Suffice to say, 2021 rumbled through the office technology industry with its share of the unpredictable, from the supply chain chaos to the Great Resignation. Obviously, neither development was relegated to our industry, but both rose to the surface of the pandemic’s wake in a significant fashion.
Each year, in conjunction with our January State of the Industry report on trends and predictions, we ask participants to ponder the long-term trends that may not have an immediate impact but are likely poised to have long-term consequences. Unlike supply chain and massive employee migration, the “sleeper” trends are telegraphing their eventual arrival and bear monitoring as 2022 continues to unfold.
Nick Capparelli, LEAF: One thing that sticks out to me comes from some of our recent research around SMBs. They outnumber larger office technology buyers by a factor of 19 to 1, are 12 times more likely to include high-margin services in their solutions and are almost five times more likely to be with the same dealer in five years. Yet nearly 70% have never received a proactive call from a dealer about their office technology needs. So, what you’ve got is a big, profitable opportunity with a loyal segment that’s being underleveraged by office technology dealers who focus most of their resources on larger businesses. Not that you should neglect to go after big opportunities, but to me, it looks like SMB is where a lot of the battle to own the future of the office will be fought. A lot of smaller wins here could end up counting for far more than landing substantially fewer big opportunities, especially when you consider the resources required to go after this business.
But the thing to remember is that the go-to-market strategy for SMB looks quite a bit different, and your finance partner can be a key ally in delivering the experience these customers look for.
Bob Burnett, Brother International: Given today’s increasingly digital environment, virtual options for communication are paramount. One sleeper trend is incorporating virtual channels to streamline collaboration and foster relationships between OEMs and partners. For instance, Brother recently launched a Partner Authorized Total Hub (PATH), a digital portal with resources for all partner needs and 24/7 live support, to provide contactless, online communication and resources. With solutions like PATH, OEMs can strengthen their relationships with their partners and build a more robust partner network, even if from a distance.
Felipe Godoy, RingByName: Automation will likely become a more important requirement in the future—for both dealers and customers. The use of AI in order to provide omnichannel engagement with their clients by offering near-instant access to billing information, pricing and service requests, with minimal human interaction (using bots and data) allows dealers to increase their customer satisfaction while maintaining low personnel costs and requirements. Don’t be surprised that some of these same technologies make their way into the mainstream with voice recognition, text messaging and even social platforms doing the work of a receptionist in places like restaurants, medical offices, and other small businesses. Businesses will seek to have AI do the work of employees that they are struggling to find and retain at the moment at a lower cost.
Oscar Sanchez, Kyocera: They are already starting to gain more importance, but I firmly believe that subscription services are going to make a significant leap in the year to come. Today’s consumers value convenience and flexibility above almost everything else. They are averse to being locked into long contracts and wish instead to be able to pick up and drop as a service as they need it. It’s how we all are with our cell phone, our cable TV, and so much more in day-to-day life. Why should document solutions be any different? Furthermore, we all want a little more predictability in our lives, especially with how the world is right now, and the idea of paying one set fee for an agreed service is extremely attractive. It is, quite simply, one less thing to worry about, so I feel like there are major gains to be made in this area in 2022 and our Kyocera Unlimited Plan will seek to lead the way in that area.
Larry White, Toshiba: I still think sustainability is going to be important. Our company does a lot of things with PrintReleaf, in terms of recycling and eliminating waste on the thermal side. But our messaging in that area has not been good. I think you’ll see our business become more socially responsible; all manufacturers are. We’ll see more messaging along those lines than we’ve seen in the past. That includes more cooperation between different manufacturers and suppliers.
Jennie Fisher, GreatAmerica: First, I think we’ll see an investment in marketing strategies to reach potential customers outside of a provider’s typical geographic market. With solutions like e-commerce to facilitate initial or subsequent sales, partnerships with regional or national service providers will be leveraged to help expand offerings. That investment will require marketing dollars to expand that presence and capture new market share for providers. Secondly, we may see a re-entry of formerly acquired owners coming back and going to market as total solution providers with a focus on network and IT offerings, providing print as a secondary offering.
