![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Craft-Axe-Throwing.jpg\")
Still, don\u2019t get the impression that PKT is just a haven for millennials and Gen Z employees; the company boasts its share of Gen X performers. To truly drill down to the common denominator of PKT is to understand the culture and core vision that Bode and Co. employ. Youthful is often a code word for idealistic and energetic, and as PKT transforms itself from the traditional copier model it embraced when Kelly decided to start out on his own, those individuals who align with that vision and culture have organically gravitated toward the dealer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Cover-Shot.jpg\")
One of the values PKT has incorporated is \u201calways hungry,\u201d and it\u2019s a critical tick box that any prospective team member must check off before joining the ranks. \u201cAnyone can be hungry, but there\u2019s a danger of slipping back into a lazy state,\u201d Bode observed. \u201cIf you want to find an employer where you can be comfortable, this isn\u2019t the place for you. We end up attracting people who want to grow, continue to be better than they were yesterday, and learn.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bode also believes the millennial rap that diminishes the age group as job-hoppers is overblown and detracts from the need for employers to ensure they\u2019re cultivating team members and positioning them for personal growth and job satisfaction. PKT averted the Great Resignation epidemic because it facilitates movement within its ranks. Bode cited one example of an employee in accounts receivable who pivoted and became fully ensconced as the go-to person who handles all the installations and configurations for PKT\u2019s hosted voice platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe wanted to challenge herself and grow into that role,\u201d Bode said. \u201cThis happens because we\u2019re very specific about the type of person we want to go after and recruit. The result is that DNA of a young, vibrant go-getter with a competitive personality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building Blocks<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bode was employee No. 6 when she came on board in 2007, three years into the firm\u2019s existence. Sales were just south of $500,000 in those formative years, and she immersed herself in the quest to grow PKT\u2019s base (\u201ceverything was net-new to me,\u201d she noted). By 2011, the company had grown to $1.7 million a year; Kelly bought out his co-founder and carved out a buy\/sell agreement with Bode in a succession plan. Bode still wore her sales hat, but her focus shifted to recruiting, team building and fostering organic growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PKT offers the Konica Minolta and Kyocera lines, accentuated by Epson wide-format inkjet technology, while its solutions have billowed to incorporate Verkada surveillance products and Intermedia VoIP phone systems. Its geographic target is a 100-mile radius where Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas meet. PKT has a second branch in Joplin, Missouri.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the dealer\u2019s foundation includes managed print, document management and MFPs, PKT made the bold move of introducing managed IT to its portfolio in 2018. In the process, it rebranded from Pearson-Kelly Office Products as the company continued to recruit experts for its IT services division. When 2019 rolled around, PKT\u2019s leadership felt it was necessary to reconfigure its strategic plan, employing the Traction Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) to meet its objectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen we transitioned into IT services, that changed our culture,\u201d she said. \u201cHow we communicated these changes was pretty important, so that people would know we weren\u2019t completely scrapping what had gotten us to that point. We didn\u2019t want to become Uber-ed or be the next Blockbuster. We needed to diversify our offerings because our clients were asking for these services.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pandemic-monium<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bode called 2021 a \u201cyear of humility for us\u201d as the $8-$10 million company needed to reconcile business aspects that were out of PKT\u2019s control, such as $650,000 worth of written orders stuck in supply chain dry dock. Even prior to the pandemic, Bode reflected on the practice of pursuing top-line revenue and growth for the sake of growth. The foundation, and really the elixir for PKT during the height of the pandemic, was laid through service contracts and recurring revenue, and recognizing the need to become more intentional about its pursuit, particularly in the IT space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThose recurring three-to-five year agreements, around which you can really start making long-term hiring decisions, enable you to have a better opportunity when something such as a pandemic hits and allow you to weather that storm,\u201d she said. \u201cWe really focused our targets for the year, and all our reps have two different quotas: a transactional quota and a monthly recurring quota. We comp well on the recurring revenue, which is important and has enabled us to be more successful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n While clicks have basically returned to 2019 levels, the inability to deliver on MFP orders has made the stunning growth in solutions (830%), security products (385%) and VoIP (63%) all the more critical to PKT\u2019s pandemic endurance. Bode credits the firm\u2019s \u201chunter reps\u201d with asking probing questions that can quickly drill down to pain points and desired outcomes. They\u2019re backed by subject-matter experts who can add technical perspective to the elements that are beyond a typical rep\u2019s knowledge base, such as phones, security cameras or the various flavors of IT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A new wrinkle sees PKT requiring its new territory reps to sell only recurring services during the first 90 days of employment as a supplement to training and onboarding. Bode notes it\u2019s difficult