ATLANTIC, TOMORROW’S OFFICE
New York, NY
President/Owner: Larry Weiss
Year founded: 1959
Number of employees: 296
Primary hardware vendors: Ricoh/Savin, Konica Minolta, Toshiba, Kyocera, HP
Primary solutions and services offerings: Docuware, NSI Autostore, Drivve, Papercut, Managed IT Services
Approximate/Average yearly revenues: $89 million
Biggest sale/win of the past year: Montefiore Hospital, resulting in $3.2 million in hardware and $4 million in service, supplies, and solutions.
We are once again thrilled to honor one of the top dealerships in the New York metropolitan area as an Elite Dealer. Atlantic, Tomorrow’s Office, offers customers a robust and varied product line with most of the leading OEMs represented in its menu of products. Not many dealerships can juggle that many or would even want to juggle that many vendors, but Atlantic does and does it well.
Growth has been one of the hallmarks of Atlantic since its inception and that continues today with Managed IT Services growing at 350 percent, MPS at 35 percent, and even the copier business at double digits at a formidable 15 percent.
Customers can count on President Larry Weiss and his team to take good care of them thanks to a culture that prides itself on fast resolutions, making themselves easy to do business with, and providing customers with the Seal of Satisfaction, which offers guaranteed response time, a guaranteed loaner program, guaranteed replacement program, extended support hours, and customer surveys to track customer satisfaction (Atlantic averages 3.65 out of 4.0 on this survey). We also find it impressive that Atlantic averages 97.8 percent uptime for more than 18,000 customers.
Atlantic’s 200% of Plan Program has enabled 35 percent of its sales force to be over 100 percent for the current fiscal year (9/1/12-8/13/13). The company’s annual Product Expo in May continues to be a resounding success and the latest event drew more than 900 attendees from 469 companies. Add to that the December 2012 Sales Blitz Promotion which resulted in $4.5 million in total revenue, and the picture becomes even clearer why Atlantic, Tomorrow’s Office still stands tall among our Elite Dealers.
The office technology industry is still ripe with challenges and Atlantic has not been immune to high turnover among new sales reps, but it’s not hesitant to do something about that issue either. “In the past five years we have had only one rep become successful,” acknowledges Weiss. “In 2013 we introduced an urgency based selling ‘Do or Die’ sales philosophy. This program eliminated the faint of heart and we have four successful new reps this year alone.”
That’s an enviable accomplishment as is growing its Managed IT Business from $4 million to $6.5 million without any acquisitions.
Most of Atlantic’s employees agree that it’s exciting to be part of a fast-paced, creative, and growing company. “As far as company culture, Atlantic is still a family,” notes Weiss. “Employees feel like they’re working together toward a common goal. As the company grows, so do the chances for personal advancement. There’s a future with Atlantic both for the employees and clients.”
We also applaud Atlantic for being a solid citizen. It budgets $800,000 a year in donations while employees are involved with an array of non-profit organizations, including Make-a-Wish, National Kidney Foundation, and Unicef in addition to personal involvement through fundraising events such as golf outings. After Hurricane Sandy devastated the New York metropolitan area, Atlantic donated 1 percent of revenue from its 2012 Blitz to the Red Cross (over $45K) for Sandy relief for New York and New Jersey. And that’s coming from a dealership that was hit hard by Sandy as well.
Atlantic, Tomorrow’s Office continues to be a force in the office technology space and we expect that trend to continue. It leads by example by using the latest technology to operate the business, and assist clients in theirs. Additionally, it has developed an Executive Management Team to help it navigate future opportunities and ensure that the entire company remains at the top of its game. This team is comprised of all the executives in the company and meets weekly to review ways to generate revenue and keep clients happy. The group also focuses on strategic issues that impact Atlantic’s overall operations and profitability ensuring that it creates a culture to exceed client’s expectations.
Now that’s what we call an Elite Dealer.
WOODHULL, LLC
Springboro, OH
President/Owner: Susan S. Woodhull
Year founded: 2000
Number of employees: 57
Primary hardware vendors: Ricoh
Primary solutions and services offerings: MPS, Nuance eCopy, Square9’s SmartSearch Approximate/Average yearly revenues: 13 million
Biggest sale/win of the past year: The Public Library of Hamilton County with 50 MFDs and 75 Ricoh printers.
One certainly can’t say that Woodhull, LLC isn’t moving in the right direction as the industry transitions to a more solutions and services-oriented business. Consider that over the last three years Woodhull’s MPS/solutions revenue has risen by more than 200 percent while color has been an equally profitable category as well.
This is a dealership with a history of meeting the needs of its customers. It certainly helps that Woodhull continues to recognize that customers want to do business with a company they can trust. And they’ve got letters and e-mails from customers who tell them how they appreciate the professionalism of their sales reps, service techs, warehouse/delivery, and customer care associates. It’s a team effort and all employees at Woodhull do their part. That’s a plus in our book.
“We make sure that all our employees are well-trained and knowledgeable about all segments of our company so that our customers feel confident in doing business with Woodhull,” explains President Susie Woodhull.
Marketing the business is an ongoing effort and a new strategy implemented this year has been using box suites at sporting events, which allows the dealership to pursue casual business with smaller customer interactions. Thanks to this approach customers have enjoyed watching the Cincinnati Reds and Dayton Dragons baseball as well as Xavier University and Wright State University basketball as guests of Woodhull, LLC.
Investing in a growing and successful business is a given and Woodhull, LLC has expanded its service vehicle fleet with three new vehicles to better serve customers. The ability to overcome challenges is another key characteristic of a successful dealership and Woodhull, LLC has demonstrated that with a recent conversion to eAutomate. “This was a tough conversion but very worthwhile, particularly with shrinking margins,” states Susie. “Our new software allows us to gather data instantly and react instantly—doing more with less.”
Adding CEOJuice to compliment eAutomate was also a huge leap forward.
