Our December issue encapsulates 118 of the office technology sector’s leading providers, the Elite Dealers. For many companies, it was a very good year, as evidenced by strong year-over-year growth from the honorees. But by no means was the campaign without its flaws, as dealers were faced with myriad challenges—hiring difficulties, reconciling growth, the inflation-addled economy and a general decline in MFP placements.
ENX Magazine’s print issue celebrated the many triumphs and accomplishments enjoyed by our Elite Dealers. However, we’ve chosen the newsletter to splash a bit of cold water on them by chronicling the greatest obstacles faced in the past year, along with insight into how these companies dealt with adversity. We’ve decided to mix up the talking points, as to not (for example) have 10 dealers bemoan the state of the economy or the lack of qualified salespeople in the employment pool. We won’t get to every Elite Dealer’s primary challenge, but over the course of December we hope to offer up a strong cross-section of issues for your perusal.
Hybrid Hijinks
The distributed workforce topic manifested itself in several ways, from providing technology to clients embracing a hybrid workforce to dealers having to reconcile work-from-home requests by their own employees. Nashville, Tennessee-based Novatech sought to accommodate the growing need for flexibility in a post-pandemic period. At the same time, maintaining an office-first culture that fosters collaboration, innovation and strong team dynamics creates a foundation for success.
“To balance these expectations, we introduced a flexible hybrid model that allows some remote work while ensuring key collaboration and decision-making happen in person,” the dealer wrote. “By focusing on in-office days for team-building and strategic projects, we’ve been able to maintain high levels of productivity and engagement. We also invested in technology solutions that make remote work seamless, allowing our employees to stay connected and efficient, whether at home or in the office. This balanced approach has kept both our employees and clients happy, proving that flexibility and collaboration can co-exist harmoniously.”
At Baltimore-based Quality Business Solutions, leadership has recognized the changing workplace dynamic. The dealer’s administration, sales and IT departments all wanted the option to work from home, but like Novatech, Quality’s leadership felt the team would be better served in office. This led to a hybrid setup.
“We like for our team members to come into the office, so they have that sense of fellowship with each other,” the dealer reported. “This also helps them to work more like a team verses individually. We give the option to work from home one day a week as well to accommodate their personal needs.”
Growing Pains
Uptown problems are nice to have, but they need to be addressed regardless. Take Shore Business Solutions of Wall, New Jersey. The dealership has been reaping solid growth, but it’s getting too big for its britches, literally. The remedy was hammered out last fall.
“We are growing at a very fast pace and our current office is busting at the seams,” Shore wrote. “In the last 30 days, we secured a new office location and we will start 2025 strong with a move to a brand new, state-of-the-art facility just steps away from our current home.”
Growth has been a blessing and an obstacle for Prosource of Cincinnati. Consistency has been key as the dealer posted double-digit increases in each of the past two years. With growth, there’s the need to source qualified talent to accommodate it—not always a simple task.
“We have placed a big focus on recruiting, selection and hiring along with employee retention,” the dealer reported. “As a result, we have been able to grow our sales development team over the past year, which will help yield positive results in the future and ongoing.”
Many dealers refuse to compromise their standards in order to bring in needed reinforcements more quickly. Blue Technologies of Cleveland has encountered what it termed an extremely chaotic job market, but wouldn’t relent on its core values and foundation. That required pitching the virtues of working at Blue Technologies, which includes becoming a member of a stable team, one that shows appreciation for the efforts of teammates. And not just sales.
“We introduced a new [recognition program] for non-sales staff, the Call of Duty award,” Blue reported. “Every month, our management team presents candidates who go above and beyond their daily job responsibilities. The entire leadership team votes on the monthly winner. That winner is recognized in front of our leadership team and throughout the month. The pride they have once recognized is contagious. The winners proudly display their plaque in their work area and often encourage others on their story of winning that award.”
When the market for acquiring talent is hotly contested, it can require a dealer to revisit how it compensates in order to remain competitive. Millennium Business Systems of Livonia, Michigan, did exactly that when confronted with personnel needs.
“Hiring and recruiting still remains one of our top challenges. We revamped our compensation packages to improve our company offerings,” the dealer wrote.
Turnover can cause turmoil, especially when more than one team member decides to exit. Pearson-Kelly Technology (PKT) of Springfield, Missouri, acquired a business in northwest Arkansas, and needed to fill in two key leadership positions.
“Despite the changes to management, our team quickly banded together, filling the gaps for the few weeks it took to restructure our leadership team, and fill the missing roles,” PKT reported.
