{"id":5423,"date":"2013-07-10T11:21:46","date_gmt":"2013-07-10T15:21:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theweekinimaging.com\/?p=5423"},"modified":"2013-07-10T11:21:46","modified_gmt":"2013-07-10T15:21:46","slug":"the-back-story-behind-the-applied-imagingricoh-strategic-agreement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/feature-articles\/2013\/07\/the-back-story-behind-the-applied-imagingricoh-strategic-agreement\/","title":{"rendered":"The Back Story Behind the Applied Imaging\/Ricoh Strategic Agreement"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"John<\/a>

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

A couple of weeks ago we presented a news item on Applied Imaging, a Michigan office technology solutions dealership, entering into a strategic agreement with Ricoh to acquire various Ricoh accounts in Traverse City, MI and Northern Michigan. The agreement took effect May 1, 2013 but didn\u2019t hit the wires until June.<\/p>\n

In case you missed it, Applied Imaging, a Ricoh dealer for the past 20 years and now Ricoh\u2019s largest dealer in Michigan, is supporting the sales, service, and supplies for select Ricoh commercial accounts in Traverse City and Northern Michigan areas from Alpena to Mackinaw City. It\u2019s too soon to tell if this is the beginning of an industry trend or a Ricoh business strategy, although a statement from Jim Corridi, vice president, Dealer Division, Ricoh Americas Corporation, in the press release announcing the agreement, disputes that.<\/p>\n

\u201c[This] is an example of Ricoh\u2019s commitment to expand our business and collaborate with our dealer community. While this agreement with Applied Imaging is not part of a national strategy for Ricoh commercial accounts, we have identified a unique opportunity in Michigan to provide a stronger collective Ricoh footprint in this segment and look forward to continued success for our customers in the area.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reading between the lines, this move underscores the fact that nobody tends to do service better than an independent dealer, and that\u2019s certainly an area where Applied Imaging excels.<\/p>\n

Recently I spoke with John Lowery, president of Applied Imaging, about how this agreement came about. \u201cRicoh has already known if they had opportunities where we could partner like this one, that we were interested,\u201d he notes.<\/p>\n

Ricoh approached Lowery last October about taking over their Traverse City branch. \u201cRicoh felt it made sense and we felt it made sense and we went ahead and did it,\u201d says Lowery. \u201cIt\u2019s really a terrific example of Ricoh\u2019s willingness to partner with their dealers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of the accounts Applied Imaging is now responsible for were former IKON accounts along with a fair amount of Ricoh Global. Most of the accounts are SMBs although they recently won a large account with the Michigan National Guard thanks in large part to being able to say they now have an office and technicians in Traverse City.<\/p>\n

Although Lowery won\u2019t describe this as a trend, he feels that other manufacturers should consider this approach. \u201cAre they best at manufacturing or are they best at servicing large accounts?\u201d asks Lowery. \u201cThey need to focus on making sure that they\u2019re making the right decisions for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

From a geographic perspective, there are a number of areas where it makes sense for manufacturers to partner with their dealers rather than taking a direct approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m involved on dealer councils and the independent dealer community wants to see a larger percentage of the business come from independent dealers,\u201d says Lowery. \u201cThere was a point with Ricoh where the distribution balance was weighted more heavily with Ricoh than the independent. We\u2019re seeing that shift and it\u2019s starting to come back and the growth of the independents is also having a big impact on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Applied Imaging has added staff to service these new accounts, including hiring all the Ricoh employees who were working for Rich direct in those markets, ensuring continuity with the new client base. \u201cThe only thing that changed is that each tech now has an Applied Imaging vehicle rather than using their cars, giving Applied Imaging more exposure,\u201d states Lowery.<\/p>\n