When we honored Woodhull, LLC last year as an Elite Dealer the dealership reported that their biggest accomplishment was a contract to install 250-300 MFPs in Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. That’s still a big accomplishment by our estimation, but it’s now grown to more than 700 MFPs with an expected 50 additional devices per month ongoing. “For every MFP we have installed, we knocked out 2 devices…good for the hospital…and averaged an extra 100 MFDs for Woodhull,” beams Susie.
We also congratulate Woodhull for being recognized as a Top Workplace in the Miami Valley (Dayton area) for 2013. Based on this recognition, this is clearly a work culture where employees thrive.
As Woodhull, LLC looks to remain a viable office technology, solutions, and services company, expect to see it continue to take advantage of technology to improve efficiencies and profits while also expanding its menu of software solutions. At the same time, Woodhull is preparing to launch a Managed Network Services offering in early 2014 and Beta testing customer portals in its eAutomate system.
It’s an exciting time for Woodhull, LLC, and with all the activity and new initiatives underway, this dealership continues to possess all the qualities we look for in an Elite Dealer.
LDI COLOR TOOLBOX
Jericho, NY
President/Owner: Jerry Blaine
Year founded: 1999
Number of employees: 230
Primary hardware vendors: Canon, Sharp, Toshiba, HP, Samsung, RISO, Epson, EFI
Primary solutions and services offerings: Copy, Scan, Send, Print, Document Management, Production Print, Color Management, Large Format Displays, MPS, Managed Network Services, Litigation Support Systems, Education Solutions, Mobility Solutions, Security & Government Compliance; In addition to the primary vendors, LDI maintains direct relationships with companies like Nuance, Paper Cut, CGS, Oris, MaxxVault, ConvergentEDM, IPRO to assist in the integration of meaningful document workflows for its clients.
Approximate/Average yearly revenues: $55-$60 million
Biggest sale/win of the past year: LDI’s two biggest wins include a refresh of production print equipment in one of its largest international financial clients and a 3,500 unit managed print services engagement in a multi-site, regional healthcare organization.
Just because a dealership is enjoying consistent year over year growth is not reason enough to call them an Elite Dealer, but it sure does help in making a strong case for them. During the past year, LDI Color ToolBox has seen its MPS business grow nearly 30 percent year over year, color graphics by 10-12 percent, production print by 10-12 percent, document workflow solutions by10-12 percent, and mobility solutions by 10-12 percent. Not staggering percentages, but solid numbers nonetheless, and in business segments that position LDI well for the future.
Those customers who are helping the company grow select LDI because the dealership’s staff, and professional service and management team is knowledgeable, accessible, reliable and accountable. “Our unique value proposition is wrapped around our ability as an independent, privately company to offer a vast portfolio of integrated digital document technologies,” states Jerry Blaine, owner. “Our size, experience and business relationships allow the flexibility to evolve with emerging technologies, satisfy today’s business requirements and assist in the development of tomorrow’s solutions.”
If you’re going to sell solutions, you better do a good job of marketing them and LDI does just that. Its marketing programs are creative and provide increased interaction with prospects, clients, and vendor partners.
We also like the way LDI touches customers and prospects via an extensive program of Solution Seminars on topics ranging from “Green & Sustainability” to “Providing Consistent, High-Quality Color.” These programs are generally done in cooperation with its manufacturer, solution and business networking partners and can range from small interactive roundtables to large scale technology forums. A recent event, “LDI and Samsung: A Partnership In Innovation”, featured Jerry Blaine, Todd Pike of Samsung, and Donald Trump Jr., represented Samsung’s long-awaited launch of MFPs, digital signage and near field communications devices to New York and New Jersey B2B major markets. This event was attended by more than 160 people.
“Trump’s comments regarding Samsung mega-brand aggressively pursuing LDI as the right fit for its business strategy, distribution and major market support was only one of a number of compelling statements that held the crowd’s attention,” reports Blaine. We’re also impressed by the way LDI has leveraged social media. LDI has exceeded 14,000 followers and continues to drive meaningful interaction through Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn media channels. We also applaud the company because it respects and appreciates its interaction with more conventional media channels, including but not limited to, write-ups in industry magazines, coverage on local and national television, speaking engagements at dealer conferences, and its presence at many business, networking, community, and industry events. Community involvement is another key component of its marketing efforts and LDI continues to use its success and resources to benefit worthy organizations with donations of money, print, local support, clothing, and food.
A year doesn’t go by without LDI enjoying one major accomplishment or another and this year’s include its decision to partner with Samsung, tremendous growth in its New Jersey operations, and the support that it has given to an increasing number of non-profit organizations in need.
An Elite Dealer is future focused and LDI is no exception, particularly with the way it invests time and energy to grow its current clients with additional products and services that will add value to its businesses. Meanwhile, LDI continues to recruit sales and management executives that embody the work ethic, creativity, ideals, and growth concepts that have been the cornerstone of LDI’s success. And as it has done year in and year out, LDI continues to invest in the development and ability to demonstrate innovative technologies while being extremely mindful of investing in its people by offering programs that increase internal and external communication.
DATASOURCE INK
Bloomingdale, IL
President/Owner: Jim Vitiello
Year founded: 2000
Number of employees: 10
Primary hardware vendors: Datasource Ink does not sell hardware.
Primary solutions and services offerings: Total printer fleet service and support up to and including consulting, printer optimization, toner provisions, parts and device replacement, onsite technical support and electronics and toner recycling.
Approximate/Average yearly revenues: $1 million
Biggest sale/win of the past year: Being asked by several customers to take them nationally and worldwide.
You won’t find many Elite Dealers who have given up on hardware sales and instead focus exclusively on taking care of its customer’s print fleets, including providing toner, parts, and device replacement along with onsite technical support and recycling. But that’s Datasource Ink, a company that over the past year has enjoyed double-digit growth and 98 percent customer retention.
