2020 Vision - cdn.ymaws.com · a customer’s fleet of devices. This may mean a different mix and quantity of units deployed along with a revised service contract. We must help clients

2020 VisionManufacturers share a clear view of the year ahead

Compiled by: Brent Hoskins, Office Technology Magazine

What will be the greatest opportunities in the new year? To find the answers, Office Technology magazine asked

11 MFP and printer manufac turers to share their expectations for 2020. Perhaps the insight shared in this year’s industry forecast will help you better position your dealership for success.

Each of the contributors was asked to ad-dress the following questions in essay form: What do you believe will be the greatest mar-ket and prod uct opportunities for dealers in 2020? What are the best sales and marketing strategies for dealerships in pursuing these opportunities? What will be the most significant challenges dealers will face in 2020 and how can they best address them? What notable changes in demand/needs/expectations do you an ticipate from end us-ers in 2020? What do you see as the char acteristics of the of-fice technology dealership that is best po sitioned for success in 2020? Following are their responses.

Brother International Corp.Dan Waldinger, Senior Director, Marketing, B2B

As we begin a new decade in the office technology industry, we can be certain that hardware, software and service technologies will provide a foundational element to help busi-nesses of all sizes grow. By offering

these solutions to SMBs and large businesses, BTA Channel dealers are well positioned to share in the growth of their cus-tomers. Dealers, along with their OEM providers (hopefully their favorite “Brother”), must partner for success. We believe that, together, if we continue to partner, business will be great.

Let’s fill in the blanks. Five things we must do together are: (1) Facilitate a digital transformation journey for cli-

ents — We have seen a shift from single-function printers to all-in-one devices. As companies continue to organize their data, they have realized that much of this information

is paper-based and not always easily acces-sible. Software, coupled with multifunctional hardware, can help build new workflows to del-egate, review, approve and keep tasks on track. Specifically, the scanning features on these devices can become an integral part of moving manual paper-based processes to electronic workflows. This can add new efficiencies to an organization and allow for the extraction of in-telligence from legacy hard-copy documents. Together we can help boost productivity.

(2) Help customers collaborate more effectively — The knowledge worker today is mobile, equipped with a smart-phone and other intelligent devices, communicates on mul-tiple social platforms, uses cloud technologies and apps to allow for the accessing of data at any time or anywhere, and requires maximum agility. We must continue to deeply understand how information is shared in businesses today. Capabilities such as scan-to-email, application-based print-ing and scanning, and integration with critical back-end systems must all be a part of our everyday talk track. This will ensure that we are helping clients solve the challenges of their days.

(3) Drive unnecessary costs out of the business — The desire to be profitable is at the heart of every private sector establishment. As consultants, it is our duty to assess print-ing and document management environments and present multiple opportunities for improvement. If we do not do this for clients, others will. The A3 to A4 transition and the real-ity that print volumes have gone down begs us to rightsize a customer’s fleet of devices. This may mean a different mix and quantity of units deployed along with a revised service contract. We must help clients look under every rock for sav-ings — even if this means selling a different set of services to maintain our revenue per account. Customers will appreci-ate our transparency. This approach is also a great way to add net-new accounts.

(4) Protect data and aid in compliance journeys — Encryption of data (while at rest or in transit), network

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authentication, the locking down of documents, integration with SIEM tools and a more educated workforce are all elements of keeping businesses secure. Network printers and scanning devices are potential points of failure; therefore, a robust security capability must be part of any deployed solution. Whether it is a customer’s own IT policy or an industry security regulation/requirement like HIPPA, SOX, PCI or FERPA, we must continue to work with and stress the importance of staying diligent against malicious hacking attempts or other nefari-ous individuals. Let’s help our clients lock all the doors in their houses.

(5) Deliver additional value to existing and new cus-tomers — Businesses of all sizes want to effectively com-municate their unique value to internal and external cus-tomers. This can take the form of the documents they share with clients or the technology they make available for their workforces. Through customization and professional servic-es, dealers can create value beyond the box. Yes, satisfying the overt requirements of the customer is critical, but help-ing them realize additional ways to drive satisfaction scores will move you from a supplier to a trusted advisor. And this can — and should be — an additional source of revenue.

In summary, if we continue to do these five things togeth-er, 2020 business will be great. At Brother, our daily focus is to be a trusted “At Your Side” partner for our BTA dealers. We are excited about this journey together and know that the fantastic relationship we establish with all the profes-sionals in this channel is vital to our mutual success. Happy New Year.

