During the past few weeks, Terra Energy Services—a division of Access Control Devices Inc.—has announced the addition of several notable office technology dealerships that have signed on to become authorized reseller of electric vehicle (EV) products. While Terra Energy is not the lone provider of EV charging stations and related accessories, ACDI’s strong relationships within the channel has enabled it to net dealer agreements with companies such as Donnellon McCarthy Enterprises (DME) of Cincinnati and Fairfield, New Jersey-based Electronic Office Systems (EOS), among others.
As ancillary products go, it’s an offering that is about as far removed from traditional office settings as we’ve seen in recent years. However, as it checks many of the boxes desired in an ancillary (including recurring revenue) and given the proliferation of electric vehicles on the market, office dealers are pouncing on the opportunity to furnish what is (for now) a wholly unique offering that enables them to have another point of differentiation.
In the latest installment of Two-Minute Drill, we sat down with two of the newest Terra resellers—DME President Jim George and EOS President Andrew Ritschel—to provide insight into their decision to enter the EV market.
Given all the ancillary possibilities on the market, why did you opt for EV products?
Ritschel: With the drastic drop in copier/printer outputs (our key profit generator) we were forced to go out and find other products and services we could offer our prospects, clients and prospects. We have always tried to cross-sell ancillary items over our history. Many of our associates have gone the route of managed network services, their own retail print-for-pay, water purification systems, document scanning services, document destruction services, postage, coffee and sundry breakroom supplies. With the Federal Infrastructure Program pushing the U.S.’ electrification through financial incentives to catch up with our European counterparts—state mandates, the need to improve our air quality and slow global warming, and the rise in our population’s breathing health care concerns—selling installing and maintaining commercial electric vehicle charging stations was an obvious choice for us. A friend of mine told me that he had recently spoken with the governor of Ohio for a half-hour about EVCs. He didn’t believe the governor would have done the same for copier/MFPs.
George: There is a growing demand for EV charging infrastructure as more people switch to electric vehicles, which creates a business opportunity for companies like ours. Additionally, there are government incentives and/or regulations that require businesses to provide EV charging options, making it a necessary investment. Our sales team is already talking to companies about technology, so we felt it complemented the offerings they carry. My recent visit to Europe solidified our decision to move forward with EV charging stations. They are literally on every commercial and most residential buildings in Germany.
Tell us a little about the opportunities to scale EV within your market.
George: We have 10 offices in five different states. It’s a pretty big opportunity we have in the markets we serve. We feel we are positioned well in our larger metropolitan offices to get more traction early. The sales cycle is pretty simple and we are outsourcing the electrical portion.
Ritschel: The opportunity in our market is there for the finding. We don’t have a national name or marketing budget, like some. Therefore, we must go out, educate the buyers, and sell our real initial and long-term value. The federal government, the state governments and the regional utilities are offering massive financial incentives to the purchasers of these stations. This especially is true on main and rural travel corridors. However, the government entities have been burned with venders installing a lot of junk products, not maintaining them and their support dollars are going to waste. The utilities, of course, want to sell electricity and the states want to collect sales or VAT taxes. Many entities want them, many have to have them (hotels/apartment houses/car dealerships) and many people think that it is just the right thing to do.
Obviously, it’s a bit of a different sales proposition for your reps. What are some of the challenges you anticipate?
Ritschel: The challenges we had to overcome with our general sales team was teaching them the products, the value proposition, the sales process and the first key target prospects/markets. We also quickly learned that their compensation plan affecting the rest of the products and services that they are responsible for selling had to be modified to highly incent them to adapt our new business model and not ignore it.
George: The early challenges we have seen are competitors that are essentially giving the device away and charging for the services in their agreements. The other is working with electrical companies as we scope out these opportunities.
What are your expectations for the first year?
George: The charging stations complement our technology offerings. We do not have dedicated reps selling the product; the entire sales force can sell them. We believe this allows it not to be a distraction from the core business but rather something new to talk about with customers as we discuss their technology needs. For the first year, we are expecting 100 placements.
Ritschel: Our first year has been finding our niche of what is too small to spend time on and what is too large for us to market for and propose. Our reps are expected to move one to three stations per month for a start.