“We primarily focus on helping companies develop high-level strategies for supporting printers and managing printer related expenses,” explains President Jim Vitiello.
To do that Datasource Ink works closely with suppliers such as Clover Technologies, Westpoint Products, Depot International, and ILG.
It’s been another solid year for the company with an increase in sales of extra high-yield capacity toner cartridges. “Thirty five percent of our sales are the extra high-yield cartridges,” reports Vitiello.
The focus has also expanded to recycling. “Companies are now very conscious of their carbon footprint and their recycling practices,” adds Vitiello. “We provide both electronics and toner recycling and develop custom solutions to help our clients dispose of their waste properly.”
One of the reasons clients choose Datasource Ink is because they are extremely nimble as a vendor and because they’ve partnered with large suppliers that provide a vast array of product.
“Because we are a smaller company, we can engage exactly what we need to do the best job possible and not deal with the red tape along the way,” notes Vitiello. “Our goal is to build relationships, not customers.”
And that’s exactly what the company has been doing since 2000.
We’re also impressed by its EZ Print print program, an all-inclusive cartridge-based printer service solution that provides all aspects of printer support at no cost provided the client purchases all toner products through Datasource Ink.
Another quality that elevates the company to Elite Dealer status is the way it gives back to the community. Datasource Ink routinely donates printers to non-profit organizations and works closely with non-profits for corporate donations. Also noteworthy are free electronics recycling days at its office with money raised through recycling going to local non-profit organizations.
Ensuring long-term growth and profitability is critical and Datasource Ink has been doing that through a robust referral program. Fully 65 percent of its business is through referrals. It also works closely with its suppliers to ensure products and pricing are best of breed. Granted, that’s not unique, but it is essential for doing business in a competitive industry.
We also like the way Datasource Ink educates end users on its products and the imaging supplies industry. “Most of the big end users know or want to know who, where, and how our products are made. We are completely transparent with this,” concludes Vitiello.
What’s not transparent is how once again Datasource Ink is one of The Week in Imaging’s Elite Dealers.
The team at Consolidated.
CONSOLIDATED COPIER SERVICES
Conyers, GA
President/Owner: Pat Nunnally
Year founded: 1987
Number of employees: 16
Primary hardware vendors: Konica Minolta, KIP, Muratec, Fujitsu, MBM
Primary solutions and services offerings: Unity, Pagescope, Prism DocRecord, Pharos, Dispatcher Phoenix, print management solutions
Approximate/Average yearly revenues: $2.5 million
Biggest sale/win of the past year: Launching a new production equipment line with the sale of three Bizhub PRO 1051’s with revenue totaling approximately $130,000.
Keeping the customer satisfied is something that Consolidated Copier Services has been doing for more than two decades and it has been doing it well with a staff of 16.
Indeed, customers enjoy long-term relationships with the dealership’s staff, which shouldn’t be surprising since sales reps have an average tenure of eight years with the company and service techs an average tenure of nine years. Consolidated also offers personal phone service so that customers always get a person instead of voice mail.
“All our departments work together harmoniously to give our customers an unmatched level of customer service,” emphasizes Pat Nunnally, president.
That harmonious attitude comes from the top.
“We treat our employees the way we want them to treat our customers,” adds Nunnally. “We continually add benefits, perks, and rewards, and as a result our team has great relationships, enjoys working together, and invests their careers in the company long-term. We give our employees opportunities to grow both personally and professionally as well as giving them everything they need to do their jobs well.”
We find it admirable too that Consolidated calls on its customers for its own business needs whenever possible to support them and give business back to them.
The dealership is currently experiencing growth in key areas such as production print, scanners, MPS, and solutions. To better understand the needs of the vertical markets it serves, Consolidated has joined several industry specific associations such as County legal bars and physicians associations.
This is dealership that’s not hesitant about investing in its future and recently hired an Internet marketing manager to track and improve online effectiveness. It also sponsors work time for employees to serve in a nonprofit or charity of their choice.
The biggest accomplishment of the past year was moving to a new location, the result of Consolidated quadrupling in size and increasing staff by 25 percent.
With an eye toward the future expect Consolidated Copier Services to continue researching and staying on the cutting edge of new business trends while adding benefits, perks, and rewards for employees to encourage them to stay with the company long-term.
Another initiative designed to lay a strong foundation for the future is expanding parts inventory to serve a wider base of customers.
Once again it all comes down to the customer. “We’re always reinforcing in employees a customer first attitude, which creates happy customers who keep their business with us for many years and decades.”
That ability to retain customers is a sure sign of an Elite Dealer.
Ray Belanger
BAY COPY
Rockland, MA
CEO: Ray Belanger
Year founded: 1972
Number of employees: 31
Primary hardware vendors: Konica Minolta, Muratec, Toshiba, Lexmark
Primary solutions and services offerings: MPS
Approximate/Average yearly revenues: $5.2 million
Biggest sale/win of the past year: Expanding the relationship in a major area health care network. This resulted in Bay Copy now managing all of the organization’s output devices, including copiers, printers, MFPs and Copy Centers. This also consolidated all operations across multiple locations to one imaging vendor. As part of the expanded relationship more than 400 devices were updated.
In 2012 Bay Copy celebrated a rare milestone in business – its 40th anniversary. Originally founded by Ray Belanger Sr. in 1972 under the name Bay State Business Products, current CEO Ray Belanger has been with the company for 30 years and at the helm for the last two decades.
Bay Copy is in its fifth year as a Business Solutions Dealer (BSD) for Lexmark International and holds the distinction of being the first company in Massachusetts named as a BSD, joining an elite group of dealers across the United States. Belanger, who currently serves on Lexmark’s Dealer Advisory Board, was among a dozen industry leaders invited by Lexmark to participate in a two-day conference, held in Chicago, to discuss the state of the industry and strategy going forward.
