When I would go fishing with my dad and grandfather, very often they’d make me throw my catch back in the water. “It’s not the right size,” they’d say. Or “It’s not the right kind of fish.” Basically, they’d let me know that it wasn’t a keeper.
Most of us would like to throw the previous year back in the water, but we can all take something from 2020 and make our futures better. Restrictions on how we worked, events that impacted our customers, and the overall economy led to some tough challenges for dealers. But let’s look at how some of those dealers found success during a tough year and apply the lessons learned.
What Helped Dealers in 2020
Some dealers faced severe difficulties when dealing with the challenges that COVID presented in 2020, while others were still able to achieve good results. So what factors made the difference?
Flexibility
Companies with a flexible leadership team moved more quickly to adapt to COVID’s impact, realizing that the marketing plan they originally created for 2020 wasn’t going to work.
They looked at how their customers’ businesses were changing and focused their strategies on finding ways to help customers cope. This included exploring how their customers were adapting to the conditions, identifying how they could help them and creating solutions that would solve the issues.
Disaster Plan
I doubt that any dealer had a disaster plan for what we faced in 2020. However, those that reacted by going through the disaster planning process were able to create tools that helped deal with the aftermath.
Disaster planning is a valuable exercise for leadership teams, and should address three areas:
- What might happen? Look at the risks in your area.
- How would it affect your business? What can you do to cope?
- How would it affect your customers? What could you do to help them?
When you answer those questions in the light of your area’s most likely disasters, you can begin to develop the processes and mental flexibility as a team to cope with unexpected events.
Flat-Rate Billing
No matter how you label them, flat-rate billing programs had a positive impact on the dealers that adopted them. While dealers that sold on a cost-per-copy program saw their revenues collapse as print output plummeted, those with a flat-rate program had a predictable cash flow.
Some dealers who adopted this philosophy were able to help customers by reducing or deferring some of their billing, and they could choose how they went about this. They were in control, rather than being at the mercy of the pandemic.
What 2021 Will Hold
I don’t have a crystal ball, nor do I pretend to be a prophet. But I’d like to share what logic tells me about 2021 in three areas.
The Effects of the Pandemic Will Last
It will take time for companies to recover from the damage done in 2020. Some have disappeared, while surviving businesses have clients that are suffering, and your clients’ clients are suffering as well.
Fewer clients means that companies will postpone upgrades, and the pace of business creation will slow. Both of these factors will impact the rate of new equipment sales.
The Workplace Has Changed
Businesses are now considering whether to continue having a permanent remote workforce. That will affect the technology they buy and could very well continue to drive print volume down.
However, dealers that provide support in phone and IT services may see a significant opportunity. With more remote workers, businesses will want a secure infrastructure and seamless communications for those working from home.
Printing Volumes Will Probably Not Completely Return
Printing volume has been in a steady decline in most segments for several years, and the pandemic caused it to fall off a cliff.
We’ve seen signs that there is a partial recovery, but it likely won’t return to where it was pre-COVID. It’s more likely that for multiple reasons, the pace of decline will accelerate.
Three Key Factors
So what can a dealer do to improve prospects for the future? I recommend focusing on three areas to enhance your probability of success:
Planning
I asked students in my service management class whether they had a business plan for 2021. Not one said yes, and I find this appalling. Too many dealers are just winging it as well; they may have a marketing plan for 2021, but they don’t have a business plan that includes all aspects of the company.
All dealers should immediately sit down with their management teams, including the CEO, CFO, senior sales manager, office manager, service manager and warehouse/parts manager, and start working on both a disaster plan and a business plan.
When I say a business plan, I’m not talking about one with rosy financials that you take to the bank. I mean one that outlines what you think the future looks like for the next three to five years.
You should create this plan for three scenarios: the most likely case, the worst case and the most optimistic case. Each scenario should include the impact on each of your departments.
Customer Service
I encourage you to think about your customer service and ask yourself these questions:
- How can we improve?
- Why have customers left us?
- How can we better serve our current customers?
You need to explore honest and satisfactory answers to these questions and let those answers shape how you care for your customers to improve your profitability and success.
Training
In a speech to the Business Technology Association, First Sergeant Matt Eversmann, one of the soldiers portrayed in the film “Black Hawk Down,” talked about the difference between the Army and the Army Rangers.
Eversmann said that both trained to do the same basic things; the real difference was that what the Army learned to do at a high-school level, the Rangers learned to do at a Ph.D. level. They achieved different results because of the way they trained.
How well is your workforce trained? I’m not referencing your tech training or your sales training alone, but rather the training every employee in your company has in areas that affect your success.
The Future is Yours for the Making
What happened in 2020, what happens in 2021 and what happens after that aren’t what will shape your future. Instead, you shape your future by the planning, training and decisions you make—no matter what happens around you.
