If there’s one thing a dealership learns after 60 years in business, it’s that the firm will not be in business for another 60 years if it completely abandons what’s worked up until this point.
That’s not to say that Topp Business Solutions is a slave to a decades-old approach of doing business. However, the core values fostered by Angelo Falzett when he first hung a shingle in 1957—quality products, fair prices, prompt and courteous service, and long-term client relationships—are unwavering to this day under second- and third-generation leadership. The Scranton, Pennsylvania-based firm has no plan to abandon the core operational fundamentals of leading with customer-driven sales and support professionals who are long on experience and deep on knowledge of the products and solutions in its arsenal.
So how does a veteran $20 million performer continue to flourish in a heavily competitive market that includes a number of Elite Dealers and is within a two-hour stone’s throw from Philadelphia and New York City? With an average tenure of 15 years among its staff of 100 and having seen its share of downturns in the past, Topp can leverage that problem-solving acumen to better serve the needs of clients when the unexpected becomes a lingering, unwanted guest. For example, a pandemic.
CEO Paul Falzett may sound like he’s borrowing a Farmers Insurance tag line—they know a thing or two because they’ve seen a thing or two—but the fundamental approach toward serving clients is like Novocaine: given time, it always works. Topp has long been mindful of focusing on strategic growth without losing sight of its loyal client base.
“We are large enough to have the depth and scope to be able to compete with anyone, yet are of the size that we can remain extremely reactive to the needs of our customers,” he noted. “We are always looking for opportunities to grow within or slightly beyond our existing footprint, but never at a cost of impacting the support we provide for that loyal customer base.”
The company recognizes the cost of forging that loyalty without selling itself short on the value it delivers clients; Topp has little interest in winning pricing battles. “Not all vendors are equal, and value is not often found via the least expensive option,” Falzett added. “Top-notch service and support post-sale are what truly matter. We have a great team of sales professionals, and certainly their knowledge gets us in the door. But it’s our service and support team that allows us to develop the long-term relationships my father always taught me to strive for.”
With Pennsylvania offices in Allentown, Montoursville and Altoona, Topp’s primary focus is a 40-county swath in the Keystone State and New York. The dealer carries Ricoh, Canon and Konica Minolta lines, with a focus on printing and imaging solutions (including MFPs, production print and managed print services), managed IT services (including recently acquired Technic IT Group), document management software and vertical-based software solutions that speak to the health care and legal sectors.
Expanding IT
An opportunity for strategic, measured growth came in the form of January’s acquisition of Technic IT Group of Dunmore, Pennsylvania. Topp had long been an IT player in the earliest forms since the 1980s, furnishing computer support, software and help desk support for everything from speech recognition software to digital dictation and transcription, medical coding and electronic court recording. The dealer has evolved with the technologies into network services, backup and disaster recovery, security, cloud and maintenance/monitoring tools, among others.
In Technic IT, Topp sees an opportunity to leverage the client lists of both houses while expanding on its own proficiency. “Customers want more from their vendors and managed IT services is it,” observed Brad Lehman, Topp’s COO. “With this acquisition, we expanded our client base, and hopefully we can cross-sell within these new customers with traditional copy/print hardware. But we realize that isn’t a given, nor was it the ultimate goal. Adding Technic’s IT savvy to our own competencies will drive business value for all customers, not just those who rely on us for IT services.”
While the dealer may be taking a methodical and deliberate approach to future acquisitions, it’s armed with a veteran of IKON Office Solutions who “knows a thing or two” about the M&A landscape. President Bill Truchan held a number of positions with IKON, most notably, director of acquisitions. He expects Topp’s continued growth trajectory will include a balance of organic and market opportunities, partly through strategic hires that would help build upon its service and solutions value proposition.
Onboarding new talent is critical for Truchan, who noted the firm recently added a new account representative and a service technician. As finding quality staff candidates remains a significant challenge, Topp is expanding its geographical search base to source individuals who are the right fit, and Truchan believes some smaller M&A opportunities could help the dealership gain more scale and talented team members.