The affiliation with Lexmark has assisted Bay Copy as it broadens its reach in the Managed Print Service market. The company’s entry into MPS represents its most significant accomplishment of the year as it has gained significant traction and grown the base by more than 40 percent this year compared to 2012.
Bay Copy is also an authorized service provider for HP, an area of the business that continues to grow. Meanwhile, the company is expanding its work in the office security arena, helping companies understand how to secure confidential data on copier and MFP hard drives.
Customers appreciate doing business with Bay Copy because of its continued emphasis on the latest training for service technicians and account representatives, and a company culture that encourages all representatives of Bay Copy to treat each client as if they were the company’s sole client.
We applaud Bay Copy too for being a solid corporate citizen. CEO Ray Belanger is next in line to be Chairman of the South Shore Chamber of Commerce. The dealership is also a supporting member of the South Shore Hospital, Signature Health Care, and many other local non-profits. Here, Belanger and his team are highly visible among the business community.
Not all dealers take it to the next level when it comes to marketing the business, but Bay Copy sure does. It’s been an annual participant in the Business Expo, a program sponsored by the South Shore Chamber of Commerce (www.southshorechamber.org), a 1500+ member trade organization in Metropolitan Boston. Belanger and his team have put together many memorable exhibits that have been eye-catchers for the several thousand business owners who visit the Expo. The Bay Copy booth has featured New England Patriots Cheerleaders who helped draw a crowd to see the more serious aspects of the exhibit –displays of Konica Minolta, Lexmark, Muratec, and other equipment. Other themes have included safaris, a detective mystery, and a look back to the 60s and 70s.
We also appreciate the way that Bay Copy markets itself through ongoing PR and marketing efforts where Belanger guest authors articles for industry magazines and blogs. He’s also a go-to source for office technology industry journalists.
Bay Copy has done a nice job over the years of taking care of its employees, ensuring that the dealership is a great place to work. It offers competitive compensation for team members and provides ongoing training for both technicians and sales team members. It’s a ‘fun’ culture which includes special gatherings and recognitions to help affirm the value of each member to the team. As an example, a 34-year veteran of the firm recently retired and the company hosted a luncheon in his honor and a visit from the Massachusetts State Representative for the district who brought official congratulations from the Massachusetts legislature.
The future remains promising for Bay Copy thanks in part to its investment in the MPS portion of its business, the addition of new dedicated account managers, as well as two senior managers. And thanks in part to the way it’s been conducting business for the past 41 years.
KELLEY IMAGING SYSTEMS
Kent, WA
President/Owner: Aric Manion
Year founded: 1974
Number of employees: 68
Primary hardware vendors: Toshiba, Sharp, Lexmark, Xerox, Muratec, Pitney Bowes
Primary solutions and services offerings: Docuware, Filebound, ReRite, PaperCut, Adobe Lean Print, Satori, Flex Systems
Approximate/Average yearly revenues: $17 million
Biggest sale/win of the past year: Acquiring a managed print services customer with over 5,500 devices nationwide, including a new installment of nearly 4,000 black & white laser printers to upgrade their aging HP fleet. Kelley now manages multiple OEM vendor relationships for this customer and provides them department billing for every device based on actual page usage.
Customers choose Kelley Imaging Systems because of the personalized, hands on customer service that has become its hallmark. Dedicated client managers meet with the dealership’s top customers to ensure Kelley is exceeding expectations and offering new solutions that will improve their businesses.
What also works in Kelley’s favor is the local touch and relationship it has with clients whether they have one machine or several hundred machines across the nation. Either way, the dealership continues to provide top-notch customer service in all facets of the relationship from sales to the variety of solutions offered, to billing, to service delivery.
There’s something else that sets Kelley apart and drives customers in its direction and that’s the wide spectrum of technology the company offers. “We can provide and manage the entire technology infrastructure for business from laptop/desktop computers, thin clients, servers, cloud/hosted solutions as well as software for document creation, production and distribution,” notes Aric Manion, president. “We offer imaging and mailing distribution products and stand behind them with our service team so our customers only have to deal with one vendor which increases their productivity.”
Those customer service-based initiatives have led to growth beyond the traditional hardware sale as Kelley Imaging Systems has experienced consistent growth during the past year in MPS, Managed Network Services, major account sales, and mailing equipment and solutions.
An Elite Dealer continues to invest in its business and Kelley has invested its resources into automated marketing software that keeps it in frequent touch with customers. The dealership has also developed marketing campaigns that target specific client types whether they are a customer or a prospect. In addition to this tool, Kelley uses social media to provide clients and followers with interesting facts on current technology issues, tips on ensuring network security, and cloud solutions, for example.
We also commend Kelley for concentrating on building out its document solution business to not only provide software, but the training and support customers need to enhance their business processes.
“We often see customers invest in document management, capture or conversion technology and never get the return on their investment because there is not support after the sale to make sure you expand the technology to all parts of the business and make sure the end users adapt and embrace the technology,” acknowledges Manion. “We believe training and support is an ongoing necessity for our customer and another revenue stream for our professional services group.” Since becoming an authorized Pitney Bowes dealership Kelly has started offering other solutions in document distribution such as dedicated mailroom services and back office transaction processing. “This strategy gives our clients the capability to reduce costs on physical mail by converting some basic invoices or any customer communication to e-bills or e-mail and by Kelley’s offering the solution we can pick up a service revenue stream rather than wait for someone else to take away our printing revenue,” explains Manion.
It has even opened a Technology Showroom in Class A retail space in the high-rise business district of Bellevue, Washington further expanding its marketing efforts.
Kelley seems to be a great place to work. “We are big enough to be a stable company that provides great benefits, including a matching 401k and profit sharing,” states Manion. “Yet we are small enough where the work every employee does gets noticed and each employee can see that their contribution is making a difference in the success of the company. We have a lot of fun with events outside of the office, but it’s the camaraderie in the office winning new clients and make our clients happy that everyone enjoys the most.”
