DECEMBER 2013 VOLUME 20 NO. 12 Connecting People, Ideas and Products in the Document Imaging Industry since 1994 PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID BOLINGBROOK, IL PERMIT NO. 467 www.enxmag.com ENX Magazine PO Box 2240 Suite 729 Toluca Lake, CA 91610-0240 USA tel: 818-505-0022 fax: 818-505-9972 email: [email protected]www.enxmag.com engage ‘n exchange We would like to Thank those of you who have sent us address change information. HELP US CONSERVE NATURAL RESOURCES To correct or delete your address from our subscription list please call, fax or email us. Color War: Toner vs. Ink A Conversation with Kim Beswick, President of Memjet Office Hardcopy Industry Continues Down Rocky Road to Recovery Dealer Spotlight: Mike McGuirk Brings the Best and Worst to ProCopy Top10 Stories of 2013 Business Profile Customer Relationships in the Internet Age Getting to Mr. X Service Tech Sales Sleuths Ricoh Heats UP with ICE and More 7 Deadly Networking Sins
Transcript
DECEMBER 2013 VOLUME 20 NO. 12
Connecting People, Ideas and Products in the Document Imaging Industry since 1994PRSRT STD
U.S. POSTAGE PAIDBOLINGBROOK, ILPERMIT NO. 467
www.enxmag.com
ENX Magazine PO Box 2240 Suite 729Toluca Lake, CA 91610-0240 USAtel: 818-505-0022 fax: 818-505-9972 email: [email protected]
engage ‘n exchange
We would like to Thank those of you who have sent us address change information.
HELP US CONSERVE NATURAL RESOURCESTo correct or delete your address from our subscription list please call, fax or email us.
Color War: Toner vs. Ink
A Conversation with Kim Beswick, President of Memjet Office
Hardcopy Industry ContinuesDown Rocky Road to Recovery
Dealer Spotlight:
Mike McGuirk Brings the Best and Worst to ProCopy
Top10 Stories of 2013Business Profile
Customer Relationships in the Internet Age Getting to Mr. X
Service Tech Sales SleuthsRicoh Heats UP with ICE and More
7 Deadly Networking Sins
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• www.enxmag.com l December 2013 We Saw It In ENX Magazine
Scott CullenContributing Editor
12
Business Profile Page 24NSA National Sales Associates
Top 10 Stories of 2013 Page 20By Scott Cullen
Color War: Toner vs. InkA Conversation with Kim Beswick, President of Memjet Office Page 28
By Susan Neimes
Hardcopy Industry Continues Down Rocky Road to Recovery Page 34
By Charles Brewer
Mike McGuirk Brings the Best and Worst to ProCopy Page 42
By Scott Cullen
Getting to Mr. X Page 46By Gary Schwartz
Customer Relationships in the Internet Age Page 52
By Troy Harrison
The 7 Deadly Networking Sins Page 54By Mike Muhney
Ricoh Heats Up with ICE and More Page 56By Andy Slawetsky
Service Tech Sales Sleuths Page 58By Ronelle Ingram
Solutions to HP's Most Common Error Codes Page 67
By Robert Young
Printer Tech Tip by Laser Pros Page 69
Tech Help by Smarka! Page 70
Display Advertisers Index Page 62
Calendar of Industry Events Page 66
IN THIS ISSUE
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Here’s another year thatmay not go down as thebiggest year in the office
technology industry from a newsstandpoint through the end ofOctober when this article wascompleted. Still there are a fewnotable stories as well as a note-worthy acquisition to report.Some readers may describe thesestories as business as usual and nodoubt much of this is business asusual. With that disclaimer out ofthe way, here’s our take on theTop 10 Stories of 2013.
1. Anger at theAftermarket.Whether it’s Lexmark’s never-ending battles against remanufac-tured toner suppliers or Canon’sbig win this summer against thisgroup as the result of a GeneralExclusion Order (GEO) by theU.S. International Trade Commis -sion regarding certain toner car-tridges and photosensitive drumssold for use in Canon and HPlaser printers, OEMs are servingnotice to aftermarket suppliers thatthey will not be trifled with. Eventhough the OEMs may be fed upwith what they deem infringementson their intellectual property, thereare still big bucks to be made inthe aftermarket. We’ll continue tosee the OEMs win their share ofbattles in the courtroom, but it’sanybody’s guess who’s ultimatelygoing to win the war.
2. Sharp Imaging andInformation Company of America defies thedoubters. Going back a year, this isn’texactly what we thought we’dhave to say about Sharp in late2013, even though we figured
they’d end up somewhere in theTop 10 Stories of 2013. Beginninglast year and continuing into thisyear one couldn’t ignore therumors circulating that Samsungwas on the verge of acquiringSharp; however, those rumorswere laid to rest earlier this year.Of course the financial difficultiesof Sharp’s parent company inJapan planted the seeds for thoserumors, but despite those financialissues, Sharp’s office technologybusiness had a reasonably goodyear in 2013, at least in the U.S.One might attribute some of thatto credible products, Sharp’sPromotion Plus pricing, and adealer channel that was able toovercome the vicious rumors cir-culating throughout the industryabout Sharp’s premature demise.
3. Samsung becomes aforce to be reckoned with. They’ve got product, they’ve gotTod Pike, formerly of Canon, andthey are winning the hearts andminds of a growing number ofdealers. Will they displace someof the other second-tier players(no disrespect intended) in theindustry, or will they make a landgrab from some of the upper tierplayers as they grow their productline? It’s too soon to tell, but ifthe early returns among the dealercommunity are any indicationwith many big name dealers pick-ing up the line, Samsung is anoffice technology supplier not to be trifled with.
4. The office technologyindustry takes on thepatent trolls. Thanks in large part to BTAGeneral Counsel, Bob Goldbergand BTA as well as some of theoffice technology industry’s
biggest OEMs, the industry hascollectively made a stand againstpatent trolls who were targetingthe customers of dealers anddirect branches, frightening themwith patent infringement lawsuitssimply for taking advantage ofsome of the features found on theirMFPs such as scan to e-mail. Theinitial furor and threats have dieddown as BTA and the industrycollectively launched an aware-ness campaign with the dealerchannel and end users to easetheir minds about these patentinfringements while some of thepatent trolls have backed down on their trolling in the face of thisunited front from the industry.
5. HP and Memjet shakeup the printer industrywith high-speed coloroffice printers.Earlier this year, Memjet gener-ated some serious buzz in theprinter market with the introduc-tion of the C6010, a 60-ppm color printer that its marketingunder the Memjet brand. This is a change in strategy after initiallyoffering its technology to printermanufacturers in Europe andAsia. Meanwhile, in February HProlled out the OfficeJet Pro Xseries of printers and MFPs,which uses HP’s PageWide tech-nology, and delivers output at upto 70 ppm—that’s twice the speedand at reportedly half the printingcost compared to a laser printer.These two devices are clearlygame changers for color printing,although we aren’t seeing manyoffice technology dealers embrac-ing these devices just yet. What’sinteresting about Memjet, however, is that Parts Now is thefirst distributor to offer this device
Top 10 Stories of 2013
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in the U.S. and that Memjethas created an MPS channelprogram to entice the MPSreseller channel into carryingthe product. Based on its rela-tionship with various OEMswho are using its technologyin their output devices, this is a story that could very wellremain notable going into thecoming year.
6. OEMs and solutionsproviders make amobile move. Nobody seems to stay in oneplace anymore and because ofthat, or more succinctly put,the mobile workforce, there’san increasing need to accessinformation and print from justabout anywhere at any time.As a result, manufacturers areembracing mobile printing
via apps such as KonicaMinolta’s PageScope, Xerox’sPrintBack, Canon’s MobilePrint, Sharp’s Mobile-iOS,Ricoh’s HotSpot, andToshiba’s ePrint, just to namea few. AirPrint capability isalso gaining in popularity,allowing users to access andprint from their mobile deviceswithout having to downloaddrivers. It wouldn’t be a sur-prise if in the next couple ofyears this capability becomesas standard on an MFP as a“Start” button or zoom reduc-tion and enlargement.
7. High hopes for high volume. As more manufacturers intro-duce new higher-volume prod-ucts as well as production printdevices, their channels contin-ue to prepare to sell into the
production print marketplace.Canon’s latest inkjet introduc-tions illustrate a new breed ofproduct that is expected toopen up doors for those wellversed in production print. Asmargins continue to decline inthe lower output device seg-ments, it’s a given that somedealers in the right markets are taking these products onand finding new opportunitieswhere there were none before.
8. Managed Servicesbecomes the service du jour. That’s probably an unfairassessment of ManagedServices because it makes it sound as if it’s a fad. Butlet’s not minimize its impacton the dealer channel and theopportunities it is opening up for dealers large and small. If you want an example thatillustrates the potential, lookno further than Marco in St.Cloud, MN. In just five shortyears, its managed IT services’revenue grew from $2.4 mil-lion to nearly $13 milliontoday. Marco’s model hasbecome the envy of dealersnationwide and is being repli-cated by other organizations. Amanaged IT services strategymakes a lot of sense as somecontend that dealers can’tmake money on hardware anymore. Although there areplenty of dealers who can easily disprove that statement,there’s more like Marco look-ing to expand their serviceofferings into IT. Why not,when the prevailing wisdom isthat whoever controls the net-work controls the account.
9. Dealers become disenchanted with MPS. Oh yes, there’s still plenty offolks touting the benefits of
MPS, but there’s plenty ofdealers out in the real worlddisappointed with the marginsand not so sure anymore thatthis is the greatest opportunitynever sold and the key to theirsurvival in the industry. In fair-ness to the dealers who aredoing it right and members of the analyst community whocontend that it’s all in the exe-cution, some of those dealerswho are disenchanted might bebetter served by going back tothe drawing board and plottingout a new strategy. It’s a giventhat there’s plenty of dealersselling MPS who are doing itwrong or practically giving itaway, and that’s a good reasonfor even those dealers with the best of MPS intentions tobecome disenchanted.
