{"id":33739,"date":"2019-03-28T08:14:33","date_gmt":"2019-03-28T15:14:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/?p=33739"},"modified":"2019-03-28T09:01:36","modified_gmt":"2019-03-28T16:01:36","slug":"attacking-the-market-from-a-vertical-perspective-dealers-offer-advice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/feature-articles\/2019\/03\/attacking-the-market-from-a-vertical-perspective-dealers-offer-advice\/","title":{"rendered":"Attacking the Market from a Vertical Perspective: Dealers Offer Advice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Listening is often a lost art form. Sometimes, we get so caught up in what we know and believe without really giving a different viewpoint the attention it deserves. Look no further than the current political climate; we\u2019d be hard pressed to find a juncture in recent memory where the nation has been more politically polarized than it is at this moment. About the only thing many Americans can agree upon is that we strenuously disagree.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, the office technology galaxy is not bent toward picking sides\u2014it\u2019s all about making money, servicing the client, enhancing your profitability and burgeoning the bottom line. Did I mention increasing your company\u2019s revenues? OK, I\u2019ll leave the horse alone.<\/p>\n

The great thing about advice is it\u2019s free (at least here it is) and you can take it in part or parcel. But it\u2019s not yours truly who you should heed, nor necessarily our esteemed dealer panelists. The opinion and thoughts that really matter are those of your client base, and in the case of most topical conversations (for our purposes, growing through a vertical approach) it begins with listening to the client in front of you.<\/p>\n

Be Consultative<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"

Vincent Colaianni,
TGI Office Automation<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe biggest thing you need to manage when you want to concentrate on a vertical is expectations,\u201d noted Vincent Colaianni, director of sales development for TGI Office Automation of Brooklyn, NY. \u201cYou can\u2019t approach it like a sales organization, you need to approach it like a consultative organization. Dealers shouldn\u2019t be going after a pitch. They should follow our lead and have a business conversation and consult with the client to figure out what the best solution is, and not go in believing they have the best answer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are little things that you don\u2019t think of, things that drive the client crazy. When there\u2019s that one little piece that some other competitor didn\u2019t ask them about, and you\u2019re able to find out about it, then it makes the world of difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brad Yocum, market director for Houston-based Function4, maintains it is important to understand the vertical challenges a client faces, then work backward from there to develop solutions. Seek out the regulatory, processes or tools that play a role in creating challenges, then circle back to applications and products that may spell relief for the customer.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Brad Yocum, Funcion4<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThat has aided us tremendously during the last few years,\u201d Yocum said. \u201cOur company has always had a reputation for providing great service and doing the right thing for the customer, long before we started doing more application-based product. That helped us from a credibility standpoint. It\u2019s about moving into other types of offerings than just the print hardware piece.\u201d<\/p>\n

Importance of SMEs<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scott Anderson, president of managed IT specialist CORE Business Services in Medford, OR (now a member of the Kelley Imaging Systems family), notes his firm concentrates on hiring health care specialists as opposed to IT mavens. Understanding how a health care client operates, from billing to administration and every other aspect of the chain, can provide more value to CORE.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Scott Anderson, CORE<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe lead with salespeople to discover opportunity,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cWe\u2019re constantly training (sales reps) so they can have good conversations, knowing at the end of the day we\u2019re going to have to bring in the subject-matter expert to take the discussion further. Some sales reps are going to be more comfortable in having a conversation due to their experience, but we definitely lean on the subject-matter expert to drive the conversation and bring value.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brian Woodman, vice president of sales for Kelley Imaging Systems, echoed the need to have a high level of subject-matter expertise, which helps to truly differentiate the dealer from its competition. By the same token, dealers need to appreciate the value of the subject-matter expert if they expect to retain that talent.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s worth its weight in gold to get the right people, those people who have a proven track record, a high level of aptitude, a good work ethic and are a cultural fit,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd if you can find those people, pay them what they\u2019re worth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Don’t Get Shortchanged<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s also something to be said for making sure that a deal makes fiscal sense on your end. Erik Crane, president of CPI Technologies in Springfield, MO, cautions against taking every deal that comes a dealer\u2019s way.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany deals in certain verticals have historically low margins because they\u2019ve been bid out,\u201d he said. \u201cDon\u2019t give your products and services away; you are the expert and that is worth something. Those deals that are good for your company, you\u2019ll end up keeping them for a long time. Your client will respect you and know that you will take care of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Erik Crane, CPI<\/p><\/div>\n

Also, Crane advises dealers to really get to know the clients within a vertical. A dealer may have a lock on every hospital or school district in your region, but that playbook\/vertical attack plan might need to be tossed five minutes into a conversation with a new client.<\/p>\n

