Office of International Science & Engineering (OISE) Advisory Committee Meeting October 29, 2007
October 2007 Office Technology
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01OT1007 9/29/07 11:17 AM Page 1
Do you crunch the numbers, or do the numbers crunch you?
he BTA ProFinance course will teach you how to setthe strategy, track critical performance measures and
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Instructors John Hanson and John Hey of StrategicBusiness Associates take a holistic approach to theredirection of your business — from sales repcompensation and projecting service revenues toinventory management and an action plan forimplementation — with the short-term goal of achievinga minimum of 14% operating income. You can achievethese results by monitoring 24 key benchmarks andmaking strategic shifts as discussed in the program.
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Upcoming ProFinance course:
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ProFinance is designed for owners and executive-level staff who make the critical business decisions that impact your company’s success. Some OEMs reimburse forProFinance tuition through advertising co-op or professional development funds. Check with your OEM.
ProFinance thinker full pg 8/29/07 10:58 AM Page 1
FMAuditadSept07 8/29/07 11:38 AM Page 1
Estate Planning
Take time to organize these
important documentsBy Robert C. GoldbergBTA General CounselIt is important to have estate-planning
documents. Without a written will, the state where you
reside will determine how your assets are distributed.
4 | w w w . o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | O c t o b e r 2 0 0 7
CONTENTS
2007 Software Buyer’s Guide
A look at some of the
many possibilitiesBy Brent HoskinsOffice Technology MagazineIn the heyday of the analog copier,
software sales were not even a
consideration for most office technology dealers. To-
day, however, software-based solutions that integrate
with MFPs are prevalent. Is your dealership still selling
hardware like it did 15-20 years ago, focusing on
speeds, feeds and price? Or, has your dealership em-
braced the strategy of addressing your clients’ docu-
ment-related pain points through the effective use of
software and hardware?
D E P A R T M E N T S
Volume 14 � No. 4
22 Successful Trade Shows
Use PR to ‘grease the skids’
for promotion & salesby Jim KahrsPPMC Inc.So you have signed up for a booth
at an upcoming trade show. Your
last trade show did not yield much
of a return and you hope this one
will be better. The show promoters tell you that there
will be plenty of great prospects in attendance, but
what can you do to ensure excellent results? And what,
by the way, constitutes excellent results? Having a suc-
cessful trade show starts with understanding what you
are looking to accomplish and having a strong plan.
10
20
F E A T U R E A R T I C L E S
Muratec Hosts ‘Integrate’
National dealer conference
held Sept. 12-14by Brent HoskinsOffice Technology MagazineWith the goal of providing educa-
tional opportunities to its dealers
while sharing its views on the
changing market, Muratec Amer-
ica Inc. hosted “Integrate,” its 2007 National Dealer Con-
ference, Sept. 12-14, at Planet Hollywood Resort &
Casino in Las Vegas. The event, featuring a Technology
Expo, General Session and nine education sessions, drew
approximately 300 people, including representatives of
207 of Muratec’s 325 active authorized dealerships.
Turning Talk Into Action
James Imaging Systems
prepares for the futureBy Dustin PhillipsThere is a bright future in the office
technology industry for independent
dealers who invest in their dealerships and take the
steps to position themselves for future opportunities.
25
C O U R T S & C A P I T O L S
P R I N C I P A L I S S U E S
24
27 Unique Value Propositions
It helps to segment customers
by buying motivationby Tom KramerStrategy Mapping SellingIn the competitive and complex world
of selling office technology, our fundamental mission is
to win, retain and grow.
S E L L I N G S O L U T I O N S
6
8
30
Executive Director’s Page
BTA President’s Message
Advertiser Index
29 The ‘Ride-Along’ Process
Managing sales
representatives in the fieldby Howard MeltzerSales Tiger Inc.“Instead of giving them a fish to eat,
teach them how to fish.” This old adage perfectly
describes the essence of sales management.
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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S PAGE
It has been my privi-
lege the past few
years to attend most
of the national dealer
meetings of the MFP
manufacturers that sell
through the BTA Chan-
nel. Like those of you
who attend these meetings, I see the various
software products that are now featured, most
of them offered by independent software
vendors. Are you selling some of the software
you were introduced to at a national dealer
meeting or some other industry event, such as
an ITEX Show? Or, do you remain focused,
nearly exclusively, on hardware sales?
While an increasing number of dealer-
ships are actively selling software-based
solutions, such as document management,
forms printing or variable data printing,
my suspicion is that many dealers are
holding back. Either they simply dabble in
software sales or they continue to sell as
they did in the analog days, prior to the
arrival of the digital MFP and the subse-
quent onslaught of software within the
channel. Please correct me if I ’m wrong,
but I don’t believe any of the hardware
manufacturers set quotas based on soft-
ware sales. It would make sense then that
d e al ers fe e l c omp el l e d to l e ad w ith
pushing hardware. The thought among
dealers and sales reps may be: “Intro-
ducing software into the equation will only
slow down the hardware sales process.”
I do understand the reality of this
industry. At its foundation, this is a hard-
ware sales business. I’ve seen the assembly
lines in the factories of the manufacturers.
They are mass producing hardware, not
software. However, I am increasingly hearing
how software solutions can have the effect of
driving hardware sales and locking in cus-
tomers, while helping the dealership capture
more clicks and make more money.
With this thought in mind, here are the
steps I would take today if I owned a dealer-
ship and had only “dabbled” in software or
had not sold software at all:
� I would visit the Web sites of dealerships
across the country to see what software they
are selling. I would then call a few of them
to ask about their successes and failures.
� I would review the list of vendors in-
cluded in the 2007 Software Buyer’s Guide in
this issue of Office Technology, visit some of
their Web sites and follow up with calls to
select vendors. My goal would be to investi-
gate products that seem to be a good fit for
my dealership and its customer base.
� I would attend the ITEX Show in Feb-
ruary of next year to further investigate
some of the industry’s software offerings.
� In any conversations with software
vendors, I would ask for details on how they
are going to support me in the sale of their
product. I would also ask for references
from satisfied customers and strive to learn
everything I could about the company itself,
in terms of its size, the credentials of its
management, its software developers, etc.
� I would initially establish a relationship
with only one or two software vendors, since
it is best to become an expert with one or
two software products, than to be seen as a
neophyte with a whole slew of them.
� I would have BTA General Counsel
Bob Goldberg review any agreement the
software vendor I select asked me to sign, to
ensure it is fair and equitable.
What steps are you taking?
— Brent Hoskins
The Steps I’d Take If I’d Only ‘Dabbled’
Executive Director/BTAEditor/Office Technology
Brent [email protected]
(816) 303-4040
Associate EditorElizabeth Marvel
[email protected](816) 303-4060
Contributing WritersRobert C. Goldberg, General Counsel
Business Technology Association
Jim Kahrs, Prosperity Plus Management Consulting Inc.www.prosperityplus.com
Tom Kramer, Strategy Mapping Sellingwww.strategymappingselling.com
www.smsap.com
Howard Meltzer, Sales Tiger Inc.www.salestiger.com
Dustin Phillips
Business Technology Association12411 Wornall Road
Kansas City, MO 64145(816) 941-3100
www.bta.org
Member Services: (800) 505-2821BTA Legal Hotline: (800) 869-6688
Valerie BrisenoMembership Marketing Manager
Mary HopkinsAccounting [email protected]
©2007 by the Business Technology Association. All RightsReserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced by anymeans without the written permission of the publisher. Everyeffort is made to ensure the accuracy of published material.However, the publisher assumes no liability for errors in articlesnor are opinions expressed necessarily those of the publisher.
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®
06OT1007 10/3/07 12:28 PM Page 6
DocuWare_OFFICETECH_BTA_fullpage_Swimming in Circles-Illus10.. 4/26/2007 10:45:36 AMDocuware June 07 5/15/07 4:30 PM Page 1
BTA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Since the Business
Technology Asso-
ciation was estab-
lished as the National
Typewriter Dealers
Association in 1926, it
has been governed by
its dealer members.
Specifically, the association has always
operated under the guidance and direction
of its elected national officer team and
board of directors. Through the years, there
have been many leaders. George S. Walker
was the first president of the association. I
have the privilege of serving as the 73rd
national president. Our next president will
be Ronelle Ingram. (In case you are doing
the math and wondering, “How could BTA
be in its 81st year with service by only 73
presidents?” The answer: Some presidents
served more than one year.)
While all national BTA officers and board
members have shared the common bond of
the office technology industry, they have
shared another key characteristic — all have
been volunteers. Like me, most will tell you
that they volunteered to give back to the
association that had given them so much.
