I have been monitoring this web site for over a year and it is mostly used by service professionals. I want to encourage you to tell your sales force about this site so they can take advantage of the knowledge that is here.
Thanks!

OK OK,,,, I give up...where is the website???????

ya where is it??

This one! DNET. I also monitor the P4P Hotel but that is a Ricoh oriented web site.
http://www.p4photel.com/index.htm

But DNET is dominated by tech with little sales interaction. So...tell your local sales guy about DNET.

I'm just going to keep it with the techs

big deal Gizmo !!! You know you luv your salesmen. You need them as they need you !

Is there no love between sales and techs?

also please check www.p4photel.org, site is geared towards sales and how to sell solutions, however we also have many techs that visti the site.

art

We have a love hate relationship with sales. We would love to kick their_____ 's but hate we didn't do it sooner. Just kidding, maybe.

I have seen sales people give service advice and try to fix copiers. Its best it techs do thier job and sales do thiers

It's the old love hate, can't live with em and can't live without em. It's true for both sides.

I started as a tech in the early 80's and then moved to sales, could not have made it with out the tech background.

Sales is not as easy as it sounds, to be sucessful it takes long hours of research, prospecting, getting use to all of the no's, and having customers try to get best of both worlds.

One sales has made the sale, then it's the techs that have to hold the front line and keep the customer happy. Too many sales people only see their customers once or when the lease renews and this is not good for our industry.

Sales and Service need to work together and identify upgrades, potential issues and work to keep the customer, however we can only do as much as our dealership lets us.

If you get a chance check out my blog for MFP's http://mfpsolutions.blogspot.com/

I see no evil in suggesting that our sales reps visit this site... but here's my quandry. I have a hard enough time getting our TECHNICIANS to check out this site. You don't know how many times I come out looking like a hero after being asked for tech support from one of our field reps for a specific problem, and I find the answer within 3 minutes from researching DNET. I tell them every time I do it, yet they don't take the initiative. Sure... one or two of them do, but the majority don't. I can pretty much tell which guys use this site, because I hear from them a lot less than those that don't use it. There are other signs as well, but my post is already too long.
"D":
You say that a sales rep must do a lot of research??? I respectfully disagree. I have a hard enough time getting the sales reps to ignore the specs on their sales brochures and follow the specs in "TECH BULLETIN #1". Its as if they refuse to look at tech bulletin 1 or something (I don't get it). Its too easy for them to just go by the sales brochures that have been handed out at the last sales meeting. That's not what I call research. If I can't get them to look at TB 1 when I send it to them in e-mail... I'm not going to convince them of logging into DNET and actually do some real research. Our reps simply call the service manager (your's truly) and expect the Serv Manager (or even field techs) to do the research for them. EVEN WHEN IT COMES TO SIMPLY TESTING PAPER STOCK!!! THEY CAN TEST THAT THEMSELVES!!! Yet they don't. Maybe its not like this at other dealerships, and if so, then I stand behind your suggestion to share with the sales reps, it just wouldn't work in Dan-land.
Please don't mis-interperet my pet peaves as disrespect for the sales reps! I truly do admire them. One strange thing is: the sales reps that cause the biggest head-aches for me and our service department are the most successful at our company! Its a strange coincidence.
I actually don't think I would make it in sales for long. It takes everything you listed and more... except for the "research" part.
So back to my initial sentence. No problem with sharing the website with sales... I just think I'd be wasting my breath. I don't even think they have logins for KMAconnect!!!

Dan:

What I meant by research is too learn as much about your equipment as possible, ehat it can do and not do. Also, to research the customers needs for copying, printing and scanning. These guys have to become professionals and know their machines inside and out.

True sales professionals will want more information it help them sell more!

It's true, the reps that sell more will have more issue with cleints and technical. It's the old 80/20 rule, alot of them are 9-5 ers and do not have the passion that we have for our industry!