to steer reps toward recurring services when they focus on transactional sales at the onset. PKT has employed this practice for less than a year, but Bode feels the early returns indicate it\u2019s a strong MO to follow in order to seek out and drive more recurring services agreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 2019 launch of the dealer\u2019s security program was another major stepping stone in its beyond-the-box offerings. Bode hired a CISO, who offered the dealer a bevy of best practices to implement, which has benefitted PKT internally and boosted its ability to educate clients. However, it\u2019s been a difficult journey to gain traction, particularly among SMB clients loathe to acquire security products despite the overwhelming incidence of high-visibility hacks, vulnerabilities and exposure of sensitive information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019ve really put a lot more emphasis on us internally and changing that thinking when it comes to security first, and we\u2019re seeing that start to trickle out and change the conversation with the clients,\u201d Bode remarked. \u201cWe still have a long way to go, and security continues to be changing. We\u2019ve had the really fun Log4j vulnerability that has been rearing its head and we\u2019re still chasing things such as that. It\u2019s a scary world, and I think that\u2019s going to continue to be the focus. I\u2019m really concerned for companies that don\u2019t embrace security first.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marketing Success<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n From high-value blog content to conversation-bolstering swag enticements, PKT devised a marketing platform that\u2019s been critical for fostering a buyer\u2019s journey path that leads to the dealer\u2019s front door. Bode counts on Ward\u2019s marketing department to drive 70% of the buyer\u2019s journey for clients and prospects, and to synergize with sales through its messaging. Marketing provides that educational and why-to track that enables sales to bring deals to fruition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PKT takes a more passive approach to its marketing message, as opposed to gating content that can be accessed for the price of contact information. Education and thought leadership adds more value in the eyes of the buyer, according to Bode, rather than a glorified infomercial extolling the dealer\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Expansion Blueprints: It\u2019s All About People and Processes<\/strong> \u201cKenzie has done a great job in terms of content development, and she trains the sales team on the content that she\u2019s putting out there,\u201d Bode said. \u201cThat way, when our reps are on their calls, they\u2019re reinforcing the content that\u2019s out there, whether it\u2019s on social media or an event on security where we brought in a keynote speaker. We want them to use that platform in their sales meetings to keep some synergy with the content.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Change Culture<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Like all dealers\u2014and indeed, the entire business community\u2014the path forward from COVID-19 is pocked with disease variants, question marks and continued uncertainty. Bode has taken to \u201cembracing the silver lining,\u201d but during this period of change, she believes now is the opportune time to push forward with solution tools that provide efficiencies and enable business continuity. An example of this is electronic document signatures, an area that has traditionally been met with resistance among her Midwest clients. But the altered reality makes it essential. The same holds true for virtual meetings and letting the customer dictate preferences for virtual and in-person gatherings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Passing of the Torch Provides a Seamless Transition for PKT Both 2020 and 2021 were rebuilding years, in Bode\u2019s estimation. The company focused on repeatable practices, and she wants to ensure clients have more clarity on the dealer\u2019s processes, which she believes will bear fruit in 2022. She would like to see 20% of the written orders from the past year delivered, which will help to keep PKT\u2019s trainers and installers busy during the dormant periods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bode is heartened in seeing employees embrace obstacles as a challenge to learn. Failing forward, she notes, represents an opportunity to grow. And part of the magic behind PKT is team members being accountable to their respective teams, company leadership and the firm as a whole. Bode appreciates her own need to be held accountable and helping to push PKT in a direction that will serve it well moving forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWith all this disruption in the tech industry, we\u2019re getting that opportunity to go in and redefine what we are going to be as a company, how do we want to define this? What are we after?\u201d Bode posed. \u201cThose are the kinds of things that make it exciting for me to get out of bed every morning, come to work and be a part of a team that challenges me to think stronger. And I hope that I challenge them to think differently. For me, that\u2019s the fun part.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s not often that an office technology dealership with less than 20 years under its belt has developed a reputation to the degree of Pearson-Kelly Technology (PKT). In fact, the Springfield, Missouri-based firm is celebrating just its 18th birthday this year. However, for anyone familiar with owner Chelsey Bode and her crew of 44 employees, adjectives such as competitive, young and vibrant are apt and frequently repeated. In an industry that\u2019s oftentimes pigeonholed as mature and waning, PKT offers a refreshing optimism that\u2019s difficult to resist. The company is somehow youth-laden and experienced, guided by Bode and a leadership team that is entirely under-40: Executive Vice President Lee Flood, Marketing Coordinator Kenzie Ward, Operations Manager Taylor Wells, Director of Sales Derris Butler and Internal IT Tyler Stilley. It\u2019s easy to forget that Bode\u2014who officially took