Copier manufacturers, solutions providers, and suppliers continue to introduce devices that raise energy efficiency to new levels as well as products that go a long way towards reducing waste and paper and toner consumption. This ongoing focus on \u2018green\u2019 initiatives poses a dilemma in that it\u2019s somewhat counter intuitive to an industry that has historically relied on revenues from paper output. But times have changed as have printing habits in many organizations, although how many of those habits are related to cutting costs versus environmental concerns?<\/p>\n
We spoke with a half dozen dealers across the country to get a sense if green initiatives are resonating with their customers or not, and if they are, their strategies for presenting these solutions to prospects where going \u201cgreen\u201d is a priority.<\/p>\n
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\nWhen talking about capitalizing on \u2018green\u2019 opportunities from a dealer perspective, one of the\u00a0 leaders in the dealer community is Flo-Tech in Middletown, CT. We\u2019ve written about them before and with good reason. Flo-Tech\u2019s commitment is prominently featured on its Website www.flotech.net\/environment and its EnVision for the Environment program remains an example to the industry.<\/p>\n
As a refresher, Flo-Tech partners with its customers to implement best practices that optimize\u00a0their printing and imaging for the environment.\u00a0 That includes delivering products and solutions that help\u00a0customers achieve reduced paper and energy consumption along with a reduced carbon footprint. Many of those products and solutions are the very same that other dealers offer, it\u2019s just that Flo-Tech has come up with a program that repositions them in an environmentally friendly way.<\/p>\n
According to Scott MacGregor, Flo-Tech\u2019s vice president of sales and marketing, \u201cOur EnVision for the Environment program, which started well over a decade ago, continues to be important to our clients.\u00a0 This year we had a record number of clients receiving Green Awards as part of our annual EnVision Earth Day recognition program.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to supporting Flo-Tech\u2019s clients\u2019 environmental initiatives, the EnVision program also extends to Flo-Tech\u2019s commitment to social and community responsibility.\u00a0\u201cPart of the EnVision program is Flo-Tech\u2019s employment program for people with disabilities \u2013 a program established in conjunction with a local non-profit organization.\u00a0 The program has been very rewarding for everyone involved,\u201d adds MacGregor.<\/p>\n
One aspect that seems to make a difference when working the \u2018green\u2019 angle is location, location, location. At Image Matters in Knoxville, TN, Senior Account Executive Katie King hasn\u2019t seen much interest in \u2018green\u2019 during her 3\u00bd years with the company. \u201cTennessee is kind of behind the times and people don\u2019t really focus on that,\u201d she says although she has one huge account that cares about it. \u201cThey [occasionally] ask, but it\u2019s not a deal breaker,\u201d she adds about most of her clients.<\/p>\n
Those who do ask are usually interested in learning how Image Matters can help them reduce output, how they can help them reduce the number of printers in the field, or if they offer toner recycling, which they do. But what they ask about and what they\u2019re willing to do in the name of going \u2018green\u2019 are often two different things.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople always say they want to reduce what they print, but they usually end up doubling what they print,\u201d says King.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s good for Image Matters, not so good for the environment.<\/p>\n
LDI Color Toolbox, a dealership based in Jericho, NY, has been leading the green charge in the New York metropolitan area for a few years now. \u201cWe probably were one of the first dealers leading the charge on green, not just green washing, but seeing how companies can subscribe to an EMS (Environmental Management System),\u201d notes Brian Gertler, vice president. \u201cFrom a business perspective \u2018green\u2019 and costing is at the heart of everything we do for managed print services.\u201d<\/p>\n
LDI also does a lot of toner cartridge recycling, working through Supplies Network.<\/p>\n
On a good, \u2018green\u2019 day you\u2019ll find LDI reps advising customers on everything from taking advantage of the duplexing feature on their MFP as well as ways to reduce their toner use.<\/p>\n
Underscoring LDI\u2019s seriousness about this topic is its Green Up series of solutions seminars and Webinars, which feature presentations from industry consultants such as Tom Callinan of Strategy Development or panel discussions on green and sustainability programs with representatives from Canon, Sharp, HP, and Riso.<\/p>\n
While some dealers have found certain verticals more in tune with going green than others, LDI has seen interest in its green initiatives across the board. Again, that could be related to location.<\/p>\n