10. DocuWare acquires WestbrookTechnologies. In early September, DocuWareCorporation announced that it had acquired WestbrookTechnologies, Inc., an ECMvendor known for its Fortis andFortis Blue solutions. Based in Branford, CT, Westbrookhas a sizable customer andpartner base in North America.This acquisition is expected toenhance DocuWare’s positionas a global ECM vendor forsmall and mid-sized com-panies. It also adds 1,500Westbrook customers toDocuWare’s existing base ofmore than 10,000 customerswhile expanding DocuWare’s500+ network of authorizedDocuWare partners with 40Westbrook resellers. West -brook is currently operating as a subsidiary of DocuWare.Bottom line, a document management powerhousebecame even more powerful in 2013. �
Top Ten of 2013
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Ronelle Ingram Business Profile
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National Sales Associatesis celebrating their 10year anniversary with a
big “Thank You.” Thank you tothe hundreds of wholesalers,resellers, dealers, and big boxstores who have partnered withNSA to provide Eco-Certified™Products including Eco-Certified™Toner and Eco-Certified™ Tapeto their thousands of users. Founding partners Joe Endyke,
Len Crann and Steve Morse allspoke about their pride in NSA’scustomer service and the attentionto detail the entire staff deliversto their customers each day. “We have over 40 sales reps tosupport our customers. It is abusy environment and a true team effort. Quality products andquality service have always beenour goal. As a privately ownedbusiness, NSA nurtures a compa-ny culture of being able to treateach customer as our largest,most important client. From thelittle guy to the big box store, wereceive regular commendationsfor our service. Through theyears, NSA has been able togrow our customer base, provid-ing for the ever expanding needsof our dealers in the IT Supply,Office Products and Rechargerchannels," says Joe Endyke. NSA is excited about their
new distribution center inLouisville, KY which is sched-uled to open in January of 2014.The new mid-America facilitywill enable 1 to 2 day grounddelivery to 95% of US business-es. Louisville will complementNSA’s current Boston and LosAngeles distribution centers, providing a 98%+ same dayshipping fulfillment rate. NSAcan drop ship a quality product
directly to the reseller’s cus-tomers efficiently on a nationalscale at a fair price.
The 4 Critical P’s ofManagement“NSA was built on the traditionof mastering the 4 Critical P’s ofManagement,” founding partnerEndyke explains. “You need theright PRODUCT to satisfy theneeds of your target customer.This product must be offered at a competitive PRICE. Thecorrectly priced product must be logistically available to arriveat the right PLACE on time.Appropriate PROMOTIONinforms potential customers ofthe competitively priced, qualityproduct available for on timedelivery at the needed place.” “During the past decade, NSA
has mastered the 4 P’s, creating a product mix that fulfills NSA’sclient needs. Today NSA offersover 1,000 SKUs of the Eco-Certified™ brand of compatibletoner and ink cartridges alongwith selected OEM supplies.NSA’s Eco-Certified™ brand is agreat solution for resellers look-ing for an earth friendly packag-ing approach that combines greatquality at a competitive price.NSA is providing our customerswith the perfect image fortomorrow’s environment.”
High Production Standards“NSA’s purchasing professionalshave access to scores of productlines manufactured by ISO9001and ISO14001 partners, bothdomestic and international,” JoeEndyke explains. “NSA is ableto source products from highlyqualified manufacturers thatshare our value and earth friend-ly concepts. We are not restrictedto a single re-manufacturing outlet. We only work with thecompanies that meet our strictrequirements. Quality, consisten-cy and yield are an essentialcomponent of all Eco-Certified™products. It’s in our philosophyand our guarantee.”“Our extensive production
background enables our productspecialists to visit, continuallymonitor and hold each of ourmanufacturing partners to befully accountable for the qualityof each product leaving theirplant. Our insistence has alwaysbeen to build to specification,not to price. Our strict adherenceto this policy enables NSA toprovide a 100% quality guaran-tee on all products. Our No Risk- No Hassle quality guaranteeensures that our resellers can beconfident in providing qualityproducts to their end users.”
National Sales AssociatesEco-Certified™ Compatibles
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Len CrannPartner
Joe EndykePartner
Steve MorsePartner
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How NSA Can Help Expand Your Product LineComplementing their Eco-Certified™toner line, NSA also runs a data center-like production facility with hundreds ofservers and tape drives that are re-certify-ing computer tape, which is where NSA’srecycling business started. Using state-of-the-art technology, NSA remanufacturesand sells re-certified computer tape asEco-Certified™ Tape. The green approachof total product recycling continues to beat the forefront of NSA’s overall strategy.The owner’s industry contacts and manu-facturing acumen, bred from years ofmanufacturing tape at BASF Global, thechemical company, quickly enabled themto expand the product line to includesuperior quality imaging supplies. Resellers understand that toner and
tape have a synergistic energy. Both areconsumable supplies. While one is forthe office and the other for the data cen-ter, both are great products to be recycledand remanufactured. Used tapes, similarto empty cartridges, have a trade-in value.They can be remanufactured and resoldat a price point that saves the user moneyand makes the reseller more profit thanOEM offerings.Today’s office equipment dealer can
extend their selling sphere of influence toinclude Eco-Certified™ magnetic tape,which can become a new sub-segment of the reseller’s office supplies business.
NSA will provide a proven sales talk-track that can be used by telemarketersfor emailed sales notifications and webpage advertisement presence, enablingoffice supply telemarketers and field salesreps to broaden their sales offerings. Themore knowledge and product familiarityNSA resellers have, the easier it is for themto create sales and gain new customers. Plus, NSA offers an attractive four
color Eco-Certified™ packaging as aconstant reminder that economy andecology go hand in hand. The Eco-Certified™ brand and the complimentarygraphics on the box are just what cus-tomers want. Everybody loves the rain-forest background and the tree frog!Enhancing this recycling effort, NSAalso offers a no-charge empties corerecovery service. NSA also buys highquality OEM surplus products which areoffered to NSA resellers at substantialsavings over OEM wholesale pricing.
Flexibility in PartnershipNSA is very sensitive to the need of beingable to offer their resellers customizedpricing for bid requests. As your businesspartner, NSA will do everything possibleto help you win a bid. This includescompleting all the paperwork and guar-anteed pricing during the bidding process. NSA has both in-house and field sales
representatives. Along with their directsales team they employ 3 independentrep firms covering the east coast andmidwest regions. John Motley Associatesjoined with Myers-Brazell and has morethan 25 sales and support personnel cov-
ering the entire eastern seaboard. Schoenand Associates covers the mid-west. Thisaffords our resellers dedicated contactswho understand their particular needs. NSA is large enough to support all of
your imaging office equipment supplyneeds, yet small enough to be flexible.NSA continually offers sales on over-stocked items, special promotions, corebuy-backs, surplus OEM supply purchas-ing and other specialized programs. NSA invites all ENX readers to send
an email to [email protected] to sign upto receive NSA’s weekly email specials.NSA offers fantastic savings that arerefreshed every week. It is NSA’s way tocontinually thank their loyal customersand to reinforce their creative marketingand aggressive pricing.The entire National Sales Associates
staff is committed to providing earthfriendly Eco-Certified™ Products atvalue added pricing. NSA has listened to the needs of their resellers and dealersand continues to provide the productsand services their customers request.ENX readers are invited to talk with acustomer service or sales rep about yourcompany’s needs. Join NSA’s increasinggroup of long term users of earth friendlyEco-Certified™ Products. �
National Sale Association51 Glenn StreetLawrence, MA 01843866 670 2345 Phone866 670 2346 [email protected]
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Kim Beswick Straight Talk
Is Memjet Changing the Game?Industry analysts have been pre-dicting color as the game changerfor years, yet there hasn’t been areasonable and accessible solu-tion to make color affordable andfast enough in the office —untilnow. After more than ten years of research and development,Memjet has created a revolution-ary printhead that delivers colorprinting that is robust enough forthe production print space, yetcost efficient enough to penetratethe office print market. With70,400 jets per printhead thatshoot millions of ink drops persecond, it's up to fifteen timesfaster than the average colorprinter, while being more energyefficient and mechanically sound.To take its technology beyondproduction printing in NorthAmerica, Memjet has positioneditself with the right partners tolead the change in office printingtechnology. Last month, I visitedMemjet's R&D lab in San Diego,CA and saw a demo of Memjet’sproduction-class wide formatprinting technology, label printingand office printing. After the tour,ENX interviewed Kim Beswick,president of Memjet Office, aboutMemjet’s color strategy, newopportunities in office printing,and her thoughts on leadershipand personal balance.
It's been a year since Memjetannounced the distributionagreement for the C6000 seriesof office printers with Parts Now.How is it going?
It’s been a great partnership todate. As we approach our 1-yearanniversary with them, we’removing from a “market trial”model to an “open distribution”model available for all Parts Now resellers. Parts Now is an extremely collaborative andeffective partner and has helpedus make Memjet-powered officeprinting available in NorthAmerica. By introducing theproduct earlier this year with asmall, focused group of resellers,we were able to learn what’sneeded to be successful in termsof pricing/margin structure, sell-ing models, customer emphasis,service/support and value toresellers. We found very strongreseller interest in revolutionaryink-based technology fromMemjet and tremendous power in the idea of lowering the cost ofA4 color solutions for the office.Based on that market trial feed-back, we’re now moving to amodel in Q4 that generates morescale for our business in the USand Canada. We’re excited to usethe launch of the C6030 MFP and other product updates as an
opportunity to present moreopportunities to the entire PartsNow reseller community.
You have an open-brand strategyfor the office printers. Please tellus what this means to dealersand resellers.
For the office space in NorthAmerica, our brand identity iscentered on “Powered by Memjet”.In this highly competitive market,“Powered by Memjet” representsnew levels of productivity andlower color page price points thatdrive the next wave of color pagesand innovative business modelssuch as cartridges designed forauthorized refill. That being said,Memjet doesn’t need to own theprimary relationship with the cus-tomer or the product brand. Inmanaged print services engage-ments, the channel partner whowrites the contract is the mostimportant entity to the customer.The channel partner is the archi-tect for fleet optimization and theguarantor of meeting customerneeds. A Memjet “open brand”strategy allows distributors andresellers to take the primarybrand position for the productand to promote their own compa-ny value more prominently inmarketing and advertising toclients and prospects.
Color War: Toner vs. Ink A Conversation with Kim Beswick,President of Memjet Office
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PresidentMemjet Office
Visit ENX Magazine at Business Imaging Expo, Dec 10-12, Las Vegas Booth #1216
continued on 30
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Memjet has many in-brand office print-ers through strategic partnerships inother regions of the world, such as Asia,Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Canyou tell us why Memjet does not havesuch a relationship for the NorthAmerican office printing market?
