#ArcDrive - rSX Takes on Ransomware

Ransomware is attacking you, your kids, your parents, your company and your clients.

I am not making this up...

“Ransomware Attacks Double in 2019…” – McAFee

“Ransomware costs businesses more than $75 billion per year.” – Datto

“75% of companies infected with ransomware were running up-to-date endpoint protection…” – Sophos

But what is the standard approach?  Defend against infection, and back-up completely.  Once a ransomware strikes, it is all about recovery and remediation - all good and prudent but not very proactive, wouldn't you agree?  This means your daily back-up must be impeccable - when was the last time you tested your recovery plan?  Is BDR just another acronym?

Regardless, the statistics tell another story - average ransom demand went for $48,000.00 to $133,000. (Source: Sophos).  The average number of days impacted by ransomware is 16.

New to Copier Sales: How to Sell Solutions

What, exactly is a solution? According to Merriam-Webster, it is “an action or process of solving a problem” Sounds simple, doesn’t it?

In the land of copier sales, duplexing (the ability to place images on both sides of a sheet of paper) was once considered a solution. Indeed, the times were much simpler.

Today, the phrase “solution selling” is as old as the hills — some say obsolete. But as with most opinions, it depends on who you ask and how you define solutions. Solutions are less about the “how” and more about the result, but when selling hardware, we tend to get caught up in the how. We talk about how long we’ve been in business, how toner is applied to paper, how much more can be saved with our lease and how fast our device spits out paper.

All true, but excruciatingly boring and out of date.

#ArcDrive - rSX Anti-Ransomware PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   

March 12, 2020

Contact Greg Walters

262-370-4193 or greg@grwalters.com

Oconomowoc Technology Team Brings the Most Innovative and Secure Anti-Ransomware Protection to the Copier Industry with ArcDrive - rSX.

Oconomowoc, Wi. – Greg Walters, Inc. announces a new ransomware defense system embedded on all ArcDrive systems.

“Ransomware Attacks Double in 2019…” – McAFee

“Ransomware costs businesses more than $75 billion per year.” – Datto

“75% of companies infected with ransomware were running up-to-date endpoint protection…” – Sophos

“Ransomware is a threat to all of us, but for small and medium-sized companies, a ransomware attack is especially gruesome as it can destroy the business”, says Greg Walters, President, Greg Walters, Inc., “this is why Team ArcDrive is releasing ArcDrive - rSX.”

Most anti-ransomware programs rely on back-up files and remediation, ArcDrive - rSX takes a more aggressive posture.

Communist Red China & #Lexmark

Chinese and American

"State Governments' Failure to Scrutinize the Purchase of Lenovo and Lexmark Equipment Jeopardizes Data Security"

A report released from embargo on February 24, 2020, "Stealing From States: China's Power Play in IT Contracts" unearths scathing facts around Lexmark, the US military, Communist Red China, and state/federal contracts.

Lexmark doesn't want you reading the report - and for good reason.  You will be shocked to learn the degree to which Lexmark has been challenged in the past over security issues, and why being connected to or owned by a Chinese company is worthy of high concern. For instance, in 2016 the Chinese Communist Party passed the China Internet Security Law. This law requires any company headquartered in China, to keep data in-country and allow Chinese authorities to 'spot-check' on the data at any time.

"A Chinese military unit has been inserting tiny microchips into computer servers used by companies including Apple and Amazon that give China unprecedented backdoor access to computers and data, according to a new Bloomberg report."

So much for data security.

New to Copier Sales: B2B People Still Use Email. No, Really. They Do.

Instant message and chat are some of the most common modes of communication today. It’s true. Back in the old days, we had a phone, the Yellow Pages and the U.S. Postal Service to reach out to prospects. Sending out around 10 letters a week, each letter was typed on a typewriter and mailed. When we graduated to PCs and laser printers, we doubled our letters per week to 20! And for important prospects, we would FedEx an approach letter.

