Any fast wind out of the north can propel a new trend. Trends are often created by accident when a business stumbles into a unique way of delivering solutions or recognizes inefficiency and take the time to get a little inventive. Knowing what trend to follow can be a little like reading tea leaves – and just as accurate.
Who knows if it’s real and worth the investment to go all in when evaluating an emerging trend? Talk to any dealer today and they’ll tell you their opinion of where the industry is going. Their beliefs are usually based upon some current success they’re experiencing within the company. If you’re leaning on a colleague’s opinion of what’s trending, be careful, many trends are regional, but real trends sweep across the country as word of mouth spreads about how to drive success.
In our industry, believe it or not, many are just now discovering Managed Print Services, and they say it is the future. It might be for them, but as you know, many dealers have long since progressed well beyond MPS. Others believe that IT and or managed services are the future, but those who started in that space, who don’t sell copiers, know the challenges that exist there.
So where is our industry going and what products or services are trending?
Network security is currently one of the most important deliverables clients need. With businesses like AWS leading the way, rendering the argument against cloud-based services invalid, cloud services should likewise be a strong consideration. For businesses across all markets today, business continuity is an escalating concern, with cybersecurity, ransomware and disaster recovery strategies topping the list of key concerns growth-oriented companies face when it comes to protecting their data. Likewise, the scalable and mobile opportunities presented by cloud-based software and mobile applications allow for new levels of data control and storage, whether a private hosted environment, or hybrid cloud landscape is the preference.
Without posing too much of a gamble, security and cloud solutions should have a strong place in your business’ future. However, you must consider how you will differentiate your company from the competition.
I love talking with dealers across our industry as they share their thoughts about leading edge secrets and what’s trending. As you can imagine, some are simply catching up to the rest of the pack and offer nothing new at all. I hate to sound like a broken record, but, where someone is successfully driving innovation, it’s almost always because of intense research and planning.
If you CAN invest in market research and zero in on the leading edge of any successful trend, you’re more likely to come out the other end extremely profitable and ahead of the crowd.
So the real question is, are you a trendsetter?
Business owners often ask me, “Where is our industry going, Charles, what trends do you see?” The hard part about sharing trends is that what you’re really sharing is historical data. It’s easy to look at one’s relationships and see how they’re progressing, but most trends are based on things that have already happened. If I were to identify for you a prevailing “successful” trend, could YOUR company pull it off? For that answer, one must consider the many variables to execution.
Somewhere, somehow you have to learn what YOUR MARKET needs and consider where your strengths are as a business. What does your market place want from your company? Who is your primary target? Also, equally important today, what demographics (age) are you serving? The younger generations’ life experiences and expectations will be completely different than the baby boomer generation. Millennials, for example, expect a mobile experience, with intuitive, flexible tools and platforms that allow for 24/7 productivity, as well as real-time analytics and customer-centric dashboards. After all, most have grown up with technology at their fingertips and they anticipate an immediate response or action, and I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to believe that as they transition into leadership roles, they’ll expect technology to serve differently. So, demographics ARE important.
Another aspect to consider is the “free app” or “only pay for what you use” mentality. Those selling technology in the future, will have to consider these expectations more than ever. A model that delivers comprehensive technology as a service, whatever the need, is more attractive. I’ve seen this trend growing in some markets; it’s a competitive advantage for sure. Remember your advantage wins only as long as it’s unique.
It’s not built on a financial agreement term for 36 or 60 months where the client is trapped into a contract. It’s based on the ups and downs of business and as you grow, or God forbid shrink, your technology, requirements do also, and without a penalty. It’s the value of CHANGE, not being trapped with the wrong technology and having to wait for a completed term to alter or correct your path. With this flexibility, it becomes a more attractive program, something that’s easy to say yes to – something that is scalable and capable of growing with a business as requirements demand. As the business changes, so does the technology configuration and cost. Everything is designed to make your client successful and to match their need for performance, without a major rebuild or approval process. This can make clients very sticky as the possible constant change keeps you fully engaged with their senior management.
So, it’s a great idea, right? You have to really nail down your plan to make this a success. How are you going to pay your sales team on a no-commitment solution, that can shrink as well as grow? That is a big, BIG unknown and I’ve yet to see a sales compensation plan that really satisfies its delivery.
Can You Say Trouble?
Imagine putting a large technology program in place with a client and then paying your sales rep the appropriate compensation. Six months later, the floor drops in that client’s industry, and they need you to pull back a significant portion of your solution. Now imagine that your market has a fair amount of clients in that same vertical and they all need that same adjustment! Can you say trouble? What if it’s not limited to a single industry, but it’s based on a declining economy? Get the picture?
This “pay for what you need only” flexibility can create a significant competitive advantage, but it does have some associated risk, and some might say significant risk. With a proper go-to-market plan you would mitigate that risk with a product mix strategy assuring that only the right amount of flex programs are consummated. Without a safety net, if the bottom does fall out, you could be stuck. Still, I think it’s a trend you shouldn’t ignore and should consider, as a strong contender, and most likely there is a workable sales comp model.
Just a quick thought on a possible compensation strategy that could work with the flexible ‘pay for what you need only’ technology model. You’ll have to create a rolling inbound revenue review each month, where your sales rep is compensated for their monthly-billed revenue/profit total. This helps keep them interested in growing their inbound monthly revenue/profit and expanding every client relationship.
Whether or not you agree with my thoughts on the flexible technology trend, you probably agree that a value proposition that sounds exactly like 50 other competitors, has no way to move your business to the ‘front of the pack.’ That will only begin happening when you’re offering unique values and deliverables that match your target’s needs and concerns.
So, ask yourself…are you a trendsetter?
