By Larry McGinnis

Margins are getting short.  Cost is going up.   The machines are better now and don’t need as much service, so our back-end profit is shrinking.  We’ve all heard and said these same things.  So how do we increase our revenue and build our profits in this market?  Maybe it’s time to sell more divergent hardware lines and offer more services. 

Have you ever thought of selling shredders?  It’s a natural tie-in to copiers.  If you are not selling high-end printers, why not?  What about computers? Ever consider selling networking service to your clients? You have a networking specialist on call or on staff— why not apply that knowledge to selling networking service to your present customers?

Let’s expand on these thoughts a little.  Look for hardware items that are a good tie-in to the copier market.  I mentioned shredders.  But other items come to mind.  For example, how about shipping scales, labeling machines, and tape dispensers? How about marketing mailing, and sorting machines? I knew a dealer that had a separate sales force just for selling binding equipment.   If you can fix a copier, you can fix these items as well.  The point is, look for ways of increasing your profit by selling items that are used in many offices but are difficult to find.

Most of my friends in this business scoff at me when I mention selling computers.  “Gees, Larry,” they say, “people can get computers for $300 on the internet.”   Yes, but they can’t get them matched properly to act as a full and viable network.  Most offices have a hodge-podge of mixed computers; some even have different operating systems and hardware configurations.  They have no plan for backing up valuable information.  Security is loose or non-existent.  If you’re a solutions provider, you can think of these things and design a system around a solid plan and then charge good money implementing the plan.  How many times has your network person said to you, “It will be very difficult to maintain a networked copier on the system that the customer has in place.”?  If computers are in the workplace, shouldn’t they be matched with interchangeable parts?  One of the strong points of Southwest Airlines is that they have only one model of airplane, one engine, one seat configuration.  They save millions in maintenance cost each year.  A computer system within the workplace should work the same way.  Who is better suited to sell these systems than the copier dealer?

Ok, say that you don’t want to get into selling computers.  What about selling the networking expertise that your company has developed through the years? Most copier businesses have to have access to network people, ether in-house or as outside consultants.  Networking is networking.  Sell pre-sold hours or service contracts for on-call networking issues.  Part of the coming new economy is selling brain power.  Brain power is a valuable commodity.  My dentist called me a few days ago because he wanted to stream a radio broadcast to his patients and he didn’t know how to keep his computer from going into stand-by.  Easy fix right?  It is surprising how many people don’t have a clue how to do some very simple tasks on their computer.   Establish a help desk and pre-sell help-desk access.  I would love to have someone to call that was local (not in India). 

The point is that it may be necessary to expand on the basic copier business in order to keep profits at an acceptable level in the future.  It may be time to start thinking of ways to expand within the fit of your organization. u