When we sent out a bulk mailing — which was hundreds of pieces — a good response rate was 1%, with an almost incalculable close rate. Today, with the proper software, marketing departments reach thousands of email boxes an hour and achieve a “click-through” rate of 3%.

Unfortunately, the saturation of marketing email has led many to either ignore their inbox or become experts at filtering out spam. Yet, everyone uses...read the rest here.

New to Copier Sales: How to Conduct a Meeting

If there is one constant in the copier world, it is the long, unending string of meetings you’ll attend, plan and conduct.

More than once I’ve heard it said: “If our company could sell meetings, we’d never run out.”

As experienced as we all are with attending and conducting meetings, it amazes me how often customer-facing get-togethers are unguided and formless.

I’m not sure why more time isn’t given to instruction on basic meeting structure and etiquette.

As a new copier rep, you’re expected to conduct sales appointments and closing meetings. All meetings have unique goals and objectives, and your dealership may have a standard meeting format. I’ve been on the receiving end of many copier, document management and managed print services sales presentations, and all have the same the broad structure of introduction(s), discussion, proposal, then close.

But the same structure doesn’t necessarily equal the same quality. The following...

Read the rest here.

Business and Bourbon with Greg - ArcDrive

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Join me for the first “Business and Bourbon with Greg” at Vino, Etc. in Oconomowoc, Wi. on January 8th, 2020. Sampling starts at 6:30 and intermixed business conversations until 7:30.

We’ll drink bourbon and casually converse about your business and the application of technology. Specifically, I will introduce my latest project, “ArcDrive for the SMB”. ArcDrive is a computer solution designed to help businesses cross the digital divide.

New to Copier Sales: How to Talk with Prospects

The first year of appointments presents many challenges to the new copier rep, not the least of which is building knowledge and confidence. There are many aspects of sales to remember when meeting prospects for the first time, including building rapport, qualifying, informing, establishing trust and moving to the next step. But beyond all the sales techniques and training, when you’re meeting across a desk, coffee table or board room the best thing you can do is have a conversation. A simple, human to human conversation.

New to Copier Sales: What is Document Management?

By now you know a copier is more than a copier — and a connected copier is capable of doing so much more.

In the early days, copiers simply copied. Output was the name of the game — that was it! Today our machines capture, ingest and scan almost as much — and in some cases more — than they produce. For you, the new copier rep, this may seem obvious. Document management has represented the future of the industry for over two decades.

Document management is a big subject, and I’ll try to explain it in general terms to help you understand the overall landscape. If your dealer has an application for document management, you will be trained in some manner on how to use and sell that specific solution.

New to Copier Sales: How to Conduct an Assessment

The assessment is a foundational piece of the sales process and all dealers, resellers, manufacturers have a method, even if it is ad-hoc. I am not suggesting you substitute my outline below for your dealer’s approach; I’m simply relaying some of the steps I’ve seen performed by successful selling professionals around the globe.

Needs assessment versus sales assessment

There are two broad types of assessments: An assessment determining solution requirements and an assessment geared to reveal the likelihood of a sale.

911 - 18 Years Later

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 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 is no more; a World Without Sin?

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

Here we are, 15 years later - The Twin Towers, replaced by that defiant Freedom Tower, slip deeper into the 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..."

I recommend going to YouTube and watch, the stupid #NFL won't let it be viewed anywhere else.  What a world we have become.

The Next Level in Selling: "The Converged".

"The convergence of human and machine, the biological and mechanical, is the result of a confluence of innovation, technology, and social flows destined from the beginning. This motion is unstoppable. Unstoppable. In addition to the high-thinking, man/machine convergence, we’re starting to see the impact of all things converging.

Consider the way connectivity, manufacturing, software development, business, society, and, yes, even managed print have converged into a borderless, almost transparent solution."

I postulated this idea back in 2013 over at the Imaging Channel,

Today, I'm promoting the idea of "The Converged Professional. (CP)

Who is a CP?