Where’s the Silver Bullet

Posted by Tom Callinan on Tuesday, December 8, 2009

I talk to many business owners that are looking for the cure to their ailment—and they would prefer something that cures them quickly. What is the ailment? Lower revenue and operating income. Some want to recreate the good old days of growth and can’t understand why that would be so difficult. Heck, in the 80’s we just worked hard and revenues increased: Why can’t we do that now? Are the new Generation X, Y, or Z kids simply lazy? My experienced reps just can’t seem to get the appointments they were once able to achieve.

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MPS: The 30% Catastrophe

Posted by Tom Callinan on Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Many commentators in the MPS space like to talk about the 30% savings companies receive through an MPS agreement. I guess it helps them sell research, advance the theory of displacing printers with departmental MFDs, or helps the weak sales person generate some commission and retain his (her) job for a period.

But I have to ask a simple question, what is the rational to deliberately taking 30% of the revenue out of our industry?

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New Wave of Industry Certification: Value or Marketing Gambit

Posted by Tom Callinan on Monday, November 9, 2009

We’ve all heard or read the stories: Company Big Shot or Government appointee discovered to have PhD, or other degree, from “diploma mill.” There is always the denial from the “degree” holder, referencing how hard they worked to earn the degree and how they considered the degree legitimate. But could they really believe that? Haven’t we all seen the advertisements?

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More details on the new alliance between Canon and Hewlett Packard

Posted by Tom Callinan on Saturday, October 31, 2009

  • HP will begin advertising Canon copiers on its website on 11/1/09
  • HP will resell imageRUNNER, imageRUNNER ADVANCE, and imageRUNNER ADVANCE PRO series
  • Speed range from 23ppm to 105ppm devices
  • According to Larry Trevarthen, HP’s Worldwide Director of Market Development, HP also has access to the imagePRESS production print products
  • All the devices will initially carry the Canon name
  • The products will be identical to what Canon dealers sell, including supplies
  • Service will be provided by a Canon factory direct branch primarily.

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Hewlett Packard launches three new laser MFDs available exclusively for its PartnerONE dealers

Posted by Tom Callinan on Saturday, October 31, 2009

  • LaserJet M9059 is a 50ppm, b/w A3 unit, based on existing M9050
  • LaserJet M4349x is a 45ppm, b/w A4 unit, based on existing M4345
  • Color LaserJet CM6049f is a 40ppm, color A3 unit, based on existing CM6040f
  • All are actually made by Canon

The only difference of the new models, versus the units that they are based on, is that they have toner cartridges that are keyed, so end users have to buy the toners from the HP PartnerONE dealer, and not on-line, or in a superstore.

This appears to be an effort by HP to provide their channel with pr

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Lexmark announced a new program for copier dealers

Posted by Tom Callinan on Saturday, October 31, 2009

  • Has created a line of 15 models that will not be sold on-line or through retailers
  • These “XS” models will only be available through copier dealers
  • 5 are A4 b/w MFPs, 3 are A3 b/w MFPs, 2 are A4 color MFPs, 2 are A3 color MFPs, 2 are A4 b/w printer, and 1 is A4 color printer.
  • Speeds range from 35 to 55ppm
  • All have a published MSRP, but not a published street price
  • All have large touch screen LCD display
  • Offer eTask software for embedded application ability
  • Have high yield cartridges so they are ideal for managed pri

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Sharp gave out more details on its recent dealer meeting in Washington DC

Posted by Tom Callinan on Saturday, October 31, 2009

  • Total US revenue was down 3%
  • Has self-financed leases on a few major account deals, but has no plans to open up
    its own leasing company
  • Has a total of 440 dealers in the U.S.
  • Is adding 20-40 new dealers per year, but also losing about half that many per year
  • Has 10 factory direct branch operations from 13 acquisitions
  • Has temporarily halted acquisitions, until economy improves, but still hopes to have 25 locations total in next few years
  • Goal is for branches to account for 45% of sales in U.S.
  • 4 of its 10 larges

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The importance of business planning

Posted by on Thursday, October 22, 2009

At several recent workshops, I asked the workshop participants how many of their companies prepared an annual business plan. I was surprised that in both workshops, only 20% of the companies represented actually prepared a business plan. It was interesting to note that at a follow-up question where I asked how each company was coping with the economy, they all admitted to their business being tougher than ever but the ones who earlier acknowledged that they prepare a business plan also indicated that they were doing reasonably well in a tough economy.

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CIOs Pare Their Suppliers

Posted by Tom Callinan on Monday, September 28, 2009

Information Officers Focus on Big Vendors With Wide Offerings

In a September 16, 2009 article in the WSJ author Jerry A.

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