Volunteers have not come forward only at
the national level. In past years, BTA had a
number of active locals, each with elected
officers volunteering their time. Likewise,
many have served as officers on the district
level as well. And, finally, there have been
scores of committee members, task force
members and education program instruc-
tors through the years who volunteered to
help their fellow dealers. There is no official
record of all who have served, but, certainly,
there have been hundreds of dealer members
who have given of their time.
Looking back, all of us in the BTA Chan-
nel owe our gratitude to these volunteer
leaders. Collectively, they have ensured the
long, rich history of BTA. But, more impor-
tantly, they have worked in different ways to
help countless dealers improve and grow
their businesses. Many of us can attribute
the success of our businesses to the guid-
ance, information, support and advocacy
that would not have been possible had it not
been for BTA’s many volunteers.
Looking forward, BTA needs your assis-
tance. Currently, we are looking to identify
additional men and women who are ready
to give back to the association. Are you
among them? Have you put to use some-
thing you learned in a BTA education
program? Have you received free, yet valu-
abl e , l egal adv ice from BTA’s gen eral
counsel, Bob Goldberg? Have you learned
something in this magazine that has helped
to guide you? Have any of your children or
your employees’ children ever received a
BTA scholarship? While my list of ques-
tions could go on, I’ ll ask just one more:
Would you consider giving back to BTA?
If so, let us hear from you. You can con-
tact me at [email protected]. Or, if you like,
you can contact BTA Executive Director
Brent Hoskins. He can be reached at
[email protected] or (816) 303-4040.
I should note that BTA is currently
seeking volunteer leadership in the BTA
East District, among individuals whose
dealerships are located from Ohio, east to
Washington, D.C., and north to Maine. How
much time is required? What are the duties
of district officers? Contact me or Brent and
we can provide the details. We look forward
to hearing from you.
— Shannon Oliver
Would You ConsiderGiving Back to BTA?
®
2007-2008 Board of Directors
PresidentShannon Oliver
25 Wheaton CircleGreensboro, NC 27406
President-ElectRonelle Ingram
Steven Enterprises Inc.17952 Sky Park Circle
Ste. EIrvine, CA 92614
Vice PresidentBill James
WJS Enterprises Inc.3315 Ridgelake Drive
P.O. Box 6620Metairie, LA 70009
BTA EastThomas Chin
Accolade Technologies LLC31 Mamaroneck Ave.
Ste. 508White Plains, NY 10601
BTA Mid-AmericaMike Blake
Corporate Business Systems LLC2018 S. Stoughton Road
Madison, WI [email protected]
BTA SoutheastJerry Jackson
All South Copiers (ASC)1325 Cobb International Blvd.
Ste. AKennesaw, GA [email protected]
BTA WestRock Janecek
Burtronics Business Systems Inc.216 S. Arrowhead Ave.
P.O. Box 1170San Bernardino, CA [email protected]
Ex-Officio/General CounselRobert C. Goldberg
Schoenberg Finkle Newman & Rosenberg Ltd.222 S. Riverside Plaza
Ste. 2100Chicago, IL 60606
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by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine
2007 Software Buyer’s GuideA look at some of the many possibilities
In th e h eyday of th e analog
copier, software sales were not
even a consideration for most
office technology dealers. Today,
however, software-based solutions
that integrate with MFPs are preva-
lent. Is your dealership still selling
hardware like it did 15-20 years ago,
focusing on speeds, feeds and price?
Or, has your dealership embraced
the strategy of addressing your
clients’ document-related pain
points through the effective use of
software and hardware?
Randy Dazo, a director at market
research firm InfoTrends, says there is a compelling reason
for dealers to embrace document solution sales. “Other dis-
ruptive technologies and printer-based products are driving
traditional laser-based MFP prices down, making it more
and more difficult for equipment vendors and dealers to
achieve a profit,” he says. “Therefore, solutions and profes-
sional services have become the Holy Grail of the office
equipment market, as they can be a huge differentiator in a
hardware sale.”
Dazo notes that a software solution can help a customer
solve a problem or facilitate a task, improve a business
process and increase productivity, and create new business
opportunities that can improve a company’s bottom line.
“These attributes make solutions much more difficult to
replace than a non-descript piece of hardware,” he says. “And
this is something that customers are willing to pay for.”
In fact, InfoTrends forecasts that customers will be
willing to pay $2.1 billion in document solutions in the U.S.
market by 2011, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of
27 percent. The growth incorporates all revenue cate-
gories, including software licenses, professional/support
services, software maintenance
and installation services. Software
maintenance will experience the
m o st g row th , at a C A GR of 4 5
percent between now and 2011,
InfoTrends forecasts. Meanwhile,
professional ser vices are fore-
casted to see a 35 percent CAGR
during the same timeframe.
Are you in search of the right
independent software vendor (ISV)
partner or partners for your dealer-
ship? To provide a concise resource
for its readers who are seeking ISV
partners, Office Technology maga-
zine invited a number of software vendors to provide brief
overviews of their products. While most are vendors that
offer software for resale, the ISV overviews, which begin on
page 14, also include companies offering software for use
within the dealership. The list is by no means all-inclusive,
but it does provide a look at some of the many possibilities.
As an introduction to the 2007 Software Buyer’s Guide,
three vendors are profiled in greater detail. Certainly, all of
the software vendors in the guide — not just the three com-
panies profiled — have value propositions that dealers may
want to consider.
DocuWare Corp.For dealers seeking a solution to help clients index, store
and retrieve their electronic documents in a secure manner,
DocuWare Corp. (www.docuware.com) may be the right
company. The company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of
DocuWare AG, Germering, Germany, offers DocuWare 5.1, an
integrated document management solution now sold by
approximately 130 dealers in the United States and 400
dealers worldwide. Currently, the company has approximately
10OT1007 10/1/07 12:49 PM Page 10
Print Audit May 07 4/18/07 2:15 PM Page 1
6,000 installations in more
than 50 countries.
The benefits of the solu-
tions are simple yet far
reaching. They include: one
document pool for all of a
business’ documents; infor-
mation availability around
the clock, even from remote
of f ices; a simple search
capability and fast retrieval;
integration with any work-
flow; and an optimum level
of security. The DocuWare product is scalable and is
designed for companies with between 20 and 500 employees.
“We have a great document management product, along
with add-on modules for things like automatic indexing,
C O LD applications and enhanced w orkf low,” says
DocuWare Corp. President Gregory Schloemer. “But what
really separates us is our go-to-market strategy. We are
totally partner-oriented [DocuWare refers to its dealers as
partners] and we can help our partners be successful selling
solutions in a very short period of time.”
DocuWare’s focus on its partners is ref lected in its
training, support and guidance, says Schloemer. For
example, the company provides written profiles to dealer-
ships that define the role of each person, such as the sales
rep and the solutions specialist, in the DocuWare sales
process. The company also offers its partners online and
classroom training courses. In fact, completion of the
coursework is required to be certified to sell DocuWare.
Schloemer also emphasizes DocuWare’s on-site sales
support. “We have regional managers across the country
who work directly with dealership salespeople,” he explains.
“So, it’s not like we say, ‘Okay, here’s the software, you’ve
been through the training, good luck.’ We work with our
partners day in and day out.”
Those dealers only now considering a document manage-
ment solution should recognize the scope of the opportu-
nity, says Schloemer. “Without exaggeration, less than 10 to
15 percent of the market has been penetrated,” he says. “I’m
not aware of any other industry where you can make that
kind of statement.”
eCopyThere was a day when eCopy’s (www.ecopy.com) Share-
Scan product was only of interest to Canon dealers — given
that the document solution
would only work with Can-
on MFPs. Today, however,
eCopy has partnered with a
growing number of manu-
facturers beyond Canon.
ShareScan can now also be
used with MFPs from Hew-
lett-Packard, Konica Min-
olta, the Ricoh family group
(Lanier, Savin and Ricoh),
Sharp and Toshiba.
Bill Brikiatis, director of
media and analysts relations for eCopy, explains the docu-
ment-related need that eCopy’s ShareScan addresses. “Orga-
nizations can really no longer wait for their documents to be
on paper,” he says. “The Internet has basically changed
everything. You receive an e-mail message in seconds. You
read information on a Web site instantaneously. Likewise,
waiting for a paper document to be couriered, overnighted
or sent through inter-office mail or even by fax is now con-
sidered to be way too slow. That’s the driving need dealers
are facing.”
That driving need led to the development of ShareScan.
eCopy promotes that the software “enables users of a
departmental or enterprise network to share the digital
copier’s ability to turn paper documents into digital files,
which can then be distributed down the hall or around the
world over the corporate network or Internet.” Using
ShareScan at the MFP (copier), the scan options include
sending the document to e-mail, the user’s desktop, a
network fax or to a back-end enterprise application.
