 and light production units. A 60-ppm model now complements the 75- and 100-ppm models. Epson’s line now can compete head to head with like-speed products and down-segment, lower-speed units. The line was refreshed with optional finishing capabilities, the professional stacking/stapling function and bookletmaking for creating saddlestitched documents.
Epson’s value proposition stacks up well against competing laser and thermal inkjet alternatives through low energy consumption and minimal waste (the 100-ppm model consumes up to 85% less energy than the competition). Consistent image quality is optimized around the documents end-users print on a daily basis, Contreras added.
The technology’s performance lends itself to Epson’s “going the distance” theme, which speaks to servicing under the current pandemic conditions, and the ability to run high volumes that touch the light-production space. Epson solicited service data from NEXERA that illuminated the differences with competing offerings. For example, average color MFPs at 65 ppm or higher have a mean copy rate of between 30,000 and 50,000 pages per month between service visits, whereas Epson’s clock in at 160,000 per month between service visits, making it 3 ½ times more productive than the competition. That translates to fewer service visits, enhanced service efficiency and lower labor expenses. In other words, more profit for dealers.
Clear-Cut Opportunities
The machines’ ability to produce consistently and reliably on long runs also opens the door to ample opportunities. Contreras notes Epson has examples of machines in field that are running upwards of 250,000 ppm, for six or more consecutive months with little to no service calls. That speaks well for environments such as education and print/mail service providers. Due to the pandemic, many school districts are printing out weekly course materials to be sent home for students. And with print/mail service providers, the Epson line is a strong complement to businesses producing variable data printing jobs for invoicing, statements and manuals.
“Our machines are able to provide redundancy alongside larger machines that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Contreras said. “That provides flexibility to increase volume and print different jobs throughout the day. We’re in the process of developing a marketing and demand generation campaign to help our dealer partners seek out and capture these opportunities.”
In the end, Contreras sees Epson as a lever for casting a broader net and capturing more revenue. It’s all about following where the prints are taking place.
“Whether it’s A4 with our WorkForce or WorkForce Pro products, or in A3 for office and light production with WorkForce Enterprise, we have you covered and we have the tools necessary for you to go out and be successful in the market,” he concluded.
Solutions Expo: Ink Boldly attendees were afforded the opportunity to visit Epson’s product and solutions expo, which contained not only product (WorkForce Enterprise, large-format printers, document scanners) and technology segments (PrecisionCore, solutions and services) but also vertical segment opportunities (AEC, education, SMB, retail and hospitality, house of worship). These booths included product information and video demonstrations.
Breakout Sessions: A conference wouldn’t be complete without an educational component, and Epson had this base covered well. One popular topic was “WorkForce Enterprise and the Heat Free Benefits,” followed by “Business Inkjet Applications and Case Studies.” Commercial Channel Marketing Manager Debra Merritt delivered a pair of presentations aimed at account representatives—“All You Need to Know to Enable Your Sales” and “Epson Sales Ambassador Program Deep Dive.”
