Imagine the office technology dealer space takes the form of a barbecue cook-off competition. The challenge is to see who can prevail, despite the fact that everyone is using the same cut of beef, and has the same ingredients/accoutrements at their disposal.
Anyone can drop a steak on the grill and pull it off after cooking for two minutes on each side. So why will some creations rate a “meh” while others create an explosion of flavor?
Where does the magic begin? Do you tenderize and add salt and pepper? Do you sprinkle in Montreal Steak/over-the-counter mix or use a home-made marinade? Do you have a recipe passed down to you from your grandparents?
While you ponder making a reservation at your favorite steak house tonight and tolerate the obvious analogy, think about those added ingredients that really make your sales proposals sizzle. Unless your MFP offering is the equivalent of cube steak, you’re pretty much starting at the same jumping-off point as all other dealers. Obviously, no two end-user needs are exactly alike (though some will come close) and the overarching goal is to devise a pact that will speak specifically to their needs. But a well-attuned sales rep ear and the use of product specialists can make your mouth-watering plate presentation stand out.
In this latest State of the Industry installment on contractual success, we’ve asked our dealer panel to reveal some of the most effective deal-builders that help to add more zeroes, recurring revenue and opportunities for growth within an account. From PaperCut to GoldFax and Canon uniFLOW, there’s no lack of solutions for bringing more flavor to a proposal.
Client Reassurance
When a dealer is seeking to supersize a potential deal, instilling peace of mind for the client is no small consideration. That’s where a company like United Business Technologies (UBT) of Gaithersburg, Maryland, scores bonus points by offering a money-back guarantee. According to Stu Wise, president and COO, the number of times UBT has needed to follow through on the promotion is wholly insignificant when factoring in the value it adds as a deal closer.
“No one does it like we do or presents it in that fashion,” Wise said. “This has been huge for us in the wake of the pandemic, as everyone is downsizing their fleets. Allowing that flexibility has been a big difference-maker for us. Frankly, I’m shocked that other organizations don’t implement the offer. It’s worked exceptionally well for us.”
Hunter Woolfolk, co-president of San Antonio-based DOCUmation, lists his top three contract enhancers—PaperCut, DocuWare and GoldFax. In many cases, most have become essential elements in proposals.
“We’re so in sync with PaperCut that it’s really an essential to every deal of a significant size,” he said. “With DocuWare, we recently became a Platinum-level dealer, and we’re really thankful for their team. It’s a really cool product.”
The more product lines a dealer carries, the greater the variety it can offer to clients and prospects. That’s what helps Applied Innovation—which offers Ricoh, Canon and HP products—bolt out of the chute effectively. John Konynenbelt, vice president of sales for the Grand Rapids, Michigan-based dealer, then turns toward the client environment and the end-game needs for clients in relation to what they want from a fleet management standpoint. The control and reporting needed will guide them into a PaperCut or Kofax solution.
“Tools and service deliverables are add-ons that you can build into the contract that are really important for the customer,” he said. “The most important thing is not the acquisition of [an account]. It’s how the solution was designed, how it’s implemented and managed after the fact. There’s no science to adding PaperCut, that’s easy. It’s really about how you’re going to manage the fleet on an ongoing basis.”
Canon’s uniFLOW is the top of the heap for UBEO Business Services of Austin, Texas. President Jim Morrissey points out his dealership relies on outsourced proprietary software for the Ricoh line to make them match up with the Canons in terms of cloud-based applications. As a result, UBEO has “neutralized the difference between the two,” according to Morrissey.
He also points out that cloud momentum has exploded in the past five years. “Five years ago, client interest in the cloud was small,” he said. “Today, it’s a majority of customers. When you bring it up to them, it’s top of mind. We’re driving it as an initiative to differentiate ourselves.”
Blue Technologies of Cleveland has long been a fan of workflow solutions, and one of its go-to titles is Konica Minolta’s Dispatcher Phoenix, with its ability to streamline and automate processes. Lauren Hanna, vice president of sales, also taps InterFAX from Upland Software to help clients remove the burden of maintaining a traditional fax line courtesy of transmitting through an email client. The beauty is users can leverage Dispatcher Phoenix to route faxes to the proper recipient.
“The solution world is where we really add our value,” Hanna said. “We don’t just want to sell clients a machine that does the same functions a minute faster. It’s all about using a machine to drive additional value, improve efficiency and overcome some of the challenges that everyone’s facing today.”
