{"id":40156,"date":"2020-05-07T14:23:14","date_gmt":"2020-05-07T21:23:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/?p=40156"},"modified":"2020-05-07T14:25:59","modified_gmt":"2020-05-07T21:25:59","slug":"coronavirus-and-dealers-challenges-of-doing-business-in-covid-19-landscape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/feature-articles\/2020\/05\/coronavirus-and-dealers-challenges-of-doing-business-in-covid-19-landscape\/","title":{"rendered":"Coronavirus and Dealers: Challenges of Doing Business in COVID-19 Landscape"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In the words of famed Monty Python trouper John Cleese, \u201cAnd\nnow for something completely different.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, ENX Magazine<\/em> announced it is publishing its May and June issues as a single publication, with plans to resume the normal editorial schedule for July. Ordinarily, we would feature weekly articles based on the month\u2019s State of the Industry report. Since the June portion of our editorial is focused on how the industry is reacting, responding and coping with the global pandemic, we will include periodic stories on that theme throughout May and June. Certainly, it is our hope that by late June, COVID-19 will become less of a talk track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our first look at the changed landscape tackles the thorny\nquestion of how to conduct business from an operations standpoint, given that\nthose customers that aren\u2019t already shuttered are quite skittish about opening\ntheir doors (particularly clients in the foreground of providing essential\nservices) to outsiders. In some instances, techs\/reps wearing gloves and masks\nwhile toting wipes and hand sanitizer can open doors. But is it enough?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

\u201cA lot of customers don\u2019t want non-employees in their offices right now,\u201d noted Chip Crunk, president and CEO of RJ Young. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to make new contacts with potential customers because, right now, all of these businesses are in survival mode. The last thing they want to do is talk to some salesperson.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dealing with Stress<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Jim Loffler, Loffler Companies<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Stressing safety is the No. 1 priority for Loffler\nCompanies, which counts hospitals, clinics and businesses that support those\norganizations among its clients. Founder and CEO Jim Loffler notes good\ncommunication with the customer is essential to ensuring that a service\ntechnician is not entering an area that may have been exposed to COVID-19. The\ndealer has worked with various sources to procure personal protective equipment\n(PPE) to ensure visitors are properly equipped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt causes hardship and stress on people\u2014the leadership team, all employees, customers and their families. It\u2019s hard on people,\u201d Loffler said. \u201cYou try your best to keep positive and not worry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Jeff Gau, Marco<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Marco approaches sales engagement from two vantage points:\ncopiers and IT. The conversational tones are contrasting, according to CEO Jeff\nGau. The IT conversation can touch on solutions to address the need for working\nfrom home, connectivity, laptops, hardware and managed services. But a copier\nrep would invariably be pulled into a conversation about reducing payments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCalling on the copier decision maker is a bit of an\nobstacle,\u201d Gau said. \u201cCalling on IT decision makers is opportunistic. We needed\nto develop a better talk track for our copier reps.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prospecting Blues<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dan Meyer, Impact Networking<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Impact Networking has shifted the strategy of engaging\nclients and prospects. Outside sales reps, for example, now spend a majority of\ntheir day prospecting by phone from home, whereas in the past it occupied just\na fraction of the rep\u2019s day, notes company President Dan Meyer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cImagine spending eight hours a day for the last four weeks\nprospecting during a pandemic,\u201d Meyer said. \u201cAlthough our management team,\ntrainers and support\npersonnel have done a good job mixing in other activities, it has still been a\ndifficult and stressful change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Patrick Layton, Impact Networking<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The\ntransition was far easier on the IT operations end, where most engineers and IT\nprofessionals are used to working remotely on client networks, added Patrick\nLayton, vice president of managed IT for Impact Networking. The biggest\nchallenge was at the onset of the stay-at-home orders, as not all businesses\nwere employing good social distancing practices. That triggered some\ntrepidation among the IT engineers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs\nthe stay at home orders have continued, we have had clients put a lot of work\non hold,\u201d Layton added. \u201cWe have been talking to many (clients) about how now\nis the perfect time to do infrastructure upgrades and maintenance, as nobody is\nin the office and our engineers can work safely and not affect the end-users working\nfrom home.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the words of famed Monty Python trouper John Cleese, \u201cAnd now for something completely different.\u201d Last week, ENX Magazine announced it is publishing its May and June issues as a single publication, with plans to resume the normal editorial schedule for July. Ordinarily, we would feature weekly articles based on the month\u2019s State of the Industry report. Since the June portion of our editorial is focused on how the industry is reacting, responding and coping with the global pandemic, we will include periodic stories on that theme throughout May and June. Certainly, it is our hope that by late June, COVID-19 will become less of a talk track. Our first look at the changed landscape tackles the thorny question of how to conduct business from an operations standpoint, given that those customers that aren\u2019t already shuttered are quite skittish about opening their doors (particularly clients in the foreground of providing essential services) to outsiders. In some instances, techs\/reps wearing gloves and masks while toting wipes and hand sanitizer can open doors. But is it enough? \u201cA lot of customers don\u2019t want non-employees in their offices right now,\u201d noted Chip Crunk, president and CEO of RJ Young. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to make new contacts with potential customers because, right now, all of these businesses are in survival mode. The last thing they want to do is talk to some salesperson.\u201d Dealing with Stress Stressing safety is the No. 1 priority for Loffler Companies, which counts hospitals, clinics and businesses that support those organizations among its clients. Founder and CEO Jim Loffler notes good communication with the customer is essential to ensuring that a service technician is not entering an area that may have been exposed to COVID-19. The dealer has worked with various sources to procure personal protective equipment (PPE) to ensure visitors are properly equipped. \u201cIt causes hardship and stress on people\u2014the leadership team, all employees, customers and their families. It\u2019s hard on people,\u201d Loffler said. \u201cYou try your best to keep positive and not worry.\u201d Marco approaches sales engagement from two vantage points: copiers and IT. The conversational tones are contrasting, according to CEO Jeff Gau. The IT conversation can touch on solutions to address the need for working from home, connectivity, laptops, hardware and managed services. But a copier rep would invariably be pulled into a conversation about reducing payments. \u201cCalling on the copier decision maker is a bit of an obstacle,\u201d Gau said. \u201cCalling on IT decision makers is opportunistic. We needed to develop a better talk track for our copier reps.\u201d Prospecting Blues Impact Networking has shifted the strategy of engaging clients and prospects. Outside sales reps, for example, now spend a majority of their day prospecting by phone from home, whereas in the past it occupied just a fraction of the rep\u2019s day, notes company President Dan Meyer. \u201cImagine spending eight hours a day for the last four weeks prospecting during a pandemic,\u201d Meyer said. \u201cAlthough our management team, trainers and support personnel have done a good job mixing in other activities, it has still been a difficult and stressful change.\u201d The transition was far easier on the IT operations end, where most engineers and IT professionals are used to working remotely on client networks, added Patrick Layton, vice president of managed IT for Impact Networking. The biggest challenge was at the onset of the stay-at-home orders, as not all businesses were employing good social distancing practices. That triggered some trepidation among the IT engineers. \u201cAs the stay at home orders have continued, we have had clients put a lot of work on hold,\u201d Layton added. \u201cWe have been talking to many (clients) about how now is the perfect time to do infrastructure upgrades and maintenance, as nobody is in the office and our engineers can work safely and not affect the end-users working from home.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":40167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1650,82,87,1638],"tags":[764,560,545,501],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40156"}],"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=40156"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40156\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40166,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40156\/revisions\/40166"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}