{"id":38322,"date":"2020-01-30T15:50:34","date_gmt":"2020-01-30T23:50:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/?p=38322"},"modified":"2020-01-30T15:50:39","modified_gmt":"2020-01-30T23:50:39","slug":"ahead-on-the-horizon-what-trends-lurk-around-the-next-corner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/feature-articles\/2020\/01\/ahead-on-the-horizon-what-trends-lurk-around-the-next-corner\/","title":{"rendered":"Ahead on the Horizon: What Trends Lurk Around the Next Corner?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As we put the January state of the industry report on trends\nand predictions to bed for another year, we conclude the overview with a look\nat the great unknown. We\u2019ve said before that no trend arrives unannounced;\nhints of it slowly take form before exploding into a full-blown talking point. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Artificial intelligence is a prime example. AI and machine\nlearning have slowly infiltrated our office technologies, and many observers\nexpect it to grow exponentially in the coming years. So while AI wouldn\u2019t quite\nconstitute a \u201csleeper\u201d trend, it definitely still hasn\u2019t had its morning coffee\nyet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We turn to our illustrious panel of industry experts one\nlast time to get a feeling for what they believe might be the next big thing to\ntake hold in the office equipment dealer space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Brent Martin, ARLINGTON<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Brent Martin, director of marketing for ARLINGTON, believes\nAI is only the tip of the iceberg in an age of technology that tracks\neverything. People formulate habits and behaviors, and clearly our digital\nactions are being monitored. Google anything random, and then switch platforms\nto Facebook, for example, and you will see advertisements related to that\nsearch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re being monitored\u2014Google is watching, Amazon, Apple Watch,\u201d he said. \u201cEverything is being tracked, and ultimately that\u2019s going to be used to continue influencing the behaviors of consumers, resellers and decision-makers everywhere. I see that as an evolving trend in the next decade.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No One Thing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
David Clearman, Muratec<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

A confluence of factors will dictate how business is done\ngoing forward, notes David Clearman, director of marketing and PLS Sales at\nMuratec America. The combination of the DEX Imaging-Staples union to AI and\nmillennials becoming more a part of the decision-making process will impact how\nbusiness is done and what it might look like in the not-too-distant future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI feel a massive change in the consumer acquisitions decision-making strategies will occur,\u201d he said. \u201cAs the new principals and decision-makers grow into their roles, the generational outlook and the way they do business is going to change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Jim Coriddi, Ricoh<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

While sticking to a rehearsed talk track for everything\nwithin a dealer\u2019s portfolio may be sustainable in the interim, Jim Coriddi,\nvice president, dealer division for Ricoh USA, doesn\u2019t believe it is a\nlong-term solution for enhanced sales. He notes the dealers who have done their\nhomework to better understand customers and their needs, while building trust\nand honing in on tailored solutions, will ultimately prevail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe pace of business is only getting faster,\u201d Coriddi said.\n\u201cDemand for effective processes that \u2018just work\u2019 is only increasing. Soon, that\ntalk track isn\u2019t going to cut it. Today\u2019s customers want a consultative\napproach, focused on solving their unique challenges in ways that empower their\nbusinesses to perform better. And pretty soon, they\u2019ll expect <\/em>it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Laryssa Alexander, ECI Software<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Laryssa Alexander, president, field service division of ECI Software Solutions, believes the need for a higher quality of service will ultimately create a \u201crace to the top\u201d that will enable dealers to differentiate themselves from the single-click online alternatives. To that end, dealers are increasingly using customer relationship management systems in order to provide better service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt can sometimes be the first thing to go when a business\nneeds to tighten its belt, but it can also be an invaluable resource to be able\nto compete with the Amazons of the world,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alexander also notes that remote work and shared working spaces are becoming increasingly popular, and it behooves dealers to adapt to those trends to retain and grow their businesses. She believes capturing print that\u2019s not transpiring in a traditional office environment will enable the industry to remain resilient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Faces?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Nick Capparelli, LEAF<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Cross-channel competition from players such as Staples may\ngrow to include players even farther away from the traditional segment pool, notes\nNick Capparelli, managing director, LEAF Commercial Capital Inc., a subsidiary\nof People\u2019s United Bank, N.A. He adds that even accounting firms, among other\nverticals, are \u201cdipping their toes in the market\u201d and potentially encroaching\non high-value opportunities such as managed IT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMany of these non-traditional providers will be pulled into\nthe M&A stream, simultaneously bringing them under the control of dealers\nand integrating their know-how and markets into the dealer\u2019s own,\u201d he said.\n\u201cIt\u2019s important that office technology businesses have ready access to capital\nprovided by a partner that knows the industry in order to stay ahead of this\ntrend.