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The #1 Sourcing Publication in the Document Imaging Industry
Company On The Move: National Copy Cartridge
NCC, Your Non-HP Connection
—Featuring Quality Xerox, Lexmark, IBM, & Dell Cartridges
By Jamie Hamilton
They call themselves the “Xerox-compatible experts of America” at National Copy Cartridge—more widely known as NCC. But, since their inception in 1989, these cartridge remanufacturers have also built an expertise in Lexmark/IBM, Dell, Brother, Samsung and Sharp cartridges, including their latest: the Xerox 4500. They say customers can think of them as the “non-HP guys.”
“Everybody has an HP expert,” says Steve Kipp, president, founder and sales frontman of NCC. “I lend myself as an expert to expand your offerings in the non-HP market. We’re specialists—we do non-HPs: no HPs or Canons. For your daily order of the 27X’s, call your normal guy for that. But when [your customer] asks for the oddballs—Xerox, Lexmark, IBM, Dell, Brother, Sharp or Samsung—then my catalogue will be there for you.”
While the NCC catalogue lists retail prices as well as NCC’s for dealers and wholesalers to reference, much of Kipp’s business philosophy is based on education. “There are companies out there buying cartridges at $20-$30 more than mine, but that’s just because they don’t know about me. So, it’s just an education, saying, ‘Did you know that there’s a company out there who does all non-HP?’”
Then, there are some that don’t know about the non-HP market. Kipp starts educating people about it by illustrating the impressive profit margins the cartridges offer resellers: “I say, ‘Are you aware Xerox, IBM and Lexmark cartridges cost $300 new? So, when you’re looking at a customer’s Xerox machine, he’s paying $300-$350 for that. Did you know you could get one from me for $80-$90? When people hear that, they know that’s not a normal spread; it gets their attention.”
And while the profitability of the NCC product line may get customers’ attention, it is their quality and personal customer service that keep them coming back. At NCC, there is no automated voice message or attendant, only real people who take phone calls personally. This is part of Kipp’s promise to his customers.
Sales is Kipp’s forte—he has been on the phone selling for almost 3 decades. A natural at sales, Kipp says that there is such a thing as a sales personality, and he reveals some of his secrets to cold calling in our Selling Sales section below.
More on Products & Quality
NCC remanufactures quality Xerox, Lexmark/ IBM, Dell, Brother, Samsung, and Sharp toner cartridges. Currently, the NCC team is revving up production on its latest offering: the Xerox 4500. Kipp has already ordered 700 virgin cores to meet market demands for the cartridge.
Customer Quick Note: While there is no minimum order at NCC, there are quantity price breaks at all ordering levels including the introductory levels of 3, 5, and 10 cartridges. NCC does blind-drop ships; orders made by 3 p.m. PST are shipped same-day; and cartridges are backed by a 100% satisfaction guarantee.
With a non-HP niche, NCC prides itself on getting products out fast and right. “Our quality control is simple: we make it work as good and as long as OEM,” Kipp says. “We try to be the first out and the best out—just being first out doesn’t get you anywhere. We’ve already done the QC testing, so customers don’t have to be a guinea pig for us.”
NCC uses only virgin cartridges in its manufacturing process, and replaces all blades and drums. They also post-test each cartridge to ensure that they are upholding their quality standards. This past quarter NCC reported under a 2% defect rate (1.9%), according to Kipp.
However, he attributes much of the NCC quality to employee retention. “The biggest part of [QC] is taking care of your employees, keeping employees for a length of time and training them. It’s very important. We avoid the ‘brain drain’ by taking good care of our people. We try to give them a home and create a family atmosphere.” NCC has 24 employees; the average length of stay is 3 years.
Selling Sales
When it comes to cold calling, is your approach a little, well, cold? Kipp is a master of sales. It comes easy to him, and it shows. “When you like something, you’re good at it or you become good at it,” he says. “Sales is the same way. You kind of have to have that stereotypical personality. You really have to be a hammerhead and not care all that much about a little rejection.”
