Managed services aren’t necessarily hard to sell. Most of the business owners my sales team talks to already understand what managed print and managed IT are, what they’re designed to do and why they might be a good solution. The biggest problem isn’t selling the services—it’s Read More

The typical sales process is often described as a dance between the sales rep and the buyer, and you’ll get no objection from me. I find it to be an especially good analogy because it helps reps focus on building trust and providing a partnership instead of pushing for a Read More

Let’s talk about what it means to be a value-added reseller, or VAR for short. I know most executives in my industry would have no problem rattling off a definition. But in my tenure at Marco, Sharp and other organizations, I’ve found that revisiting some fundamental concepts is Read More

If you’ve been attending recent industry events, you might have picked up on the not-so-subtle fact that many print dealers are losing money on their managed IT offering. But if managed IT is the new golden goose, why is it behaving like such an ugly duckling? Talking about Read More

If you’ve read a few of my recent columns, you know that Marco has been focusing on cross-selling opportunities and perfecting our customer experience. And you probably know why—print usage at most businesses isn’t bottoming out, but it’s leveling out, and those numbers are going Read More

People have been offering me unsolicited advice about the inevitable downfall of copier and managed print services for quite some time, so pardon me if I take pessimistic predictions with a grain of salt. Managed print is becoming more competitive, and more providers are getting Read More

Today’s business technology works best when it plays nicely with others. And when it’s good, it’s very, very good. But when it is bad? Well, it can be horrid. When that “smart” printer fails to do its job, production grinds to a halt, and a business owner must first figure out Read More

Winning new business is always exciting. While I don’t know how people act where you work, I suspect that retaining existing customers seldom gets the high-fives and pizza parties that a shiny new account does. Here at Marco, we always keep a close watch on our client Read More

Even though it’s just a change of numbers on a calendar, it’s hard not to be excited about the new year. The last few have been tough, and it’s tempting to believe that we’ll get to push a magical reset button in 2023. However, we already know a few of 2022’s challenges aren’t Read More

With top economists expressing concerns about an imminent recession, every business should be looking for ways to diversify its offerings, strengthen its relationships with existing customers, minimize risk from supply chain disruptions and differentiate itself from competitors. Read More

It would be easy for an outsider to assume that the tech space is more comfortable with innovation than the rest of the business community. But I’m guessing at least a few readers will crack a knowing smile at that notion. Technology is still pioneered, managed and maintained by Read More

From the Dealer Executive Desk What’s better than providing a service to a growing number of loyal customers?  Providing two services to those same loyal customers. . It’s certainly tempting, especially if the second service you’re thinking of adding falls Read More

How would you describe your business today? Maybe as resilient, sustainable, profitable, technology-driven or an integrated partner? These are just some of the descriptions that will matter this year, likely more than they have in the past. This industry continues to weather one Read More

When we first heard about supply chain challenges as leaders and consumers, I think most fully expected they would be short-lived. Or maybe they’d be random, similar to the 40% increase in demand we saw in retail toilet paper in the early days of the pandemic. As time has gone Read More