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Thursday, November 30, 2017

Why Your Company Doesn't Need a #Copier


All you need is a scanner.

You know you aren't copying as much as you once had been.

WE know you aren't copying as often, too. Heck, we've known for decades you rarely, if ever, copy or print on tabloid, 11x17. So why have we been selling you devices capable of melting plastic on larger sheets of dead tree matter?

Because bigger machines look more impressive, that's why. You've been fooled into believing 'those little printers can't keep up with the bigger copiers...' You've been lied to.

Here's why we've been overselling you for decades:

More sales commission - Entry-level salespeople are compensated on REVENUE. Bigger devices have bigger price tags supporting larger commissions.

Manufacturers quotas - Dealers purchase toner and parts from the manufacturers (OEMs) they sell. These OEMs contract a certain number of devices to be purchased monthly. When a provider fails to meet these commitments, the manufacturer will the cost of toner and parts, thereby reducing margins on the bread and butter of EVERY copier dealer-service contract.

Cheaper cost per image - This issue is especially evil because it is based on truth. Copiers have a less expensive cost per image. Meaning, you'll pay less for USING a copier vs. printing on a traditional printer. If your volumes are in the 10k/emp range, this is a consideration. When calculating YOUR true cost per image, roll in the amortized equipment or machine lease cost into your service cost.

More retail value - Tricky issue, this. Let's just say the retail(which nobody ever charges) value of a device can determine how much soft costs can be shoved into your equipment lease. "Soft cost" is defined as anything from existing buyout figures, software & installation costs, or profit.

Reasons you don't need a copier:

You don't copy any more

At one point in history, employees generated about 10,000 images a month on copiers and printers - this was a per-employee figure.

Today, employees can generate NO images per month let alone copy. Look at your processes. Do you email invoices? Do you accept online payment? Do you still make copies of every invoice you receive?

You never print on 11x17

One of the determining factors when deciding to buy a copier is paper size - original and finished. In the olden days, books and manuals were routinely copied. "Book Copy" was a standard or sought-after feature. A scanner the size of 11x17 was convenient but a bigger scanner means bigger rollers and trays. More power consumption for larger bulbs. Almost twice the size of a 'little printer' - with twice the manufacturing costs.

We knew this. But it was easy to see 'bigger is better and good for everyone on this side of the table.

Paper is slow

Chances are your competition is looking into automating manual processes like Accounts Payables/Receivable. Nobody looks to invest in software to save trees. Your business is nimble and responsive and paper-based business functions are slower and more apt to mistakes than digitized processes.

Are you moving at the speed of thought or the speed of paper?

In the end, the market will determine winners and losers - somebody somewhere will need or require copiers. Indeed, right now there is somebody purchasing buggy-whips.

But you don't ride a horse to work, do you?




Sunday, November 26, 2017

The #LastCopierSold


11/26/2017
Everything dies, baby that's a fact, but just because something doesn't last forever, doesn't mean it wasn't perfect.  Proclaimed back in 2011, the fading of managed print services continues.  Don't believe me?  

Ask your customers/prospects and you'll hear the truth. Whispers from the Abyss:

  • "We've really cut back on the number of printers and copiers we use."
  • "We don't print as much."
  • "We once had a copier on every floor and printers at each desk.  We don't anymore."
I could go on - hell, if you're in the field and honest, YOU can add to the above list.

So here it is - what follows is a list of industry influencers and players with reflections and status according to DOTC.

The year is 2017; just about 10 years after managed print services arrived on the scene. Much has changed.

Hollywood Has Been F*cked for Decades(Literally and Figuratively)

Last night, I was scrolling through XM and came upon an oration that caught my ear. The host was articulating his experiences with the Hollywood elites/liberals.

I spent some 12 years on the coast and loved every second of it. I did find it odd that the land of Regan and Nixon had so many conservative 'haters'.

And "hate" is the right word.

At one Christmas party, high in the San Bernardino mountains, the hostess went on to explain how she wished, "President Bush would die." Over and over she said this - so often that I felt threatened by the President. I skirted around the issues at hand, the Iraq War, and tried to discuss the food, the drink, the Christmas tree, or the weather - anything but the politics of the day.

She wasn't having it.

Monday, November 6, 2017

Yes, paper-less offices are real. "And they're Spectacular."


2017

In an episode of Seinfeld, Jerry's gorgeous new girlfriend's lovely breasts become the subject of conjecture; are they real or implants. Elaine thinks they're fake so Jerry decides not to see her again. Elaine changes her mind after tripping and falling into the ample bosom. 

Again, the "paperless office will never exist" debate is grabbing headlines and copy.  Good stuff, if not factually spun.

I've been face-to-face with organizations that significantly reduced the number of copiers, printers, and reams of paper utilized.  
  • A major retail company went from 100 or so devices to 10
  • Health network(s) go from huge file rooms to no filing cabinets at all
  • Manufactures shifted away from paper-based job jackets to digital files
These companies didn't feel compelled to save the trees or Chewbaccas.  Prospects tell me they squeeze paper out of the process because "paper slows everything."