Canon U.S.A. Inc. Hiro Imamura, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Business Imaging Communications Group

The start of a new decade is a great opportunity to reflect on learnings and create a forward-thinking strat-egy for success. With digital transfor-mation in full swing, now is the time

for the dealer community to change the way it embraces technology and use it to unlock new growth opportunities. Partnering closely with OEMs, dealers can pivot their sales strategies to tap into the latest trends and remain on top of their games.

Securing Deals by Helping to Secure the Office — With technology advancing at a rapid pace, it is possible for busi-nesses to lose sight of changing security needs and seeing

that their offices and workforces are properly equipped to help limit access to data. IT managers share a common task of helping put security features in place surrounding sensitive business information, customer data and em-ployee information. While an obvious focus is on securing individual comput-ing devices and corporate networks, MFPs are often an overlooked endpoint. Many traditional MFPs have progressed

to now offer scan-and-send capabilities, network integra-tion and cloud-based functions. Because of this, dealers should look to partner with OEMs that not only provide tech solutions with built-in security features at the design level, but provide solutions and partnerships that can play into a larger security strategy. When it comes to security, Canon continues to make it a priority. For instance, this year, we introduced McAfee Embedded Control and SIEM integra-tion capabilities for the third-generation imageRUNNER ADVANCE 3rd edition MFPs. These advancements allow en-terprises to include these printers in their endpoint protec-tion and security monitoring initiatives.

Evolving With the Cloud — More and more companies are shifting workloads to the cloud to achieve a wealth of benefits: easy collaboration, space savings, general work-flow efficiencies, scalability and, often, the most compelling reason, infrastructure cost savings. But like any technol-ogy, the cloud is constantly being optimized, for instance, through AI innovations and evolving models such as hybrid or multicloud ecosystems. As more organizations look to prioritize cloud investments in 2020, dealers have a unique opportunity to help them navigate this key technology and show how it can be easily integrated into existing workflows and solutions — from MFPs to email and beyond. In addi-tion to driving workflow efficiency, the cloud can bring an added layer of security features to today’s interconnected office. Canon offers optional solutions that can help stream-line and protect document workflows in the cloud — from uniFLOW, Canon’s flagship print management solution, to cloud content and email management solutions such as Box, mxHero and Therefore.

Humanizing Tech for End Users — With the rate of technological change in the workplace, companies require complete, end-to-end solutions. Customers need their office technology to seamlessly integrate with backend document management systems with minimal interrup-tion and training. Professional services will likely become increasingly more important for device integration with various business applications and non-disruptive imple-mentations. This will remain especially important in 2020

As more organizations look to prioritize cloud investments in 2020, dealers have a unique opportunity to help them navigate this key technology ...


as Gen Z officially enters the workforce with expectations for easy integrations and smooth transitions to new tech-nology. Through the changing land-scape, Canon will continue to prioritize the growth of its channel partners by equipping them with the right resourc-es, and quality solutions and services to help them in 2020 and beyond.

HP Inc.Scott Lannum, Vice President& General Manager, Americas Commercial Channel Sales

In the 2019 Industry Forecast, my colleague Grad Rosenbaum, who leads HP’s Print Services & Solutions in North America, emphasized the growing role of everything as a service (XaaS) to

streamline consumption of new products and services. The past year has proved this prediction true, with XaaS

portfolios flooding the industry. The catch? Deploying XaaS for print relevancy that delivers an end-to-end content expe-rience and provides real benefits to the dealer and customer.

To drive future growth in 2020, the greatest market op-portunity for dealers is to evolve their solutions and services offerings — in addition to their specialized technology — to create seamless experiences for customers whether they are in the office, at home or on the go.

Customers are increasingly looking for bundled supplies, managed print services (MPS) and security solutions from a single source to better execute business priorities. To grow their businesses, dealers need to offer services and solutions that lower overall costs, drive more margins, and create ad-ditional business opportunities with existing and new cus-tomers — ultimately driving greater share of wallet. There are also more benefits for dealers, primarily through data analytics, to increase efficiencies and improve service for customers tailored to their specific needs.

Although XaaS has many powerful applications, dealers face pressure to create organic growth. This is the challenge we hear about the most from our partners. Dealers need to make the conscious shift from knowing devices to knowing customers, and delivering personalized and value-added solutions that directly address a customer’s needs. The key to unlocking this personalization is in the vast amounts of data collected by MPS. Tracking how, when and where ser-vices and solutions are used can lead to new insights about customer use beyond device functionality.