Kipp’s approach to each call is to educate the person about his services, tell them how he can make them money—and his main asset is 20 years’ experience. “No one really knows our market better than NCC,” he notes. “So, purchasers that normally hang up on sales people will talk to me.” Kipp says this is because he knows customers’ needs and gets their attention with a benefit that he can deliver on, then follows through on his promise. And that, he adds, is the essence of sales.
“I ask what they are selling at and tell them if they are out of the market,” he goes on. “Since we are experts and know our market, we know the pricing that will move product in quantity. You can lead a horse to water just like I can lead someone to my catalogue, but it’s up to them sell it within the market, and I can help.”
Kipp says that with cold calls, you’ve got to do big numbers. “If you just feel your way through each call and every time someone’s a little negative, you quit, [you won’t be successful],” he says. “Sales is education and you educate people who want an education. So, you’re like a teacher. If they are willing to take the knowledge you have, then you can make them money. And if you really believe that, then it’s easy.” A final tip: “never promise what you can’t deliver.”
Toner Love Changes Kipp’s Life… Twice
In 1989, Kipp was a manager for an office supplies company. An employee that he had just hired, Dennis, told him about the company he’d been dismissed from—a recharging company—and how Dennis had built all the cartridges. Kipp said, “Since it sounds like you did all the work, why don’t you just make them yourself—you don’t need them.” With Kipp’s capital and Dennis’ know-how, the two began their own recharging operation.
Kipp ran the businesses out of a garage in a house Dennis was renting. Originally, they sold HP compatibles to end-users and called the company Discount Laser. He would cold-call businesses in Orange County, selling at a remarkable 50% clip. Then, Dennis told him about the Xerox cartridges—they were going for three times the price of an HP. “The reason we were interested in Xerox,” Kipp recalls, “was the idea that where there are expensive cartridges, there are bigger profits!”
In 1991, they saw opportunities in the wholesale market and started NCC, which sells wholesale exclusively. Over the years they’ve had sales reps, but as Kipp says: “We got so busy by word-of-mouth, we haven’t had a sales rep here for years. I’m it.”
While this newfound industry changed Kipp’s life, there was another major surprise that toner had to offer him: his wife Gayla, who began working there as a summer job.
“One of my sales reps left on vacation; and, since he had been swamped the last month just answering the phone instead of selling, he said that by the time he got back I better have a receptionist hired. It was kind of a joke, but we did need someone to answer the phone, we were so busy. So, I started interviewing people. And Gayla came in and filled out an application. She was the only one. Well, we had all guys working here and they were talking about how cute she was, so I wadded up the application and threw it behind the file cabinet and forgot about it.
“Right before my rep was about to come back from vacation, I thought, ‘Man, I’ve got to hire her, because that’s all we got.’ So, I tried to find her application, and they told me where I had thrown it, behind the file cabinet. When she got here, her application was all crinkled up. I told the guys to behave and I hired her. She was real well-behaved—all my sales reps asked her out and she turned them all down!”
He hired her, and the rest is history. Well, actually it took 10 years for the couple to start dating and another five before they were married. But, when they were, his top sales rep was his best man. “So you can find the perfect girl in toner,” Kipp jokes. “Just think, if I had never gotten her application out of the trash, my whole life would be different.”
Gayla never expected toner to introduce her to the love of her life. “Obviously, it was a really good experience,” she says. “I never thought initially that [toner] would turn into a lifestyle, instead of just a job.” But that’s just what sets NCC apart from the rest, she says: “We are a family business, so we really want to take care of the customer and make the customer happy.” Call them, and Gayla or another NCC representative will personally take your call.
To Contact NCC:
1.800.822.5477
1.619.562.6995
www.nationalcopycartridge.com
info@nccreman.com
By Jamie Hamilton— in addition to writing business profiles in ENX, Jamie writes and designs ads, brochures, catalogs, newsletters, and manuals for companies in the imaging industry. She can be contacted at: Tel/ Fax 502-896-1051 or e-mail her at: jamiewriter@hotmail.com.
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