{"id":60658,"date":"2024-06-20T09:57:08","date_gmt":"2024-06-20T16:57:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/?p=60658"},"modified":"2024-06-20T10:07:52","modified_gmt":"2024-06-20T17:07:52","slug":"on-a-shoestring-dealers-offer-their-tack-on-assisting-non-profit-and-budget-conscious-organizations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/the-week-in-imaging-twii\/editors-blog\/2024\/06\/on-a-shoestring-dealers-offer-their-tack-on-assisting-non-profit-and-budget-conscious-organizations\/","title":{"rendered":"On a Shoestring: Dealers Offer their Strategy on Assisting Non-Profit and Budget-Conscious Organizations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCan you do any better on the monthly payment?\u201d This is a refrain that has been repeated ad nauseam since the beginning of time, or more specifically, since 1895, when banking mogul Frank J. Mackey\u2019s Household Finance Corp. became the first financial company to offer installment loans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the course of the next 130-odd years, various sales segments found they could bake their profits into that monthly number. Sure, the used car industry is the poster child for setting payments that exceed the payback plus the cost of borrowing money and a reasonable profit margin. Thus, the art of haggling was developed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obviously, the consumer auto industry is a far cry from office technology, but that doesn\u2019t mean the business client won\u2019t try to bargain for the most favorable terms. In some cases, the bargaining is out of necessity, particularly for non-profit organizations with limited resources. In this installment of our State of the Industry report on leasing, our dealer panel provides insight into dealing with clients who are driven by price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mason Smith, MTS Office Systems<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Mason Smith, president and CEO of MTS Office Systems in Greenville, South Carolina, notes his company has non-profit pricing, and such clients already have a current lease in place. Sales reps are sensitive to the needs of nonprofits and seek to provide maximum savings for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the same token, the realities of inflation and rising interest rates have long since conditioned bargain hunters to temper their expectations. \u201cMost clients now expect rising costs because they have seen it in their personal lives and professional lives,\u201d Smith noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manufacturer Assistance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Josh Salkin, EDGE Business Systems<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately, dealers aren\u2019t solely on the hook for providing the lowest possible pricing. According to Josh Salkin, a partner with EDGE Business Systems, OEMs can help provide relief to a number of key verticals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur manufacturers have some amazing programs for nonprofits, legal, health care and religious segments,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Tom Ouellette, Budget Document Technology<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Tom Ouellette is in total agreement. The president of Budget Document Technology in Lewiston, Maine, pointed to Konica Minolta as a prime example of a manufacturer providing a pricing program to benefit cash-strapped organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a strong non-profit program that allows dealers to pass on a discount to those who qualify as nonprofit,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a nice program and we do well with non-profit clients because of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Travis Lemke, GFC<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

For some dealers, there isn\u2019t wiggle room to shave a few dollars from a lease. Travis Lemke, vice president of leasing for Gordon Flesch Company of Madison, Wisconsin, points out that it\u2019s apparent when a client is steadfast on getting an agreement suited heavily in their favor. But the terms and conditions negotiating isn\u2019t going to result in a special pricing deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn the leasing side, we have standardized our pricing across all verticals to give the most competitive pricing across our entire customer base,\u201d Lemke said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
David Carson, Plus Inc.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

For the most extreme of hard-luck cases, oftentimes a client may be better off in renting from the dealer. David Carson, president of Plus Inc. in Greenville, South Carolina, notes that if a client on a shoestring cannot afford to pay $5,000 or $10,000 for a new copier, it\u2019s better off working out a monthly payment plan with a dealer that is budget friendly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere comes a point where they\u2019re better off paying $100 a month or whatever by leasing it through the dealer, so that it\u2019s just a payment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cCan you do any better on the monthly payment?\u201d This is a refrain that has been repeated ad nauseam since the beginning of time, or more specifically, since 1895, when banking mogul Frank J. Mackey\u2019s Household Finance Corp. became the first financial company to offer installment loans. Over the course of the next 130-odd years, various sales segments found they could bake their profits into that monthly number. Sure, the used car industry is the poster child for setting payments that exceed the payback plus the cost of borrowing money and a reasonable profit margin. Thus, the art of haggling was developed. Obviously, the consumer auto industry is a far cry from office technology, but that doesn\u2019t mean the business client won\u2019t try to bargain for the most favorable terms. In some cases, the bargaining is out of necessity, particularly for non-profit organizations with limited resources. In this installment of our State of the Industry report on leasing, our dealer panel provides insight into dealing with clients who are driven by price. Mason Smith, president and CEO of MTS Office Systems in Greenville, South Carolina, notes his company has non-profit pricing, and such clients already have a current lease in place. Sales reps are sensitive to the needs of nonprofits and seek to provide maximum savings for them. By the same token, the realities of inflation and rising interest rates have long since conditioned bargain hunters to temper their expectations. \u201cMost clients now expect rising costs because they have seen it in their personal lives and professional lives,\u201d Smith noted. Manufacturer Assistance Fortunately, dealers aren\u2019t solely on the hook for providing the lowest possible pricing. According to Josh Salkin, a partner with EDGE Business Systems, OEMs can help provide relief to a number of key verticals. \u201cOur manufacturers have some amazing programs for nonprofits, legal, health care and religious segments,\u201d he said. Tom Ouellette is in total agreement. The president of Budget Document Technology in Lewiston, Maine, pointed to Konica Minolta as a prime example of a manufacturer providing a pricing program to benefit cash-strapped organizations. \u201cIt\u2019s a strong non-profit program that allows dealers to pass on a discount to those who qualify as nonprofit,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a nice program and we do well with non-profit clients because of it.\u201d For some dealers, there isn\u2019t wiggle room to shave a few dollars from a lease. Travis Lemke, vice president of leasing for Gordon Flesch Company of Madison, Wisconsin, points out that it\u2019s apparent when a client is steadfast on getting an agreement suited heavily in their favor. But the terms and conditions negotiating isn\u2019t going to result in a special pricing deal. \u201cOn the leasing side, we have standardized our pricing across all verticals to give the most competitive pricing across our entire customer base,\u201d Lemke said. For the most extreme of hard-luck cases, oftentimes a client may be better off in renting from the dealer. David Carson, president of Plus Inc. in Greenville, South Carolina, notes that if a client on a shoestring cannot afford to pay $5,000 or $10,000 for a new copier, it\u2019s better off working out a monthly payment plan with a dealer that is budget friendly. \u201cThere comes a point where they\u2019re better off paying $100 a month or whatever by leasing it through the dealer, so that it\u2019s just a payment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":60659,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[80,1650,82,83,3229,1638],"tags":[4275,2242],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60658"}],"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\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60658"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60661,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60658\/revisions\/60661"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}