Early interest in our technology for theoffice market came from partners based inAsia and other emerging markets. Thesemarkets were less affected by the globaleconomic downturn. Partners there weremore willing to invest in new technologyat a time (2008-2010) when others in theUS were seeing declines in office pages,and were, therefore, more hesitant. Thelack of a North American OEM brand hasmore to do with timing and the initial epi-center of our publicly announced partnersthan anything else. The US market ishealthy again, and it represents a largepart of the economic opportunity forprinting, providing good growth opportu-nities in color pages/devices, as well asmanaged print services.
A Memjet printer is known for its speed,larger ink tank and ability to providevery low cpp for full color printing. Yetit's been pointed out that Memjet printerslack some functionality, such as aduplexing option and a larger paper tray.Is Memjet addressing any of those issueswith its partners?
Yes, of course. We have an SFP and MFPwith great value propositions. We believethere is a viable market for what we havetoday, and at the same time, we complete-ly agree that we need to keep improvingon basic features, as well as our core tech-nology, going forward. There are multipleefforts underway that our customers willbenefit from in the future. Generally,Memjet is zeroing in improvements to our core technology: printheads, ink, con-troller software & hardware, and core sub-systems like ink delivery and printheadmaintenance. At the same time, we’reworking with mature product develop-ment partners on new product platformsthat will add the features and functionality
office users have come to expect. Thegood news is that this expertise and capa-bility abounds in our industry. The key isbringing it together with our technologyand getting it to market sooner rather thanlater. We are not announcing anything atthis present time, but I can say we arelooking out at least two generations oftechnology that will feed multiple plat-forms of printers and greatly build on and expand what is in market today.
Do you have any plans to introduceopen-brand MFPs?
Our C6030 MFP was announced this fallto select resellers and is available todayvia Parts Now for all reseller partners inthe US and Canada.
What would you say about the inkjet vs.toner office printing market over the next 2 to 3 years?
It is a time of transition for office printing.We believe we are at the early stages of a huge market shift towards office ink that will extend well into the heart of theoffice print market in the next two to three years. The fact is that ink-based devices deliver
color pages at a fundamentally lower cost
than toner based devices. They are alsofaster and more flexible to put togetherfrom an engine design standpoint. Newink-based devices will drive new value.By lowering the cost of color and alsomaking low-cost color printing more pro-ductive and accessible to work team envi-ronments, ink-based technology is poisedto drive the next wave of color pages. Weneed to start thinking as an industry abouthow we transition from a 1c monochromepage to a 3-5c color page pervasively.Distributed low-cost color pages willoffload and complement the A3 colordevice structure we have today and willbreathe a healthy dose of growth andprofit into the industry. In the next two to three years, I believe
every major print industry brand will be looking for a way to add ink-baseddevices to their office device portfolio. We are seeing an increase in this interestand activity now. We will see multiplenew engine platforms from both Memjetpartners and also from HP, Epson, andBrother who have all introduced or dis-cussed publicly their interest in office ink.
What can you tell us about Memjet officeprojects that are nearing completion andare slated for announcement in 2014?
We can’t share any announcements orprojects at this point in time. We workunder confidentiality agreements with allpartners, and product announcements aremade at the time and choosing of thosepartners.
Color War
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C6010 Hero Printer
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As you recently assumed the position of President forMemjet Office, can you shareyour vision for Memjet office products and your strategicdirection?
At Memjet Office, our goal isto be a catalyst for industrygrowth and profit via newtechnology, of course, but alsothrough new ways of doingbusiness. This is an importantdistinction. When you look atthe macro trends in the indus-try, we know the status quowill not drive growth. Officepages are flat and even slightlydeclining in mature markets.Mono chrome pages still domi-nate. Mobile technologies
present new challenges in termsof print infrastructure. We’rethreatened by new pervasivedisplay technologies, all verypersonal and in color. The cur-rent focus on growth via MPSis really a focus on loweringcost, de-personalizing technol-ogy and restricting color. For me the choice is very,
very clear: Either we shift bydriving new value and newthinking and new businessmodels, or else printing andimaging slowly goes the wayof the fax machine. The Memjet Office vision is
to drive the next wave of colorpages via very productive,accessible, low-cost color
technology. As the only inde-pendent provider of ink-basedtechnology for the office market, our partners play animportant role in terms of howthis vision is manifested intofuture products. We see this asa partnership and a melding of our technology value withpartner strategy. Diversity, creativity and partnership will drive differentiation andgrowth for Memjet and alsonew ways of providing valueand generating profit for theindustry.
In an industry where onedoes not run into manyfemale presidents, congratu-lations on your recent promo-tion. Do you feel you havehad any special or uniqueexperiences because of yourgender? Any advice you'd liketo share with other aspiringwomen for managing a careerand a personal life?
Thank you. I’m not sure myexperiences are particularlydeserving of offering of advice– but I’ll give it a shot.Understanding your ownuniqueness and bringing thatforward to drive success is keywhether that uniqueness stemsfrom gender or background orlife experience or personality.It’s important to be aware ofand see our particular set ofexperience and perspective asan advantage instead of a dis-
advantage. If we do this, wecan then use it in business tocreate value. As women, theonly gender-based commentI’ll make is that I think weoften wait for the opportunityor the invitation to take thenext step in our careers. If weare working hard and succeed-ing, we could be more pre-sumptive. Don’t ask permis-sion. Leadership is fun and we deserve to be there. Parenting is a journey!
Family has certainly helpedme to hone my ability to befully present no matter whatI’m doing. We’re operating aglobal business at Memjet, and yet I want to be home fordinner and read to my kids atnight. I love being a parentand I also love solving busi-ness problems. Admitting thatyou can’t do it all opens up the only other solution, whichis to do the best you can andto be clear about what isimportant in each moment.I’ve sprinted through airportsin high-heels to catch the lastflight home and I can say forcertain that coaching soccer is a great way to get over jetlag!! Being fully present atwork and making the most ofmy time with my family ispart of what makes it all work.In the end it is the balance ofthe two that creates the energyand perspective to succeed atboth. � By Susan Neimes
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Color War
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Looking over the recentresults of various hardwarevendors for the second half
of 2013, it is clear that the industryis seeing new signs of life. Manycompanies are reporting that salesare up modestly compared to lastyear along with profits, and thosethat did not experience an overallimprovement were able to identifycertain bright spots in the marketthat are providing growth.Although the news is good, how-ever, it is far from great and busi-ness at most companies remainswell below from where it wasbefore the recession. I guess it issafe to say that we still have aways to go to get back to the high-water mark set in 2008-2009.But I don’t want to sound too
gloomy. As October came to aclose, many printer and copiervendors reported that businesswas up at their respective compa-nies during the three months thatended on September 30 comparedto the same period last year, andsome were predicting higher totalrevenue for the current fiscal yearthan last year. This was especiallytrue for Japanese companies asthey continue to benefit from thedeclining yen. While the perform-ance of U.S. hardware vendorslags that of their Japanese rivals,certain market segments demon-strated decent growth for U.S.companies and that growth shouldlast through the end of the year.
Weak Yen=Strong Growth Japanese manufacturers can thankPrime Minister Shinzo Abe formany of the gains they are enjoy-ing this year. Since Mr. Abe’selection in November 2012, theyen has dropped from the 80 tothe 100 level against the US dol-lar. Working with the Bank ofJapan, the prime minister has
implemented the monetary andfiscal policies that have come tobe known as “Abenomics,” whichare designed to encourage privateinvestment and end the doldrumsthe Japanese economy have suf-fered since the 1990s. A weakeryen is a part of the Abe plan andwhile the currency did show somesigns of strengthening during thesummer, it appears the yen willremain weak into 2014, which isgreat news for Japanese vendors. Three of Japan’s most troubled
hardware vendors—Epson, Oki,and Ricoh—saw improvementsduring their most recent quarters.Of the three, Ricoh’s recoveryappears to be on the most solidfooting. The company has beenon a roll during 2013. Earlier thisyear, Ricoh said its business hadimproved during the quarter end-ing on June 30 and it managed tooffer more good news to investorsfor the quarter ending in September.While revenue from office imag-ing products grew almost 13 per-cent thanks to the weaker yen, notall of Ricoh’s growth is attributa-ble to favorable currency exchangerates. The company enjoyed year-over-year growth in total companysales and in its production print-ing business sales on a constantcurrency basis. Ricoh raised itsrevenue forecast for the full year.Epson says it is now delivering
on the firm’s promise to revive itsinkjet business. In March, thecompany announced a new busi-ness plan that would put it back inthe black and in the first quarter,which ended on June 30, Epsonreported revenue growth and turnedits operating and net losses intoprofits. Epson’s net sales were upanother 23 percent in the secondquarter compared to the samequarter last year, and operating
income grew a whopping thirteen-fold year-over-year. For the firstsix months of the year, Epson sawdramatic improvement in net salesand in every income category. Unitshipments of Epson’s inkjet print-ers declined worldwide, but heldsteady in certain key markets in-cluding North America. Despite theoverall decrease in inkjet printershipments, net sales in this cate-gory increased due to the yen’sdepreciation, improved model mix,and a rise in average selling prices.The company recently raised itssales and profit forecast for thecurrent year. Like Epson, Oki also announced
a turnaround strategy earlier thisyear. And it appears the plan hasbegun to stem the printer busi-ness’ steep operating losses, whilethe depreciating yen has furtherhelped the firm along. During thefirst half of Oki’s fiscal year,which ran from April 1 throughthe end of September, net saleswere up 6.5 percent compared tothe first half of the previous fiscalyear. However, the improvementin revenue in the printer businessdoes not actually mean that Oki is actually selling more printers.Revenue is up mostly thanks tothe favorable currency exchange.Unit shipments of Oki’s core LEDprinters decreased during its mostrecent quarter, while the launch ofnew LED devices designed for thecopier market progressed. None-theless, Oki has raised its guid-ance for the year and anticipateshigher sales as a result of sales of new copiers that were recentlyreleased along with new productsfor the professional markets.
Good News, Bad NewsAlthough Konica Minolta
reported that its net sales were up
Hardcopy Industry Continues Down Rocky Road to Recovery
continued on page 36
Charles Brewer News Briefing
... While the performance of U.S. hardware
vendors lags that of their Japanese
rivals, certain market segments
demonstrateddecent growth for
U.S. companies andthat growth should
last through the endof the year....
