Tools for Today, Sales for Tomorrow: The Art of Selling the Full Dealer Catalog

Perhaps the last thing an account rep wants to hear from a VP is the idea that the MFP isn’t the center of their dealership’s universe. Sales reps know how to sell them because they’ve been seemingly hawking them forever. The profit margin’s good, as are the residuals. Three- and five-year contracts are music to their ears and catalysts for president’s club qualifications. Spouses love free Caribbean vacations.

However, quotas dictate behavior. Incenting account reps for taking a deep plunge into the company catalog is the most effective elixir to ensure they’re not relying exclusively on box sales. But like a drop-back passing quarterback in football, salespeople need to feel comfortable straying outside the pocket to sell downstream offerings. That’s where subject matter experts, product specialists and vendor support functions can help bolster their confidence.

While they may be compensated at levels exceeded only in the corner offices, dealer principals and their teams recognize their value in the success of the dealership. Reps need support and tools that can place them in a position to achieve the desired success. And the office technology sector has no lack of resources specific to our industry, not to mention general sales solutions that can be applied across any spectrum.

This month’s State of the Industry focus on sales enablement tools provides a look at how a number of dealers have revamped their approaches in recent years. In addition, they share which resources they’ve found to be most effective in filling the funnel, gaining more appointments and—perhaps most importantly—breaking the habit of always leading with boxes in engagement conversations.

Looking back from a historical perspective, many observers will point to the pandemic as a fork in the road, that reflective period when companies and employees alike took a hard look in the mirror at what they were doing, how they were doing it and, of course, why they were doing it. If nothing else, COVID provided time (in hindsight, perhaps too much) to think. As we approach five years removed, the consequences/ramifications are coming more into focus.

At Repeat Business Systems (RBS) in Albany, New York, the offshoot was reducing the reliance on copy machines and getting more to the core of what clients needed moving forward. That means items that were once considered more downstream in the catalog—the voice over IP (VoIP), IT services, network security, faxing software and other business process software, mailing, inserting and production equipment—would see a more concerted effort by account reps to ensure clients have a fuller understanding of their potential value.

President Dawn Abbuhl pointed to the importance of not looking at clients/prospects in terms of when their copier lea ses were set to expire. Sure, a client’s copier lease isn’t up for maybe three more years, bu t that might not be the case for its managed IT agreement, and it has nothing to do with the fact that a given client might still be relying on an archaic landline phone system.

“Our goal was to increase our knowledge base and sales strategy, and focus on all these other things,” she said. “We’ve always had subject-matter experts, but the challenge was to keep learning and create a high-level team. We expect everyone to learn and know a lot about all those things, especially spotting opportunities, providing advice and supporting the account. Some reps took to it better than others, but on the whole, they’re making a lot of progress. In fact, some reps are amazing at it already.”

While copier hardware sales have stabilized, the biggest growth has come via concentrating on more portfolio elements, Abbuhl noted. RBS has enjoyed a healthy mix of renewals and net-new business. The plan in 2025 is to reward account reps with commissions when they sell multiple portfolio areas.

We’ve always had subject-matter experts, but the challenge was to keep learning and create a high-level team. We expect everyone to learn and know a lot about all those things, especially spotting opportunities, providing advice and supporting the account.

– Dawn Abbuhl, Repeat Business Systems

One of RBS’ best tools has been ZoomInfo, which provides critical information on prospect data and insights for sales and marketing. It’s been a boon for email campaigns and accessing new accounts in RBS’ region. Abbuhl estimates her company has penetrated 25% of its market, and ZoomInfo has provided great insights into the 75% that’s not in RBS’ book of business.

“When it comes to training, we like to turn to the people who know it best: the manufacturers,” she said. “When it comes to marketing, we’re in love with ZoomInfo. It’s an excellent tool. We are also exploring any facets of AI that would be a match.”

Blitzing the Opportunity

One of the more significant developments in the post-pandemic sales landscape is the decreasing level of engagement by clients during what one might call the discovery phase of the cycle. In the pre-2020 period, customers and prospects would regularly leverage the knowledge base of a dealer’s territory rep to learn more about the hardware and solutions options available on the market. This was the perfect segue for account representatives to guide them further into the process, and thus, the educational phase was an excellent catalyst for conversions.

Scott Bonck, vice president of sales for Applied Business Concepts in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, notes that clients and prospects have already done a majority of their due diligence in advance of engagements. This, in turn, has added a degree of difficulty for in-person cold calls while placing the onus on account reps to move ahead with more advanced conversations.

“The sales landscape is forever changing, and we have to adapt to those changes while embracing new strategies and seeking new sales opportunities,” Bonck said. “Reps need to be more prepared for calls than ever before. That’s where role-playing within our sales teams can be a big asset in preparation. It’s also good that customers are informed; it can help us cut to the chase.”

Applied Business Concepts has been channeling much of its energies toward A3 sales, desktop printers, wide-format devices and managed print services. Product and service diversity has been important, and Bonck notes the dealer has done a particularly good job with desktop printers on the strength of cost reductions. Wide-format has also yielded strong results simply due to the expansive vertical appeal and endless array of output products.

