Former NBA star Tim Hardaway (center, with mic) regales Lexmark Roadshow attendees on his playing days.
Make no bones about it. The team behind the Lexmark BSD Roadshow series are the kind of guys you’d want to kick back with, smoke a few cigars, enjoy a brandy or two and speculate on who the Bulls are going to take in the NBA draft.
Perhaps as to prove a point, that’s exactly what the team did in Chicago last month on the final leg of a whirlwind tour that saw the Lexington, KY-based OEM visit Las Vegas, Boston, Montreal, Orlando, FL, and, of course, its Lexington hometown. Held June 21-22 at the Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile, the final event drew approximately 30 dealers from the region, bringing its total tour intake to 200-plus dealers represented by more than 400 attendees.
The Roadshow is a departure from its previous dealer event, a single show that brought in 130 dealers. By chopping the presentation into six stops, Lexmark was able to achieve a more intimate experience where it could better deliver on one-on-one interactions to make for a more personal endeavor. The first evening’s function, a fine dinner at Mastro’s followed by a visit to Bigg’s Cigar Mansion for a cigar sampling and NBA draft viewing party, enabled the Lexmark team to make acquaintances on a more granular level. As an added bonus, Lexmark brought in former NBA star Tim Hardaway for a candid Q&A about the state of the game and how it’s changed since his playing days.
Clark Bugg, Director of North America Channel Sales for Lexmark.
Clark Bugg, director of North America Channel Sales and an ardent Mountain Dew fan, echoed the winning theme that has been a common denominator at each tour stop, along with technology ownership and the vertical approach Lexmark takes—buffered by a large and strong core of expertise across all major markets—in helping its dealers capture more sales wins. Bugg noted that 2017 represented the company’s highest hardware growth in more than a decade, with 10 percent year-over-year growth as a company and 31 percent year-over-year channel growth.
BSD growth has been the bread and butter of Lexmark’s success, and the OEM doubled down with the tour presentation of its latest generation of A4 color and large workgroup monochrome printers and multi-function products (MFPs) for its business dealers. These devices offer an unparalleled combination of reliability, productivity and security, with serviceability features that allow dealers to improve responsiveness and profitability. The refresh offers improvements in performance, consumable yields and serviceability, which translates into more uptime, fewer interventions and bolstered profitability. Backed by long-life components and built-in extras, such as the Customer Support app that simplifies customer fleet management, dealers can entice their clients with robust media handling, speed, superior print quality and ease of use.
The latest refresh for the BSD includes A4 monochrome printers and MFPs for large workgroups (M5255, M5270, XM5365, XM7355 and XM7370) and A4 color printers and MFPs for small- to medium-workgroups (C2240, XC2235 and XC4240). Some of the qualities of the A4 lines include:
RELIABILITY: Longer-life components and higher-yield cartridges mean fewer interventions and consistent reliability throughout the life of the device. Metal frames provide durability over the life of the machine. Paper tray stops prevent users from accidentally pulling the tray all the way out. Metal rear paper guides stand up to slamming. Since many sizes and types of paper are supported, users can expect fewer jams.
SERVICEABILITY: These devices are designed to be easier to service. No modules are hidden behind others, so it’s fast and easy to replace parts. The duplex unit and multipurpose feeder replace as easily as a tray. Doors are easy to remove and replace. Only two types of screws are required for field replacement units, so fewer tools are required.
STANDARD FEATURES: Many features come standard on these new devices, including pre-installed solutions such as Customer Support, Device Quotas, QR Code Generators and more. Free apps can also be downloaded to streamline customer business processes. Fax is standard on all MFPs, duplex is standard on all models, and most models offer a one-pass color DADF scanner.
PERFORMANCE: Powerful multicore processors and increased memory levels deliver brainpower that effortlessly renders even the most complex print jobs and “future proofs” the devices by accommodating firmware upgrades over time.
EASE OF USE: e-Task, Lexmark’s modern, tablet-like user interface, allows for unparalleled simplicity and ease of use across the entire portfolio, with displays up to 10 inches on the large workgroup monochrome devices.