full ownership of PKT from founding father Mike Kelly last September\u2014has already logged more than 10 years of critical decision-making experience and actually summered at former office juggernaut IKON Office Solutions during her college years. Still, don\u2019t get the impression that PKT is just a haven for millennials and Gen Z employees; the company boasts its share of Gen X performers. To truly drill down to the common denominator of PKT is to understand the culture and core vision that Bode and Co. employ. Youthful is often a code word for idealistic and energetic, and as PKT transforms itself from the traditional copier model it embraced when Kelly decided to start out on his own, those individuals who align with that vision and culture have organically gravitated toward the dealer. One of the values PKT has incorporated is \u201calways hungry,\u201d and it\u2019s a critical tick box that any prospective team member must check off before joining the ranks. \u201cAnyone can be hungry, but there\u2019s a danger of slipping back into a lazy state,\u201d Bode observed. \u201cIf you want to find an employer where you can be comfortable, this isn\u2019t the place for you. We end up attracting people who want to grow, continue to be better than they were yesterday, and learn.\u201d Bode also believes the millennial rap that diminishes the age group as job-hoppers is overblown and detracts from the need for employers to ensure they\u2019re cultivating team members and positioning them for personal growth and job satisfaction. PKT averted the Great Resignation epidemic because it facilitates movement within its ranks. Bode cited one example of an employee in accounts receivable who pivoted and became fully ensconced as the go-to person who handles all the installations and configurations for PKT\u2019s hosted voice platform. \u201cShe wanted to challenge herself and grow into that role,\u201d Bode said. \u201cThis happens because we\u2019re very specific about the type of person we want to go after and recruit. The result is that DNA of a young, vibrant go-getter with a competitive personality.\u201d Building Blocks Bode was employee No. 6 when she came on board in 2007, three years into the firm\u2019s existence. Sales were just south of $500,000 in those formative years, and she immersed herself in the quest to grow PKT\u2019s base (\u201ceverything was net-new to me,\u201d she noted). By 2011, the company had grown to $1.7 million a year; Kelly bought out his co-founder and carved out a buy\/sell agreement with Bode in a succession plan. Bode still wore her sales hat, but her focus shifted to recruiting, team building and fostering organic growth. PKT offers the Konica Minolta and Kyocera lines, accentuated by Epson wide-format inkjet technology, while its solutions have billowed to incorporate Verkada surveillance products and Intermedia VoIP phone systems. Its geographic target is a 100-mile radius where Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas meet. PKT has a second branch in Joplin, Missouri. While the dealer\u2019s foundation includes managed print, document management and MFPs, PKT made the bold move of introducing managed IT to its portfolio in 2018. In the process, it rebranded from Pearson-Kelly Office Products as the company continued to recruit experts for its IT services division. When 2019 rolled around, PKT\u2019s leadership felt it was necessary to reconfigure its strategic plan, employing the Traction Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) to meet its objectives. \u201cWhen we transitioned into IT services, that changed our culture,\u201d she said. \u201cHow we communicated these changes was pretty important, so that people would know we weren\u2019t completely scrapping what had gotten us to that point. We didn\u2019t want to become Uber-ed or be the next Blockbuster. We needed to diversify our offerings because our clients were asking for these services.\u201d Pandemic-monium Bode called 2021 a \u201cyear of humility for us\u201d as the $8-$10 million company needed to reconcile business aspects that were out of PKT\u2019s control, such as $650,000 worth of written orders stuck in supply chain dry dock. Even prior to the pandemic, Bode reflected on the practice of pursuing top-line revenue and growth for the sake of growth. The foundation, and really the elixir for PKT during the height of the pandemic, was laid through service contracts and recurring revenue, and recognizing the need to become more intentional about its pursuit, particularly in the IT space. \u201cThose recurring three-to-five year agreements, around which you can really start making long-term hiring decisions, enable you to have a better opportunity when something such as a pandemic hits and allow you to weather that storm,\u201d she said. \u201cWe really focused our targets for the year, and all our reps have two different quotas: a transactional quota and a monthly recurring quota. We comp well on the recurring revenue, which is important and has enabled us to be more successful.\u201d While clicks have basically returned to 2019 levels, the inability to deliver on MFP orders has made the stunning growth in solutions (830%), security products (385%) and VoIP (63%) all the more critical to PKT\u2019s pandemic endurance. Bode credits the firm\u2019s \u201chunter reps\u201d with asking probing questions that can quickly drill down to pain points and desired outcomes. They\u2019re backed by subject-matter experts who can add technical perspective to the elements […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1643],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48478"}],"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=48478"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48478\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48488,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48478\/revisions\/48488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/IMG-5931.jpg\")
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Chelsey Bode freely admits that she isn\u2019t keen on the concept of business acquisitions. Though she remains open to opportunities that would represent an optimal fit, the PKT owner would rather focus her attention on acquiring people and perfecting repeatable processes.