“We offer two versions of wide-format: inkjet and toner-based,” he added. “We can meet customer needs easily regardless of the application. But it also falls on us to know the different types of applications and which ones would appeal to a given client.”

In the realm of tools, Applied Business Concepts has enjoyed much success with BlitzMasters, particularly on the back end of the pandemic. This third-party workshop offers fun and interactive tools to help account reps make appointments, build their funnel and gain confidence in cold-calling. Bonck feels some of the most effective aspects include call scripts that provide answers for the most common client objections. He credits BlitzMasters with increasing the dealer’s volume of cold-call appointments.

Supplemental to BlitzMasters, Bonck notes the company has been devising effective strategies through some of the more popular social media outlets, particularly LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. This has helped Applied Business Concepts engage a more diverse audience.

Reps need to be more prepared for calls than ever before. That’s where role-playing within our sales teams can be a big asset in preparation.

– Scott Bonck, Applied Business Concepts

“With the social media aspect, having a younger crowd in the office helps a bunch,” he said. “That’s the way the younger generation lives. For some of us older reps, it’s a little more difficult. But we’re adapting to it, and I think it’s a great way to go forward.”

Quality Versus Quarterly

Doing business in the New York City Metro area has never been easy sledding, and companies such as LDI Connect have witnessed competition, including from manufacturer directs, continuing to escalate. Jay Feldman, senior vice president, client management and strategy for the Jericho, New York-headquartered firm, believes the company’s ability to gain market share encapsulates an approach that’s less box/hardware centric and more tailored toward the many solutions his company offers. The MFDs start out in the hip pocket of accounts reps and only appear after prospects have been given a thorough overview of the solutions. Feldman finds the approach to be singularly unique in his markets.

“Digital transformation continues to drive customer interest through diverse solutions including managed IT, managed print and cloud-based services,” he said. “LDI has a series of disciplines beyond print that includes unified communications, Pro A/V, digital display, collaboration and security, among others. We certainly have an opportunity to alter the landscape dynamic and change the perceptions customers may have of us being print-centric. We’re extremely diverse.”

It’s a significant pivot from LDI Connect’s MO prior to the pandemic. Feldman believes the solutions route was essential to remaining relevant in the space rather than centering conversations on MFDs when client needs in the Northeast are geared toward other areas, particularly security.

LDI is fortunate to have a number of solution partners that have enabled account reps to become more fluent with their talk tracks. Feldman notes Intermedia has been indispensable to sales success, fortified by a large array of tools, marketing resources and campaign generation strategy. It’s not just Intermedia, either; ConnectWise, HYAS and KnowBe4 have similarly bolstered the sales reps’ ability to expand solutions to clients.

We’ve hired a great deal of resources and subject-matter experts who can lend a hand to the sales reps and their efforts so they’re not on their own.

– Jay Feldman, LDI Connect

The dealer takes a structured approach toward education and training. Each week starts with Tech Whiz Mondays, an afternoon session that delves into the most relevant marketplace topics outside print. Beyond the deep dive educational component, it enables reps to craft an effective approach toward selling. Even with a cast of tenured reps, the solutions primer can help them become more confident in moving outside of the elements within their comfort zone.

“We’ve hired a great deal of resources and subject-matter experts who can lend a hand to the sales reps and their efforts so they’re not on their own,” Feldman said. “They have to collaborate internally. Reps have a resource who can go on calls with them, assist in the sales process and help them close. In addition, we’ve been focusing more on consultative/solution selling that’s more customer oriented. We’re developing those training programs and modules to help the sales reps know what questions to ask to get their foot in the door.”

LDI has done a wholesale cleansing of its database within SalesChain to provide reps with new, relevant and updated information. Beyond copier lease expiration schedules, the refresh also shines a light on customers who are optimal fits for the more solutions-based items in the LDI catalog. The dealer also uses CEO Juice, Microsoft Power BI and data analytics that can help make the quarterly business review more productive. Actually, Feldman notes the company calls it a “quality business review” as to not limit or relegate the process to a fixed schedule.

LDI has also seen an increase in its production placements. Customer usage is not quite at pre-pandemic levels, but this increase has shown customers are looking to bring more print volume back in-house. This ties in directly to the company’s legacy as the Color ToolBox.

“Our support services organization, led by Mark Marturano, takes a proactive approach to maintaining our customers’ office equipment,” Feldman said. “It uses data analysis and machine intelligence to monitor the condition of specific parts and predict when they need replacement before they fail. It aims to increase uptime, improve efficiency, extend equipment life, and reduce emergency service calls.”

Effective Targeting

One of the successful outlier performances during the pandemic was registered by Levifi, formerly known as DocuGraphics, in Charleston, South Carolina. The dealer posted its best year in 2020 and equaled it the following year, providing used equipment and extending leases with client-friendly terms that were in line with that period. Lance Redler, the company’s CRO, points out clients were under the false impression that the favorable terms during COVID would be continued upon renewals or new equipment installs.