Meanwhile, Kelley has expanded its geographic footprint to include Portland, Oregon. The goal is to be a Northwest regional company that covers the entire state of Washington and Western Oregon.
Doing that and by diversifying into IT services, cloud solutions, document management solutions as well as mailing equipment and software, Kelley Imaging Systems remains well positioned for ongoing growth while providing customers with an ever-increasing array of services and solutions. The challenge now is concentrating on hiring the most talented people and delivering service and solutions better than anyone else in the market.
“We must continually judge ourselves and communicate with our customers to make sure we are meeting their needs,” emphasizes Manion.
From what we can see, Kelley Imaging Systems is doing a terrific job of evaluating its performance and communication with customers, and why once again we honor them as an Elite Dealer.
EGP, INC.
Orlando, FL
President/Owner: Doug Dupree
Year founded: 1967
Number of employees: 90
Primary hardware vendors: Kyocera, Lanier, MBM
Primary solutions and services offerings: Document Management, MPS
Approximate/Average yearly revenues: $10-$15 million
Biggest sale/win of the past year: Helping a large customer enhance efficiency in its office by providing newer technology and solution applications, which enables it to better manage its business and provide greater security.
It’s been a good year for EGP, especially Managed Document Services, an area of the business that has been growing at a 25 percent rate each of the past three years.
Customers choose EGP because it is an ethical and reliable company that also happens to offer award-winning products and solutions while providing the highest level of service to customers. Indeed, EGP offers a variety of programs to fit any customers’ needs such as Managed Device Services; Total CPC Management programs; and network support solutions. The goal is to provide the right solution for customers and that’s a goal that the dealership meets consistently.
Remaining relevant as technology, solutions, and services evolve and maintaining growth in a competitive business is a challenge for all independent dealers, and that’s a challenge that EGP has been able to overcome year after year.
EGP’s most significant accomplishment during the past year has been helping customers streamline operations by providing total document solutions. That’s the dealership’s mission and the mission of any dealership in this day and age that doesn’t want to be known as a copier dealer.
EGP is a great place to work because it’s like working for a family business. Management has genuine concern for the employee and their families. “We work as a team to accomplish our goals,” notes Dupree.
The dealership and employees possess a rich history of giving back to the community through its continued involvement and support of charitable and nonprofit organizations as well as sponsorship of community events.
As for the future, Dupree emphasizes the need to move forward and improve.
“We continually strive to come up with innovative ideas and solutions for our customers and better our company and customer service,” he says. “The industry is ever-changing and you must stay on top of the changes to be successful.”
EGP is not only a success, it’s a 2013 Elite Dealer too!
Keith Allison
SYSTEL BUSINESS EQUIPMENT
Fayetteville, NC
President & CEO: Keith Allison
Year founded: 1981
Number of employees: 250
Primary hardware vendors: Ricoh, Konica Minolta, Panasonic, HP, Lexmark
Primary solutions and services offerings: Commercial Imaging, Networking Solutions,Document Management Software & In-house Support Solutions, Security & Scanning Solutions, Managed Print Services, Mobile & Cloud Printing, Commercial Printing
Approximate/Average yearly revenues: $50 million
Biggest sale/win of the past year: Since being awarded the convenience bid NC Statewide Contract for 920-M Managed Print Services with IT Procurement Office Bid #ITS-006054, Systel recently completed an MPS install under this contract for a NC State University with over 700 devices, which included a mix of MFDs and printers. The successful install took about 30 days and the reference has already earned Systel another similar bid for another local state University.
Sometimes rapid growth can be a challenge and that is one of the challenges Systel has been facing during the past five years. But it’s a challenge many dealers would welcome.
“Most would think this would not be a challenge, but in fact could be as big of a challenge as not growing enough,” says Keith Allison, Systel’s founder. “Due to our rapid growth over the last several years, many new programs, policies, departments, and even locations have been restructured to accommodate the additional business.”
Taking steps to overcome this threat has required strategic investments and continuous improvements in people, technology, and infrastructure. “It is very important that we not only gain the new business but uphold our high reputation in customer service and satisfaction,” adds Allison.
A great example of overcoming this challenge was Systel’s recent Camp Lejeune/Cherry Point install which it now refers to as ‘Mission 31: Nothing’s Impossible.’ Once the bid was awarded, the Systel team worked overnight to secure a new location, hire additional staff, and complete the delivery and install of more than 800 machines—all in only 17 days. “If we continue to win large bids and compete with large manufactures on install guarantees, we must continue to stock millions of dollars worth of product, which adds additional risk of damage, loss, and obsolescence,” acknowledges Allison.
Give Allison credit for honesty, but the fact is Systel continues to grow. Its in-house leasing is still steadily growing as residuals build. Commercial as well as State contract MPS has taken off in the last 12-16 months.
“It took a little time to continually revise and update the program, procedure guidelines, and comp plan, but we feel we have one of the best programs and have seen its successful grow substantially in the recent year and upcoming year projections,” boasts Allison.
Meanwhile, the company is in the process of developing its new Website that will have a user friendly product and quoting interface as well as some e-commerce and the ability for the customer to manage their account online. In 2013, Systel has plans to not only continue its green efforts but provide more green options to customers with its own toner recycling program, adding hybrid service vehicles to its fleet and using more of its partner’s green programs and solutions to better inform the customer and incorporate energy costs and calculations into quotes and proposals.
Although everyone at Systel touts the ‘great service’ they provide along with reports and surveys to support that contention, customers continue to do business with the dealership and Systel continues to earn new business because it remains flexible in responding to customer’s needs whether it be customized spreadsheet billing or specialized monthly or quarterly reporting.