Partners that don’t transform simply won’t remain com-petitive, especially with millennial and Gen Z buyers who

are looking for data-driven, connected solutions and personalized experi-ences. They are influencing a corporate shift where a seamless integration of technology is expected in personal and enterprise settings. We call this trend OneLife. This change is taking place across industries, with new standards for a mobile and connected workforce. Partners that can assist their customers through this transformation will find

new revenue streams to offset challenges such as declining device placements, page volumes and click pricing.

We are also witnessing a desire for business applica-tions to function like personal ones. For example, HP just announced its new HP Workpath app platform. With HP Workpath, partners can connect their customers’ print-ers and MFPs directly to their business applications in the same way mobile phone apps connect people to information and processes. These apps transform workflows by giving users a similar in-application experience to what they have at a PC on the MFP, reducing the steps needed to complete a task. For dealers, the benefits of the software-as-a-service model are true incremental revenue and margin growth through selling the services per app, per device, creating an opportunity for a recurring monthly revenue stream.

Expectations on the IT and security fronts are also in-creasing. IT managers now expect devices to be intelligent enough to solve problems automatically or place the call themselves for an on-site fix. HP’s Smart Device Service is extending these same remote monitoring, diagnosis and re-pair capabilities to our printers and MFPs, with 15% to 20% service cost savings to the bottom line. To manage security across customers’ PC and printer fleets, tools like HP Secu-rity Manager give IT managers peace of mind that breaches are continuously monitored for and prevented.

HP’s partners that are growing the fastest are delivering a personalized, managed IT offering to their customers. Dealers who harness the power of data analytics to proactively address customer needs and add value to the customer experience will find continued growth and success in 2020 and beyond.

Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A. Inc.Kay Fernandez, Senior Vice President, Marketing

As our industry changes and evolves, business transformation is key to managing growth and increasing profitability. Dealers of every size will continue to be impacted by massive

Customers are increasingly looking for bundled supplies, managed print services (MPS) and security solutions from a single source ...


transformation over the next several years and this transformation will be driven by technology. Some organizations will em-brace the change and others will decide it is an opportune time for a merger or acquisition. Regardless of which strategy you are considering, at the end of the day, digital transformation will require a dif-ferent approach to the market to ensure you are not left behind.

The integration of All Covered ser-vices 10 years ago expanded our business into the world of managed IT, allowing us to serve business clients with a dif-ferent portfolio of offerings. At that time, no one was looking at this business domain for the expansion of the traditional office technology business. We pioneered this strategy and have continued to expand our capabilities into adjacent markets that add value for our customers as they navigate the workplace of the future.

It is now all about the connected workplace. As the work-force transforms, remote work increases and the technology that newer generations have had in their consumer lives is driving the expectation for their business lives. Manufactur-ers and dealers must help clients with solutions for efficiently managing business process optimization and supporting digital workplace transformation. Dealers must continue to build the operational, sales and technical competency within their organizations to capitalize on this evolution. As an in-dustry, we are moving up the continuum from delivering de-vice-centric transactions to assessment-based managed ser-vices, to designing business process automation, to ultimately fulfilling the vision of the digitally connected workplace.

Helping organizations become digital workplaces requires an ecosystem of partners with complementary solutions and technology. Collaboration needs to happen at the macro level between organizations to fuel innovative business solutions. No one provider can do it all and the workplace of the future is about engaging in strategic technology partnerships to deliver results. Konica Minolta recently announced a part-nership with Dropbox and will continue to add more strate-gic innovation partners in the near future. Our vision of the workplace is built to empower dealers by delivering the latest technologies to enable their continued success.

Within the commercial print and industrial print spaces, new product opportunities continue to move this market forward. Dealers who are not yet participating in production print have a tremendous growth opportunity to capture. The convergence of this market was seen at PRINTING United in October. Konica Minolta showcased a number of new prod-ucts in strategic growth categories, including high-volume print production, digital packing and labeling, embellishment

and wide format. There is a great op-portunity for dealers to expand into the production printing revenue stream and into higher-volume output. Find-ing opportunities is not problematic for dealers, for example, in in-plants where user manuals and promotional materi-als are created internally. Additionally, commercial printers continue to look for ways to differentiate and build new revenue streams that could easily be

produced with specialty and embellished print output. In 2020, Konica Minolta will open its flagship Custom-

er Engagement Center (CEC) in Ramsey, New Jersey, with more than 15,000 square feet of space dedicated to show-casing our production and industrial printing devices. The full suite of complementary production management so-lutions — including digital workflow, lean manufacturing and business development services — will further reveal a best-in-class digital print production environment. In the highly competitive graphic communications industry, profitability hinges on operations that are efficient, accu-rate and seamless. At Konica Minolta’s CEC, dealers and their customers will be able to see equipment in action and engage in discussions with our experts about the market, products and the resources needed to help them build or grow their businesses.

