{"id":55204,"date":"2023-05-18T10:50:08","date_gmt":"2023-05-18T17:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/?p=55204"},"modified":"2023-05-18T10:50:10","modified_gmt":"2023-05-18T17:50:10","slug":"palpable-excitement-office-dealers-share-takeaways-from-sharp-national-dealer-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/the-week-in-imaging-twii\/editors-blog\/2023\/05\/palpable-excitement-office-dealers-share-takeaways-from-sharp-national-dealer-meeting\/","title":{"rendered":"Palpable Excitement: Office Dealers Share Takeaways from Sharp National Dealer Meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to industry knowledge, Joe Reeves has few peers. The top executive of Smile Business Products in Sacramento, California, has logged 44 years in the industry and has forged solid relationships across the dealer and OEM stratosphere. So when Sharp pulled open the curtain on its new production press at last month\u2019s national dealer meeting, it fulfilled an item that had been on his wish list for the entire 25 years he\u2019s served on the OEM\u2019s dealer council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once he saw the machine in Las Vegas, Reeves didn\u2019t need to guess about the partner Sharp had stealthily aligned with\u2014it was clearly Fuji. After the Fuji-Xerox relationship dissolved in 2020, he felt Fuji would be the best option for elevating Sharp into the high-output, multicolor production space. Earlier this year at a Sharp dealer council meeting, Reeves pleaded the case for Sharp aligning with Fuji, but the Sharp execs were tight-lipped\u2026for good reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Joe Reeves, Smile Business Products<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI took it to Sharp and I said, \u2018This is the machine we need, what we\u2019ve been talking about,\u2019\u201d Reeves noted. \u201cBut mum\u2019s the word. No response. They did a good job of keeping it quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reeves, like a lot of dealers, are now mobilizing to build the infrastructure that will enable them to effectively offer the as-yet-named unit to the market. He\u2019s counting on needing at least two service specialists, as he doesn\u2019t believe training an A3 specialist would work for Smile. Reeves feels it will be an ideal play in the commercial printing market and for other print shops that have binderies. He was also happy to see Duplo at the national dealer meeting, as their cutters can assist in the production of business cards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reeves fears smaller dealers will find it more difficult to justify onboarding a specialist who can train sales and service personnel. Plus, not every market will have as strong a need, but that\u2019s far from the case for Smile. Government entities in California\u2014a state and a segment the dealer serves\u2014have an abundance of bureaus, and it\u2019s not out of the ordinary for them to have one or more competitive machines such as the Xerox DocuTech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While he\u2019s excited about the opportunity to move the new Sharp production press, Reeves was also impressed with the OEM\u2019s high-level philosophy. \u201cSharp did a good job talking about staying in our lane, and our lane has always been the paper-based office information business,\u201d he said. \u201cTechnologies have changed, but it\u2019s still about controlling the information in the office. What we have, as dealers, is all of these relationships. Now we\u2019ve just got to find all the pieces that will plug in with what we have\u2014Dynabooks, displays, monitors and VoIP. It\u2019s all about controlling everything that hangs on the network in the office.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Melissa Confalone, Fraser<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

We caught up with a number of other dealer executives who provided their take on Sharp\u2019s NDM:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think the flow of the messaging and the big-picture outlook from Mike [Marusic] and John [Sheehan] is super impressive,\u201d noted Melissa Confalone, president of Fraser Advanced Information Systems of West Reading, Pennsylvania. \u201cThey\u2019re not just thinking about today; they\u2019re looking down the road. For me, the biggest takeaway is the security play with Bitdefender and ConnectWise. It\u2019s the missing piece we\u2019ve been looking for and we\u2019re really excited about that part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Moody Hamdan, AD Solutions<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Being a Sharp-only line carrier made it impossible for a company such as AD Solutions of Orlando, Florida, to compete with the likes of a Canon or Ricoh production line at the high end. CEO Moody Hamdan is thrilled about the opportunities to increase revenue and attack new markets with the production press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn Florida, we have a lot of customers asking about big production units like these, but there\u2019s not a lot of competition,\u201d he said. \u201cOnly a select few can sell and service them. We\u2019re going to look for Xerox production specialists to add to our staff since they no longer sell this product. Since they already know the product, it will make it a much smoother transition that will help us get launched a lot sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Carson Stone, Stone’s Office Equipment<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

While the high-end production unit may not ultimately be a good fit for Stone\u2019s Office Equipment of Richmond, Virginia, Carson Stone\u2014the firm\u2019s product and solutions specialist\u2014was impressed with Sharp\u2019s diversification message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve really made it where they can offer a full-office solution,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s important considering the direction the industry is heading, and that\u2019s something we\u2019re heavily embracing. Sharp made it very clear where they stand for the next five years and where they want their dealers to be. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a better partner to be doing it with.