{"id":64986,"date":"2025-05-15T13:40:17","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T20:40:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/?p=64986"},"modified":"2025-05-15T13:40:18","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T20:40:18","slug":"competitive-fires-still-burn-for-cpi-difference-maker-erik-crane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/the-week-in-imaging-twii\/editors-blog\/2025\/05\/competitive-fires-still-burn-for-cpi-difference-maker-erik-crane\/","title":{"rendered":"Competitive Fires Still Burn for CPI Difference Maker Erik Crane"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Erik Crane<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In his younger years, Erik Crane had two great loves in his life: his wife Heidi and coaching basketball. That kind of information will invariably cause someone\u2014a friend or a family member perhaps\u2014to pose the challenge \u201cWhat if you had to choose one or the other? Which would it be?\u201d It\u2019s a hollow hypothetical question that is almost never put to the test. Well, almost never.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crane had been working for the Kansas State men\u2019s basketball program, and he\u2019d recently married Heidi. But in order for him to take the next step up in the coaching ranks, it required moving on to a different school, likely in another part of the country. But Crane heard the request that\u2019s been made by fathers-in-law since time immemorial: Please don\u2019t take our daughter far away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So while it wasn\u2019t really a choice between two loves, he didn\u2019t want to take Heidi away from her family. Vern Starks, her father, made Crane an offer: open a copier store in Springfield, Missouri, for him that would complement another the Starks owned in Joplin. Crane reasoned he could go back to coaching in a year if the business didn\u2019t stick, so he gave it a shot. In the process, Crane added a third love: sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI loved the competition aspect of it,\u201d said Crane, a 2025 ENX Magazine<\/em> Difference Maker. \u201cIt was a different industry in the early to mid-1990s. It was cutthroat; competitors would try to beat you by undercutting you by $5. In my mind, every deal was a knock-down, drag-out fight. If you beat me once, that\u2019s fine. I\u2019ll just kick your [butt] the next 10 times. I had a competitor diving in our dumpster behind my building, trying to find old proposals. That kind of competition fit my A-plus, hard-charging personality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cranes would eventually buy the business, Copy Products Inc. (now CPI Technologies) from Vern and Toni Starks. While he still loves the gamesmanship of business competition\u2014where hating to lose was a greater driving force than loving to win\u2014Crane is more Fran Dunphy chill than Bobby Knight rabid these days. He now reaps the satisfaction of coaching CPI team members, and watching them grow professionally. That also means he occasionally sees great sales reps and techs get recruited by the manufacturers, but that validates the dealer\u2019s employee development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the cost of doing business, and Crane loves seeing the CPI teammates strive for their full potential, which has a salutary impact on the dealership\u2019s ability to flourish. Delegating responsibilities is a virtue he\u2019s come to appreciate, as is the notion that employees need the opportunity to fail if they\u2019re truly going to succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s not to say the competitive fires have dwindled. That first sale still resonates with Crane\u2014he can remember the account and the rep who bought from him, the type of machine that was sold. He\u2019s sold so much more since then, but the first win is forever etched in his mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over time, Crane has become fearless when it comes to taking on the unknown, trying something new. \u201cI\u2019m willing to go out on a limb, because that\u2019s where the fruit is,\u201d he observed. \u201cI think if you are averse to change, that makes it tough to grow. I try to let my work speak for itself. I trust in my people and give them the tools they need to do their job.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Starks certainly played a role in his development. One thing that stuck with Crane is Vern\u2019s assertion that there should be reason behind what they do as a company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s not a revenue-producing opportunity, why are we doing it?\u201d he said. \u201cThe things we\u2019re doing should be appropriate. We need to make good deals, and not just take every opportunity that comes to us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CPI is coming off a successful 2024 driven by substantial, profitable growth in the managed IT business. Plus, the Cranes made their final payment on the company, which was another reason to celebrate. As 2025 drives forward, Crane hopes to add market share in some of the dealer\u2019s more rural territories, which will entail growing the sales department. Streamlining processes will be important moving forward as CPI seeks to eliminate any bottlenecks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Gaining wallet share will go a long way toward elevating Crane\u2019s, and CPI\u2019s, game. \u201cWe can cultivate more business within our client base. They already trust us, so we need to get more of their dollars. If it\u2019s not with us, they\u2019ll go somewhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cranes have been married 33 years and have two children\u2014Emily, an attorney in Kansas City, and Ethan, who works in the county administrative department in Duluth, Minnesota. Emily gave her father a grandson, with a granddaughter on the way. The Cranes love to travel and visit Cabo San Lucas at least once a year. Hunting, fishing and golf are some of Erik\u2019s favorite pastimes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In his younger years, Erik Crane had two great loves in his life: his wife Heidi and coaching basketball. That kind of information will invariably cause someone\u2014a friend or a family member perhaps\u2014to pose the challenge \u201cWhat if you had to choose one or the other? Which would it be?