{"id":16300,"date":"2016-02-11T16:46:07","date_gmt":"2016-02-12T00:46:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/?p=16300"},"modified":"2016-09-15T09:22:09","modified_gmt":"2016-09-15T16:22:09","slug":"the-wrong-way-to-approach-the-production-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/the-week-in-imaging-twii\/editors-blog\/2016\/02\/the-wrong-way-to-approach-the-production-market\/","title":{"rendered":"The Wrong Way to Approach the Production Market"},"content":{"rendered":"

This month in the print version of ENX the main feature is \u201cEstablishing Credibility in the Production Print Market.\u201d With that in mind we\u2019re continuing with a production print theme in this week\u2019s edition of the ENX\/The Week in Imaging newsletter by identifying the wrong way to approach the production print market. As you may or may not expect, there seems to be a fair amount of consensus on the wrong way from the industry experts.<\/p>\n

\"John

John Corley<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe worst thing a dealer can do to undermine their credibility is to treat this market as if it was just a \u2018big copier\u2019 market,\u201d observes John Corely, president, Channel Partner Operations, Xerox. \u201cTo rely on selling a lower monthly cost just won\u2019t cut it. A consultative approach with a clear understanding of what your customers need is a must.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you ask Kent Villarreal, senior product manager, product planning and marketing at Sharp Electronics Corp., the worst thing a dealer who is looking to establish credibility in the production space can do is treat production equipment as if it were a traditional workgroup MFP.<\/p>\n

\"Kent

Kent Villarreal<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThis is a special segment of the market and needs to be treated with care,\u201d he says. \u201cThese customers are producing their marketing collateral and for in-plants, CRDs, and Print for Pays, that\u2019s their product. If they\u2019re not sold the right machine, that has all kinds of repercussions. If they\u2019re sold the right machine and not trained correctly and supported correctly, then they\u2019ll likely never sell in that market again. It\u2019s easy to get a bad name.\u201d<\/p>\n

John Henze, director of marketing for Fiery business, EFI, cautions against going into the production space with a box mover mentality.<\/p>\n

\"JohnHenzeHeadshot\"

John Henze<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cAll you have to compete on is price, Fiery product is too expensive, not completive, but study after study shows price is not the most four or five most important things. Price is important, I\u2019m not trying to dismiss it. It\u2019s about the dealer adding value, understanding what the customer wants, their pain points and how they can help them better optimize the way the schedule the production of their jobs and provide them with tools that help them manage their ROI and productivity and help them automate repetitive tasks, help the customer become an expert in a particular are like color so they can charge more or design services, that\u2019s what they have to do. For a dealer that doesn\u2019t realize that or isn\u2019t willing to invest in that, and who\u2019s been selling a bunch of MFPs and think they can go in and do that with production at a much higher price, it just doesn\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Joe

Joe Contreras<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cNot hiring staff and not fully making the commitment,\u201d opines Joe Contreras, director, product and solutions marketing, Toshiba America Business Solutions. \u201cDon\u2019t test the waters, you\u2019re either going to make the commitment or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brian Dollard, director of marketing for Canon U.S.A. cautions against using the word \u201ccopier\u201d when selling into higher end production print environments.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you use that word right away they\u2019re going to know, you\u2019re out there selling copiers on a daily basis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another foible is not learning about the customer.<\/p>\n

\"brian

Brian Dollard<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t go in there and try to learn about their company, their unique pain points, their unique applications, you\u2019re going to get sniffed out real quick,\u201d states Dollard. \u201cWhat a lot of enterprise sales people will do is they think they\u2019re doing homework by going to a customer\u2019s website and saying, \u2018They\u2019ve got a Xerox DocuColor (check model number) therefore I know I can replace this product with that product.\u2019\u00a0 So they go in and say, \u2018I know you\u2019ve got this, I can lower your price by giving you this product.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The issue he sees is that there isn\u2019t a conversation about their business or acknowledgement that they are there to try and solve a problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only value they\u2019re bringing to the table is to reduce their monthly cost which is important, but these people are savvy and will sniff that out pretty quick and know that this guy is just working off a price list as opposed to understanding my business and looking at how to lower my operating costs and increase my efficiencies,\u201d says Dollard.<\/p>\n