“One thing that we know for a fact that sets us apart from our competitors is our Systel Printing, opened in 2004,” says Allison. “Located adjacent to our Greensboro, NC office, we have a full service digital and offset Print Shop that is available to our customers with special pricing and also allows us to offer them zero down time at no additional costs, if their equipment crashes in the middle of a large print job as they can upload their file through our Website and we can deliver locally or ship to them the next day.”
Systel’s biggest accomplishment this year has been the decision to add Lexmark to its group of core products and services. “Lexmark’s team, like Systel’s, has a strong willingness to please the customer and will go to great lengths to develop customized applications based on those needs,” says Allison. “Partnering with an American based company like Lexmark who is promoting U.S. economic development and job growth is becoming a more important advantage to an increasing number of our customers.”
It’s not all business at Systel and we applaud them for the way they have fun. One of the most desired events of the year is its annual Holiday Party that is really not geared towards the holidays at all. It’s usually held in December at a desired location near the beach with a theme such as the ‘80s, Academy Awards, or Willy Wonka.
“We have nearly 350 employees and their guests in attendance where we take care of all their accommodations and spoil them with a night of music, dancing, dinner, prizes, and cash giveaways,” notes Allison. “It’s an event that has everyone talking way into the New Year.”
We also appreciate the way Systel gives back to the community. It has endowed scholarships and supported student aid and learning programs for local colleges and universities such as Methodist University, Fayetteville Technical Community College, North Carolina State University, and Campbell University and Law School. Allison is a valued member of the local communities that Systel serves due to his dedication to the community and his need to give back, something that will always be a part of the dealership’s best practices. Plus each year Systel donates more than $250,000 to local organizations and universities through annual sponsorships, scholarships, endowments, and support through donated equipment and community involvement. Every year it hosts fundraising events for March of Dimes and the American Heart Association and offers incentives to employees for participating and walking in the local events.
Despite the challenge of dealing with growth, Allison and company aren’t shy about staying on that path. “With manufacturer mergers and sell out rumors, it will be extremely important for independent dealers to grow quickly and aggressively or sell to one of these manufacturers,” he says.
To keep pace Systel is actively seeking new acquisitions and is currently planning infrastructure for a rapid growth to hit its next benchmark of $100 million. “We have achieved such monumental growth and plan to reach our future goals by a combination of acquisitions, winning large government bids (teamed w/ Managed Print Services), continually increasing the number of sales reps, strong management, and in-house financing,” maintains Allison.
When the economic downturn hit, Systel’s third-party leasing company went from approving 90 percent of its customers to nearly 50 percent. By being able to withhold profits and reinvest them back into the company Systel now has the ability to finance the other 40 percent of those customers. “Not only are we recognizing additional profits, we are able to retain these customers that we would otherwise have to turn away,” concludes Allison.
It’s that kind of strategic thinking that places Systel in the upper pantheon of our 2013 Elite Dealers.
EDWARDS BUSINESS SYSTEMS, INC. (EBS) & VIRGINIA BUSINESS SYSTEMS, INC. (VBS)
Bethlehem, PA
PresidentS/OwnerS: James Edwards, Chairman of EBS; Ray Fuentes, President of EBS; James Dotter, President of VBS
Year founded: 1954
Number of employees: 160
Primary hardware vendors: Konica Minolta, HP, Supplies Network, Ricoh, Muratec
Primary solutions and services offerings: SmartSearch and Global Forms from Square9, ObectifLune PlanetPress, Adobe Systems, Equitrac from Nuance, NSi AutoStore from Notable Solutions
Approximate/Average yearly revenues: $36+ million
Biggest sale/win of the past year: This past year VBS upgraded a large school district with more than 100 MFP’s. Despite not being the lowest cost provider in this extremely competitive environment, VBS’ exceptional service history and customer service helped secure the business. The customized solution utilizing Print Audit, our First Pass Help Desk and strategic dispatching of loaner equipment was able to guarantee uptime for their entire fleet.
Edwards Business Systems and Virginia Business Systems are currently on track to finish the year at over $36 million in revenues, an approximately 15 percent increase over last year. That’s an impressive accomplishment and is driven by growth in MPS, solution software, and production print.
“They are our fastest growing initiatives,” notes Ray Fuentes, president of EBS. “The fastest growing segment of our business is the solutions or application software segment of our business and the professional services that accompany the sale.”
It’s pretty much a given that an Elite Dealer provides great service, but as Fuentes points out, “It can never be ONLY ‘great service’. It has to be an effective combination of responsive, dedicated service, committed solutions, quality hardware and the coordinated teams to deliver all of this.”
That’s what customers get from EBS/VBS. The staff at both the Bethlehem, PA and Virginia locations are divided into three core groups – service/implementation, administration and sale/marketing – all of which work together as a team to move the business of its clients forward.
“Our clients appreciate this because they know that we are selling a value proposition versus selling a product,” notes Fuentes. “We put the client’s needs first. We focus on selling process improvement, security and compliance, cost of ownership and sustainability. Once we determine what processes need to be improved then we’ll craft a solution.”
The focal point of EBS’/VBS’ relationship with clients is how the dealership proactively performs account reviews to not only review service performance, but to understand what changes are going on with clients and their business. The account review process then allows EBS/VBS to make recommendations and provide solutions that best suit their needs from the programs and products it offers.
Fast Forward Document Solutions is more than the company’s tagline. “Our clients know this. Our clients respect this,” adds Fuentes.
We’re enamored as well by EBS’/VBS’ Print+, its private-labeled brand of MPS and services that include not only prints and output devices, but also various management plans for collection, accounting, security and sustainability. These solutions allow clients to achieve cost effectiveness, green environmental goals, and network integration.
We commend the dealership too for its dedicated solutions teams that develop and offer application software for document management and many other solutions. Plus it offers specialized teams of professional service and support necessary to evaluate, implement, and manage successful software solutions for clients.
