Last week IRgA members heard three experienced equipment sales/service pros talk about that business. The panelists were Tony Dargo from Eastern Engineering, Steve Coyle from Miller IDS and Andy Heling from Blue Print Service. Below are five key comments from the event. (If you’d like to view the recording of the panel discussion, click here to log into the Member Portal and then select the tab on the left called “Reports and Recorded Webinars.” The equipment sales event recording is the top item.)
Steve Coyle, offering advice to repro firms that are considering starting an equipment sales business: I think before an owner decides to get into the business, you have to understand that this takes a lot of energy, a lot of energy. It takes a lot of your time and a lot of commitment, especially if you're going into it and you haven't been in it before. It's brand new. It takes a lot to get into the equipment business and become successful at it. So it's not a short term… all of us on this panel have been in this a long time and there's a lot of businesses that have been doing it a lot longer than us, and they build up a great install population.
Tony Dargo, regarding competing with traditional small-format dealers: If you look at the traditional [small-format] dealer, at least this was my perspective, they didn't really have a relationship with their customers, but I can guarantee you Andy and Steve know their customers. They probably know the kids, they probably know what they like to eat when their birthdays are. They know more about their customers and have empathy for them. And the [small-format] channel didn't have that. They are quick hitters. You're lucky if a rep stays for a year or two and then they have a new rep. And so from that perspective, I can offer something in the [small-format] channel that they couldn't.
Tony Dargo: If you can do wide format sales and printers, you can do small format sales. I always say the A3, A4 person that tries to take on wide format has a much rougher road than somebody like us that has been traditionally in wide format then it goes in and takes A3 and A4 on. It's a lot easier transition for us.
Andy Heling: To separate from [big competitors] you got to focus on the customer experience. When you're selling against big box retailers or resellers, they're focusing on putting a hundred devices in and then just fixing them when they break. But we focus on printing as a service, so building relationships with the customers and when you get started, you have to show that you care and really just put your foot forward with making the customer's experience much easier.
Steve Coyle, in response to a question about how to choose which vendors to partner with: You do have to look at it as it's a business partnership. So you have to ask yourself, what kind of partner are you looking for? And is there a fit? Is there good chemistry first and foremost? Is it outside of what you really do? Look at your core businesses and is this something you want to do? You want to look at the character of the firm. Do they have a good solid reputation? Do the people in your area that you're going to be working with, are they people you want to work with?
Tony Dargo, responding to a question about working with the manufacturer: Sometimes they've got to make an end-of-quarter sell and … they'll come to you and want you to buy a little bit of equipment to help them with market share. You may not need it, you may not want it, and you may just want to curl up and go away from it…. But part of it's answering to that and having that empathy for them to a degree.