Gertler has also seen a larger effort on the part of manufacturers, many of whom have historically done an excellent job of painting their company in broad \u2018green\u2019 brush strokes.\u00a0 \u201cAll the manufacturers have been doing a little more in their smart-way transportation and boxing and the products they\u2019re using to build the machines,\u201d notes Gertler. \u201cToshiba probably put themselves a little more front and center with their eco style products. We have the e-STUDIO 306LP that can reuse the same paper up to five times on our showroom floor and we\u2019ve had a good reaction to that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Dan Tero, president of Image Works of Oklahoma, finds that companies like to talk about \u2018green\u2019 and want to take the initiative, but if it affects their bottom line, that\u2019s a different story. Another obstacle goes back to location and Oklahoma is an oil and natural gas producing state, which makes going \u2018green\u2019 less of a priority for a lot of companies in those industries.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody wants to do it and feel good about themselves as long as it doesn\u2019t cost them any more money or if it\u2019s a cheaper way to go,\u201d states Tero. \u201cYou have to find the right customer.\u201d<\/p>\n
The right customers for Image Works\u2019 \u2018green\u2019 message are large non profits such as a Boys & Girls Club or a United Way because their major benefactors, some of the larger companies in Oklahoma City, are also looking to go \u2018green.\u2019<\/p>\n
Perhaps the least threatening way for any business to go \u2018green\u2019 and any dealer to jump on the \u2018green\u2019 bandwagon is the most obvious, and that\u2019s offering customers toner recycling. That\u2019s something that Image Works of Oklahoma offers through its primary OEM, Kyocera. Besides toner cartridges, Image Works also picks up old copy machines and computers that a customer no longer needs whenever they\u2019re dropping off new equipment at no charge to the customer. \u201cWe take them to a recycling plant or scrap yard where they\u2019re disassembled and used again,\u201d says Tero.<\/p>\n
Although it\u2019s not unusual for customers gung ho about going \u2018green\u2019 to ask about a dealer\u2019s own internal green initiatives, that\u2019s not something that Tero is often asked. \u201cIt\u2019s more what\u2019s in it for them, not what we do here,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Image Works does a lot of internal recycling, particularly of the cardboard and other packing materials that the OEMs ship their copiers with. \u201cWe unboxed six midrange copy machines the other day and filled up a truckload with cardboard and took it to a recycling plant in Oklahoma City,\u201d notes Tero. \u201cIt\u2019s better than going in my dumpster.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019d love to see the copier companies who are advocating these green initiatives and talking about what they do as a corporation do even more than what they\u2019re currently doing, particularly when packaging their equipment for shipping. \u201cWe know a copier is fragile, but the amount of cardboard with those six machines we just unpacked blows my mind,\u201d exclaims Tero. \u201cIt seems like every time I un-box a machine there\u2019s more and more stuff with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile on the West Coast where one might assume that the \u2018green\u2019 angle is as good as gold, it\u2019s not always the case. \u201cNot really much to say on the issue,\u201d states Gary Johnson of Zoom Imaging Solutions in Fresno, CA. \u201cIt hasn’t been a hot topic for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Milton Bartley, owner of ImageQuest in Nashville, TN, pulls no punches when talking about the green opportunities in his market. His perspective is one of a progressive dealership that\u2019s rooted in services and whose customers tend to be SMBs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think customers give a crap,\u201d he opines. \u201cIf you talk to the enterprise accounts they absolutely care and have initiatives for it, and they have executive bonuses around it. If you\u2019re a General Electric of course you care because a two percent savings in electrical spend can save your business big dollars. For a typical small business it is nice to know something isn\u2019t going to end up in a landfill. Sure, they care about that piece, but they\u2019re not going to let me come in and do some kind of analysis and swap out all their printers because I can save them 14 kilowatts per month. They don\u2019t care and it\u2019s not going to save them much.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not to say that Bartley is anti \u2018green.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cDo we want to be responsible, absolutely. Do we want to make sure we\u2019re not sending copiers and old cartridges to landfills and we\u2019re doing recycling, absolutely. We do that and participate with our manufacturers, but if you think you can use that as a calling card and a way to get business you\u2019re kidding yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Copier manufacturers, solutions providers, and suppliers continue to introduce devices that raise energy efficiency to new levels as well as products that go a long way towards reducing waste and paper and toner consumption. This ongoing focus on \u2018green\u2019 initiatives poses a dilemma in that it\u2019s somewhat counter intuitive to an industry that has historically relied on revenues from paper output. But times have changed as have printing habits in many organizations, although how many of those habits are related to cutting costs versus environmental concerns? We spoke with a half dozen dealers across the country to get a sense if green initiatives are resonating with their customers or not, and if they are, their strategies for presenting these solutions to prospects where going \u201cgreen\u201d is a priority. When talking about capitalizing on \u2018green\u2019 opportunities from a dealer perspective, one of the\u00a0 leaders in the dealer community is Flo-Tech in Middletown, CT. We\u2019ve written about them before and with good reason. Flo-Tech\u2019s commitment is prominently featured on its Website www.flotech.net\/environment and its EnVision for the Environment program remains an example to the industry. As a refresher, Flo-Tech partners with its customers to implement best practices that optimize\u00a0their printing and imaging for the environment.