One of the many benefits of joining an industry peer group is the ability to canvass members on the merits of adding a new product or service to your portfolio. The responses are often brutally honest, which makes the advice all the more valuable.
After all, press and analysts may extol the benefits of adding VoIP, postal equipment or electric vehicle (EV) chargers to your slate of offerings, but they have no skin in the game. If you read somewhere that 3D printers are finally finding a breakout application with AI robot cloning, it’s better to check around for a little validation before entering a world where the term “printer” is largely a misnomer.
Since your next peer meeting may be a bit in the future, we’ve done a little leg work for you by asking our State of the Industry panel what advice they would offer for those dealers pondering the addition of VoIP, postal equipment and EV chargers. Some products are obvious fits, while others may seem a bit riskier and demand more investigating.
Perhaps foremost on the minds of many dealers, are the merits of offering EV chargers. Since their proliferation on the American landscape will take years, and there isn’t a lot of trailing data on dealer success, adopters at this point are considered on the bleeding edge. Scott Brenton, director of mailing, security cameras and EV charging stations services for Pacific Office Automation of Beaverton, Oregon, laid out some of the primary considerations.
“The install and retrofitting of electrical panels and breakers can be an expensive aspect of the entire engagement with existing buildings,” he said. “If you bring in an electrical contractor early, it will help you understand customer engagement from suspect to an actual prospect. In many states, with new construction of multifamily units, there are regulations around the number of EV stations that are required to be installed or ready for EV in relation to total parking spaces.”
Hearts and Minds
From a 30,000-foot perspective, Joe Blatchford stresses the importance of getting an organizational buy-in to enjoy optimal results. The president of Image 2000 in Valencia, California, feels it’s important to have your program set up for the new product (in this case, postal meters/equipment) while stressing to your sales reps the benefits for the dealership. If you want to drive that point home a little harder, tie a quota into your president’s club qualifications.
“Reps in our industry are used to selling boxes,” Blatchford said. “Trying to get them to move software or postal equipment is not as easy, because comp programs are typically structured for (MPFs). So it’s important to have a good comp plan and a solid structure before you hand it off to the reps.”
Blatchford won’t be too draconian with reps during the first year of offering postal gear; if they hit their overall number and exceed quota, they’ll qualify for the trip. But in the second year, they will be expected to hit a certain number with postal equipment.
“Postal meters aren’t a lot of money, maybe $3,000, so it’s not like [reps] are being forced to sell high-end equipment,” he added. “Many customers have postal meters or some kind of folder inserter. So reps should be able to move them.”
Another dealer championing the sale of mailing equipment is Offix of Gainesville, Virginia. President Steven Valenta believes the time it takes from signing on with an FP Mailing or Formax to becoming competent enough to see is no more than about 30-60 days. While not a significant financial outlay, the biggest factor is educating staff on U.S. Postal Service regulations, media requirements, etc. Now is the time to do it, when customers will be replacing their meters to conform to the new Intelligent Mail Indicia (IMI) standard requirements.
“Once you learn the postal side, it’s all about speeds and feeds, just like copiers,” he said. “It’s really the perfect diversification for dealers.”
Proven Entities
When it comes to VoIP phone systems, there’s zero need to sell dealers on the value of offering the diversification. What it really boils down to, notes Cory Spice, president of Wisconsin Document Imaging (WDI) in Green Bay, is selecting an established technology partner with a solid track record. WDI signed on with Zultys.
“Many of these systems have similar features,” Spice said. “That way, your customers are not working out product bugs for a new system. Also, choose a partner that will meet the service expectations of your dealership and your customers, given that you’ve worked hard to create and meet those expectations with your clients.”
