Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook — so many platforms, so little time. You’ve probably got an account on each of these social networks and more, and they can be great for connecting with family and sharing everyday life. But if you listen to the latest batch of “social selling experts,” the online world is the end of cold calls, face-to-face meetings and selling expertise.
To this, I say “horsepucky.” Google is just like the Yellow Pages, Twitter is the latest party line and LinkedIn is a fancy networking program. It isn’t that these environments aren’t germane — they’re just not the end of everything else. You may not like the online realm and I am not saying you’ve got to get out there — but you do. Online presence is mandatory.
Today, I’m going to focus on LinkedIn from the perspective of the new copier salesperson.
Building your brand
I’ve spent more than 10,000 hours online, read the rest here.
"...We know now that in the early years of the twentieth century this world was being watched closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own.
We know now that as human beings busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinized and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinize the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water.
With infinite complacence people went to and fro over the earth about their little affairs, serene in the assurance of their dominion over this small spinning fragment of solar driftwood which by chance or design man has inherited out of the dark mystery of Time and Space.
Yet across an immense ethereal gulf, minds that to our minds as ours are to the beasts in the jungle, intellects vast, cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes and slowly and surely drew their plans against us. In the thirty-ninth year of the twentieth century came the great disillusionment.
It was near the end of October. Business was better. The war scare was over. More men were back at work.
Sales were picking up.
On this particular evening, October 30, the Crosley service estimated that thirty-two million people were listening in on radios..." - Orson Wells, 1938.
In a world without the internet, Twitter, cell phones or email a fictitious account of an invasion from Mars scared children, and angered many.
I submit to you a feast for your ears and the kaleidoscope of your mind. Travel back when this new medium, radio, ruled and was blamed for the Death of the Stage show and rotting young minds...enjoy.
The latest thing in MpS, not necessarily the newest thing, is "Workflow". You should be picking up more chatter about workflow - you may even hear, "if you don't get into workflow, your dealership will die..." (Insert grain of salt, here.)
What does this all mean? What impact will this movement have upon the imaging industry, if at all? Is this more hype, like color, digital, connected, and MpS? Weren't we just evangelizing "managed network services"? (there is no such thing in the IT world, BTW)
As we did so many years ago learning the ways of MpS, let's start with the basics: a standard, run of the mill, definition of 'workflow' -
"Workflow is a term used to describe the tasks, procedural steps, organizations or people involved, required input and output information, and tools needed for each step in a business process." - SearchCIO
Notice this does not specifically, or exclusively, refer to production printing workflow - Job submission can be represented as a workflow, but it is NOT the only example of workflow.
To some, the idea of defining how one does their job and daily business functions may sound complicated. Throw in the notion that workflow is usually expressed in the form of flowcharts, and the concept seems even more unreachable.
All one does is determine how a process is completed, document the observed steps, and investigate bottlenecks. As a matter of fact, if you've been selling copiers or printers or even MpS for any amount of time, I'm guessing you've embarked on the beginnings of workflow.
Let's take a look at an example, a purchase requisition (yawwwwwn). The following chart reflects a very basic process from requisition to purchase order:
This is a pretty straightforward flow with no deviation. Notice how the arrows suggest a motion or flow from one rectangle to the next. All flowchart shapes carry specific meaning - rectangles are processes, diamonds decision points, and so on.
Of course, workflow diagrams can become pretty complex and detailed. Below is a workflow chart for a system relating to data entry.
You can imagine how detailed a workflow diagram can get.
For me, it was always easier to jot down a quick workflow on the clipboard, binder, or today, on the tablet.
Here is an illustration of the decision process involved in installing a DCA, outlined on the Pad:
It makes sense to me so converting to Visio is a snap:
Approximate time to create, 12 minutes.
This isn't rocket surgery, scratching out drawings is just the beginning. Apply your business acumen, a little software, and professional consultation into the equation, ultimately exchanging your knowledge for value.
How do you develop the ability to recommend and provide workflow systems to your existing MpS clients? Is it too much to get into? Can be. One thing is for sure, this isn't "hype" or "noise" - those who say so, do not get it - fain attention, then go back to work.
Welcome to the beginnings of Workflow. You won't get this stuff at the Monday morning sales meeting.
Communism: In political and social sciences, communism is the philosophical, social, political, and economic ideology and movement whose ultimate goal is the establishment of the communist society, which is a socioeconomic order structured upon the common ownership of the means of production and the absence of social classes, money, and the state.
Capitalism: Capitalism is an economic system based on private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Characteristics central to capitalism include private property, capital accumulation, wage labor, voluntary exchange, a price system, and competitive markets.
