![\"Jerry](\"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Jerry-Blaine.jpg\")
<\/a>Jerry Blaine<\/p><\/div>\n
Jerry Blaine isn\u2019t satisfied.<\/p>\n
He owns one of the top office technology dealerships in the country, he\u2019s got one of the most tenured sales forces in the industry, and business is good. What\u2019s not to like?<\/p>\n
\u201cAn area where we need to improve is acquiring new clients,\u201d says Blaine.<\/p>\n
Other than that, all\u2019s well. \u201cThe last couple of quarters have been very encouraging,\u201d adds Blaine. \u201cIn general, things are very good and the future is looking good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clearly, LDI, headquartered in Jericho, NY and with offices in New York, New Jersey, and Southern California, is doing something right. That means concentrating on core competencies, continuing to provide what clients are looking for, even though Blaine says that sounds like a pat response, and overall execution.<\/p>\n
LDI does a super job of retaining clients and is adept at rolling with the changing flow of the imaging industry. \u00a0They\u2019re also doing well with MPS thanks in large part to a strategy that revolves around identifying the most appropriate clients for MPS, particularly those that appreciate the value that LDI brings to the MPS table. If they don\u2019t, LDI won\u2019t lowball the deal like some of the competition to get the business.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been a wild and wonderful ride for Blaine and company since launching LDI in 1999 and growing it into a $55+ million dealership. When asked to identify the biggest difference in the company today compared to when LDI first opened their doors, Blaine says it\u2019s not as pronounced as one might think.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe started from scratch and had 100 people inside of a year and a half. Virtually all of them are still here as is all of the key management.\u201d<\/p>\n
Picking a niche (color) and running with it was a clever strategy, especially given the dealership\u2019s New York metropolitan area location. \u00a0So was taking advantage of new solutions and technology. Again, that may not sound so different from what many other dealers have done over the years, but how many have been as successful as LDI in such a short period of time?<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re still focused on color although that business has changed substantially,\u201d states Blaine. \u201cThat\u2019s a real competency for us. We moved fairly well into production and attached to production is being out front in terms of document management and the software opportunities that are available for us to offer to our clients.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a world where everyone is constantly buzzing about solutions, that\u2019s always been a focus at LDI whether for high-end color graphics or traditional office applications. Historically, when it comes to solutions, LDI has been ahead of its manufacturers with some of those solutions which have become standards in the industry.<\/p>\n
A prime example is eCopy going back to before it was acquired by Nuance.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s a de facto standard for send-through technology and we were one of the first to have it before the manufacturers even saw it,\u201d boasts Blaine.<\/p>\n
Incidently, that\u2019s even before Canon who was the first OEM to partner with eCopy.<\/p>\n
The New York market is a competitive one and although LDI competes with other independent dealers, including other successful ones, Blaine says his primary competitors are often OEM direct, such as Canon, Konica Minolta, and Xerox. \u201cThe most surprising one we compete with is HP, which drives me nuts,\u201d acknowledges Blaine.<\/p>\n
Can he compete with HP? \u201cNot if they don\u2019t want us to,\u201d he quips.<\/p>\n
Why do customers ultimately choose LDI?<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can evaluate client applications and needs and respond with a completely independent solution,\u201d responds Blaine. \u201cThat\u2019s our first value prop and we feel that with the lineup and the relationships we have with the manufacturers we have on both the hardware and software side, that we have the most complete offering.\u201d<\/p>\n
Second on Blaine\u2019s list is the availability and accountability of the boutique-like service that customers receive from LDI. \u201cWe have a wonderful history of large account fleet management that goes back to when we started the company. We\u2019ve parlayed that into a much more local flavor on both coasts. Nonetheless the ability the client has to directly communicate with us or how we are so much out front in communicating with clients [is something clients appreciate].\u201d<\/p>\n
That connection with clients is paramount to LDI\u2019s success and the dealership is adept at keeping clients up to date on trends and new technologies and how those might their businesses. \u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re very forward about that and not just looking to the end of the contract and saying it\u2019s time to renew,\u201d notes Blaine. \u201cWe\u2019re in continuous communication.\u201d<\/p>\n
One novel way that LDI keeps those lines of communication open is via Solutions Seminars that often take place in its midtown Manhattan office. The inspiration behind those seminars was to position LDI as thought leaders and share with clients the fact that the movers and shakers in business are coming to them and asking for LDI\u2019s opinions on both current and developing products. Besides sharing this information with clients, the Solutions Seminars allow clients to voice their opinions about the technology and solutions that LDI sells or their technology and solutions partners are bringing to market.<\/p>\n
