The term “teamwork” is bandied about to the point that its meaning is lost in a cloud of clichés. Often cited as the key to success for many office technology dealerships, it’s a rather nondescript buzzword lacking in context and substance. But in times of turmoil—and suffice to say, the business community has endured its share the past four years—the ability to pull together despite severe downward pressure can make all the difference between a company entering red or black ink in its ledger.
That was certainly the case for Advanced Imaging Solutions (AIS) in 2022. The Minnetonka, Minnesota-based dealership—which serves a nine-county span around the Twin Cities—registered $20-plus million in sales revenue, the highest in its 26-year history and a figure it’s poised to exceed this year. Such an achievement is a coup for any dealer; doing so during a year in which one of its primary OEM vendors, Konica Minolta, was battling through significant supply chain issues makes it all the more impressive.
Overcoming such odds to flourish wasn’t merely a byproduct of managerial brilliance by President Mike Keating, or the savvy production print and solutions expertise demonstrated by his daughter, Stephanie Keating Phillips. Nor was it the selling prowess of Keating’s sons, Ryan and Matthew. Yes, they were all driving forces in AIS exceeding expectations, but the simple and most honest answer is that the entire 55-member organization pulled together through hard work, collaboration, communication and demonstrated excellence.
In other words, teamwork.
“It all goes back to the personnel we have in admin, warehousing, inventory and service,” Mike Keating said. “They’ve been at it a long time, and they’re very loyal people. At our last holiday party, we celebrated 16 team members who had 15 or 20 years of service at AIS. Our tech base has done a very good job with clients, and they’ve helped foster the trust we have with them.”
Moving Mountains
The Xs and Os of dealing with product availability require a peek behind the curtain at AIS. While it’s true that the dealer had longer waits on delivery times, Keating was proactive in his planning. The dealer had been in talks with several school districts and knew that each was in a position to make a purchasing decision. He put a forecast together that would quantify the volume of units needed 90 to 120 days ahead of time, which helped Konica Minolta in its allocation efforts.
Dealing with the supply chain issues entailed comprehensive collaboration between the AIS staff and its team at Konica Minolta. Absent the strong partnership, the outcome could have been less than desirable.
“It was 100% teamwork,” Phillips noted. “Our technicians took the brunt of it, and they were very communicative in helping us understand our clients’ frustrations. Mike was involved in almost every situation when we had to go back to the manufacturer and determine a strategy. We had to pull out our automated system of processing supplies and do things manually to ensure clients got what they needed. It was a ton of logistical work, and every day was a new challenge. We had many calls with [Konica Minolta’s] Laura Blackmer as they were dealing with their challenges. But we knew we could handle it, and we did, but it took a lot of people on both sides to make it happen.”
One of the great advantages AIS enjoys is its diverse product offering, from MFPs to production print (including wide-format and finishing), managed print services and managed IT—the latter of which is fueled through Konica Minolta’s All Covered platform that provides IT and physical security, consultation and projects, planning and design, all the way through implementation and management. Cloud services, unified communications, document management and software enable AIS to touch a number of client verticals, from education to commercial printers, print-for-pay, in-plants/CRDs and really the full span of businesses in the Twin Cities region.
In addition to Konica Minolta, AIS carries the Sharp, Epson, HP and Lexmark lines for MFPs and desktop units along with KIP wide-format machines and Duplo finishing equipment. Workflow and document management solutions from PaperCut and Square 9, as well as specialized production software from Rochester Software Associates (WebCRD), gives the dealer a wide breadth of offerings that enabled it to remain competitive in a hotly contest marked.
AIS launched as a single-line Sharp dealer in 1997, and the OEM continues to serve the dealer well through not only black-and-white and color MFP, but also AQUOUS BOARD displays. “Sharp has played a considerable role in our development and evolution through the years, and we truly value our partnership with them,” Keating noted.\
All (Bases) Covered
The addition of the Konica Minolta line in 2000 truly provided a launching point for AIS, offering a gateway into production gear five years later and the gradual embracing of managed IT, which took its current form around 2016. The choice was between acquiring, building or partnering on a managed IT platform. AIS chose option C and Konica Minolta, confident in the OEM’s ability to deliver on the bold endeavor, given its stellar track record with quality products and support.