QUALITY OUTPUT: Lexmark Color Replacement is featured on the color products, so customers can accurately print corporate logos or any specific colors needed in their most sensitive documents—all with improved consumable yields.
SECURITY: Lexmark’s award-winning full spectrum security features help protect documents, devices and networks from unauthorized access and are fully integrated into every product in the series.
MOBILITY: A variety of mobile print options enables workers to complete tasks via approved mobile devices with the free Lexmark Mobile Print app. Output is also available via AirPrint, Google Cloud Print, Mopria or Windows Mobile.
Phil Boatman, manager alliances, North American Business Dealer Channel, Lexmark.
Phil Boatman, manager alliances, North American Business Dealer Channel for Lexmark, told attendees that winning and profitable growth comes from the service side of the business and that Lexmark’s cloud platform is “going to take you to new levels.”
He added, “We’ve packed so much into these A4 devices that customers aren’t going to know what hit them.”
Boatman pointed out the lines’ many selling points, including ease of use, performance, quality, flexibility, manageability and security. On the final count, he noted, “You don’t need to hire a washed-up actor to convey the impact of security. We’ve been building it into our technology for a long time.”
Arnie Kirby, manager, Enterprise Solutions at Lexmark, discussed the company’s Cloud Device Management platform. The service offers capabilities including device statistics (i.e., page counts), configuration and deployment, firmware updates, remote restart, device logs, panel configuration and messages, ERP and predictive services. Cloud-based print management operates on a user-based license to help dealers enhance profitability.
On the second day of the Chicago stop, Bugg further underscored Lexmark’s value proposition, noting the company has 1,200 people in its research, development and engineering teams boasting more than 16,000 years of collective experience. “We own our own technology,” he observed, “and we know what to do with it.”
Also stressed on the second day were the tools that can enable dealers to focus on the meaty middle market of the customer ecosystem, including a Mid-Market Boot Camp. The OEM can develop customized strategies that offer “beachheads” to get into accounts.
Seth Johnson, Lexmark
The subject dovetailed nicely into one of the strongest value propositions in the Lexmark catalog: its large cadre of vertical-specific experts who have a deep understanding of all the major market disciplines. Lexmark paraded a series of vertical specialists, beginning with Seth Johnson of Lexmark Healthcare. Johnson spoke of the importance of crafting the conversation to a given prospect; for example, a hospital.
“You don’t talk speeds and feeds, you talk about workflows that help solve problems and keep clinicians by the bed,” he added.
It also helps to offer MFPs that can stand up to the rigors of the health care trenches. Lexmark’s hospital grade MFP addresses the trend toward increased color in the segment, while equipped with metal sliders and frames that can withstand the sometimes harried environment.
Kyle McGrath, Lexmark
Kyle McGrath, Lexmark’s consultant for the government and educational sectors, spoke of the nuances in dealing with five different generations of employees. On the government side, some of the primary influences are skating around budgetary and information protection concerns. The education side has some of those same concerns while dealing with issues such as overcrowded classrooms, IT challenges and the subtleties between public and private institutions.
Lexmark then conducted a Q&A with Kirby, Johnson and McGrath that touched on a number of challenges. Johnson spoke of how the electronic medical records (EMR) mandate under the Affordable Care Act has hospitals focused on EMR as opposed to print, which tasks MFP salespeople to bring print in front of mind for the space.
“It’s very expensive,” Johnson said of the EMR investment. “There’s a large cost to change inside of health care, but there’s a great opportunity when you can find that piece they’re trying to solve. Hospitals are drowning in health care IT. They’re cash-light. But if you can solve a problem, the money shows up.”
McGrath addressed some of the differences between public and private schools. The decision-making tree is shorter for private schools than it is for public schools, but that shouldn’t detract from seeking out opportunities with the latter.
“Attend school board meetings and look at their agendas,” he suggested. “See if their needs layer in with your offerings.”