A recent Nuance seminar was targeted to the legal market, for example. Blaine doesn\u2019t have a particular favorite among the many seminars he\u2019s hosted and feels that LDI has done well with most of them. \u201cBut \u00a0the ones most interesting to me were the couple we\u2019ve done on \u2018green\u2019, and specifically as it relates to the overall industry and then to the individual vertical markets,\u201d recalls Blaine. \u201cThese were the most informative and thought provoking even though the least amount of business came out of those.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a business where dealers tend to have a revolving door when it comes to sales reps, LDI is one of the exceptions to the rule. Why?<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst thing is the philosophy that you expect people to make a commitment to you as an employer and in turn what\u2019s fair is you make a commitment to them,\u201d says Blaine. \u201cWe do that and we make sure that we hire the right people for the right positions. We understand what their needs are and then make sure that they\u2019re a good fit to begin with. Whatever their personal aspirations are we want them to fit in with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also important are what Blaine calls \u201csolid citizens,\u201d meaning that they\u2019re interested not only in their job but their communities as well so the two cultures line up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe give our folks a lot of autonomy and opportunity to go with what they think will best serve us and our clients,\u201d adds Blaine. \u201cWhen you talk to a lot of people in our company, it\u2019s like talking to five or six CEOs; everybody is running what they need to run. That\u2019s not to say we don\u2019t have a management team, we do, but it\u2019s very participatory and it\u2019s not based on any one personality.\u201d<\/p>\n
Blaine takes pride in what he\u2019s built and acknowledges that what he did in 1999 is not so easy to accomplish in 2013. \u201cI come from way back and have been in this business longer than anybody and seen it in terms of how it provided a wonderful opportunity for young people to grow, from smaller to larger companies. In that respect that part of it at least in the current state is behind us. It\u2019s very difficult to start a company and there are a lot of barriers to entry in the business.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is no status quo at LDI and the company continues to evolve while still being rooted in the color market. The next frontier that LDI hopes to conquer is IT.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are significant opportunities that will open up over the next couple of years combining the imaging and printing side with the more traditional IT side,\u201d states Blaine.<\/p>\n
In the fourth quarter of this year LDI will launch a full managed cloud IT offering as they delve more deeply into the IT services world. It\u2019s still way too soon to say much more about that new direction other than Blaine is optimistic about the opportunity and how it\u2019s going to positively impact LDI\u2019s business.<\/p>\n
Speaking of new frontiers, expect to see LDI in some additional markets in the not-too-distant future as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe third thing I\u2019d say is that as a result of things we don\u2019t even know yet we may be involved in many other opportunities to increase our presence in our current client base, including mobile products or other types of technology products that manufacturers are going to offer that would be classified now as specialty items that are being distributed through other channels,\u201d reveals Blaine. \u201cSpecifically I\u2019m talking about digital signage and medical as our manufacturers become more involved in that as well.<\/p>\n
After countless years in the industry, Blaine still loves it and can\u2019t imagine a time when he doesn\u2019t get up in the morning to go to work. \u201cI have a great balance in my life. It\u2019s still wonderful; I enjoy the business and the team very much.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jerry Blaine isn\u2019t satisfied. He owns one of the top office technology dealerships in the country, he\u2019s got one of the most tenured sales forces in the industry, and business is good. What\u2019s not to like? \u201cAn area where we need to improve is acquiring new clients,\u201d says Blaine. Other than that, all\u2019s well. \u201cThe last couple of quarters have been very encouraging,\u201d adds Blaine. \u201cIn general, things are very good and the future is looking good.\u201d Clearly, LDI, headquartered in Jericho, NY and with offices in New York, New Jersey, and Southern California, is doing something right. That means concentrating on core competencies, continuing to provide what clients are looking for, even though Blaine says that sounds like a pat response, and overall execution. LDI does a super job of retaining clients and is adept at rolling with the changing flow of the imaging industry. \u00a0They\u2019re also doing well with MPS thanks in large part to a strategy that revolves around identifying the most appropriate clients for MPS, particularly those that appreciate the value that LDI brings to the MPS table. If they don\u2019t, LDI won\u2019t lowball the deal like some of the competition to get the business. It\u2019s been a wild and wonderful ride for Blaine and company since launching LDI in 1999 and growing it into a $55+ million dealership. When asked to identify the biggest difference in the company today compared to when LDI first opened their doors, Blaine says it\u2019s not as pronounced as one might think. \u201cWe started from scratch and had 100 people inside of a year and a half. Virtually all of them are still here as is all of the key management.