Don’t come at Scott Schnabel while spit-balling potential sales figures. The president of Frontier Business Products doesn’t want to speculate on just how high the Aurora, Colorado-based dealer can scale. When it comes to growth, everything’s on the table.
Frontier isn’t a flashy organization. Owned by the wife-husband duo of Carol and Peter Mitschke, the company weathered the pandemic storm and posted a 20% year-over-year sales increase from 2021 to 2022, and it currently sits at roughly $17.5 million in annual sales. Part of that influx can be attributed to its acquisition of Metro Copier Services in late 2021, and toward the tail end of 2022, the dealer cut the ribbon on a new sales office in Denver that can help accentuate that growth. Plus, the team is settling in nicely into its new Aurora headquarters.
Schnabel may not have visions of becoming the predominant dealer in the state of Colorado…wait, he’s not willing to concede that it won’t happen, either. But two years into his stint as president following extensive experience with both Centric Business Systems in Maryland and Connecticut Business Systems, Schnabel wants to let the chips fall where they may.
“I think putting a number to it would be an injustice,” Schnabel said of Frontier’s potential. “If you’re the best—and we’ve worked hard every day to do a great job supporting our clients—the ‘big’ comes along with that over time. There doesn’t need to be a top to that number, it can just keep growing.”
The Mitschkes tabbed Schnabel to quarterback the dealer’s moving-forward sales blueprint, and he’s relying on time-tested measures to catapult Frontier to the next level. His addition was part of a larger effort to bolster the company’s leadership team across services, operations, managed network services and sales, and the dealer has invested significantly in setting the stage for next-generation leadership.
Schnabel found in the Mitschkes kindred spirits; he was drawn to the ethical nature in which the firm does business and the team’s well-documented penchant for providing outstanding customer service. That Frontier was as focused on driving net-new business as it was cultivating wider and deeper relationships with existing clientele cemented his decision to head west and join the firm.
“The concept of taking good care of the customers after the sales process was over really stood out for me,” Schnabel explained. “One of the things we’ve had some success with on the sales side is really driving and focusing on net-new business. Certainly, having great service allows us to keep our current customer base, and our sales force has been highly focused and energized in going after net-new opportunities in the field. That’s really led our growth this past year and continues in 2023.”
The Mitschkes debuted their company in Boulder, Colorado, on Jan. 1, 1979, both having previously worked for A.B.Dick during an era when mimeograph machines and duplicators (a.k.a. ditto machines) as well as offset printing presses ruled. While there, Carol Mitschke sold Ricoh coated-paper copiers marketed under the A.B.Dick brand. A few years into Frontier’s journey, it was clear that mimeograph machines and Spirit duplicators were losing steam, so the Mitschkes turned to Ricoh and became a charter dealer in 1981.
Frontier’s focus continued to shift, and the dealer welcomed in RISO, Sharp, Brother, Lexmark and HP as it grew to offer both A3 and A4 solutions. The company’s reach spans from the Wyoming border to the New Mexico border, serving the needs of nonprofits, charter schools, legal, health care, government, faith-based organizations and commercial businesses, among others.
While Frontier continues to grow past its pre-pandemic trajectory, Carol Mitschke admits the 2020-2021 timeframe was extremely challenging. “We concentrated more on developing and adding growth to our managed network services and MPS business,” she said. “When the manufacturers experienced delays in shipping, we focused on selling used equipment when we could or focused on representing the suppliers who actually had product.”
MNS was a tricky proposition for Frontier in the early stages of its now eight-year odyssey. Trial and error could occasionally be an unforgiving teacher, but Mitschke believes the experience enabled Frontier to develop a better, stronger team with a broader portfolio of products while fostering enhanced managerial competencies. Today, it’s one of the high-growth vehicles.
Speaking of growth, Frontier has enjoyed significant traction with its back file scanning operations, which were up nearly 400% year over year. MPS has witnessed the same level of performance, and a 250% uptick validates the approach Frontier takes in charting client growth. MPS can be a tough sell, but Frontier comps its reps well to focus on it. Moreover, reps are conditioned to ensure they’re vetting clients for a match across the dealer’s entire catalog.
“We have a two-week new hire training process that puts a lot of emphasis on mapping out and looking at the client’s entire environment. That’s reinforced not only with new hires, but in every conversation our reps have with clients to ensure they’re doing a full overview of their output needs,” Schnabel said. “What’s propelled us the most is having SMEs support the reps in each area, which brings tremendous value to the conversation, the walkthrough with clients and mapping out their needs. Plus, our reps feel super comfortable starting the conversation, knowing they can lean on somebody. It can lead to a powerful discussion.”
