In mid-November, Toshiba America Business Solutions (Toshiba) announced it had acquired Electro Imaging Systems (EIS), based in Livermore, CA. Although it was Toshiba’s 56th acquisition overall, it was the first for the manufacturer since 2008, when it obtained HPS Office Read More

As we move to the fourth installment of challenges facing our cast of Elite Dealers, we’ve dedicated this piece entirely to one of the biggest obstacles office technology dealerships encounter in growing their business: The ability to recruit and maintain quality employees. Read More

The third part in our series of the top challenges facing the Elite Dealer ranks in 2018 kicks off with a subject that has garnered momentum in recent years, not only from an office technology point of view but on the national stage as well: security. The threat of cyberattacks Read More

The key to continued success after 25 years on the job is to avoid complacency and take a fresh approach to one’s line of work. For Grace Hellmold, director of marketing communications and events for Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America (SIICA), the thrill of walking Read More

PHOENIX—Though the Sharp dealer event held Nov. 28-Dec. 1 at the J.W. Marriott Desert Ridge Resort may have been dubbed Pulse 2017, perhaps a “Members Only” theme would have been more appropriate. During the general session held on the first full day of the meetings, Sharp Read More

This is always an exciting time of the year. As office technology dealers close the book on 2017, sales departments prepare to focus on the coming year. The teams have huddled to forge a game plan that will make 2018 their best year ever. These plans are either crafted to build Read More

Believe it or not, while we were capable of filling 140 pages in our December issue with the 2017 Elite Dealer profiles—and trust me, that is a LOT of information jammed between the covers—we were holding back just a little bit of information. OK, so maybe we could’ve tacked on Read More

Employee empowerment is one of the critical ingredients required in enabling an office technology dealership, or any business for that matter, to realize its fullest potential. Finding and developing the right individuals who know what to do once the harness is in their hands is Read More

For the document imaging industry, 2017 has been highly eventful, including a spate of new technology innovations, the continued movement toward managed services and the onslaught of mergers and acquisitions among dealers and manufacturers. M&A activity is another indication Read More

It is at this time of year when we’re reminded of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” the tale of a narrow-minded businessman whose only concern in life was the unrelenting pursuit of profit. Ebeneezer Scrooge’s sense of family and community was nonexistent; any matter that did Read More

The major culture change that transpired at Advanced Imaging Solutions (AIS) of Las Vegas required a reinvention of the dealership as a service organization as opposed to merely being a copier seller. One of the greatest struggles this entails is changing the mindset of clients Read More

There’s a distinct modus operandi when it comes to preferred communication choices among Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials. Ken VandenHaute, vice president of sales for Cleveland-based Meritech, framed each segment in a manner which rings true. “The older generation is Read More

While it has been with us for quite some time now, the world of analytics has garnered mainstream attention, particularly in the last 10 years, as we seek to measure opportunity and success through numbers. Perhaps this is an oversimplified interpretation of the movement, but Read More

Earlier this year, Muratec held a Label University during ITEX 2017 to open dealers’ minds to the possibilities that exist in offering dedicated digital label printers. How this movement will fare remains to be seen, but Muratec’s acquisition by Konica Minolta will add Read More

Someone once told Rick Lingon that “life is made with time and effort.” During a nearly 20-year career, the vice president of sales and marketing at Virginia Business Systems (VBS) of Richmond, VA, has invested in both elements to forge an experience that has been successful and Read More