“Mike’s been really open to adapting and adding new streams of revenue,” Phillips noted. “Production was huge for leveraging the commercial printing, print-for-pay and our educational clients. We hired some really strong techs and production analysts who helped get us into selling software, which made our relationships a lot stickier. Konica Minolta’s All Covered has been great for navigating into managed IT, and we saw security as being particularly relevant after COVID. We’ve really diversified our portfolio, but it was key to make strategic additions…we wanted to make sure everything fit into what we do here.”
AIS has garnered a reputation for its production print prowess, an area that comprises a lion’s share of its business. The dealer became the first reseller worldwide to sell and install the Konica Minolta AccurioWide 160 wide-format press at an Allegra printer franchise in St. Paul. The massive 2,500-pound, 12-foot long behemoth took four days to install and required a rigging company and removal of a wall to insert the machine by crane. Suffice to say, between break-fix techs, analysts and sales expertise, the dealer is among the top providers in the region.
It’s a distinct world from the MFP. The AccurioPress, for example, is a high-volume unit that prints on a wealth of different substrates, and includes automated closed-loop color and registration controls. AIS complements it with MGI brand digital printing and finishing equipment that provides UV coating and spot varnishing. KIP and Kodak (DIGIMASTER HD digital production system) also enable AIS to penetrate a wide variety of graphic arts applications.
Several years ago, AIS restructured its sales approach. Now, once the sales reps have secured an opportunity, Phillips will meet with the client and work to secure an in-person demonstration at AIS’ offices. The demo team consists of Phillips, a member of the production service team and an analyst to ensure all aspects of the presentation are covered.
“The front end, the break-fix and, of course, the differences in the devices that we sell will add value, time savings, cost savings and quality to a client’s production environment,” she noted. “This transition has allowed us to see large-scale growth.”
AIS was able to position multiple school districts lacking in a production center infrastructure and onboard production machines and MFPs, with everything flowing through RSA’s WebCRD web-to-print software. “We make sure it’s easy for the school district staff to get information from point A to point B, and that takes a lot of strategy and education,” Phillips added. “Then, of course, you have to keep those printers running correctly.
“For commercial printing, you need to understand the world they’re living in. Time is money. The conversations are around stocks and weights, the printing environment’s humidity. Navigating in different spaces within commercial printing or other high-volume sectors has been great because of the reputation we’ve gained in the last 15-20 years to not only sell and support, but to maintain client uptime. Clients see the value in the services we provide.”
The growth in managed services—from unified communications to physical security systems (both cameras and software)—provided a boon for AIS. The beauty of All Covered is that AIS doesn’t need to have the same acumen as it boasts in the production realm; once opportunities are identified, the Konica Minolta experts can step in and furnish the more granular expertise. These are the gateway conversations that open into client needs for unified communications and other offerings, including managed print services (MPS).
Managing Victories
Speaking of MPS, AIS boasts a solid program that revolves around helping clients get a foothold on their print spend via fleet management of networked and local print devices. Its monitoring services provide granular insight into utilization, cost per device and CPP, and job monitoring to allocate costs and improve output. It’s all about ensuring clients are productive.
“We saw a spike in MPS after COVID with people working remotely—we sold a lot of desktops that moved into the home,” Keating remarked. “Not everyone’s returned to the office, so it’s been a challenging area for growth. We’ve seen an uptick in the MFP workgroup models, which tailed off during COVID but picked back up in 2021 and continued to rise in 2022. We still have a ways to go to get back some of that volume we saw before the pandemic.”
Phillips added, “People learned how to work differently during the pandemic. Many of our clients looked at introducing software into the workflow, which automates processes, so not as much print is coming out of the devices. But that’s another way to make the client a little stickier, because now they’re relying on you to keep their workflow up and running.”