Having the MFP serve as the on-ramp to a back-end
application should be particularly appealing to dealers,
says Brikiatis. “Oftentimes, these back-end applications are
in the six-figure range when it comes to cost and have a
huge impact on the business,” he says. “eCopy allows the
dealership to hard-wire its MFP into one of these systems.
This is a way for dealers to differentiate their offerings and
lock themselves into the account by providing tremendous
value for the customer.”
In the case of both Canon and Ricoh, ShareScan can be an
embedded solution. For the other MFPs, a second piece of
hardware is currently required — eCopy’s ScanStation, which
attaches to the MFP and includes an integrated, free-
standing touch screen, keyboard and PC. For Canon and
Ricoh MFPs, the customer can select either embedded or
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“Without exaggeration,less than 10 to 15percent of the markethas been penetrated. I’m not aware of anyother industry where you can make that kind of statement.”
— Gregory SchloemerDocuWare Corp.
12OT1007 10/2/07 9:20 AM Page 1
FIX full pg 10/2/07 9:29 AM Page 1
ScanStation. In addition,
eCopy and members of its
developer program offer a
series of “connectors,” which
enable documents to be
scanned and distributed
into selected document
management systems and
other enterprise applica-
tions. Currently, there are
approximately 170 connec-
tors either available or in the
process of being developed,
including 18 developed and offered by eCopy.
FMAuditIn recent years, FMAudit (www.fmaudit.com) has become
relatively well-known within the dealer community, given its
presence as an exhibitor at various trade shows and dealer
meetings, public relations efforts, etc. And, like eCopy, it has
aligned itself with a growing number of MFP and printer
vendors as partners and customers, including Canon, Dell, HP,
Imagistics, Konica Minolta, Kyocera, Océ, Pitney Bowes, Ricoh
group (Lanier, Savin and Ricoh), Sharp, Toshiba and Xerox.
“We automate the collec-
tion of print asset data ,”
says Rich Piper, president of
FMAudit, describing the
focus of the company. “And,
we package our core tech-
nology providing dealers
c h o i c e s o n h o w b e st t o
engage their customers.”
One of the choices is the
initial product launched by
FMAudit, its Viewer USB
Rapid Print Assessment key.
The product is intended as a highly portable means of gath-
ering customer device information. By inserting the key into
a customer network PC, the dealer can gather information
on networked and locally connected printers and MFPs. The
data is used in many ways — to produce reports, export in
.xls and .csv formats, import into third-party applications
and/or for contract billing.
Since the launch of its assessment key, FMAudit has intro-
duced two additional products — its workstation-based OnSite
product and its Internet-based WebAudit. Specifically, the prod-
ucts provide the dealership the ability to easily and automatically
American Printware Inc. www.apwi.com
APWI has been servicing the network and high-volume
print market for more than a decade, offering a broad range
of software products and custom engineered solutions that
manage a broad array of printing needs. Its recent products
effectively manage print networks, lowering end-user cost,
increasing employee productivity and increasing dealer rev-
enues. It provides free technical support to its authorized
dealer partners.
Britannia Inc. www.britanniainc.com
Britannia offers complete business software to help start-
ups and small dealers manage operations and improve prof-
itability. The company’s hosted software provides service
management, order entry, inventory, a complete accounting
module and a fully integrated e-commerce package. BritNet
can also manage sales of supplies and furniture. Britannia’s
goal is to help small dealers leverage technology to grow
their businesses.
Captaris Inc. www.captaris.com
Captaris provides software products that automate busi-
ness processes, manage documents electronically and
provide efficient information delivery. Its products (Captaris
RightFax, Captaris Workflow, Captaris Alchemy and Castelle
FaxPress) are distributed via a global network of technology
partners and are installed in all Fortune 100 companies and
many Global 2000 companies.
ClearStory www.clearstorysystems.com
ClearStory Systems provides high-performance content
management solutions for digital media communications. Its
software manages the enterprise digital media supply chain —
from creation and collaboration to lifecycle management and
14 | w w w . o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | O c t o b e r 2 0 0 7
“eCopy allows the dealership to hard-wire its MFP into these one ofthese systems. This is a wayfor dealers to differentiatetheir offerings and lockthemselves into the accountby providing tremendous value ...”
— Bill BrikiatiseCopy
2007 SoftwareBuyer’s Guide
14OT1007 10/2/07 9:31 AM Page 1
collect meter readings from
customer MFPs and printers,
as well as monitor toner levels
and receive and generate
responses to service alerts.
Piper notes that having
various options for gathering
data from MFPs and printers
allows the dealership to over-
come any customer objec-
tions that may exist. He
role-plays the customer
string of responses to the
technology offered by FMAudit that would lead, for example,
to the selection of the WebAudit product: “‘You are not plug-
ging anything into my USB port and you are not loading any-
thing onto my network or workstation. But, yes, we use the
Internet all the time, so that’s no problem. Let’s use WebAudit.’”
Whichever the customer’s preference, Piper says the various
capabilities that FMAudit’s products offer will greatly improve
the efficiency and accuracy of traditional processes. Of partic-
ular note is the bidirectional synchronization to ERPs, such as
OMD’s Vision and Digital Gateway’s e-automate. Piper illus-
trates the capability. “Let’s use OnSite as the collection vehicle
example,” he says. “Without
human intervention, OnSite
captures the data and auto-
matically submits it into the
FMAudit Central repository,
typically hosted at the dealer
location. Central is config-
ured to intelligently coordi-
nate with their ERP. As a
result, the right meter is
mapped with the right serial
number at the right time.
Immediately, an invoice is
generated and sent to the customer, even on the same day.”
Piper summarizes: “Accurate, timely and automated billing sub-
stantially impacts the dealer’s profitability through reducing
credit and re-bills, DSO and costly reconciliation practices.”
As is the case with many software solutions available to
the BTA channel, Piper says the market served by FMAudit
lies largely untapped. “Market research indicates less than
10 percent of the companies in the United States that could
use this type of assessment technology actually use it; even
less when it comes to automated metering,” he says. “We are
still just scratching the surface of this opportunity.” �
w w w . o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | O c t o b e r 2 0 0 7 | 15
“Market research indicatesless than 10 percent of thecompanies in the UnitedStates that could use thistype of assessment technology actually use it ... We are still just scratching the surface of this opportunity.”
— Rich PiperFMAudit
delivery — to give companies a competitive advantage, mar-
keting agility, cost avoidance and maximum efficiency.
ColumbiaSoft www.documentlocator.com
ColumbiaSoft is a leading provider of enterprise docu-
ment management solutions deeply integrated with
Microsoft Windows and Office applications. Users can
capture, manage and share electronic and paper docu-
ments, e-mail and faxes to improve efficiency and collabora-
tion, and reduce risk by meeting higher standards of
compliance and business continuity.
Compass Sales Solutions www.compasscontact.net
Compass Sales Solutions is a sales-force automation and
fleet management software developer. Its clients are dealerships
looking to launch fleet management programs. The company’s
solutions include sales-automation software and training.
DDMS www.ddms.com
DDMS provides complete business software for managing
equipm ent sales and ser vice, automating machin e
sales/leasing, contract billing and renewals, service depart-
ment management, purchasing, accounting and more.
Dealers can also manage additional lines of business, such
as office products or contract furniture, with the same com-
prehensive, integrated system.
Digital Gateway www.digitalgateway.com
Digital Gateway provides total business management
software solutions for imaging and business equipment
dealers. Its f lagship product, e-automate, helps dealers
better manage common business processes like accounting,
sales, service, inventory and more. While robust and sophis-
ticated, the system has an eye toward being intuitively easy
to learn, understand and use.
docSTAR www.docstar.com
Powered by Microsoft SharePoint, docSTAR-Eclipse is a
comprehensive Internet solution that captures, manages
and preserves documents. Designed with enterprise
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customers in mind, docSTAR-Eclipse is a great fit for small
offices. It is an ASP document management offering that is
easy to learn and faster to sell.
DocuLex www.doculex-usa.com
DocuLex provides instant document access. With the
software creator’s PC-based Archive Studio, dealers can
provide clientele both paper and electronic document
capture capability with image processing, content indexing
and custom foldering functions fully automated for ease of
use via Goby Capture (suitable for use with any document
scanning device). DocuLex’s WebSearch provides access to
server-stored documents from any Internet-accessible loca-
tion with the operational simplicity of a search engine.
ECI2 www.eci2.com
ECI2 is one of the largest providers of technology solutions
for equipment dealers and service companies. ECI2 software
is used to manage dealership operations and improve prof-
itability. Through its Britannia, DDMS, La Crosse and OMD
subsidiaries, ECI2 offers fully integrated management soft-
ware and service automation solutions for dealerships of
every size and business model.