Plenty of dealers are taking advantage of production print opportunities and EBS/VBS is no exception. It has specialty solutions in hardware, software and technical connectivity for high-volume digital printing, production workflow applications, color profile management, variable data printing, and digital marketing programs. The plans are offered under a variety of pricing and service programs to meet a client’s goals, needs, and budget.
EBS’/VBS’ biggest accomplishment over the past year has been its continued growth and profitability. Each year, EBS/VBS has grown its business. “Is it tough to stay on this trajectory? Yes,” says Fuentes. “But even in this difficult economy, we continue. How? Because one of our most important accomplishments every year is helping our clients improve their efficiencies, their performance, and their business.”
It’s been a year of big wins for the dealership. Besides the aforementioned large school district, there was the fulfillment center where it displaced two competitive production devices with three Konica Minolta bizhubPro 1250’s and Fiery Central front end. Working closely with the client, Fiery and Konica Minolta, VBS was able to customize a solution to increase productivity, streamline processes and provide redundancy for a more effective solution at a lower cost than the alternative solution.
EBS and VBS sponsor, underwrite, and participate in events in the community, another mark of an Elite Dealer. One example: EBS has been a primary sponsor for the past 27 years of a major stage concert at Musikfest in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Musikfest concerts attract over one million visitors every year, bringing economic development, cultural awareness and entertainment to the City of Bethlehem. “Musikfest has been cited nationally as one of the best ‘Quality of Life’ events,” notes Fuentes. “We are proud to be part of this event and the many others that we support and sponsor.”
Additionally, it has sponsored the VCU Massey Cancer Center Concert, the EBS Annual Derby Day event which benefits the Boy Scouts of America camping program, Historic Bethlehem’s Rooms to View House Tour, and PBS Ch. 39’s new building, among many other events and charitable campaigns. Employees are also active participants in their communities and do their part by giving and volunteering.
“EBS and VBS believe in strong communities,” states Fuentes. “When a community is healthy and caring, employees want to live there, work there and raise their families there. We are proud to be part of these communities.”
We salute Edwards and Virginia Business Systems for being one of the country’s largest family-owned, independent office equipment dealers. EBS and VBS continue to be recognized by all of its vendors for excellence in sales and service. That additional validation further emphasizes why EBS/VBS has achieved Elite Dealer status once again. And with the dealership’s 60th anniversary on the horizon for 2014, it’s a good bet they’ll continue that run next year.
CENTRIC BUSINESS SYSTEMS, INC.
Owings Mills, MD
President/Owner: Rick Bastinelli
Year founded: 1990
Number of employees: 155
Primary hardware vendors: Sharp, Ricoh, Kyocera, HP
Primary solutions and services offerings: A variety of software to transition companies to digital workflow, to control output costs, to control usage and to provide rules-based authorization. Centric also provides fax server solutions and print-for-pay solutions such as Digital Storefront.
Approximate/Average yearly revenues: $35-$40 million
Biggest sale/win of the past year: A major healthcare system with more than 500 multifunctional products, generating $2+ million in hardware revenue.
During the past three years a combination of organic growth, new products and services, geographic expansion, and acquisitions have resulted in an impressive 56 percent increase in revenue for Centric Business Systems.
Customers choose Centric because it offers customers a strong value proposition as well as a consultative approach. No doubt Centric has the resources and capacity to offer a full range of hardware, software, support, and managed service solutions, but we’re impressed by the way they couple that with the sophistication to integrate those solutions from trained and qualified professionals.
“We provide our customers with a single source solution for all document output and state-of-the-art reporting capabilities that allow customers to streamline operations and cut cost,” says Rick Bastinelli, president. “In addition, our CustomerFIRST philosophy ensures that every customer is supported after the sale when any issues arise.”
Customers also like the great service that Centric provides, partially because it offers a guaranteed four-hour response time. Each technician calls every customer within two hours to clear or confirm the call. To enhance its service offerings, Centric uses MWAi, GPS, MS Mapping, and PDF’s to manage its fleet of technicians for maximum efficiency. The dealership also bonus its technician’s on the BEI concept of total call effectiveness to minimize down time.
Centric also garners Elite Dealer status not only because it’s a successful locally managed, regional company that is responsive and committed to the communities it serves, but because of the way its senior management team provides responsive, local decision making, to quickly handle customer needs. Ongoing business reviews aid customers in developing solutions to accommodate their ever-changing business environments, optimizing workflow and reducing their bottom line.
Innovation is inherent at Centric and the Centric Help Desk located in its high-tech Call Center stands out for us. This program allows all customers to receive immediate service and support. A Centric Help Desk technician can remotely access a customer’s network for real-time support sessions over the Web (via WebEX). It also enables the company to view and remotely control a customer’s application in order to analyze and resolve issues. “This latest service greatly reduces downtime for the customers,” says Bastinelli.
Customer satisfaction is common theme among successful dealerships and Centric has adopted a company culture based on commitment to customer satisfaction. “We named this our CustomerFIRST program and it consists of three major principles—responsiveness, communication and ownership,” notes Bastinelli. “These programs have been successful because our employees are motivated by them and they benefit our customers with outstanding service.”
Although some dealers struggle with MPS, Centric does not. As a part of its MPS Program, Centric offers the “Quick View” Process, a process that walks the customer through an eight-step, consultative approach to gather information and effectively present recommendations to maximize efficiency in a print environment.
Overcoming challenges is not a foreign concept to independent dealers and Centric’s biggest challenge has been growth. “As a result of growing from two offices in 2010 to five offices in 2013, Centric encountered challenges with delivering our products and services to a larger footprint,” explains Bastinelli. “By creating new management positions within the organization to support these environments, we have been able to successfully support these areas.”
Centric’s most significant accomplishment this year centered on revenues. “Breaking the $35 million glass ceiling during a challenging period for our industry as well as the economy,” reports Bastinelli. “Aiding us in reaching that milestone was exceeding volume of over 100 billion pages per month under contract. We are also proud of the performance of our Tysons Corner team. From a pure start up, we have built an organization that now averages more than $200,000 per month in hardware sales, all of which is net new business.”
