It’s not easy being a document imaging dealer. Consider that you are in a business—the technology business—that’s ripe with challenges—some new, some ongoing—every day of the year.
Last year when we were soliciting our Elite Dealer nominations for 2014 we asked the question “What’s the biggest challenge facing your dealership?” Because of space limitations, we couldn’t include those in the Elite Dealer profiles. Instead we’ll be sharing those in the newsletter and online over the next few weeks. We think you’ll find that some of those challenges are the very same ones that you’re facing. Let’s look at the first 12.
“As FlexPrint continues to grow nationally, so does our workforce. The biggest challenge we face (or biggest fear) is maintaining the unique culture that has made FlexPrint an exciting place to work, which results in superior customer service. To meet the challenge of growth, FlexPrint has made significant investments in technology (video teleconferencing, interactive smartboards, etc.) and a corporate trainer who assists with new employee onboarding and continual culture building to ensure our new employees outside of the corporate office receive the same communication and benefits of our “employee focus” culture and environment.” FlexPrint, Inc., Mesa, AZ
“We’ve gone through a tremendous amount of change in the past couple of years and our employees have embraced and welcomed the new company image, new compensation structures, new people and processes, new facilities and new technology offerings. Helping our employees understand the breadth of service we provide to our clients is important and we communicate openly and frequently to encourage a deeper comfort with areas outside of traditional expertise. Our clients will always remain at the center of what we do and we will continue to reinvent ourselves to remain the area leader in business technology solutions.” PERRY proTECH, Lima, OH
“As with any successful technology business, we must always be aware of and investing in whatever “is next,” and not become complacent. At the same time as we work to stay ahead of the game, we need to ensure that we nurture our internal culture of positivity, develop talent and continue to be a great place to work. Employee retention is important so we work hard to inspire employees to learn and grow. We keep open lines of communication to all levels of management, and encourage people to rethink processes, ask “why,” and share new ideas.” Loffler Companies, Bloomington, MN
“The nature of business is shifting from hardware to software and solutions. Keeping up with the constant changes in the marketplace to maintain continued growth a challenge as is keeping up with changing technology by attending training courses offered by manufactures as well as in-house training. As a result we are shifting our focus and adapting our business model to incorporate the changes in the industry.” Business Copier Solutions, Poway, CA
“The biggest challenge is always new customer acquisition. Our future is entirely dependent on the quality of clients that we are able to serve. We remain committed to adding young, assertive people to our sales teams and to continue to find ways to offer diverse products and services to our customers. We would not have been able to continue to grow our business if we had not made the commitment to MPS and Managed IT.” Northern Business Machines, Burlington, MA
“The technology challenge of keeping our knowledge base and product offerings one step ahead of our client’s requests is a never-ending process. We continually train our sales and technical staff to have a basic understanding of the latest technology trends and how CBE can provide the needed technology to quickly, seamlessly and economically provide a way to integrate the newest and greatest products into our client’s office. Specific attention is required to keep in contact with our clients, staying current on their ever changing needs. As technology changes so must our approach to finding the products and services that our current and future clients are interested in acquiring. This involves continually investigating new products and services that may be appropriate to add to our selling roster.” Cell Business Equipment (CBE), Irvine, CA
“As we continue to grow, we are in the process of building a sales force- which has proven to be a challenge in our area. We have a very committed staff, and expect our employees to uphold this standard. Therefore, as we are in the process of growing in numbers, we are faced with the difficulty of finding the ‘right fit’ for our company. As a result, each member of the Seeley team offers direct input on who we hire.” Seeley Office Systems, Glens Falls, NY
“Competitors trying to make our products and services a commodity represents one of our biggest challenges. Many try to get clients to make fast decisions based solely on price. We have trained our sales reps to slow down the process because the more clients see what we are offering in terms of customer experience and guarantees, and better products, the better our chances are of winning.” ProCopy, Tempe, AZ
“The biggest challenge is to overcome either the reality or perception of ‘commoditization’ in pure hardware sales. That is increasingly difficult. However, even in the pursuit of higher-end imaging systems that perception can occur and the only weapon is the simple truth—a client needs to align themselves with someone who has done this before on the scale that they require with the objective that is an absolute must to accomplish. Not all imaging products are equal despite the fact that they can appear that way in a superficial demonstration. It is the idea that matters. “Second is the devaluation of salespeople in the buyer’s eyes. We believe in the Challenger Method of Selling with the difficult to achieve principals that what the client really wants from a salesperson is for them to provide information that they cannot get elsewhere; to have a conversation that ‘the client would pay for’ due to its content and value.” Imaging Office Systems, Columbia City, IN
“The most significant internal challenge facing our company would be the ongoing development and education of our sales professionals. As the external market forces continue to shape our business environment (Mobility, Cloud, Social Media and Big Data), our sales consultants need to meet these changes head on in order to maintain their position as trusted advisors to our customers.” Gordon Flesch Company, Madison, WI
“The biggest challenge that Marco currently faces is bringing our other service offerings to our acquired markets that mainly focus solely on a single service. For example, when we purchase a copier company, our challenge is to integrate our other business IT services in that market and find and develop the right leadership to execute on our technology services business model. In an effort to meet this challenge, we are focused on hiring and developing the appropriate people for the acquired markets and training them through our talent management and mentoring program.” Marco, Inc., St. Cloud, MN
“Keeping up with the fast pace of the ever-changing technology revolution.” Eakes Office Solutions, Grand Island, NE
