The roadshows educated dealer sales reps and service techs about the intersection between technology and people.
Never underestimate the value of a manufacturer roadshow. These regional events provide OEMs with an opportunity to get up close and personal with a smaller number of dealers in an intimate setting as opposed to a national dealer meeting.
Approximately 80 attendees spread across sales, technical and production positions attended the last of five regional Canon 2019 Roadshows, in Atlanta, June 4-5.
“We’re doing more regional shows for more interchange and exposure to what’s new,” explained Canon U.S.A. Senior Vice President and General Manager Hiro Imamura.
The latest round of roadshows was presented in two tracks””SalesNet and TechNet. SalesNet targeted sales managers and top sales reps for Canon’s enterprise and production products. Content in each breakout session was designed to help build an effective sales approach that highlights Canon’s key areas of strength over the competition so sales managers and reps can demonstrate with confidence. The enterprise focus provided insights into Canon’s advantages, competitive information, as well as information on security, solving customer challenges, and sales growth opportunities. The production focus of SalesNet centered on new product updates, sales strategies, hands-on demonstration technologies, as well as competitive information.
TechNet targeted technical/solutions analysts and featured Canon and partner subject matter experts who led use-case-driven, hands-on sessions demonstrating how to set up, implement, and support key solutions to help differentiate the dealership from the competition. Attendees were provided with deep-dive insights into solutions such as Canon’s uniFLOW One, Box and mxHero, as well as how to automate standardized business processes with AutoShare.
Sessions were enlivened by dynamic polling, which allowed for the creation of instant graphs. Group problem-solving used real-life selling scenarios and a speed dating format kept competitive sessions lively.
Techmanity and Security
The overall theme of “Techmanity” was explained by Karin Harrington, sales director, Canon U.S.A. “Technology can only take you so far. The other part is the people.”
There was a strong connection between Techmanity and security.
“True security is a constant balance between the need for access and the need to protect information from people who shouldn’t have it,” explained Canon Training specialist Chris Hoshko. “We could achieve perfect security, but we’d have useless information because no one has access. It’s technology without humanity.”
Lori Johnson, business technology advisor for Novatech, Inc. in Knoxville, TN, was at the roadshow because, as she put it, “we want to do more, especially around security and production.” Johnson has many education and healthcare clients who work with confidential information.
“Good security is like an onion””it comes in layers,” added Hoshko, noting that Canon delivers robust security as well as or better than anyone in the industry.
He said Canon’s unique selling proposition is true consistency across the imageRUNNER product line with 57 standard and optional security features.
Hoshko pointed to numerous imageRUNNER security features such as HDD password lock and HDD data encryption, many functioning while a device is in use. Other security conversation starters included:
- Encrypted PDF – Scan and send using document passwords for sensitive documents.
- “Send destination” restrictions – Create approved lists by domain or address book.
- Connect MFPs to SIEM – imageRUNNER connects to most Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems, reducing uncertainty and burden of manual monitoring.
“We didn’t design [these security features] in a vacuum,” declared Hoshko. “We consulted extensively with experts to align with their needs. If you don’t integrate, it’s not much help. From an IT perspective, you must design security from the ground up, and we did that from the beginning.”
Production Print and Account Stickiness
In-house print operations represent 15% of the U.S. production printing market, and this $18 billion opportunity is especially significant in verticals such as education, government, healthcare, manufacturing, legal, and religious organizations. Production print solutions encourage account stickiness, not just for dealers, but also for in-plant teams who want to build loyalty with internal customers by offering more services. With the help of their dealers, Canon representatives contended they can transition work in-house and expand applications.
“Our light production equipment enables more Canon Dealers to get in the game,” said Anthony Agliata, director of marketing, Production Solutions Division, Canon U.S.A.
Roadshow attendee Steven Riddle, sales manager for Accent Imaging in Raleigh Durham, N.C., was one of those hoping to learn more about the production opportunity.
“We have an imagePRESS in our own print shop, but no production sales rep,” he said. “Generalists don’t know as much about it, so they struggle in the environment. However, it’s worth it because where there’s production, there are other opportunities. There’s a lot of service revenue coming out of it, but we need skill sets to go up against the competition.”
New Conversations: Wide Format
As the large-format market expands, attendees were urged to think “vertical” and look for opportunities in architecture, construction, manufacturing, retail, real estate, hospitality, healthcare, and education.
“Copier people have the biggest opportunity to sell wide-format printers and scanners because they have an open door into so many places that their wide-format competition doesn’t,” said Carmelo DiMartino, Canon imagePROGRAF consultant.
System choices depend on color-criticality and volume.
Posters and signage are sweet spots, according to DiMartino, while other applications include renderings, banner stands, fine art, POP, technical drawings, and peel-and-stick signs.
“Look for this kind of application when you go into an account,” he added. “Pay attention to the reality of how work gets done. It all starts with a conversation.”
He noted the availability of free software with imagePROGRAF large-format devices, including layout tools, accounting managers, print utilities, and cost analysis tools. Canon will even train a dealer’s end users on the software. Software is a key differentiator because the money, DiMartino said, is in the mystery.
“When you can set up jobs and make the most out of these devices, the more value you bring.
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