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nearly 20 percent during its most recentquarter compared to last year, net incomedeclined year-over-year because of thefirm’s decision to withdraw from theHDD glass substrates market. The firm is exiting the business due to declines in shipments and profits resulting fromincreasing storage capacity on HDDs, adecline in the notebook PC market, andthe rise of new recording technologies.The exit will come quickly, with KonicaMinolta ending production this Novemberand ceasing sales in December.Sales soared, however, in Konica
Minolta’s Business Technologies businesssegment, which is responsible for market-ing MFPs, copiers, printers, supplies, andrelated services such as Konica Minolta’sOptimized Print Services (OPS). Net salesjumped more than 30 percent from theyear-ago period and operating incomeskyrocketed nearly 65 percent. In additionto the weak yen, the firm says it has expe-
rienced strong sales of color MFPs andhas benefited from recent merger-and-acquisition activity, particularly in thefirm’s services business and its productionprinting business. In constant currency,the group’s net sales increased 9 percentin the first half.Konica Minolta adjusted its forecast to
account for the strong performance of itsBusiness Technologies Business and theweak yen, as well as to make allowancesfor exiting from the HDD glass substratesspace. The company revised upward itsnet sales and operating income projec-tions for the current fiscal year, but low-ered its outlook for net income.Despite reporting top- and bottom-line
growth in the third quarter, which endedon September 30, Canon appears to befeeling uncertain about overall 2013 eco-nomic conditions. The firm has cut itsforecast for the full fiscal year once again,after doing the same in July. Canon’s
woes are related more to its camera busi-ness than to printers and copiers, however.The firm’s compact digital camera busi-ness has been hit hard by the adoption ofsmartphones. Canon expected a reboundin demand for its higher-end interchange-able-lens digital cameras, but that rebounddid not materialize outside of Japan andunit shipments of these high-end cameraswere down 3 percent in the third quarter.Net sales in Canon’s Office Business
Unit, which sells office multifunctiondevices (MFDs), laser printers, laserMFPs, digital production printing sys-tems, continuous-feed printers, wide-for-mat printers (other than inkjet), and docu-ment solutions, were up over 20 percentand the group’s operating profit improveda robust 63.1 percent compared with theyear-ago period. Canon indicated thatsales of its color office MFDs grew, andcolor copier volumes were up 9 percent
Hardcopy Industry
continued on page 38
continued on page 38
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• www.enxmag.com l December 2013 We Saw It In ENX Magazine38
year-over-year along with net sales, whichwere up nearly 17 percent. MonochromeMFDs unit sales shrank 7 percent year-over-year, while net sales of monochromecopiers increased 15.8 percent. Demandfor laser printers grew and Canon saidlaser MFPs saw strong growth. Colorprinter unit sales were up 31 percent andmonochrome printer units grew 22 per-cent compared with the year prior. Inkjetprinter unit sales declined by 2 percent in the third quarter but increased 19.2 percent thanks to the weaker yen.While sales of most printers and copiers
were up, Canon is not as bullish about2013 as it was back in January. The firmraised its outlook after reporting its first-quarter results in April and then loweredits forecast when reporting second-quarterresults, as economic conditions did notimprove as much as the firm had hopedand its camera business continued to with-er throughout the year. After lowering itsforecast once again in Q3, Canon said itexpects only moderate growth for theworldwide economy due to the sluggishmarkets in Europe and the declining growthrates in emerging economies. Canon nowexpects continued increased demand forMFDs, especially color devices, and laserprinters in the fourth quarter, but it is notholding out high hopes for demand fordigital cameras or inkjet printers. The firmadded that its consumer business might beadversely impacted by uncertain outlookfor the year-end shopping season.
Not So Good At HomeNews from the U.S about the quarter end-ing at the close of September was nowhereas upbeat as what we heard from Japan.It appears that any momentum Xeroxgained in the second quarter petered outin Q3 and, while Lexmark managed tobeat Wall Street’s expectation, sales weredown in the quarter. In the third quarter, Xerox reported
that 56 percent of its revenue came fromthe services business, which was up from51 percent in 2012. While total servicesrevenue was up 3 percent, margins wereflat at just under 10 percent. CEO UrsulaBurns said, “We have passed the tippingpoint in revenue, but still have work to do on margin.” Total company equipmentsales were up only 1 percent. However,
Xerox said this figure included a 1-per-centage-point positive impact from cur-rency exchange making hardware salesflat overall. Sales of unbundled suppliesand paper were down 4 percent becauseof lower “channel supplies inventories inthe U.S. as well as moderately lower sup-plies demand,” according to the firm. Inthe fourth quarter, Xerox expects documenttechnology revenue to decline in the mid-single digits along with a lower operatingmargin and the firm anticipates “a bitmore pressure in developing markets.”Lexmark’s total revenue for the third
quarter was down 3.1 percent but thedecline was better than the 4-6 percentdecline Lexmark forecasted at the end ofits second quarter. Profitability improvedin the third quarter as Lexmark’s grossprofit margin grew to 38.9 percent versus35.7 percent one year ago and operatingincome margin reached 5.9 percent versus just 1.3 percent.For the past couple of years, Lexmark
has seen its hardware unit shipmentsdrop. In large part, this decline was dueto the firm’s ailing inkjet business, whichhas since been jettisoned, but now itappears that the firm’s laser business isalso declining. Lexmark saw a 20 percentyear-over-year decrease in laser hardwareunit sales in the third quarter. Unit ship-ments of large workgroup laser hardwaredeclined less precipitously than those ofsmall workgroup/ personal devices at -14percent and -27 percent, respectively.Presumably, the shift to higher end unit
sales helped increase average unit revenue(AUR), which was up 21 percent in thethird quarter. Although the firm saw a 20percent decrease in unit sales, laser hard-ware revenue declined a more modest 3 percent thanks to the improved AUR. A 17 percent uptick in AUR for largeworkgroup products allowed the revenuein this category to actually increase 1 percent. Meanwhile, AUR for smallworkgroup products increased a moremodest 11 percent, and small workgrouphardware revenue declined 19 percent. Looking ahead, Lexmark said it
expects total revenue to decline 3 to 5percent year-over-year in the fourth quarter, and its revenue excluding inkjetexit revenue, flat to up 2 percent.
All Eyes On HPAs we went to press, several companiesincluding Brother and Sharp had yet toreport, but I think the results we haveindicates the overall trend for the year.For the most part, the industry is experi-encing some level of growth albeit thegrowth remains anemic in certain seg-ments. Japanese firms ought to continuethrough the end of the year to see top- andbottom-line growth, as the yen remainsdepressed. Of course, any growth couldbe threatened if vendors attempt to gainmarket share by slashing prices or if theJapanese government decides to raise thevalue of the yen. Overall, the Japanesecompanies are doing better but moreimprovement is required.It will be interesting to see Hewlett-
Packard’s quarterly results, which shouldbe out in mid-November. The firm’s fiscalyear runs from November 1 until October31 so it will be reporting its full yearresults. With its large market share andpositions in so many segments, HP’sprinter business acts as a proxy for theindustry at large. Its financial results for theyear ought to be a harbinger of how thelarger industry will do this year. This isespecially true for U.S. firms, which arenot feeling the direct benefit of a weakeryen. During the summer, HP reportedthat its hardware shipments were up butprinter revenue was down along withoperating margins. I expect the resultswill be about the same for HP’s printerbusiness in the last quarter—revenue flator declining with little or no improvementto profitability. This would be in line withLexmark and Xerox’s recent results.So, it looks like the industry will con-
tinue to see some improvement but thegains are coming slowly, when they comeat all. Like I said at the beginning of thispiece, we have a long way to get back tothe high-water mark the industry experi-enced just before the recession. �
Charles Brewer is the President andfounder of Actionable Intelligence. For mor info, visit www.Action-Intell.com.
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• www.enxmag.com l December 2013 We Saw It In ENX Magazine42
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Dealer Spotlight
Once a dealer, always adealer. That pretty muchsums up the career of
Mike McGuirk, president ofProCopy Office Solutions inTempe, AZ. After a long and successful career in the business,including a senior managementposition at a local UniCopy andDanka for almost 20 years, hewas hired in 2002 as president of the Arizona Global ImagingCompany, a Ricoh and Canondealership. Under his leadership,the company grew from $9 mil-lion to over $50 million in 6 years. When Global sold to Xerox in
2007, it seemed like a good moveat the time, but time was not onMcGuirk’s side because shortlyafter the sale, the dynamics of the dealership changed. Within 2 years he found himself on theoutside of the industry looking in for the first time since 1983. “The Xerox announcement hit
us hard because we were Ricohand Canon and both of those
companies dropped us within 30 days,” recalls McGuirk. “Wewere the only core company ofthe 20 that didn’t carry Konica.And Konica continued withGlobal for almost three years, as did Sharp and Toshiba.”McGuirk isn’t shy about shar-
ing his opinions about the indus-try and feels that selling Xeroxinstead of Canon and Ricoh wasa downgrade. “When we first sawa Xerox black & white, we saidthis is the Canon product from1998,” recalls McGuirk. “It wasfour generations behind. Theircolor product was pretty good,but in 2008 the black & whitewas clearly inferior.”Around the time of the Xerox
acquisition, the downturn in theeconomy hit Arizona hard. Thatold saw, “Knowledge is Power,”didn’t mean much to the powersthat be at Xerox who let McGuirkand his years of experience walkaway. Stuck with a 1 year non-compete, McGuirk took a deep
breath, bided his time, learned toplay golf, and at the end of the year was more than ready to getback in the business. He fielded a few offers, but it
wasn’t until he received an offerfrom Tim Stevenson, founder andCEO of ProCopy Solutions, whoworked with McGuirk at a Canondealership in 1985 that got hisattention. It was an offer McGuirkcouldn’t refuse. Suddenly, he was back again, helping buildProCopy’s copier and printerbusiness. The offers he did refuse came
from manufacturers who wereoffering positions that seemed too cookie cutter. “My successhas been from creative thinkingwhere if you can’t get in throughthe door, go through the window,”notes McGuirk.When Stevenson founded
ProCopy in 2000 the company’sfocus was copier service. It didn’thave a line until Stevenson pur-chased a Canon C-Line dealerand became an authorized Canondealer in 2008. At that point hedidn’t have a sales and marketingteam. That’s where McGuirk fit in. McGuirk came onboard as an
equity partner and spent the firstyear or so logging sweat equityand figuring out the niche thatProCopy would fit. As ProCopy’scopier sales grew, McGuirk start-ed hiring some of the same peo-ple who worked for him in thepast. “We hired four sales guys,one of the top technicians, an ITguy, and a VP of sales — we even hired the driver.”One of the benefits of working
for ProCopy if you’re a service
Mike McGuirk Brings the Best and Worst to ProCopy
continued on page 44
Mike McGuirk,President of
ProCopy OfficeSolutions
Tempe, AZ
...“We had onecompany tell us theycall their copier TheBob Marley because
‘It be jamming,’”laughs McGuirk.