I've been thinking about this ever since the drywall from China was reported to be radioactive.
We all want cheap stuff - Walmart runs that idea into the ground as does Amazon. But for me, it has been difficult to rationalize the success communist China is experiencing with Capitalism. U.S. Capitalism brought down the Soviet Union and Block; U.S. capitalism succeeded in Viet Nam when our hamstrung military did not. It seems to me that blue jeans, rock and roll and Mcdonald's is enough to dissolve the Great Wall.
Mao Zedong
But Communist China is still Communist China and communism abhors capitalism.
Today, why are we surprised to hear that the Red Chinese have implanted secret spy chips in the motherboards of some of the most widely used servers in the world. How much easier it is to plant a chip anywhere inside a printer or toner cartridge?
In addition to opening up our clouds to Red China, we've purchased killer dog food and poison drywall.
More disturbing, in order to do business in the land of Mao, international companies must share proprietary technology with their Chinese competitors. We've been doing just that for nearly a decade. Is it any wonder the new Chinese fighter jet looks like ours?
What does all this mean? What can we do?
STOP selling toner from Red China.
STOP buying clones from Red China.
Shun everything coming from Red China.
Highlight HP and Xerox's American heritage.
Tell end-users of possible harm resulting from Chinese clones or toner.
Remove Lexmark from all US Federal, State, and local Government contracts - Education as well. This is a difficult notion - I know many good people at Lexmark. But it isn't the same Lexmark, is it? (NineStar).
The 'copier industry' is clichéd and uneventful, yet often, because of our technology pedigree, the output device and document management segment are at the tip of the spear in business innovation.
It seems odd to mix geopolitical issues with managed print services, but here we are. We were always integrated with politics, global issues, and future tech - we could be the first to call out Red China.
Newbies, take caution. Some say phone cold calling is dead. But, for the new copier salesperson, the phone is your lifeline. For you, the cold call is alive and well. For you, it’s dial for dollars or hit the bricks. It is a miracle anyone survives. Yet, some do, some even thrive.
The phone, a mirror and the Yellow Pages. That’s all it took for the rise of copier empires and fulfilled selling destinies — the stuff of legends.
I once loved to cold call. Back then we called them “phone blocks.” Phone blocks filled Franklin planners. Appointments paid for diapers, private school and vacations.
For all the managed print services sales classes, books, seminars, webinars, and white papers I've seen, nobody talks about the "Golden Minutes".
Wouldn't it be interesting to hang around after a customer presentation and hear what your prospect says about you, your presentation, and your offer?
Think about it, you've planned, written, or created the perfect proposal and slide deck. After 45 minutes of flawless, formulaic presentation you've trialed for a signature, clarified, isolated, and answered objections, moving the opportunity down the sales funnel - you can practically smell the 'share of wallet'.
"I am telling you, from coast to coast to coast, you, the sales professional, and your prospects ARE NOT ALIGNED."
Copiers, printers, scanners, fax, print servers, cloud print, duplex, scan-once-print-many, color, analog to digital, laser, inkjet, managed print services, to managed services...our turbulent path has crossed many borders, hills, and valleys.
Lots of things have changed since Chester pulled together his seven steps and yet, much remains the same. The print world moves slowly. Like a river cutting the Grand Canyon, a real, significant change occurs over decades(which seem like eons).
For the Change Agents, this is the apogee of frustration. We saw the true meaning of managed print services and the future of print. The signs were there before the HP split, before the debacle that was Xerox/Fuji.
We predicted the need to shift from selling from boxes to solutions to business acumen, in 2007. We saw the "P" change to "p" in MpS. The time was then.
Along the way, a few early adopters burned the ships. Back then, what we saw as secular most experts called a fad. I remember presenting the Internet of Things back in 2012. Interesting and way ahead of the curve.
No longer frustration; we're morose. It is sad to look at the missed opportunities. Volumes are dropping so how can an OEM still release 13 or more new models?
Is it ignorance? No, everybody is printing less and has been for a decade. It's not a secret.
Is it stupidity? No, back in the day, these folks were THE technology innovators.
Is it the continued propagation of a bygone belief that if you build it, they will buy? Yes. More succinctly, it is the undying grip on the past, unrelenting fear of change, and stubborn faith that if "we can hang on, we'll flourish".
Although purchasing devices, customers are placing a reduced number - worse, if there is a copier on every floor, nobody is using it. Volumes are down to around 2,000 images a month.
The consolidation continues, independent dealers coagulate and OEMs dissolve, as the niche works through its annihilation.
Options are getting scarce, but there are painful opportunities: Medical equipment, BI, Energy Management, and more. We've just got to let go.
Fortunately, we see the end is near.
