If there’s one thing the past three years have taught us, it’s that lessons aren’t truly learned unless we implement the knowledge into our processes and the way we conduct business moving forward. Repeated mistakes are often costly and can be accompanied by unforgiving consequences.
Thus, we have found it productive each new year to take stock of what lessons we have gleaned from the previous 365 days. The most successful of you conduct this exercise on a more frequent basis, but for our purposes, we don’t want to bug readers more than once a year for their input. As a supplement to our January State of the Industry report on trends and predictions, we’ve polled dealers, OEMs, suppliers, leasing companies—all manner of providers to the office technology ecosystem—on the primary takeaways from 2022 that should be factored into 2023’s business plans.
The practice of business planning has been exacerbated by supply chain issues. Dean Swenson, president of The Swenson Group in Livermore, California, believes the situation will be much improved during 2023, allowing for a degree of certainty in planning.
“Now, more than ever, dealers realize the importance of recurring revenue,” he said. “As we build out our 2023 plan, we will focus on how we grow our managed network services business and other recurring revenue offerings.”
One of the points of differentiation among dealers is the desire to trek down the path of diversification. Mike Marusic, president and CEO of Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America, notes that those partners who broadened their offerings throughout 2022 performed “a cut above” the others.
“End users have adjusted so much of their work environment, and they expect their suppliers to adjust with them,” Marusic noted. “Dealers need to continue to look at how they can best support their customers’ business objectives. Those who do so will continue to succeed.”
Supporting customers’ information needs through products such as interactive displays and laptops underscores Sharp’s commitment to that objective. “At the end of the day, getting deeper and wider with the customer protects dealers’ core print business with them,” Marusic added.
Diversifying Opportunities
Sharing Marusic’s views on diversification is Melissa Confalone, recently promoted to president of Fraser Advanced Information Systems of West Reading, Pennsylvania. She feels it’s incumbent upon dealers to demonstrate the strategic agility to diversify their product portfolios and remain ahead of the competition in light of the lingering supply chain issues.
The challenges associated with sourcing talent need to be augmented with programs that will incentivize them to focus on targeted business growth opportunities, which in Fraser’s case is impressions, monthly recurring revenue and net-new business.
“Finally, dealers must be willing to automate processes and use technology to streamline business operations,” Confalone said. “With the price increases everyone is experiencing, along with inflation, the key to getting ahead is to get rising operational expenses in check.”
One area most experts can agree upon is that the challenges of the past three years have been uniquely volatile. Dan Larkin, solutions sales director for St. Cloud, Minnesota-based Marco, believes a focused and discipline MPS program is paramount as some of the challenges abate.
“By now, dealers should have learned the importance of having a strong managed print services strategy in place to help them retain existing customers,” he said. “For those that have not yet refined their offerings, they should include such initiatives in their 2023 business plan.”
With the continued acceptance and proliferation of the everything-as-a-service (XaaS) business model, Brother International’s Bob Burnett—director, B2B solutions development and planning—sees a fantastic opportunity for dealers to implement a subscription service plan for their customers. This will allow them to capture reliable, recurring revenue.
“Different models will evolve, so the goal should be to support the contractual business with tools that range from infrastructure needs to solutions,” Burnett remarked. “A flexible, focused, and innovative dealership that truly comprehends their customers’ atmosphere and is more than willing to go the extra mile for their accounts will be the key to success as we move into 2023.”
One of the takeaways noted by Dan Cooper, CEO of Nashville, Tennessee-based Novatech, is the need for dealers to carefully consider who their long-term partners will be for product and service fulfillment. In light of events during 2022 and market trends, the idea of maintaining the status quo may need to be revisited.
“If you’re concerned about a strategic partner today, your woes are not likely to improve in the coming years based on the economic climate, and the continued shift of the hybrid work model,” Cooper cautioned. “Dealers also need to be asking themselves, ‘Do I have the correct business model in place to sell technology as a service?’ This includes learning and development for employees and a strategic marketing roadmap.”
Cloud Factor
One of the significant developments in 2022 was the dealer’s reliance on cloud services to improve customer service and the user experience. Clark Bugg, director of North America channel sales for Lexmark, believes it’s an area that dealers should capitalize on when assessing their 2023 plans.
“Cloud services allow for remote access to powerful software that monitors usage patterns on each machine,” he said. “This enables dealers to plan for future needs or make necessary adjustments in the workplace and makes it possible for technicians to perform remote repairs when necessary—allowing them to save time and money.”
Dino Pagliarello, senior vice president, product management and planning for Konica Minolta, believes dealer business plans should be centered on the people and skills they require to be reliable partners. Verticalization, a viable ecommerce strategy and delivering information customers require through an intuitive platform are also must-haves for the 2023 plan.
“Every business needs to think about crisis management,” Pagliarello added. “What is your backup plan to stay viable when the next challenge or disaster comes? It’s crucial to consider what you need to have ready, such as communications, training and offerings.”