For Applied Imaging, this is an opportunity to grow their presence in these two markets as well as increase their market share with additional accounts. \u201cWe went from managing 12,000 accounts in February and then after two acquisitions representing about 1,500 machines\u2014one in Detroit and one in the Traverse City area\u2014and the Ricoh [acquisition], we added another 1,500 on top of that,\u201d states Lowery. \u201cWe now have over 15,000 units under contract now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lowery isn\u2019t certain why Ricoh selected Applied Imaging, noting they had other options. \u201cWe had a great relationship with them for a long time and they knew we wanted to increase our footprint,\u201d he speculates. \u201cThey were looking for a dealer that had strong financial backing and one that had been around for a long time. We\u2019ve been representing them since 1987 and they know us pretty well, I don\u2019t want to say it was an easy decision, but it was the most credible decision for them to make.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A couple of weeks ago we presented a news item on Applied Imaging, a Michigan office technology solutions dealership, entering into a strategic agreement with Ricoh to acquire various Ricoh accounts in Traverse City, MI and Northern Michigan. The agreement took effect May 1, 2013 but didn\u2019t hit the wires until June. In case you missed it, Applied Imaging, a Ricoh dealer for the past 20 years and now Ricoh\u2019s largest dealer in Michigan, is supporting the sales, service, and supplies for select Ricoh commercial accounts in Traverse City and Northern Michigan areas from Alpena to Mackinaw City. It\u2019s too soon to tell if this is the beginning of an industry trend or a Ricoh business strategy, although a statement from Jim Corridi, vice president, Dealer Division, Ricoh Americas Corporation, in the press release announcing the agreement, disputes that. \u201c[This] is an example of Ricoh\u2019s commitment to expand our business and collaborate with our dealer community. While this agreement with Applied Imaging is not part of a national strategy for Ricoh commercial accounts, we have identified a unique opportunity in Michigan to provide a stronger collective Ricoh footprint in this segment and look forward to continued success for our customers in the area.\u201d Reading between the lines, this move underscores the fact that nobody tends to do service better than an independent dealer, and that\u2019s certainly an area where Applied Imaging excels. Recently I spoke with John Lowery, president of Applied Imaging, about how this agreement came about. \u201cRicoh has already known if they had opportunities where we could partner like this one, that we were interested,\u201d he notes. Ricoh approached Lowery last October about taking over their Traverse City branch. \u201cRicoh felt it made sense and we felt it made sense and we went ahead and did it,\u201d says Lowery. \u201cIt\u2019s really a terrific example of Ricoh\u2019s willingness to partner with their dealers.\u201d Some of the accounts Applied Imaging is now responsible for were former IKON accounts along with a fair amount of Ricoh Global. Most of the accounts are SMBs although they recently won a large account with the Michigan National Guard thanks in large part to being able to say they now have an office and technicians in Traverse City. Although Lowery won\u2019t describe this as a trend, he feels that other manufacturers should consider this approach. \u201cAre they best at manufacturing or are they best at servicing large accounts?\u201d asks Lowery. \u201cThey need to focus on making sure that they\u2019re making the right decisions for them.\u201d From a geographic perspective, there are a number of areas where it makes sense for manufacturers to partner with their dealers rather than taking a direct approach. \u201cI\u2019m involved on dealer councils and the independent dealer community wants to see a larger percentage of the business come from independent dealers,\u201d says Lowery. \u201cThere was a point with Ricoh where the distribution balance was weighted more heavily with Ricoh than the independent. We\u2019re seeing that shift and it\u2019s starting to come back and the growth of the independents is also having a big impact on that.\u201d Applied Imaging has added staff to service these new accounts, including hiring all the Ricoh employees who were working for Rich direct in those markets, ensuring continuity with the new client base. \u201cThe only thing that changed is that each tech now has an Applied Imaging vehicle rather than using their cars, giving Applied Imaging more exposure,\u201d states Lowery. For Applied Imaging, this is an opportunity to grow their presence in these two markets as well as increase their market share with additional accounts. \u201cWe went from managing 12,000 accounts in February and then after two acquisitions representing about 1,500 machines\u2014one in Detroit and one in the Traverse City area\u2014and the Ricoh [acquisition], we added another 1,500 on top of that,\u201d states Lowery. \u201cWe now have over 15,000 units under contract now.\u201d Lowery isn\u2019t certain why Ricoh selected Applied Imaging, noting they had other options. \u201cWe had a great relationship with them for a long time and they knew we wanted to increase our footprint,\u201d he speculates. \u201cThey were looking for a dealer that had strong financial backing and one that had been around for a long time. We\u2019ve been representing them since 1987 and they know us pretty well, I don\u2019t want to say it was an easy decision, but it was the most credible decision for them to make.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5424,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[82],"tags":[368,655,375,312],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5423"}],"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=5423"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5427,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5423\/revisions\/5427"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}