The word diverse is defined as showing a great deal of variety. As Noel Ward points out in our “Casting a Wider Net” feature story, expanding workplace technology product and service offerings, such as managed IT services and production print, is a winning strategy within more open-minded dealer circles. When diversification is embraced, improved profitability often results. Petra Diener explains that branching out doesn’t have to be scary for resellers: After all, it’s not necessarily planting a whole new tree! In her latest Outside the Box column, she explains that the smartest office tech sale might be the one you’ve already made. Find out exactly what she means in “Old Dealer Dog, New Office Technology Tricks.”
When considering add-ons, remember they don’t need to be super high tech. In one use-case example, a Southern dealership has succeeded by bringing reverse-osmosis water purification systems to its office customers. Reena Philpot, co-owner of Kentucky-based Precision Duplicating Solutions (PDS), shares that the relatively new business operates at a 35% to 40% net profit margin. The dealership’s water equipment sales increased nearly threefold between 2024 and ‘25. Furthermore:
- In 2025, H₂O accounted for roughly 50% of PDS’s total sales!
Fellow co-owner (and husband) Earl Philpot wasn’t so sure about taking the water plunge—at first. He offers his reservations and tells peer dealers what convinced him in our “Water Works” case study.
Meanwhile, on the island nation of Japan, over the Pacific Ocean’s salty water, Toshiba Tec has entered Phase 2 of its latest diversification and digital transformation (DX) quest. The company is focused on integrating hardware and “cyber.” OA Life’s Tetsuo Kubo has the details in our “Japanese Headlines.”
Opportunities amid workplace technology challenges
Guest author Mitch Leahy offers tips on future-proofing your dealership from the leasing partner perspective of GreatAmerica Financial Services. “Office technology businesses have shown strong resilience,” Leahy writes, “adapting to hybrid work, supply chain disruptions, and talent shortages. “In 2026 new pressures, such as tariffs and global economic uncertainty, add more complexity . . . .” How can the channel continue to find opportunities amid constant change? Recurring revenue, monthly subscriptions, automated cash flow, customer retention, DX, and diversification (there’s that word again!) are among the answers, GreatAmerica believes. Oh, and for the procrastinating owners out there, please don’t continue to neglect succession planning.
Lastly, Integrated Document Technologies is another dealer that has risen like a Phoenix from COVID’s ashes. President Liz Perillo started out at Xerox, which is one of the OEM lines IDT carries along with Konica Minolta. In 2024, the New Jersey-based dealer expanded its network to West Palm Beach, FL, which has evolved into a boomtown. Down there in the sunshine, IDT is about to start rehiring back to former levels, Perillo reports.
“The West Palm area and the Miami area, they call it Wall Street South now,” Perillo notes. “Goldman Sachs, all the big financial guys have offices down here. Miami is a big hub, too. But West Palm is really growing. Vanderbilt University has built a campus down here for their engineering program and their business department. So, they’re really attracting a lot of young, successful people. West Palm is very exciting.”
With Liz keenly focused on West Palm Beach profitability, Gerard, her husband, oversees day-to-day operations in the Northeast. Adding to the family business dynamic are the couple’s two adult children (a son and a daughter), who now work for IDT: one in sales as an account manager; the other is focused on user experience (UX) within the finance department. For more on IDT and the Perillos, reference our ongoing CR CONNECT – DEALER TOUR series.
Here’s looking at Q2 ’26 and to being different!