The bottom line is that technology continues to have a huge impact on the workplace and across all segments of the market. For dealers who embrace change and take ac-tion, the future is limitless.

KYOCERA Document Solutions America Inc. Peter Morisco, Vice President,Channel Sales

What will it take for a dealer to be successful in 2020? The answer is not that simple. Our business is evolving right in front of us. There are a lot of opportunities today, and if dealers

stay within the “imaging” world, they will probably do fine by sticking with the basics and doing what they do best — selling MFPs, printers and managed print services (MPS). However, dealers have an opportunity to exceed expecta-tions by stepping out of the traditional “imaging” world by redefining their approaches.

One approach is the way dealers prospect — it is very dif-ferent than what it was a few years ago. The days of the sales-person going out and cold calling is still relevant, however, that can no longer be the only touch point. Today, research

... New product opportunities continue to move this market forward. Dealers who are not yet participating in production print have a ... growth opportunity ...


is conducted well before a salesperson gets on the phone or walks through a po-tential customer’s door. A much greater percentage of decision makers already have their minds made up well before a salesperson is ever brought into the decision-making process as a result of that research, therefore leading to low success rates from cold calling. Why is this you may ask? It is pretty simple. Information is all around us; it is every-where. And it is easily accessible through a number of dif-ferent outlets, especially through digital and social media.

Digital and social media need to be taken into consider-ation as a part of a dealership’s marketing efforts. You can promote your dealership through social media and use it as a digital prospecting tool to help garner business. For in-stance, dealerships could utilize Facebook to target potential customers within a specific geographic location. Without digital prospecting, a dealer could be faced with challenges down the road. Dealers will need to review their future strat-egies and adapt to the ever-changing marketplace.

Prospecting for new business is not the only challenge a dealer will face; recruiting can be difficult. How do you recruit a 20-something into this industry? Our experience has shown that the younger generation is not interested in “selling copiers.” So, do you position your business as a “copier dealership,” or as an innovative technology com-pany that has the hardware and software to help solve a customer’s business-critical needs? Do you see where I am going with this?

In order to attract talent, your dealership needs to recruit bright, gifted people by positioning your company not only as a technology company, but also as an industry leader. Does it have the right corporate culture? Does your office look a certain way and provide special amenities? Or, is your dealership a less progressive, more traditional company, which seems to be resulting in higher levels of attrition? You should ask yourself: “Is my dealership a place where I would want to work?”

Once you attract talented people, what is the next chal-lenge? Retaining them. Take a look at what your dealer-ship offers and make sure it is competitive. Offer training, a competitive salary and a clear career path, among other programs. Position your workplace as an environment of fun, competition and camaraderie, and a place capable em-ployees will never want to leave.

Finally, dealers need to be open when they are looking to grow their businesses. Try a different approach. Think of Amazon. Focus on selling and providing your customers an exceptional experience throughout the entire process —

from the sale, to the schedule of the de-livery, to the install and to the follow-up service — then follow up each cycle with a survey. Close the loop on being excellent, and learn directly from your customers what you are doing well and what areas require improvement. Do not settle for average. Provide value to your customers. This is critical today and will be more critical in the years to come.

Lexmark International Inc. Sammy Kinlaw, Vice President, Worldwide Channel & OEM Sales

Lexmark has dramatically wid-ened its hardware and services of-ferings in 2019 and we have doubled our addressable market. That means there is more to sell and new end us-ers to call upon for Lexmark goods

and services. However, the market dictates that smart end users are not buying hardware alone based on a commodity price. They are looking for more. One of the most significant market opportunities that dealers can bring to their dealer-ships in 2020 is the incorporation of services and solutions, along with competitive pricing to deliver more value to their customers. Partners need to build service solutions and grow their industry expertise to differentiate themselves. It is a theme that has been increasing in 2019 and will con-tinue to earn even more momentum in 2020.

