I was interviewing a dealer for another publication I write for and he was discussing his 28-year career in the industry and how he got from Point A, to Point B, and so on and so on to where he is today. He’s telling me stories, stories that I can relate too, especially as someone who is independent and would rather be taking action and doing instead of talking about what I’m going to do and how I’m going to do it.
He tells me this story about working for a dealership in Canada that was acquired by IKON back in the 1990’s and despite being one of the dealership’s top sales people, he (along with the rest of his peers) had to make a presentation to IKON executives detailing where his business was going to be coming from over the next year and how much business he was going to generate. He felt that rather than being forced to justify his existence he should be out there doing what he did best, selling. And that’s exactly what he told them and 17 days later he was gone in spite of a solid book of business.
I hear these stories from time to time, and having worked briefly for a company years ago where micromanagement was the norm, I sympathize with those in similar situations. That individual’s story had a happy ending although not before another IKON encounter that was equally disturbing. Then again, I’m only hearing one side of the story, albeit a side from someone who is still in the business and now running his own dealership.
Looking at the rise and fall of the mega dealers, which I wrote about in the first installment of the 25 Most Significant Events in the Office Imaging Industry of the Past 25 Years, stories like that give one pause. They also provide additional background behind some of the most significant events of the past 25 years and why those events are still impacting the industry today.
Thanks for reading.