Saturday, September 16, 2017

Men/Women: Equal and Different.




I'm the douchebag...again.

Her name is Shannon and she is one of the first women to fly Apache helicopters. She served on three continents, led two flight platoons and a line company.

She is a great storyteller; visual and engaging she spun tails and related her history to an audience of risk-taking, aggressive, selling professionals. #ImpactNetworking

The fit was perfect.

Shannon told how she encountered sexism in the military, facing the wind and climbing to the pinnacle - against the odds. She expressed the tension felt while flying night missions in South Korea and leading soldiers. How in order to lead others well, one needs to own their personal story.

Know thyself.

Writer, pilot, leader, mother, wife - Shannon took us on a journey around the world.

Once finished, she opened the floor to questions.

At first, nobody spoke - we've all experienced that awkward segment of silence - hands finally took flight, banal questions flew: "...how did it feel...", "...what is it like...", and my favorite, "...what is your favorite missile?", "Well, the HellFire, of course," she answered.

Gotta love the Hellfire.

I was moving from boredom to angst.

Here we had a bonafide American Hero, a female who led men in military missions speaking to a group of technology professionals - an industry heavily populated by men - and the best we could come up with is "What's your favorite missile?"

So, in the silence just before the speaker asks, "are there any final questions?" my hand shot up and I asked,

"Can you give me three differences between female leaders and male leaders?" 

I heard a few nervous giggles, as a broad smile spread across Shannon's face - I knew she got it.

Her response, "First, I feel it's the individual, not the gender." - I'm paraphrasing, but you get the point. Her answer was the necessary one, eliciting requisite applauds.

Still, I felt the cool gaze of many - it felt good.

Her second and final answer is more powerful and like a Hellfire, flew over most heads - which I find disappointing.

Shannon put on her game face, looked me in the eye, and said,

"One thing I've noticed is that men tend to volunteer for missions before and even though, they are not necessarily prepared. Where women tend to train and prepare to a point they feel 100% ready for a mission."

I didn't ask the question to get the room in an uproar or receive, "You're a douchebag for asking that question." statements.

No.

Today, there are more women decision-makers, and insight into how women leaders may operate differently than their male counterparts, I felt, would be relevant.

Her answer was perfect.

So yeah, after she left the stage and during the bio-break, sales professionals, comrades-in-arms, expressed a bit of shock. Some saying, folks were remarking,

"Who asked that dick-head question about male and female leaders?"

Wow.


In this age of the eternally offended, I guess assuming men are from Mars and women from Venus, is considered a microaggression.  So, at the very least my question made some uncomfortable and might have actually offended others.  HUH?

I didn't ask, "Who are better leaders men or women?"  The underlying sensitivity, in my opinion, is the current generation's misunderstanding of equal and identical.

I guess it does need saying, "Men and Women are different."  I said it, I meant it, I'm here to represent it.

Strategic Selling -

If we assume Shannon's observation can be translated into the business realm, would you approach a female decision-maker/leader differently?

Or would you feel the need to find a safe place, squeeze Play-doh, and tear down 100-year-old statues?

Monday, September 11, 2017

911


For as long as I can remember, I've played this video on 9/11.  Super Bowl 2002, months after the attack, our country was numb and jumpy.


Well before self-loathing americans started calling our movements in the middle-east "invasion" and "occupation", patriotism was on every street corner.

I remember that night; I remember seeing it live.  I can't tell you the football teams playing, but I can say it was one of the deepest, moving TV moments, ever.

U2 - that Irish rock band, stood up on the world stage, honoring the greatest country on earth and her fallen citizens.  Names float to the sky, as the rousing "Where the Streets Have No Name" beats on.  The song, second of the half-time set,  was written about a place without class stigma, where the distinction between religions and income are no more; a World Without Sin?

Bono ends the tune exposing the Stars and Stripes - Triumph.

Here we are, 15 years laters - The Twin Towers, replaced by that defiant Freedom Tower, slip deeper into fog with each passing 911.  The threat remains the same, if not more pronounced.

Do you honestly feel safer now than you did that faithful day of empty skies, September 12, 2001?

Day of cogitation: What have we learned?

On this day of reflection, consider not only the ones who've helped you see who you are, but remember the hearts you've "imprinted"; son's, daughters, mothers, fathers, friends, lovers and ex-lovers, customers and co-workers.

Be gratified knowing you've changed somebody's life for the better - we all have.

Take time to remember those on the 98th floor, at 8:47 AM, sipping a Starbucks, considering a sales forecast or the regret of not saying "I love you, I always will..." on that morning, 14 years ago.

"I want to run
I want to hide
I want to tear down the walls
That hold me inside
I wanna reach out
And touch the flame
Where the streets have no name..."



Contact Me

Greg Walters, Incorporated
greg@grwalters.com
262.370.4193