\u00a0 That includes delivering products and solutions that help\u00a0customers achieve reduced paper and energy consumption along with a reduced carbon footprint. Many of those products and solutions are the very same that other dealers offer, it\u2019s just that Flo-Tech has come up with a program that repositions them in an environmentally friendly way. According to Scott MacGregor, Flo-Tech\u2019s vice president of sales and marketing, \u201cOur EnVision for the Environment program, which started well over a decade ago, continues to be important to our clients.\u00a0 This year we had a record number of clients receiving Green Awards as part of our annual EnVision Earth Day recognition program.\u201d In addition to supporting Flo-Tech\u2019s clients\u2019 environmental initiatives, the EnVision program also extends to Flo-Tech\u2019s commitment to social and community responsibility.\u00a0\u201cPart of the EnVision program is Flo-Tech\u2019s employment program for people with disabilities \u2013 a program established in conjunction with a local non-profit organization.\u00a0 The program has been very rewarding for everyone involved,\u201d adds MacGregor. One aspect that seems to make a difference when working the \u2018green\u2019 angle is location, location, location. At Image Matters in Knoxville, TN, Senior Account Executive Katie King hasn\u2019t seen much interest in \u2018green\u2019 during her 3\u00bd years with the company. \u201cTennessee is kind of behind the times and people don\u2019t really focus on that,\u201d she says although she has one huge account that cares about it. \u201cThey [occasionally] ask, but it\u2019s not a deal breaker,\u201d she adds about most of her clients. Those who do ask are usually interested in learning how Image Matters can help them reduce output, how they can help them reduce the number of printers in the field, or if they offer toner recycling, which they do. But what they ask about and what they\u2019re willing to do in the name of going \u2018green\u2019 are often two different things. \u201cPeople always say they want to reduce what they print, but they usually end up doubling what they print,\u201d says King. That\u2019s good for Image Matters, not so good for the environment. LDI Color Toolbox, a dealership based in Jericho, NY, has been leading the green charge in the New York metropolitan area for a few years now. \u201cWe probably were one of the first dealers leading the charge on green, not just green washing, but seeing how companies can subscribe to an EMS (Environmental Management System),\u201d notes Brian Gertler, vice president. \u201cFrom a business perspective \u2018green\u2019 and costing is at the heart of everything we do for managed print services.\u201d LDI also does a lot of toner cartridge recycling, working through Supplies Network. On a good, \u2018green\u2019 day you\u2019ll find LDI reps advising customers on everything from taking advantage of the duplexing feature on their MFP as well as ways to reduce their toner use. Underscoring LDI\u2019s seriousness about this topic is its Green Up series of solutions seminars and Webinars, which feature presentations from industry consultants such as Tom Callinan of Strategy Development or panel discussions on green and sustainability programs with representatives from Canon, Sharp, HP, and Riso. While some dealers have found certain verticals more in tune with going green than others, LDI has seen interest in its green initiatives across the board. Again, that could be related to location. Gertler has also seen a larger effort on the part of manufacturers, many of whom have historically done an excellent job of painting their company in broad \u2018green\u2019 brush strokes.\u00a0 \u201cAll the manufacturers have been doing a little more in their smart-way transportation and boxing and the products they\u2019re using to build the machines,\u201d notes Gertler. \u201cToshiba probably put themselves a little more front and center with their eco style products. We have the e-STUDIO 306LP that can reuse the same paper up to five times on our showroom floor and we\u2019ve had a good reaction to that.\u201d Meanwhile, Dan Tero, president of Image Works of Oklahoma, finds that companies like to talk about \u2018green\u2019 and want to take the initiative, but if it affects their bottom line, that\u2019s a different story. Another obstacle goes back to location and Oklahoma is an oil and natural gas producing state, which makes going \u2018green\u2019 less of a priority for a lot of companies in those industries. \u201cEverybody wants to do it and feel good about themselves as long as it doesn\u2019t cost them any more money or if it\u2019s a cheaper way to go,\u201d states Tero. \u201cYou have to find the right customer.\u201d The right customers for Image Works\u2019 \u2018green\u2019 message are large non profits such as a Boys & Girls Club or a United Way because their major benefactors, some of the larger companies in Oklahoma City, are also looking to go \u2018green.\u2019 Perhaps the least threatening way for any business to go \u2018green\u2019 and any dealer to jump on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1649,1814,1641],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8549"}],"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\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8549"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8549\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8687,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8549\/revisions\/8687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}