EFI www.efi.com
EFI, a world leader in customer-focused digital printing
innovation, offers integrated solutions that deliver in-
creased performance, cost savings and productivity —
including Fiery servers; MicroPress and Fiery Central for
production printing; proofing, Colorproof XF and Fiery XF;
Web-to-print Digital StoreFront; corporate, DocSend/Send-
Me and embedded Fiery servers; and PrintSmith for print
management.
Equitrac www.equitrac.com
Equitrac Office 4 is a solution for print and copy manage-
ment that enables effective networked control of an office’s
entire printer and copier fleet. Providing real-time device
monitoring, black-and-white and color print quota manage-
ment and automated reporting for accurate and detailed
analysis of device usage, Equitrac Office is compatible with
every major office equipment manufacturer.
FabSoft www.fabsoft.com
Reform Enterprise by FabSoft streamlines business work-
flow by automating document management, enhancement
and distribution. It can capture forms from any operating
system, application or device, enhance them and automati-
cally route them to printers, fax, e-mail and archive systems
all around the user’s office and/or the world.
Falcon Technology Solutions www.efalcontech.com
Falcon Technology offers the Soaring suite of SQL server-
based sales and business management software designed
specifically for the office equipment industry. With more
than 6,000 users, Soaring Sales is a leading sales force
automation program in the copier industry. Soaring Busi-
ness Management is a new, innovative program encom-
passing accounting, dispatch and field service, inventory
management, contract management and online tools.
Hyland Software Inc. www.onbase.com
Hyland Software Inc. is the developer of the OnBase
enterprise content management (ECM) software suite.
OnBase helps organizations create greater value from the
content driving their business processes. With OnBase,
organizations can streamline operations and improve busi-
ness outcomes while lowering costs and minimizing risk.
InfoDynamics www.infod.com
Intact by InfoDynamics is a feature-rich, connected docu-
ment solution software. Leveraging your MFP, Intact
includes cover page/barcode scanning, role-based security,
document auditing, folder monitoring and a full-text/key-
word search. Intact also stores both scanned and electronic
documents.
Kofax www.kofax.com
Kofax is a global leader of intelligent capture and
exchange solutions. Its leading-edge capture and exchange
technologies and solutions enable business process automa-
tion by managing the transformation and exchange of busi-
ness-critical information (residing in various formats such
as paper, fax, electronic documents, e-mail, SMS) among
people, applications and devices. Kofax products are widely
used in finance, government, insurance, healthcare and a
broad range of companies and agencies that must capture
critical business information from paper and electronic doc-
uments and forms.
Laserfiche www.laserfiche.com
Founded in 1987, Laserfiche develops scalable electronic
digital document management solutions that enable a wide
range of organizations, including healthcare, finance and
16OT1007 10/2/07 9:51 AM Page 1
government, to operate more efficiently. Supported by a
network of more than 1,000 certified VARs, Laserfiche solu-
tions can be found in more than 23,000 offices worldwide.
Laserfiche products are known for being both broadly appli-
cable and easy to acquire, easy to use, easy to implement
and easy to integrate with other applications. As the world
continues to go digital, Laserfiche will strategically seek to
comply with the market mandates for convergency, which is
key to implementing intelligent solutions.
LibertyIMS www.libertyims.com
LibertyIMS developed LibertyNET Office software specif-
ically for multifunction peripheral document management
implementations by independent office technology dealers.
The office product can seamlessly scale up to larger Liber-
tyNET Enterprise systems. Hosted (or ASP) LibertyNET is
also available.
LMS www.lacrossesoftware.com
La Crosse Management Systems (LMS) is a provider of
automation software for copier dealerships. La Crosse
Nextgen is the flagship product, which uses the latest in
software technology from Computer Associates and
Microsoft. SQL-based Nextgen allows dealers to easily incor-
porate all of today’s desktop technologies to streamline their
business processes.
Meadows Publishing Solutions www.meadowsps.com
The DesignMerge Professional Bundle is a suite software
module for Adobe InDesign and QuarkXPress that provides
sophisticated variable data printing and data publishing
features. The software works within the application for ease
of use, and is compatible with most popular VDP output
formats. Used by professionals worldwide, it simplifies mar-
keting personalization for both the novice and expert.
Miracle Service www.miracleservice.com
Miracle Service software interfaces with accounting pack-
ages such as QuickBooks and Peachtree. Its strength in
meter billing and service dispatch provides a value-priced
system that offers full business reporting and intelligence.
The Web and wireless portals offer advanced functions and
features for customers and staff.
MWA Intelligence Inc. www.mwaintel.com
MWA Intelligence Inc. delivers enterprise-class and
leading-edge M2M (machine-to-machine) solutions and
services that center around managing companies’ em-
ployees, systems and physical assets. MWA Intelligence
offers dealers and end-users greater operational efficien-
cies, reduced expenses, additional revenue capture and
improved customer satisfaction. Solutions include: Intelli-
gent Service Management, Intelligent Workforce and Intelli-
gent Device Management.
NewspaperDirect www.newspaperdirect.com
NewspaperDirect is a world leader in multi-channel
newspaper and magazine content distribution and moneti-
zation. With more than 500 publications and 1,400 print sta-
tions in 80 countries, NewspaperDirect’s software and
extensive distribution network help publishers increase
audited circulation, access new revenue streams and better
serve their in- and out-of-market readers.
Notable Solutions Inc. www.nsius.com
Notable Solutions Inc. (NSi) is a leading provider of
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distributed content capture workf low and business
automation solutions. NSi’s flagship product, AutoStore,
enables users to automate their business processes by cap-
turing paper and electronic documents from a variety of
sources, processing them into usable information and
storing that information into business applications and
databases for fast, easy retrieval and distribution. AutoStore
offers the flexibility to capture and process documents,
along with security features that ensure information accu-
racy and accountability while increasing staff productivity.
NSi’s workflow products are adopted by such companies as
Canon, HP, Kodak, Kyocera, Ricoh, Sharp, Xerox and others,
and used by numerous industries. NSi’s products enable
organizations to reduce costs, increase security, address
compliance and add value to their businesses.
nQueue www.nqueue.com
nQueue provides software-based solutions to help profes-
sional services firms manage and account for their digital
transactions. nQueue offers a complete line of expense
recovery and production workflow systems designed to
track, manage, report and charge back costs associated with
office equipment and other administrative services.
Objectif Lune www.objectiflune.com
Objectif Lune develops and commercializes solutions for
transactional and promotional variable-content document-
printing with the added benefit of advanced automated
workflow for output to local and remote printers, e-mail, fax
and archive. The company’s solutions portfolio includes
PlanetPress Suite, PrintShop Mail and PrintShop Web.
OMD Corp. www.omdcorp.com
OMD Vision software integrates more than 1,500 business
processes to help manage dealership growth and meet profit
objectives. OMD Corp.’s wide range of customers includes
companies that provide sales and service of office equipment
and supplies, mailing equipment and point of sales systems.
Open Text www.opentext.com
Open Text is one of the world’s largest independent
providers of enterprise content management software. The
company’s solutions manage information for all types of
business, compliance and industry requirements in the
world’s largest companies, government agencies and profes-
sional service firms. Open Text supports approximately
46,000 customers in 114 countries and 12 languages.
Print Audit www.printaudit.com
Print Audit develops print tracking software and hard-
ware solutions that enable organizations to analyze, reduce
and recover their printing and photocopying costs. Print
Audit is a print management company that designs all of its
products to help office equipment dealers sell more hard-
ware and increase their post-sales revenue.
PrintFleet Inc. www.printfleet.com
PrintFleet Inc. is one of the world’s leading developers of
print management software solutions, training and support
programs for dealers in the BTA and imaging channels.
Managing more than two billion pages monthly, across
200,000 imaging devices, PrintFleet offers data collection,
data integrity and back-end support within its family of
print management software.
PrintMIB www.printmib.com
PrintMIB offers automated meter and supply data collec-
tion software. At set intervals (monthly, bi-weekly, weekly
daily or hourly), QuickMIB scans all print devices on an end-
user’s network and automatically sends a report to as many
as four designated e-mail addresses or stream to an SQL
database. QuickMIB’s model-specific scanning engine dis-
covers: manufacturer, model, serial number, IP address, type
of print device, page counts, supply 1, 2, 3 and 4 data,
console messages and alerts, missing print devices, newly
found print devices and MAC addresses.
Prism Software www.prism-software.com
Prism Software offers four key applications that help
printer dealers sell solutions, professional services and
printer hardware and clicks: DocSystem, a rules-based dis-
tributed print and departmental workflow application;
DocRecord, a scalable document management system
designed for both local and Web document retrieval;
DocForm, a variable data solution for promotional and
transactional printing and digital document creation; and
DocTransform, designed to fix, modify and adapt trouble-
some legacy and enterprise print and data streams so that
they will work with newer MFPs and printers.