Expansion is certainly on the radar for 2022, but a more preferred option is to clone the company\u2019s best practices and apply them to potential additions in new markets, with the goal of producing the same deliverable regardless of proximity to the corporate headquarters. Thus, adding new people piecemeal as opposed to en masse is likely to produce better results.
Still, Bode has mulled over a few acquisition opportunities, but given the way PKT has defined IT services, grown its hosted voice and cultivated surveillance solutions, introducing an entire company to the corporate culture at this juncture would be challenging.
\u201cFor us to fold another culture of people that might not mesh into our culture, and add a client list that perhaps isn\u2019t ideal for our team, it would really take a unique opportunity to make a business acquisition attractive,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Halloween.jpg\")
<\/strong>
While she knew the day was coming, Chelsey Bode was somewhat surprised when her father, Pearson-Kelly Technology founder Mike Kelly, decided to make 2021 his final year at the helm. While Kelly is still active in the company in a business development role, the reins are firmly planted in Bode\u2019s hands.
Not much, if anything, has changed from an operational standpoint. Bode has been calling shots for PKT since 2011, thus the leadership shift has been opaque to employees, clients and business partners. If anything, Bode\u2019s buyout last September provided affirmation to the team that PKT was moving forward and not in danger of becoming consumed by private equity interests.
\u201cEarly on, we did a lot of communicating about what the succession plan looked like,\u201d Bode explained. \u201cIt\u2019s also an effective recruitment tool. When people see the typical office equipment owner, 62 years old and probably nearing retirement, they sometimes hesitate to join an organization like that because it\u2019s probably going to transition. People don\u2019t like change, don\u2019t like the unknown. We tried to get ahead of that as much as we could.\u201d
Bode is also part of an elite group of women in office technology dealer leadership positions, alongside noted executives Susie Woodhull (Woodhull LLC), Deb Dellaposta (Doing Better Business), Dawn Abbuhl (Repeat Business Systems), Mary Ann Bednar (Meritech), Mary Jo Johnson (EO Johnson Business Technologies) and Lola Tegeder (James Imaging Systems), to name a few. She relishes her role in a sector dominated by older men and sees the opportunity to help cultivate female leaders within her own organization.
When Kelly bought out his cofounder in 2011, he ensured that Bode was fully immersed with the business and sought to have her take an active role in developing the succession plan. And as the company began to evolve toward the end of the 2010s, he knew Bode\u2019s vision for growth would provide the opportunity for his own transition.
\u201cHe made me embrace some decisions that I probably wasn\u2019t ready for and put me in opportunities I didn\u2019t even realize I was being exposed to at the time,\u201d Bode said. \u201cFrom that perspective, allowing us to change in 2018 and transition into a different type of organization than he was comfortable with\u2014knowing we needed to do it\u2014and trusting me was crucial. That\u2019s allowed me to take the same approach with some of our leaders and do the same for them.
\u201cThe imprint I hope to make on the company is to do the same things my dad did for me in continuing to give strong leaders the opportunity to gain that experience as we grow teams. PKT needs intelligent individuals to take their roles and run with it, and do the same for their respective teams. I want to have an organization that challenges its leaders and challenges me with helping people to be better than they are on their own.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/MicrosoftTeams-image-22.jpg\")