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• www.enxmag.com l December 2013 We Saw It In ENX Magazine44
tech is its generous reimbursement policy.“We reimburse at the government rate,”explains McGuirk. “When we’re shoppingfor techs and it comes down to us andanother company, they like that a lot. Weknow we overpay a little, but it’s great forrecruitment and one of the advantages ofhaving a partner that came from the serviceside of the business.” ProCopy is still a small dealership with
only 35 employees, but average yearlyrevenues today hover around $12 million.Management has its sights set on raisingthat figure to $15 million. Consideringthat ProCopy revenues were just $3.2 mil-lion in 2008, the increase to $12 million isimpressive. Much of that is the result ofcopier placements, which are up 600 per-cent since 2008. At the same time, printersunder service contract are up 450 percent.This growth allowed ProCopy to benamed to this year’s INC 5000 list offastest growing companies.There’s something about working in
an independent dealership that agrees with McGuirk. “It’s a great time to beindependent if you have something new to say,” he maintains. “What we have tosay is we’re going to take care of you bet-ter than anybody else. I know everybodysays that but we put some real teeth to that and we have a 2½ hour guaranteedresponse time.”If a ProCopy service tech doesn’t arrive
at the customer location within that timeframe, ProCopy starts taking 1 percent offof what it bills the customer for every 10 minutes it’s late.“We’ve had that guarantee for three years
and only paid on it three times,” reportsMcGuirk. “There are times we might bemore than 2 ½ hours, but we do such agood job for our customers, they say, ‘Youknow what, we’re not going to hold youto the fire if you’re 20 or 30 minutes late.’”The Arizona market is a competitive
one and ProCopy’s primary competition isa big independent dealer along with all themanufacturer’s direct branches, particular-
ly Ricoh. “They’re the 500 lb gorilla,”acknowledges McGuirk about the inde-pendent dealer. “They’re hard workingguys and I respect what they do andthey’ve done a great job. But they movefast and try to get a contract in front of the customer in the first meeting.”How does ProCopy compete with a
competitor whose reps whip out a contracton the first meeting?“We came up with the strategy of slow-
ing deals down so people get to see morethan the price on the proposal,” respondsMcGuirk. “I always tell our guys if pricewas the only issue wouldn’t everybody be driving Kia’s?” What has also helped ProCopy grow
its copier business are the direct branches.Not only are they some of ProCopy’sbiggest competitors, they’re also great atunintentionally driving business their way.That’s because they do a mediocre job oftaking care of their customers.“We just got a large one yesterday for
that exact reason,” notes McGuirk. “It’snot that they do a bad job, the customerjust can’t get a hold of anybody. Andthey’ve gone through three local [man-agers]. That plays right up our alley.”ProCopy has another distinction that has
helped it stand out in the market above andbeyond being the guys who say they pro-vide some of the best service in the mar-ket. They’re also the copier dealer thatdrops copiers from cranes. McGuirk bor-rowed the idea from a Michigan companythat used to drop a copier off a building.He’s taken it a step further by turning itinto a contest with companies throughoutthe region vying for the celebrated title of ‘The Worst Copier in Arizona.’Some of the responses ProCopy has
received from companies looking to claimthat title have been wild. “We had onecompany tell us they call their copier TheBob Marley because ‘It be jamming,’”laughs McGuirk. “We’ve had some reallyfunny responses and feedback and alwaysdo a fundraiser around it. They can bringsomething and we’ll drop it from a cranefor a donation to charity.”This is their third sweepstakes since
McGuirk joined ProCopy in 2010 and the event has been combined with a tail-
gate party for Arizona State UniversityAthletics. Its popularity has exceededMcGuirk’s wildest expectations and generated media frenzy. “What I didn’t expect was the press
coverage; every year it’s covered by TVstations,” states McGuirk. “We’ve becomeknown as the company that drops thecopier off a crane.” When it’s not dropping copiers off
cranes, ProCopy is making a move intoManaged Network Services. It recentlypartnered with an IT Services company to offer those services to its customers.The goal, however, is for ProCopy toeventually offer this service on its own.“We’ve been honest with them,” states
McGuirk. “We eventually want those cus-tomers to be our customers when there’san economy of scale to do that. Right nowit’s not the best for profits because some-body else has to make money, but it’s thebest way for a company of our size to getinto Managed Network Services withouttaking too much risk. I believe in takingrisks, but calculated risks. We’ve beentelling customers it’s a one- or two-yearrelationship and eventually we want to doit ourselves. Our goal is to create such agreat partnership that you don’t want toleave us.” Speaking of great partnerships, McGuirk
couldn’t be happier about being back inthe industry and helping ProCopy grow itsbusiness, even if it means a yearly quest to find the worst copier in Arizona. � By Scott Cullen
ProCopy
Mike with the Winner of The Worst Copier in AZ Contest
• www.enxmag.com l December 2013 We Saw It In ENX Magazine46
e n x
Gary Schwartz Sales Management
The most difficult part of salesis getting the opportunityto deliver the message to the
right person. I mean, you can bethe best closer in the business, youcan hone your delivery to a dia-mond polish, and you can under-stand the value proposition to thenth degree, but if you cannot speakto the decision maker, your incomepotential is, well, limited at best.Unfortunately, getting to Mr. X is still a big mystery for most. Dialing for dollars or its evil
cousin, the unannounced ‘dropin,’ are definitely not helpingthings. If your M.O. includes thephrase, “Can you tell me who isresponsible for…?” we need totalk. Isn’t it your responsibility toknow whom you want to speakto? After all, if you don’t knowwhom you are calling, how canyou tailor a message that will res-onate with them? What happenswhen they actually answer?Look, people are busy and
successful people are too busy tofocus on anything that is unrelatedto their initiatives. When you domake contact, your discussion hasto be on point. No one wants tomeet you because you are the new rep in the territory. They alsodo not want you to drop off anymaterial. Quite frankly, if you stopin, drop-off, etc., the material willquickly find its way into the recy-cling bin. Your introduction is self-serving and the brochure is irrele-vant. For your message to resonate,you must speak of solutions tobusiness issues that are relevant
to your target. It is about the cus-tomer, not you or your company.
Finding the Right LevelTo tailor your message, you haveto do some research. Start with thesize of the company. Companysize will dictate which level ofthe organization you need to callon. I know, someone reading thisis thinking, “I always call on theC Suite.” Let’s put things in per-spective, shall we? My wife worksfor a $16B medical device com-pany. I can promise you this: noone in this C Suite is worried abouttheir copiers, their MPS strategy,or even their digital workflow.The CEO is focused on drivingthe stock price, emerging marketsand revenue growth. The CFO isfocused on mitigating the profit-ability risk created by the Obama-Care medical device tax, divesti-ture decisions for underperformingbusiness units, and acquisitionsthat would open new revenuechannels. The CIO is focused ongetting better information in thehands of the sales force and whatinfrastructure changes need totranspire to facilitate the compa-ny’s initiatives. Do you still wantto call that C Suite to discuss thefact that you have 0% financing? Decisions in the business world
are made based on risk. The high-er the organizational risk thehigher the level of approval. A$15K copier decision is a big riskfor a small company. However, itwould not get a second glance inthe Fortune 500. Below are someguidelines for determining which
level in the organization is rightfor your solution.The key is getting to the person
who can say yes. In order forthem to say yes, they must havebudgetary responsibility and oversight for the project.
Doing Your HomeworkNow that we know who, let’s talk about how – more research.Personally, I think it is a waste of time to call someone and leavea message for them to ring meback. Frequently people aretelling me that they simply ignorephone messages anyway – par-ticularly in the IT community.Outside of establishing contact,one of the biggest hurdles youhave to clear in setting anappointment is establishing credi-bility. The best way to clear thecredibility hurdle is via a refer-ence. Business people want toknow that you have been success-ful providing similar solutions tolike-sized companies; there is aperceived risk to being the first atanything. Statements like, “Weworked with Dewey, Cheatem,and Howe to enable better accessto their client data via mobiledevices,” go a long way to estab-lish credibility. The best way, ofcourse, is to have your client rec-ommend you to your new target,either by use of a testimonial ordirectly through an email or con-versation if they are acquaintanc-es. Did you know that 60% ofreferrals result in an appointment?Finally, understanding what is
important to your target is criticalto getting on their calendar. Al Goredid us all a huge favor when heinvented the internet. You have a wealth of information at yourfingertips. The trick is weedingthrough the minutia to get to bitsof info that we can monetize.Obviously any press releases or
Getting to Mr. X
Size of Target Company Level of Approval Needed<$5MM owner (C Suite)$5MM - $15MM owner or finance lead (C Suite)$15MM- $150MM finance or IT lead (C Suite or functional lead)>$150MM IT Director (functional lead)
continued on page 48
• www.enxmag.com l December 2013 We Saw It In ENX Magazine48
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articles about our target arerelevant. Plant expansions, busi-ness relocations, and even down-sizing are real reasons to get in front of people. Look forspecific articles where yourtarget is interviewed, awardsearned, etc. These items willtell you where the person’s priorities lie. They may alsoyield information about net-working opportunities for youto meet with the person todeliver your pitch in person.You should also leverage whatyou know about your clients inthe same industry as your tar-get. Chances are problems youhave solved for your engineer-ing client are relevant to yourengineering prospect.
Solving for X Do the work to make sureyour message is heard.Identify the correct person
within the correct level of theorganization to establish con-tact. Use referrals and refer-ences to clear the credibilityhurdle and research your targetto identify concepts they willfind relevant. Remember themost prepared rep typicallywins the day. �
Gary Schwartz is a sales consultant with StrategyDevelopment. Gary was asenior manager with IKONOffice Solutions, and laterRICOH in sales, finance, andoperational roles. Gary beganhis tenure with IKON as anArea Director of FinancialOperations. In addition to}his expertise in sales processand leadership, Gary is wellversed in the financial, leas-ing and marketing aspects of the business. He can bereached at [email protected].