Dealers will face significant challenges in 2020. One of the key challenges is that partners need to adapt and evolve with the print environment. More established partners will recognize that there are a significant amount of new part-ners in their historically empty swim lanes. The barriers to managed print services (MPS) are coming down and the market is flat to declining. And, although there are millions of devices up for grabs, partners with solutions and services that separate themselves will be more enviable.

We believe that an industry approach will carry more weight in 2020. Partners and customers expect great prod-ucts, competitive pricing and ease of doing business. That is table stakes. What will separate Lexmark from the competi-tion are our vertically aligned industry solutions, as well as our suite of offerings that enable partners to offer MPS to small-to-medium and mid-market customers.

End users are also asking for secure environments. End users who were previously satisfied with on-premise print servers are now looking to the cloud for more security and less complication. Offers like cloud print management

Digital and social media need to be taken into consideration as part of a dealership’s marketing efforts. You can promote your dealership through social media ...


(CPM) through the channel should be embraced by both partners and end us-ers alike. CPM allows secure capture-and-release print, housed in the cloud, without the complexity of an on-prem-ise print server. Genius for both.

As the market consolidates and new partners enter the contracted page space, it is more important than ever that office technology dealers continue to expand capabilities and efficiencies. We are helping our partners with these initiatives through our Lexmark Industry Advantage program (LIA). LIA ex-tends Lexmark’s expertise with industry knowledge and puts that power in the hands of our partners. We are lead-ers in multiple vertical solutions. These solutions can help our partners break into new industries. Secondly, our new cloud offerings allow partners to better manage print envi-ronments and fleets via the cloud. This new product offer-ing helps our partners save time and the cost of travel while improving the customer experience. It empowers partners to maintain the print infrastructures of their small and me-dium-sized customers from one integrated tool.

OKI Data Americas Mark Hansinger, General Manager & Senior Vice President, Office Business Unit

BTA dealers have always shown an entrepreneurial, innovative spirit that has enabled them to drive their businesses forward during both strong and challenging economic

conditions. Over time, dealers have invested in and diversi-fied their businesses to deliver a broad portfolio of solutions to their customer bases, whether that be managed print ser-vices, commercial/production printing, color management, IT infrastructure or security solutions. In 2020, we expect dealers to continue to strengthen their capabilities in these areas and take full advantage of emerging trends that will fuel a sustainable growth position.

As the overall dealer business portfolio has evolved, print has remained the key revenue and margin driver in most dealerships. While print consumption in general of-fice applications has shown a flat to declining trend, the dealer’s ability to deliver a trusted, local approach to fleet optimization, proactive maintenance and responsive ser-vice will continue to help offset declining page volume and margin pressure. Although companies have been consis-tent in their efforts to reduce paper consumption and in-crease digital/automated processes, there remain several

pockets of high-value print opportuni-ties for dealers to attack.

An example of a penetrable, high-value printing vertical is retail. OKI has taken a leadership position in this mar-ket by focusing on the technology shifts, customer engagement strategies and footprint requirements of retailers. As the market accelerates from traditional brick and mortar to e-commerce, retail-ers are investing in solutions to enable

immediate competitive/trend response, better engagement with shoppers and to deliver unique in-store experiences.

While digital displays and traditional point-of-sale sig-nage play a key role, OKI focuses on the ability to instantly produce high-quality in-store signage, such as shelf talk-ers, pricing labels, POS signage and window clings, as well as personalization solutions, such as customized product labels and packaging solutions. And, we deliver these ca-pabilities in the form of compact, high-definition color printers that produce rich, high-coverage customer-facing signage. OKI dealers are well-positioned to support not only hardware placements, but also deliver the demanding consumables management and on-site service that retail-ers require.

We also look to trends in the evolving workplace as key drivers to secure machines in field (MIF), capture page vol-umes and deliver value-added solutions. Take, for example, OKI’s own workplace transformation. We’ve joined a grow-ing list of companies that are transforming the “where,” “when” and “how” employees work. Gone are the days of cubicle farms, closed-door offices and physical separation of departments. Our open-office concept enables cross-de-partment alignment, improved communication and faster customer response times. As more companies modernize their work environments, the opportunity for dealers to de-liver a structured and secure distributed document work-flow environment will become more critical.

Using our experience as a guide, OKI is positioning deal-ers to succeed by delivering a lineup of compact, high-performance A4 printers and MFPs that offer IT-friendly deployment and management, enterprise-level security, simplified user engagement and cost-control capabilities. Combined with seamless device monitoring, consumables fulfillment and customized product configurations, OKI so-lutions and our BTA partners are well-positioned to support a distributed deployment strategy.