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Vince Puente, Southwest Office Systems<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Vince Puente, president, sales and marketing for Southwest Office Systems of Euless, Texas, took a moment to commend Sharp and Marusic for their handling of the supply chain issues that plagued the industry over the past two years. As for the dealer event, he was pleased to see the company is updating its A4 products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The production press, it seems, was the biggest attraction for Puente and his fellow dealers. \u201cThey\u2019re amazing. We\u2019re not going to sell three of them per week, but it\u2019s great to see Sharp making that investment,\u201d Puente noted. \u201cWhile it\u2019s not a market we\u2019ve been in, we\u2019re going to be putting on our \u2018lookout hats.\u2019 We\u2019ll start seeking those opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When it comes to industry knowledge, Joe Reeves has few peers. The top executive of Smile Business Products in Sacramento, California, has logged 44 years in the industry and has forged solid relationships across the dealer and OEM stratosphere. So when Sharp pulled open the curtain on its new production press at last month\u2019s national dealer meeting, it fulfilled an item that had been on his wish list for the entire 25 years he\u2019s served on the OEM\u2019s dealer council. Once he saw the machine in Las Vegas, Reeves didn\u2019t need to guess about the partner Sharp had stealthily aligned with\u2014it was clearly Fuji. After the Fuji-Xerox relationship dissolved in 2020, he felt Fuji would be the best option for elevating Sharp into the high-output, multicolor production space. Earlier this year at a Sharp dealer council meeting, Reeves pleaded the case for Sharp aligning with Fuji, but the Sharp execs were tight-lipped\u2026for good reason. \u201cI took it to Sharp and I said, \u2018This is the machine we need, what we\u2019ve been talking about,\u2019\u201d Reeves noted. \u201cBut mum\u2019s the word. No response. They did a good job of keeping it quiet.\u201d Reeves, like a lot of dealers, are now mobilizing to build the infrastructure that will enable them to effectively offer the as-yet-named unit to the market. He\u2019s counting on needing at least two service specialists, as he doesn\u2019t believe training an A3 specialist would work for Smile. Reeves feels it will be an ideal play in the commercial printing market and for other print shops that have binderies. He was also happy to see Duplo at the national dealer meeting, as their cutters can assist in the production of business cards. Reeves fears smaller dealers will find it more difficult to justify onboarding a specialist who can train sales and service personnel. Plus, not every market will have as strong a need, but that\u2019s far from the case for Smile. Government entities in California\u2014a state and a segment the dealer serves\u2014have an abundance of bureaus, and it\u2019s not out of the ordinary for them to have one or more competitive machines such as the Xerox DocuTech. While he\u2019s excited about the opportunity to move the new Sharp production press, Reeves was also impressed with the OEM\u2019s high-level philosophy. \u201cSharp did a good job talking about staying in our lane, and our lane has always been the paper-based office information business,\u201d he said. \u201cTechnologies have changed, but it\u2019s still about controlling the information in the office. What we have, as dealers, is all of these relationships. Now we\u2019ve just got to find all the pieces that will plug in with what we have\u2014Dynabooks, displays, monitors and VoIP. It\u2019s all about controlling everything that hangs on the network in the office.\u201d We caught up with a number of other dealer executives who provided their take on Sharp\u2019s NDM: \u201cI think the flow of the messaging and the big-picture outlook from Mike [Marusic] and John [Sheehan] is super impressive,\u201d noted Melissa Confalone, president of Fraser Advanced Information Systems of West Reading, Pennsylvania. \u201cThey\u2019re not just thinking about today; they\u2019re looking down the road. For me, the biggest takeaway is the security play with Bitdefender and ConnectWise. It\u2019s the missing piece we\u2019ve been looking for and we\u2019re really excited about that part of it.\u201d Being a Sharp-only line carrier made it impossible for a company such as AD Solutions of Orlando, Florida, to compete with the likes of a Canon or Ricoh production line at the high end. CEO Moody Hamdan is thrilled about the opportunities to increase revenue and attack new markets with the production press. \u201cIn Florida, we have a lot of customers asking about big production units like these, but there\u2019s not a lot of competition,\u201d he said. \u201cOnly a select few can sell and service them. We\u2019re going to look for Xerox production specialists to add to our staff since they no longer sell this product. Since they already know the product, it will make it a much smoother transition that will help us get launched a lot sooner.\u201d While the high-end production unit may not ultimately be a good fit for Stone\u2019s Office Equipment of Richmond, Virginia, Carson Stone\u2014the firm\u2019s product and solutions specialist\u2014was impressed with Sharp\u2019s diversification message. \u201cThey\u2019ve really made it where they can offer a full-office solution,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s important considering the direction the industry is heading, and that\u2019s something we\u2019re heavily embracing. Sharp made it very clear where they stand for the next five years and where they want their dealers to be. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a better partner to be doing it with.\u201d Vince Puente, president, sales and marketing for Southwest Office Systems of Euless, Texas, took a moment to commend Sharp and Marusic for their handling of the supply chain issues that plagued the industry over the past two years. As for the dealer event, he was pleased to see the company is updating its A4 products. The production press, it seems, was the biggest attraction for Puente and his fellow dealers. \u201cThey\u2019re amazing. We\u2019re not going to sell three of them per week, but it\u2019s great to see Sharp making that investment,\u201d Puente noted. \u201cWhile it\u2019s not a market we\u2019ve been in, we\u2019re going to be putting on our \u2018lookout hats.\u2019 We\u2019ll start seeking those opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":55205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[80,1650,82,1638],"tags":[3245,3009],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55204"}],"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=55204"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55207,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55204\/revisions\/55207"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}