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Chip Crunk, RJ Young<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Chip Crunk, president and CEO of RJ Young, wonders how the\ndealer market will respond to exiting private equity, for the exit strategies\ncould have long-term consequences. \u201cWe may see a\nmanufacturer absorb one or more of the megadealers, or multiple megadealers\nmerge to create a more nationwide model with IPO potential. There are a lot of\ninteresting directions \u2013 all with certain risks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dean Swenson, TSG<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Although some manufacturers may still focus on their\nbread-and-butter MFP offerings, many others are grappling with what the \u201coffice\nof the future\u201d will resemble. Dean Swenson, president of The Swenson Group, believes\nthat entails OEMs introducing technologies that will enable dealers to\ncapitalize on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow AI, IoT, security, data and the like tie into our industry\nwill be interesting to watch and benefit from,\u201d Swenson said. \u201cI think\ndealerships in five years will look a lot different than they do today.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As we put the January state of the industry report on trends and predictions to bed for another year, we conclude the overview with a look at the great unknown. We\u2019ve said before that no trend arrives unannounced; hints of it slowly take form before exploding into a full-blown talking point. Artificial intelligence is a prime example. AI and machine learning have slowly infiltrated our office technologies, and many observers expect it to grow exponentially in the coming years. So while AI wouldn\u2019t quite constitute a \u201csleeper\u201d trend, it definitely still hasn\u2019t had its morning coffee yet. We turn to our illustrious panel of industry experts one last time to get a feeling for what they believe might be the next big thing to take hold in the office equipment dealer space. Brent Martin, director of marketing for ARLINGTON, believes AI is only the tip of the iceberg in an age of technology that tracks everything. People formulate habits and behaviors, and clearly our digital actions are being monitored. Google anything random, and then switch platforms to Facebook, for example, and you will see advertisements related to that search. \u201cWe\u2019re being monitored\u2014Google is watching, Amazon, Apple Watch,\u201d he said. \u201cEverything is being tracked, and ultimately that\u2019s going to be used to continue influencing the behaviors of consumers, resellers and decision-makers everywhere. I see that as an evolving trend in the next decade.\u201d No One Thing A confluence of factors will dictate how business is done going forward, notes David Clearman, director of marketing and PLS Sales at Muratec America. The combination of the DEX Imaging-Staples union to AI and millennials becoming more a part of the decision-making process will impact how business is done and what it might look like in the not-too-distant future. \u201cI feel a massive change in the consumer acquisitions decision-making strategies will occur,\u201d he said. \u201cAs the new principals and decision-makers grow into their roles, the generational outlook and the way they do business is going to change.\u201d While sticking to a rehearsed talk track for everything within a dealer\u2019s portfolio may be sustainable in the interim, Jim Coriddi, vice president, dealer division for Ricoh USA, doesn\u2019t believe it is a long-term solution for enhanced sales. He notes the dealers who have done their homework to better understand customers and their needs, while building trust and honing in on tailored solutions, will ultimately prevail. \u201cThe pace of business is only getting faster,\u201d Coriddi said. \u201cDemand for effective processes that \u2018just work\u2019 is only increasing. Soon, that talk track isn\u2019t going to cut it. Today\u2019s customers want a consultative approach, focused on solving their unique challenges in ways that empower their businesses to perform better. And pretty soon, they\u2019ll expect it.\u201d Laryssa Alexander, president, field service division of ECI Software Solutions, believes the need for a higher quality of service will ultimately create a \u201crace to the top\u201d that will enable dealers to differentiate themselves from the single-click online alternatives. To that end, dealers are increasingly using customer relationship management systems in order to provide better service. \u201cIt can sometimes be the first thing to go when a business needs to tighten its belt, but it can also be an invaluable resource to be able to compete with the Amazons of the world,\u201d she said. Alexander also notes that remote work and shared working spaces are becoming increasingly popular, and it behooves dealers to adapt to those trends to retain and grow their businesses. She believes capturing print that\u2019s not transpiring in a traditional office environment will enable the industry to remain resilient. New Faces? Cross-channel competition from players such as Staples may grow to include players even farther away from the traditional segment pool, notes Nick Capparelli, managing director, LEAF Commercial Capital Inc., a subsidiary of People\u2019s United Bank, N.A. He adds that even accounting firms, among other verticals, are \u201cdipping their toes in the market\u201d and potentially encroaching on high-value opportunities such as managed IT. \u201cMany of these non-traditional providers will be pulled into the M&A stream, simultaneously bringing them under the control of dealers and integrating their know-how and markets into the dealer\u2019s own,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s important that office technology businesses have ready access to capital provided by a partner that knows the industry in order to stay ahead of this trend.\u201d Chip Crunk, president and CEO of RJ Young, wonders how the dealer market will respond to exiting private equity, for the exit strategies could have long-term consequences. \u201cWe may see a manufacturer absorb one or more of the megadealers, or multiple megadealers merge to create a more nationwide model with IPO potential. There are a lot of interesting directions \u2013 all with certain risks.\u201d Although some manufacturers may still focus on their bread-and-butter MFP offerings, many others are grappling with what the \u201coffice of the future\u201d will resemble. Dean Swenson, president of The Swenson Group, believes that entails OEMs introducing technologies that will enable dealers to capitalize on it. \u201cHow AI, IoT, security, data and the like tie into our industry will be interesting to watch and benefit from,\u201d Swenson said. \u201cI think dealerships in five years will look a lot different than they do today.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":38323,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1650,82,87,1638],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38322"}],"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=38322"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38324,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38322\/revisions\/38324"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}