We’re excited about the potential that 2020 brings to the dealer channel and believe that those who continue to em-brace change, innovate and invest will remain well-posi-tioned for growth in the coming year.

While digital displays and traditional point-of-sale signage play a key role, OKI focuses on the ability to instantly produce high-quality in-store signage ...


Ricoh USA Inc. Jim Coriddi, Vice President, Dealer Division

Change is not stopping any time soon. Our core business is chang-ing. The need to

effectively empower digital workplaces is key to future success. Because of these reasons, it is now more important than ever for dealers to confidently guide and assist their customers through and beyond their own digital transformations.

Today’s customers need partners (dealers) who can deliv-er more than print. They need partners who understand how people, processes and technologies shape back-end process-es and front-end success. In short, they need knowledgeable dealers in their corners who can help them protect informa-tion, manage technologies and connect the endpoints — the technology, data, applications and people — that form the backbones of their businesses.

To this end, Ricoh has made working closely with dealers a central focus for mutual success. Together, we are collabo-rating for customer value.

It is key for manufacturers to support dealers with cur-rent, optimized products. Optimizing current technology is key for dealers to have the ability to invest in their futures. Ricoh is working to integrate products, solutions and ser-vices to offer dealers a portfolio they have never had before. Working closely with our dealers, we are clearly under-standing how and what they need to grow. Ricoh will first help them optimize their businesses, then help them grow their businesses with new offerings, and then Ricoh will help them plan for their futures with products, processes and, most importantly, our collective people.

At a time when the subscription economy has grown more than 300% in the past seven years, customers are de-manding more workflow, less infrastructure and consump-tion-based solutions. Dealers are going to want to have the offerings, infrastructure and relationships necessary to connect customers with the consistent, positive results this exciting space can deliver. Ricoh is offering dealers the plat-form, robust workflow and the “How?” for them to jump into this business.

For example, at the beginning of 2019, we unveiled Ricoh’s Always Current Technology, available on our IM Se-ries MFPs, which grants end users immediate access to new, productivity-enhancing technologies as they are rolled out. A customer can pull down a new workflow solution from the cloud and start using it in the office the same day it hits the

market. The days of waiting for a hard-ware cycle to end in order to bring the latest and greatest technologies into the workplace are over. This innova-tion protects hardware investments while showcasing the long-term value of working with Ricoh dealer partners.

This dovetails perfectly with an approach Ricoh and its Ricoh Family Group dealer partners have long pur-sued: treating a sale as the beginning

of a relationship, not the end of one. To succeed in 2020 and beyond, dealers will need to understand and antici-pate their customers’ needs better than the competition. With the support of Ricoh’s marketing strength, dealers will be ready and able to manage any aspect of the busi-ness that they touch with customers. Ricoh is support-ing dealers with a new level of understanding. That kind of preparedness can only come from lots of close work with the people and businesses you serve. By talking in-depth and at length with customers, dealers cultivate an understanding of each customer’s unique needs — and contribute to their own broader understanding of market segments, evolving trends and the shape of the competi-tive landscape.

Businesses today are not looking to dealers just for tech-nology — or even just for technology and professional ser-vices. They want guidance. They want an informed perspec-tive on where their businesses are headed, how they could do better and how the dealer can help. That is the greatest challenge dealers will face in 2020. A rehearsed talk track will not cut it. To succeed, they must put in the work. And they are doing so — in droves.

More and more, we are seeing dealers embrace growth strategies for today’s customer demands and tomorrow’s market requirements — growth strategies that may have seemed unthinkably foreign as recently as five years ago. From working with vendor partners to develop service of-ferings, to bringing production print capabilities — democ-ratized by strides in cost efficiency and ease of use — to broader audiences, ways of doing business are evolving.

It is an exciting time to be an adaptable, innovative dealer willing to bring the dedication, pas-sion and know-how to the table that it takes to succeed. Are you ready?

Sharp Imaging andInformation Companyof America (SIICA) John Sheehan, Senior Vice President, Channel Sales

Businesses today are not looking to dealers just for technology ... They want guidance. They want an informed perspective on where their businesses are headed ...