Frontier’s sales and service excellence haven’t gone unnoticed. The dealership has won several manufacturer awards, from the Ricoh’s Circle of Excellence kudos to Sharp’s Platinum Service Level Award and the Hyakuman Kai distinction. Peter Mitschke has been providing oversight for the service department since the company’s inception, and he also garnered recognition from A.B.Dick during his time there.
With technical service locked down, Mitschke notes it mitigates the loss of existing accounts, enabling the team to focus on net-new. “Scott and I emphasize that we have to view things from the client’s perspective and keep their best interests in mind,” she said. “Whatever we do has to make sense for our customers. We believe in doing the right thing, even when no one is looking. That builds loyalty and keeps our clients coming back year after year, refresh after refresh.”
While not major players in the M&A theater, the Metro Copier Services deal was an optimal fit. Both the Mitschkes and Metro owner Roger Magelky shared the same views on customer service and taking care of employees. Magelky remained on board during the transition process, which went smoothly due to the synergies between the organizations. Schnabel and Mitschke wouldn’t rule out future deals; although nothing is imminent, they would relish the opportunity to add a managed IT organization or another hardware dealer. Additional product lines, such as mailing systems and security offerings, are also being considered.
“We’re looking for harmonious acquisitions that are going to complement our culture and share our values for high service,” Mitschke said. “That’s important in maintaining our culture and the satisfaction level of our client base.”
In addition to its leadership core, Frontier is also in hiring mode for other positions. The dealer made a significant investment in onboarding a recruitment team that builds on the organization’s crew of 75 teammates while mentoring them to follow the dealer’s principles. Schnabel anticipates adding sales reps to address the needs of the company’s 10,000 clients and continue the growth track.
Schnabel notes that word of mouth has been a boon for Frontier’s recruiting efforts, and the company’s reputation has led to quality hires across the board. Introducing and mentoring candidates is an all-hands-on-deck proposition, Mitschke added.
“When senior leadership is having interviews with these individuals, they can set the stage for a culture that’s caring internally and externally,” she said. “That’s something a lot of people are looking for today.”
Schnabel remains bullish on the prospect of Frontier becoming a substantial player in the Colorado markets and believes the building blocks are in place to make it a reality. Key to that will be the “deeper and wider” mantra with existing accounts, in addition to fishing for new clients. Whether it’s VoIP or AQUOS Boards, document management or scanning, the goal is to become the one-stop shop provider that can keep customers happy and firmly in place, such as the two clients that purchased equipment from Mitschke in January 1979 and are still on the books.
“While I don’t think we’ll become the dominant player size-wise in the immediate future, our objective is to become a dominant player when it comes to customer service,” she added. “One of the things we’re constantly focusing on is ensuring that we have a great customer experience so people always want to come back and do business. We want to have that dominant reputation in our marketplace for exceeding customers’ expectations. That will lead us to the dominance in size eventually.
“Peter’s Wife”: Mitschke a Pioneer in Female Office Dealer Leadership
It’s always been clear to Carol Mitschke that she would need to work hard to get ahead in the business world—that’s been a universal truism across time. But as a female leader in a male-dominated business world in the 1970s, when the so-called glass ceiling more closely resembled a steel roof, Mitschke quickly appreciated the notion that she would indeed need to work even harder than others to attain success. It may not have been fair, but it was the reality of the day.
“When Peter and I met with Japanese manufacturers about taking on their product line, they were hesitant to even give us the opportunity to become a dealer for them because we were woman-led,” said Mitschke, who alongside husband Peter are the ownership duo behind Frontier Business Products in Aurora, Colorado. “Peter went to the service meeting, and I sat in on the sales/leadership meeting. I was typically referred to as ‘Peter’s wife.’ I didn’t have my own identity.”
That provided all the motivation Mitschke needed to carve out her place in the industry. Frontier Business Products opened in January 1979, and she sold seven machines to three different businesses during that first month, two of which are still loyal clients. The Mitschkes had actually worked for A.B.Dick, but once they hung their own shingle, the safety net disappeared and she knew her ability to get paid hinged solely on her ability to push product.
Mitschke looks across the industry with satisfaction these days. Forty-four years have yielded dramatic changes in the attitudes toward females at the helm of corporations. The days of being “Peter’s wife” or “Mrs. Peter Mitschke” are long gone.
“When I faced those challenges, I would typically be the only woman in these business meetings,” she noted. “We’re not the anomaly anymore. Social and cultural changes, as well as the success that other women business leaders experienced, have really opened the door, so we see more and more women leading businesses today both in our industry and others. It certainly has been an interesting journey from 40 years ago to where we are today, where women are much more accepted as leaders in business.”
