![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Depositphotos_29842629_XL.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nIf you\u2019ve been dragging your feet, there\u2019s an even bigger reason to act quickly: these additional offerings can offset lower print usage while also creating more touchpoints with your customers. The retail and service industries often refer to this as \u201ccustomer stickiness.\u201d As our business continues to pivot from transactional to relational, Marco is certainly taking some of its cues from businesses that have made stickiness an art form. Stickiness has become so vital, in fact, that the Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA) has created a step-by-step strategy just for our industry, abbreviated LAER.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Learn To LAER and Love It<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n LAER stands for land, adopt, expand and renew. Got it? Not so fast. However, many in our industry have been treating this scenario as a great bit of good luck instead of our goal each and every time. We put most of our focus on landing that first contract, but spend less effort on helping them adopt the solution and put very little thought into selling them additional services. Every time that initial contract is up, our competitors have a fair shot at winning that business. And why on earth would we give them that gift?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t know about you, but I love a nice competitive advantage. And that\u2019s exactly what you get when, over the life of an equipment or service contract, you\u2019ve also helped your customer with software licensing or print security services. You\u2019ve gotten to know them well, and they like working with you because you help them get more value. Every time they\u2019ve needed help with their equipment, you provide an exceptional experience. You\u2019ve even been talking to them about additional products and services you could provide down the road to help make their days even easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now their contract is just about up, and your competitor comes a-calling with a similar base offering that\u2019s a little bit cheaper. Your customer glances at that shiny brochure and thinks, \u201cSwitching is a hassle, I\u2019d lose my bundled software deal, and I have no idea what it would actually be like to work with this new company. And I\u2019d only save how much?\u201d They tell the competitor, \u201cThanks, but no thanks.\u201d Wouldn\u2019t you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ace the Customer Experience<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n That ideal contract renewal scenario I just outlined isn\u2019t wishful thinking. Getting to know your customers well and providing them with an exceptional experience takes time and work, and it may require taking a hard look at your business processes. For example, how long does it take to get a technician on site? How many issues require a second visit? What\u2019s your customer\u2019s experience when they call your company? How can you free up your sales reps\u2019 time so they can anticipate your customers\u2019 needs and present them with solutions to problems they didn\u2019t even know they had?<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Marco, we\u2019ve spent the past couple years refining our processes. We\u2019ve also invested in newer automation and contact center technologies to ensure we can execute that LAER strategy every time. As you might imagine, while print is still our biggest revenue stream, our other offerings have become a much larger piece of the pie. Our recurring revenue is up. Our sales team has more time to knock it out of the park, which means they get more commission. Our customers get more personalized attention. Therefore, our customers are also much happier and more likely to stay. That\u2019s not a guess, it\u2019s what they\u2019re actually saying in their online reviews over the past year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bringing It Home<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n LAER is a new language, and for our industry, it\u2019s a new way of thinking through our sales process. However, it also happens to line up with some old-school ways of differentiating your business\u2014as in, your competitor\u2019s weakness is your biggest opportunity. In an era when most people expect a poor experience when calling a company, give them a pleasant one instead. They\u2019ll remember. Most companies don\u2019t offer their customers a personal connection, so do the opposite. Where many customers are likely to feel overwhelmed or confused, be Johnny-on-the-spot with the partnership you already know they need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Treating every initial transaction as merely a jumping-off point is an adjustment for most of us, but I believe it\u2019s the key to landing long-term clients in 2024 and beyond. And while the naysayers might focus on declining print use as a reason to count us out, I hope you\u2019ll join me in feeling highly optimistic about this industry\u2019s future. This past year was Marco\u2019s 50th anniversary, and as this new year gets rolling, I now feel very confident we\u2019ll be here in another 50 years and beyond.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you\u2019ve read a few of my recent columns, you know that Marco has been focusing on cross-selling opportunities and perfecting our customer experience. And you probably know why\u2014print usage at most businesses isn\u2019t bottoming out, but it\u2019s leveling out, and those numbers are going to remain relatively low. Therefore, dealers are having to work harder and smarter just to keep their slimmer margins. And as every dealer has the same ideal client, competition is fierce. Competing solely on price is a losing long-term game. Dealers that haven\u2019t beefed up their offerings are going to find themselves in that fix, and many already do. None of this should come as news, but if you haven\u2019t yet added more sources of revenue (e.g., software licensing, print security, IT services), you\u2019re playing catch-up. If you\u2019ve been dragging your feet, there\u2019s an even bigger reason to act quickly: these additional offerings can offset lower print usage while also creating more touchpoints with your customers. The retail and service industries often refer to this as \u201ccustomer stickiness.