It stands to reason that for every major contract triumph enjoyed by a dealer/managed service provider, there’s at least one (maybe more) incumbents who managed to squander a major opportunity through any number of avenues. Lack of attention to the client’s needs is a popular one, followed by poor technical service/botched SLAs, being out of tune with the account’s evolving needs. Suppose you could throw abject incompetence on the list, but that sounds needlessly harsh when you say it out loud.
Instead, the once-popular term “spit the bit,” which comes to us from the world of horse racing, may be more appropriate. Horses ignore the jockey’s pull and reduce their pace, mostly due to fatigue; as a consequence, the competitors fly past, with some on their way to the winner’s circle. That paints an adequate picture.
Losing an account is bad enough; all dealers have experienced it, and the better ones win them back after the account discovers the new provider wasn’t as strong as advertised. Some accounts drop because they’re driven by price only, and find someone who can undercut you by the slimmest of margins. The top dealers have no time for that nonsense, anyway.
The worst type of account to lose is one where the new provider manages to stretch an agreement well beyond previous parameters, possibly into a seven-figure deal behind software, workflow solutions and any number of deal builders. That tells the losing provider (a) you left a hell of a lot of money on the table and (b) where in the heck was the account rep during all of this? How did he/she allow such potential to be squandered? After all, customers talk, and one last account could have a deleterious impact on future business in a close-knit SMB market.
Well, we’ve got a panel of dealers who have been on the smiling side of a poached/blown account. As we continue this month’s State of the Industry report on contractual success, they will share what they witnessed from the rubble of fallen foes.
Hunter Woolfolk, co-president of DOCUmation in San Antonio, notes many companies fail to grasp the seemingly obvious concept that they are in the service business. Newly captured accounts bemoan how the previous leasing agreement provider couldn’t furnish accurate billing. However, it’s not just about negligence or inept people.
Technical service is becoming a major problem, and Woolfolk notes the next generation would rather do coding than work on copiers. He feels many dealers will have fallen by the wayside in 20 years as the current crop of technicians, many with decades of experience, age out.
“The whole mechanical inclination is just disappearing,” he noted. “All the dealers I’ve talked to have stressed the importance of getting involved with local vocational schools, and try to catch the kids. That’s the way dealers have been able to find younger people; they go right to the source.”
The days of people working at the same company for 30-40 years, which was only somewhat rare 20 years ago, are long gone. Thus, dealers can expect to cycle through personnel more frequently in the future.
Understanding Clients
The need to deliver on quality technical service, while emphasized by many dealers, isn’t always practiced, according to Lauren Hanna, vice president of sales for Blue Technologies of Cleveland. Having a better understanding of the client’s business and pain points often separates Blue from the rest of the pack.
“We want to know their challenges; we aren’t trying to get a quick sale,” she said. “We’re really taking time to understand their business. And it helps to have examples of other companies—especially ones in the same vertical—that we were able to help. We understand the needs of nonprofits. We can help clients with their HIPAA compliance.
“The biggest thing to remember is the business world has changed since the pandemic. No one is doing business exactly the same as they were prior to it. A lot of people retired during that time, too, so you can’t just bank on a 20-year relationship you had with a contact. You need to do the due diligence and earn their business. Those dealers that don’t will lose out.”
The inability of providers to deliver on the service proposition is fairly overwhelming, notes Jim Morrissey, president of UBEO Business Services. Some of the issues stem from dealers putting too much account onus on the sales rep, and UBEO boasts considerable firepower via its support personnel who help drive all the dealer’s initiatives. As a result, the amount of revenue per UBEO rep goes up every year.
“When we hire [a rep], we want them to sell,” he said. “Everything from our CRM to the demand-gen team to our support people behind them are critical. But we want the reps focused on selling and we want the best reps. Word gets around fast when there’s [an account rep] working for a competitor and they literally have to do everything, because that dealer doesn’t have the resources. And if you go in [leading] with price, you can’t provide services.”
Star Power
Rolling out the big guns and targeting CFO and president-level officers has served United Business Technologies well. The Gaithersburg, Maryland-based dealer seeks to engage its senior-level people and reps with the aforementioned targets, lean on its status as a Canon dealer, and conduct higher level talks. According to President/COO Stu Wise, the approach may entail using an income before taxes chart to demonstrate profitability and long-term viability in having a market-leading OEM’s gear in tow.
Wise said he frequently relies on the analogy that the camera business once had 15 providers vying for business, whereas now only two have 50% market share. “We compare that to our industry and the belief that Canon is going to do the same thing,” he noted. “You might as well hook your cart onto someone who’s going to be here five years from now, and [clients] won’t have to worry about them downsizing or being acquired by another company. But again, it comes back to targeting the right audience within a company.”
Keeping a client happy also entails you, the dealer, staying out of the business’ hair, so to speak. John Konynenbelt, vice president of sales for Applied Innovation in Grand Rapids, Michigan, notes it entails installing products that work properly, providing good service and proper billing. Irate clients phoning a dealer eats away at time better spent on their business. It can also cause a relationship to erode.
Like many dealers, Konynenbelt doesn’t have time for price buyers. “The value proposition is, do you want a partner that really cares about your business?” he posed. “Someone who will commit resources to you and can deliver on inventory, billing and service delivery. If a client is interested in that, then we’re a great fit for them.”
