Copier dealers, like any business, are always looking for ways to grow their businesses by doing more for their customers.
Over the years, the core of a copier dealer's business has been selling, leasing, and servicing copiers, laser printers, and now digital production printers. Dealers also sell toner and supplies, offer copier repair services, and some also sell office furniture, presentation boards, and the like.
Over the last decade, and in particular over the last five years, many dealers (like us) have expanded into other, related areas:
From our perspective, it's a natural evolution. Copiers are a business tool that help a company communicate more efficiently internally and with customers. Document management software is a natural extension of allowing copiers to help companies manage their documents even more effectively – using copiers to digitize information and to launch workflows. IT managed services – such as backup and managed networks – are also business tools that allow access to and protection for business information.
Smart copier dealers don't see copiers as a machine that prints or copiers. They're integral parts of a business' IT infrastructure. Expanding on that mentality to offer a broader set of services to customers is a natural fit.
Still, even some of our existing customers think: “You're just a copier dealer. Why in the world would I trust you to manage my IT infrastructure – my network, my backup strategy, and creating an IT strategy?”
Here are four reasons you CAN trust your copier dealer – especially us (of course)!
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You already know us
We have a relationship already. Everyone looks good online and talks a good game in the sales process, but you're never 100% sure if that happy talk will turn into reality when it's time to deliver on the contracted for services. If you're an existing office equipment customer of ours, you know how hard we work to get everything right for you.
Imagine how hard we're going to work to keep you happy if we're doing even more for you?
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You trust us already.
Trust is the foundation of any good relationship. Once you build trust with a service partner, why wouldn't you take a chance on expanding that existing relationship. The other option is a leap of faith that your new IT services partner will be as trusted as us. They could be – there are many excellent IT services companies across the country. There are plenty of bad ones too.
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Managing copiers and a print fleet is hard.
There's a perception that “information technology” is some arcane wizardry that's harder than setting up a copier or managed print services. Maybe that's because a copier is a piece of hardware that you can see and the inner workings of software programs looks like magic unless you're a programmer. However, for the last 20 years, copiers have become a sophisticated combination of hardware and software – even BEFORE we launched our IT managed services business we were already at least partially an IT company.
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ANYONE can claim to offer managed IT services.
Copier dealerships have established relationships with major vendors – most have been in business for decades. Many managed IT shops are small businesses dependent on a single revenue stream. What would happen to your business if your network services provider went out of business? Your cloud backup partner? Copier dealers who offer IT managed services have an existing business. This allows patient, steady growth and a focus on matching customers with the right service instead of suggesting services that you don't need.
If your business is looking to outsource all or part of its IT infrastructure – managed network, data backup, IT help desk, etc. – don't ignore your copier dealer.
The best fit could be the company you already know.
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