Clark Bugg, Lexmark: Look for the use of broader applications of IoT across industries. IoT has already transformed numerous industries, and in the coming year, it will break into many others, especially retail and health care. Lexmark has seen the benefits of IoT for itself; printers were, in fact, among the first IoT-enabled components of business where it is applied for printer management, predictive maintenance and ingesting data.
Todd Croteau, All Covered: Gig-workers will come with their own private digital work identity, enabling them to work securely across different entities. It’s predicted that by 2030, 30% of workers will have their own mobile ID. Businesses should think about how they could streamline this to make flexible staffing an easy option for the business. The number of Americans who identify themselves as digital nomads continues to rise, creating a geographically disparate workforce. Companies will need to address the increased need for improved technology—particularly collaboration tools—and security within the hybrid work model.
Matteo Recanatini, Offix: I see two very unrelated trends:
Chatbots: Very few companies are investing in this tool, but it should be used to interact with prospects who come to our digital properties and don’t want to interact by voice. Chatbots are especially important when used in automated processes that interact with the prospect through artificial intelligence (AI) and do not require human interaction. I think that most B2B companies who are using chatbots now are dabbling in the technology, but are not taking full advantage of AI and what it can do to nurture a conversation and a relationship. As AI technology progresses, we will be able to do incredible things.
Data-driven decisions: Big data is accessible to everyone, nowadays, but many companies are still guided by the “gut factor,” instead of accurate data. Thirty years of experience are worth their weight in gold, but require constant validation. Data coming from CRM, ERP, Google Analytics and other platforms needs to be properly fed, understood, and constantly reviewed and refined. As companies continue to deal with a progressively more competitive marketplace, with disruptive tactics, and a more demanding consumer base, they will need to learn how to use data they currently have at their fingertips to make educated decisions and take calculated risks.
Brad Cates, Prosource: What is truly going to make a difference in the long term is not what you’re selling. As our industry evolves, the technology we sell will change. Why we’re here (our purpose) and how we continue to make an impact for our customers, our communities, and our team—that’s what matters.
Change is inevitable. That’s true in our industry and in every industry. Certainly, that rate of change has accelerated over the past couple of years. But amid rapid change, what you have to rely on is how you apply your capabilities and talents to build trust, long-term relationships, and measurable impact for your customers.
AJ Baggott, RJ Young: The realization that manufacturer direct operations are not the way of the future has started to become more real to the OEMs based on the recent moves from Konica Minolta following in Ricoh’s footsteps. I believe we see more movement of OEM directs away from the SMB space, leaving more opportunity for the dealers who are prepared and well-equipped to attack that market share.
Ken Staubitz, Modern Office Methods: Businesses transitioning to work from home or hybrid environments with less time in the office is a real threat to our office printing model. A continued increase in digital distribution of information with our clients will make our challenges to increase billable meters a challenge. These are the obvious trends we are dealing with right now.
Ray Belanger, Bay Copy: I’m not sure I’d call this a trend, but more an observation: we’ve had difficulties in this industry before where manufacturers have competed against dealers in certain markets. I’d like to see the manufacturers stay in “their lane” and instead do what they can to support the efforts of the dealers at the local level.
Erik Crane, CPI Technologies: Artificial Intelligence (AI) could play a bigger role in making MFPs and other hardware or software more intuitive for users as well as during troubleshooting. Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) could be impactful in areas of training and continued education for both service and IT departments as well as for sales teams.
Joe Contreras, Epson: The impact we make on the environment, at home and at work, is a growing area of focus that might not have an immediate impact but is posed to have long-term consequences. Continuing into the new year, companies should look to understand the effect that their business has on the environment, become knowledgeable about the composition of printer consumables and implement proven technology solutions that help reduce waste, energy consumption and paper waste to support sustainability goals. In planning for 2022, businesses can identify opportunities starting with office technology – especially when leveraging products that not only deliver environmental benefits but are economically viable and reliable, while increasing productivity and efficiency. Dealers that offer printing solutions—including MFPs that offer the lowest power consumption in their class to desktop MFPs with supersized ink tanks and high-yield ink bottles and MFPs utilizing water-based ink—can help customers take steps in achieving these goals.
Deb Dellaposta, Doing Better Business: Buying customers is not a long-term, sustainable strategy. We are seeing the tip of the iceberg in what it costs to retain valuable, skilled employees. In the end, customers are going to end up paying significantly more for the services our industry provides.
