{"id":22563,"date":"2017-02-09T04:48:17","date_gmt":"2017-02-09T12:48:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/?p=22563"},"modified":"2017-02-10T10:06:44","modified_gmt":"2017-02-10T18:06:44","slug":"looking-at-production-printers-be-prepared-to-change-the-way-you-sell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/the-week-in-imaging-twii\/editors-blog\/2017\/02\/looking-at-production-printers-be-prepared-to-change-the-way-you-sell\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking at Production Printers? Be Prepared to Change the Way You Sell"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Selling production printers requires a more consultative, solutions selling approach, and the decision maker is likely not the same person as for a copier sale. \u201cThe prospect is looking to the dealer or the vendor for business services. \u2018How are you going to help me make money with this device. How are you going to streamline my business. How are you going to improve my workflow,\u2019\u201d said Amy Machado, research manager for imaging, printing, and document solutions at IDC. (For a more in-depth look at the production print opportunity for the dealer channel, read “Production Print Growth Drivers: Why Some Dealers Are Cashing In.”<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"

Amy Machado, IDC<\/p><\/div>\n

For many solutions, \u201cIt\u2019s not just about the box,\u201d said Machado. If a dealer is selling a prospect on using a system for a publishing application, for example, then the prospect needs to understand the finishing capabilities, workflows, and total investment required. \u201cROI, ROI, ROI! That is the key,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"

John Fulena, Ricoh Production Printing Business Group<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe decision makers are sometimes different when it comes to proof points,\u201d said John Fulena, vice president of Ricoh\u2019s Production Print Business Group. Ricoh has a support group that assists both its direct sales operation and the dealer channel when it comes to building those proof points. \u201cWe\u2019re equipped to help our dealers make that focus, talk to subject matter experts that can provide demonstrations, samples, consultations on workflows, or volume assessments,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Komax owners Bob Maxwell and Becky Offutt.<\/p><\/div>\n

That solutions focus requires dedicated, specialized personnel in sales. \u201cWe made the conscious decision to differentiate ourselves from our competitors,\u201d said Bob Maxwell, owner of Komax. \u201cTo do that correctly, there\u2019s a financial commitment.\u201d That meant hiring a production print specialist to work with the sales team and an application specialist that works with customers to design solutions that meet their needs.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Barry Simon,
Datamax<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cYou need to bring in someone who understands the [production print] business, especially workflow,\u201d said Barry Simon, president at Datamax. Sales need to be able to speak to things like media substrates, finishing capabilities, and color correctness, he added. To ensure that its sales team stays up to date, Datamax puts them through a twice-yearly training process<\/p>\n

\"\"

Erik Holdo, Konica Minolta<\/p><\/div>\n

Erik Holdo, senior vice president Production Print Solutions at Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A. Inc., encourages dealers to make an investment in analysts like the person Simon described. \u201cDealers are hiring workflow analysts who understand the challenges and benefits of good workflow and certain types of offerings.\u201d That person needs to be involved in both the pre- and post-sales process.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Bob Barbera, Canon<\/p><\/div>\n

Sometimes that solutions selling involves the client\u2019s printer and copier fleet that the dealer already manages. \u201cThere have been solutions and oversight in place to optimize the fleet they have with software like UniFlow to manage and report on print utilization and spend,\u201d said Bob Barbera, senior manager, production solutions division, at Canon\u2019s Business Imaging Solutions Group (BISG). \u201cWe now have solutions on the production side that tie into that. The conversation can now go much bigger.\u201d Canon recently introduced its Prisma Direct software, which integrates with UniFlow and can do rules-based routing. A user who tries to print a 1,000-page document on a copier, for example, would get an alert asking if they want to send the job to the print center. Barbara sees this type of solution encouraging companies to bring more printing in-house.<\/p>\n

Solutions selling might require the dealer to lean on its OEM partner at first. \u201cMaybe the dealer is installing one solution now, but may not install another one for six months. How are they going to get that real expertise on the software? We have third-party partners that have programs the channel partners can use to implement the solution, and Canon U.S.A. has a professional services group to implement the solutions,\u201d said Barbera. The intent is to support the dealer as it gains expertise. Dealers may choose to let Canon or its partners do all the implementations as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Selling production printers requires a more consultative, solutions selling approach, and the decision maker is likely not the same person as for a copier sale. \u201cThe prospect is looking to the dealer or the vendor for business services. \u2018How are you going to help me make money with this device. How are you going to streamline my business. How are you going to improve my workflow,\u2019\u201d said Amy Machado, research manager for imaging, printing, and document solutions at IDC. (For a more in-depth look at the production print opportunity for the dealer channel, read “Production Print Growth Drivers: Why Some Dealers Are Cashing In.” For many solutions, \u201cIt\u2019s not just about the box,\u201d said Machado. If a dealer is selling a prospect on using a system for a publishing application, for example, then the prospect needs to understand the finishing capabilities, workflows, and total investment required. \u201cROI, ROI, ROI! That is the key,\u201d she said. \u201cThe decision makers are sometimes different when it comes to proof points,\u201d said John Fulena, vice president of Ricoh\u2019s Production Print Business Group. Ricoh has a support group that assists both its direct sales operation and the dealer channel when it comes to building those proof points. \u201cWe\u2019re equipped to help our dealers make that focus, talk to subject matter experts that can provide demonstrations, samples, consultations on workflows, or volume assessments,\u201d he said. That solutions focus requires dedicated, specialized personnel in sales. \u201cWe made the conscious decision to differentiate ourselves from our competitors,\u201d said Bob Maxwell, owner of Komax. \u201cTo do that correctly, there\u2019s a financial commitment.\u201d That meant hiring a production print specialist to work with the sales team and an application specialist that works with customers to design solutions that meet their needs. \u201cYou need to bring in someone who understands the [production print] business, especially workflow,\u201d said Barry Simon, president at Datamax. Sales need to be able to speak to things like media substrates, finishing capabilities, and color correctness, he added. To ensure that its sales team stays up to date, Datamax puts them through a twice-yearly training process Erik Holdo, senior vice president Production Print Solutions at Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A. Inc., encourages dealers to make an investment in analysts like the person Simon described. \u201cDealers are hiring workflow analysts who understand the challenges and benefits of good workflow and certain types of offerings.\u201d That person needs to be involved in both the pre- and post-sales process. Sometimes that solutions selling involves the client\u2019s printer and copier fleet that the dealer already manages. \u201cThere have been solutions and oversight in place to optimize the fleet they have with software like UniFlow to manage and report on print utilization and spend,\u201d said Bob Barbera, senior manager, production solutions division, at Canon\u2019s Business Imaging Solutions Group (BISG). \u201cWe now have solutions on the production side that tie into that. The conversation can now go much bigger.\u201d Canon recently introduced its Prisma Direct software, which integrates with UniFlow and can do rules-based routing. A user who tries to print a 1,000-page document on a copier, for example, would get an alert asking if they want to send the job to the print center. Barbara sees this type of solution encouraging companies to bring more printing in-house. Solutions selling might require the dealer to lean on its OEM partner at first. \u201cMaybe the dealer is installing one solution now, but may not install another one for six months. How are they going to get that real expertise on the software? We have third-party partners that have programs the channel partners can use to implement the solution, and Canon U.S.A. has a professional services group to implement the solutions,\u201d said Barbera. The intent is to support the dealer as it gains expertise. Dealers may choose to let Canon or its partners do all the implementations as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":115,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[80,1650,1638],"tags":[134,2170,2034,224,955,312,2849],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22563"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/115"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22563"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22563\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22585,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22563\/revisions\/22585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}