Tim Renegar remembers the 1970s fondly. It’s the decade that kicked off his career selling roll-fed, coated paper copier machines (plain paper machines were still on the horizon). In fact, Renegar’s first-ever cold call led to a demo and eventually a sale, and he found a niche selling into doctor’s offices.
He loved the business. Cold-calling was a different animal in the 1970s; few people were doing it at the time, so prospects were a little more giving of their time and willing to listen to a pitch. He enjoyed many big wins with high-profile clients such as RJ Reynolds, Piedmont Airlines and Wrangler. As a newlywed with a mortgage and two new cars, Renegar was well on his way.
Then came the oil crisis and the gas shortages of the late 70s. Mix in a pair of recessions, including one at the onset of the 1980s, and the result was a general tightening of the purse strings. No one wanted to spend money, or at least that was the prevailing theory. Renegar heard enough tales of woe to believe it was the case for most of his customers.
Thus, one day when he visited a large furniture client and found that its single roll-fed copier was broken beyond repair, Renegar was sympathetic. It proved to be unnecessary.
“I told the manager that I know times are tough, but we were going to have to get him something else to replace the copier,” Renegar related. “He said to me, ‘Well, they’re not that tough. Bring me something down here.’”
The client shrugged off the first suggestion, one of the earliest plain-paper fax machines from Canon. He wanted a bigger and faster version of the unit, which sold for $8,995. No, make that eight units.
“You could’ve knocked me over with a feather,” Renegar added. “I said to myself, I’m going to make it in this business after all.”
The experience taught Renegar several valuable insights, primarily the importance of asking as many questions as possible to better evaluate the needs and objectives of clients. “Get to know the circumstances and really discuss what’s going on with your customer,” said Renegar, a 2021 ENX Magazine Difference Maker. “I was totally underestimating my opportunity in that account. Don’t always assume everybody fits into that ‘we can’t make it’ bucket. There are plenty of customers thriving under even the most difficult of circumstances.”
Now the president and co-owner of Kelly Office Solutions, Renegar’s journey remains an enjoyable one. Watching his business grow and evolve to change as the market dictates, Renegar appreciates that he’s not in the business of selling copiers or document management systems. Solutions can and have changed dramatically through the years. Rather, he sees business as facilitating the flow of information in an office environment, regardless of what that looks like now or in 10 years.
“That’s our job, anything we can do to make things easier and people more efficient, to help them gain ground,” he said. “That’s the key to remaining relevant. When we continue to do that at a high level and understand the change and experience it, then we bring something to the table that customers don’t get when you’re just slinging boxes. I enjoy watching our company, our people grow and evolve. These changes that scare everybody are really opportunities if you look at them the right way.”
Maintaining Enthusiasm
Renegar’s career has included stints with family-owned dealers, megadealers and manufacturer direct branches, ranging from Triad Business Systems and Charlotte Copy Data to IKON Office Solutions and Sharp North Carolina. Some of his greatest influences came in the early years, people such as Ed Day, who showed Renegar how to properly demo an Océ roll-fed copy machine. Day’s enthusiasm and warm personality stuck with Renegar, and they remained friends.
“Without Ed, I don’t know if I would have kept the enthusiasm for this business,” he noted.
Renegar’s father, Jack, would later join him in the copier field after selling his own business. They worked alongside each other for about 14 years, and Jack’s experience, business acumen, wisdom and connections proved beneficial. Jack was vital in showing Tim how to close a deal and ask for the order.
Another mentor, Syrian-born Cal Kardous, imparted on Renegar the importance of looking at situations in many different ways. Having emigrated at age 18, Kardous needed to rely on creativity and a wide array of perspectives in order to be successful, and he imparted this on Renegar.
Above all, Renegar came away with the belief that, with all things being equal—after all, dealers are essentially offering the same equipment and services—the true differentiator is people. “People are the reason we grow and get better,” he said. “If you can surround yourself with quality people, that makes all the difference in the world.”
Holding Steady
It is those people who helped sustain Kelly Office Solutions during the onset of the pandemic, when the company’s business fell off by 50% and the situation looked bleak. With the help of the Paycheck Protection Program and a local bank, the dealer was able to skate through without the need for layoffs or furloughs.
Renegar and Co. have weathered the storm, and with fiscal year revenues in the range of the 2019 performance, he’s confident that once service revenues bounce back, the dealership will find itself back on a solid growth track, buffered by acquisition opportunities. Renegar has a number of initiatives in process, and plans to hire additional sales and process-oriented people to help standardize procedures.
“We’re looking at innovative ways to take the company to the next level,” he said.
Renegar and his wife of 34 years, Heather, have two sons, Blake and Brice, who hold key leadership positions within the company. Brice was married two years ago and Blake is getting married later this year, so Renegar is hoping grandchildren loom in the not-too-distant future.
An avid golfer, hunter and fisherman who can count on his sons to join him, Renegar and his family love to spend time at their beach house.