\u201d Picking a niche (color) and running with it was a clever strategy, especially given the dealership\u2019s New York metropolitan area location. \u00a0So was taking advantage of new solutions and technology. Again, that may not sound so different from what many other dealers have done over the years, but how many have been as successful as LDI in such a short period of time? \u201cWe\u2019re still focused on color although that business has changed substantially,\u201d states Blaine. \u201cThat\u2019s a real competency for us. We moved fairly well into production and attached to production is being out front in terms of document management and the software opportunities that are available for us to offer to our clients.\u201d In a world where everyone is constantly buzzing about solutions, that\u2019s always been a focus at LDI whether for high-end color graphics or traditional office applications. Historically, when it comes to solutions, LDI has been ahead of its manufacturers with some of those solutions which have become standards in the industry. A prime example is eCopy going back to before it was acquired by Nuance.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s a de facto standard for send-through technology and we were one of the first to have it before the manufacturers even saw it,\u201d boasts Blaine. Incidently, that\u2019s even before Canon who was the first OEM to partner with eCopy. The New York market is a competitive one and although LDI competes with other independent dealers, including other successful ones, Blaine says his primary competitors are often OEM direct, such as Canon, Konica Minolta, and Xerox. \u201cThe most surprising one we compete with is HP, which drives me nuts,\u201d acknowledges Blaine. Can he compete with HP? \u201cNot if they don\u2019t want us to,\u201d he quips. Why do customers ultimately choose LDI? \u201cWe can evaluate client applications and needs and respond with a completely independent solution,\u201d responds Blaine. \u201cThat\u2019s our first value prop and we feel that with the lineup and the relationships we have with the manufacturers we have on both the hardware and software side, that we have the most complete offering.\u201d Second on Blaine\u2019s list is the availability and accountability of the boutique-like service that customers receive from LDI. \u201cWe have a wonderful history of large account fleet management that goes back to when we started the company. We\u2019ve parlayed that into a much more local flavor on both coasts. Nonetheless the ability the client has to directly communicate with us or how we are so much out front in communicating with clients [is something clients appreciate].\u201d That connection with clients is paramount to LDI\u2019s success and the dealership is adept at keeping clients up to date on trends and new technologies and how those might their businesses. \u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re very forward about that and not just looking to the end of the contract and saying it\u2019s time to renew,\u201d notes Blaine. \u201cWe\u2019re in continuous communication.\u201d One novel way that LDI keeps those lines of communication open is via Solutions Seminars that often take place in its midtown Manhattan office. The inspiration behind those seminars was to position LDI as thought leaders and share with clients the fact that the movers and shakers in business are coming to them and asking for LDI\u2019s opinions on both current and developing products. Besides sharing this information with clients, the Solutions Seminars allow clients to voice their opinions about the technology and solutions that LDI sells or their technology and solutions partners are bringing to market. A recent Nuance seminar was targeted to the legal market, for example. Blaine doesn\u2019t have a particular favorite among the many seminars he\u2019s hosted and feels that LDI has done well with most of them. \u201cBut \u00a0the ones most interesting to me were the couple we\u2019ve done on \u2018green\u2019, and specifically as it relates to the overall industry and then to the individual vertical markets,\u201d recalls Blaine. \u201cThese were the most informative and thought provoking even though the least amount of business came out of those.\u201d In a business where dealers tend to have a revolving door when it comes to sales reps, LDI is one of the exceptions to the rule. Why? \u201cFirst thing is the philosophy that you expect people to make a commitment to you as an employer and in turn what\u2019s fair is you make a commitment to them,\u201d says […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6562,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[82],"tags":[134,1153,714,1151,272,1152],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6561"}],"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=6561"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6561\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6563,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6561\/revisions\/6563"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}