Questys Solutions www.questyssolutions.com
With Questys Solutions’ document management soft-
ware, companies from all industries can easily integrate
paper documents, electronic files, e-mails and business
records into a secure and searchable database. Designed to
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improve efficiencies across all operational areas, the
Questys Solutions software platform helps businesses cut
costs and exceed profit and performance objectives.
Ribstone Systems www.ribstoneusa.com
Ribstone Systems has developed the next generation of
document imaging and processing software. The Ribstone
suite of products allows its clients to perform the full range
of document imaging and processing tasks quickly and
accurately. Ribstone Systems software fits seamlessly with
the existing photocopy production workflow. Litigation
scanning, image processing and printing can now be per-
formed by one operator, from one workstation, in a few
simple steps.
Rochester Software Associates www.rocsoft.com
Since 1986, Rochester Software Associates has enhanced
the print workf low of thousands of enterprises. RSA
delivers on the promise of convergence and an automated
Print Center through electronic and hardcopy job submis-
sion (WebCRD, QDirect.SCAN), legacy datastream trans-
form (M.I.S. Print, IPDSPrint, RDOPrint), enterprise output
management (QDirect), plus legal solutions (BatesPrint,
CDPrint).
Solimar Systems Inc. www.solimarsystems.com
Solimar Systems Inc. is a developer of enterprise output
management, data stream transformation and electronic
document delivery technologies. The company’s solutions
streamline the document delivery process and reduce the
costs and inefficiencies commonly associated with tradi-
tional distribution methods.
StructuredWeb www.structuredweb.com
StructuredWeb’s mission is “To empower small- and
mid-sized businesses with the best in affordable and easy-
to-use eBusiness services that integrate their sales and
marketing processes.” StructuredWeb’s managed solution
integrates a ready-made suite of Web-based applications
that includes CRM/SFA database, Web site management,
vendor catalogs, e-mail marketing, portals, interactive
forms and online customer service functionality so that
dealerships may use the power of the Internet as a valuable
business tool.
Thomson Scientific www.thomson.com
Thomson Scientific develops solutions that advance
research, writing and publishing. Millions of users depend
on EndNote, ProCite and Reference Manager on the desktop
and EndNote Web on the Internet to collect and organize
their references and create bibliographies instantly. RefViz
helps users search for and analyze references visually.
ZyLAB www.zylab.com
ZyLAB helps users secure their data, enhance efficiency
and operate according to compliance initiatives. ZyLAB’s
ZyIMAGE Information Access Platform offers a comprehen-
sive document archiving, searching, retrieving, organizing
and sharing solution for professionals in the legal, security,
corporate governance, local, state and federal government,
and financial fields. �
Brent Hoskins, executive director of the
Business Techology Association, is editor of
Office Technology magazine.
He can be reached at [email protected].
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by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine
Muratec Hosts ‘Integrate’National dealer conference held Sept. 12-14
With the goal of providing educational opportuni-
ties to its dealers while sharing its views on the
changing market, Muratec America Inc. hosted
“Integrate,” its 2007 National Dealer Conference, Sept. 12-14,
at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. The
event drew approximately 300 people, including representa-
tives of 207 of Muratec’s 325 active authorized dealers.
On the morning following the conference’s Welcome
Reception & Technology Expo, Jim D’Emidio, vice president
of sales and marketing, welcomed attendees during the
opening General Session by explaining the theme of the
meeting — Integrate. “What does integrate mean?” he
asked. “The true definition of integrate means to coordinate,
to form, to blend or unite.”
It is a definition that also serves to describe Muratec, he
said, given the company’s ability to “unite” with its dealers.
D’Emidio shared a PowerPoint slide that provided a “defini-
tion” of “Mur� a:� tec.” The “definition” included the dictionary
definition of “integrate,” but also reflected the long-time
strategy and image of the company. Among the entries: “To
not compete with the dealers for their customers (no direct
sales or purchase of dealers)” and “To stay in one channel of
distribution (independent office equipment).”
While he began by emphasizing Muratec’s commitment to
the dealer channel, D’Emidio spent most of his presentation
commenting on the changing nature of the market Muratec
serves. In particular, he noted the strides of Hewlett-Packard.
He referenced numbers reported by Lyra, the market
research firm. “They say that in 2004, HP had less than a 1
percent market share in Segment 4,” he explained. “In one
year, in a mature black-and-white market, they increased
that to 11.5 percent. Today, they say HP is close to a 20
percent market share in Segment 4.”
HP’s advancements in a f lat market have occurred
because HP has “made the pie bigger,” said D’Emidio. “They
are not going out and replacing MFP copiers. They are
replacing their printers and bringing in MFPs. Why should
we be concerned? Well, Lyra expects that by 2010, HP will
have an 8 percent market share in Segment 2, an 18
percent market share in Segment 3 and a 14 percent
market share in Segment 4. Almost all of the street prices
on these products will be under $4,000 — what we call A4
letter/legal products.
“What is HP’s strategy?” D’Emidio continued. “Have they
finally figured out how to sell copiers? Well , they are
replacing printers with a new class of MFPs. You may not
have lost a placement yet, but you might in the future.”
As a result of HP’s strides in the A4 product category,
competitors have followed suit, said D’Emidio, citing new
products from Lexmark and Xerox. “Is this the competition
Above: Muratec America Inc.
Vice President of Sales and
Marketing Jim D’Emidio
(standing, far right) speaks
during one of the conference’s
nine education sessions. Right:
D’Emidio addresses attendees
during the conference’s
opening General Session.
20OT1007 10/2/07 11:42 AM Page 10
you are going to see in the future?” he
asked. “You have to develop your own
A4 MFP strategy. You could do it like
you did with printers, just walk away ...
Or, you could convince them to stay
with an A3 black-and-white MFP.”
To help dealers develop their A4
strategy, D’Emidio announced Muratec’s
launch of a new 45-page-per-minute
(ppm) MFP, to be called the MF-4550
Professional Edition, available to Muratec dealers through a
partnership with the product’s manufacturer, Samsung. “We
want you to go out and sell this to your customers as a CPC
model,” he said. “This is a strategic product ... It will allow
you to compete with HP, Xerox and Lexmark with your own
protected 45-ppm machine.”
The addition of the MFX-4550 to the manufacturer’s existing
Segment 1 and 2 MFP products provides Muratec dealers “with
the strongest A4 product line on the market,” said D’Emidio,
noting, however, that dealers will need to
sell beyond the box. “You are not going to
beat HP just on printing. But you can beat
them when you introduce scanning,
because scanning provides the need to
support something, whether it’s docu-
ment management, document workflow
or even a print management scenario.”
As noted, the conference also fea-
tured a Technology Expo, highlighting
the company’s product line and the products and services of
other exhibiting partner companies. In addition, there were
nine education sessions, ranging from “Xerox Acquires
Global — The Consequences and Opportunities for the
Independent Dealer” to “Remote Data Collection — Adding
Value While Keeping an Eye on Your Competition.” �
Brent Hoskins, executive director of the
Business Technology Association, is editor of Office
Technology magazine. He can be reached at [email protected].
“You are not going tobeat HP just on printing.But you can beat themwhen you introducescanning ... scanningprovides the need tosupport something ...”
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by: Jim Kahrs, Prosperity Plus Management Consulting Inc.
Successful Trade ShowsUse PR to ‘grease the skids’ for promotion & sales
So you have signed up for a booth at
an upcoming trade show. Your last
trade show did not yield much of a
return and you hope this one will be
better. The show promoters tell you that
there will be plenty of great prospects in
attendance, but what can you do to
ensure excellent results? And what, by
the way, constitutes excellent results?
Having a successful trade show starts
with understanding w hat you are
looking to accomplish and having a
strong plan. By definition, a trade show
is a public relations (PR) event — not a
sales or promotional event — and must
be run under the principles of PR. So let
us look at what PR is. PR is defined
nicely in the Hubbard Management
System, which states that it is done “to
make the company, its actions or prod-
ucts known, accepted and understood.”
One way to determine if you are accom-
plishing this is to ask yourself what a prospect who just left
your booth is thinking. Does he (or she) really know what
your company does and why you are better than your com-
petition? Or did he walk away thinking he has just met a
sales rep that only wants to sell him whatever he can?
Focusing solely on selling the prospect something
without doing the prerequisite PR steps causes the latter. If
done properly, PR greases the skids for promotion and sales.
When you have reached a prospect with effective PR during
a trade show, he is much easier to promote and sell to when
he is ready, whether that is next week or next year. Trying to
turn every trade show attendee into a prospect right on the
show floor leads to most of them being totally turned off to
your company. So, how do you handle this?
