Since its founding in 2019, the dealership has overcome many challenges, but none big enough to impede its upward trajectory.
I don’t know why I’m surprised anymore when a dealership like Power Business Technology in Roseville, California, opens its doors for business in this day and age. One might think that starting a business in a mature market is a crazy business decision. But that’s not what Ed Roe, an office technology industry veteran, thought in 2019. He saw an opportunity and grabbed it, and this year, Power Business Technology is celebrating five years in business and continued growth.
Ed Roe and Bryan Davis.
With a career spanning over four decades, Roe’s journey in the industry began with San Sierra Business Systems in Sacramento, California. During his career, he’s held various sales and administration positions and has sold products from various manufacturers. Before founding Power Business Technology, he was president of Zoom Imaging Solutions, a Xerox Company.
Getting Started
When Global Imaging Systems started restructuring five-plus years ago, Roe left Zoom Imaging Solutions to launch his new dealership. “We hit the road running because we had a lot of experienced people,” said Roe. “We started with zero customers, but it didn’t take us long to gain momentum. We started in 2019 knowing that we were going to have some hurdles to overcome.”
It was a rocky start between battling for market share and navigating the COVID-19 pandemic during the dealership’s second year in business. “We came together as a group and said we could either curl up in a corner and probably not survive, or still go out and make calls and get rejected because people are worried about us walking in their doors because they’re in lockdown mode,” recalled Roe. “But we found that there were a lot of businesses still wanting to be open like we were. We grew every year during COVID and did not lay off or furlough a single person.”
Those tenured sales reps Roe worked with at Zoom who joined him in his new endeavor are adept at finding opportunities. After five years, Power Business Technology has more than 5,500 machines in the field and 52 employees. “We’re in growth mode and very excited about the opportunity ahead of us,” said Roe. “We’re still writing in the neighborhood of 60% net new business every month.”
Building customer relationships was critical for securing business out of the gate in 2019. “I’ve always said that people don’t wake up in the morning thinking, ‘I’m going to buy office equipment today,’” said Roe. “We’re in a business that the fish don’t jump in the boat, we’ve got to go get them.”
Power Business Technology does not consider any customer too small or too big. “We focus on small- to mid-level business opportunities that understand the value of what we provide,” said Roe.
The dealership does a nice job of cultivating relationships and selling to people who trust them. “People buy from people, and we work with them to share with us what their current programs are, and then see if we have a legitimate opportunity that benefits both them and us,” observed Roe.
He added, “But it is hard work going out and doing it the old-fashioned way. We still bang on doors and do group blitzes. People say things have changed, but not so much in our world. We’re not leading with price, and we’re not the cheapest guys in town. You don’t have to be the cheapest guy in town when you take care of your customers. We provide exceptional service and support, both on the sales and the service side. And our administrative team is just off the charts.”
Entering its fifth year, Power Business Technology is enjoying the benefits of customers upgrading their equipment, which had been on five-year leases, an advantage it didn’t have when it opened its doors in 2019.
Service is the Differentiator
At Power Business Technology, the team operates under the belief that customers are like family. Vice President Bryan Davis’s analogy perfectly captures this sentiment, “Imagine your mom’s dishwasher breaks down. You’d drop everything and fix it, right?” This philosophy is the driving force behind the exceptional service provided by Power Business Technology. “We monitor every call very closely and ensure we’re responding quickly because, at the end of the day, if the customer knows that they’ve been heard and are getting a response, that lowers their temperature pretty quickly,” said Davis, who has been in the office technology industry since 2016 after a successful stint in the automotive aftermarket.
Of course, every dealer claims they offer good service, but Power Business Technology prides itself on showing it. The dealership tracks its service performance monthly and shares this data with customers and prospects. “We have an outstanding response time to customers, which is unheard of, especially now with all these bigger conglomerates doing weeks response time right now,” said Roe. “The changes that are taking place with these big conglomerates and the level of service they provide have created a huge opportunity for us independent dealers who are nimble enough to pick off the low-hanging fruit.”