Mr. X
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• www.enxmag.com l December 2013 We Saw It In ENX Magazine52
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Troy Harrison Sales & Marketing
Sometimes, when I tell peo-ple that I buy things off theInternet, they are insulted.
In fact, sometimes I’m treated likea traitor to the sales profession.“But Troy,” they say, “Aren’t youthe one telling us that the Internetis competing with the sales pro-fession? And shouldn’t you besupporting the sales profession?”Yes, I explain, I do tell sales-people that. However, I’m also acustomer and a purchaser of items– and my buying needs and instinctsare no different than anyone else’s.Salespeople constantly complain
that the Internet has made price-shopping easier, that it causespeople to buy on price and pricealone, etc. Nonsense. What theInternet has done is to make rela-tionships more critical, and at thesame time more fragile, than theyever were. In fact, I was remindedof a perfect example last weekwhen I sent flowers to my wife.Last February 14, I started my
day the way I always start myValentine’s Days. I picked up my phone and called my florist.I’ve purchased flowers for mywife from this florist for years.Birthdays, Valentine’s Days,anniversaries, just because…youname it. It was a great system. I’d call them, tell them how muchI wanted to spend, they had theaddress and my credit card on file,done and done. I was a LoyalCustomer. However, lastValentine’s Day, that changed.When I called, the woman who
answered the phone said in anexasperated tone, “Look, there’sno way we can deliver flowerstoday! Our deliveries are full. You do realize that it’s Valentine’sDay, right?” I replied that, yes, I was aware of what day it was,hence my call. I also said that forthe previous seven Valentine’sDays, I’d done exactly the samething. She said, “Well, I’m sorry
but we’re just too busy to addanother delivery this year. Maybea little planning would be in orderfor next year.” I hung up.Now, I’m sure that the woman
felt satisfied after the call that shehad admonished a silly man whodidn’t handle his Valentine’s Dayuntil the last minute (and as youread this, I’m betting that the menare nodding at what I did, and thewomen are rolling their eyes). Iwonder if she’d be as satisfied ifshe knew that I have purchasedflowers three times since then –from the Internet?You see, after that phone call, I
logged onto a florists’ website. Itsaid, “Order by noon for deliverytoday!” So, I did. It wasn’t cheap-er than my florist – but the orderwas accepted. The computer did-n’t give me any attitude. Theflowers were received, and gener-ated the smile that I had hopedfor. As a customer, my needs anddesired result were achieved. Andin so doing, I discovered that it’sfairly easy to order on that site –which I’ve done three times since,including last week.Understand this – your cus-
tomers will discover the same thing,IF you give them a reason to doso. However, you can avoid this.Here are five good ways to pre-serve your customer relationships:
Understand that every contactwith your customer can be yourlast. Think of the current salesenvironment as turning up theheat on every customer contact.You should have always thoughtabout your competitors hoveringover your customer, ready to takethem away at a moment’s notice.Today’s environment simply turnsup the intensity. If you offend oranger your customer on a salescall, your customer can have anew supplier ready to go via theircomputer before you can leavetheir parking lot.
Know that everyone who hascustomer contact needs to be onthe same page. I don’t believe fora moment that the owner of theflower shop would have wantedhis customer service person totreat customers in the fashion thatthe woman treated me; however,he clearly did not communicate to his people how he did want hiscustomers to be treated. Hence, I had a bad experience – and I’m betting that others have, too.Companies will spend big buckstraining and developing sales-people and service people, and yetthey fail to recognize that anyonewho has contact with the cus-tomer can affect the relationship. I once saw the top salesperson ina company lose his best accountbecause the customer’s peoplecouldn’t stand dealing with thedelivery person – and so theyfound someone with a morepleasant delivery person.
Make every contact positive.I’ve spoken a lot about how sales-people must bring value on everycall; we can do that by providingideas, thoughts, knowledge, andexpertise to our customers. Overand above this, however, weshould work to make our contactspositive. Don’t get me wrong;things will happen and customerswill get upset. The professionalsalesperson can find ways tomake these contacts end on a pos-itive note. We can give customersreasons to keep doing businesswith us, even if things go wrong.
Move the ball forward. Youshould be working to advance the relationship and your cause n every sales call. Before eachcall, establish an objective and askyourself how you can improveyour situation with the buyer onevery interaction. Think “high,wide, and deep”—can you
Customer Relationships In The Internet Age
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Mike Muhney Smart Business
From networking events, holi-day office parties, to socialnetworking sites, opportuni-
ties to “meet” new connectionsabound. Exactly how do you makethe most of every introduction?Let’s start with what not to do.Whether you associate the “sevendeadly sins” with medieval reli-gious teachings or modern-dayentertainment, they can be appliedhere to build your reputation andyour business. Be sure to avoidthese seven deadly networking sins:
PRIDE:You may think, “If youdon’t believe in you, who will?”However, self-promotion requirestact. Toot your horn too often or tooloudly and all you can expect is awave of unreturned messages anddeleted connections. People areattracted to authenticity. Crafting a false image is a turnoff to all.
Solution: Share your accomplish-ments and the spotlight with thosewho contributed to your success.You might even score bonus expo-sure by reaching beyond your network.
GREED: If your concerns are youronly concerns, why should otherscare about you? But when youseek to meet others’ needs and doa great job, they’ll be more inclinedto reciprocate. Reversing thatsequence will surely prevent it.
Solution: Focus your messagesand offerings on the interests andneeds of your audience, not whatyou’re looking to promote.
LUST: If you’re too eager or lust-ing after the attention of others,your otherwise professional effortscan lead to a very unprofessionalreputation. Nobody invites crossingthe line of acceptable and profes-sional efforts with that of becom-ing a pest revealing personal crav-ings over that of the other's needs.
Solution: You can’t force some-one to reciprocate. Do what you
said you’d do or send what youpromised and let the rest happennaturally.
ANGER: If you read a commentwith unintended sarcasm or inter-pret a short missive as an angry one,you might be tempted to recipro-cate in kind. The power of a smileand laughter can produce pricelessand ever-expanding opportunities,but the consequences of discour-tesy are immediately, and poten-tially irreversibly, destructive.Solution: Consider communicationcarefully. Responding in anger candestroy your reputation and yourrelationships.
GLUTTONY: If you’re sendingmass relationship-building emailsor group texts in an effort to saveyourself time and effort, you risklosing the opportunity for the ges-ture to be regarded as sincere andto be taken seriously. By default,“mass” is mutually exclusive of“personal.”Solution: Balance group messagesby inviting personal responses ofinterest. Or, better yet, communi-cate one-on-one whenever possible.
ENVY: If you’re building yourselfup at the expense of others by put-ting them down, your need for thespotlight will backfire. Don’t focuson what others have or the connec-tions others have made. Set yourown relationship goals based onwhat you have to offer your net-work, not what you seek to gainfrom them.Solution: Congratulate others ontheir successes instead of stewingon what you haven’t yet accom-plished.
SLOTH: If your efforts to connector stay in touch border on the apa-thetic, you need to shape up, per-haps in more ways than one. Alack of drive and determination to“exercise” meaningful connectionsand capitalize on opportunities will
only result in relationship atrophy.
Solution: Schedule regular com-munication and be sure to engagewhen opportunity presents itself—most certainly at holiday officeparties and social gatherings. Itmay be drudgery as the start of anyexercise regimen can be, but posi-tive results will prove worth thetime and effort.
Each and every one of these sins iseasy to fall prey to but just as easyto avoid. However, it does takeconscious thought, determinedactions, and purpose of focustoward others to realize optimalrelationship value that rewards allparties all the time.What is ultimately at stake
here is the development of yourpersonal brand. Fundamentally,there is no value in being unlik-able. Generally speaking, thecomplete antidote to the sevendeadly sins is nothing more thansimply being nice to all people all the time. In fact, some rela-tionship experts estimated thatsimply being nice can result in a 30 to 40% increase in successover those people and/or com-panies that are not nice. Whoeverthought that simply being nicecould in fact be the very thing that completely sets you apart and distinct from everyone else,and helps pave your road to success? �
CRM pioneer Mike Muhney, theco-creator of ACT! software (cred-ited as the catalyst for the “cus-tomer relationship management”industry), is CEO of mobile rela-tionship management purveyorvipOrbit—the first relationship-centric contact manager solutionenabling mobile business profes-sionals to manage their contacts,calendar and client/customer inter-actions across Mac, iPhone andiPad platforms. He may be reachedat www.VIPOrbit.com.
The 7 Deadly Networking Sins
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Andy Slawetsky Flash Report
Iattended the Ricoh dealershow Oct. 28 – 30 and myhead is swimming. Held at
the beautiful Aria hotel in LasVegas, Ricoh had about 1,200attendees at this show from over800 dealerships.Here are some of my initial
thoughts on the show after thefirst day:
• Dealers experienced 10% YOYgrowth in a flat market.
• They addressed their “stream-lining” and while it waspainful and difficult, they haveeliminated a lot of redundancyand made themselves muchmore efficient and easier to do business with. Dealers arenow sharing the same pro-grams and support system as the branches.
• Ricoh is openly calling ontheir dual line dealers tobecome single line.
• They’re launching a new competitive training programcalled Monster in a Box (justin time for Halloween) and itpromises to be very popularbased on the reaction from the dealers.
• Ricoh’s new user interfacelooks great and while it tookforever to upgrade the UI Isold back in the ’90s, the new10.1″WSVGA 1024 x 600screen is customizable and sosimple even my dad can use it!
• Ricoh’s lab, one of the few competitive testing labs in our industry, is becoming a resource for dealers andhelped Ricoh grab a 6,000 unitdeal at a major hotel here inLas Vegas. They customized aprinter solution where severalother vendors failed. Ricoh’suse of their test lab is a hugeadvantage and their ability to customize so quickly isimpressive considering howhard it is for companies thislarge to make changes to hardware.
• Ricoh is making a major pushon services, despite the fact that they keep reminding usthey’re still a Japanese boxmanufacturer.
• CHAMPS is finally ready andthey have an actual playbook(more on this to come).
• White boards and displays are a new opportunity and Ricohis coming out with (and alreadyhas) some unique products inthis area.
• ICE cloud services will be amajor opportunity for Ricohdealers and they’re targetingmedium size businesses withofferings that will firmlyaddress mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets.