Workflow management solutions such as PaperCut, Y Soft and Square 9 are being sold into more everyday business applications, she said. The solutions offer a level of sophistication that enable AIS to penetrate different verticals such as real estate, which tends not to employ on-premise servers. The hosted software is easier to sell and support, Phillips added.
In the last couple years, AIS made several fortifications that augmented its go-to-market strategy. The company’s website was given a refresh to better illustrate its value proposition and provide granular detail into its product and service catalog. In 2021, the dealer embarked on an office remodeling, the centerpiece being a new client engagement center. Other amenities include a state-of-the-art sound system, standing work stations and congregational spaces.
Remarkable Remodel
The headquarters reboot saw the offices completely gutted in favor of an open concept with high ceilings. As AIS employees were returning to the office, the Keating family wanted to create an environment that was welcoming to clients and team members alike. The entire sales team switched to the Mac platform when the company upgraded to a new CRM. A break room features beer taps and a wine refrigerator for those 4 p.m. respites. It’s all geared toward creating an environment that appeals to all. In addition, the company sponsors group outings to many Minnesota professional sporting events.
“It’s the small things you do for employees that mean a lot,” Phillips said. “We took the comfort and enjoyment of our people into account when we were planning this build-out. It helps make people happy to be here and shows that we care.”
In an age when adding staff can be challenging, those little things add up. “We’ve been fortunate to keep our experienced employees; the hard part is finding net-new people,” Keating noted. “People of a certain age have expectations for how they want to do business in terms of working from home and the number of days in the office. Finding new employees is definitely a challenge.”
Despite the obstacle, AIS is pushing forward to hire new team members (three were recently onboarded) and continue to grow its business, particularly in the managed IT realm. “It’s all about adapting to the changing client, because I think there are fantastic opportunities out there,” Phillips said. “We just need to make sure we’re staying relevant. At the end of the day, it’s continuing to do what we do well. By growing our sales team, we can continue to get to that next level.”
Expectation-Setting Begins at Home:
Keating Children Well-Prepped for Success
The Keating children were prepared for the world of office technology business long before they set foot into Advanced Imaging Solutions (AIS). While it wasn’t a situation in which Stephanie, Matthew and Ryan were bouncing around the office as toddlers, the core values they were taught to embrace at a young age by President (and father) Mike Keating were applicable to most situations in life.
The common denominator employed by the Keating family centers on mutual respect. The kids earned their stripes by working in various departments throughout the company and demonstrated they weren’t afraid to get their hands dirty. They weren’t coddled or held high above the rank and file. Special treatment was anathema to the environment Keating sought to develop.
“We understand and respect all aspects of the employees here and appreciate that you need everybody working in conjunction to make it successful,” Stephanie Keating Phillips said.
The aforementioned preloaded software, so to speak, was effort, given in no small measure. “It’s how we were raised—if you’re going to play a sport or join the choir, you’re going to give 110%,” she said. “That expectation was always there throughout our lives. And if it ever reached the point where it wasn’t 110%, you needed to reevaluate what you were doing.”
Stephanie has the longest tenure of the brood at 26 years, followed by Ryan (20) and Matt (17). All three children have consistently solid a million-plus dollars year after year. Ryan is the director of sales and manages AIS’ sales team. He continues to focus on growing sales revenue while training new reps and carrying a portfolio of clients. Matt is one of the top producers at AIS and has really grown in understanding the managed services area at AIS. He was the first to secure an MPS client with monthly recurring revenue exceeding $50,000.
The Keating kids have thrived in a collaborative environment where ideas are shared and valued. Certainly, they don’t always agree, but having frank conversations has often led to unexpected solutions and positive outcomes.
“In a family business, even though your name is tied to ownership, you need to be on equal footing with everyone in this company,” Mike Keating said. “As ownership, we treat everyone as family. And I’ve been blessed to have my children with me. It’s not something I take for granted.”
Then there is the extended AIS family, not bound by blood, but united in its purpose to deliver on the customer service values Keating set in 1997. “We wouldn’t be where we are today without the team that we have,” he added. “Our continued growth is due to a team of individuals that all have the shared goal of success.”