\"Jim

Jim Coriddi<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe worst thing a dealer can do is not enter into the production print market at all. Now is the time for dealers who have not yet dipped a toe into production print to add these capabilities to their portfolio,\u201d adds Jim Coriddi, Vice President, Dealer Division, Ricoh Americas Corporation.
\nThe three primary benefits that dealers will reap by adding these capabilities include broadening the customer set that they can approach, increasing volumes, and keeping competition out of their accounts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn an industry where overall volume is decreasing, adding production equipment to a dealer\u2019s portfolio provides them with an entry into a space where volumes can be increased,\u201d observes Coriddi. \u201cThat said, for those already planning to enter or those already part of the market, another potential detriment is not ensuring they have qualified staff (or trusted service partners) in place to understand the production customers\u2019 needs and that have the know-how to help customers grow their businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ricoh works with its dealers to ensure they avoid these pitfalls.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoing more than just offering a piece of hardware\u2013 Ricoh learns about its dealer\u2019s businesses, helping them build customized production plans for their local markets and\u00a0 ensuring they have the right combination of equipment, software and services to meet and exceed expectations of those markets,\u201d concludes Coriddi.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This month in the print version of ENX the main feature is \u201cEstablishing Credibility in the Production Print Market.\u201d With that in mind we\u2019re continuing with a production print theme in this week\u2019s edition of the ENX\/The Week in Imaging newsletter by identifying the wrong way to approach the production print market. As you may or may not expect, there seems to be a fair amount of consensus on the wrong way from the industry experts. \u201cThe worst thing a dealer can do to undermine their credibility is to treat this market as if it was just a \u2018big copier\u2019 market,\u201d observes John Corely, president, Channel Partner Operations, Xerox. \u201cTo rely on selling a lower monthly cost just won\u2019t cut it. A consultative approach with a clear understanding of what your customers need is a must.\u201d If you ask Kent Villarreal, senior product manager, product planning and marketing at Sharp Electronics Corp., the worst thing a dealer who is looking to establish credibility in the production space can do is treat production equipment as if it were a traditional workgroup MFP. \u201cThis is a special segment of the market and needs to be treated with care,\u201d he says. \u201cThese customers are producing their marketing collateral and for in-plants, CRDs, and Print for Pays, that\u2019s their product. If they\u2019re not sold the right machine, that has all kinds of repercussions. If they\u2019re sold the right machine and not trained correctly and supported correctly, then they\u2019ll likely never sell in that market again. It\u2019s easy to get a bad name.\u201d John Henze, director of marketing for Fiery business, EFI, cautions against going into the production space with a box mover mentality. \u201cAll you have to compete on is price, Fiery product is too expensive, not completive, but study after study shows price is not the most four or five most important things. Price is important, I\u2019m not trying to dismiss it. It\u2019s about the dealer adding value, understanding what the customer wants, their pain points and how they can help them better optimize the way the schedule the production of their jobs and provide them with tools that help them manage their ROI and productivity and help them automate repetitive tasks, help the customer become an expert in a particular are like color so they can charge more or design services, that\u2019s what they have to do. For a dealer that doesn\u2019t realize that or isn\u2019t willing to invest in that, and who\u2019s been selling a bunch of MFPs and think they can go in and do that with production at a much higher price, it just doesn\u2019t work.\u201d \u201cNot hiring staff and not fully making the commitment,\u201d opines Joe Contreras, director, product and solutions marketing, Toshiba America Business Solutions. \u201cDon\u2019t test the waters, you\u2019re either going to make the commitment or not.\u201d Brian Dollard, director of marketing for Canon U.S.A. cautions against using the word \u201ccopier\u201d when selling into higher end production print environments. \u201cIf you use that word right away they\u2019re going to know, you\u2019re out there selling copiers on a daily basis.\u201d Another foible is not learning about the customer. \u201cIf you don\u2019t go in there and try to learn about their company, their unique pain points, their unique applications, you\u2019re going to get sniffed out real quick,\u201d states Dollard. \u201cWhat a lot of enterprise sales people will do is they think they\u2019re doing homework by going to a customer\u2019s website and saying, \u2018They\u2019ve got a Xerox DocuColor (check model number) therefore I know I can replace this product with that product.\u2019\u00a0 So they go in and say, \u2018I know you\u2019ve got this, I can lower your price by giving you this product.\u2019\u201d The issue he sees is that there isn\u2019t a conversation about their business or acknowledgement that they are there to try and solve a problem. \u201cThe only value they\u2019re bringing to the table is to reduce their monthly cost which is important, but these people are savvy and will sniff that out pretty quick and know that this guy is just working off a price list as opposed to understanding my business and looking at how to lower my operating costs and increase my efficiencies,\u201d says Dollard. \u201cThe worst thing a dealer can do is not enter into the production print market at all. Now is the time for dealers who have not yet dipped a toe into production print to add these capabilities to their portfolio,\u201d adds Jim Coriddi, Vice President, Dealer Division, Ricoh Americas Corporation. The three primary benefits that dealers will reap by adding these capabilities include broadening the customer set that they can approach, increasing volumes, and keeping competition out of their accounts. \u201cIn an industry where overall volume is decreasing, adding production equipment to a dealer\u2019s portfolio provides them with an entry into a space where volumes can be increased,\u201d observes Coriddi. \u201cThat said, for those already planning to enter or those already part of the market, another potential detriment is not ensuring they have qualified staff (or trusted service partners) in place to understand the production customers\u2019 needs and that have the know-how to help customers grow their businesses.\u201d Ricoh works with its dealers to ensure they avoid these pitfalls. \u201cDoing more than just offering a piece of hardware\u2013 Ricoh learns about its dealer\u2019s businesses, helping them build customized production plans for their local markets and\u00a0 ensuring they have the right combination of equipment, software and services to meet and exceed expectations of those markets,\u201d concludes Coriddi.    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":16337,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[80],"tags":[1120],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16300"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16300"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16300\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16339,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16300\/revisions\/16339"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}