The aforementioned CustomerFIRST philosophy helps make Centric a great place to work because it promotes a company culture based on commitment to customer satisfaction. Incentives built into the program include employee awards, monetary gifts, and trips. “Our employees are motivated to follow the philosophy and the customers benefit from their commitment,” says Bastinelli.
Additionally, Centric provides a corporate culture that is centered on employee satisfaction. It offers an internal rewards program, called Caught In Action, which allows peers to award each other for a job well done. This recognition gets distributed companywide and winners are entered into prize drawings monthly.
We appreciate the way Centric promotes health and wellness. Fresh fruit is offered in its break rooms daily and employees are offered the option of a discounted gym program or the use of the fitness center in the corporate headquarters.
We also find notable Centric’s strategies to ensure long-term growth, one of which is doing less with more. “We understand the industry trends and realize that page counts are declining; therefore we will experience less future revenue per customer,” acknowledges Bastinelli. “To offset this shift we are focused on generating more customers. Our strategy is to acquire, expand with branches in new geographies, and expand into other product offerings such as production and wide format.”
A transition to managed services is also part of this long-term growth strategy. “As our industry evolves and the print environment changes, Centric is transitioning from a traditional copier-centric business model to a managed services business model. This includes software integration services, managed print services, managed document services and managed IT services.
“These solutions will aide customers in the transition to digital workflow, managing and distributing documents via the cloud, and utilizing mobile printing solutions,” says Bastinelli. “We have dedicated specialists to train and support our sales staff for the transition to a managed services model. The development of these new product and services lines is integral to sustainability in our industry.”
Meanwhile, management is preparing the organization to expand its offerings to include Managed Network Services. “We do not want to be the pioneers but as the BTA channel experiences more success in this area we want to be positioned to move quickly and grow our business,” states Bastinelli. “We have already hired two network certified engineers who are staffing our help desk and ready to take on this challenge and opportunity.”
Overcoming challenges and leveraging opportunities are two traits possessed by an Elite Dealer. Add to that its company culture, customer service initiatives, and consistent growth and it’s easy to see why Centric Business Systems is a 2013 Elite Dealer.
Andrew Ritschel
ELECTRONIC OFFICE SYSTEMS (EOS)
Fairfield, NJ
President/Owner: Andrew Ritschel
Year founded: 1983
Number of employees: 40
Primary hardware vendors: Ricoh, Savin, Lanier, Konica Minolta, Kyocera, HP, Canon
Primary solutions and services offerings: Document Imaging/Content Management Systems, Network Infrastructure.
Approximate/Average yearly revenues: $7.5+ million
Congratulations to a dealership that has for a long time been a viable option for customers in one of the most competitive markets in the country. Going head to head against other successful independent dealers as well as OEM direct branches, EOS has proven time and time again, that it’s a worthy competitor. No wonder they sell, lease, service, and supply more than 4,000 commercial businesses in the Northern New Jersey Metropolitan area.
“We compete with 90 competitors within a 20-mile range (24 competitors within 5 miles),” acknowledges Andrew Ritschel, president. “This includes nine manufacturer’s sales branches, three NYC mega-sized dealers, and 78 mom and pops. We have to continuously work hard to retain existing clients, get new ones, and evolve our product and service offerings while still making a profit.”
The latter is key and EOS remains determined not to fall into that low-price, low-margin trap just to win a customer at the expense of their overall profitability. We give them props for that.
Keeping pace with so many different competitors requires the proper strategies and EOS has added five new strategies and initiatives over the past year that allows them to do that.
Ten years ago Ritschel hired five individuals to startup and run an IT/Managed Services company. Towards the end of the third year with losses running at $285,000, he was smart enough to pull the plug on that operation.
“It was obvious that I did not have the right two people at the top in the right job,” Ritschel acknowledges.
Over the next six years he met with many small to medium sized IT/Managed Services company owners, looking for the right company to buy and merge in with EOS.
“We exchanged leads with many of these companies, but did not wind up acquiring any of them,” explains Ritschel. “Six months ago we found an entrepreneurial individual who owned an eight-person VAR/MS provider. Recently they moved into our building and office space. The intention for our partnership right now is to promote the mutual growth of our business and share our clients and prospects. In this ultra competitive marketplace, we believe that our new partner company handling our client’s IT systems and IT projects will help increase our client’s ‘stickiness’ to our company.”
Never hesitant to adapt, especially when it comes to new technology, EOS has moved upstream into the color production space. But they’re doing it wisely.
“We won’t be selling 11X17-inch full-bleed color as one click with unlimited toner at $.045 to businesses who have poor credit, and pay their invoices in 90 plus days,” states Ritschel.
Another key change the dealership made was to serve as general contractors for its customers. Need a phone system? A folder/inserter? An audio video room? No problem, EOS can do it.
“We now receive commissions on the products and services from other providers that we bring into our prospects and clients,” says Ritschel.
We like how EOS has partnered with a local college that offers a professional sales curriculum. “We bring in part-time/flex-time interns from this program to prospect and market for new potential clients,” reports Ritschel.
We’re also impressed by a new initiative that benefits EOS employees. With its employees considered the dealership’s greatest asset and their health and well being the employee’s greatest asset, EOS pays half of its employee’s gym membership bills every six months providing that they are working out at least three times a week.
Plus they’ve even provided a certified hypnotist for smokers to help them end their smoking habit. “At a pack and a half a day we will be helping their health and their wallets to a tune of about $350 per month,” exclaims Ritschel.
EOS is a competitive dealership that cares, driven by a leader who is one of the more outspoken dealers in the industry and who only cares about making it a better industry for the independent dealer. That’s another reason why we congratulate EOS on their selection as a 2013 Elite Dealer.