Despite the influx in recent deals across the industry, Truchan knows the landscape well enough to appreciate its limitations. “M&A opportunities within the space are difficult to count on,” he said. “Succession planning, changing seller expectations and overall M&A activity within the industry can all make it challenging to get any size deal done. We expect to have some opportunities similar to the most recent transactions we’ve closed—both [including the 2017 acquisition of Raystown Office Equipment] were strategic and within our current authorized territory.”
Like many dealers, Topp made the most of a problematic 2020. When it became clear that a shutdown was imminent, the company updated its IT infrastructure to ensure all employees could remotely support accounts across all business units. Sales reps performed wellness checks on the customer base to see how Topp could address any changing needs, while sales and service alike brushed up on training. The low-priority items on the to-do list were addressed, and Topp redesigned its office layout to ensure it met social distancing guidelines when employees returned on-site early last summer.
Key Takeaway
While the firm certainly isn’t financially bulletproof, it was able to remain open during the pandemic and weathered the short-term reduction in revenue, due largely to a fiscally conservative approach employed for decades. For Chris Falzett, vice president of sales and marketing (and Paul’s son), there are more long-term blessings to count that offset the pandemic’s influence on business.
“Our increased position in the IT services marketplace, combined with a fully engaged team, will have the effects of 2020 in the rearview mirror in no time,” he said. “What mattered more than financial growth in 2020 was that our entire team stepped up and adapted to doing what needed to be done for both Topp and our clients—all while remaining safe and healthy. Optimism for 2021 is very strong, although we know that we are not out of the woods just yet.”
One of the bright spots Topp experienced during the pandemic was the continued success of its MPS program, despite the fact that end-users were loath to enter into new contracts with many of their employees still working from home. According to Lehman, many of Topp’s takedowns were the result of procuring business from manufacturer directs and national-scale managed service providers.
What would prompt an end-user to make such a change during the pandemic? Lehman believes that ultimately, these customers appreciated the value of a local provider as opposed to one that would need to dispatch support from hundreds of miles away.
“Our value lies in the fact that our technicians wake up in the areas they cover, and that still means something,” Lehman remarked. “Our process starts with local sales and moves on to day-to-day local support. It’s very hard for a national provider to offset that, given their proximity of resources. My assumption is that this will continue, and my hope is that these takeovers will accelerate post-COVID. People still enjoy being able to reach someone they know and have met when they need something, and we all feel better when we see continuity with any service provider.”
Topp has also placed emphasis on client retention and securing net-new accounts, a focus that predates the pandemic. Chris Falzett notes that while the period has made it difficult for sales reps to make their quotas, traditional sales metrics are still followed. The fear is that lowering the performance expectation bar in response to the pandemic would have residual effects that last beyond COVID-19.
The business-as-usual approach keeps all the reps geared toward a normalized plan of attack, even when the quota goals aren’t being met. “COVID or not, you know who is working hard to drive business,” Chris Falzett said. “We need to show up every day, stay engaged and as things return to normal, we will be in the front of clients’ minds to assist them with any business challenges they face. COVID is not going to turn on and off like a light switch, so we do what we know and stay the course.
“Physical cold calling is difficult. But working within our current customer base, reaching out to prospects and devising marketing initiatives to generate leads keep us busy, with our heads in the game.”
Production Proficiency
Offering an expansive product and service portfolio has provided inroads to bolstering existing business and net-new opportunities, and Topp’s specialization in production print equipment resonates with its in-plant and print-for-pay/commercial clients. A deep product knowledge enables sales managers to get deep into the weeds of the machines and the environment, beyond just components and features. Expertise and support provided by the manufacturers plays well in establishing credibility with the production realm, for customers of these machines tend to be extremely well-versed and are looking for new and exciting wrinkles that speak to their needs.