I understand... but the first part of that is what gave me a chuckle: You say "What I meant by research is too learn as much about your equipment as possible, ehat it can do and not do." Their idea of learning as much about our equipment as possible is calling the technician or service manager and asking them what it can do or not do; instead of looking it up just like the technician or service manager would do... TECH BULLETIN 1. Or they'll ask us to test it to see if it can handle a certain type of envelope, paper type, size, etc... (instead of testing it themselves).
But the rest, I do agree with you on. They do need to research the customer's needs. But you must be working at a perfect company, because we still have 6030's placed where a KM-1530 should be and KM-1530s placed where a 6030 should be. They didn't do their research. And when they do... there is software out there that does that research for them (print audit software, etc...).
Please please please don't misinterperate my candor for disrespect. My intention isn't to spark debate... just stating my own observations from within. But oh how I do love debates!!
I do envy a company that has it all together in sales AND service. And ours is almost there. We just have some tweeking to do. But we need to vent a little sometimes with others. You know the cliche: "misery loves company"!!! And that's what the message boards like "Watercooler" are for. I guess my comments are better posted there.
Now that I think about it... I guess this forum "Showroom" probably is geared more toward the sales professional. But it shouldn't be the technicians telling the sales pros about this site... it should be their fellow sales reps telling each other about this site. After all, that's how we all heard about it (our fellow service grunts). Hence my original theory: there aren't enough sales professionals contributing to this forum to make it helpful to other sales professionals. And if it isn't helpful, you aren't going to get them to use it. It's a vicious cycle.
I digress, I suppose if we all could think of at least one sales rep at each of our companies that would actually use and contribute to this forum, we might be able to get that ball rolling. I'm willing to make a suggestion to the sales rep most likely to use it... but I'm not getting my hopes up!
You see, it's in the nature of a service professional to "share" information. It's NOT in the nature of the typical sales rep. They're very competitive (basic instinct kinda thing). Survival of the fittest. Again, not intended to be an insult... that's what makes them good at what they do.

Warmest Regards,
Dan

I gotta stop leaving such long responses... people aren't going to read them!!! LOL

How right you are about sales people sharing information, I never thought of it that way. When I see all of the forums that are out there, technical sites have the most hits, members and threads.

It seems sales people are less eager to share information such as success stories, solutions, etc.....although the more that they shared, would increase their knowledge when conversing with other reps across the country.

Maybe our discussions will enlighten more sales reps to share information

Yeah... sales pros aren't going to be as eager to share info with their competitors... whereas we in the service depts. truly respect and appreciate one another and love to help regardless of competition. Afterall, we don't get paid primarily on commission. At least I don't! It's still worth a try to suggest to a likely sales person to start checking out this forum. Matter of fact, maybe they do!!! Just to get a competitive edge (what machines we're bashing and praising and such). They're just very unlikely to provide input.

quote:

Originally posted by Dan Hill:
I gotta stop leaving such long responses... people aren't going to read them!!! LOL

Dan
I read them!!

I think the problem is, when we techs sell we sell from our point of view,
And salesmen sell from theirs.

When I began wearing all hats “Sales, Repair, and businessman,
I learned we all are sales people. As tech you clean the machine change the part and sold your boss and the customer you did a real good job. Or sold them on the idea they needed the drum, fuser or what ever. When I was a salesman hating tech I never realized this.

I also realized a salesman with too much information was like a monkey at the zoo with a machine gun. Dangerous and all the cuteness went away.

I often must mentally transform form business to tech, or tech to sales. That means I must realize what mode I am in and use the needed skills. As Tech you often explain way too much, but the confusion often makes salespeople and end users smile and walk away approving the fact they have no idea what you said but they are confident you know what you are doing. But they do not need to understand they just trust you.

But when being a Salesman I found if I gave too much information or too MANY choices it just muddy the waters of the sale and confused the customers. Thus often I lost the sale before realizing keep it simple in sales is critical. Unlike repairs there are seldom second chances to correct the mistakes made in sells.

Salesmen are on a need to know basis to be effective. Of course that depends on the field, say oil field chemical or tool sales reps need to know the items to solve the problem. But in copiers most needs are close to the same and most machines the same. All you really sell is “OUR COMPANY IS THE BEST” not the machine or its features. The most important Sales skill is know when to make AND how to make the close of the sale. In the past and even occasionally still, I go on and on long after I made the sale and I fail to close. This is because I know too much and want to share all that “good stuff” information.

Sales people really are not trained in the manner Techs are, Techs are shown how to remove a DV unit Drum unit, LSU and pretty much repeat it every time. Sales people each must find their own technique and what works for them.

I know what CAFINFAN and everyone is trying to get to, if a salesman wants to know will XYZ machine do a certain type work or take certain option.

I suggest and make cheat sheets for sale people, putting the main items on and the real obscure items I let them ask me.
"TECH BULLETIN #1". Is long and confusing even for a real knowledgeable person –I my self-find it confuses me at times. Expecting a salesperson to read and know all he needs is not such a good thing. Sale people like doctors and tech all have areas of specialty. You really do not care if your doctor is good bookkeeper when he is removing that swollen limp node in your neck. Just be a good doctor.

Sales people REAL SALES PEOPLE not wannabees like me, learn to go through he motions, they often sale the same way to everyone. And at times they use a technique like leasing when the should not. This is not ever going to stop. They do sale on assembly line type motion. The customer they make a sale to may be one I could never make the sale to and the customers I make he could not make.

If we give them too much information they will either just get confused or tell the end users,
the machine can do things it real should not be expect to do.

I will say, Marketing is different area that is more a Business knowledge and thus often the OEM sales meetings or other marketing training is worthless to salesmen

Well OK I said too much