\u201cBe ready to adapt and have a nice stable of products, programs and software for your customer,\u201d Crane said. \u201cOne of the things that really works in our favor is we have an in-house leasing program that allows us to take some of those odd requests that a bid may have, and it makes the leasing company uncomfortable. When you take them in-house with your own leasing company, all you\u2019re doing is bidding on yourself. We can take their lease with all of these stipulations that are definitely in their favor.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Listening is often a lost art form. Sometimes, we get so caught up in what we know and believe without really giving a different viewpoint the attention it deserves. Look no further than the current political climate; we\u2019d be hard pressed to find a juncture in recent memory where the nation has been more politically polarized than it is at this moment. About the only thing many Americans can agree upon is that we strenuously disagree. Fortunately, the office technology galaxy is not bent toward picking sides\u2014it\u2019s all about making money, servicing the client, enhancing your profitability and burgeoning the bottom line. Did I mention increasing your company\u2019s revenues? OK, I\u2019ll leave the horse alone. The great thing about advice is it\u2019s free (at least here it is) and you can take it in part or parcel. But it\u2019s not yours truly who you should heed, nor necessarily our esteemed dealer panelists. The opinion and thoughts that really matter are those of your client base, and in the case of most topical conversations (for our purposes, growing through a vertical approach) it begins with listening to the client in front of you. Be Consultative \u201cThe biggest thing you need to manage when you want to concentrate on a vertical is expectations,\u201d noted Vincent Colaianni, director of sales development for TGI Office Automation of Brooklyn, NY. \u201cYou can\u2019t approach it like a sales organization, you need to approach it like a consultative organization. Dealers shouldn\u2019t be going after a pitch. They should follow our lead and have a business conversation and consult with the client to figure out what the best solution is, and not go in believing they have the best answer. \u201cThere are little things that you don\u2019t think of, things that drive the client crazy. When there\u2019s that one little piece that some other competitor didn\u2019t ask them about, and you\u2019re able to find out about it, then it makes the world of difference.\u201d Brad Yocum, market director for Houston-based Function4, maintains it is important to understand the vertical challenges a client faces, then work backward from there to develop solutions. Seek out the regulatory, processes or tools that play a role in creating challenges, then circle back to applications and products that may spell relief for the customer. \u201cThat has aided us tremendously during the last few years,\u201d Yocum said. \u201cOur company has always had a reputation for providing great service and doing the right thing for the customer, long before we started doing more application-based product. That helped us from a credibility standpoint. It\u2019s about moving into other types of offerings than just the print hardware piece.\u201d Importance of SMEs Scott Anderson, president of managed IT specialist CORE Business Services in Medford, OR (now a member of the Kelley Imaging Systems family), notes his firm concentrates on hiring health care specialists as opposed to IT mavens. Understanding how a health care client operates, from billing to administration and every other aspect of the chain, can provide more value to CORE. \u201cWe lead with salespeople to discover opportunity,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cWe\u2019re constantly training (sales reps) so they can have good conversations, knowing at the end of the day we\u2019re going to have to bring in the subject-matter expert to take the discussion further. Some sales reps are going to be more comfortable in having a conversation due to their experience, but we definitely lean on the subject-matter expert to drive the conversation and bring value.\u201d Brian Woodman, vice president of sales for Kelley Imaging Systems, echoed the need to have a high level of subject-matter expertise, which helps to truly differentiate the dealer from its competition. By the same token, dealers need to appreciate the value of the subject-matter expert if they expect to retain that talent. \u201cIt\u2019s worth its weight in gold to get the right people, those people who have a proven track record, a high level of aptitude, a good work ethic and are a cultural fit,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd if you can find those people, pay them what they\u2019re worth.\u201d Don’t Get Shortchanged There\u2019s also something to be said for making sure that a deal makes fiscal sense on your end. Erik Crane, president of CPI Technologies in Springfield, MO, cautions against taking every deal that comes a dealer\u2019s way. \u201cMany deals in certain verticals have historically low margins because they\u2019ve been bid out,\u201d he said. \u201cDon\u2019t give your products and services away; you are the expert and that is worth something. Those deals that are good for your company, you\u2019ll end up keeping them for a long time. Your client will respect you and know that you will take care of them.\u201d Also, Crane advises dealers to really get to know the clients within a vertical. A dealer may have a lock on every hospital or school district in your region, but that playbook\/vertical attack plan might need to be tossed five minutes into a conversation with a new client. \u201cBe ready to adapt and have a nice stable of products, programs and software for your customer,\u201d Crane said. \u201cOne of the things that really works in our favor is we have an in-house leasing program that allows us to take some of those odd requests that a bid may have, and it makes the leasing company uncomfortable. When you take them in-house with your own leasing company, all you\u2019re doing is bidding on yourself. We can take their lease with all of these stipulations that are definitely in their favor.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":33232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1650,82,87,1638],"tags":[3552,3392,3588,605,662,3498],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33739"}],"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\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33739"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33739\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33744,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33739\/revisions\/33744"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}