WIDE FORMAT OPPORTUNITY? Recently, I had the pleasure of visiting a Konica Minolta branch here in Rochester, New York to check out their cus-tomer day. What was once a small operation has seen expan-sion over the last few years, growing Konica Minolta’s business from Buffalo to Binghamton and everywhere in between. In fact, they’ve already outgrown the office they’ve moved into fairly recently and will be upgrading to a better location. They’re also apparently hiring if you’re looking for a new opportunity. Indeed, they’ve apparently doubled their MIF in the last couple of years – an admirable feat considering they’re selling in Xerox’s back yard. It’s always nice to get a tour of a dealer or branch and to see how they set their show room, what the offices look like and how they pitch a customer. While I was there I was lucky enough to see a couple of very professional product demonstra-tions given to customers. One was on the bizhub PRO 8000, the other was on a KIP wide format device. One thing that became very apparent during my visit was the opportunity unfolding in the wide format arena. I’m not suggesting that customers are chomping at the bit for this technology. However, this niche market just lost arguably the largest and most recognized supplier of hardware with Xerox’s sudden exit. A great number of customers that already use these products are now faced with finding another supplier. This brings me to my question. Are you selling wide format? If not, you should and here’s why. Those accounts that Xerox has done such an amazing job of shutting you out of all these years because of their ability to provide a complete portfolio are now vulnerable. Xerox wide format customers are going to have to look for other options and the incumbent won’t be competing against you. Mark Bates, Strategic Account Manager Wide Format                                                                     Chris Balash, Account Executive Let’s take things a step farther. Now that you’re able to get your foot in the door to discuss wide format, you can go after the rest of the customer’s copiers, printers and MFPs. Is it really this easy? Apparently the answer is YES. When I was at the Konica Branch, a Xerox wide format customer came in for a product demonstration of the KIP product (see photo of Mark Bates giving the demo). Here’s a customer with no Konica Minolta products, who is not currently in the market for a wide format product but knows he needs to plan ahead so he’s looking at what is out there. He’s in the demo room seeing not only this quality wide format printer, but also several office devices, A4 MFPs and that massive bizhub PRO 8000. They got him in the door because Xerox pushed him away and suddenly this entire account is vulnerable. This guy had never been in a Konica Minolta demo room before and now he saw that they offer wide format and everything from desktop printers to color digital presses. You don’t have to make wide format a major focus at your dealership and there are several brands that would love to bring on new dealers if you don’t have access from your own vendor. And, there are now many Xerox reps out there that are well trained experts at wide format and I bet they’re looking for jobs. They also know where the wide format accounts are! By dropping wide format, Xerox has opened the door for you. Don’t blow such a great opportunity. Gifts like this don’t come around too often. Andy Slawetsky is President of Industry Analysts, Inc. Much of the company’s research and testing results can be viewed on their website www.industryanalysts.com. etsky, President of Industry Analysts, Inc.