When I look back at the past two years, I am amazed at the tremendous success that Sharp has experienced. The BTA Channel has been a very big part of that story. Since Foxconn be-came a majority shareholder, we have achieved 12 straight quarters of prof-itability and the past two years have been among the best that we have ex-perienced over two decades. This has been the case even while the overall market declined in 2018, and I am happy to report that we are currently operating at 116% year-over-year revenue growth for FY 2019.

Despite this success, the industry is facing some diffi-cult obstacles: units and pages are declining, and equip-ment prices continue to slope on a downward trend. One way that other manufacturers in the industry have react-ed to this trend is to attempt to purchase additional mar-ket share. However, this has only contributed to pushing pricing down to the point where it has hurt the industry. Additionally, cultural shifts in the workforce are foster-ing significant changes in the way businesses work with information. Millennials are now the largest group in the workforce and they are having a dramatic impact on the office environment, with trends toward remote workers, shared workspaces, mobility and the desire toward great-er autonomy.

With the recent launch of the Sharp Synappx applica-tions and the upcoming launch of the Windows collabora-tion display from Sharp, we are working to address some of the collaboration and smart office needs of the future. How-ever, in order to succeed, dealers will also need to change their approaches to business by getting away from focusing on hardware pricing and moving toward selling the value of the services they provide.

In fact, customers want their work technology to be as convenient as their personal technology. For instance, voice-controlled systems in the home are becoming more prevalent. When watching a Netflix show or movie on a de-vice, you can now just pick it up on another device. The abil-ity to make all of your technology work seamlessly is now expected in the workplace and the ability to work with the cloud is key.

Because of the efforts by large technology players such as Microsoft, end users now have greater access to cloud technology and are expecting robust integration with all of their devices. This is a great opportunity for dealers to le-verage their status as trusted document imaging technol-ogy providers and move toward becoming their custom-ers’ overall trusted technology providers. It is tempting

for office technology providers to lock people into a single ecosystem and then add their own hardware. This makes it a challenge for IT manag-ers who are trying to marry the new hardware with their current systems. Dealers who aim to be successful should try to leverage their under-standing of network connectivity to suggest ways customers can operate more seamlessly.

The internet of things (IoT) is another network-enabled conversation that is top of mind, but no one is going to say that they want to buy IoT from dealers. They are going to want smarter offices, smarter meetings, etc. In 2020, deal-ers will face competition from IT vendors for that same business, and those who have not built strong relation-ships and an aptitude to help with more than just copies will not survive. However, the good news is that dealers who are already in good standing with their customers can now leverage those relationships and provide them with even more value by partnering with a manufacturer that offers connected/IoT solutions that can provide the “smart home” benefits and experience they seek within their work environments.

Toshiba America Business Solutions Inc. Bill Melo, Chief Marketing Executive

Before providing my thoughts on 2020, I first want to thank the Toshi-ba team and all of our dealers for all their hard work and accomplish-ments in 2019. Our very successful year is directly attributable to their

collective effort.As the document imaging and printing industry enters

a new decade, OEMs and dealers continue to create and implement strategies to offset the decline in office prints. While OEMs and some dealers have developed lines of busi-ness outside their traditional offerings, the results of these efforts have been mixed.

Why are so many OEMs and dealers struggling to sell dif-ferent products and services? In most instances, it relates to existing employee skills and the degree to which the cus-tomer perceives the dealer as a provider of MFPs and print-ers instead of an office technology provider.

How will dealers expand in the new decade? We be-lieve there is still considerable opportunity for growth in document output and management within the office. The reality is most dealers have yet to fully leverage the

Dealers who aim to be successful should try to leverage their understanding of network connectivity to suggest ways customers can operate more seamlessly.


opportunities available within managed print or solutions as they relate to docu-ment management, capture, workflow and security.

Before expanding into entirely new lines of business, I first suggest dealers focus on:n Evaluating their current MPS pro-

grams. A good gauge is whether they are currently managing more printers (on a cost-per-copy basis) than multifunction printers (MFPs). If not, there is a lot of room to grow here.n Making a concerted effort to increase A4 MFP sales.

If A4 hardware sales are below 20% of your total printing hardware revenue, you are underweighted in this category and there is likely incremental opportunity.n Partnering with established document and print man-

agement software vendors while assuring revenue from these services equals at least 10% of your total revenue.n Hiring dedicated solution sales and implementation

employees. The services business is a knowledge business and it is difficult to excel without knowledgeable people.

Even those dealers who focus on document-related growth opportunities such as managed print and the docu-ment solutions listed above still have the challenge of trans-forming their business models and developing or recruiting new skills.