Topp’s Digital Technology Portal—constructed in 2007 to coincide with its 50th anniversary—enables the dealer to not only showcase its wares, but also serves as a print shop that can handle the overflow needs of clients. It isn’t out of the ordinary for a client to walk through the Portal with the intention of checking out a production printer, only to be drawn to a wide-format machine or another device that catches the eye.
“The environment of the Portal leads to open conversations and allows us to add true value as a vendor,” Lehman added. “It’s always nice when they decide to purchase more because of something additional they identify on their visit, but equally important is to let them know we can address needs as they arise. Print shop operators take great pride in their work and being knowledgeable in their field. We want to show them we respect that with our commitment via investments such as the Digital Portal and by staying current with our knowledge base.
“When a client comes to Topp’s Digital Technology Portal and spends the day standing in front of the equipment, using job ticketing software, pointing and clicking within the print drive and seeing the finished output, it just makes it a little easier to write the check for a major investment.”
Topp relies on a multichannel marketing approach that includes television advertising. While not a cornerstone of its outreach endeavors, putting together a TV ad campaign every three years enables the dealer to maintain its brand recognition in the region. Topp placed spots within news blocks during the pandemic, which generated a strong amount of positive feedback.
“We want to be on buyers’ minds when the time is right, and certainly the audience was there to accomplish that during COVID, as everyone was glued to the news,” Truchan noted.
Marketing Gains
While Topp doesn’t have a cornerstone marketing ploy, the company has witnessed incremental gains on a number of fronts. About a year ago, the company refreshed its website to enable supply ordering and service requests, paving the way to facilitate remote IT and copier break/fix. Lehman points out the previous iteration of the site was copier-dominated, and the reboot is more wrapped around services.
What has become a time-honored tradition is the annual Christmas advertisement that appears in local newspapers, which Angelo Falzett first initiated in the 1970s. The effectiveness of such advertising can be tough to gauge, but it certainly elevates the dealer’s standing in its communities.
Speaking of traditions, the passion shown by the Falzett family and Topp for supporting local non-profit/charitable organizations, many of which do business with the dealer, underscores its commitments to the communities it serves. Paul’s wife (and Chris’ mother), Anne, was bestowed with the Roseann Smith Alperin Award for women in philanthropy for 2018, illustrating how deeply ingrained giving is in the family.
From the Sisters of IHM Foundation, American Red Cross and Women’s Resource Center to the Children’s Advocacy Center of Northeastern Pennsylvania and Family-to-Family, Topp and its employees recognize the inherent value of supporting worthwhile causes, with need most keenly felt during the pandemic.
“We make an honest effort to support as many regional nonprofits as possible, especially those that have utilized us for years and years,” Chris Falzett said. “We feel like we owe it to them.”
Faithful Partner
Reflecting on the challenges presented by 2020, Paul Falzett is reminded of a quote his father was fond of repeating: “Every time you have a problem, write it down on a piece of paper and put it in your desk drawer. You will see that when you go to add another piece of paper that you have solved the previous problem.” If the name “COVID-19” was written on a scrap in Paul Falzett’s desk, he takes consolation in knowing that his company served the best interests of clients and employees when times were at their most dire. This, he feels, is something that people won’t soon forget.
Thus, as the company looks forward to growing its IT division, bolstering its MPS base and increasing internal automation of processes to net increased efficiencies, it can take solace in knowing it followed the business-as-usual path during a period that was anything but normal.
“Certainly, we can’t ignore the realities COVID brings to the table as we move past it, but we don’t subscribe to the theory that this is the new normal,” Paul Falzett said. “People collaborate best when they’re around other professionals in a work setting. Every month we see things pick up, and virtually everyone is eager to get back to working alongside their colleagues.”
This, of course, spells opportunity to address pent-up demand. “As we come out of this, there’s going to be significant volume for us in the short term,” Truchan said. “We’re preparing to be as efficient as possible around all of our processes during the next six to nine months—ordering from vendors, prioritizing installs and coordinating schedules with clients. Demand will be high, and we need to be responsive.”