\u201d As our business continues to pivot from transactional to relational, Marco is certainly taking some of its cues from businesses that have made stickiness an art form. Stickiness has become so vital, in fact, that the Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA) has created a step-by-step strategy just for our industry, abbreviated LAER. Learn To LAER and Love It LAER stands for land, adopt, expand and renew. Got it? Not so fast.It sounds simple enough. You land a new customer by selling them printing equipment, for example. They adopt your solution, and you help them get the most value from it, which ideally helps you expand your business with them. Finally, when their contract is up, they\u2019re far more likely to renew with you. However, many in our industry have been treating this scenario as a great bit of good luck instead of our goal each and every time. We put most of our focus on landing that first contract, but spend less effort on helping them adopt the solution and put very little thought into selling them additional services. Every time that initial contract is up, our competitors have a fair shot at winning that business. And why on earth would we give them that gift? I don\u2019t know about you, but I love a nice competitive advantage. And that\u2019s exactly what you get when, over the life of an equipment or service contract, you\u2019ve also helped your customer with software licensing or print security services. You\u2019ve gotten to know them well, and they like working with you because you help them get more value. Every time they\u2019ve needed help with their equipment, you provide an exceptional experience. You\u2019ve even been talking to them about additional products and services you could provide down the road to help make their days even easier. Now their contract is just about up, and your competitor comes a-calling with a similar base offering that\u2019s a little bit cheaper. Your customer glances at that shiny brochure and thinks, \u201cSwitching is a hassle, I\u2019d lose my bundled software deal, and I have no idea what it would actually be like to work with this new company. And I\u2019d only save how much?\u201d They tell the competitor, \u201cThanks, but no thanks.\u201d Wouldn\u2019t you? Ace the Customer Experience That ideal contract renewal scenario I just outlined isn\u2019t wishful thinking. Getting to know your customers well and providing them with an exceptional experience takes time and work, and it may require taking a hard look at your business processes. For example, how long does it take to get a technician on site? How many issues require a second visit? What\u2019s your customer\u2019s experience when they call your company? How can you free up your sales reps\u2019 time so they can anticipate your customers\u2019 needs and present them with solutions to problems they didn\u2019t even know they had? At Marco, we\u2019ve spent the past couple years refining our processes. We\u2019ve also invested in newer automation and contact center technologies to ensure we can execute that LAER strategy every time. As you might imagine, while print is still our biggest revenue stream, our other offerings have become a much larger piece of the pie. Our recurring revenue is up. Our sales team has more time to knock it out of the park, which means they get more commission. Our customers get more personalized attention. Therefore, our customers are also much happier and more likely to stay. That\u2019s not a guess, it\u2019s what they\u2019re actually saying in their online reviews over the past year. Bringing It Home LAER is a new language, and for our industry, it\u2019s a new way of thinking through our sales process. However, it also happens to line up with some old-school ways of differentiating your business\u2014as in, your competitor\u2019s weakness is your biggest opportunity. In an era when most people expect a poor experience when calling a company, give them a pleasant one instead. They\u2019ll remember. Most companies don\u2019t offer their customers a personal connection, so do the opposite. Where many customers are likely to feel overwhelmed or confused, be Johnny-on-the-spot with the partnership you already know they need. Treating every initial transaction as merely a jumping-off point is an adjustment for most of us, but I believe it\u2019s the key to landing long-term clients in 2024 and beyond. And while the naysayers might focus on declining print use as a reason to count us out, I hope you\u2019ll join me in feeling highly optimistic about this industry\u2019s future. This past year was Marco\u2019s 50th anniversary, and as this new year gets rolling, I now feel very confident we\u2019ll be here in another 50 years and beyond.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":286,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3936],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58449"}],"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\/286"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58449"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58452,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58449\/revisions\/58452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
It sounds simple enough. You land a new customer by selling them printing equipment, for example. They adopt your solution, and you help them get the most value from it, which ideally helps you expand your business with them. Finally, when their contract is up, they\u2019re far more likely to renew with you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n