A services-centric company differs from a product sales and maintenance company in many important ways. The value that a services company provides, its revenue streams, customer care model, and the technical and analytical skills required to succeed are substantially different than dealers are accustomed to.

Therefore, the most significant challenge for dealers is recruiting new talent with the skills to execute the services-led approach necessary to grow in the new decade.

It is likely that as decreasing page output continues, us-ers will continue to consolidate devices. And, as organiza-tions continue to emphasize security, OEMs and dealers providing hardware and solutions with innovative ele-ments in this vital area will flourish. Dealerships provid-ing hardware and solutions with cloud-based applications to support an ever-increasing mobile workforce should also experience success.

Toshiba looks forward to continuing to provide our deal-er channel with award-winning hardware and innovative solutions as we move into the new year. We will addition-ally continue supporting our channel with Toshiba’s long-standing tradition of backing our products and services with elite-level training to best benefit our channel in the new year.

Xerox Corp. Mike Pietrunti, Senior Vice President, Multi-Brand Dealer Channel

Dealers can make their marks in 2020 by po-

sitioning themselves to leverage new technologies that will enable the con-

tinued expansion of both their equipment and recurring revenue streams. This includes honing their skills in selling app suites and software solutions to increase their “sticki-ness” and expanding their share of wallet within their cur-rent customer bases.

In addition, it is important for dealers to invest in and expand their efforts in developing net-new revenue streams. This includes leveraging higher-margin print opportunities using embellishments like metallics, fluo-rescents and white/clear; and expanding into the true production market where they can begin to capture sig-nificantly higher page volumes and margins through spe-cialized media applications.

Dealers also need to maintain a clear focus and make the necessary investments to drive a “30% to 50% net-new logo” placement strategy to offset the natural churn in their equipment bases. This can be done by differentiating offer-ings and support with app-based solutions that transform multifunction printers to deliver meaningful improvements for customers’ workflows.

As we look at 2020, some of the more significant chal-lenges dealers will face include:

Staff Retention — In today’s hyper-competitive employ-ment environment, how dealers are positioned to attract and maintain highly talented and well-trained employees is of ut-most importance. At Xerox, our dealer partners are capitaliz-ing on the benefits of knowledge-sharing tools such as Smart Centre and Showpad, and live, remote online demos to keep staff members engaged and enable new techniques for end-user presentations. Plus, these sales support tools are well aligned and easily assimilated by today’s millennial workforce.

Complacency & Resistance to Change — Dealers need to be flexible and intuitive on the dynamics of the market-place. Customer retention is huge — your base is under con-stant attack. What is your unique differentiator? How do you add value?

Margin Pressure — Dealers are facing a highly competi-tive marketplace and margin pressure continues to be a con-cern. Consider adding value with revenue-producing apps so customers can transform their workflows.

Therefore, the most significant challenge for dealers is recruiting new talent with the skills to execute the services-led approach necessary to grow in the new decade.


Lack of External Image — What is your company’s digital footprint? Are you active on social media? Are you connecting via LinkedIn? If you are not, younger customers may pass you by. Case in point: 75% of the workforce will consist of internet-native millennials by 2025.

As we embark on our course for a successful 2020, Xerox will be address-ing numerous changes and growing de-mands from partners, including: n More device integration to streamline workflowsn More security safeguards (a demonstrable ability to

keep information safe)n More demands for customization and apps that pro-

vide unique workaroundsn Higher-level requests about performance and the abil-

ity to meet service-level agreementsn More requests for mobile connectivity to facilitate re-

mote workers

To achieve success in 2020, key pri-orities for partners should include:n Customer base retentionn Net-new business expansion through

production, managed print services and apps n Longer-term growth or exit strategiesn Partnering with the right manu-

facturer to achieve business goals Dealers have tremendous opportuni-

ties to prosper in 2020 by staying vigi-lant to changing market trends and making smart, trans-formative decisions. Aligning with the right manufacturer that can provide the products, technologies and business tools can also position their teams for suc-cess. Xerox stands ready to help. n

Brent Hoskins, executive director of the Business Technology Association, is editor of Office Technology magazine.

He can be reached at [email protected] or (816) 303-4040.

Dealers have tremendous opportunities to prosper in 2020 by staying vigilant to changing market trends and making smart, transformative decisions.


Documents

2020 Vision - cdn.ymaws.com · a customer’s fleet of devices. This may mean a different mix and quantity of units deployed along with a revised service contract. We must help clients