• Ricoh is entering the sub $100printer market to go afterSOHO customers. Printers will
be sold by dealers and throughalternative channels.
• Ricoh printers will soon haveAirPrint and many are going to be WIFI enabled.
This was the first dealer show for the new Ricoh execu-tive team and the changes arerefreshing. The new team isforthcoming and approachableand the 3+ hour analyst sessionwas highly interactive. Execu-tives were candid and the panelwas great. CEO MartinBrodigan no longer sits in thebackground. He was up frontwith his team and fielded a great number of questions him-self. I always thought of him asmore focused on headcount andthe bottom line, but he clearlyunderstands the business andhe’s really turned things around.Ricoh has a ton of new prod-
ucts I’ll be writing about shortly.While the show has been a bitlight on numbers and perform-ance targets, there has been agreat deal of discussion on strate-gy and I have to say I’m excitedfor the direction they seem to be heading in. �
Andy Slawetsky is President of Industry Analysts, Inc. Visit www.industryanalysts.comfor more info.
Ricoh Heats Up with ICE and More
Visit ENX Magazine at Business Imaging Expo, Dec 10-12, Las Vegas Booth #1216
• www.enxmag.com l December 2013 We Saw It In ENX Magazine58
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Ronelle Ingram Minding Your Business
Most successful dealershave modified their salescompensation schedule
to reward solution sales. But evenwith the change of compensationplans, dealers are struggling withre-training traditional hardware-focused sales reps and hiring newsolution sales specialists. While sales managers are
skirmishing to build a viable longterm sales staff, senior manage-ment may be ignoring their mostpowerful sleuth selling machinethat is already employed by theircompany. In addition to hiringnew sales reps, you shouldenable, encourage and educateyour current force of field serviceemployees to help with the sell-ing process. Your field serviceemployees already have a work-ing relationship with your clientsand understand your business. Allthat is necessary is some directededucation, creative mentoring anda newly structured lead programto turn these service professionalsinto lead generators for yoursolution sales. How many dealerships have
actively changed their servicelead generation programs to focuson incentivizing the very employ-ees who listen to the needs oftheir clients? Many of the clients’pain points can be cured throughthe use of solutions based softwarethat your company is currentlyoffering. Smaller dealerships often rep-
resent half a dozen different soft-ware packages. Larger businessesmay sell and support twenty ormore software products as well astaking on any software offeringthat a customer mentions they areinterested in buying. The integra-tion team or a single IT tech maybe the only people that currentlyunderstand the general scope ofall the products being offered.
Does your entire field servicestaff, in-house dispatchers andhelp desk personnel understandexactly what software productsyour company represents canaccomplish for your clients? Ifyour answer is “No” or “I’m notsure” you are wasting your mostvaluable sleuth sales force — alsoknown as your service depart-ment employees.When visiting with dealers, or
talking with service personnel atseminars and industry events, Ioften ask, “What software are youcurrently offering your clients?”Unless I am talking to an integra-tion specialist, I am often toldthey use the OEM's product or afamiliar MPS offering. When Iask for more specific informationon what other software productsthey sell and support, the answersI receive are very general andreveal a very simplified knowl-edge of the products.If you want your field techs
and entire staff of employees tohelp sell your products, increas-ing software product educationwill improve the quality andquantity of the leads your extend-ed staff will be able to turn in on a regular basis. So how doesthe progressive dealer train theirinfantry of field techs (hardwaresales people, support and admin-istrative staff) to have a workingknowledge of your company’soft-changing software offerings? An easy way to begin the
staff educational process is to use 5 minutes of each servicemeeting to introduce and review a software package that yourdealership sells and supports. My goal is to have a service techor field supervisor actually do thepresentation to the group. In thebeginning, you can have yourintegration or software sales staff present the information.
The entire service staff is toldin advance that in future servicemeetings, individual techs will becalled upon to provide the nameof a software package your dealer-ship offers and a 30 secondexplanation of what type of cus-tomer (or vertical market) may usethis type of software and what itcan help the customer accomplish. I allow my techs to use a writ-
ten ‘cheat sheet’ or customizedapp or link on their iPhone oriPad to access the information.My goal is that each serviceemployee is able to have immed-iate access to the dealership’ssoftware information when theyare in the clients’ office.I am a firm believer in audi-
ence participation. Having eachtech know that they will be ran-domly called upon to present 30seconds of information before thegroup of their peers makes thema little more attentive. Addition -ally, each tech that does a mini-presentation also receives a protein bar or some other healthysnack immediately at the end ofthe presentation. An approval oftheir peers and a physical objectin their hand help encourage thetechs to listen to the 5 minutepresentations and to be preparedif they are selected to do the 30second refresher in the future. Sometimes I will have one tech
present the basic software infor-mation without announcing thename of the software. The techonly reveals the vertical marketbeing served, what the softwarecan accomplish or improve, andwhich of our customers are cur-rently using the product. The firsttech who can correctly shout outthe correct name of the softwarereceives a prize (usually a snackbar) as well as the praise of theother techs.
Service Tech Sales Sleuths
continued on 60
How many dealerships haveactively changed
their service lead generation
programs to focuson incentivizing the
very employeeswho listen to the
needs of theirclients?
• www.enxmag.com l December 2013 We Saw It In ENX Magazine60
Once you get the techs com-fortable introducing, explain-ing and continually mention-ing software offerings at yourcompany meetings, you cancontinually add new softwareofferings as well as keeping allyour long term software pack-ages in the mix. During someservice meetings I will only
have a shout out of 4-5 differ-ent mini software-identifica-tion quizzes. It keeps the techsthinking. My more competitivetechs will do a quick review ofsoftware product names andtheir functions before walkinginto the service meetings. The bottom line is our serv-
ice techs are able to generate a
steady stream of leads for soft-ware sales. By understandingwhat the software can do,techs are better able to identifywho may benefit from usingone of your software products.Our dealership set up a newleads bonus program thatdirectly rewards the number oflicenses that are sold from techgenerated software leads. Thisprovides an additional incen-tive to become aware of thepotential of larger sales opportunities.The power of being knowl-
edgeable and familiar with allof the products and services
your dealership offers willincrease the comfort level ofyour techs being able to listento the needs of your clientsand identify their company’sability to provide a viablesolution. Setting up ongoing,structured education and men-toring of your service staff willenable them to consistentlyturn in appropriate and prof-itable sales leads. �
Ronelle Ingram, author ofService With A Smile, alsoteaches service seminars. She can be reached [email protected].
Sales Sleuths
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This error is caused by a few different things. Normally it is associated with a printer’s firm -
ware needing to be upgraded. I have alsoread and heard other causes for this error,such as a driver issue. It could also be aJetDirect Card, believe it or not. Theseare just a few of what may be causing the49.XXXX errors in printers.The errormeans a critical firmware error hasoccurred that caused the processor on theformatter to abort the operation. This typeof error can be caused by invalid printcommands, corrupt data, or invalid opera-tions. In some cases, electrical noise inthe cable can corrupt data during trans-mission to the printer. Other causesinclude poor quality parallel cables, poorconnections, or homegrown applications(third party software).
Common Causes• Old or outdated firmware• Conflicting versions of third party software
• Using PCL 6 instead of PCL 5• Old or outdated drivers• Accessories (JetDirect Cards)• Packet loss or interference on the network
• Bad data cable
Recommended actions:Below you will find different steps to tryand get you printing again. Keep in mindperforming some of these steps maydelete some of the settings in the printer,such as IP info and internal printer settings.1. Press CANCEL JOB to clear the print
job from the printer memory2. Turn the printer off and then back on3. Try printing a job from a different
software application. If the job prints,go back to the first application and tryprinting a different file. If the mes-sage appears only with a certain soft-ware application or print job, contactthe software vendor for assistance
4. If the message persists with differentsoftware applications and print jobs,
disconnect all cables to the printerthat connect it to the network or PC
5. Turn the printer off6. Remove all memory DIMMs or third-
party DIMMs from the printer. Donot remove the firmware DIMM inslot J1
7. Remove all EIO devices from theprinter
8. Turn the printer on9. If the error no longer exists, install
each DIMM and EIO device one at atime, making sure to turn the printeroff and back on as you install eachdevice
10. Replace the DIMM or EIO device if you determine that it is the onecausing the error
11. Remember to reconnect all cablesthat connect the printer to the net-work or computer
12. If the error persists, replace thefirmware DIMM
13. Replace the formatter and calibratethe printer if needed
There are also different steps you cantake if the previous steps don’t help. Youcan switch from PCL 6 drivers to a PCL5 driver. PCL 5 is a much more stabledriver choice and is suitable in most envi-ronments that do not require PostScriptdrivers. For a PS driver printer:
1. Open printer Properties2. Go to "Device Settings" tab 3. Disable the option "Postscript
Passthrough" under the "InstallableOptions"
On the 5500, the JetDirect Card cancause the problem. Sometimes upgradingthe JetDirect firmware helps. If it contin-ues, replace the JetDirect Card (usually a615N).To continue printing, try to:
1. Turn off the printer2. Disconnect the data or network cable3. Clear the print queue4. Turn the printer back on5. Re-connect the data or network cable6. Try a cold reset
CAUTION: When performing a coldreset, you will delete network settingsand printer settings!