There are some specific strategies that can be utilized to
achieve the PR goal of trade shows. It starts with planning
for your booth. Unfortunately, most trade show booths that I
have seen feature random equipment and some manufac-
turer brochures. Those that have a professional trade show
booth typically have company logos and pictures of more
machines. Though these help tell part of your story, they do
not cover the basics of PR.
An effective booth should help you tell the story of who
you are as a company and what you do well . I suggest
having a display with pictures of your office and staff along
with captions explaining what each one is. This will allow
you to give a virtual tour of your facility and company capa-
bilities. Because they typically only meet one sales rep and a
22OT1007 10/2/07 11:50 AM Page 10
technician or two, many customers and
prospects often have trouble visualizing
and understanding the full scope of a
dealership. They are often amazed
when they see how many people you
have on your staff. It is very common to
hear customers say something like,
“Wow, I didn’t realize you guys were so
big.” The pictures should also show
things like your equipment and parts
warehouse, shop area, administration areas and lots of
smiling employees.
In addition to the pictures, I suggest having customer ref-
erence letters on display as they demonstrate what you do
and how successful you are. When you are giving a prospect
a tour of your booth, you can show him references from
people and companies that he knows. If you have won any
awards, you want to make sure these are displayed or repre-
sented and explained as well.
If you are going to have equipment on display, make sure
you have the ability to demonstrate the equipment in
action. Be prepared to run jobs the attendees will relate to
and understand. Many trade shows have industry-specific
audiences making this much easier to accomplish .
Remember, pointing at a piece of motionless hardware does
not make your company, its action or products known and
understood — it actually causes more confusion as the
prospect tries to understand what this thing is and exactly
what it does. It would be better to not bring any equipment
if you cannot show it in action.
One other important aspect of your trade show booth is
its connection to your ongoing marketing and promotional
campaigns. We have many clients who do regular postcard
mailings to promote their dealerships. One way to increase
your long-term exposure and future sales results is to
display your ongoing promotional materials in the booth.
We have accomplished this by using a postcard image to
create a banner for display in the booth. A prospect who
tours your booth and sees this ad will be reminded of your
company every time he receives a mail piece from you. This
can also work to bring people into the booth if the promo-
tion strikes the right nerve, as people will come in for the
answers you promise in your promotion.
Now that you have created the perfect trade show display,
keep in mind that none of this matters at all if you do not get
people to the booth and through your presentation. The
only way to make anything known and understood is to
start communicating with people. The
biggest mistake I see dealers make at
trade shows is being passive on the
trade show f loor. Often, dealer per-
sonnel stand idly by waiting for people
to come into the booth. You need to get
your employees out of the booth and
meeting passers-by in the aisle with an
upbeat greeting and an invitation into
the booth. Another key principle out-
lined in the Hubbard Management System states that
people will respond to commands. Do not ask if they want
to see your display; simply direct them. It goes like this: “Hi!
How are you today? Step over here and let me show you
what we do.” You then lead them into the booth and begin
your presentation. If you do this with a very positive and
strong intention, people will simply follow along. When they
leave the booth they should know who you are as a com-
pany, what you do and how well you do it.
Of course, the reason we do PR is because it is a required
step on the way to sales. So, if you are going to participate in
a trade show, you need to plan for future sales. This starts
with making sure you have the ability to collect as many
names as possible. If the trade show provides ID scanners,
make sure to scan every badge you can. If they do not offer
an automated method for capturing names, you need to
have a back-up plan. One very successful method for col-
lecting names is to have a business card raffle. Raffle off an
item that the attendees will be interested in and require a
business card be turned in to qualify. This list of names will
then be added to your database for future marketing and
sales efforts.
If you follow these simple steps, you will have a successful
show. You will get some immediate prospects and will have
begun the process of securing future business with others.
You will have accomplished the goal of making your
company, its action and products known and understood.
Dropping any of the above steps often leads to frustration
and poor future results. So put these PR tools to work for
you and start to really enjoy trade shows. �Jim Kahrs is the founder and president of Prosperity Plus
Management Consulting Inc. PPMC
works with office technology companies
in building revenue and profitability.
Kahrs can be reached at
[email protected] or (631) 382-7762.
Visit www.prosperityplus.com.
If you are going to haveequipment on display,make sure you have theability to demonstrate theequipment in action. Beprepared to run jobs theattendees will relate to ...
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The importance of having
an agreement setting
forth the terms of your
business relationship with your
co-owners has been established.
It is equally important to have
estate-planning documents.
Without a written will, the state
where you reside will determine
how your assets are distributed
and that distribution may not
follow your wishes. Add in the
tax implications for not planning
your estate and you are well on
the road to justifying time to
plan your affairs.
The first factor to determine in estate planning is the size of
your estate. Currently, federal estate tax laws exempt
$2,000,000 in assets from your estate without taxation. This
exemption is scheduled to increase to $3,500,000 in 2009.
There is an unlimited exemption amount for one year — 2010,
but then the exemption is set to be reduced to $1,000,000 in
2011. But there has been a congressional proposal to keep the
exemption at $3,500,000.
A well-structured estate plan requires certain essential elements:
� Revocable Living Trust — A revocable living trust is now a
standard part of most estate plans. For a married couple with
combined assets of less than the estate tax exemption amount,
with most of their assets held in joint tenancy or with a
payable-on-death provision (such as insurance or retirement
plan benefits), a revocable living trust is still appropriate so
that the surviving spouse has a trust in place in the event of
incapacity and to avoid probate proceedings on his (or her)
death. This also applies to a single person.
For a married couple with combined assets that exceed the
estate tax exemption amount, a living trust is generally struc-
tured so that upon the death of one spouse, assets equal to the
exemption amount will be used to fund a trust (a “credit
shelter trust”) that shelters the exempt amount from estate
tax upon the death of the second spouse. This allows each
spouse to protect the amount exempt from estate tax.
Presently, a married couple can
shelter a total of $4,000,000
($2,000,000 each) from estate
tax, but with a possible
$1,000,000 exemption in 2011,
only $2,000,000 w ould b e
exempt from estate tax.
� Pour-Over Will — Every
estate plan also requires a will
that covers any assets that are
held individually. This type of
will is called a “pour-over” will,
as it provides that any assets
held in a person’s individual
name at death are to be distrib-
uted to the trustee of the living trust, to be administered and
distributed as provided in the trust document. For persons with
minor children, the will is also used to designate who should be
the court-appointed guardian for children under the age of 18.
� Power of Attorney for Financial Matters — The third basic
element of any estate plan is a durable power of attorney for
financial matters. This is used to appoint an agent to handle
financial matters for the principal. This would include filing
income tax returns or dealing with Medicare, social security or
other retirement benefits. This power of attorney eliminates the
need for a court-supervised guardianship proceeding if a person
becomes unable to make his own decisions. The agent can also
be granted the power to make gifts for tax planning purposes.
� Health Care Power of Attorney — The fourth basic prong of
any estate plan is a durable health care power of attorney. This
document is used to designate an agent to make health care
decisions if a person becomes unable to make his own deci-
sions and allows a person to provide advance guidance on the
level of medical treatment that he desires.
We are all very busy and have little time to devote to mat-
ters such as estate planning. However, for the
sake of your family, take the time to organize
your estate. �Robert C. Goldberg is general counsel for the
Business Technology Association. He can be
reached at [email protected].
by: Robert C. Goldberg, General Counsel for the Business Technology Association
COURTS & CAPITOLS
Estate PlanningTake time to organize these important documents
24 | w w w . o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | O c t o b e r 2 0 0 7
24OT1007 10/3/07 12:22 PM Page 26
There is a very bright fu-
ture in the office tech-
nology industry for in-
dependent dealers who invest in
their dealerships and take the
st eps n ecessar y to posit ion
themselves for future opportuni-
ties. This is common knowledge
in the dealer community, but
very few have “pulled the trig-
ger” on any change issues.
Sure, they talk about chang-
ing the name, developing and
maintaining a consistent brand,
updating the logo, moving into a
more client-friendly environ-
ment and hiring an effective
sales manager, but th ey get
caught up in the day-to-day
closing of deals or personnel issues and never get around to it.
They talk about having facilitated annual management
retreats, joining a local businessman’s group to have a modi-
fied Board of Directors or joining an industry group to
exchange ideas with peers, but they never put any of these at
the top of the list, so they never get around to it.
There is one dealer who did get around to all those items
and turned the talk into action: Tom Tegeder of James Imaging
Systems, headquartered in Brookfield, Wis., a suburb of Mil-
waukee. But he did not try to tackle everything at once.
Tegeder spent the good part of two years methodically putting
the pieces together and executing initiatives that others have
only verbalized.
“Most entrepreneurs don’t have the patience to allow for
gradual change,” says Tegeder. “They want instant gratifica-
tion. One business lesson I learned a long time ago was ‘Don’t
try to eat the whole elephant at once.’”