We can make plans, see friends, write letters and move to the next stage, confident and aware.
The following content is intended for new copier representatives. But if you’ve been around the copier block a couple of times, participated in demo-ramas and are considered a seasoned selling professional, I implore you to read and comment. Not for my edification - you owe it to the industry to help fix the future and advise the next generation. So let them know what’s up, the good, the bad and the ugly.
So you’re new to selling. Welcome to the greatest show on Earth where all the clichés apply:
"Learning here is like drinking from a fire hydrant.”
“This is baptism by fire.”
“It’s sink or swim.”
“Remain calm, everything will be OK.”
Over the next few months, it will be my honor to regale you with legends of glory and doom; with stories of heroic tragedies and mundane existence; with tales for your enjoyment and possible tutelage.
My story is a simple one. I began selling technology in 1988 and tripped into “copiers” in 1999. I’ve worked with AFLAC, Cintas, Océ, Panasonic, Industrial Videos, IKON and multiple VARs, from Michigan to California to North Carolina to Wisconsin.
Let me be clear - I am NOT A SELLING EXPERT. There was a time when..
1. MPS Specialists 2. Separate P/L 3. Outside MpS training 4. MpS specific software tools 5. Comp plan that includes:
Hardware
Monthly service revenue from:
A3 & A4
Managed(IT) Services
Renewals
Separate service team
6. Separate help desk 7. MpS vendors(vs. copier) 8. OEM neutral 9. Single Services contract for:
Copiers & Printers(A3 & A4), Paper
10. IT services
BONUS: All Managed Services Network Assessments embed an MpS study; MpS is part of the Managed Services proposal
#managedprintservices #gregwalters #MPS
Death: the passing or destruction of something inanimate
The Death of The Copier isn't about the end of you - like looms and typewriters, - DOTC is a lens into the passing of an industry; growth and expansion, not a terminus.
The industry is NOT dying. It is being annihilated.
Annihilation: the conversion of matter into energy, especially the mutual conversion of a particle and an antiparticle into electromagnetic radiation.
"...conversion of matter into energy..."
We're living in the organic process of evolution, that's all.
Notice we aren't "moving through an organic process..." Because we're not moving, more specifically, Xerox, Ricoh, HP, Canon, Konica Minolta, Epson, Kyocera, and everyone else have been standing firm believing the new world will flow around them/Us.
The tide has been coming, the signs blatant for all to see:
Why didn't Xerox start the move from hardware into services back in 2010? (or 1973)
Canon has alternatives but hasn't made the move.
Ricoh seemed to be on the right path back in 2009 but took a left turn somewhere between here and MpS nirvana, which was the door to the managed services panacea.
Lady Blue(HP), the most expensive dustpan in history, will sweep the fragments and splinters, toss them into some 3D printer, spitting out picnic tables.
They all saw it coming, they all knew. But why believe in the revival of paper?
It is the human tendency toward self-destruction.
Everybody appears to be self-destructive. Some people are very obviously self-destructive because they’re addicted to heroin or alcohol or they act in a psychotic way or whatever, and they offer their self-destruction to you. Other people are very comfortable in their own skin, and they’ve got a fantastic job and a fantastic life and everything seems to be bulletproof. They feel like they’ve sort of cracked something about life.
But then when you get to know them, you discover odd bits of self-destruction, which then become significant bits of self-destruction. It was the universality of it, that even the people who’d cracked it all had not cracked it all. And then I started trying to think – Where does it come from? Why is it that you have a really good marriage and you dismantle it? Why do you have a really good friendship and you dismantle it? Why do you have a really good job and you dismantle it? Whatever it happens to be.
- Alex Garland
Transformation flows around the pillars of a bygone era. Some abdicate early while others define stopgap tactics as strategies - consolidating on higher ground.
What once was, the dogma of xerography and toner will never again be. The age of paper is ending - consolidation, turmoil and dwindling sales reflect the shattering of the realm.
Here's the thing - the industry has mass, but no velocity. Without movement, change will not be internally driven; true evolution will be affected from the outside - like an asteroid hitting the Earth. The coming wave will dismantle everything, ejecting the bad, and re-configuring the good creating something completely alien. (to us now)
So, do you wait for the force to change you or walk in, confronting the past, present, and future?
Move-in.
Take in all the generic training you can - stay away from hardware or software specification training.
I loath the demo.
Recognize value propositions, slide decks, 30-day cycles, and Sales Managers as fodder for the future.
It was a calm and enjoyable evening as the chant of "no paper, no peace...no paper, no peace..." drifted over the swank dining area. I knew before my guest that tonight was not going to be typical print/copier discussion over adult beverages.