Davis has nothing but praise for Power Business Technology’s service techs. “Technical experience doesn’t fall into your lap,” he said. “We pride ourselves on growing talent and developing technicians within our organization versus just finding hired guns. This takes time and money. We know that for the long haul, we must invest in technical experience to create that differentiation between us and the corporate conglomerates who offer the smorgasbord of service out there right now.”
He described the dealership’s mission of providing boutique-level service where, he says, customers respond, wow, you guys just knock my socks off every time you take care of me! Davis noted, “That’s the kind of effort we’ve put into our service to grease the wheels for the sales side so that when we have customers who need a new device, they aren’t shopping us. They’re saying, why would I ever leave you guys?”
After starting the business with more seasoned techs, Power Business Technology has been growing its service team by hiring more young talent, including new-to-industry talent who need to learn the business. “If I look at the business—even the short period that I’ve been here to what we’re doing today—I see the biggest differentiator is if companies aren’t investing in new young talent to be their future technicians, those are the companies are going to struggle with service growth,” observed Davis.
Power Business Technology’s techs, Richard Mejia, Pang Vang, and Pia Xiong from the dealership’s Fresno office unveil a new Toshiba MFP.
Added Davis, “In the future, if these companies decide to get out of the industry, they will see that as a detriment to their ability to grow and to provide value for someone looking at them as an acquisition opportunity. That’s one of those characteristics we look for in an organization when we look at acquisition opportunities. Granted, you want tenure and experience and service, but you also say, where are your new guys and where’s that growth going to be, and who’s going to support this product in the next five years?”
Power Business Technology’s Product Offerings
Power Business Technology is a single-line Toshiba dealer. Roe selected the Toshiba line because of his long-term relationship with Larry White, Toshiba’s current president and chief executive officer. “He’s an incredible person and you can trust what he says,” noted Roe. “And he’s been a great partner in our growth. I value him very much.”
In addition to Toshiba, Power Business Technology sells Lexmark and Brother A4, Mint mailing systems, and KIP wide format. Software providers include ACDI, which provides PaperCut print management software, and DocuWare for document management. The DocuWare business hasn’t grown as fast as other product segments, but both Roe and Davis view it as an opportunity for growth. Its leasing provider is U.S. Bank, a finance company that Roe has a long history with.
Sales and Staff at Power Business Technology’s Roseville and Fresno locations celebrate the company’s annual St. Power’s Day sales blitz held annually around St. Patrick’s Day. The dealership has a variety of fun-themed sales blitzes throughout the year.
Nanette Spitulski from Power’s Modesto office and Ingrid Dellevoet from the Roseville Office, two competitors for the Sales Belt award during another sales blitz.
Although it doesn’t have a homegrown IT offering, the dealership partners with an IT company, which allows it to offer basic managed IT services. Roe noted that the company has grown without acquisitions, but he may be open to an acquisition in the IT segment as long as the opportunity is right and there is a growth opportunity for both sides of the business—imaging and managed IT. “But to start totally from scratch on the IT side just does not have the return on investment we are looking for,” he observed.
What’s Next for Power Business Technology?
Entering its fifth year, Power Business Technology’s plan is to build its team, both sales and administrative, to keep up with growth. “I’m always open to additional talent within our group,” said Roe. “I feel our best success is when we grow from within. And we’re in that mode right now, adding additional people, and we think we will get substantial growth this year.”
With 40-plus years in the office technology industry, Roe has seen a lot and overcome the doom and gloom projections. “Our industry, we’ve had the naysayers for so long telling us the industry is dying and it’s going away,” said Roe. “If I listened to that 20-plus years ago, I would’ve missed out on a huge opportunity. This is an incredible industry. For those willing to work and put the time and effort in, the opportunities are out there. I am more excited about it now than I ever was.”