The first item on Tegeder’s future checklist was a new
facility. He ended up finding space that offered a better loca-
tion and gave James Imaging Systems instant credibility.
“When clients and prospects come to our facility, one of the
first comments is ‘Your competition made you sound a lot
smaller,’” says Tegeder. “We’re finding that our in-house demo
activity has increased dramatically but the biggest benefit of
all is our employees really enjoy coming to work.”
Changing the name from James Office Equipment was
Tegeder’s next activity and it was not just to alter the percep-
tion of the dealership in the market. Tegeder felt his employees
needed better direction from the name they represented.
Turning Talk Into ActionJames Imaging Systems prepares for the future
by: Dustin Phillips
PRINCIPAL ISSUES
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25OT1007 10/2/07 11:57 AM Page 26
“I didn’t want my employees thinking we
were just an office equipment reseller,” says
Tegeder. “We offer so much more and our
capabilities as they relate to software and
network support are expanding and our
clients are benefiting by getting more func-
tionality out of the products they acquire
from James.”
Knowing your own limitations is another
concept entrepreneurs struggle with.
Tegeder looked around for support and found plenty. As a 10-year
member of the worldwide CEO organization Vistage ( formerly
The Executive Committee [TEC]), he understands the value of
having others provide their input into his business decisions and
bringing in experts to provide guidance in their specialties.
Tegeder retained John Hey and John Hanson to facilitate his
annual planning retreat, hired Orange Label Art + Advertising
( formerly Hunter Barth Advertising) to handle the branding
and marketing elements, joined the Select Dealer Group (SDG)
and attended the BTA-sponsored ProFinance course.
“The ProFinance course was huge because it provided a
model to follow and forced me to focus on the company/client
relationship,” says Tegeder. “I tell my employees that I don’t
pay them. Their paychecks are paid by our clients.”
Tegeder is also complimentary of SDG and the opportunity it
provides to share views and provide assistance to one another.
“It’s great because you have peers that relate to your
industry but may have a unique perspective on something,”
says Tegeder. “The fact we can e-mail each other about certain
issues makes business easier from an emotional and psycho-
logical perspective. And, of course, the opportunity to have
benchmarks for our dealership lets us know where we’re per-
forming well and what’s lacking. It also reinforces the fact that
even though hardware is involved, we’re really measured by
our people, their performance and how we service each and
every client.”
Understanding that James Imaging Systems exists to serve
clients was a message Tegeder wanted to communicate and
what he wanted his brand to represent. For this task, he
enlisted the services of Orange Label Art + Advertising to tap
into their 30 years of helping office technology dealers. Since
then, James Imaging Systems has a new logo, new signage on
delivery trucks, a radio campaign, a new Web site in develop-
ment and is about to kick off new sales collateral.
“I wanted a firm that could not only execute the work, but
also understood my industry,” says Tegeder. “We’ve accom-
plished a lot together and we’re very excited about our new
brochures that tell the current James Imaging Systems story.
Plus, our trucks are now moving bill-
boards. I’ve never bought into the philos-
ophy about competitors knowing your
accounts. The advertising value far out-
weighs any negatives.”
The Web site is the current item on
Tegeder’s plate. Being one of the final
pieces of the puzzle does not reflect how
important this initiative is for the future of
James Imaging Systems.
“Our Web site will bring everything together and be an integral
part of our marketing and client service experience,” says Tegeder.
“We’ll have special landing pages to make it easier to navigate
and clients will have the ability to view all the details of their
accounts, place service calls, order supplies and much more.”
Fulfilling his initiatives for change has earned Tegeder a
great deal of credibility with clients, vendors and especially his
employees. “When you deliver on what you say you’re going to
do, you get rewarded,” he says. “Our team is embracing the
changes because they see them as a means to a better quality
of life for both them, and by extension, our clients. We’ve been
able to keep the tremendous staff that got us to this point and
have been able to attract a higher caliber employee as we con-
tinue to build our team.”
Tegeder is excited about the future and has already started
reaping the benefits of an action-oriented two years. James
Imaging Systems’ presence in the major account arena is
growing significantly and Tegeder sees a definite correlation.
“Major accounts want to see stability and a consistency in
doing business from their vendors and I know we’ve achieved
that in their eyes because our existing accounts are referring
us to others,” says Tegeder. “Plus, we’ve picked up a consider-
able amount of business from IT people leaving one company,
going to another and bringing us along. That’s a great feeling
because it means we’re delivering on our brand.”
With James Imaging Systems on a rock solid foundation and
very well positioned for 2008 and beyond, the ongoing initia-
tive is internal training and making sure that everyone con-
tinues to deliver on the brand.
“From sales to service to administration, we want the entire
team to know we’re not selling copiers, but rather using
copier-centric and printer-centric products along with various
software packages to create maximum productivity in our
client’s environment,” says Tegeder. “It’s a lot of fun to see it
working. But the great thing is the payoff has only just begun
for James Imaging Systems and our clients.” �Dustin Phillips is a freelance writer
based in Newport Beach, Calif.
“Our team is embracingthe changes becausethey see them as ameans to a better quality of life for boththem, and by extension,our clients.”
26 | w w w . o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | O c t o b e r 2 0 0 7
26OT1007 10/2/07 12:01 PM Page 1
In the competitive and complex world of selling office
technology, our fundamental mission is to win,
retain and grow. Win new business, retain
present installations and grow our revenues and
profits. We should focus all our resources on
working in collaboration with our customers to create
value that will help them run their businesses
better, increase their reliance on us and give
us higher margins. Everything your mar-
keting, sales, service, operations and admin-
istration teams are engaged in should be
focused on this critical mission.
In the profession of sales and sales man-
agement, this raises the following questions:
� Have you developed a unique and
compelling value proposition for each of
your customers?
� Are your account sales strategies
properly aligned with your customer’s
procurement strategies?
� Have your account representatives
properly identified their customer’s pre-
ferred buying strategy?
Creating a unique and compelling value
proposition is not as easy as it may seem.
The key here is not to pursue the things
that will make you different but to create
those capabilities that will make you dis-
tinctly differentiated. What is more, your
uniqueness must be valued by your customers. One of the great
myths of selling value is to think that the more value you can
offer a customer, the better. Actually, value that works is unique
and compelling, enhances your customers’ competitive position
and ensures that they clearly understand your contribution.
Are you selling the same way you did 10 years ago? Are your
sales managers managing the same way they did years ago? Are
they asking your sales reps to do what made them successful in
the past? Well, office technology selling has changed dramati-
cally because technology has evolved (remember the digital
transition?) and customers have changed. Customers are far
more sophisticated, they have more information available to
them (in fact, it is just a few mouse clicks away) and
their expectations of your sales organization are
higher. Customers expect you to propose reliable,
workable and cost-effective solutions to meet their
business needs — solutions that will help them
manage their businesses better. Asking
your reps to work the way they did in the
past is a recipe for failure. It puts your
organization in the downward spiral of
endlessly rehearsing the past — not
creating the future.
To develop a unique and compelling
value proposition, top-performing sales
organizations spend time finding out
how their customers define value and
what their customers are trying to
accomplish, such as reducing costs,
increasing productivity or increasing
sales. Once identified, the sales repre-
sentatives create differentiating value
propositions that will help the customers
achieve their goals. In the business of
selling office technology, you should posi-
tion yourself as the one who consistently
creates competitive advantages for the
client. We will address this in more
detail later in this article.
To keep things simple , let us
segment our customers into three
fundamental categories — transac-
tional buyers, relationship buyers and organizational buyers.
Each category is defined by different buying motivations and
your sales strategy should be aligned with your customer’s pre-
ferred buying motivation to ensure that you are deploying your
sales resources appropriately.
Let us take a look at the characteristics of each of these
three customer classes.
First, we have transactional buyers. These customers buy the
offer. Simply put, price is usually their primary motivator, although
they also consider the product specs and delivery details.
Second, we have relationship buyers. They live higher up on
Unique Value PropositionsIt helps to segment customers by buying motivation
by: Tom Kramer, Strategy Mapping Selling
SELLING SOLUTIONS
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27OT1007 10/2/07 12:03 PM Page 29
the hierarchical scale and, in addition to
price and product fit, they value the other
capabilities that surround the product offer
such as good customer service, technical
consulting and problem solving resources.
Last, we have organizational buyers who
are at the top of the buy-sell hierarchy.
These customers are looking for an organi-
zation-to-organization relationship. They
want deep business relationships at mul-
tiple levels throughout the organization and look at their sup-
pliers as strategic business partners.
To maximize the investment in your sales resources, your
sales team should recognize these different buying motiva-
tions and create account strategies that match or align with
the customer’s preferred buying pattern.
