Heard from a friend who is a Canon dealer. That dealer states Canon Business Systems (CBS) is dumping machines to his existing base and selling in most cases for 20 percent less than his cost!
He also went on to state that CBS and Canon Dealers have no “Rule of Engagement” like Ricoh Americas.
I used “Pulling a Ricoh” due to many years ago, Ricoh Direct was attacking dealer accounts with the same tactic that I heard Canon is using. As a result I lost some of my biggest accounts in the course of two years.
Ricoh now has a “Rules of Engagement,” that dealers and direct need to abide by. For that, I’m happy, however, it doesn’t bring back those lost accounts.
Keep in mind it was the dealers that signed on with the likes of Canon, Ricoh, Sharp, Toshiba, Mita, Konica, and Minolta back in the late seventies and eighties that built the channel. Today, at least in my territory, I have pressure from every manufacturer from the direct channel. Mind you, I’m not complaining, competition is good…to a certain extent.
Are other Canon dealers seeing this from CBS?
Good selling!
(Editor’s note, be sure and visit http://www.p4photel.com/blog/canon-business-systems-pulling-a-ricoh to read the comments.)