7. If the issue is software related, tryinstalling updates for the software
8. It can be associated with connectionson routers, switches and even ports
9. Replace the USB or Cat5e cable
This error can also affect monochromeand color M-series multifunction printers.In some instances after upgrading aLaserJet M-series MFP firmware, uponrebooting the 49 error will occur. As soonas the printer is connected to the networkthe error appears. Disconnecting the
Robert Young Technical Tips
Solutions to HP’s Most Common Error CodeThe 49.XXXX Error Code
The following list shows some of the printers and the firmware levels which might beaffected by upgrading the firmware:
PRINTER UPGRADING FROM UPGRADING TO
M3027 MFP, M3035 MFP 20071211 48.051.1 or earlier 20080405 48.061.8 or later
M4345 MFP 20071211 48.051.1 or earlier 20080405 48.061.8 or later
M5025 MFP 20071211 48.051.1 or earlier 20080405 48.061.8 or later
CM4730 MFP 20071211 50.031.0 or earlier 20080405 50.041.8 or later
CM6030 / 6040 MFP 20080118 50.003.0 or earlier 20080405 52.012.0 or later
CM3530 MFP 20080821 02.066.0 or earlier 20081210 53.011.2 or later
M9040 / 9050 MFP 20071210 50.002.0 or earlier 20080405 51.011.9 or later
9250C Digital Sender 20071211 48.041.0 or earlier 20080404 48.051.7 or later
• www.enxmag.com l December 2013 We Saw It In ENX Magazine68
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printer from the network seems to prevent the error from occurring after the upgrade. The problem seems to be with the Kerberos Authentication feature, where the file might getcorrupted during the upgrade. Kerberos is a secure method forauthenticating a request for a service on a network. It enables a user to request an encrypted ticket from an authenticationprocess that can be used to request a particular service from a server. The user’s password does not have to pass through the network. If the error is related to a corrupt Kerberos configuration
file, one way to try and prevent the error from occurring is toclear the Kerberos settings from the printer before upgradingthe firmware. You can access the Kerberos authentication con-figuration from the embedded web server of the printer. Thisfeature will be found on the settings tab of the embedded webserver. Web Jetadmin can be used to clear these settings aswell. The restore factory settings command which can beaccessed from the control panel of these printers can be used,but in doing so all the configuration settings will be reset tofactory defaults. Install the upgrade and test. If there is morethan one printer that will be getting upgraded I would suggestyou test one thoroughly before proceeding. The CM6030 / 6040 MFP printer might experience some
problems when booting up where the printer stops at stage 5 of6 or hangs and might display a 49.4C02. This could be causedby corrupt NVRAM values. Starting with firmware revision52.081.2, the NVRAM values are no longer being written to
the hard drive. These are now being written directly to the formatter. The following procedure should allow you to get past the reported boot progress hang or the 49.4C02 error:
CAUTION when performing a cold reset you will delete network settings and printer settings.
NVRAM initialization: CAUTION: Initializing NVRAMresets the serial number, the event log, the page counts, the calibration settings, and the EIO card. Use the SERVICE menuto restore the serial number and page counts. You also need toreconfigure any computers that print to this product to recog-nize the product. Initialize NVRAM only when absolutely necessary. In most situations, use cold reset to reset productvariables but still retain the needed values in the SERVICEmenu. Before initializing NVRAM, print a configuration pageand a supplies status page to gather the following information:Total page count Serial number
1. Turn the printer off and remove the network cable 2. Turn the printer on and perform a partial NVRAM
initializationa. Turn the printer on b. When the display starts to count the memory, press andhold 3 until all three lights on the panel are lit
c. Press 9 one time, and then press and release START d. Press 6 one time The printer should boot past stage 5 and 6 of the bootprogress now and not display a 49.4C02.
4. Cancel out of the wizard setup screens 5. Turn the printer off and connect the network cable6. Turn the printer on and perform a cold reset
a. Turn the printer on b. When the printer shows the memory counting, press andhold the 6 key until all three lights on the control panelare lit
c. Release the 6 keyd. Press 3 or 9 to scroll to cold reset e. Press 6 to selectf. Flash the latest available firmware to the printer �
Robert Young is the Director forTechnical Support and Training atMetrofuser. Robert has 13 years in fieldservices and holds certifications withOEMs such as Hewlett Packard andLexmark. His experience in heavy print
environments runs the gamut of MPS installation,upgrades, assessments to technician selection, and training. Visit www.metrofuser.com
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We Saw It In ENX Magazine December 2013 l www.enxmag.com • 69
Printer Tech Tip
This Tech Tip is contributed by Laser Pros (www.laserpros.com). Email any questions to [email protected].
TECH TIP FOR HP PRINTER:HP Color LaserJet series CM1312/CM2320/M351/M451/M375/M475 Issue: Paper jam in rear door message
This problem is typically caused by the guideon top of the registration assembly beingout of position. Physical damage to this spe-cific part because of a paper jam causes theprinter to display a false paper jam in theback door. This problem can be seen fromthe back of the machine. Check the registra-tion guide and make sure it is in the correctposition as shown in the picture below.If there is a problem with the registration
guide, you will see that the guide is not allthe way up, and it does not go back to the
home position, as shown in the picture below.If the issue is determined, carefully move the guide to left or right to
see if it will go to its home position. If not, a close look will be needed to determine the cause of the problem and may need to contact LPI techsupport for further diagnosis. �
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increase your contact base on every sales call? Canyou get testimonials or referrals? Can you increaseyour access? Can you up-sell or cross-sell?
Make it easy. One great way to compete with the Internet is to find ways to make it easy for yourcustomers to buy from you. Remember – up untilValen tine’s Day, that was one of the reasons that Idid business with the florist; it was incredibly easyfor me to do business. I gave them one piece of data(how much I wanted to spend), and then I knew Icould trust their judgment on what to send. That sustained a relationship for a long time.It is possible, even practical, to build strong cus-
tomer relationships today, even with the ever-presentcompetition from the Internet. However, to do so,you have to be at least as convenient as the Net to do business with. �
Troy Harrison is the author of “Sell Like You MeanIt!” and the President of SalesForce Solutions, a salestraining, consulting, and recruiting firm. For infor-mation on booking speaking/training engagements,consulting, or to sign up for his weekly E-zine, call913-645-3603, visit www.SalesForceSolutions.net. or e-mail [email protected].
Internet Age
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• www.enxmag.com l December 2013 We Saw It In ENX Magazine70
Technical Tips
SUBJECT: Toshiba 351C
Q:Hey guys, I have a machine thatwon’t come to ready and I can’t get into 08 mode. Does this mean that theHDD is toast? If so, do you have any sug-gestions on a new HDD? Also, is the pro-cedure the same as a b/w e-Studio? Thanks.
A:More than likely the HDD is toast.You will need 60-120 GB HDD and the firmware for this machine. Do not use b/w firmware or the machine willneed PWB replacement. The procedure is basically the same.
A:To put it in 08 mode, press “690”and “print.” When “2” pops up, hit“print/enter” again. It will either formatand go back to the default 08 test mode D,screen, or come up with an error. Mostlikely, it still has one of the 1/2 heightmaxtor hard drives, which were prone tooverheating, causing them to fail. If youcan, you can also look at 08-670, whichwill give you the info from the HDDSMART table.
A:The above answer is right, themachine probably has one of those 1/2 height maxtor drives still. Theywere junk. Just chuck it and then press“3”,“clear,” “power on,” “option 3,” thenreboot 49 with the flash drive and installthe firmware again.
SUBJECT: Canon IR 3035 - Display Freezes
Q:I have a machine that's been in anoffice for about 2 years. Lately thedisplay has been freezing and they have to reboot the machine to get it operational.This machine has fax and print optionsinstalled. I've replaced the reader con-troller, main controller, control panel har-ness, and the power supply with a knowngood machine. It still locks up. I even triedrunning a power cord to a different outlet.The loaner in its place runs well and isusing the same outlet. I've also flashed themachine for the latest firmware. Any ideas?
A:Did you try cleaning or replacingthe memory DIMMs, or maybe the hard drive? I couldn’t find anythingmore other than what you have done, plusmaybe the DC controller? I suspect thememory or hard drive.
Q:Thanks for the quick response. I forgot to mention that I haveswapped the HD and the DIMM with theother working machine. As a last resort I'm going to swap out the DC controller.Thanks again. We've had this machine inour shop now for over a week and it hasn'tlocked up yet. I did try to return it andwithin 5 minutes of power up the controlpanel locked up. Burst my bubble quickly.
A:You can try a D-con clear or an M-con clear but make sure you do a p-print to input all the values. Trythis. Is the machine hooked to a network?Additional functions>SystemSettings>Network settings>TCP-IP>Multicast Discovery and setting it to"off" (default is "on").
Q:Thanks, I'll set that in. Thanks again for your input. I'll let youknow the results. I have tried several other things and no help. As a last effort I replaced the PS controller. Didn't knowthere was such a board. No help thereeither. Have read some posts on other sitesthat mention the ADF can cause an E732-0001 code when it starts to scan. The lockup gives this code each time even thoughthere is no actual shutdown for the code.Any thoughts would be very much appre-ciated. I have been fighting this one foralmost 2 months.
SUBJECT:
Copystar CS-2550 Drum Yield
Q:I’m getting conflicting info on this,which is it--150k yield or 300kyield? I have a customer whose machine ismaking copies with gray background andthe machine status page shows 253k onthe drum. I told him he needs a new onebut they are so pricey I don't want to makea mistake! Any help appreciated. Thanks.
A:I believe it’s yield is 200k, and aPM kit may be the way to go, dueto the price of everything loose versus a kit.
A:The machine is a 300k PM cycle.The 2050 is 150k.
Q:The copies are covered with fineblack specks, so it looks from a distance like there is a gray background.It’s worse towards the middle of thecopies. I'm not sure if the drum is wornout or not. Are there any other commonissues? The drum does look like it has a film of toner on it. I forgot to mentioninternal prints have the same problem so it's not in the scanner. Thanks.
A:Just do the 300k maintenance kitand that covers everything, includ-ing the drum unit, developer unit, transferroller assembly, main charger, fuser unit,and also the filter for the rear cover. Makesure the timers are set aggressively so thatthe fuser isn't baking the drum and theplastic rollers. There are posts on adjustingthe fuser temp and the timers.
A:Yes, do the PM kit — if you orderjust a drum, they take it out of thePM kit, charge you for the kit, and keepthe other items. Age has killed your drumand the DV unit will be bad too; they allcome in the kit. If the user or a tech hasturned the power save from default to stayready longer, that can also cause prematurefailure. But under use can also kill the drumDV fuser. Note the machine will needfirmware too to go with the new fuser and some of the covers have to be cut.
A:If the customer does not clean thecorona every time they change thetoner, then the corona will ark sometimes,causing the pitting (specks on copies) onthe drum. If you got 250k from that drumyou did good.
Tips appearing in this section are reprinted courtesy of Smarka! The Copier Tech's Info Source. Tips are randomly selected from submissionsemailed to Smarka! Smarka! and ENX Magazine make no guarantees as to the accuracy of tips presented here. Email your tips [email protected]. All tips become public domain.
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We Saw It In ENX Magazine December 2013 l www.enxmag.com • 71
Electronic Business Machines
1408 Versailles RD.Lexington, KY 40504
Ph. 800.832.6522Fax 859.281.6328www.ebmky.com
The PRODUCTS you want, the SERVICE you deserve!
Authorized Parts Distributor
New OEM PartsFuser Exchange
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Transfer Belt AssembliesPrinthead Exchange
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