{"id":62466,"date":"2024-11-07T12:27:06","date_gmt":"2024-11-07T20:27:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/?p=62466"},"modified":"2024-11-13T12:51:06","modified_gmt":"2024-11-13T20:51:06","slug":"epson-difference-maker-elliot-williams-loves-solving-customer-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/the-week-in-imaging-twii\/editors-blog\/2024\/11\/epson-difference-maker-elliot-williams-loves-solving-customer-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"Epson Difference Maker Elliot Williams Loves Solving Customer Challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Elliot Williams<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s amazing the depth of information you can absorb simply by listening. Elliot Williams knows this to be true. The director of product marketing for Business Imaging at Epson could easily throw around the weight of his long career, but a know-it-all attitude is the first step toward stagnation. Williams prefers to listen, ask questions and get valuable feedback. Problem solve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI always start with listening\u2014what does the customer want, what are they trying to do,\u201d said Williams, a 2024 ENX Magazine<\/em> Difference Maker. \u201cThen I ask, \u2018what can we build out of that?\u2019 Too often people want to start by telling you the answers. And you can\u2019t provide the right answers if you don\u2019t listen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Williams has the benefit of offering a broad perspective, having assumed roles in engineering, finance and marketing. He\u2019s worked with Fortune 500 companies and start-ups\u2014domestically and internationally\u2014leading new product launches and sometimes reverse engineering to get to the bottom of what clients are looking to accomplish. Whether it\u2019s his brain, leveraging contacts and connections, or leaning on prior experience, \u201cfiguring it out\u201d makes his job more gratifying and fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Williams has enjoyed a vibrant (almost) 40-year career, having entered the business world with Ford Motor Company as a manufacturing engineer after graduating from the University of Michigan. After a brief stint with Intel, his foray into the business side of printing garnered momentum, with 10-plus year stops at HP and Memjet. The HP stop was fortuitous timing, as the company wanted to enter the office space and he helped usher in significant printer lines. Williams joined Epson as a senior product manager in 2014 and was one of the major players involved in the launch of the WorkForce Enterprise line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unchartered Waters<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across his career, taking on challenges, entering new customer segments and getting involved in product launches speak to his love of critical thinking. In essence, it\u2019s simply the art of discovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe common theme with every place I\u2019ve been is that I\u2019ve worked on new business ventures, new opportunities\u2014all new things,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m always into the gray space of how do we do something, try something we\u2019ve never done before, entering a new category, charting new territory.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of his greatest influences was Bill McGlynn, whom Williams worked under at both HP and Memjet. A learner and puzzle solver like his prot\u00e9g\u00e9, McGlynn imparted on Williams a \u201cseize the opportunity\u201d philosophy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHis view was always the right people with the right purpose can do wonderful things against all odds,\u201d Williams noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As 2024 turns the page, Williams believes part of the growth path entails Epson embracing the role of \u201cup and comer,\u201d providing unique value to customers. His is not just another laser printer company, it\u2019s a vehicle to deliver a different solution to the marketplace. Bringing new, innovative products and entering new categories will continue to be Epson\u2019s niche.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Telling Epson\u2019s story to a more diverse audience and shining a light on offerings the client wasn\u2019t aware of will enable both Williams and his company to gain traction and visibility. \u201cIt\u2019s about doing more case studies, more customer quotes, more proof points, giving people reference accounts so they can believe and understand how are customers benefiting from using our technology. We have a great story to tell.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the home front, Williams and his wife, Elllecia, have been married for 26 years. They have a daughter, Eva, and son, Cameron. The couple recently returned from a vacation to Peru, where they had the opportunity to visit Machu Picchu and other historical sites. Williams\u2019 jobs have allowed him to visit many countries, including Germany, Hungary, Singapore, Spain, France, Brazil and Argentina. Egypt provided the \u2018wow factor\u2019 with the pyramids and thousands of years of rich history, with Greece. The Williamses even took a memorable cruise down the Nile.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s amazing the depth of information you can absorb simply by listening. Elliot Williams knows this to be true. The director of product marketing for Business Imaging at Epson could easily throw around the weight of his long career, but a know-it-all attitude is the first step toward stagnation. Williams prefers to listen, ask questions and get valuable feedback. Problem solve. \u201cI always start with listening\u2014what does the customer want, what are they trying to do,\u201d said Williams, a 2024 ENX Magazine Difference Maker. \u201cThen I ask, \u2018what can we build out of that?\u2019 Too often people want to start by telling you the answers. And you can\u2019t provide the right answers if you don\u2019t listen.\u201d Williams has the benefit of offering a broad perspective, having assumed roles in engineering, finance and marketing. He\u2019s worked with Fortune 500 companies and start-ups\u2014domestically and internationally\u2014leading new product launches and sometimes reverse engineering to get to the bottom of what clients are looking to accomplish. Whether it\u2019s his brain, leveraging contacts and connections, or leaning on prior experience, \u201cfiguring it out\u201d makes his job more gratifying and fun. Williams has enjoyed a vibrant (almost) 40-year career, having entered the business world with Ford Motor Company as a manufacturing engineer after graduating from the University of Michigan. After a brief stint with Intel, his foray into the business side of printing garnered momentum, with 10-plus year stops at HP and Memjet. The HP stop was fortuitous timing, as the company wanted to enter the office space and he helped usher in significant printer lines. Williams joined Epson as a senior product manager in 2014 and was one of the major players involved in the launch of the WorkForce Enterprise line. Unchartered Waters Across his career, taking on challenges, entering new customer segments and getting involved in product launches speak to his love of critical thinking. In essence, it\u2019s simply the art of discovery. \u201cThe common theme with every place I\u2019ve been is that I\u2019ve worked on new business ventures, new opportunities\u2014all new things,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m always into the gray space of how do we do something, try something we\u2019ve never done before, entering a new category, charting new territory.\u201d One of his greatest influences was Bill McGlynn, whom Williams worked under at both HP and Memjet. A learner and puzzle solver like his prot\u00e9g\u00e9, McGlynn imparted on Williams a \u201cseize the opportunity\u201d philosophy. \u201cHis view was always the right people with the right purpose can do wonderful things against all odds,\u201d Williams noted. As 2024 turns the page, Williams believes part of the growth path entails Epson embracing the role of \u201cup and comer,\u201d providing unique value to customers. His is not just another laser printer company, it\u2019s a vehicle to deliver a different solution to the marketplace. Bringing new, innovative products and entering new categories will continue to be Epson\u2019s niche. Telling Epson\u2019s story to a more diverse audience and shining a light on offerings the client wasn\u2019t aware of will enable both Williams and his company to gain traction and visibility. \u201cIt\u2019s about doing more case studies, more customer quotes, more proof points, giving people reference accounts so they can believe and understand how are customers benefiting from using our technology. We have a great story to tell.\u201d On the home front, Williams and his wife, Elllecia, have been married for 26 years. They have a daughter, Eva, and son, Cameron. The couple recently returned from a vacation to Peru, where they had the opportunity to visit Machu Picchu and other historical sites. Williams\u2019 jobs have allowed him to visit many countries, including Germany, Hungary, Singapore, Spain, France, Brazil and Argentina. Egypt provided the \u2018wow factor\u2019 with the pyramids and thousands of years of rich history, with Greece. The Williamses even took a memorable cruise down the Nile.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":60051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3626,80,1650,82,84,1638],"tags":[2191,4019],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62466"}],"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=62466"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62466\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62482,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62466\/revisions\/62482"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}