\u201d It\u2019s a hollow hypothetical question that is almost never put to the test. Well, almost never. Crane had been working for the Kansas State men\u2019s basketball program, and he\u2019d recently married Heidi. But in order for him to take the next step up in the coaching ranks, it required moving on to a different school, likely in another part of the country. But Crane heard the request that\u2019s been made by fathers-in-law since time immemorial: Please don\u2019t take our daughter far away. So while it wasn\u2019t really a choice between two loves, he didn\u2019t want to take Heidi away from her family. Vern Starks, her father, made Crane an offer: open a copier store in Springfield, Missouri, for him that would complement another the Starks owned in Joplin. Crane reasoned he could go back to coaching in a year if the business didn\u2019t stick, so he gave it a shot. In the process, Crane added a third love: sales. \u201cI loved the competition aspect of it,\u201d said Crane, a 2025 ENX Magazine Difference Maker. \u201cIt was a different industry in the early to mid-1990s. It was cutthroat; competitors would try to beat you by undercutting you by $5. In my mind, every deal was a knock-down, drag-out fight. If you beat me once, that\u2019s fine. I\u2019ll just kick your [butt] the next 10 times. I had a competitor diving in our dumpster behind my building, trying to find old proposals. That kind of competition fit my A-plus, hard-charging personality.\u201d The Cranes would eventually buy the business, Copy Products Inc. (now CPI Technologies) from Vern and Toni Starks. While he still loves the gamesmanship of business competition\u2014where hating to lose was a greater driving force than loving to win\u2014Crane is more Fran Dunphy chill than Bobby Knight rabid these days. He now reaps the satisfaction of coaching CPI team members, and watching them grow professionally. That also means he occasionally sees great sales reps and techs get recruited by the manufacturers, but that validates the dealer\u2019s employee development. It\u2019s the cost of doing business, and Crane loves seeing the CPI teammates strive for their full potential, which has a salutary impact on the dealership\u2019s ability to flourish. Delegating responsibilities is a virtue he\u2019s come to appreciate, as is the notion that employees need the opportunity to fail if they\u2019re truly going to succeed. That\u2019s not to say the competitive fires have dwindled. That first sale still resonates with Crane\u2014he can remember the account and the rep who bought from him, the type of machine that was sold. He\u2019s sold so much more since then, but the first win is forever etched in his mind. Over time, Crane has become fearless when it comes to taking on the unknown, trying something new. \u201cI\u2019m willing to go out on a limb, because that\u2019s where the fruit is,\u201d he observed. \u201cI think if you are averse to change, that makes it tough to grow. I try to let my work speak for itself. I trust in my people and give them the tools they need to do their job.\u201d The Starks certainly played a role in his development. One thing that stuck with Crane is Vern\u2019s assertion that there should be reason behind what they do as a company. \u201cIf it\u2019s not a revenue-producing opportunity, why are we doing it?\u201d he said. \u201cThe things we\u2019re doing should be appropriate. We need to make good deals, and not just take every opportunity that comes to us.\u201d CPI is coming off a successful 2024 driven by substantial, profitable growth in the managed IT business. Plus, the Cranes made their final payment on the company, which was another reason to celebrate. As 2025 drives forward, Crane hopes to add market share in some of the dealer\u2019s more rural territories, which will entail growing the sales department. Streamlining processes will be important moving forward as CPI seeks to eliminate any bottlenecks. Gaining wallet share will go a long way toward elevating Crane\u2019s, and CPI\u2019s, game. \u201cWe can cultivate more business within our client base. They already trust us, so we need to get more of their dollars. If it\u2019s not with us, they\u2019ll go somewhere else.\u201d The Cranes have been married 33 years and have two children\u2014Emily, an attorney in Kansas City, and Ethan, who works in the county administrative department in Duluth, Minnesota. Emily gave her father a grandson, with a granddaughter on the way. The Cranes love to travel and visit Cabo San Lucas at least once a year. Hunting, fishing and golf are some of Erik\u2019s favorite pastimes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":64624,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3626,80,1650,82,1638],"tags":[4582],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64986"}],"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=64986"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64989,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64986\/revisions\/64989"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}