Convergence Chat with Greg - #Imaging Channel, Fall in Love Again. #ArcDrive

Do you remember your first time?

Remember configuring the first #copier, late at night for a morning delivery? Staying up past midnight, attaching the finisher, paper drawers, ADF, and large capacity paper tray?

Remember the first time you forgot to order a stair climber or tile protection? How about the time you used the forklift to deliver an Oce up to the second floor?

Did your heart sink when that toner spilled out on the floor during your demo?

You fell in love with it, all of it. You fell in love with watching your employees and customers evolve. Memories of the small office Christmas parties, new babies, and hiring your nephew, still warms your heart.

Your vision, your idea, your business.  Partnering with hardware vendors who worked with and valued your relationship.

It's easy to say those days are long gone - one time partners are wily competitors, rivals have turned into arch enemies and the elusive client doesn't fall for stunts, techniques or bloated copier deals.

It's tough.



"The first rule of flying? Love. Love keeps her in the air when she outta fall down..."

Love what you do, again. Love bringing your customers something new, shiny, again.

It's called #ArcDrive and it's new, fun, easy, familiar, sophisticated and for you.

Fall in love again, #ArcDrive.com

##Wedge, Newport Beach, CA.Convergence...The

There is this place, a special place, a man-made nexus in Southern California called The Wedge. 

Locals know. Tourists rarely get there. A point where waves come in two directions and converge with outgoing flows to create large waves very close to shore.

Bodyboards are the safest, but surfer dudes can't pass up storm-induced sets. People have died here. For a summer, I lived on Balboa, the Wedge was within walking distance away. #Turbulance and #Convergence are natural and man-influenced phenomena. At the time, I didn't realize the significance; only today do I recognize the simile:

The dealer channel is in the middle of the maelstrom and has always surfed the Wedge. 55-degree saltwater, ears full of sand, and the possibility of ultimate elimination do not stop you.

You hit the sets every, single morning. Who is there with you? Does your body-board manufacturer tell you how to set up for a wave? Are your board shorts too tight or heaven forbid, too loose?

Do surf vendors tell surfers how to surf?

#copiers #managedprintservices #DCAMonopoly #ExpensiveScanning

"You Gave Up a Steady Paycheck...Maybe It's Not Worth It."

I'd never heard of Keap.com but the video caught my eye.

Whoever produced this hit the nail on the head for the SMB. The Keap offering is a #Converged solution stack of services on one platform.  Designed to help businesses stay in business, the accompanying script is full of doubter cliches.

QUOTES WE'VE ALL HEARD:

• "Hey, listen. Maybe owning a business is too much to handle right now."
• "You gave up a steady paycheck to chase this dream. Maybe it's not worth it."
• "Do you have any idea how hard it is to find new clients these days?"
• "It's great that you took the risk but it's time to admit it's not working."
• "I know you're passionate about this...I know you gave it your best shot but maybe it's time...to get a real job."

Memorial Day - What Does it Mean?

You could google it.

You could look it up.

You could go to the VFW and ask.

Maybe check out those guys riding motorcycles from Arizona to DC - they have a message.

Memorial Day in the USA. What is it?

New to Copier Sales: What’s This Thing Called #ManagedPrintServices?

Once, long ago, “managed print services” (MPS) was considered an outlier, something in which only the fringe of our industry would participate. Today, you’ll see an MPS offering on every website and run into clients who know all about the various programs. What’s more, the realm is chock full of managed print content and training sessions, so, for now, I’ll just give an elementary description of today’s managed print services sales.

Let’s start with a quick definition of managed print services from the Managed Print Services Association:

“The active management and optimization of business processes related to documents and information, including input and output devices.”

Who Is #Greg_Walters: 2011

I was digging around some old stuff when I ran across this interview.  This was written and aired back in 2011 on the old "The Imaging Channel" website.

Cracks me up!

###






Most of us know Greg Walters … or at least we know a little bit about him. We’re familiar with his blog, The Death of the Copier (DOTC), and the scantily clad ladies of said blog. We recognize his bandana and Harley Davidson. We know he’s opinionated and passionate about MPS. But we here at TIC Talk wanted to know more …

TIC: Do you have a “real” job? If so, what is it?
Greg: Yes, I have a “real” job as the MPS Practice Manager at SIGMAnet, a 25-year-old, West Coast VAR.

The ArcDrive

How We Choose Wine

The viticultural libation is as timeless as love and life. The Romans did it. Indeed, Roman soldiers were required to drink a minimum of one liter of wine per day. The Greeks invented the god of wine, Dionysus and Jesus made wine from water.

Like water, wine is a global constant and the altered consciousness achieved by consumption has been considered religious since its origin. I think the mass consumption of wine traces back to medieval urban areas and the lack of clean water.

LinkedIn is NOT personal branding.

http://www.grwalters.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregwalters/

"LinkedIn is NOT the internet." -

New to Copier Sales: What’s This Thing Called Managed IT Services?

Managed services is referred to by various names — managed IT services, managed network services, MNS, etc. But no matter what you know it as, managed services is the hottest thing since managed print services.

As a new copier rep, you may not initially hear much about managed services, but it is the next evolutionary step in the copier industry. The industry has developed repeatable revenue models around hardware, and for those who wish to survive, we’ll shift this model into different areas, or “anything as a service” (XaaS). Down the street copier reps should get familiar with MS basics.

Let’s start with a definition of managed services. According to Wikipedia, managed services is “the practice of outsourcing on a proactive basis certain processes and functions intended to improve operations and cut expenses. It is an alternative to the break/fix or on-demand outsourcing model where the service provider performs on-demand services and bills the customer only for the work done.”

Over Complicating Workflow… Again.

2013, Workflow

Back in my IKON daze (pun intended), one of the best sales managers I ever worked with told me, “Sometimes we overcomplicate things. It’s just copiers.” He was referring to an inability to close any deal that included EDM in less than 90 days.

He was right. We often did overcomplicate transactions beyond lease payments and cost per image in an effort to branch out into more “sophisticated” imaging subject matter, adding value and becoming a “trusted advisor.”

"Reversing deforestation is complicated; planting a tree is simple." 

- Martin O'Malley

Did the discussion of document management enhance our ability to close a five-person church? No.

Did talking about moving from printed pick-lists to digital images elevate the discussion, enhance our position and add 120 days to the selling cycle? You betcha.

But the point still holds. Overcomplicating transactions by...

Read the rest, here.

American Oak, The British Navy And Scotch

To be aged in bourbon barrels is the ‘hot’ thing in libation. From tequila to Worcestershire sauce, the finishing qualities of used bourbon barrels permeate a plethora of consumables.

But why and how did this ‘fad’ take off?

First, aging in used barrels is not new. Indeed, the practice of reusing casks goes back millennia.

Contemporary usage owes to these basic influences:

• The British Navy
• The Frugal Scotts
• Taste
• The British Navy