Sharp’s Laura Blackmer on Meeting the Challenges of an Aging Yet Innovative Industry

Sharp’s Laura Blackmer

A large number of dealerships are run by the first- or second-generation owners, and many of their employees have long tenure. In other words, both management and the workforce are aging. This presents challenges on two fronts. The first challenge is how do you bring in fresh, younger talent with new ideas and skills to keep the core business strong and to expand into new areas? Here, the image of the office equipment business presents a barrier. While a great deal of innovation is happening in the channel and on the product side, the perception of outsiders is that the industry is, well, a bit old-fashioned.

The second is owners who want or need to exit the business. If no family member or trusted manager is able to and wants to take over the business, what’s the exit strategy? How does that affect the industry as a whole?

ENX recently had the opportunity to speak with Laura Blackmer, senior VP of sales at Sharp Information and Imaging Company of America, about these challenges. Blackmer is well known for her ideas on acquiring and grooming talent, and on how dealers can successfully transition or grow their business.

“Dealers are struggling to find the talent needed to grow, whether it’s in software solutions, telecommunications, or other areas,” said Blackmer. She believes part of the problem is that the industry isn’t seen as “new.” “No one at the high school level is talking to kids about careers in the copier business,” she said. “What kids are hearing about is artificial intelligence and autonomous cars. They don’t see that what makes the world go around are basic things like selling and servicing of solutions. We need to market our opportunities better.”

One way to change that perception with young people is through internships. “Sharp recently started an aggressive informal intern program across every discipline,” said Blackmer. “It’s been incredibly successful. We’ve brought in new, fresh people with potential skills we don’t have.” Sharp might bring in a person for a specific role, for example, to help with a rollout of Salesforce.com. While they are there, however, they learn about the rest of Sharp’s business.

Another talent strategy is to hire for specific attributes and train that person on the business. “One of our dealers only hires college athletes,” says Blackmer. “They have time-management skills, understand teamwork, and are driven to succeed.” Another Sharp dealer hired three former personal trainers, who know how to set goals and work toward achieving them.

Employee referrals are also important. “You want not your employees’ peers, but their children’s peers. For example, who is coming out of tech school?” said Blackmer.

A strategy that some dealers might find difficult to follow is what Blackmer calls, “the ability to let people go.” Millennials have a reputation for job-hopping, and can be seen as being disloyal. “Dealers should see this as an opportunity for someone to get more experience that they could possibly bring back to the company,” said Blackmer. Of course, there’s no guarantee employees who leave will come back, but a dealer has more to gain by leaving the door open for a departing employee’s return.

It’s no surprise why there is so much M&A among dealers. Buyers are looking to expand territory as well as product and service offerings, and there is a ready group of sellers who are ready to exit the business or who lack the resources to invest in order to stay competitive. Either way, selling a dealership has the potential to be disruptive to the business.

“Outside of the insurance industry, [office equipment] dealers are the largest network of independently owned businesses in the country,” said Blackmer. “The contraction of dealers in the network can have an impact on growth. Larger dealers have the ability to expand and diversify–make more aggressive decisions around growth,” she added. “There’s concern that deals will get tougher and tougher to win.”

That could put smaller dealers at a disadvantage when competing to buy another dealer. Larger dealers have more capital and a bigger base to grow and diversify. “When there are five or six megadealers in the country, that could be tough for smaller dealers,” said Blackmer. “However, smaller, independent dealers still have the benefit of the local touch and connection and can provide very high levels of customer service. Small or big, a strong, loyal customer base is critical for growth.”