That uncanny ability to discern the HP hum from the Lexmark rattle - an amusing parlor trick - was a curse "...no paper, no peace...no paper, no peace..." seeping into everyone's dinner conversation.
I knew what was coming.
"Chicken in the Coop!"
Nowadays, getting kicked out of a restaurant is a simple task. A contrarian view or disagreeable word, phrase, color, or micro-thought can trigger expulsion. Everybody is offended.
Print is Dead.
Say what you want about wedding invitations, corrugated boxes, and meat-labels saving print - if companies are printing like it's 1999, Xerox wouldn't be fighting for her life and Lexmark would still be an American company.
The chorus, "no paper...no peace..." grew in volume. Spotting a nervous manager huddled up with her team, I was sure they were not discussing the future of sushi, or saki.
Origami & Haiku -
The gaggle stared at me in unison as the matron of the dining room floated over to my table.
"Hello..." I said.
"Good evening, Mr. Walters, " the standard retort, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you and your guest to leave our establishment. It has come to the attention of me and my staff, that you are a strong proponent of a paperless society. Indeed, you call for a violent end to copiers. This contrarian position is an affront to our collective morals. You must leave now."
I wasn't shocked. I was amused.
Best future use of paper.
"I'm sorry to hear this and hope our presence hasn't disturbed your other guests," I respond.
"My sister is in the paper business, she sells to the big carmakers and advertising companies. So you can understand how I cannot serve somebody with your moral standing. Please go." was the terse reply.
The short walk to the car was jeering, "You call for the death of copiers! NO PAPER, NO PEACE!", screamed a librarian-looking lady.
I expected a barrage of empty waste-toner bottles, instead,
"You can't hide! Wherever you go, we'll be there, with paper, in your face! Napkins, shipping containers, meat labels, PAPER EVERYWHERE!"
Not a CNN reporter anywhere.
We left, without a Tweet, Snap, InstaGlam or Yelp!
No bother, Sushi can be found just about anywhere; even in Milwaukee.
There’s no paper
In the company future
Trees are digital!
###
Satire.
When a restaurant asks a person to leave because of who they work for, their political proclivity, or business model - isn't it THE SAME as enforcing "whites only" bubblers?
The world is upside down. False prophets claim to support diversity as long as they define diversity. They demand open discussions and viewpoints, as long as the viewpoint is theirs.
I've seen this first hand, from California to North Carolina. Detroit to Oconomowoc.
The Auto Unions feigned defense of the working man, yet betrayed the companies employing members.
The open borders, sanctuary cities of SoCali, pose as immigrant advocates unknowingly promoting human trafficking, the drug trade, and child exploitation. How many illegal immigrants, mothers, fathers, and children, perished in the desert chasing the hypnotic tone, "Come to America. Land of opportunity. Vote Democrat." Sanctuary Cities equal Terminus.
Meanwhile, erudite, "non-violent" academics, sip wine, listen to Hungarian Christmas music, and scream, "I wish Bush was dead!" I saw it, I was there.
Nice haircut. Can he shave, yet?
Today, we walk among the entitled, frail, offended, sissified, Generation of Whine. There is no such thing as mental toughness. There is no such thing as playing fair; it's a risk.
Everybody has the plan, everybody is an expert - kids with less than 20 trips around the sun are considered 'wise'. But they are tools; being a victim does not an expert make.
So what is a (copier) salesperson to do in this crazy, mixed-up world?
I don't know how to say this, so I just will...you, the salesperson, the technology provider, we who reach out every day, experience loss, failure, and defeat yet get up each morning without a gripe are this century's greatest hope.
You know mental toughness, don't you? Mom isn't asking prospects why they "didn't buy". You're not blaming the NRA for your position in life.
We survived a childhood filled with treehouses, BB guns, riding in the back of pickups, bicycles without helmets, scraped knees, mud, dirt, germs and band-aids.
We stand alone.
The generational tsunami hitting our cultural shores have never been shown the destruction socialism leaves in its wake. They've never reviewed eugenics and too easily cast their political rivals as "Hitler". They grew up without conflict or competition. Coddled in mom's bosom past the age of 18 they are still scared of everything from peanuts to full-contact, youth football.
Politically, their mantra is "make everybody equal by making everybody poor". Except them.
So it is up to you, up to Us. Soak everything up. Ask your clients real questions about business. Do they feel confident in the economy? How are they planning to grow the business over the next decade?
Distill these stories into your personal wisdom. Invest more in this type of discussion over speeds and feeds - learn to have a proactive, business conversation around your prospect, not your OEM or dealership.
Tell people how you feel, what you've seen.
And when you finally get kicked out of a fancy restaurant, you'll know you've made it.
