Any time the prospect of venturing into a new discipline is broached, a dealer will have plenty of questions (and needs) addressed in order to move forward. And when it comes to advice, either slight or significant, insight from those who have already been down that road can be most beneficial.
As we conclude this month’s State of the Industry report on non-traditional offerings, or hidden gems, we asked our dealer panel for tips on how to get the most from various products and services that fall outside of the mainstream. In some cases, a number of offerings have already garnered significant market reach.
When marrying the as-a-service model with marketing, as is the case with Advanced Imaging Solutions (AIS) of Las Vegas, a dealer is essentially casting its line in the agency pool. Having a strong marketing team and leadership component in place is only the beginning, and Keven Ellison—AIS’ vice president of marketing—believes the right approach can tap into the market advantage dealers enjoy,
“By having an experienced marketing staff member embedded in your customer’s business, you really get to learn their business and can identify new business opportunities as they are discussed in real-time,” Ellison pointed out. “The traditional account management for advertising or marketing agencies will never become this close to a client or customer.”
Changing Footprint
With more and more workers setting up shop at home and on the go, today’s physical footprint continues to dwindle as businesses reassess their square footage needs for on-site operations. That’s where IMR Digital’s value proposition rises to the top; eliminating the need for physical documents and sending filing cabinets to the recycling bin, thus freeing space that can be better utilized from a business standpoint.
Still, that only scratches the surface of the value proposition, notes Christopher Malatesta, senior sales executive for the division of KDI Office Technology in Aston, Pennsylvania. “As businesses downsize offices, or eliminate them altogether to work virtual, they now need to provide their teams full access to all of their key documents and data,” he said. “In order to do so, all of the paper in those filing cabinets needs to be digitized and stored electronically on a company server or in the cloud so businesses can continue to run…and in many cases run more efficiently.”
Being firmly entrenched with a partner that can act as a confidant and liaison throughout the process can ensure your dealership maximizes its potential in scaling a non-traditional offering, according to Chip Miceli, president and CEO of Pulse Technology in Schaumburg, Illinois. After all, guidance is equally beneficial to the dealer and the end-user.
“Non-traditional offerings work best when you work with a company that will treat you as a partner and hold your hand throughout the process,” he added.
Interactive whiteboards continue to grow in popularity due to their penchant for providing both static and variable content in any number of vertical environments. Erik Crane, president and CEO of CPI Technologies in Springfield, Missouri, believes it’s important to find out which manufacturers have the best coverage and resources in your area. Crane had a ViewSonic manufacturer rep close enough to come in and provide on-site training for rotating groups of 20 teachers at a time.
“These are the resources you need available, especially since they are lower-margin items and you don’t want to dedicate a lot of your own resources,” he said. “Plus, you have to have dedicated reps to sell these ancillary products. Your mainline reps can do some of it and find some leads, but turning it over to a dedicated rep who is focused on it and well-versed in that world is important.
“Also, you’ll need to have a clear commission program in place so that there’s no confusion. If there’s a question about money, people get skittish really fast.”