He’s also dealt with fellow Kyocera dealers blowing out equipment on the cheap, essentially buying new business instead of earning it. But Levifi refused to abandon its white-glove service philosophy or give away product, and it’s been able to retain nearly 90% of clients. One of the bigger challenges has been securing net-new customers.

“The big difference is people are smarter; they have more access to information than ever before,” Redler said. “Their minds are probably 75% made up before they meet with a sales rep. It’s important to meet with the decision-makers; you can talk about the value you’re bringing as opposed to talking with a lower-ranking individual, who is usually only asked to compare machines for the higher-ups.”

It’s important to meet with the decision-makers; you can talk about the value you’re bringing as opposed to talking with a lower-ranking individual, who is usually only asked to compare machines for the higher-ups.

– Lance Redler, Levifi

Levifi hasn’t made any significant adjustments to its sales approach. Redler says it’s important to get in front of the client four times a year, not necessarily physically, but touching base through a variety of modes. Leaning on any one in particular might not be prudent, and the impulse can sometimes be to saturate your prospect list with emails. The daily volume of email queries your clients must sift through has reduced its effectiveness as a primary sales tool.

The key for Levifi is to balance old school with digital, including LinkedIn, building upon (and maintaining) the company’s Google review base. Redler notes the company responds to every review and refers to the clients by name, and drives prospects to check out the reviews, which could include companies the potential client is familiar with. The acquisition of an IT provider that delivers custom cloud solutions gave Levifi another dynamic talking point.

Redler has found that the marketing teams for Xerox and Kyocera are a great source for building account rep competencies. Both OEMs have been effective in producing quality YouTube content. Currently, the dealer is enhancing its search engine optimization, and its website has seen some recent improvements, including a chatbot.

“Customers have come to expect instant responses,” Redler said. “We’re looking to add some innovations, and we’ve been watching what companies outside our industry are doing as well.”

Gradual Return?

In some segments of the country, the sales landscape is anything but consistent. This holds true to Stone’s Office Equipment in Richmond, Virginia, where the post-pandemic end-user community swings between business as usual and completely evolved. According to President Sam Stone, the print output volumes have tumbled for those businesses that remain in remote operations mode. And while there’s been an uptick in companies returning to work, the volumes have been slow to follow suit.

Despite this challenge, Stone’s Office Equipment recently doubled its volume of net-new business over its typical percentage, an indication that its sales team has been active in offering some of the more varied items in the dealer’s catalog. A year ago, Stone’s Office Equipment saw 59% growth in its solutions offerings and still gained 40% in copier growth.

Our sales team is hungry and wants to learn how to capture more of the clients’ business.

– Sam Stone, Stone’s Office Equipment

“We’re still heavily print-centric, but solutions offerings such as PaperCut and eFax are stronger,” he said. “Other products like display boards are gaining attention.”

Having an aggressive sales team that’s quick to absorb manufacturer training sessions has been instrumental in the net-new growth, and given the dealer’s core of major OEM partners (Sharp, Lexmark, Brother and Epson), that means an even wider diversity of training resources. This should be critical in striking a healthy balance between net-new and existing client growth.

“Our sales team is hungry and wants to learn how to capture more of the clients’ business,” Stone added. “The training they receive from the manufacturers or within our sales meetings is important.”

Variety of Tools

Like other dealers in the Southeast, EDGE Business Systems of suburban Atlanta has witnessed businesses continuing with remote work, even with the pandemic being a distant memory. A number of clients have switched to smaller offices in the past few years, with the reduced footprint translating to fewer devices. Also, there are remnants of clients who are opting to purchase their equipment at lease’s end or extending the pact.

Josh Salkin, a partner with EDGE, feels his account representatives are having better results by using a solution-oriented approach. “From document management software to workflow solutions such as PaperCut and uniFLOW, we focus on helping customers measure, simplify, manage and secure their document-related processes,” he said. “We’ve spent countless hours improving our sales reps’ talk track to look beyond hardware. This has paid off as so many clients are looking for answers to these challenges, and we’ve been able to win many net-new deals.”

EDGE has taken a multi-pronged approach to elevating the performance of account reps. Role playing is an effective method, and salespeople share some of their success stories via the company’s EDGEstrike internal emails. The dealer also hosts its software and hardware partner reps to cover some of the more effective best practices.

We’ve spent countless hours improving our sales reps’ talk track to look beyond hardware. This has paid off as so many clients are looking for answers to these challenges, and we’ve been able to win many net-new deals.

– Josh Salkin, EDGE Business Systems

The company’s director of application sales, Matt Park, works with reps to ensure they can go deeper into the Edge catalog. “We also have our solutions team do a monthly webinar series we call ‘Chat with Matt,’ during which we pick an application, explain a software product offering and discuss how it works to solve business challenges,” Salkin added, “We’ve received tremendous feedback on this series.”