And just like that, 2020 has come to a screeching halt. Unfortunately, the world is seeing many of the same challenges faced over the previous 365 days dragged into 2021, including the new “C” word.
How can such a shapeless, meaningless year in which days melted into one another and the day of the week often forgotten seem so incredibly long? For perspective, we opened the year with President Trump’s impeachment trial, the Kobe Bryant helicopter tragedy and the Australian bushfires. Throw in COVID-19, social protests and unrest around the country, murder hornets, the presidential election…before long, we realize most of our memories from the year were formed watching the news, and it was rarely positive.
A nation…no, a world…sat home and watched. And waited. The pandemic could not be arrested. Millions lost their jobs. Hundreds of thousands lost their lives. Some lost their minds, and many lost hope.
The year will not be forgotten or missed. It will serve as a scrapbook never to be opened again.
As we seek to purge 2020 from our collective conscience and get down to business, we offer this final look at the challenges our Elite Dealer ranks battled throughout the year.
One thing the pandemic provided was the opportunity for Hendrix Business Systems of Matthews, North Carolina, to take a deep dive into its overall business processes and address areas overlooked in the past while it was focusing on its high levels of growth. Hendrix’s goals are centered on becoming more effective advocates for its client base.
“As we looked deeper into each department, we found ways where we can achieve better results and become more efficient both for our clients and from a monetary standpoint across the company,” the dealer reported. “These changes have us poised for the future growth we expect and put us in a better position to be great partners for those that choose Hendrix Business Systems as their technology provider.”
At Pittston, Pennsylvania-based 4 The Office, the dealer is using a website refresh that will speak to a pair of issues confronting many firms: finding qualified salespeople and enhancing the customer experience.
“It will make the customer experience much easier while offering the complete range of products they need for their office available for online purchase,” 4 The Office wrote.
Riding Technology Wave
With major technology forces including the cloud, big data and AI poised to impact the way many firms conduct business, Madison, Wisconsin-based Gordon Flesch Company seeks to remain on the cutting edge to maintain relevance for its clients and prospects.
“We are working hard to stay ahead of these changes with new, deeper technology offerings while keeping the services affordable for customers accustomed to getting things for free or cheaply on the internet,” the company reported.
While much focus in 2020 was given to providing dealers and their end-users work-from-home accommodations, many firms are now (or have) transitioned back to the office. That was the case for Premium Digital Office Solutions of Parsippany, New Jersey, which grappled with not only the mechanics of providing a safe environment, but also ensuring that employees feel comfortable.
“This was achieved by bringing back our employees on a weekly step plan,” the dealer wrote. “Another challenge has been to learn to meet, sell and close deals via Zoom meetings. This has been a new challenge for us and the client but it has been successful.”
Retention Programs
Like many dealers, Modern Office Methods (MOM) of Cincinnati has had to deal with turnover within its sales organization. The dealer hopes that the addition of Karen Morgan as its director of professional development will bolster its efforts to secure and retain quality reps. In addition, the dealer’s Fast Start orientation program ushers the sales associate through the first 100 days to bring them up to speed on the industry as well as the company’s product and service portfolio.
“The program outlines The MOM Way of selling and teaches them what they are selling, what tools they have to help them sell, how to focus on the benefits of working with MOM, how to gain the client’s trust, and how to improve value,” the dealer wrote. “They also practice their selling skills and develop knowledge of prospecting, giving demos, and closing the sale. Sales associates are then set up with goals for cold calls per day as well as tasks for the typical day and week. Finally, the program provides an ongoing skills benchmark assessment to provide continuous learning and development on an individual level.”
MOM added that the 100-day process has yielded solid results with new hires from the standpoint of both immediate sales results and enhanced confidence in selling. This has provided a salutary effect on retention and underscores the company’s commitment to enabling success.
At Spectrum Technologies of El Paso, Texas, the pandemic has hastened the region’s movement toward a more mobilized workforce and the transition from on-premise to hybrid and full cloud solutions by 10 years. This represents a strong opportunity for the dealer to capitalize as a provider.
“A great challenge, and resultant opportunity, is to educate our clients on automating workflows and adopting cohesive strategies such as Microsoft Teams, Office 365, and the like,” Spectrum Technologies wrote.
Sustainable Growth
Year over year growth is an annual task that Docutrend Imaging Solutions of Totowa, New Jersey, dedicates much of its energies to realizing. One solution it has found to be effective is the Traction (get a grip on your business) methodology that encompasses every aspect of business, from sales and service to admin and finance. Docutrend implemented the strategy in 2019, and it has exceeded expectations.
“The leadership met multiple times for visioning and laying out short term and long-term goals for our company,” the dealer wrote. “We evaluated all our employees and made changes as necessary to have the best team possible to run the business. We set goals for everyone from top to bottom and managed the goals and data every week, making changes based on the data. We are very confident we will get back to where we were throughout this pandemic and beyond.”
Growth is also a high agenda item for Stargel Office Solutions, based in Houston. A big piece of its strategy was the addition of the Xerox production line which, while bringing with it a substantial learning curve (hiring, identifying target markets, finding opportunities), offers great potential. The line is already paying dividends.
“Our first year out we sold around $600,000 in production equipment, but our goal was to double that (in 2020),” the company reported. “We continue to work to educate our reps and customer base on the new offering.”