For the transaction buyer who treats your product as a com-
modity, your sales representatives need to adopt a strategy that
offers the customer a competitively low price by stripping as
much cost out of the transaction as possible. You should not be
offering a lot of your resources — such as
equipment trials or free workflow assess-
ments — to these customers.
For the relationship buyer — the cus-
tomer who values services beyond the
product — you should engage in efforts
that create new value for the customer. To
accomplish this, your sales representa-
tives must develop a comprehensive
understanding of the customer’s organiza-
tion, management structure, business direction, long- and
short-term goals, business issues and buying motivations.
What is more, it is imperative to show how your hardware and
software solutions will have a positive impact on the cus-
tomer’s operating performance.
If you can show relationship buyers how you can increase
their sales, employee productivity, bottom-line profit or reduce
their costs, then you will be perceived as a valued business
partner. In short, by making your customers more successful,
you will become more successful.
Finally, for the organizational buyer — the customer who is
interested in an extremely high level of value creation — you
must be willing to invest and deploy a very high level of your
own management resources to assist your sales representa-
tives in creating a significant and positive business impact on
your customer’s business outcomes.
It should be noted that not every customer will want this
type of enterprise relationship and since it takes a large invest-
ment on the part of both parties, you should be very selective
and choose those customers who will give you the most return
on your investment.
Approaching your customers with the right value proposi-
tion and aligning your sales strategies with your customers’
buying motivations will ensure that you are deploying your
sales resources effectively and focusing on what is valuable
and important to them. Following this strategy, you will be
meeting the value demands and expectations of all your cus-
tomers, selling smarter and developing customer relationships
based on substance and value which, in the end, will translate
into more profitable and sustainable business for you. �Tom Kramer is affiliate partner for Strategy Mapping Selling.
He has more than 30 years of sales, sales management
and marketing experience with IBM, the
Eastman Kodak Co. and Canon USA Inc.
He can be reached at
Visit www.strategymappingselling.com
or www.smsap.com.
If you can show relationship buyers howyou can increase theirsales ... or reduce theircosts, then you will beperceived as a valuedbusiness partner.
28 | w w w . o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | O c t o b e r 2 0 0 7
28OT1007 10/2/07 12:04 PM Page 1
“Instead of giving them a fish to eat, teach them how to
fish.” This old adage perfectly describes the essence of
sales management, particularly when working with
sales representatives in the field.
Here is an example of what I mean: After three weeks on the
job as a rookie dealer sales rep, my manager told me to set up
four qualified prospect appointments for both of us to call on
the following Tuesday. I set up the appointments and off we
went. The first, second and third calls went reasonably well
and he gave me a wealth of pre- and post-call input that really
helped. After the third call critique, he asked me to brief him
before the fourth call. It was then that I had to tell him that I
had not been able to get a fourth appointment. Without
another word, he got out of the car and walked away, called a
cab and went back to the office.
I cold-called the rest of the day and then returned to the office.
I asked him why he had left me and his answer was very concise:
“You committed to four calls and failed. You let me down and
owe me $45 for the cab ride. Do it again and you are fired.”
Obviously, it did not happen again but I still vividly
remember the incident more than 20 years later. He taught
me how to fish, and I have not gone hungry since.
Every dealer has a sales management structure. No matter
how large or small, someone is responsible for training and
managing the sales team. That function is literally the core of
the business. Whether senior manager or owner, someone has
to inspect the sales team. All too often, we find that the
process of working directly with the sales force in a profes-
sional, scheduled, hands-on manner is neglected. And when it
occurs, everyone loses — the sales force is cheated in the
process of learning how to fish, the responsible manager loses
sales performance and the owner is not receiving the produc-
tivity he is entitled to expect.
We have found that far too many sales managers consider
“field rides” a hit-or-miss area of their job responsibility, yet
they are one of the most effective ways to both identify indi-
vidual problems within the sales force and quickly develop
solutions that will move them forward in their careers.
Both the problem and the solution are very simple to
address and require only one decision: manager commitment.
First, a few things not to do when setting up a “ride” program:
� Do not find out who has an appointment or two and tell
them you are going to ride with them that day.
� Do not jump from one appointment to another without a
clear understanding of the purpose and objective of the next
call (ie. pre-call planning).
� Do not take over the meeting and sell the deal for the rep.
Do not give them a fish!
� Do not fail to coach and counsel what happened after
each and every call.
To make the ride-along process work, the first and most
important step is to make a decision; a decision to accept
responsibility to develop and stick with a simple and effective
“ride” program with each rep. Having made that decision and
committed to it, set up and execute this simple program:
� Create a monthly calendar devoted to the program. Plug in
the name of each rep you will be working with for a full day on a
specific date four to six weeks in advance.
The ‘Ride-Along’ ProcessManaging sales representatives in the field
by: Howard Meltzer, Sales Tiger Inc.
SELLING SOLUTIONS
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29OT1007 10/2/07 12:07 PM Page 29
� Notify each rep that you expect him (or her) to set up four
appointments for that date. Ideally, he should schedule one
appointment each for an introduction meeting, a proposal pres-
entation, an in-house demo and a closing call. The mix is not crit-
ical, but there should be some variety.
� Take the time to help the rep understand each prospect;
then develop a strategy and an objective before each call.
� Use the time between calls to critique, coach and counsel
with the rep.
� At the end of the day, complete an evaluation critique and
rate the rep’s performance in each important area of the selling
process. It helps to have a checklist that lists all of the elements
needed to properly evaluate and a rating scale for each element.
The checklist will serve as a tool to identify problems and rec-
ommend techniques to improve his performance.
Simple and effective, this process works and is well worth the
time. If a manager works four days a week in the field, calling on
four prospects per day, it can affect 64 situations per month. The
critical element goes right back to the beginning — manager
commitment. Once ingrained, you might even find that you
enjoy the process. �Howard Meltzer is managing partner of Sales Tiger Inc.,
a company that provides goal-oriented sales management
consultation and on-site sales training to office equipment
dealers nationally. He has more than 20 years
of successful sales management experience.
He can be reached at [email protected].
30 | w w w . o f f i c e t e c h n o l o g y m a g . c o m | O c t o b e r 2 0 0 7
ADVERTISER INDEX19 • Ames Supply Company
(800) 323-3856 / (630) 964-2440 / www.amessupply.com
28 • BEI Services
(307) 587-8446 / www.beiservices.com
13 • BTA FIX
(800) 843-5059 / www.bta.org
2 • BTA ProFinance
(800) 843-5059 / www.bta.org
30 • Business Equipment Quota Index
(800) 843-5059 / www.bta.org
31 • Business Products Council Association
(800) 897-0250 / www.businessproductscouncil.org
9 • Digital Gateway
(866) 342-8392 / www.digitalgateway.com
7 • DocuWare
(888) 565-5907 / www.docuware.com
3 • FMAudit
(573) 632-2461 / www.fmaudit.com
32 • GreatAmerica Leasing Corp.
(800) 234-8787 / www.greatamerica.com
17 • Innowave
(800) 723-3426 / www.innowave.com
21 • Niche Equipment
(877) 446-4243 / www.roto-shredders.com
5, 11 • Print Audit
(877) 412-8348 / www.printaudit.com
30OT1007 10/2/07 12:08 PM Page 1
The BPCA was founded in 1963 with the vision of
forming a best practices organization that unites
leaders of independently-owned office equipment
dealers. The concept is quite simple - bring the
leaders of these companies together so that they
can share ideas, learn from each other, and take
their businesses to the next level.
Our members will attest that it’s well worth the
investment by making each of them better leaders
and bringing more value to their dealerships.
Feel like there’s something missing from your
organization? Let BPCA bring together all the
pieces of the puzzle.
Piecing Ideas Together.
If you’d like more information about our
organization and how to join, please send
us an email or give us a call.
Phone: 800.897.0250
Email: [email protected]
Website:
www.businessproductscouncil.org
Membership Director BPCA
c/o BTA
12411 Wornall Road
Kansas City, MO 64145
“Better Dealers Through
Learning and Idea
Exchange.”
31OT0107 12/18/06 2:51 PM Page 1
PRSRT STDU.S. Postage PaidEaston, PA 18042
Permit #31 Office Technology MagazineBusiness Technology Association 12411 Wornall RoadKansas City, MO 64145(816) 941-3100www.officetechnologymag.comwww.bta.org
800.234.8787 | www.greatamerica.com
[Now offering FleetView®, the perfect solution for remote meter and device monitoring.]
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“GreatAmerica always works closely with us to meet our business needs. They create custom programs that exceed a traditional leasing relationship. We also use the GreatAmerica FleetView® product which provides many benefits to the sales and administration side of our business.”
Steve JacobsInfomax Office Systems, Inc
Des Moines, IA
Great America June 07 5/14/07 10:04 AM Page 1